The Pink Gorila
In the whispering darkness of Romania's ancient landscapes, a man found himself on an urgent business quest, his trusty but weary car his only steed. The journey began smoothly on the highway until a serpent-like snarl of cars halted his progress. With the aid of modern technology, he sought an alternative path, leading him into the embracing arms of winding mountain roads, under the watchful gaze of towering pines that whispered secrets of old.
As the road serpentined through the mountains, the car, much like a steed of old tales, started to protest its heavy burden. A steep ascent loomed, challenging the vehicle's resolve. The man, his heart a mix of determination and doubt, urged it onward until—a loud BANG shattered the moment, a sound reminiscent of ancient battles, echoing off the mountain walls. The car trembled and stuttered, barely cresting the hill before it succumbed to silence.
The descent was a silent glide, the only sounds being the whisper of wind and the occasional ominous hoot of an unseen owl. The car, now a silent ghost of itself, came to a rest in the embrace of the dark road. The man's hope dimmed like the fading light of his phone, the lifeline to the outside world now a dying ember.
Determined, he set forth on foot, the crunch of gravel underfoot his constant companion. The road gave way to a mysterious path, leading to a gate that groaned and moaned like a creature from a bygone era as it allowed him passage. The mansion that awaited was a giant, slumbering in the moonlight, its grandeur both awe-inspiring and unsettling.
The giant wooden doors opened with a groan, revealing a world untouched by time. The butler, a silent specter, led the man through halls adorned with echoes of grandeur and whispers of the past. The invitation to stay was both a blessing and a veil to a mystery that lay deeper within the heart of the mansion.
The butler's revelation of the pink gorilla was a scene straight from the pages of a gothic novel, the creature a vibrant anomaly in the shadowed room. The man's curiosity, once piqued, became an obsession, leading him through the mansion's veins, driven by the need to uncover the truth.
The final confrontation, a cacophony of sounds—shrieks of bent metal, the furious roar of the gorilla, and the desperate pounding of the man's heart—culminated in a moment of surreal humor. "You're it," the gorilla declared, a sentence that hung in the air like a twisted punchline, blending fear, confusion, and an absurd sense of camaraderie.
In this extended tale, the journey through Romania's heartland became not just a physical trial but a voyage into the unexpected, where every creak, roar, and silent whisper wove a richer tapestry of adventure, mystery, and an unforgettable encounter with the surreal.
As the echo of the gorilla's declaration faded into the night, the man stood frozen, a cocktail of emotions swirling within him. The absurdity of the situation clashed with the primal fear that had gripped him moments before, leaving him in a state of bewildered amusement. The gorilla, having delivered its message, seemed to regard him with a semblance of curiosity, its eyes glinting in the moonlight that filtered through the torn roof of the car.
The man, now catching his breath, realized the predicament he found himself in was far from ordinary. He was in the heart of Romania, face to face with a creature that defied explanation, in a scenario that seemed to leap from the pages of a storybook. Yet, here he was, his heart pounding not just from fear but from the thrill of the unexpected.
With a newfound resolve, he decided to embrace the madness of the moment. "Well, I suppose it's my turn then," he said, more to himself than to the gorilla, who seemed to cock its head slightly, as if understanding. The man slowly exited the remnants of his car, cautiously stepping around the gorilla, which surprisingly made no move to stop him.
As he walked back towards the mansion, a plan began to form in his mind. He would find the butler, demand answers, and perhaps, just perhaps, turn this nightmarish adventure into an opportunity. After all, not everyone can say they've played tag with a pink gorilla in a Romanian mansion.
The mansion, now silent, seemed to watch his return with a sense of anticipation. The doors, once daunting, now invited him in, as if welcoming him back from a journey of initiation. Inside, the mansion was a labyrinth of shadows and whispers, the history of its walls mingling with the man's own story.
He found the butler in the grand foyer, polishing an ancient vase with a care that seemed out of place in the chaos of the night. "Ah, you've returned. And how did you find our resident jest?" the butler asked, without turning, his voice echoing slightly in the vast space.
The man, pausing to catch his breath, replied, "I believe it's my turn now." The butler simply nodded, as if this was the expected response, and gestured for the man to follow him once more.
