• This episode was co-written by Chris Derrick, whose likeness was used as the file photo for the Romulan dissident, Lurak T’Luco, and the severed head prop for that same character in “Disengage”.
  
  • He also co-wrote the season two episode, “Hide and Seek”.
• Mixed in among the bridge sounds at the very beginning of the episode we hear some distinctive TOS beeps and boops.
  
• We learn this opening scene is Not David Marcus’ dream sequence of some sort after he opens fire on the USS Titan A’s bridge crew. Still, in his dream, before NDM kills Esmar, they say, ”I know what you really are.” Esmar is a Haliian, introduced in the TNG episode “Aquiel”, and as such likely mildly telepathic.
  
  • Later in the real world, Esmar gives NDM a brief look from down a corridor that could be construed as them being aware of the fact that something is off with him, or just a passing glance.
• Riker’s acting captain’s log records the stardate as 78186.03.
  
• We don’t get a view close enough to actually make out what the objects are floating around the exterior of the Titan A tending to the repairs, but in DIS we were introduced to the 23rd century DOT-7 drones and the 32nd century DOT-23s. Potentially we’re looking at a 25th century equivalent.
  
• Riker claims that so far as he’s aware Changelings can mimic individuals on sight, but ”not their internal physiology.” In “The Adversary” Odo stated that when he mimics a rock he would register as such on scanners and speculates that Changelings more skilled than himself could do the same humanoids. Doctor Bashir confirms that the Changeling who was masquerading as a human ambassador was scanned and registered as human.
  
• Seven says that protocol since the Dominion war is “Every crew member passes through an internal imaging chamber.” Though not quite the same thing, when the Protogies arrived on relay outpost CR-721 in “Asylum” the first thing they had to do was go through a biometric scanner.
  
  • The protocol was put into place to verify the crewperson isn’t a shapeshifter attempting to sneak aboard. Of course, we’ve seen Changelings mimic everything from glassware, to a spacefaring being, to fire; hopefully Starfleet has accounted for that as well.
• On M’Talas Prime, we see a hologram of Raffi wearing a mobile emitter. It appears identical to the one the Confederation La Sirena used to create the Emergency Elnor Hologram in season two’s “Hide and Seek”.
  
  • The original mobile emitter came from the 29th century timeship, the Aeon, Krinn is able to recognize the one Raffi is wearing for what it is.
• The USS Intrepid NCC-79520 arrives to the Titan A’s location. This is merely the latest ship to bear the name.
  
  • The Intrepid - United Earth ship first seen in “The Expanse”
  • The USS Intrepid NCC-1631 - Constitution-class ship with an all Vulcan crew destroyed in “The Immunity Syndrome”
  • The USS Intrepid NCC-38907 - The ship Sergey Rozhenko served on, and first on the scene after the Romulan attack on Khitomer according to “Sins of the Father”; the Excelsior-class ship Sergey mentioned in “Family” according to internal information
  • The USS Intrepid NCC-74600 - Intrepid-class? At least according to non-canon material. Chakotay claimed to serve aboard it as part of his cover story while trying to figure out why Starfleet Headquarters was recreated in the Delta Quadrant in “In the Flesh”; also mentioned on a screen as part of a battle group in “Star Trek Nemesis”
• According to production designer Dave Blass, the Intrepid is a Duderstad-class ship, designed by Doug Drexlar and Bill Krause. It’s named for Drexlar’s late wife, Dorothy Duder, who was a food stylist on ENT.
  
• Captain Shaw lists off several events he thinks will be considered negatively in Starfleet’s accounting Picard and Riker’s guilt:
  
  • ”That time someone hot dropped the saucer section of the Enterprise D on a planet.” - The USS Enterprise D’s saucer made emergency landing on the inhabited planet Veridian in “Star Trek Generations”.
  • ”That time someone threw the prime directive out the window so they could snog a villager on Ba’ku.” - In “Star Trek Insurrection” Picard did get romantic with a member of the Ba’ku, but only after learning they weren’t actually a pre-warp species, and working to prevent a rogue admiral from forcibly relocating them to steal their resources.
  • “Or the time you boys nearly wiped out all of humanity by creating a time paradox in the Devron system.” Actually, because of the nature of the time paradox in “All Good Things…”, those events did not happen, and Picard is the only one with any memory of it.
• It’s Ro Laren! From Star Trek! Commander Ro is played by Michelle Forbes.
  
  • When last we saw her in “Preemptive Strike” Ro Laren defected from Starfleet to join the Maquis’ struggle against the Cardassians after the Federation abandoned its own citizens because it was more convenient to do so than continue to skirmish with the Cardassian Union.
  • Michelle Forbes has previously turned down opportunities to reprise the role, both for DS9 and VOY.
• Seven gives NDM a Starfleet uniform so he’ll go unnoticed by the security officers transferred over from the Intrepid. In “Chrysalis” the augments, Jack, Lauren, and Patrick snuck on to Deep Space Nine wearing Starfleet uniforms, and In “People of Earth” Burnham had Booker wear a Starfleet uniform for similar reasons to those Seven gives NDM.
  
  • Personally I did not expect NDM to get away with saying, ”That’s a stupid question,” to Ro.
• ”That was 30 years ago. The Maquis are no longer an enemy.” Riker is technically correct as all but a few dozen Maquis were wiped out by the Dominion after the Cardassian Union became a member in “By Inferno’s Light”.
  
• ”You trusted her when no one else would.” Riker is referring to the events of “Ensign Ro” where Picard initially did not want her aboard the Enterprise D until she proved herself to be a valuable officer despite her reputation.
  
• ”Your Bajoran earring…you’re not wearing it.” In “Ensign Ro”, Ro‘s condition for joining the crew of the Enterprise D was that she be allowed to wear her earring, despite it not being strictly within the Starfleet uniform code.
  
  • On Bajor they just call it an earring.
• The brief glance we get of Ro’s boot knife it appears to be similar to the knife a Bajoran used to murder a Cardassian file clerk in “Duet”.
  
• Krinn wears an especially large IDIC on a chain, so you can understand the infinite diversity in infinite combinations.
  
• The tattoo under Krinn’s eye is Vulcan script.
  
• Krinn’s phaser appears to be based on, if not identical to, the Ferengi phaser Quark had in “The Magnificent Ferengi” and “The Siege of AR-558”.
  
• Bajoran springwine was first mentioned in “Return to Grace”.
  
  • On Bajor they just call it springwine.
• Picard deactivates the safeties on the 10 Forward program. We’ve seen since the beginning of this season an display during the closing credits reading ”10_Forward // Bar_LA” with the safeties disabled.
  
• ”Guinan’s.” Picard points a holographic phaser from under the holographic bar at Ro. In “Night Terrors” Guinan pulled a rifle from Magus III out from under the bar and fired at the ceiling of Ten Forward aboard the Enterprise D.
  
• ”Unless I am mistaken, you are Vulcan. Hence Sneed, a Ferengi, is not your brother.” In “The Bonding” Worf inducted a human, Jeremy Aster, into his family ”for all time” and said they were brothers. Jeremy Aster was never mentioned again.
  
• ”There can be no utopia without crime. Ergo an organized criminal enterprise is logical.” In “Prime Factors” Captain Janeway observed, “You can use logic to justify almost anything.”
  
• The knives Raffi and Worf are given for their fight to the death are the same as one Shinzon had gave Picard with a sample of his blood in “Star Trek Nemesis” and used by the Tal Shiar assassins in “Remembrance”.
  
• Picard suggests taking Ro’s concerns to Admiral Janeway. Ensign Janeway was a junior science division officer aboard the Enterprise D whom counselor Troi was very mean to in “Man of the People”. Apparently she took Troi’s advice to shape up to heart.
  
• Daystrom Station appears to be kitbashed from Jupiter Station, the Midas Array, and cargo containers, first seen in “Life Line”, “Pathfinder”, and “Fortunate Son” respectively.
  
• *”Daystrom Station is guarded by a highly sophisticated A.I. system. But it has flaws that are most…illogical.” Badgey was uploaded to Rutherford’s cranial implant, which was seen salvaged from the void of space in “The Stars at Night”.
  
• Ro crashes her shuttle into the Intrepid’s port nacelle. Other bullshit deaths in Trek include:
  
  • Jadzia Dax - “Tears of the Prophets”
  • Trip - “These Are the Voyages…”
  • Data - “Star Trek Nemesis”
  • Hugh - “Nepenthe”
• The Titan A’s tactical console shows the Intrepid raising shields using a graphic of dots populating around the ship, similar to what we saw in “Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan” when the USS Reliant raises shields.
  
• NDM’s fight against the four changelings echoes Dahj Asha’s activation against the Tal Shiar Assassins when she was attacked in her apartment in “Remembrance”.
  
• ”Old-school Bajoran spycraft.” Ro’s earring turns out to be a datachip holding all of her investigation in to the Changelings infiltrating Starfleet.
  
  • On Bajor they just call it spycraft.

