“It is a natural tendency to view the world as governed by large things controlling small ones: large kingdoms dominating small ones, major cities ruling over satellite forts, men atop elephants and chariots directing regular cavalry and infantry. Yet machines may be designed so that a light touch to a thin string causes an entire palace to collapse.”
*****
This is part of a story I'm writing called The Great Empire, a fictionalized account of Kautilya's rise to power and the formation of the Mauryan empire. As it is a fictional work based on history whose precise details are not known or vary greatly between primary sources, many elements of the story may be jarring to readers familiar with modern, "medievalized" adaptations. See the Preface for a list of specific plot points that some readers may find offensive.
Link to Contents for other chapters | Link to FictionPress book
*****
—2.5. Cutting the Gordian knot—
***
One hundred and forty six years ago.
(475 BC)
“And then what did you do, Father-sir?”
“Luring them into a false sense of security by feigning defeat, I sent a group of prostitutes to distract Kulvalaka and the other Licchavis and break the chain of command, allowing my agents to seize the city before their confused eyes.”
“Brilliant, Father-sir!”
“That is NOT what you should be saying, Udayin. What should you be saying?”
Udayin considered the question for a half-second. “The prostitutes achieved what your catapults couldn’t. Thus, they are a threat to your supremacy.” The crown prince gulped. “What did you do to them, Father-sir?”
Ajatashatru scrunched up his face as if confused by the question. “Why, I simply beheaded them, of course. It would be quite silly to employ a more torturous method – like cutting them into small shreds starting from the fingertips, or pouring molten metal down their throat, or chaining their limbs to those of elephants and having them slowly be torn apart, or placing them between spiked plates as they are pressed together by boulders dropped by cranes. Those are the methods to be employed against my enemies or against ordinary subjects for fun, not against those who have served me – I wouldn’t want my subjects afraid of serving me, after all.”
*One could sense some nervousness in Udayin’s laugh, and this annoyed the
... keep reading on reddit ➡
The 10th of December rolled around once more, and it was a momentous occasion: for it was Gaston's birthday and with it, a formal recognition of his adulthood.
Already recognised as King, Gaston was now fully empowered to rule his country - and to dismiss his former regents, transforming their roles, to that of visiting dignitaries, to be treated with all the same emissarial politeness as befitting ambassadors of their respective Monarchs.
These dignitaries however, would not need their own dedicated estates which fall back under the Royal control, to be transformed into permanent guest residence - initially for their current occupants. There was no fear of recourse for such actions, King Gaston had seen the effectiveness of a well-written letter in the recollection of the Count of Dunois. Whilst it was not as drastic as that action, the King still saw fit to inform the dignitaries as to the reasoning of this action.
> Dignitaries of the Crowns of France, and Spain.
> Rejoice, for it is our Birthday - and acquisition of Majority. No longer shall your obligations as co-Governors be needed, and the condominium regency can cease. Your presence however, is not unwanted - we respect that many of you may have found comfortable life, and personal interest invested into the Kingdom - as such we extend a formal invitation for you to stay, as representatives of your respective lieges, until otherwise terminated, or recalled.
> Whilst your professional duties may be curtailed, your advise, and counsel are as appreciated as ever.
> Gaston de Foix, King of Sicily citra Farum, King of Navarre, King of Jerusalem, Cyprus and Armenia, Peer of France, Count of Narbonne, Count of Étampes
This letter was unlike others received from the Royal Court before, for it was written in a different hand. A neat, and practised hand-writing that was the King's own - carefully scribing every letter to leave a beautifully legible message. To the French, the letter came in Gaston's own mother-tongue, to the Spanish, a more rehearsed translation - courtesy of Gaston's recent regal education.
Gaston did not have time to celebrate - for his duties as King awaited him. His first being
... keep reading on reddit ➡I still feel alone,
no matter what I do,
I keep finding myself,
But I’m looking for you.
It always revolves around you,
whoever you are,
I wish I could find you now,
but I feel you’re so far.
Did I miss you?
Were you right there?
I do miss you,
and it feels so unfair.
I’m calling for you,
I’m as loud as I can,
My throat is sore,
My back is bent,
I can’t do it anymore,
but I repeat this trend,
because it’s all I know,
so I don’t see its end;
I keep on learning,
but I refuse to grow,
I know the path,
but I refuse to go.