The log:
​
2023-03-22 16:46:18 [INFO] Frontend configuration loaded.
2023-03-22 16:46:18 [INFO] Frontend options loaded.
2023-03-22 16:46:18 [INFO] Previous configuration located, preloading selections.
2023-03-22 16:46:51 [INFO]
2023-03-22 16:46:51 [INFO]
2023-03-22 16:46:51 [INFO] ************ -= The Paradox Game Converters Group =- *****************
2023-03-22 16:46:51 [INFO] * Converter version 1.0V "Venice"
2023-03-22 16:46:51 [INFO] * Compatible with EU4 [v1.0-v1.34] and Vic2 [v3]
2023-03-22 16:46:51 [INFO] * Built on Fri Feb 10 10:09:49 2023
2023-03-22 16:46:51 [INFO] ************************** + EU4 To Vic2 + ***************************
2023-03-22 16:46:51 [INFO]
2023-03-22 16:46:51 [INFO] Built on Fri Feb 10 10:09:43 2023
2023-03-22 16:46:51 [PROGRESS] 0 %
2023-03-22 16:46:51 [INFO] Reading configuration file
2023-03-22 16:46:51 [INFO] EU4 documents path: D:\My stuff\Others\paradox games\eu4\game
2023-03-22 16:46:51 [INFO] EU4 path: D:\My stuff\Others\paradox games\eu4\game
2023-03-22 16:46:51 [INFO] EU4 version: 1.34.4
2023-03-22 16:46:51 [INFO] Vic2 path: D:\My stuff\Others\paradox games\vic2\Victoria 2 Heart of Darkness
2023-03-22 16:46:51 [INFO] Vic2 version: 3.0.4
2023-03-22 16:46:51 [INFO] EU4 savegame path: C:\Users\User\Documents\Paradox Interactive\Europa Universalis IV\eu4_export\my first megacampaign.eu4
2023-03-22 16:46:51 [INFO] Max Literacy: 1
2023-03-22 16:46:51 [INFO] Absorb Colonies: 1
2023-03-22 16:46:51 [INFO] Liberty Treshold: 1
2023-03-22 16:46:51 [INFO] Pop Shaping: 2
2023-03-22 16:46:51 [INFO] Pop Shaping Factor: 100
2023-03-22 16:46:51 [INFO] Core Handling: 1
2023-03-22 16:46:51 [INFO] Eurocentrism: 1
2023-03-22 16:46:51 [INFO] Africa Reset: 2
2023-03-22 16:46:51 [INFO] Randomise RGOs: no
2023-03-22 16:46:51 [INFO] Convert All: no
2023-03-22 16:46:51 [INFO] Hybrid mod: 1
2023-03-22 16:46:51 [INFO] Output Name: my first megacampaign
2023-03-22 16:46:51 [INFO] Using output name my_first_megacampaign
2023-03-22 16:46:51 [PROGRESS] 3 %
2023-03-22 16:46:54 [PROGRESS] 4 %
2023-03-22 16:46:54 [INFO] Parsing idea effects
2023-03-22 16:46:54 [INFO] Parsing technology groups.
2023-03-22 16:46:54 [PROGRESS] 5 %
2023-03-22 16:46:54 [INFO] Parsing EU4 religions
2023-03-22 16:46:54 [INFO] *** Hello EU4, loading World. ***
2023-03-22 16:46:54 [INFO] Parsing starting supergroups.
2023-03-22 16:46:54 [PROGRESS] 6 %
2023-03-22 16:46:54 [INFO] -> Verifying EU4 save.
2023-03-22 16:46:54 [INFO] Meta extracted successfully.
2023-03-22 16:46:54 [INFO] Gamestate is textual.
2023-03-22 16:46:55 [PROGRESS] 7 %
2023-03-22 16:46:55 [PROGRESS] * Importing Save. *
2023-03-22 16:46:55 [INFO] Savegave version: 1.34.4.0
2023-03-22 16:46:55 [INFO] -> Loading Provinces
2023-03-22 16:47:00 [INFO] -> Loading Countries
2023-03-22 16:47:05 [INFO] -> Loading Diplomacy
2023-03-22 16:47:05 [INFO] -> Loaded 145 agreements
2023-03-22 16:47:05 [PROGRESS] * Import Complete. *
2023-03-22 16:47:05 [PROGRESS] 15 %
2023-03-22 16:47:05 [INFO] -> Loading culture group equivalences.
2023-03-22 16:47:05 [INFO] -> 98 links loaded.
2023-03-22 16:47:05 [INFO] Parsing Cultures and Culture Groups
2023-03-22 16:47:06 [INFO] Parsing unit strengths from EU4 installation.
2023-03-22 16:47:10 [INFO] -> Reading Words.
2023-03-22 16:47:23 [INFO] -> 131514 Important Words read.
2023-03-22 16:47:23 [PROGRESS] 16 %
2023-03-22 16:47:23 [INFO] *** Building world ***
2023-03-22 16:47:23 [INFO] -> Loading Empires
2023-03-22 16:47:23 [PROGRESS] 17 %
2023-03-22 16:47:23 [INFO] -> Calculating Province Weights
2023-03-22 16:47:23 [PROGRESS] 18 %
2023-03-22 16:47:23 [INFO] -> Processing Province Info
2023-03-22 16:47:23 [PROGRESS] 19 %
2023-03-22 16:47:23 [INFO] -> Loading Regions
2023-03-22 16:47:23 [PROGRESS] 21 %
2023-03-22 16:47:23 [INFO] -> Determining Demographics
2023-03-22 16:47:24 [PROGRESS] 22 %
2023-03-22 16:47:24 [INFO] -> Cataloguing Native Fauna
2023-03-22 16:47:24 [PROGRESS] 24 %
2023-03-22 16:47:24 [INFO] -> Clasifying Invasive Fauna
2023-03-22 16:47:24 [PROGRESS] 25 %
2023-03-22 16:47:24 [INFO] -> Reading Countries
2023-03-22 16:47:24 [PROGRESS] 26 %
2023-03-22 16:47:24 [INFO] -> Setting Localizations
2023-03-22 16:47:24 [PROGRESS] 27 %
2023-03-22 16:47:24 [INFO] -> Resolving Regiments
2023-03-22 16:47:24 [PROGRESS] 28 %
2023-03-22 16:47:24 [INFO] -> Merging Nations
2023-03-22 16:47:24 [INFO] -> Uniting Japan
2023-03-22 16:47:24 [PROGRESS] 29 %
2023-03-22 16:47:24 [INFO] -> Calculating Industry
2023-03-22 16:47:24 [PROGRESS] 30 %
2023-03-22 16:47:24 [INFO] -> Viva la revolution!
2023-03-22 16:47:24 [INFO] vvv ... revolution failed. :/
2023-03-22 16:47:24 [PROGRESS] 31 %
2023-03-22 16:47:24 [INFO] -> Doing Accounting and dishes
2023-03-22 16:47:24 [PROGRESS] 32 %
2023-03-22 16:47:24 [INFO] -> Dropping Empty Nations
2023-03-22 16:47:24 [INFO] -> Marking new world countries
2023-03-22 16:47:24 [PROGRESS] 33 %
2023-03-22 16:47:24 [INFO] *** Good-bye EU4, you served us well. ***
2023-03-22 16:47:24 [PROGRESS] 40 %
2023-03-22 16:47:24 [INFO] Parsing EU4 colonial regions
2023-03-22 16:47:24 [INFO] Parsing province mappings
2023-03-22 16:47:25 [INFO] -> Using version 1.31.0.0 mappings
2023-03-22 16:47:25 [INFO] Loading Province into Continents.
2023-03-22 16:47:25 [INFO] Loading Known Titles.
2023-03-22 16:47:25 [INFO] Parsing Country Mapping Rules.
2023-03-22 16:47:25 [INFO] Loading climates.
2023-03-22 16:47:25 [INFO] Loading Terrain Data.
2023-03-22 16:47:25 [INFO] Parsing governments mappings.
2023-03-22 16:47:25 [INFO] Parsing party detail blobs.
2023-03-22 16:47:25 [INFO] Parsing regiment costs
2023-03-22 16:47:25 [INFO] Parsing religion mappings.
2023-03-22 16:47:25 [INFO] Parsing state region structure.
2023-03-22 16:47:25 [INFO] Determining factory allocation rules.
2023-03-22 16:47:25 [INFO] Parsing V2 Factory Techs
2023-03-22 16:47:25 [INFO] Parsing V2 Factory Inventions
2023-03-22 16:47:26 [INFO] Parsing starting factories.
2023-03-22 16:47:26 [INFO] Loading leader traits.
2023-03-22 16:47:26 [INFO] Finding coastal provinces.
2023-03-22 16:47:26 [INFO] Parsing black and white ports.
2023-03-22 16:47:26 [INFO] Parsing War Goals.
2023-03-22 16:47:26 [INFO] Parsing starting techs.
2023-03-22 16:47:26 [INFO] Parsing Starting Inventions
2023-03-22 16:47:26 [INFO] -> Loading culture group equivalences.
2023-03-22 16:47:26 [INFO] -> 98 links loaded.
2023-03-22 16:47:26 [INFO] Parsing V2 Religions
2023-03-22 16:47:26 [INFO] Parsing Region Localizations.
2023-03-22 16:47:27 [INFO] Loaded: 123302 111851 107418 106581
2023-03-22 16:47:27 [INFO] Parsing african resettable regions.
2023-03-22 16:47:27 [INFO] Parsing accepted culture thresholds.
2023-03-22 16:47:28 [INFO] Parsing Agreement Types.
2023-03-22 16:47:28 [INFO] Parsing union tags.
2023-03-22 16:47:28 [PROGRESS] 45 %
2023-03-22 16:47:28 [INFO] Parsing cultural union mappings.
2023-03-22 16:47:28 [INFO] Parsing nationalities mappings.
2023-03-22 16:47:28 [INFO] *** Hello Vicky 2, creating world. ***
2023-03-22 16:47:28 [INFO] -> Importing Provinces
2023-03-22 16:47:48 [PROGRESS] 46 %
2023-03-22 16:47:48 [INFO] -> Importing Vanilla Pops
2023-03-22 16:47:48 [INFO] Parsing minority pops mappings
2023-03-22 16:47:52 [PROGRESS] 47 %
2023-03-22 16:47:52 [INFO] -> Importing Potential Countries
2023-03-22 16:48:07 [DEBUG] Could not find file common/countries/Malaysia.txt - skipping
2023-03-22 16:48:09 [PROGRESS] 48 %
2023-03-22 16:48:09 [INFO] -> Loading Country Mapping Rules
2023-03-22 16:48:09 [INFO] Creating Country Mappings.
2023-03-22 16:48:09 [PROGRESS] 49 %
2023-03-22 16:48:09 [INFO] -> Loading Culture Mapping Rules
2023-03-22 16:48:09 [INFO] Parsing culture mappings.
2023-03-22 16:48:09 [INFO] Parsing slave culture mappings.
2023-03-22 16:48:09 [INFO] Parsing V2 Cultures and Culture Groups
2023-03-22 16:48:09 [INFO] -> Checking all Cultures Mapped
2023-03-22 16:48:09 [INFO] -> Checking all Religions Mapped
2023-03-22 16:48:09 [PROGRESS] 50 %
2023-03-22 16:48:09 [INFO] -> Pouring From Hollow Into Empty
2023-03-22 16:48:09 [PROGRESS] 51 %
2023-03-22 16:48:09 [INFO] -> Converting Countries
2023-03-22 16:48:09 [INFO] -> Converting National Values
2023-03-22 16:48:09 [INFO] -> Converting Prestige
2023-03-22 16:48:09 [INFO] -> Setting prestige
2023-03-22 16:48:09 [INFO] -> Adding Potential Countries
2023-03-22 16:48:10 [PROGRESS] 52 %
2023-03-22 16:48:10 [INFO] -> Converting Provinces
2023-03-22 16:48:10 [WARNING] Incoming eu4 noreligion pops for Vic2 province 116! Your EU4 save seems borked there, troubles with CK2 import?
2023-03-22 16:48:10 [WARNING] Incoming eu4 noreligion pops for Vic2 province 120! Your EU4 save seems borked there, troubles with CK2 import?
2023-03-22 16:48:12 [PROGRESS] 53 %
2023-03-22 16:48:12 [INFO] -> Cataloguing Invasive Fauna
2023-03-22 16:48:12 [INFO] Located 0 new species.
2023-03-22 16:48:12 [PROGRESS] 54 %
2023-03-22 16:48:12 [INFO] -> Converting Diplomacy
2023-03-22 16:48:12 [INFO] - ENG is not absorbing NEN (95 vs 50 liberty desire)
2023-03-22 16:48:12 [INFO] - ENG is not absorbing NOV (90 vs 50 liberty desire)
2023-03-22 16:48:12 [INFO] - FRA is not absorbing VNZ (5 vs 50 liberty desire)
2023-03-22 16:48:12 [INFO] - POR is not absorbing DOM (95 vs 50 liberty desire)
2023-03-22 16:48:12 [INFO] - POR is not absorbing CLM (5 vs 50 liberty desire)
2023-03-22 16:48:12 [INFO] - POR is not absorbing CAL (5 vs 50 liberty desire)
2023-03-22 16:48:12 [INFO] - POR is not absorbing X05 (5 vs 50 liberty desire)
2023-03-22 16:48:12 [INFO] - SPA is not absorbing CAN (5 vs 50 liberty desire)
2023-03-22 16:48:12 [INFO] - SPA is not absorbing USA (5 vs 50 liberty desire)
2023-03-22 16:48:12 [INFO] - SPA is not absorbing CEQ (90 vs 50 liberty desire)
2023-03-22 16:48:12 [INFO] - SPA is not absorbing SBA (90 vs 50 liberty desire)
2023-03-22 16:48:12 [INFO] - SPA is not absorbing PEU (5 vs 50 liberty desire)
2023-03-22 16:48:12 [PROGRESS] 55 %
2023-03-22 16:48:12 [INFO] -> Setting Up States
2023-03-22 16:48:12 [PROGRESS] 57 %
2023-03-22 16:48:12 [INFO] -> Generating Unciv Reforms
2023-03-22 16:48:12 [PROGRESS] 58 %
2023-03-22 16:48:12 [INFO] -> Converting Technology Levels
2023-03-22 16:48:12 [PROGRESS] 59 %
2023-03-22 16:48:12 [INFO] -> Distributing Factories
2023-03-22 16:48:12 [PROGRESS] 60 %
2023-03-22 16:48:12 [INFO] -> Distributing Pops
2023-03-22 16:48:12 [INFO] Vanilla world population: 255201034
2023-03-22 16:48:12 [INFO] New total world population: 253187019
2023-03-22 16:48:12 [PROGRESS] 61 %
2023-03-22 16:48:12 [INFO] -> Releasing Invasive Fauna Into Colonies
2023-03-22 16:48:12 [PROGRESS] 62 %
2023-03-22 16:48:12 [INFO] -> Monitoring Native Fauna Reaction
2023-03-22 16:48:12 [PROGRESS] 63 %
2023-03-22 16:48:12 [INFO] -> Dropping Infected AI Cores
2023-03-22 16:48:12 [PROGRESS] 64 %
2023-03-22 16:48:12 [INFO] -> Dropping Poorly-Shaped States
2023-03-22 16:48:12 [PROGRESS] 65 %
2023-03-22 16:48:12 [INFO] -> Merging Nations
2023-03-22 16:48:12 [INFO] Distributing national and cultural union cores.
2023-03-22 16:48:12 [INFO] -> Invoking the Undead
2023-03-22 16:48:12 [PROGRESS] 66 %
2023-03-22 16:48:12 [INFO] -> Converting Armies and Navies
2023-03-22 16:48:14 [PROGRESS] 67 %
2023-03-22 16:48:14 [INFO] -> Converting Ongoing Conflicts
2023-03-22 16:48:14 [PROGRESS] 68 %
2023-03-22 16:48:14 [INFO] -> Describing Religion
2023-03-22 16:48:14 [PROGRESS] 69 %
2023-03-22 16:48:14 [INFO] -> Converting Botanical Definitions
2023-03-22 16:48:14 [PROGRESS] 70 %
2023-03-22 16:48:14 [INFO] -> Converting country flags
2023-03-22 16:48:14 [PROGRESS] 71 %
2023-03-22 16:48:14 [INFO] -> Localizing Provinces
2023-03-22 16:48:14 [INFO] <> 57 provinces marked for renaming.
2023-03-22 16:48:14 [PROGRESS] 73 %
2023-03-22 16:48:14 [INFO] -> Setting up the world
2023-03-22 16:48:14 [INFO] - Le Dump <---
2023-03-22 16:48:14 [PROGRESS] 80 %
2023-03-22 16:48:14 [INFO] <- Copying Mod Template
2023-03-22 16:48:19 [PROGRESS] 81 %
2023-03-22 16:48:19 [INFO] <- Moving Mod Template >> my_first_megacampaign
2023-03-22 16:48:19 [PROGRESS] 82 %
2023-03-22 16:48:19 [INFO] <- Crafting .mod File
2023-03-22 16:48:19 [INFO] -> Writing to: output/my_first_megacampaign.mod
2023-03-22 16:48:19 [PROGRESS] 83 %
2023-03-22 16:48:19 [INFO] <- Writing version
2023-03-22 16:48:19 [PROGRESS] 84 %
2023-03-22 16:48:19 [INFO] <- Updating bookmarks
2023-03-22 16:48:19 [PROGRESS] 85 %
2023-03-22 16:48:19 [PROGRESS] 86 %
2023-03-22 16:48:19 [INFO] <- Creating countries.txt
2023-03-22 16:48:19 [PROGRESS] 87 %
2023-03-22 16:48:19 [INFO] -> Creating Flags
2023-03-22 16:48:19 [INFO] Loading colonial flag registry.
2023-03-22 16:48:19 [INFO] Parsing EU4 custom flag colours.
2023-03-22 16:48:19 [PROGRESS] 88 %
2023-03-22 16:48:19 [INFO] -> Setting Flags
2023-03-22 16:48:19 [PROGRESS] 89 %
2023-03-22 16:48:19 [INFO] <- Writing Flags
2023-03-22 16:48:54 [PROGRESS] 90 %
2023-03-22 16:48:54 [INFO] <- Writing Localisation Text
2023-03-22 16:48:54 [INFO] <- Writing Localization Names
2023-03-22 16:48:54 [INFO] <- Writing Province Localizations
2023-03-22 16:48:54 [INFO] <- Writing Mutated Fauna
2023-03-22 16:48:54 [PROGRESS] 91 %
2023-03-22 16:48:54 [INFO] <- Writing Provinces
2023-03-22 16:48:58 [PROGRESS] 92 %
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2023-03-22 16:49:03 [ERROR] Converter Error! See log.txt for details.
2023-03-22 16:49:03 [ERROR] If you require assistance please upload log.txt to forums for a detailed post-mortem.

See link below for Part 1- Reddit - Dive into anything
I hope everyone enjoys this story. I worked on condensing what I wrote the past few weeks and changed some things about the characters - I personally like this story arcs better.
TL;DR of where they go to college at the end.
Chapter 5: RD Results and Final Decisions Matthew It was a typical afternoon at the Green Hills High School library, and Matthew was sitting at one of the tables with his laptop, anxiously refreshing his email. Today was the day he would receive his regular admissions college results. He knew his life was about to change drastically, and he couldn't help but feel a mixture of excitement and dread as he awaited the news.
One by one, the emails started to come in. Matthew held his breath as he clicked on each of them, revealing the decisions that would shape his future. As he opened each email, he was met with a series of acceptances: Columbia, Princeton, Duke, UPenn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Carnegie Mellon, SUNY Binghamton, and SUNY Stony Brook. He was waitlisted at Harvard and Caltech but rejected at MIT, Stanford, and Yale.
Matthew's heart raced as he read through the acceptance letters, hardly believing the incredible opportunities that were now within his reach. He couldn't help but feel a sense of pride and accomplishment, knowing that all his hard work and dedication had paid off.
The email from Columbia caught his eye, and he opened it with particular interest. As he read through the letter, he discovered that not only had he been accepted, but he had also received an excellent financial aid package and had been accepted into Columbia's Undergraduate Scholars Program (CUSP). Matthew's eyes widened in disbelief, realizing that attending his dream school was now a genuine possibility.
As the news began to sink in, Matthew called his parents to share the exciting results. They were ecstatic, congratulating him on his incredible achievements and assuring him that they would support him in whichever decision he made.
Over the next few days, Matthew carefully considered his options, discussing them with his family, teachers, and friends. As he weighed the pros and cons, he found himself drawn to Columbia again and again. Its vibrant urban location, prestigious academic reputation, and the incredible financial aid package made it the perfect fit for him.
With a deep breath, Matthew finally made his decision. He clicked the "accept" button on Columbia's online portal, sealing his commitment to attend the university in the fall. A sense of relief and excitement washed over him, knowing that he was about to embark on a new journey that would shape the rest of his life.
In the following days, Matthew shared the news with his friends at Green Hills High School, who were thrilled for him and eager to hear about his decision. As they celebrated together, Matthew couldn't help but feel grateful for the support and encouragement he had received from his friends and family throughout the entire college application process. And as he looked forward to the future, he knew that he was ready to take on the challenges and opportunities that awaited him at Columbia University.
Priya It was the day that Priya had been anxiously waiting for since she was deferred from Brown Early Decision. As she sat in her bedroom, her hands trembling slightly, she mustered the courage to check her email for the regular admissions decisions. Her heart raced as the notifications started to pour in, each one carrying the potential to change her life forever.
Taking a deep breath, Priya opened the first email, revealing an acceptance from Brown. Her eyes widened in disbelief, a surge of joy and relief washing over her. She continued to read through the other acceptance letters, receiving offers from Cornell, Vanderbilt, Georgetown, Emory, UC-Berkeley, UVA, SUNY Binghamton, and SUNY Stony Brook.
However, the waitlist notifications soon followed. Priya was waitlisted at Harvard, Duke, UChicago, Northwestern, UCLA, NYU, Wash U, and Northeastern. Despite her impressive list of acceptances, the weight of the waitlist decisions stung. She closed the final batch of emails, revealing rejections from Stanford, Yale, Princeton, and U Penn.
Overwhelmed with emotion, Priya took a moment to process the whirlwind of news. She called her parents into her room and shared the results with them. They hugged her tightly, expressing their pride and assuring her that they would support any decision she made.
As the days passed, Priya carefully weighed her options, discussing them with her family, teachers, and friends. She revisited her Brown acceptance letter repeatedly, her heart fluttering with excitement each time she read it. Brown had always been her dream school, and now it was within reach.
After much thought and deliberation, Priya knew where she belonged. With newfound confidence and excitement, she logged into Brown's online portal and clicked the "accept" button. It was official; she was going to be part of the Brown University community.
Sharing the news with her friends at Green Hills High School, Priya found comfort and encouragement in their enthusiasm and support. They celebrated her decision to attend Brown, knowing that she had found the perfect place to continue her education and pursue her passion for social justice.
As Priya looked forward to her future at Brown, she felt a deep sense of gratitude for the love and support she had received throughout the entire college application process. Her friends and family had been her rock, and she couldn't wait to embark on this new journey with their encouragement behind her.
Minho Minho had already received his acceptance to MIT Early Action, but that didn't stop him from feeling anxious as he waited for the rest of his regular admissions decisions. Sitting in his room, he watched his email notifications with bated breath, eager to learn the outcomes of his other applications.
As the emails rolled in, Minho began to open them one by one. He was thrilled to see acceptance letters from Caltech, Carnegie Mellon, UC-Berkeley, Georgia Tech, Purdue, UCSD, and SUNY Stony Brook. His excitement grew as he realized the breadth of his accomplishments and the opportunities that lay before him.
However, the waitlist notifications soon followed, and Minho discovered that he had been placed on the waitlists for Columbia, Cornell, and Northeastern. He couldn't help but feel a twinge of disappointment, but his spirits remained high, buoyed by his impressive list of acceptances.
The final email revealed a rejection from Stanford. Though it stung to see the "we regret to inform you" message, Minho took the news in stride, knowing that he had already been accepted to his dream school, MIT.
Over the next few days, Minho carefully considered his options. Though he had several fantastic schools to choose from, MIT had always been his top choice. Its strong computer science program, rigorous academics, and prestigious reputation aligned perfectly with his aspirations as a future software engineer.
Minho shared his decision with his friends and family, who congratulated him on his incredible achievements. They knew that MIT was the perfect place for Minho to thrive, and they couldn't be more proud of him.
With excitement and anticipation, Minho officially accepted his offer to attend MIT. As he looked forward to the incredible opportunities that awaited him, Minho felt a deep sense of gratitude for the support and encouragement he had received throughout his journey. He couldn't wait to embark on this new chapter of his life and continue to reach for the stars at MIT.
Alex Alex had already been deferred from Stanford Early Action, and he couldn't help but feel anxious as he awaited the results of his regular admissions decisions. Sitting alone in his room, he stared at his computer screen, watching his email notifications pop up one by one.
Taking a deep breath, Alex began to open each email. He was delighted to find acceptance letters from Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, Georgetown, Notre Dame, UCLA, UVA, UMich, Georgia Tech, NYU, SUNY Binghamton, and SUNY Stony Brook. Alex couldn't help but smile at the thought of his accomplishments and the range of opportunities that lay ahead of him.
However, Alex's excitement was tempered by the waitlist notifications that followed. He had been placed on the waitlists for Stanford, Yale, Duke, UPenn, UC-Berkeley, and Carnegie Mellon. Despite his initial disappointment, he reminded himself of the many fantastic schools that had already accepted him.
The final emails revealed rejections from Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Caltech, Columbia, UChicago, Brown, Dartmouth, and Cornell. Although it stung to see the "we regret to inform you" messages, Alex remained optimistic, focusing on the positive outcomes he had received.
Over the next few days, Alex carefully considered his options. He researched each school in depth, attending virtual tours and reading about their academic programs and campus life. Eventually, Alex found himself drawn to Northwestern, with its strong engineering program and beautiful campus near Chicago.
After discussing his decision with his family and friends, Alex decided to commit to Northwestern. He knew that the university would provide him with excellent opportunities to grow academically and personally while pursuing his passion for math and science.
With a mixture of excitement and relief, Alex accepted his offer to attend Northwestern. As he looked forward to the challenges and adventures that awaited him, he felt a deep sense of gratitude for the support and encouragement he had received from those around him. He couldn't wait to embark on the next chapter of his life at Northwestern, where he was eager to make his mark and seize every opportunity that came his way.
Raj Raj had already faced rejection from Yale Early Action, but he knew that he still had plenty of opportunities ahead. He sat at his desk, clutching his phone with anticipation as he waited for the regular admissions decisions to appear in his inbox.
With a mix of excitement and apprehension, Raj began to open each email. His face lit up as he read the acceptance letters from UPenn's prestigious Wharton School, UChicago, Northwestern, Carnegie Mellon, UC-Berkeley, UCLA, USC, NYU, and SUNY Binghamton. Raj was proud of his achievements and felt grateful for the wide array of options he now had to consider.
Next, Raj opened his waitlist notifications. He had been placed on the waitlists for Princeton, Columbia, Brown, Cornell, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, UMich, and Northeastern. While he couldn't help but feel a pang of disappointment, he knew that he had already received some impressive acceptances.
Lastly, Raj confronted the rejection letters from Harvard, Stanford, and Duke. He reminded himself that rejection was a natural part of the college admissions process and that he had still accomplished a great deal.
Over the next few days, Raj spent hours comparing the schools he had been accepted to, looking into their academic programs, extracurricular activities, and overall campus culture. As he researched and reflected, Raj found himself increasingly drawn to the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. With its world-renowned business program and bustling urban location, UPenn seemed like the perfect place for him to thrive.
After discussing his options with his family, friends, and teachers, Raj made the decision to attend UPenn's Wharton School. He knew that the outstanding education and resources available to him there would set him on a path to success in the business world.
With excitement and determination, Raj accepted his offer to attend Wharton. As he looked forward to the next chapter in his life, he felt a deep sense of gratitude for the support he had received throughout his journey. Raj was ready to take on the challenges and opportunities that awaited him at the University of Pennsylvania, eager to make a lasting impact on both his future and the world around him.
Rachel Rachel sat in her room, her heart pounding as she stared at her laptop screen. She had already been rejected from Columbia Early Decision, and she couldn't help but feel a sense of dread as she prepared to open her regular admissions decisions. She knew that her tiger mom had high expectations, and the thought of disappointing her made Rachel's stomach churn.
As the emails began to arrive, Rachel hesitantly opened each one. Her face lit up with a smile as she read her acceptance letters from NYU, SUNY Binghamton, and SUNY Stony Brook. But the waitlist notifications soon followed, revealing that she had been placed on the waitlists for Cornell and Johns Hopkins.
Then came the rejections. Rachel's heart sank as she read the list of schools that had denied her admission: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Duke, Brown, UPenn, Dartmouth, Northwestern, UChicago, Amherst, Williams, Swarthmore, Vanderbilt, and Barnard. With each rejection, she felt the weight of her mother's expectations pressing down on her.
Fighting back tears, Rachel shared the news with her father first, hoping to gain some courage before facing her mother. Her father hugged her tightly, reassuring her that he was proud of her accomplishments and would support her decision no matter what.
The moment of truth came when Rachel sat down with her mother to discuss her college admissions results. Bracing herself for disappointment or anger, she shared her acceptances, waitlists, and rejections. To her surprise, her mother's reaction was not as harsh as she had feared. Though there was a hint of disappointment in her eyes, her mother told her that she was proud of her hard work and that she would always be there for her.
As the days went by, Rachel considered her options carefully. She had always loved the city, and the thought of attending NYU, with its vibrant atmosphere and diverse student body, appealed to her. After discussing her options with her parents and friends, she made the decision to attend NYU.
Rachel accepted her offer of admission to NYU with a mix of relief and excitement. She knew that her journey at NYU would be filled with new challenges, opportunities, and the chance to grow as a writer.
Although she hadn't gotten into some of the prestigious schools her mother had hoped for, Rachel felt a sense of pride in her accomplishments. She had faced her fears and come out stronger, ready to take on the next chapter of her life at NYU with determination and passion.
Alicia Alicia had already received her Early Action acceptance to Georgetown, but she still eagerly awaited the results of her other college applications. Sitting at the kitchen table with her family, she refreshed her email inbox, hoping for good news.
As the emails arrived, Alicia read the contents out loud to her family. She was elated to announce acceptances from Duke, Dartmouth, Emory, and NYU. Her family clapped and cheered, sharing in her joy and pride at her accomplishments.
Next came the waitlist notifications. Alicia informed her family that she had been placed on the waitlists for Princeton, Cornell, and Northeastern. Although she felt a hint of disappointment, she couldn't help but be grateful for her already impressive list of acceptances.
Finally, she read her rejection letters from Harvard, Yale, and Columbia. Despite the sting of rejection, Alicia remained optimistic, knowing she had already been accepted into several fantastic schools.
Over the following days, Alicia weighed her options. She found herself torn between Duke, where her older brother Marcus attended, and Georgetown's prestigious School of Foreign Service. She discussed her choices with her family, friends, and school counselors, seeking advice and insight to help her make the best decision.
Ultimately, Alicia chose to attend Georgetown. While the prospect of attending Duke and being closer to her brother was appealing, she couldn't deny her passion for international relations and the incredible opportunities that Georgetown's School of Foreign Service offered.
Alicia shared her decision with her brother, who expressed his support and pride in her choice. He knew that Georgetown was the perfect fit for her ambitions and dreams, and he looked forward to hearing about her experiences and successes there.
With excitement and determination, Alicia accepted her offer to attend Georgetown. As she looked forward to her future, she felt a deep sense of gratitude for the love and support she had received throughout her journey. She knew that Georgetown was the perfect place for her to grow, learn, and chase her dreams of making a difference in the world.
David David had already been accepted at Stanford to play football through the Restricted Early Action process, but that didn't stop his anticipation for the regular admissions decisions. As a talented athlete with a strong academic record, he knew that other prestigious schools might also be interested in recruiting him for their football programs.
One afternoon, David received emails from the football coaches at the University of Michigan and the University of Notre Dame, each expressing their enthusiasm to have him join their respective teams. David felt a sense of pride and accomplishment as he read the messages, knowing that his hard work both on and off the field had paid off.
Over the following days, David weighed his options carefully. He took the time to research each school's football program, academic offerings, and campus culture. He also reached out to his friends, family, and coaches to discuss his choices and gather their input.
As David considered each opportunity, he found himself consistently drawn back to Stanford. The university's strong academics, beautiful campus, and exceptional football program all seemed like the perfect fit for him. Moreover, he knew that attending Stanford would provide him with not only an excellent athletic experience but also the foundation for a successful career in business.
With a renewed sense of certainty, David confirmed his decision to attend Stanford. He sent emails to the coaches at Michigan and Notre Dame, thanking them for their offers and expressing his gratitude for their interest in him as an athlete and student.
As the day approached for David to sign his letter of intent with Stanford, he couldn't help but feel a mixture of excitement and relief. He knew that he had made the right choice and was eager to embark on the next chapter of his life as a student-athlete at one of the nation's most respected universities.
With his family and friends gathered around him, David signed the letter, officially committing to Stanford. He was filled with gratitude for the support he had received throughout his journey and looked forward to making his mark on the football field while pursuing his dreams in the classroom.
Taylor After having been deferred from Swarthmore during the Early Decision process, Taylor anxiously awaited their regular college admissions decisions. Sitting in their room, they took a deep breath as they opened their laptop to check their email.
As they started reading through the messages, Taylor felt a surge of happiness when they saw their acceptance letters from Wesleyan, Swarthmore, Barnard, Vassar, Reed, SUNY Binghamton, and SUNY Stony Brook. Each letter confirmed that these schools appreciated Taylor's unique talents and creativity, and were excited to have them on campus.
Next, Taylor opened the emails notifying them of their waitlist status at Williams, Northwestern, Emory, Georgetown, and Carnegie Mellon. Though a part of them felt disheartened, Taylor knew that they already had several amazing options to choose from.
Finally, Taylor faced the rejection letters from Yale, Duke, Columbia, Amherst, Brown, and Cornell. While it was tough to see those rejections, Taylor reminded themselves that the college admissions process was highly competitive and subjective, and that they had still achieved a great deal.
Over the next few days, Taylor spent hours researching the colleges they had been accepted to, focusing on each school's academic offerings, campus environment, and commitment to fostering an inclusive and supportive atmosphere. As they delved deeper, Taylor found themselves increasingly drawn to Wesleyan University, which was renowned for its vibrant arts scene and progressive community.
After discussing their options with family and friends, Taylor ultimately decided to attend Wesleyan. They knew that the university would not only provide them with a top-notch education but also a welcoming and nurturing environment where they could truly thrive as a nonbinary student.
Filled with excitement and anticipation, Taylor sent in their enrollment deposit to Wesleyan, eagerly looking forward to the incredible journey ahead. They couldn't wait to join the Wesleyan community, where they would have the opportunity to learn, grow, and make a lasting impact on the world.
Chapter 6: The Aftermath
Priya and Rachel Rachel and Priya sat on the steps outside Green Hills High School, their college decisions in hand. The sun was shining, but Rachel couldn't shake the cloud that hung over her head. She glanced at her list of acceptances and rejections, then looked over at Priya's results.
"Congrats on getting into Brown, Priya. I'm really happy for you," Rachel said, trying to force a smile.
"Thanks, Rachel. I'm excited, but I'm more worried about you. Are you okay?" Priya asked, concerned for her friend.
Rachel sighed, "I can't help but feel disappointed, you know? I got rejected by so many top colleges. All I have are NYU, SUNY Binghamton, and SUNY Stony Brook, and waitlists at Cornell and Johns Hopkins."
Priya placed a comforting hand on Rachel's shoulder. "Rachel, you're an amazing writer and a talented student. NYU is a fantastic school, and it's in the heart of New York City – the perfect place for a budding writer like you. Besides, you never know what might happen with the waitlists."
Rachel looked down at her results, then back at Priya. "I guess you're right. It's just that you got into so many prestigious schools, and I can't help but feel a little envious. I saw you were waitlisted at NYU, but I bet they only did that because they're afraid you'd choose another school over them."
Priya smiled reassuringly. "That's kind of you to say, but you shouldn't compare yourself to me or anyone else. We all have our own paths, and NYU seems like a perfect fit for you. Plus, I'm genuinely thrilled about your acceptance there."
Rachel nodded, taking a deep breath. "You know, my parents were actually happy about NYU. I was really surprised. I guess I should focus on the positives and make the most of the opportunity. Thank you, Priya. You're a good friend."
Priya hugged Rachel. "That's what friends are for, Rachel. I know you'll do great things at NYU, and we'll still keep in touch no matter where we are. We're in this together."
With a newfound sense of determination, Rachel decided to embrace her future at NYU, ready to make her mark on the world as an incredible writer.
Decision Day On College Decision Day, the excitement was palpable at Green Hills High School. Seniors wore shirts representing their chosen colleges, with a buzz of chatter filling the hallways as they eagerly discussed their futures. A banner hung in the common area, reading "Congratulations, Class of 2023!"
Ethan and Julie Green walked into the school together, both beaming with pride. Ethan wore a University of Chicago shirt, while Julie sported her Duke University gear. The twins exchanged a proud glance, thrilled to be attending their dream schools.
Priya Rabinowitz, her heart set on Brown University, chatted animatedly with her best friend Rachel Lee. Rachel wore an NYU shirt, a symbol of her acceptance and determination to thrive as a writer in the heart of New York City.
Matthew Hernandez stood tall, proudly wearing his Columbia University shirt. He was excited about the financial aid package and the Undergraduate Scholars Program that made his Ivy League dreams a reality.
David Anderson, sporting a Stanford shirt, high-fived his teammates as they congratulated him on his football recruitment. He was ready to take on the challenges of both academics and athletics at an elite university.
Minho Park, clad in an MIT shirt, discussed the future of technology with his computer science classmates. His passion for math and science would be nurtured at one of the world's top institutions.
Alicia Davis, wearing her Georgetown shirt, smiled as she thought about attending the prestigious university and following in her brother's footsteps of pursuing a law degree.
Alex Madrigal, dressed in Northwestern purple, was excited to embark on his academic journey at a top-tier school. He shared his enthusiasm with classmates who were also preparing to move to the Midwest.
Taylor, wearing a Wesleyan University shirt, found comfort in knowing that they would be attending a college that celebrated their nonbinary identity and allowed them to explore their creativity.
Raj Singh, proudly displaying his UPenn Wharton shirt, engaged in a lively debate about business and economics, eager to learn from the best in the world.
Mary Sinclair, wearing her Brown University shirt, felt a mix of relief and excitement as she thought about her future at the Ivy League institution, hoping to prove herself beyond her family legacy.
As the day went on, the students of Green Hills High School celebrated their accomplishments and the new chapters ahead. They shared memories, laughter, and even some tears as they prepared to embark on their college journeys. Though they would soon part ways, the bonds forged at Green Hills would remain a cherished part of their lives.
*END*
I hope everyone enjoyed this updated story! I know this post was long but overall this story is a LOT shorter than the one I originally posted. I made a bunch of changes to the original one - so this isn't a summary of the long one. I personally like this set of characters better than the first one to be honest.
TL;DR Ethan Green: UChicago Julie Green: Duke Priya Rabinowitz: Brown Rachel Lee: NYU Matthew Hernandez: Columbia Minho Park: MIT Alicia Davis: Georgetown Mary Sinclair: Brown Alex Madrigal: Northwestern Raj Singh: UPenn (Wharton) David Anderson: Stanford (football) Taylor Chen: Wesleyan

Hi all, I ended up condensing this story a lot and I changed the trajectory of some of the students. I added a new student (Rachel) and took out another (Sarah). Hopefully you all liked this story! I took out some of the "fluff" scenes and decided just to focus on college stuff for the most part.
This is it *phew*. I had to split in two parts because Reddit has a 40k character limit.
Link for Part 2 below Reddit - Dive into anything
IntroductionEthan Green:

• GPA: 3.6
• SAT score: 1590
• Top 5 extracurriculars: Math Club, School Band (Guitar), Chess Club, Tutoring, Art Club

Julie Green:

• GPA: 4.0
• SAT score: 1500
• Top 5 extracurriculars: School Newspaper (Editor-in-Chief), School Band (Guitar), Model United Nations, Yearbook Club, Environmental Club

Priya Rabinowitz:

• GPA: 4.0
• SAT score: 1570
• Top 5 extracurriculars: Student Council (President), Debate Team, Key Club, National Honor Society, Volunteer at local non-profit organization

Matthew Hernandez:

• GPA: 4.0
• SAT score: 1580
• Top 5 extracurriculars: Science Olympiad, Math Club, Robotics Club, Peer Tutoring, Community Service Club

Rachel Lee:

• GPA: 3.8
• SAT score: 1460
• Top 5 extracurriculars: Creative Writing Club, School Newspaper, Drama Club, Art Club, National Honor Society

David Anderson:

• GPA: 3.7
• SAT score: 1410
• Top 5 extracurriculars: Varsity Football (Quarterback), Student-Athlete Leadership Council, Business Club, School Spirit Committee, Volunteer at local youth sports organization

Minho Park:

• GPA: 4.0
• SAT score: 1590
• Top 5 extracurriculars: Computer Science Club, Math Club, Science Olympiad, Robotics Club, USACO (USA Computing Olympiad) participant

Alicia Davis:

• GPA: 3.9
• SAT score: 1520
• Top 5 extracurriculars: Debate Team, Mock Trial, Model United Nations, Volunteer at local community center, National Honor Society

Alex Madrigal:

• GPA: 4.0
• SAT score: 1550
• Top 5 extracurriculars: Math Club, Science Olympiad, Soccer Team, School Newspaper, Spanish Club

Taylor Chen:

• GPA: 3.8
• SAT score: 1480
• Top 5 extracurriculars: Art Club, LGBT+ Alliance, Drama Club, Environmental Club, School Newspaper (Arts Section)

Raj Singh:

• GPA: 4.0
• SAT score: 1560
• Top 5 extracurriculars: Debate Team, Model United Nations, Science Olympiad, National Honor Society, School Newspaper (Opinions Editor)

Mary Sinclair:

• GPA: 3.9
• SAT score: 1510
• Top 5 extracurriculars: Art Club, Student Council (Vice President), School Newspaper (Features Editor), Yearbook Club, Community Service Club