You’ve kept me caged,
Tied to a Gordian knot;
are you also looking for me?
Am I too in your thoughts
https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/comments/qix2oz/would_you_still/himzgjx/?context=3
https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/comments/qizoj2/baby_shoes/himys7w/?context=3
There is one thing, that does not make any sense to me in the current situation: why is the lending fee still so low ???
We know, that the lending fee is usually a trigger for a short squeeze, because short sellers bleed to death on high rates and are forced to cover. As soon as the weakest member fails, the squeeze starts and with each member margin called it gains momentum.
As far as I get it, the fee is set depending on the risk the lender sees. This would lead to the conclusion, that IB does not see any current risk and everything is under control. But Petterfy was totally shaken in his initial interviews: https://youtu.be/Yq4jdShG_PU
From what we have collected so far, there are more and more things popping up all pointing in our favor, be it the DTCC rules, ETF shorting discovery, Plotkin divorcing rumors ( Neither Yaara Bank-Plotkin nor Gabriel Plotkin has confirmed or denied the rumor about their divorce ), etc - and now the SEC filing after the earnings report.
But what reasons could lead IB to propagate those low numbers ? From what I got from a pro trader as long as the fees are so low, professionals are not betting on the MOASS. I hope some apes with more experience and wrinkled brains can join in and we can figure out, what really goes on with the limited visibility we have as retail investors....
- With all the shady stuff going on, those numbers could be fake. As I get it there have been short sale restrictions on many brokers. Would be awesome to verify, but still the big boys probably have better conditions. Nonetheless it could be a way to measure the true risk.
- https://youtu.be/Kpyhnmd-ZbU - if you have watched this report, you can see, that predatory short selling is going on for decades. Many great companies destroyed and even a bunch of senators were not powerful enough to stop this practice.... this is THE cash cow for the rich and powerful and will not fall easily. Heck, they even destroyed a company working on anti-cancer medication despite impressive results for the quick buck. Now how deep does this rabbit hole go ? Probably far beyond GME, but GME might be the final black hole, where ultimate greed led to an ultimate collapse of the system. This can indicate, that most of the big players in the market are totally fucked, because of all that phantom shares. And not just the stock market, but the option issuers as well. So we actually might currently
... keep reading on reddit ➡Given the Alexander The Great allusions for our Great King. Sharing the same birthday, the swagger, the command of a unit, and even the arrogance. I thought it would be fun to pick apart one of the most famous Alexander The Great moments. Get a little nerdy. First a little backstory on what a Gordian Knot even is.
The Gordian Knot is an ancient, mythical even legendary type of knot. No one knows for sure how to tie the knot and if it was even possible. But legend has it to be so tight that you could never break it apart by human means. The material would break before the knot would come undone. My interpretation of the knot goes like this. It's a knot that turns into a different knot times infinity. That you keep pulling it apart and untying and untying ad neauem forever.
The story goes that someone showed Alexander the knot. Some stories it's a dare to save their county. Some just a fun thing they did to mess with him. So Alexander attempted to untie the knot. He tried and he tried. He could not. In his frustration and angry, he cut the knot with his sword. Fulfilling his end of the deal. Some stories have Alexander instantly cut it as an act of cleverness and cunning. Thus the term Cutting The Knot was born.
Now back to the question. What is Oikawa's Gordian Knot? Is it Karasuno, who he beat fair and square. Unraveling and cutting the knot down. Or is it Shiratorizawa, who he never beat. He tried so hard to bust them open but to no avail.
WARNING: MASSIVE [1E] AP SPOILERS! *ALL* APs!
Hello all,
This is a combination research project, thought experiment, and personal writing task that came from the idea of doing ALL the [1E] APs. Eventually, the 'starter' aspects of an AP wouldn't make sense for characters that were capable of doing the 6th or final book in the sequence.
At the same time, when the metaplot of multiple APs are considered, a certain 'critical path' is present. Some things need to be done to follow that sequence, and some can be ignored. Examples under each AP. No examples assume access to the world of Golarion before 4707 AR.
So... this is about 'cutting the Gordian Knot': taking an AP, and 'breaking' it, to 'solve' it.