Chapter 1: Beginning of Senior Year The crisp autumn air swirled around Green Hills High School, a prestigious public high school nestled in the suburbs of New York City. A sense of urgency and anticipation permeated the school, as the college admissions season had arrived. The pressures of academic achievement and looming deadlines weighed heavily on the shoulders of the senior class, who each bore their own unique dreams and aspirations. Among them were twelve students, each with distinct backgrounds and stories, all vying for a chance to secure a place at their dream colleges.
Ethan Green, an academically gifted slacker, found his once-promising future in jeopardy due to personal struggles and substance abuse. However, a stunning 1590 on the SATs breathed new life into his aspirations, rekindling his desire to attend the University of Chicago. With the unwavering support of his twin sister Julie, a straight-A student with a passion for music, Ethan began the arduous journey of repairing his tarnished transcript. Julie, on the other hand, had her heart set on Duke University, where she hoped to pursue a career in journalism.
Priya Rabinowitz, a brilliant, mixed-race overachiever, was the epitome of a perfect student. Her dream was to attend Brown University, driven by her passion for social justice. Despite her many accomplishments, she harbored a secret fear of not being "good enough." Her best friend, Rachel Lee, shared a similar sentiment, feeling inadequate in comparison to her academically perfect older brother Brian, and her high-achieving friend, Priya.
Matthew Hernandez, a top student with perfect grades and a near-perfect SAT score, dreamed of attending Harvard University, but his impoverished background made paying for college seem like an insurmountable challenge. At the same time, David Anderson, the school's star quarterback, yearned to attend Stanford and study business, but feared that his intelligence would be overshadowed by his athletic prowess.
Minho Park, a computer science prodigy who moved from South Korea at a young age, aimed to attend a prestigious school like MIT, Caltech, or Stanford. Alicia Davis, one of the few black students at Green Hills High School, aspired to attend Georgetown University and become a lawyer, her warm personality making her a natural confidante to her peers.
Alex Madrigal, another top student with a passion for math, science, and soccer, focused on getting into Stanford University. Meanwhile, Taylor Chen, a recently out nonbinary student, sought a college that would provide a safe and supportive environment for them to thrive.
Raj Singh, a senior at Green Hills High School who excelled in debate, hoped to attend Yale University. Lastly, Mary Sinclair, a talented artist who faced the pressures of being a double legacy at Brown University, worried that she may not truly be qualified for the prestigious institution.
As the college admissions season unfolded, these twelve seniors navigated the treacherous waters of self-discovery, friendship, and ambition, their journeys intertwining and shaping one another in ways they could never have imagined. The story of Green Hills High School's senior class was one of hope, heartache, and the relentless pursuit of dreams, all set against the backdrop of an unforgiving, competitive world.
Chapter 2: Applying Early The sun had barely risen on November 1st, the day when early college applications were due. A flurry of last-minute edits and double-checking consumed the lives of Green Hills High School's seniors as they prepared to submit their applications. The twelve friends, united by their dreams, sat together in the school library, each nervously finalizing their college applications.
Ethan, his heart pounding, reviewed his application one last time before hitting the submit button for Early Decision at the University of Chicago. He felt a mixture of excitement and trepidation as he considered the possibility of attending his dream school.
Julie, sitting beside her twin, took a deep breath and clicked submit on her Early Decision application to Duke University. She allowed herself a brief moment of relief, knowing she had poured her heart into her application and showcased her love for journalism.
Priya's hands trembled as she applied Early Decision to Brown University, her anxiety about being "good enough" momentarily set aside in the hope that her passion for social justice would shine through.
Rachel, her heart racing, sent off her Early Decision application to Columbia University, trying to shake off the pressure from her family and praying that her talents as a writer would be enough to secure her a spot at the prestigious institution.
Matthew, his jaw clenched, submitted his Restricted Early Action application to Harvard University, knowing that his future depended on receiving sufficient financial aid. He hoped that his stellar academic achievements would make it impossible for Harvard to turn him away.
David's eyes were filled with determination as he sent off his Restricted Early Action application to Stanford University, after completing his football tryouts. He hoped that the admissions officers would see his potential both on the field and in the classroom.
Minho, his fingers tapping anxiously, submitted his Early Action application to MIT. He had poured his heart into his computer science projects and was eager to showcase his passion and talent in his application.
Alicia, with a supportive smile from her friends, applied Early Action to Georgetown University. Her dream of becoming a lawyer seemed closer than ever as she hit the submit button, the pride she felt in herself evident in her eyes.
Alex, filled with anticipation, sent off his Restricted Early Action application to Stanford University. He knew that his academic achievements and passion for soccer had the potential to make him stand out in the competitive applicant pool.
Taylor, their hands shaking with nerves, applied Early Decision to Swarthmore College. They hoped that the accepting environment of the school would allow them to embrace their nonbinary identity and pursue their artistic passions.
Raj, his heart pounding, submitted his Restricted Early Action application to Yale University. He knew that his father would have been proud of his accomplishments, and he hoped that his debate skills and determination would be enough to secure a place at his dream school.
Mary, her face a mixture of hope and worry, applied Early Decision to Brown University. Despite her double legacy status, she longed to be admitted based on her own merits and her passion for art, rather than her family connections.
As the twelve friends hit the submit buttons on their applications, a collective sigh of relief filled the library. They had taken the first, crucial step in the college admissions process, their dreams laid bare for the admissions officers to see. The waiting game had begun, and their futures hung in the balance, but for now, they took solace in their shared journey, knowing that whatever the outcome, they had each other's support.
Chapter 3: Early Admissions Results
It was a chilly December evening when the early decision and early action results were released. The twelve friends gathered at Ethan and Julie's house, huddled around their laptops and phones, each waiting with bated breath for the email that would determine their future.
Ethan opened his email first, his eyes widening as he read the words, "Congratulations!" He had been accepted to the University of Chicago! The room erupted in cheers and applause as Julie hugged her twin, her pride in his accomplishment shining in her eyes.
Next, Julie nervously opened her own email, letting out a squeal of joy as she discovered that she had been accepted to Duke University. Her dream of studying journalism at the prestigious institution was now a reality, and her friends celebrated with her, sharing in her happiness.
Priya's hands shook as she opened her email from Brown University, only to find that she had been deferred. Her heart sank, and she tried to mask her disappointment with a smile. Rachel, whose application to Columbia University had been rejected, wrapped an arm around her friend, offering silent support.
Matthew's face fell as he read that his application to Harvard had also been deferred. He fought back the fear that his family's financial situation might prevent him from attending his dream school, even if he were ultimately accepted.
David beamed with pride as he announced that he had been accepted to Stanford University to play football. His friends cheered for him, although Alex couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy, knowing he was more academically qualified. Alex's own email from Stanford revealed that he had been deferred, causing the disappointment to settle heavier in his heart.
Minho's face lit up with joy as he discovered that he had been accepted to MIT. His friends congratulated him, knowing that his hard work and dedication to computer science had paid off. Alicia, too, had reason to celebrate, as she was accepted to Georgetown University, one step closer to her dream of becoming a lawyer.
Taylor's heart raced as they opened their email from Swarthmore College, only to find that they had been deferred. They tried to remain hopeful, knowing that the college search was far from over.
Raj's face paled as he read that he had been rejected from Yale University. The disappointment stung, but his friends rallied around him, reminding him of his incredible accomplishments and assuring him that he would find the right college in the end.
Finally, Mary opened her email from Brown University and was met with the news of her acceptance. The room filled with cheers and congratulations, but Priya couldn't help feeling a twinge of jealousy. While Mary was a strong student, Priya's test scores and grades had been higher, and she knew that Mary's double legacy status had played a role in her acceptance.
As the evening came to an end, the twelve friends had experienced a roller coaster of emotions. Some had reason to celebrate, while others were met with disappointment, jealousy, or uncertainty. Despite the various outcomes, they knew that their friendship would remain steadfast. Together, they would continue to navigate the ups and downs of the college admissions process, their bonds only growing stronger as they faced an uncertain but hopeful future.
Chapter 4: A Few Random Scenes Before RD Decisions Income Brackets The twelve friends gathered at a local park on a sunny Saturday afternoon, enjoying each other's company as they picnicked and played games. As the sun began to dip in the sky, they sat on the grass in a circle, sharing their thoughts and experiences.
Alicia, ever the good listener, brought up a topic that they had all noticed but rarely discussed: their different income brackets. It was a sensitive subject, but Alicia felt that it was important for them to acknowledge and understand the unique challenges each of them faced.
Matthew, who came from a low-income family, hesitated before speaking up. "You know, sometimes it's really hard being one of the poorest students in our school. I've had to work a part-time job to help support my family, and that's meant less time for studying or extracurriculars." His friends nodded in sympathy, recognizing the additional pressure that Matthew faced in trying to balance his responsibilities.
Ethan, Julie, Minho, Alicia, and Taylor, who all came from middle-class families, shared their own struggles. "It's not always easy for us either," said Julie. "We may not have to worry as much about making ends meet, but we still feel the pressure to work hard and achieve our dreams without having a financial safety net to fall back on."
Priya, Rachel, David, Alex, and Raj, who were considered upper middle class, acknowledged the advantages they had but also shared their perspectives. "Sure, we have more resources," admitted Priya, "but it sometimes feels like there's an expectation for us to succeed no matter what. That pressure can be really overwhelming."
Mary, who came from an upper-class family, listened to her friends' experiences and nodded in understanding. "I know I'm fortunate," she said softly, "but it's not always easy being seen as the 'rich kid.' Sometimes people assume I don't have to work hard, or that I don't have my own problems. Money can't buy happiness, and it can't guarantee success either."
As the conversation continued, the friends found themselves opening up about their fears, insecurities, and the unique challenges they faced because of their different financial situations. They began to understand each other's perspectives more fully, realizing that no one had a perfect life, regardless of their income bracket.
The sun had almost set by the time the twelve friends decided to pack up and head home. As they walked together, they felt a renewed sense of unity and support. They knew that their friendship was more important than any financial differences, and they were grateful to have one another as they faced whatever challenges life had in store for them.
Ethan
The twelve friends were seated in the school library, working on a group project for their history class. Their task was to research and create a presentation on the American Revolution, and each student was responsible for a specific aspect of the project.
As they discussed their findings, Julie mentioned a piece of information that she couldn't quite recall. "I remember reading something about the Battle of Saratoga, but I can't remember the exact details," she admitted, frustrated.
Ethan, who had been quietly browsing through a book, glanced up and said, "Do you mean the fact that it was a turning point in the Revolutionary War because it convinced the French to support the American cause?"
Julie looked at him, surprised. "Yes, that's exactly it! How did you know?"
Ethan grinned sheepishly. "I saw it in one of the books we were using for research last week. I just happened to glance at the page, but it stuck in my head."
His friends exchanged glances, impressed by Ethan's uncanny ability to remember things he had only seen briefly. It was a talent they had all noticed before, but never really discussed.
Curious, Minho asked, "Ethan, do you have a photographic memory?"
Ethan shrugged. "I guess you could say that. I've always been able to remember things I've seen or read, even if it's just for a short moment. It's just something my brain does."
The group marveled at Ethan's unique skill, and they began to ask him questions about various historical events and figures. To their amazement, he was able to recall an incredible amount of information, often down to the exact page number where he had seen it.
As the group continued their project, they couldn't help but feel grateful for Ethan's extraordinary memory. His ability to retain and recall information made their research more efficient, and it quickly became clear that his talent would be a major asset in their project.
The friends were not only impressed by Ethan's photographic memory but also inspired by the way he used his gift to help the group. It was a reminder that each of them had their unique strengths, and when they worked together, there was no challenge they couldn't overcome.
Rachel The twelve friends had gathered at Priya's house for a relaxed weekend hangout. As they lounged in the living room, a pile of their old middle school yearbooks lay on the coffee table, stirring up nostalgic memories and laughter.
Raj picked up one of the yearbooks and flipped through the pages, pausing when he came across the "Creative Writing Club" section. He looked up at Rachel and said, "Hey, I remember you won a couple of writing contests back then. Are you still writing?"
Rachel blushed and nodded. "Yeah, I've been working on a few short stories recently."
Her friends exchanged glances, intrigued. "Would you mind sharing one with us?" Alicia asked gently, her eyes full of genuine interest.
With some hesitation, Rachel agreed and disappeared into her bag, retrieving a small notebook. Her friends gathered around her in anticipation as she flipped through the pages, searching for the story she wanted to share.
"Okay," Rachel said, taking a deep breath. "This one is called 'The Timekeeper's Daughter.'"
As she began to read, her friends listened intently. Rachel's words painted a vivid picture of a young girl named Lila, who lived in a world where time was a tangible currency. Lila's father was the town's Timekeeper, responsible for managing and distributing time to the citizens.
The story was filled with imaginative details and intricate descriptions that transported the friends into Lila's world. Rachel's writing was both elegant and engaging, seamlessly weaving together the threads of the plot as the story unfolded.
As Rachel's voice carried them through the emotional highs and lows of Lila's journey, her friends found themselves hanging onto every word. They felt the young girl's joy and sorrow, her determination and fear, and the ultimate resolution of her story.
When Rachel finally closed the notebook, the room was silent for a moment before it erupted into applause. Her friends marveled at the beauty of her storytelling, praising her extraordinary writing abilities.
"Rachel, that was incredible!" Julie exclaimed. "I felt like I was right there with Lila in that world. Your descriptions were so vivid, and the story was so unique and compelling."
"Yeah, you have a real gift," David added, his admiration evident in his voice. "You should consider writing a book someday."
Rachel blushed again, overwhelmed by their compliments. As her friends continued to praise her creative writing talents, she felt a newfound sense of confidence and determination to continue honing her craft.
For the twelve friends, the experience of listening to Rachel's story brought them closer together, as they were reminded once again of the diverse talents that each of them possessed. Together, they celebrated Rachel's extraordinary writing abilities and the unique gifts that each of them brought to their circle of friendship.
See link below for Part 2!

Note: As I said I want to take my time with this story and write it in better quality ("book alike") with bigger chapters and more characters development and world building. Enjoy this chapter!
Prologue Chapter 1 Prev Next
*****
Karina stepped through the portal for the second time that day, emerging in a bustling square in the heart of Aharedun, the capital city of the Kingdom of Aranthia. Unlike the portal to Thalassar, this one was noticeably smaller and less blurry, allowing Karina to clearly see the guards standing on the other side of the shimmering energy field. They wore their imposing grayish armor, their eyes trained on the group of travelers that had just arrived.
Leading the way was Prince Kaelen, who beckoned Karina and their new Viluna companions to follow him into the city. As they made their way through the square, Karina couldn't help but marvel at the sights and sounds around her. The buildings were unlike anything she had ever seen on Earth, with towering spires and ornate decorations adorning every surface. The air was thick with the scent of exotic spices and the sound of alien music that made her toes tap in rhythm.
The crowd that had gathered to greet them was diverse, made up of Thalassarians they already met and several others, she wasn’t sure if they were other species or races.
Her attention was drawn to a particular figure in the crowd, a small creature with dark-green skin and carapaces on its body. It wore a bright yellow toga and had a face that was humanoid but with distinct differences. Its nose was small and almost imperceptible, and it had no hair on its head. Karina couldn't help but stare, fascinated by this strange being.
Before she could take in more of her surroundings, Prince Kaelen stepped forward and made a gesture opening both of his hands and waving his head from one side to other, prompting the crowd to follow suit. Karina wasn't sure if it was a greeting or a bow, but she joined in, copying the movement.
"Welcome, citizens of Aharedun and visitors from afar!" Prince Kaelen announced to the crowd. "We are honored to have these new guests among us, the Humans! We will be taking them to the Royal Palace to show them more of our city tonight and in the coming days. In the meantime, please enjoy the festivities and explore our wonderful city!"
The crowd erupted into applause, and Karina felt a sense of warmth and hospitality from the Thalassarians, she wasn’t sure what she expected once they came here, but this was a welcome sight. As they followed Prince Kaelen down the bustling street, she took in more of the sights and sounds around her, feeling a sense of adventure and excitement building within her. She couldn't wait to see what other wonders this world had in store for her.
They walked stone-cobbled streets towards the big Palace prompted on one of the hills that surrounded the city. The whole time Karina and the humans were escorted by the legion of guards and the hooded figures appeared every once in a while on the corners or on top of the buildings.
“How many people live here?” Karina asked her Viluna which was hovering near her shoulder.
“Around five hundred thousand,” Viluna answered with a squeaky voice.
“Is that a lot in Thalassar or?” Karina asked curiously.
“It’s on a bigger spectrum, but that are larger cities, Aranthia has three bigger cities, but this their capital due to its geopolitical position.” A little speck of flittering light answered. “Which city are you from back on Earth?” The little creature asked her.
“I was born in Moscow,” Karina answered.
“Ahh, we have heard of it in our brief time on Earth,” Viluna answered.
“What?” Karina was shocked. “You have been on Earth? When?” She asked.
“We have visited once the portal was open,” Viluna answered. “We are curious creatures, drawn to new things.”
“How come no one saw you?” Karina asked looking at the Viluna as it flown around her head.
“We can’t take physical or any form on that matter on Earth.” The creature said. “See on our moon we have a physical form, down here on Thalassar we are like this, but once we went through the portal we became nothing but a flicker in the air, barely visible if you knew what you were looking for.” The creature said changing its colors.
“So, why are you here and with us if you can just go to Earth and learn all about us from the shadows?” Karina asked.
“Well, it’s not that simple. Since we can not find any form on Earth, we can’t stay long there, no more than an hour at a time and once we get back it takes us long time to recover.” Viluna explained.
Karina furrowed her brows, trying to understand. “Why is that?”
“We start to lose ourselves if we stay longer. Our minds can’t work right without a form. If we were to stay longer, we would probably cease to exist, as our minds would get lost completely,” Viluna said, changing colors.
“Hmm,” Karina said thinking. “You are weird little creatures. We will talk more tonight, I want to take in all the sights now.” With that said the little creature buzzed above her head.
They had almost reached the big palace during their conversation, only a big flight of rounding stone stairs was between them and an enormous gate at the top of the hill.
“Up we go humans,” Prince Kaelen said and started climbing.
They made their way up the grand staircase, their footsteps echoing against the stone steps. Karina looked around in awe at the view of the city that was unfolding before her. She could see the different districts and neighborhoods of Aharedun, each with its own unique architecture and vibe. She noticed a few towering buildings that stood out from the rest, in her mind those belonged to the nobility or wealthy merchants.
As they reached the top of the stairs, they were met with the sight of the enormous gate, decorated with intricate carvings and symbols that Karina couldn't decipher. The gate was guarded by two large statues of armored soldiers riding unfamiliar beasts, their swords raised and ready to strike. The guards opened the gates, and they stepped into a wide courtyard, filled with lush greenery and fountains.
The palace itself was an impressive structure, with several wings and towers reaching up toward the sky. The walls were made of a white stone that shimmered in the sunlight, and the windows were adorned with colorful stained glass. Karina could see balconies and terraces on the upper floors buzzing with people looking down at their new guests.
Prince Kaelen stood and faced the crown. “Welcome to Royal Palace,” He said opening his arms to show the majestic structure spreading on three sides around them. “It’s been built by my family some four hundred years ago and had been our home ever since.”
As Kaelen talked Karina took her time to take in the marvelous Palace. She was struck by the sheer grandeur of the architecture. Towering pillars rose up from the ground, supporting massive arches and intricate carvings that adorned every inch of the Palace's façade. The gardens were a sight to behold as well, with an array of exotic flowers and plants that seemed to glow in the sunlight. Karina could hear the soft babbling of a nearby fountain, which was surrounded by a group of playful Thalassarian children who were splashing around in the water.
Karina took few steps away from the group and noticed the bustling activity of the Thalassarians as they tended to the upkeep of the Palace and its grounds. Some were meticulously cleaning the pavement, making sure that every stone was spotless. Others were hard at work, trimming and pruning the greenery so that it maintained its shape and beauty. Karina couldn't help but admire the dedication and attention to detail that the Thalassarians put into their work.
Despite their busy schedules, the Thalassarians still found time to take in the sights and sounds of the Palace. Karina observed that they often stopped to exchange greetings and friendly banter with one another, even as they went about their tasks. And yet, whenever opportunity arose, the Thalassarians couldn't help but steal glances in the direction of humans. It was clear that they were curious about the visitors.
“This will be your home for the next year, or until you wish to get reassigned to another part of the program.” Kaelen said finishing speech. “There will be a maid so to say or someone to be of your assistance for each of assigned on top of your Vilunas to make your lives in palace easier. Go ahead enter the east wing of the palace and you will find your rooms at the second and third floor.”
Karina's heart skipped a beat as she stepped into the Palace, her eyes wide open as she tried to take in the grandeur of the interior. The entryway was dominated by a massive chandelier, but she noticed that instead of light bulbs, it was adorned with floating spheres of light that illuminated the entire room in a soft, warm white glow. The walls were painted in a rich shade of yellow, resembling the color of the ocean, while the marble floors were decorated with intricate patterns that seemed the follow the motives from their uniforms.
As she followed the grand hallway, she passed by rooms that were equally lush and rich. She couldn't help but marvel at the fine artwork that adorned the walls, the intricate tapestries that hung from the ceiling, and the luxurious furniture that filled each room. It was like nothing she had ever seen before.
Climbing at the third floor she arrived at her room. It was just as grand as the rest of the Palace, with a large four-poster bed draped in luxurious silks, a writing desk made of rare woods, and a balcony that offered a stunning view of the gardens below.
As Karina was lost in thought, the sound of the door opening startled her. She turned to see a young Thalassarian woman with strikingly unique eyes. They were a deep purple with a faint glow, an unmistakable characteristic of the Thalassarians. Karina guessed her to be in her early twenties, but it was hard to tell with them yet.
The woman's beauty was undeniable, but there was also an awkwardness about her that made her all the more endearing. She stood there nervously, clasping her hands together, as she spoke in a soft voice, "Mistress, my name is Nereia. I have been assigned to assist you during your stay here."
Karina couldn't help but smile at the young woman's formal address, "Please, call me Karina. And it's a pleasure to meet you, Nereia."
Nereia let out a small sigh of relief, "Thank you, Karina. If you'll allow me, I'll show you around and help you with anything you need during your stay here. How do you like your room?" Nereia asked.
“I love it, it’s beautiful,” Karina answered truthfully. “It’s all very overwhelming, but it’s grandiose, to say the least,” Karina said with a friendly smile.
Nereia returned the smile, her faintly glowing eyes sparkling in the light. "I'm glad you like it. Well, the Royal Family is known for its luxurious style.” She said. “Is there anything else you need before I leave you to settle in?"
Karina shook her head, "No, I think I'm good for now. Thank you again, Nereia."
“I will be back later with a gown for the welcome feast tonight, you make yourself comfortable and call me if you need anything,” Nereia left and closed the door behind her.
Moments later Karina stepped out onto the terrace, taking in the sweet scent of blooming flowers and the sound of trickling water from the nearby fountain. She noticed Viluna, her sparkling companion, floating nearby.
"Hey,” Karina said, smiling at her companion. “I was wondering if you could tell me about how magic works. That’s one of the things we humans are the most curious about."
Viluna beamed back at Karina. "It won’t be that simple I am afraid, Karina. Magic is a complex and powerful force that is present in all living things. It's the energy that flows through us and connects us to the world around us."
“Why it won’t be that simple?” Karina asked curiously.
“Well, that’s amongst few things we are not allowed to share with you humans yet,” It said.
“What? Why?” Karina asked. “Aren’t you here to share the knowledge with us?”
“Yes, we are. But it was in the deal we made with the Prince,” Viluna said floating near her head. “The King himself requested we don’t share that knowledge yet, at least not to the full extent. I will answer some of the basic questions and I am sure you will find a lot on your own talking to other Thalassarians, but for now, we are not allowed to explain in detail.”
“Why did he request that?” Karina continued her barrage of questions.
“Because he is afraid that if we give out all of our knowledge you will be able to use it against them if you ever decide to invade again,” Viluna said the explanation made sense to Karina. “But don’t worry if the program goes well I am sure all the knowledge between the two worlds will be shared eventually as the trust grows.”
“Hmm,” Karina frowned. “Makes sense I guess. What can you share now then?” She was persistent.
“Well, All I can tell you is that most of the Thalassarians can cast some of the magic, or at least have to ability to learn it. But to those that can only access simple spells like creating a light sphere, it means nothing. I don’t know if I can find a perfect comparison, but it’s like all of you know how to read and write, but it doesn’t make you special in your own world.”
“Hmm, I don’t know if it’s a great analogy, but I think I get it,” Karina said sitting back in the comfortable chair on the corner of the terrace. “ What else can you share? Where does the magic come from?”
“Hmm, not sure,” Viluna said in a soft voice. “The source of the magic comes to from the moons of Thalassar. There are thirteen of them orbiting the planet and each one of them provides a person with a specific power. Every being born on Thalassar has a connection with at least one and that’s how they are able to make basic spells like light spheres, a small burst of fire, heal minor wounds, and so on.” Viluna spoke and danced around Karina’s head as she listened carefully.
“More skilled mages, healers, enchanters, and so on, have a connection to several moons and use their powers to create and cast unique spells. Even to this day people are able to think of new ways to cast and create new spells. It’s way more complex than that, but it’s all I am able to share for now, that information you can gather by asking almost anyone on the street and it can’t hurt the kingdom.”
“Woah, that’s interesting,” Karina said her eyes full of wonder. “Can someone have a connection to all of the moons?” Karina asked curiously.
“No, that’s unheard of,” Viluna answered landing on her knee. “Powerful magic users most have around five to six connections, the highest anyone ever had was ten, but it is more a myth than a confirmed fact, we don’t have any evidence that Xandros the Second had that ability.”
“Hmm,” Karina said taking in everything her little companion shared with her. “I am sorry, I just realized I never asked you for your name.”
“We Viluna’s don’t have names, but you are free to name me and call me whatever you like,”
“Ok, how about Lumina,” Karina asked right away. “Don’t know why but that name suits you.”
“I like it,” Lumina said her form shifting slightly.
Karina continued to ask a question to Lumina as she overlooked the busy gardens of the Royal Palace. An hour had passed in a blink and a knock from a door cut their conversation.
“Excuse me, Mistress Karina,” a soft voice said with a polite tone. “It’s Nereia, I brought your gown.”
Karina opened the door and welcomed the girl with a warm smile. “Come on in,” She said opening the door wide.
“I am afraid I can’t, they need us down to get everything ready for the feast tonight.” She said. “Here is your gown, get ready and I will come to get you in less than an hour and lead you towards the banquet hall.” Nereia handed her the gown and left.
Karina looked at the gown in awe as she held it in her hands, without hesitation she put the gown on. It was a beautiful, flowing creation made of the finest silk, with intricate embroidery and beading in shades of turquoise and silver. The sleeves were sheer, with delicate lace trimming, and the bodice hugged her curves before cascading down into a billowing skirt that trailed behind her as she walked.
It wasn’t her style at all, she was more of street clothes kinda a girl, but looking at herself in the mirror, she was blown away. She made a few turns looking at the dress from all angles. This kind of dress would cost her fortune back on earth. She found a few silver clips on the desk and styled her hair as best she could to go along with the dress.
A few moments later, Nereia arrived at the door, dressed in a lovely gown of her own, visibly less luxurious than the one Karina got. "You look stunning, Mistress Karina," she said with a smile. "Are you ready to go?"
Karina nodded, feeling a bit nervous but excited as well. She followed Nereia down the hallway, her long gown trailing behind her as they made their way toward the banquet hall. As they walked, Karina couldn't help but marvel at the beauty of the palace once again. Every inch of it was adorned with intricate carvings, sparkling jewels, and delicate tapestries.
Finally, they arrived at the banquet hall. The hall was massive, with soaring ceilings, glittering chandeliers, and walls adorned with shimmering gold decorations. The tables were covered in rich, embroidered cloths, and gleaming silverware sparkled in the light of the glowing spheres floating above the table.
The guests were already arriving, each one more elegantly dressed than the last. They were all talking and laughing, their voices echoing off the grand walls of the hall. Karina felt a bit intimidated, but Nereia squeezed her arm reassuringly.
"Don't worry, Mistress Karina," she whispered. "I know feasts like these can look intimidating, but you humans are the stars of the show."
With that, she led Karina toward their assigned table where most of the humans would sit this evening. Nereia took a seat next to her and on the other side, she recognized a girl from their program wearing a similar gown.
“Hey,” Karina said softly. “How are taking all of this?”
“Hey Karina, it’s overwhelming, but everything is beautiful so far, can’t complain,” Clarissa answered. “How about you?”
“Same,” Karina answered and they continued with small talk before the soft music that was playing stopped and people started standing up. Nereia slowly tugged at her arm pointing for the stand as well. Seconds later prince Kaelen walked into the hall with a beautiful woman under his arm. She was stunningly beautiful, with long golden hair that cascaded down her back in loose waves. Her dress was a shimmering ivory color, with delicate beading that sparkled in the candlelight.
Karina couldn't help but notice the intricate braids woven into the woman's hair, forming an elegant and intricate pattern that must have taken hours to create. Her makeup was subtle, but enhanced her natural beauty, with a soft pink lip and just a touch of blush on her cheeks.
“That’s Zaya, Kaelen’s bride-to-be,” Nereia said.
“She is beautiful,” Karina answered truthfully.
“Yes, she is amongst the most beautiful women in the kingdom. Kaelen chose her instead of marrying someone from his family provided in order to establish better relations with other kingdoms. It was a big deal at the time, but that’s prince Kaelen, he always does what he wants.” Nereia explained and Karina just nodded looking at the stunning couple.
“What’s the prince like?” Karina asked.
“He always stood out from the Royal Family. He is a bit eccentric, he likes to party, and travel, and isn’t really that much interested in Family matters.” Nereia said as the couple took a seat at the main table. “Bringing you guys here with this Citizens Exchange program is his way of proving his worth to the kingdom and his family.”
“How so?” Karina asked curiously.
“He doesn’t believe in his family policy of war and old-style politics. He believes both planets could benefit from each other if we set our differences aside and work together. The King was not for this program at all, but the prince managed to convince him otherwise with the help of his Mother.” Karina nodded in understanding and minutes later waiters started serving dinner.
Karina was serving a weird purple-looking fruit or vegetable, she wasn’t sure. “What’s this?” She asked Nereia.
“That’s Nemoryn fruit, it’s one of the best delicates in the Thalassar and only grown on one small island,” Nereia said. “It’s usually served only on big banquets and before the main course as this fruit is known to open the appetite and help dissolve the rest of the food easier.”
“And how do you eat it?” Karina asked poking at the fruit with her knife.
Neremia chuckled softly. “You cut off top and the bottom and then peel the leathery exterior.”
Karina did as told and the inside revealed a pink, jelly-like inside that was filled with small, edible seeds.
“You can eat it all, it’s ok to eat it with the spoon,” Nereia said.
Karina nodded and took her spoon taking a bite out of the fruit. It was soft and crunchy at the same time with a mild, sweet, and subtly bitter flavor. It began to melt into a liquid inside her mouth and the taste reminded of lime and coconut mixed together.
“Woah, this is delicious,” Karina said and took another bite. “Your food is truly amazing.”
Nereia smiled. “Yes it is, but you also are getting the best of the best, keep that in mind.” She said with a smile and Karina nodded her mouth full of delicious fruit.
The rest of the banquet went as expected, they ate amazing food, Karina made small talk with the rest of the humans, and spent most of the night chatting with Nereia, who proved to be rather curious about humans once she loosened up. Prince Kaelen provided them with a whole night of entertainment, dancers, actors, and entertainers took turns at the podium as the night went away.
Deep into the night when the feast was nearing its end, a loud explosion was heard from the outside and bright light emanated deep from the city which could be seen through the open terrace on one side of the banquet hall. Karina ran towards the terrace but the guards were already at the door prohibiting anyone to exit. Karina managed to peer through the cracks in their massive armor and saw a big flame at the part of the city where they walked earlier in the day.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I am sure it’s nothing.” Prince Kaelen said with a stern voice. “Please leave for your rooms we have our people already investigating the source of the explosion. You will be informed of what happened as soon as we know.” He said and left the banquet hall in the hurry.
Nereia escorted Karina to her room and helped her unzip the dress before she left. Karina sank into a soft bed and her mind started racing with everything that happened today, but before the thought could consume her, tiredness took over and she sank into a deep sleep.
She was awakened by the commotion outside her terrace early in the morning. She ran and looked outside and saw Prince Kaelen talking with a man in a uniform she hasn’t seen so far, he had dozens of soldiers at his side. She quickly got dressed into the clothes she came in and went downstairs to look for Nereia.
“What’s going on?” Karina asked as she found the young girl sitting at the bench in the garden.
“Mistress Karina, you are awake,” Nereia said with a smile.
Karina could sense something was off, so she asked again. “What’s going on?”
“I am afraid nothing good,” Nereia said with a worried look on her face. “One of the ships transporting humans was attacked and destroyed last night at the open see.” She said bowing her head down.
“Which one?” Karina asked her heart racing.
“The one transporting your people to military camps,” Nereia said.
Karina’s heart sank in her chest with the realization that it was Liam’s ship. She almost fainted but Nereia took her by arm and helped her sit on the bench. First the explosion last night, then the ship, something was off and it made Karina have almost a full-blown panic attack, but her worry was focused on Liam now, she needed to find out what happened to him and if he was ok.
*****
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Whether you're trying to get in shape or lose weight, there are many ways to do so. The best way to find out what works for you is by researching different diets and exercises on the internet. But before we dive into that topic let's talk about how we can get back on our horses after an injury or illness. Come join the ForumAccess General Forum community and discuss modifications, troubleshooting, and maintenance of General owners and enthusiasts.

What is the best way to get back up on the horse?

How do we get the most out of our horses? The best way to learn is by doing. Many people jump on their horses and go straight into work without warming up first. This is a big mistake! It's important to warm up before riding as it helps you avoid injuries. You should also take some time off after your horse has been sick or injured, so he can fully recover.
If you want to learn how to ride, there are many ways to do so. You can take lessons from a professional instructor or join a riding club where other people will be around who know how to ride. You can also get online resources that will help teach you the basics of horse care and riding.

How many hours a day should I workout?

You'll want to consider the type of exercise you do, as well as your age. For example, if your goal is to lose weight and build muscle mass, then it's best to train in the morning before breakfast. On the other hand, if your goal is simply toning up but don't want anything too drastic or permanent (like losing body fat), then it may be better for you to start exercising at night after dinner because this will burn more calories overall than exercising earlier in the day when most people are trying to get their energy back up after eating so much food!
Come join the ForumAccess General Forum community and discuss modifications, troubleshooting, and maintenance with other General owners and enthusiasts.

How many calories should I eat per day?

The first thing to remember is that calories in and calories out are not the same thing. Your body uses energy when you're burning fat, and it needs energy for any activity that doesn't require muscle mass.
When you eat more than your body needs, it stores the excess as fat. When you don't eat enough, or don't burn off all of the calories from food intake and exercise (and yes, this includes exercising while eating), those extra pounds begin to add up—and they can be hard to lose!
To determine how many calories you need per day based on your specific health goals:
​

• Calculate how many grams of protein your body requires each day (1g of protein = 4 calories). Multiply this amount by 0.7; this result will tell us what percentage of our total caloric intake should come from protein sources such as meat or fish at each meal.* Add together all other nutrients needed by taking into account: carbohydrates (carbs) like breads / cereals / rice / potatoes etc.; fats such as oils/margarine & salad dressings; vitamins & minerals including calcium which helps build strong bones & teeth etc., fiber which keeps things moving smoothly through digestion process without causing bloating problems etc., iron which helps transport oxygen throughout blood system so vital organs like heart continue functioning normally after exercise sessions end...etc

Should I go vegan or vegetarian?

The answer is yes, but with some caveats. A vegan or vegetarian diet can be a healthy way to live and help prevent disease, but it's not for everyone. For example:
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• Vegans don't eat meat (or seafood). They may also avoid dairy products and eggs.
  
• Vegetarians don't eat any animal products like chicken or fish, but they may still eat eggs from chickens who were fed milk from cows who were fed soybeans that were genetically modified by the agribusiness giant Monsanto Corp..
  

Does the best diet plan depend on your age and gender?

The best diet plan depends on your age and gender. If you're young, it's likely that your body is in the process of forming, so it may take time for you to notice any changes. In fact, many people who are younger than 30 need more time than their older counterparts before they see significant results from their health-conscious lifestyle choices.
The same goes for women vs men—only 2% of adults over 50 are obese (meaning they have a high BMI), while 23% are considered overweight and another 25% are deemed to be at risk due to their weight status or Body Mass Index (BMI). This means that if someone has been fighting with their body since childhood without being able to shed kilos or even maintain weight loss/gain levels during adulthood then chances are good that this person will have trouble achieving optimal health through dieting alone.

How much weight can I lose by skipping breakfast?

OK, so we're all familiar with the idea that skipping breakfast is bad for us. But how much weight can you actually lose by doing it? According to a study published in the International Journal of Obesity, participants who skipped their morning meal had a higher chance of losing at least 5 pounds over the course of four weeks than those who ate their first meal later in the day (1). The researchers also found that this difference was even more pronounced among people who didn't eat enough at lunchtime or dinner—those who skipped both meals were almost twice as likely to lose 5 pounds during that period than those who didn't skip anything!

Can you recommend a good meal replacement shake?

Meal replacement shakes are a great way to get all your nutrition in one go. They contain all the essential vitamins and minerals you need, so you don't have to worry about forgetting anything when you're on the go. Most meal replacement shakes also contain protein, which helps with muscle growth and recovery after workouts.
If you want to lose weight, there are two main types of meal replacement shake: low-calorie (under 400 calories) or high-protein (over 300 grams). The latter is better for bulking up because it has more protein than other types of shaker drinks do—but both types can help with fat loss if used properly by adding them into your diet regularly!

What types of foods should I avoid if I want to be healthy/fit/lose weight/lose belly fat etc.? Are there other types of foods that are healthy for me, but not ideal?

One of the most common things that many people do not realize is that processed foods are not healthy. They may be convenient and easy to buy, but they don’t offer any real nutritional value. Instead of eating these kinds of foods, try making your own meals at home with fresh ingredients instead!
Another thing you should avoid is sugar—even if it isn’t as obvious as processed foods or red meat (which has high amounts). Sugar can cause weight gain and other health problems such as diabetes. It also disrupts your blood sugar levels which affects how well you perform on certain physical activities like walking or running for long periods at a time - causing fatigue along with other symptoms such as headaches/migraines etc.. Try limiting yourself from consuming too much fruit juice since they contain large amounts of fructose which can contribute towards bloating issues over time due

There are many ways to lose weight and gain muscle.

There are many ways to lose weight and gain muscle. You can do it by dieting, exercising, or a combination of both.
A diet is the only way you'll be able to lose fat by cutting calories. The body uses stored fat as energy during times of famine and will burn it first before burning carbohydrates from your food (or from any sources). When you restrict your calorie intake too much for too long—especially if you go through periods where there isn't enough food available—your body will begin breaking down muscle tissue in order to stay alive through lean times; this is why some people experience muscle loss on low-carb diets like Atkins or South Beach Nutrition Plan at first!