I welcome and would greatly appreciate filler details, because as is - this is going to take a LONG time to complete.
** Will be continually editing this post for additions, from comments, etc.
With that said... MASSIVE SPOILERS INBOUND!
- 1 Rise of the Runelords [below]
- 2 Curse of the Crimson Throne [below]
- 3 Second Darkness [below]
- 4 Legacy of Fire
- 5 Council of Thieves
- 6 Kingmaker [comments to be edited in]
- 7 Serpent's Skull
- 8 Carrion Crown
- 9 Jade Regent [below]
- 10 Skull & Shackles [below]
- 11 Shattered Star [below]
- 12 Reign of Winter [comments to be edited in]
- 13 Wrath of the Righteous [comments to be edited in]
- 14 Mummy's Mask [comments to be edited in]
- 15 Iron Gods [comments to be edited in]
- 16 Giantslayer [comments to be edited in]
- 17 Hell's Rebels [comments to be edited in]
- 18 Hell's Vengeance
- 19 Strange Aeons [below]
- 20 Ironfang Invasion
- 21 Ruins of Azlant [comments to be edited in]
- 22 War for the Crown
- 23 Return of the Runelords
- 24 Tyrant's Grasp [below]
===============================================
1 Rise of the Runelords
- Prior to goblin attack (chapter 1): Go to Thistletop in the Sandpoint hinterlands and kill Nualia and all others.
- During goblin attack (chapter 1): Watch/follow Tsuto Kaijitsu in the Sandpoint graveyard, follow him to Thistletop, *then* kill everyone there.
- Preventing ghouls (chapter 2): Kill Aldern Foxglove (or let him die during the goblin attack, boar hunt, etc) before he leaves Sandpoint.
- *Missing: tie-in/connection to the murders in Magnimar.
- Prior to the Hook Mountain Massacre (chapter 3): go to the Vale of the Blac
$Boss: The Boss. Newly Promoted and eager to show off what he can do
$Me: Me of course.
$NewTeamlead: A brand new fresh teamlead, just promoted today.
English is not my first language, yadda yadda, not on mobile.
----
After Clocking in like Clockwork am I making my way to my desk, only to be intercepted by my Boss.
Boss: Hey, you are being assigned to a new project.
Internally am I jumping with joy, but since it had been raining outside like all the angels were taking a piss at the same time, was I looking more like a wet angry poodle.
Me: Cool. What Project? And what will we be supporting.
Boss: We will do support for an Automobile company.
Me: Cool. I take it they have specialized Programms and everything.
Boss: Yes.
Silence reigns through the floor, only to be broken by the clicking of mouse buttons and the hammering of keyboards from the other office spaces as he looks as happy as my dog that just threw himself down into dead eel without my notice and is now coming up to me to get headpats.
Me: I take it we will get some Documentation for that as well as them preparing Training to teach us the basics of them?
Boss: Oh yes. Of course.
The dead eel scent suddenly vanishes and the headache that I felt coming in is gone.
Boss: Also we will be doing support for all of their Windows.
And there it is back again.
Boss: And their Office.
I don't even dare to ask, but I have to.
Me: Which... Versions?
Boss: I don't know.
I flinch internally and externally.
Me: Will there be any training for anything non-standard? I haven't touched XP in a while and Win10 is still rather new to me.
Boss: Don't worry about it. Anywho, you have to move to a new office. I already got the people there moved to other places, so that there is a dedicated room just for them as they want to do an inspection of our facilities today.
Its rather short notice, but thats fine.
Boss: Also you may need to do some minor recabling.
Thats fine. When we moved into the offices we had a company do all of the cabling for us. I wasn't presented when it was done, but I have been often enough under my table and plugging cables around to know that they did a damn good job. And while they hadn't bundle all of the cables for a single computer together for easier identification, was it not all that hard to identify the cat5 computer cable (Grey), Cat5 Phone cable (Yellow) and of course power cables.
Me: Ca
... keep reading on reddit ➡They are acting like it is the most complex thing in the world. Like it’s a spy film and they don’t have an expert on Cyber security. I truly feel like there are two people on that desk and one got in from nepotism. 🤦♀️
They keep giving us more and more things and won’t let us sell one?!