Conclusion

If you want to know more about health and fitness, we recommend reading up on the latest nutrition news from your favorite sources. There are so many different topics that can be covered in this space, but these are just some general ones for now. We hope you enjoy reading our blog posts about them!

Intro

Well…it’s official. After a ton of hours of watching and analyzing, 48 posts, linking many moments from YouTube, 2764 individual rankings determined, various calculations, and (most importantly) countless walls of text expressing my opinions…I AM FINALLY DONE WITH THIS SERIES!🥳 And it only took a bit more than a year and 7 months since my very first post regarding this🤪. Though with that being said, I would like to wrap this all up with one nice long final wall of text. It’s worth noting, this is especially long and probably extremely wordy. So I put headers on this post so y’all can skip around. But just to start, I’d like to give a runthrough of my whole experience doing this
Note: Yes, I took various inspiration from u/twofacedflyer and his finale post during the super dope series he did…more than two years ago now (Jesus Christ time flies)

Tangent on this series

Now if you know me pretty well, you’ll likely know almost ever since I got into TD, I really developed this obsession with trying to rank stuff, especially TD characters. I even remember the first days of me trying to make my own tier list ranking every character and had Noah and Cody as my hindsight top 2 (and no, I didn’t ship Noco at the time). However, my opinions have changed a lot throughout, and while I still love both characters, they don’t appeal to me quite as much as before. At this point, I’ve pretty much updated my character tier lists almost countless times. In fact, it even got to a point where I milked the fuck out of tier list posts before. There was even a period of time where I would post an update to the sub every week or two, and chances are I might’ve posted even more frequently if it wasn’t for the tier list trend rule, LOL. And for whatever reason, even to this day, I tend to start getting obsessive and nitpicky about trying to order each character and pinpoint my feelings on them as accurately as possible. There’s a reason why even before I started this series, I had a very nuanced continuous number system to further showcase exactly where each character falls on each category of my ranking system. Though nonetheless, this leads me to the one day where something just sparked within me. Essentially, I was like “Huh, I wonder what my opinions on each TD character would be if I average my opinion on them out episode by episode?”. I figured it would definitely be easier if I laid all of this out on Google Sheets. I originally just planned to try to calculate each average for each character based on a not as specific number scale based on my rankings with them. But after a bit of time, I figured the one way to really make this accurate is by actually making the number scale far more continuous than discrete. And then overtime, I also ran into other factors
There’s no doubt a lot of this series was done very spontaneously. Afterall, it didn’t even start with TDI originally. I wanted to try this whole ranking chart for TDA, and I don’t think I even planned on writing a review about the season either. But as time went by, I just figured “Hey, if I’m rewatching these seasons and trying to make something where I have to look into each episode enough to pinpoint my thoughts on each character there, why not express a bunch of thoughts I have while rewatching?”. And alas, as well as my initial review and rankings for TDA, my rewatch commentary episode by episode was born. After rewatching TDA, I then went back to TDI since at the time, I thought TDA and TDI were the seasons I wanted to rewatch the most. And that’s where I started just writing out various thoughts I had and things I picked up on or saw with more clarity as I rewatched the episodes. Though even then, I didn’t go through each episode that thoroughly at the time. In fact, my TDI commentary was literally only three parts. I did actually plan to make it just two, but then I divided the second part into two parts after some people told me it was too long. Then once TDA came, I divided my commentary into a bit more parts than before and started going through the episodes a bit more thoroughly. It wasn’t till WT and ROTI where I really started making extensive comments on a handful of moments throughout each episode. However, it got to a point where I felt like I was bringing up way too many minor moments that ‘stuck out’ to me in my commentary, and there was a certain point where I realized not much people will care about looking through every minor moment I found funny. So after my AS commentary rolled around (where I really hyped it up as a dark period of time filled with anger and ranting💀), I incorporated this feature where I separately linked moments from YouTube I deemed as more minor that I found amusing, just labeling the link as the name of the character(s) involved in said moment. However, even doing that proved to be too much for me eventually as RR rolled around, and I realized it was taking forever to be done with each episode. I feel like sometimes, I really fell under the trap of being excessively ‘detail-oriented’ and bringing up almost every moment I found even slightly amusing. Thankfully during the 5th part of my RR post, I decided to get rid of the feature of linking minor moments all together after I realized probably no one even bothers going through them anyways. And I just mainly kept commentary down to more major points regarding each episode, although I still took notes on various minor stuff, just for me to reference. I’m glad to say it worked very well, and I was able to power through each episode quite faster and pump out vast majority of the series before my recent winter break was over
Then there’s also the fact I took a huge break from this series for several months on end. As some of you might remember, around this time about a year and a month ago, after finishing up All-Stars, I loosely admitted I had to get my shit together in real life, namely with school. Though even aside from that, I think I was just heavily burned out from doing the series. In fact, it took WAY longer than I anticipated to find the motivation to start it up again. Hell, I even tried to start it back up during the summer, but ironically, I didn’t do so until sometime in fall. Ironically, when I took this extensive break from the series, I was finished with AS and only had two more seasons to go. But given just how burned out I was, it still took me more than a year to completely wrap things up. Though the most important part is, I FINALLY GOT IT DONE! And despite this, I would like to think I didn’t necessarily sacrifice quality a whole lot (despite the lack of planning behind this), even if it’s partially because this series has dragged out even longer than Derrie at this point LOL. If I have to be honest though, this certainly took a surprising amount of work. Like I kinda knew it would be a lot, but I didn’t expect it to be as tedious as it was at times. Even pumping out the very first post (my initial TDA review) was quite a drag and ended up taking longer than I wanted it too, and I remember being relieved when it was done. And that feeling just amplified after every season I tackled. And I can say after releasing this post, there is no other time I feel this as strongly as now. Oh yeah and on a side note, I’m happy to say I’m actually doing marginally better in real life now than before (and now that this series is done, I think I can especially be at a peace of mind and focus even more on other stuff)
With all of this in mind, do I regret doing this series? All things considered, not really. As I said, it got extremely tedious at times, and I definitely got very burned out. And I even admitted during my PI review that I had various doubts or anxious thoughts regarding this series (though despite this still decided to pull through). But I think as of getting this series done, this has solidified my opinions far more, and hopefully I won’t make a bunch of tier list updates in the future💀. On top of this, I did have quite a bit of fun typing out my thoughts at times, especially the rants. That and it was certainly satisfying seeing people appreciate my commentary a lot, especially with my huge SMS tirade I dedicated one single part for XD. With that being said, do I ever plan on doing this again? Absolutely not. Although it’s not necessarily a bad idea to take some notes when you are doing a rewatch if you want to remember more stuff, or actually have a stronger opinion on various things (especially good for when you want to geek out about TD with others, or debate with someone about something). However, I don’t think making a ranking chart is super necessary. Ultimately, I’d say only do this if you have a ton of free time and are super obsessed with ranking stuff, otherwise you will probably end up like me and be burned out from doing this series from time to time. In fact, I think easily the biggest weakness of this series (I reckon a lot of you probably agree with this as well) is how inconsistent I was 'momentum-wise' as far as getting it done. I feel like this would’ve been super great to pump out earlier on while the pandemic was still going. But as it stands, I happened to start this series towards the end of the summer of 2021 back when I was going into my freshman year of college, and unfortunately did not have as much time to pump these posts out super fast. I also have to admit, I do sometimes think maybe if I made it a review series, I wouldn’t have to worry as much about trying to ‘adjust’ and could comment on a lot of specific moments. But I feel like doing episode reviews would be kind of more redundant at this point, and doing it the way I did made things somewhat more efficient. With that being said, I could do an episode review series for once the new seasons come out👀. Aside from this, I realize I probably could’ve also tried to make things more interesting by adding some gimmicks to my commentary, similar to Ultranatic Productions or u/twofacedflyer and u/WOTWUZTHAT back in their respective series’ they did (or ongoing series in Ultranatic’s case). But bigger picture-wise, I’m pretty satisfied with how this series turned out
Overall this was a fun but incredibly long ride. In case I haven’t made it clear enough, I’m honestly extremely relieved to be done with this. But on top of this, I’m also incredibly grateful to everyone who has followed this series. Like I said, I didn’t even expect this to become a full-blown series, but I truly appreciate everyone who actually cared enough to read through my ramblings and comment on them. But with that in mind, there are certain people who has supported me through this series I would especially like to give a shout-out to

Shoutouts

Before I bring up the people who involved themselves in this series, I’d like to give a shout-out to two YouTubers in particular who I took some inspiration from time to time with my commentary, namely Ultranatic Productions and penguinz0 (or as a lot of you might know him as MoistCr1TiKaL), both of who are absolute legends. For starters, there’s Ultranatic Productions (AKA u/Ultranatic on Reddit) who is doing his own series of reviewing every TD episodes, except this time far more thoroughly and intricately compared to me. I mean, I thought doing this series was a lot, relatively speaking. But I can only imagine the work Ultranatic has to do what he does, from not only writing out a script where he articulates all his thoughts and points, but then also records himself saying everything he has to say and then even has to do a bunch of editing afterwards, along with various gimmicks he incorporates in his videos. I’d imagine it’s a ton of work, and Ultranatic’s dedication to this is honestly pretty admirable. On top of this, he brings a ton of really cool points, has a lot of unique and nuanced takes, and incorporates a lot of great gags. Next up is penguinz0, who doesn’t talk about TD, but is a commentary YouTuber I’ve grown to absolutely love. I really love his dry wit, along with his ability to absolutely roast terrible people on the internet. I think quite a bit of my commentary style was inspired by him, and I even took a few pages out of Ultranatic here and there
As for people who participated in this series I’d like to thank

• u/someTDfan1: A fellow MacArthur hater, he’s not all that active on the sub and hasn’t been for a while now, but we are very tight, and he also commented on my first couple posts in this series (and I believe some very occasional other ones), and left some very kind words per usual. He’s also generally a super cool dude who is fun to talk and banter with and he’s even good for boosting my ego, er I meant confidence, at times🤪
• u/chuck_is_dead_vay_aq: A stan of Lightning and Jacques and fellow Chris-hater, while he didn’t comment very religiously, he always had quite a bit of great things to say when he did, is also responsible for coining the awesome nickname “All-Derailments” for All-Stars, and appreciated my nicknames for All-Stars as well as my posts in general (especially my SMS rant💀). Even outside of this, he’s an especially amazing dude, and one of my closest online friends. There are also plenty of times I’ve been convinced I actually share a brain with him lol (seriously, it’s actually scary how similar we are in some ways). And on a side note, I also want to once again really thank him for policing this sub and doing our mods’ work for us half of the time💀
• u/reidstampede2021: A Duncan stan who we also share a handful of common ground as far as opinions go (especially on Duncan’s send-off🤪), despite not being a religious commenter, he gave a lot of appreciation for my massive tirade on Duncan’s send-off, even making multiple comments copying-and-pasting it. He also appreciated some other jokes I made, also incorporating them in some comments of his. And not only do I find that incredibly flattering, but on top of that, he had the courtesy to credit me whenever he did so. And also if you know me somewhat well, boosting my ego flattery is one great way to make me like you😉 (though ofc that is far from the only reason he’s a cool dude)
• u/Ok_Shirt_1574: A stan of Zoey, Cody and Scott, as well as a shipper of Scott x Zoey, he has commented a lot of great points throughout my series, and took various points I made to heart. On top of this, he also appreciated my commentary from time to time, especially my CHFIL rant😉. And aside from this, the dude also makes some pretty dope episode reviews himself where he also incorporates various funny commentary
• u/Glamouriffic: Resident Derrie and Trent stan, she appreciated my posts from time to time, or even even commented on more specific reactions I had that stuck out to her. And she especially appreciated my rants, even being one of the two people to give me an award for my penguinz0-styled rant on Paris Sierra during the third part of my WT commentary
• u/A_Snowy_Vulpix: She barely commented on my series, but is the second person who gave me an award for my Paris Sierra tirade, so thank you
• u/HungryDiscipline882: A Lindsay lover who also has a lot of similar ways of thinking as me, he occasionally comments on my posts. Though on top of this, he also took quite a bit of inspiration from my commentary when stating various points of his, and admitted he liked a lot of the points I brought up, which is ofc flattering😎. And on another note, he also has a lot of great ideas as far as improving canon goes
• u/YourFaveWasDerailed: Everyone’s favorite satire account subreddit user, they sometimes commented some great insight on my posts regarding just how bad the show really is, truly inspiring me to just hate on the show. They also really read me like a book when he asked me “Why do you keep torturing yourself” after I posted my PI reviewlast part being a half-joke as this series really did get tiring at times. And on a more serious note, they even gave my series some appreciation at one point and broke character during his AMA to openly admit they find me cool, even if they did comment on my poll series poking fun whenever I went on especially…passionate rants about things I don’t like🤪. And even aside from this, dude is just simply a legend
• u/Less-Ad-9927: A cinema nerd and major, as well as a stan of Emma, Izzy and Dwayne, she didn’t start commenting till my RR posts. But when she did, she was especially supportive of my series and often commented on my posts bringing up various points she had, all the while acknowledging various points I made. Overall an amazing contributor to the final stretch of my series even despite the very faltering momentum
• u/Uglyfense: A stan of Courtney, Chris and Ezekiel, and widely known for trolling people’s opinions with his “What-if” questions, he has made a handful of great and thorough comments on my posts throughout, even conjuring up a bunch of interesting points as well as unique ways to look at things that push the boundaries beyond things that fans have already said at least 100 times. Fuck, the dude even made some good rebuttals against my review (big euphemism btw💀) on not only my most hated episode, but one of the most universally disliked episodes in the series. And on a random note, he’s also just proof that you don’t need to have a bunch of really strong negative opinions to stick out (dude likes pretty much every character yet still manages to be a very interesting TD discusser)

Now, every one of you involved are great. But I think these two following people have contributed the most

• u/Particular_Being_269: The sub’s resident music nerd, and more or less simp stan of Zoey and Gwen, the dude made a lot of especially nice comments appreciating my posts and commentary. On top of this, he’s yet another one of the people who actually took time to look at my rankings more in detail. Though despite all his positive feedback, along with Fense, he also wasn’t afraid to challenge and question my opinions quite a bit, even making some points that I haven’t considered before. And in retrospect, as a more passive and non-confrontational person who doesn’t usually like debating people a lot (mainly on the spot), this is definitely a trait I admire
• u/Ace_TD: Practically the face of this sub at this point, and the man who truly lives up to his name, the dude not only commented on my series quite often, even at times leaving very in-depth comments regarding my points and even adding onto various points I made in various ways. Though he has also talked about and inadvertently advertised my series to the TD Discord. Plus outside of this, he’s just simply a all-around amazing dude. He preaches a ton of facts on the TD Discord server, and he's just generally very fun to talk to

Aside from them, I’d also like to give a couple honorable mentions to u/twofacedflyer and u/WOTWUZTHAT, both of which have done similar series before mine that consisted of talking about characters. And while I didn’t totally plan for this to become a full-on series, I think they partially inspired me for when it did become a full series if that makes sense. And as I said, the format of this post is pretty inspired by u/twofacedflyer in various ways. And I’ll admit even in general, there were times I referred back to posts of his series whenever I got lost on how exactly to structure various posts of mine (including this one). As of now, they aren’t active on this sub anymore for varying reasons, but I had a real blast with both of them during their time here
And lastly, I’d like to thank this whole subreddit in general. It’s generally filled with a lot of open-minded and accepting people who are genuinely caring and willing to acknowledge other people as they express their thoughts. Now granted, I’m aware Reddit is far from perfect and is a lot of times not usually held in high regard (although it isn’t as problematic as say, Twitter or TikTok). But I think this subreddit is really proof that there is good to Reddit. And the support I got throughout this series is proof of that
And that officially wraps up the very gushy part of this post🤪

Thoughts on Total Drama

If you’ve followed my series or even generally read through enough things I’ve pumped out throughout my time on Reddit, you’ll likely know I’ve typed many rants on various facets of this show. Though despite this…it’s still quite good overall, and maybe even great. Granted, it has a lot of flaws and even some writing decisions that will forever baffle me (one of the most noteworthy examples being the winners losing their money at the end in ironically the widely regarded two best seasons). And I remember binge-watching 6teen a long while back thinking it was overall a lot more clean written than TD, which I think kind of gives the idea that there are probably many better handled shows overall. But at the same time, TD has way too many awesome highs for me to not like it. And outside of the two infamous seasons (AS and PI), I can safely say the positives will always outweigh the negatives. And if anything, even the various flaws the show has just makes it more fun to talk about sometimes. IDK what it is, but I low-key find ranting on things a guilty pleasure. I’ve said this before, but there’s a reason whenever I talk elaborately about something negatively, my walls of text will usually be longer than when I actually write about something positive. And there’s just a certain type of satisfaction I get from trying to find various ways to express and intricately word my distaste for stuff I don’t like, especially when it’s stuff that makes me passionately angry. So IG in a way…I have to give a thank you to aspects of the show like YRBKM, SMS, the Gwent breakup aftermath, CHFIL Sierra, Feral Zeke, MacArthur, Amy, the joke of the winner losing their money or especially PI Chris💀
Now for a runthrough on what I think of every season, Island was a solid start to the show and overall a great season. It isn’t without its problems such as various inconsistent or weird moments, the main antagonist being rather lackluster (mainly in the gameplay department), or especially Gwen’s treatment as a finalist and the fact it’s one of the two seasons with easily one of the absolute worst “jokes” in the entire series. But despite this, it still has many great things about it, and a generally chill atmosphere
Next came Action which was also good overall, but has quite more noteworthy flaws, especially the aftermath of the Gwent fallout, along with Beth’s character-assassinating romance plot. However, it is the best season as far as challenges go, and I happen to prefer the antagonist over the one in TDI…well, at least once Courtney comes into the picture (we don’t talk about Justin). The finalist pairs are also one of the weaker ones overall, but even then, their interactions and the finale itself actually worked surprisingly well, despite the very ending also leaving a fair amount to be desired
Then came World Tour, which at best was a very epic and adventurous change of pace from the first two seasons. And it even implemented musicals as a unique feature of this season (which included a lot of bangers albeit a few flops), and on a side note, introduced this truly amazing piece of background music I really wish there was an extended version of that I could download and listen to for hours on end😭. The antagonist is easily the best in the entire series, both gameplay and character-wise. And the finalist choices were practically perfect narratively, despite both having some more glaring flaws gameplay-wise here and there. And the finale was shaping up to be absolutely amazing…but unfortunately ended on a really sour note. Aside from this, there are a few other controversial plots and writing decisions I don’t like. However, one thing I especially respect about WT is how high the stakes were. This season really feels like you had to actually play the game in order to get far, rather that just being nice. In fact, this might just be one of the best and most intriguing seasons for those who especially care more about the strategic aspect of TD. Overall, I feel like WT is one of those seasons that just went especially ballsy with its writing and actually did really well with the execution at times. Though at the same time, there are multiple areas really lacking in execution and some especially terrible lows. Despite this, it is overall a better season than TDA, but there had yet to be a season that topped the quality of Island
That is until Revenge of the Island came along. After spending 3 seasons getting to know the first generation cast, we then got introduced to a set of new characters, and a really great one at that. Personally, I think this is easily the peak of the series. Generally speaking, pretty much almost every character is utilized really well (barring Staci). And it also has a lot of especially epic moments along with an adventurous feel. The pacing is also really good, and there are many great jokes. Scott as an antagonist is also amazing, even though he also isn't without flaws and doesn't quite top Alejandro. On top of this, I think this season does a great job of balancing both drama and friendships, and handling both really well. There are various conflicts that are surprisingly complex, engaging, or also entertaining. But mixed with that are still a lot of wholesome and interactions. And even generally speaking, it just seemed to be able to handle and balance most aspects of the show really well. That and it also has easily my two favorite episodes in the entire series. Really, ROTI is a masterpiece all-around, and I could gush about it all day if I wanted
Though unfortunately, the very season after ROTI did NOT hold up to its quality, as the worst season coincidentally happened right after the best season😭. I know I’m not being brave when I call this the worst season. There’s just so many bad writing decisions, and it also has easily two of my least favorite episodes in the franchise, which funny enough both happen to be responsible for screwing over two very prominent characters who had a lot of development potential. And on that topic, it does that a lot. It feels like at least half of the cast loses a ton of brain-cells during their elimination episode…or in various other episodes outside of that too. And part of it ties to what has to be easily my least favorite antagonist yet, who also happens to be tied with probably ‘objectively’ (I used this word loosely tho) one of the worst protagonists in the series as well (Mike vs. Mal). And yeah, on that topic, the main plot is also just atrocious and ends on one of the worst notes possible. But even despite this, it still has its good moments and enough positives for me to not hate it. There are a handful of characters I actually like, and I’d say Zoey was still good this season despite her flaws, and not a bad finalist. Though generally speaking, it’s just such a huge disappointment in many ways and easily the lowest point of the franchise
After this disappointing trainwreck came Pahkitew Island, where the writers decided to go completely balls to the wall with the cartoonish aspects of the show. I will say, it is better than AS overall, but…only because it has better highs (including my absolute favorite character in the series). On the contrary, I think it actually has worse lows. Funny enough, it just so happens that this season has some of the highest highs of all time, but also some of the absolute lowest lows, including my two absolute least favorite season-by-season character appearances in the entire series. It especially doesn’t help that while LCAOBP isn’t my least favorite episode overall, it ends ‘regular’ Total Drama in one of the worst ways possible
Thankfully though, the one spin-off that came after this happened to actually be quite good, and definitely a big step up from the previous two seasons. Not only did it start new with the game format, but it also started fresh in terms of writing-quality. Granted, even then it is far from perfect. There are quite a few glaring flaws for me as far as characters go, especially including the existence of my least favorite protagonist in the entire series (even worse than AS Mike). But even then, the season had the advantage of screen-time being distributed especially more evenly, to where even if some characters sucked, it wasn’t always enough to drag the episode down. In fact, aside from ROTI, it’s the one season that has no full-on bad episodes for me. And the fact I find the host vastly superior and that it’s responsible for the existence of my TD waifu, both especially give it an edge. Overall, I think this season was quite refreshing and satisfying after the previous two seasons, and I’m proud to call it yet another higher point of TD and quite a good end to the franchise
And then lastly there’s Total Dramarama, although I haven’t watched it in a fat minute and don’t plan on covering it as of this series. Though from what I remember from watching it a long while back, I actually liked it for the most part. There were some occasional moments I really didn’t like, and the Chef torture could sometimes go too far for my liking. But for the most part, it’s pretty entertaining and has some plots I really like. All I’ll say is my favorite episode is definitely “Having the Timeout of our Lives”, with my least favorite being “Total Eclipse of the Fart” like many others
So overall, Total Drama is a pretty great and iconic series despite its flaws, and I am proud to call myself a fan of the show. I mean, there’s no other reason I would be this dedicated to talking about it. It would be awkward and a waste of time if I looked into and discussed this show for so long, only for the end result to be that I don’t like it (and I know YFWD would absolutely decimate me LMFAO). Fresh TV, you are awesome, and I really look forward to the upcoming new seasons

Final Show Rankings

Now it’s time for my general ratings regarding Total Drama, and this time on a scale of 100. I should also say, I’ve always had a hard time fully deciding my season rankings, so I figured I’d make a more intricate attempt to gauge my exact opinions on each season. And through this, I made a ranking table, where I rate multiple different facets of the show from 0 to 100. Now it’s worth noting I made more specific calculations for the episodes and character portion, and some rougher calculations for the romance and finalists categories. I also based the finale category mainly on my ranking of each episode of said finale. And the rest are more rough estimates. And on a last note, I stuck with the 147 season-by-season character incarnations when determining the scores for the characters category (so no background characters, cameos, or Mike’s personalities other than Mal). So these are likely not 100% accurate, but considering I’m mainly just using this to try to order my seasons, I don’t think it’s too big of a deal. Not to mention the scores are rounded by 0.5 increments
Season ranking chart
NGL, the Reddit table feature is kind of pain to use, so instead, I opted to just put the table in another Google Doc for me to link here, along with an explanation of how it works
Just a couple additional factors I included for seasons (adds or subtracts 35 on the 700 scale)

• Winner loses money: -5.0 points
• Contains a top 5 season-by-season character incarnation: +5.0 points

Overall ratings
Seasons

• TDI: 77.0 - 5.0 + 5.0 => 77.0/100
• TDA: 59.5 + 5.0 => 64.5/100
• WT: 71.0 - 5.0 => 66.0/100
• ROTI: 91.0 + 5.0 => 96.0/100
• AS: 37.5 => 37.5/100
• PI: 45.0 + 5.0 => 50.0/100
• RR: 69.5 + 5.0 => 74.5/100

Each facet of the show in general

• Drama: 60.0
• Friendships: 76.0
• Finalists: 71.0
• Finales: 46.0
• Characters: 70.5
• Episodes: 65.0
• Romance: 61.5

Final Season Rankings
#7: TDAS
#6: TDPI
#5: TDA
#4: TDWT
#3: TDPTRR
#2: TDI
#1: TDROTI
My personal rating of the show
Actual average: 3256/4900 => 66.5/100
Tho wait, ROTI exists (and ofc the show is super fun to talk about and look into in general😉)
Final rating: 75/100 => 7.5/10

Other stats and a bunch of Top 5’s

Now that I showcased my general thoughts on this series, we are one step further before I reveal all my final rankings. But beforehand, I want to showcase a list of a bunch of mini rankings (yes once again, this is inspired by u/twofacedflyer). It’s also worth nothing the HM’s/DHM’s are not necessarily in order
Funniest Characters
#5: Noah (WT)
#4: Izzy (TDA)
#3: Lightning (AS)
#2: Dwayne (RR)
#1: Spud (RR)
HM: Max (PI), Owen (WT), Owen (RR), Harold (TDA)
Best character arcs
#5: Gwen (TDI)
#4: Cameron (ROTI)
#3: Zoey (ROTI)
#2: Emma (RR)
#1: Shawn (PI)
HM: Dwayne & Junior (RR), Heather (WT), Brick (ROTI), Lindsay (TDA), Spud (RR)
Best lines
#5: "I work best under pressure. Hah! Get it? Water pressure" -Harold (Masters of Disasters)
#4: (Chris: "The camper...) "...who does not receive a marshmallow must immediately return to the dock of shame catch the boat of losers and leave, can't we just get this over with?" -Gwen (Paintball Deer Hunter)
#3: “Of course you can, you’re an EXPERT at turning people off!” -Alejandro (Planes, Trains, and Hot Air Mobiles)
#2: “No one can touch my tomatoes!” -Lindsay (Million Dollar Babies)
#1: “I love Chef because he is very very very very very very very…” -Duncan (Basic Straining)
HM: “There’s no nice way to say this…I’D RATHER GET EATED BY A ZOMBIE!” -Shawn (This is the Pits), “Last time I thought zombies were here, I was too scared to try and save Jasmine. I’M NOT MAKING THAT MISTAKE AGAIN. NOT AGAIN!” -Shawn (Hurl and Go Seek), "🎵THIIIIIS SUUUUUUUUUUUCKS!🎵" -Duncan (Walk Like an Egyptian Part 1), “You’re like Albert Einstein, with better hair, and ✨girly bits✨” -Harold (The Sand Witch Project)
Best couples
#5: Ozzy (TDA)
#4: Nemma (RR)
#3: Duncney (TDI)
#2: Aleheather (WT)
#1: Shawsmine (PI)
HM: Samkota (ROTI), Aleheather (AS), Gidgette (TDI), Zoke (ROTI), Ryphanie (RR) and Ozzy (TDI)
Best rivalries
#5: Duncan vs. Courtney (WT)
#4: Brick vs. Jo (ROTI)
#3: Duncan vs. Alejandro (WT)
#2: Gwen/Leshawna vs. Heather
#1: Zoey vs. Scott (ROTI)
HM: Duncan vs. Alejandro (WT), Geoff vs. Blaineley (WT), Lightning vs. Jo (ROTI), Cameron vs. Lightning (ROTI) and Duncan vs. Harold (TDI/TDA)
Best friendships
#5: The Rockers (RR)
#4: Gwen & Leshawna (TDI)
#3: Harold & Heather (TDA)
#2: The Surfers (RR)
#1: Zoey & Cameron (ROTI)
HM: Gwen & Geoff (TDI), Noah & Owen (WT/RR), Owen & Kitty (RR), Owen & Gwen (TDI), Harold & Heather (TDA), the friendship trio (ROTI), Gwen & Cameron (AS), Ryan & Carrie (RR), Lindsay & DJ (WT), Duncan & Zoey (AS), and Jasmine & Sammy (PI)
Best moments
#5: Zoey riding the mutant goats (S4E10)
#4: Kitty’s payback to the Cadets and Ice-Dancers (S7E24)
#3: Harold saves everyone’s lives (S2E10)
#2: Kitty making it back up to the surface with her mad breath-holding skillz (S7E25)
#1: Shawn goes full giga-chad on the Chris bots (S6E10)
HM: Lindsay cursing Heather out (S1E18), Surfers in the Dude Buggies challenge (S7E19), Heather’s (implied) clam-chowder soup prank on Alejandro (S3E10), Duncan’s essay to Chef (S1E12), Iron Cam (S4E13), any moment Chris gets his ass kicked, and many more I’m too lazy to list
Worst moments
#5: Feral Zeke vs. Heather (S3E26)
#4: Gwen having her money taken against own will after her ending (S1E27)
#3: Courtney’s sendoff (S5E11)
#2: Duncan’s sendoff (S5E8)
#1: The ending of the finale in general, though with a big emphasis on Chris’ departure… (S6E13)
DHM: The Cody and Sierra subplot resolution (S3E9), MacArthur taking advantage of Brody (S7E26), the Reset Button (S5E13), CamCourtney (S5E9/S5E10), and the intern “gag” in general
Worst derailments
#5: Courtney (S5E11)
#4: Gwen (S3E16)
#3: Jasmine (S6E8)
#2: Duncan (S5E8)
#1: Cameron (S5E9)
DHM: Beth (S2E10 & E23), Trent (S2E26-E27), Scott (S5E9-E10), Leshawna (S3E7), and at least half of the AS cast in their elimination episodes
And now, here are my top and bottom 30 episode by episode appearances for each character throughout the series and no im not dedicated enough to make a ranking of EVERY episode by episode appearance. It’s worth noting, some of the scores are the exact same. Usually to determine which goes higher, I decided by which appearance had more relevance that episode. Though there are even some cases where multiple appearances have both the exact same score and relevance. In that case, I just went with my gut feeling on which I prefer ever-so-slightly
Top 30
#30: Gwen (S2E27) - 17.55
#29: Gwen (S1E5) - 17.55
#28: Heather (S3E25) - 17.55
#27: Emma (S7E25) - 17.55
#26: Shawn (S6E9) - 17.60
#25: Gwen (S1E21) - 17.60
#24: Spud (S7E14) - 17.60
#23: Cameron (S4E11) - 17.60
#22: Alejandro (S3E25) - 17.60
#21: Noah (S7E11) - 17.60
#20: Owen (S7E11) - 17.61
#19: Geoff (S7E17) - 17.65
#18: Duncan (S1E12) - 17.65
#17: Heather (S3E26) - 17.65
#16: Cameron (S413) - 17.65
#15: Alejandro (S3E11) - 17.70
#14: Kitty (S7E19) - 17.70
#13: Harold (S2E27) - 17.75
#12: Brody (S7E19) - 17.75
#11: Heather (S3E10) - 17.75
#10: Zoey (S4E12) - 17.75
#9: Gwen (S1E19) - 17.75
#8: Heather (S3E20) - 17.80
#7: Geoff (S7E19) - 17.80
#6: Lindsay (S1E18) - 17.80
#5: Zoey (S4E10) - 17.85
#4: Kitty (S7E24) - 17.90
#3: Harold (S2E10) - 17.93
#2: Kitty (S7E25) - 17.95
#1: Shawn (S6E10) - 17.97
Total amount of top tier episode by episode incarnations: 92 (34 of them being 17.5 or higher)
Below 17.50: 7 (TDI) + 8 (TDA) + 15 (WT) + 9 (ROTI) + 3 (AS) + 3 (PI) + 13 (RR) = 58 (emit)
Bottom 30
#30: Katie (S2E12) - 0.80
#29: Chris (S5E11) - 0.80
#28: Chef (S6E11) - 0.75
#27: Chris (S6E6) - 0.70
#26: Izzy (S3E11) - 0.70
#25: Amy (S6E5) - 0.70
#24: Beth (S2E10) - 0.65
#23: Chef (S3E26) - 0.60
#22: Sugar (S6E6) - 0.60
#21: Heather (S1E9) - 0.55
#20: Chris (S6E7) - 0.53
#19: Chris (S6E5) - 0.53
#18: MacArthur (S7E19) - 0.50
#17: Amy (S6E2) - 0.40
#16: Chef (S3E2) - 0.35
#15: Chris (S3E26) - 0.35
#14: Chris (S1E26) - 0.30
#13: Chris (S3E2) - 0.30
#12: Mal (S5E13) - 0.30
#11: Chris (S6E8) - 0.27
#10: Sierra (S3E9) - 0.25
#9: Chris (S6E10) - 0.21
#8: Chris (S3E14) - 0.20
#7: Chris (S6E11) - 0.19
#6: MacArthur (S7E26) - 0.18
#5: Ezekiel (S3E26) - 0.15
#4: Chris (S3E13) - 0.15
#3: Amy (S6E1) - 0.10
#2: Chris: (S1E27) - 0.03
#1: Chris: (S6E13) - 0.00
Total amount of bottom tier episode by episode incarnations: 37
And that wraps up the long wall of text along with all my mini rankings. I figured this post would be too long if I included all of this just in one post, so I decided to make this 2 parts. Next part is the real deal, where I show off a few different ranking lists, and then finally my character rankings (you can find it via this link)

Hey everyone.
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My grandfather passed away just over a year ago, and he left me and my brother his car - an old 1980 Chevrolet C10. In his opinion, repairing it would've made us closer. The car wasn't in the best shape, and it required a lot of work to make something out of it. Still, it was a classic piece, and I decided to give it a try and restore it for further sale.
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My brother wasn't thrilled with what grandpa left us, expecting something more significant, and when I asked him whether I could take the car, he said I could do whatever I wanted with it since he didn't need this junk. I never intended to keep it since I prefer the automatic transmission, and the car wasn't the most budget-friendly option either. My brother initially knew about my plan but didn't want to participate in my venture.
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I invested a lot of time and money, starting with paying for car transport service, which wasn't the cheapest expense ou there because grandpa lived 2200 miles away, and finishing with hunting for spare parts all over the country and the neighboring ones and finding people that could guide me with the restoration. I'd never imagined that finding an authentic doorknob could be as complicated as finding a donor's heart, nor that buying a gear lever could be more challenging than closing a multi-million deal.
​
Anyways, despite all the difficulties, I managed to bring it in a suitable shape for sale and sold it for almost 40K, and this is when the conflict began. My brother suddenly demanded that I pay him half since we both inherited it, and despite me doing all the work, my parents and other relatives took his side.
​
Despite the pressure, I didn't give in to his argument, and now my whole family doesn't want to know me, and my brother is threatening to sue if I don't wire him the money asap. Any advice?

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Ok hear me out here. I have always had fascination with the concept of big machines being the center of a story. Video games, books, no form of media does this enough. Trains, airships, whatever. Some reason you have to get it somewhere, some reason you can't do that easily, maintenance and survival on top of it. It's always been a cool idea to me.
I was listening to a song and this vivid image of some big, long train, obscured in the darkness of night, full of people in shadow staring at me with piercing eyes, whizzing past. And this sparked my worldbuilding instinct.
And so came magic trains. Magic trains, that fight. Ok ok keep reading please. So basically my idea is that there's a magic system in this world, a world tightly wound around "wild west" kind of aesthetics, with some art deco design and architecture here, some steam tech there, and the magic system revolves entirely around trains. Enchanted trains that create tracks beneath them, and travel through an alternate space to move in secret, the black railway or some name like that.
Conductors are well-trained mercenaries, violent bandits, or government-sponsored peacekeepers, who will appear and vanish on a whim. A crack of thunder and strike of lightning, and they appear as if out of thin air. A flash of white along the ground, and their tracks are laid out for them, from the point they begin until the point they will need to leave. This is not decided by the conductors, it simply is. They choose when to leave the black railway, but seemingly, the train chooses when to go back. The rails are always where you need to go, and even seemingly try to predict and plan around other trains doing the same thing, in order to help the conductor win any hostile encounter.
The train is not actually sentient, in most cases (we'll get to that), nor does it decide the tracks. This is controlled by some unknown force, perhaps the railway itself, perhaps something else. This does not stop some conductors from believing it is their train that decides the track's shape and end. The tracks are different from train-to-train, and often ornate. They are burning hot to the touch, and turn to white dust that dissipates into the air if touched by a living animal after the train has already left into the railway.
Combat is decided by the people upon each train, using enchanted weapons (or even just normal guns) to try and attack opposing trains, or any other victim. Fights will often be decided by the tracks, something combatants can try to circumvent by entering the railway early, and exiting promptly after, to create a new track hopefully more favoring them. Doing this too much, too quickly, or simply without good planning, can cause a train to sustain internal damage, and stop or derail entirely. This stops fights from just becoming lighting striking and trains appearing and disappearing rapidly while someone prays to get a lucky shot.
All of this to get to that shadowy train. The potential villain. A train that drives itself, with extensions of itself acting as the crew and defense. It needs no tracks, it moves as it likes and appears and vanishes, not into lightning, but as if it was never there. No fanfare, no sound, you blink and it's simply there. Instead of tracks it has strange, curved, bone-like spikes that dig into the ground behind it, kicking up earth left and right and leaving a scar on the ground it's followed. It changes direction at choice, and has a few defining features. It and all of its extensions look as if they are in shadow, as if some great thing is looming over them, even if the sky above them is clear. Its created guardians and false conductor have piercing red eyes that are often all you see of them, lurking in the shadows of the train. The only part out of shadow is the very front, lit by its own lights, revealing it is made of shining silver, with a wide sharp-toothed grin crudely painted on in red paint, like a shark mouth you'd see on a plane or something.
Most of this the main characters wouldn't know of course, only knowing of it through rumors of trains derailed and left with no survivors, glimpses of shadow blazing through the forest, blink-and-you'll-miss-it sightings of it making its way towards its next target. Stories of a living train with the heart of the devil in its firebox. It burns the flesh and bones of its victims for fuel, ever hunting, the distant train whistle echoing through quiet nights. Not sure what it really would be, the story behind it, or if it would ever be explained, or if they'd even be able to kill it.
This is just the beginning of the idea, the base kinda formula, and there's many things I probably would change if I added more to the world, but is it worth even doing that? Could this be something or are magic trains too stupid to mold into something somewhat serious.

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A couple months ago, I went on an ayahuasca retreat in South America. The flight tickets were crazy expensive, the retreat was affordable but still pretty pricey. But it was really worth it.
I had a beautiful experience with mother ayahuasca, where I got lost in the beauty of the colourful geometrical and fractal patterns that went on with both eyes closed and eyes opened. Everyone seemed incredibly beautiful to me, radiant, hopeful, wonderful. I wandered (in my mind) into a magical forest that sparkled in green and gold, with actual orbs and sparkles floating gently by. Someone whispered in my ears, "You're always welcome to rest here". I felt an incredible sense of peace and safety, and I felt unconditionally loved and completely accepted, something I had not experienced in real life before. I was so moved I cried.
The tears led to waves of sorrow, as I relived and processed past traumatic memories. I felt so sad, so resentful, and so broken as I wept. But at the same time, I felt loved. I was going through the pain and sorrow of the past from a place of complete acceptance and safety, and it made so much difference in how I re-experienced things. I kept remonstrating with my mother about why she didn't protect me, and realised the resentment did not stem from anger. It stemmed from sadness and a sense of rejection. I just kept crying, until eventually, the sorrow lifted. My heart was light again.
I also couldn’t stop yawning for an hour or so, time didn’t really matter then. I was soooo tired and I yawned so hard, I felt the wind sail right into my soul. Then I understood, from someone, something, somewhere, that I was a leopard in my past life. I was a leopard, who had gone through incredible battles. This leopard spirit just wanted to rest, and that was why I had been so lethargic, nearly every day, for so many years. I wanted my lethargy gone, but that would require waking the leopard up, bringing it to its full intensity.
“Are you sure you want it to awake? Perhaps you are afraid of what would happen when it does.” Someone asked. It was probably me, asking myself, but I can’t remember how the voice sounded in my head.
That’s when I realised that I was holding on, in some measure, to the lethargy. That perhaps, the lethargy was a convenient, familiar, comfortable shelter. I didn’t have to do much, I didn’t have to try. I didn’t have to fail at anything. I didn’t need to put in effort. The thought of the leopard’s spirit awakening, of intensity and passion filling my soul, of going at things at full strength and determination - that scared me. Could I have the energy and resilience to see things through? Did I want to try? Was I afraid of trying? Maybe I’m using my lethargy and depression as an excuse to not try. So that I wouldn’t fail.
I saw my partner as a leopard too. I was worried that we would both do ayahuasca and come out realising our lives were headed in different directions, but to both our relief, we just got this incredibly certain feeling within us, this spiritual confirmation, that we were meant to love each other, to care for one another.
The next ayahuasca ceremony, I was back at that magical forest, but at a different location. I was by a brilliant riverside, with the same green and gold light that permeated everything. Once again, someone told me that I was always welcome here. I nestled down in its mossy banks and watched the river flow.
I saw a bird-human too. The creature was made of muscle and bone, such that its wings were all red and pink, hard muscle and bone. She was majestic. Awe-inspiring. Beautiful. As I stood there in open-mouthed admiration, someone said to me (yes, in my head again), “Do you know what she had to go through to get those wings?” Knowledge just settled within me, that she had to go through incredible trials and tribulations for her wings to have developed.
Then I talked to a tree (the second ceremony was done in the day time). There was a beautiful bamboo grove and it was right before me (this was in real life), and suddenly, I heard this tutting, clicking sound, and I looked around to see where it was coming from. I slowly realised that it was emanating from me. I was making the tuts and clicks with my tongue. The tree responded then, with shushes and flowing sounds of the wind. We chatted back and forth, conveying emotions and concepts without words.
I asked what my purpose was, yet again. This time, someone answered, from deep within a dark forest (I think it was just a forest in the night time?), saying, “Come find us…”
On San Pedro, I just felt a tonne of rage, then anxiety. It didn’t help that one of the ceremonies was held in a sweat lodge. But I figured it was something I needed to feel, perhaps. I also had two clear thoughts while in there. The first was - I need to set boundaries, learn to confront and assert myself. If I don’t, I’m making the choice to continue to have others foist their crap upon me, and I’m the one who’s choosing not to remove myself from the situation. The second thought was short but very significant. It was that I can’t psychedelic my negativity away.
Then, in the new year, my partner and I decided to head to a nearby country to do some shrooms. And explore, of course. The whole trip cost us so much less.
It was INCREDIBLE. It was so intense. We did Penis Envy shrooms, and boy, those were absolute kickers in the brain.
The moment the shrooms kicked in, I noticed something wonderful. What first trickled in was a very very familiar sense of being in a special place full of mystical spirituality. It was the same sense that I felt while on ayahuasca. I felt like I had gone back to the same place where I had been while on ayahuasca, whatever realm it was.
“I’m back,” was my first thought.
The geometry, colours and fractals appeared too, and I began to see sparkles shimmering around the surfaces of everything.
Then I felt so much sadness. The sorrow almost suffocated me. It was so intense, so strong, so heavy, I felt like I would never get through it in my lifetime. That I would weep for the rest of my life. It was way more intense than when I was on ayahuasca. I cried for hours, it felt like. I was so sad about not just my life being meaningless, that life didn’t have a purpose, but also, I was heartbroken about how shitty the world was. The sad, terrible things that happened and keep happening in the world. I was torn apart by all the pain and suffering that everyone had to experience, and had experienced. I could barely catch my breath, I was crying so hard, crumpled on the floor.
Then the sorrow passed. And I lost track of who I was. I no longer knew who I was. I kept seeing my partner’s face, and kept thinking, I must be him. I am him. Then thinking, wait a minute, I’m a girl. I seem to remember I’m a girl. But am I? Who was I? I couldn’t, for the life of me, remember my name.
Then it ceased to matter. I went through so many crazy swirls of visions and experiences that it would take forever to tell. But the main gist was that I began to travel through different realms and universes. I saw a lady made of lines and shapes, and we hung out together in her garden, filled with flowers made similarly of just geometric shapes and lines. There, I found this lighthearted peace and sense of acceptance. I saw a guy with a face shaped like a yellow box, covered all over with eyes, so many of them. He looked at me with a smiling curiosity, we acknowledged each other’s presence, and we parted ways.
Most memorable of all, I went to this place where I was in the forest of the universe. In it, I could see across time, across places. There was a hauntingly beautiful music, which I instinctively understood to be the music of the universe. I sang along with it, and found that I could reach across time, bring forward different time periods to my grasp by singing different tunes. It was beautiful. I felt so incredibly potent, yet very very relaxed.
At some point, I felt a holy, divine light shining on my face. I’ve never felt that before, that sense of being divine and in the presence of something divine. I felt someone with a visage akin to Zeus smiling down at me, and he was a father-figure of sorts. I don’t really have a religion, and if I had to choose one, it’d be Buddhism, so I don’t really know why that visage appeared.
When I looked at my partner, I felt this unconditional love for him. I knew, suddenly, without a doubt, that he was the one I was destined for, and I knew that no matter what the cost, whatever it took, that I had to protect him, to keep him safe, and that I would always love him.
He later shared his experience with me, which was mindblowing, but much too long to write about here. A big thing he shared was that he saw through all of existence, time, space, possibilities, and at the end of everything, he saw me. And he felt an incredible sense of love for me.
There were terrifying moments (think he took a little too much), and there were moments when I thought we had ruined our lives with this trip, but once he gave into whatever was happening, stopped fighting, he was able to let go, experience immense catharsis.
For me, I realised the biggest message I could have got from psychedelics, was that I couldn’t find a purpose, a meaning, a direction, not when I haven’t even healed from my past hurts. I went to therapy, and after just 4 sessions, I’ve been feeling so much better, with so much more energy to explore different things I’d like to do. I’m still a lot more lethargic than most people I know, but I can now leave the bedroom not just for work, but also for things like doing up the house, going on a date night, things like that. I even got the energy to start my little hobbies again.
So suffice it to say that I’m a pretty big fan of psychedelics. And I’d recommend it to anyone, unless they have certain mental health conditions (e.g. psychosis, schizophrenia, bipolar, etc.). And as long as they do it responsibly (i.e. not take large doses they can’t handle, not do it just to party, not take risks while high). Like seriously. The dosage thing, when my partner took a little too much, there were times where I seriously thought our lives were over and we were either going to end up dead, or end up arrested. It was extremely terrifying. Don’t do large doses, especially not when you’re starting off. Just don’t do it.
That aside, those were my experiences with psychedelics, just felt like sharing them today.

I am wondering if there is anyone who has experienced something similar and found that it had been caused by the coil. I had the coil fitted 4 years ago and after a painful insertion I had a great 2 1/2 years with it , but 18 months ago I started with irregular bleeding , I began experiencing heart flutters and dizziness,which caused me to excessively worry that I had heart problems( I have had numerous tests and it has been confirmed that my heart is in great shape). This was put down to anxiety. In October last year things escalated rapidly and I could not leave the house, eat or sleep , my period became extremely heavy with intense cramps which resulted in my G.P prescribing sertraline. These have helped slightly but I find I have 2 good weeks the n 2 anxious weeks. 3 weeks ago I requested a coil check because I could not feel the strings. The nurse said that the coil was definitely not there and has booked me in for a scan which I have next week. The more I think about it the more I feel the recent decline in anxiety and depression has been caused by the coil either expelling or moving. And my question is if it has moved and lodged somewhere else could it cause these symptoms ? Has anyone else experienced this? Sorry for the excessively long post .

when i was about 8 or 9 my dad allowed me to watch a at the time scary, but possibly not now movie. I only remember one scene, in which a cult/tribe has a big gathering inside a volcano for a human sacrifice. The leader has a man in a flat, mattress shaped cage. The man is brought out and the leader reaches through his chest and pulls out his heart, and he is immediately dropped into the lava. I need to know what movie traumatized me as a kid!

PART 1 OF 2 This happened 8 years ago now when I (M16) was in highschool. Each concussion happened at on a seperate occasion.
The first happened when me and a few friends decided to wrestle at a community center where I used to live (Ontario, Canada). We decided on a tournament style where the winner will get a large pizza that all the losers pay for. The fights were a simple one on one, win by tap or an obvious overpowerment. We all circled the two main fighters and watched them wrestle until it was our turn. I had my eye on my first matchup, Z (M15), who was easily the skinniest and therefore the easiest to wrestle. Once it was our turn to fight, Z backed out, leaving me without a matchup. My round got skipped and it was agreed upon by the rest of the fighters that if I wanted to fight then I could skip to the next round.
Concussion #1 Fast forward to my next opponent, someone who thought was on my level due to a small difference in our age (Me 16 & my opponent, A being 17). I had the height on him by a bit but he easily weighed 10 or 15 pounds more than me. I knew that I had to end the fight fast as he might be stronger than me. The first thing I did was put him in The ol' reliable, a headlock. I positioned myself to one angle so that I could use all my power to thrust to the other side and throw us both on the ground. This amazing move should put him in a daze of confusion and that is when I should put him in some sort of submission hold until he taps out and I become the victor. I had the entire scenario in my head pictured in what looked like a That's So Raven glimpse into the future. Now time to execute this bodacious maneuver. I jolted from one side to the other and tried to throw him to the ground but he eliminated any thoughts of filling my stomach with any form of cheesy Italian cuisine with one simple maneuver: he took a step backwards. This move let him slip out of the headlock and left me to think about everything that led to this point while I fell in what felt like slow motion. I did not have any time to prepare for the fall other than tilting my head down so that I don't break my nose. I got the top of my forehead on the carpeted but still extremely hard ground. It hurt but I didn't feel anything weird until I got up and felt like vomitting. My vision had motion blur and it felt like I was looking through a tunnel because I lost my peripheral vision. I started reaching my arms out to grab anyone near me because the motion blur was affecting my depth perception. I was helped to sit out in a corner as I considered my life choices that led me here and how I took my regular vision for granted. We hid this from any adults that could possible get us in trouble but we did ask for help from some "cool" early 20s staff who we usually hung out with. They told me that I cannot sleep in a situation like this even though I was suddenly getting sleepy and they told me the possibility of more harm if I actually slept. I stayed awake due to fear of brain damage and "toughed it out" like my friends suggested I do.
Concussion #2 Now fast forward 6 months later. I am in grade 11 playing basketball with my friends when happen to trip on a crack in the cement floor that felt a lot bigger than it looked. I tried to brace my fall with my arms, but the pushups I always skipped came back to haunt me. I couldn't catch myself and I don't know whether it's the speed at which I fell or the fact that I couldn't even hold myself in a pushup form if my life depended on it. This led to me faceplanting the cement and my glasses which I had on the entire time smashing on impact (this miraculously did not cause me any harm in any way) and my face cutting open at the temple. Blood poured out like honey out of a bottle and my friends got me tissue paper to cover the bleeding. I was to distracted by the amount of bleeding to realize that I had a concussion. This time it was a similar feeling to the first time. I was ready. I remained calm, tried to stop the bleeding, and waited patiently for the ambulance to come. The EMTs confirmed that I showed symptoms of a concussion and I rode with them to the hospital. The doctor later confirmed that the cut on my head was on a weird angle and the stitching it might cuz issues once it heals so the bleeding was stopped and a bandage was placed over the gooey stuff they used to cover the wound.
Concussion #3 Fast forward to the next semester. It is Finals Week of my grade 11 year and we just finished one of our exams. We decided that since we have the rest of the school day off to prepare for our next exam, we have some time to play basketball. We have one "court". It looks similar to the place in the warehouse where they had that basketball episode in the office. This is the same court where I tripped and fell and recieved my concussion #2. {This year we went to the finals in the local high school basketball tournament and lost not because they were better, but because our starting five (including a 6 foot 5 kid that plays rep) got tired due to us playing multiple games back to back. This kid was 1 year younger than me but he fit into our friend group because all of his friends were our age as well.} I was chasing my tall friend who just grabbed the rebound but I got too close to him from behind and ended up tripping on one of his long freaky stick legs. This was unintentional from him as he couldn't have known that I was that close to him as he would've positioned himself differently. I still haven't improved in my workout routine so I still couldn't defend myself from gravity. Face_plant3.exe. My glasses spontaneously combusted upon impact and my face was led to the same fate as my previous encounter against this undefeated foe. I picked myself off the ground and looked down as I saw my poorly rendered reflection in a small pool of blood where I just got up from. I positioned myself to sit against a wall as the adrenaline basically made the pain non-existent as I sat there angry at myself for getting in a situation like this for the second time within a year. I was rushed by teachers and students who helped me stop the bleeding as they called 911. It was then that I started to notice the effects of my concussion. Everything from the tunnelling vision to the nausea. However, there was one issue that worried me. The tunneling vision exceeded my peripherals and slowly covered my full vision with darkness. I looked around at the places where I knew the lights were positioned to see if I noticed anything but I couldn't see them. I remembered to stay calm and asked my teacher who was helping me if the lights were still on. He didn't answer immediately. He then said "What do you mean? Of course they are. What?" Once he confirmed what I suspected, my calm mind reminded me of Daredevil on Netflix in the scene when he lost his sight. I thought the super hearing or super senses might kick in but it was just regular senses minus sight. I prepared for the worst and I just thought about all the things I could no longer enjoy in life. My VR headset. Gaming. TV. Oh god, Anime? Reality started to kick in around 10 min later when I was waiting for the ambulance to arrive. Eventually I started to see some light from one eye and then the next. It started with light, then blurry colors. Then shapes. Then a few hours later my sight was back to normal. Part 2 is about losing my ability to sleep some weeks later because of my head injuries
TL;DR - Got 3 different concussions with one leading to temporary blindness.

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