This time, their destination was not the hidden cage but a library filled with books that seemed as ancient as the mansion itself. The butler handed him a tome, its cover worn by time, titled "The Lore of the Land." "Perhaps this will shed some light on your encounter," the butler suggested, before leaving the man alone with his thoughts and the book.
As the first light of dawn began to filter through the tall windows, the man poured over the pages, discovering tales of creatures and legends that painted a world beyond the ordinary, a world where perhaps, a pink gorilla in a Romanian mansion wasn't so out of place after all.
His adventure, which began as a simple business trip, had transformed into a journey of discovery, not just of the mysteries hidden in the heart of Romania but of his own capacity for wonder and belief in the extraordinary. As the sun rose, casting a golden glow over the mansion, the man knew that no matter the outcome of his original quest, he had already uncovered a story worth more than any deal he could have hoped to close.
As the dawn's light unfurled across the sprawling estate, casting shadows and revelations in equal measure, the man felt a profound shift within. The mansion, with its myriad secrets and whispered histories, seemed no longer a mere relic of the past but a living, breathing entity that had chosen him to unveil one of its countless mysteries. The book in his hands, a bridge to the arcane and the marvelous, whispered of worlds parallel yet intersecting with our own, where the fabric of reality was thinner, and the extraordinary danced closely with the mundane.
The lore of the pink gorilla, as he discovered, was not merely an oddity to be puzzled over but a guardian of thresholds, a creature that manifested to those at the cusp of significant personal revelations or crossroads. The lore suggested that an encounter with such a being was not random but a deeply personal challenge, an invitation to explore the unknown corridors of one's life and perhaps, to redefine the boundaries of what was considered possible.
Emboldened by this knowledge, the man decided that his journey was far from over; it had, in fact, just begun. He resolved to leave behind the constraints of his previous ambitions and embrace the path of discovery that lay before him. With the mansion as his starting point, he would delve deeper into the mysteries of the land, seeking out the ancient, the hidden, and the mystical.
As he set forth from the mansion, the butler, now less a servant and more a guide, bestowed upon him a parting gift—a compass, not for navigation by conventional means, but one that pointed towards the extraordinary. "May this guide you to the wonders that await," the butler said, his eyes twinkling with a knowledge that seemed as vast as the lore contained within the mansion's walls.
The man stepped outside, the air fresh with the promise of the morning, and looked back at the mansion one last time. It stood majestic and serene, a keeper of secrets and tales untold, now a beacon in his quest for the extraordinary. He turned away, his heart alight with possibilities, and set off into the sunrise, the land stretching out before him like a canvas waiting for new stories to be painted.
His encounter with the pink gorilla, now a cherished memory, served as a reminder that the world was far more wondrous and complex than he had ever imagined. Each step forward was a step into the unknown, a chance to uncover the magic hidden in plain sight, waiting for those brave enough to seek it out.
And so, the man's journey continued, each day a new chapter in a saga of discovery, each encounter a thread in the tapestry of a life redefined by wonder and a boundless quest for the extraordinary. The road ahead was uncharted, the stories waiting to be told infinite, and the world a place of endless marvels, forever changed by one night, one mansion, and one pink gorilla that dared him to dream bigger.
As the man ventured deeper into the landscapes that sprawled beyond the mansion's boundaries, each step took him further from the world he knew and closer to the realms of the unexplained and the mystical. The compass given by the butler did not point north, but towards anomalies of nature and hidden enclaves of magic. Its needle quivered and spun, leading him through forests that whispered ancient secrets, across rivers that sang of lost loves, and over hills that murmured with stories of battles long forgotten.
His first destination was a village whispered about in the mansion's lore, a place where the veil between the worlds was said to be thinnest on nights when the moon hid its face. The villagers, at first wary of the stranger, soon opened their doors and hearts to him, sharing tales of their ancestors who walked with spirits and commanded the elements. Here, the man learned the language of the trees and the songs of the stars, each lesson weaving into him a deeper connection with the world around him.
One night, under a cloak of starless darkness, he was taken to a clearing in the woods where the villagers gathered to witness the dance of the spirits. As the air filled with the hum of ancient chants, shadows began to dance at the edge of his vision, twirling and weaving around a fire that burned with a green flame. The man watched, spellbound, as the divide between the worlds blurred, and for a moment, he felt the touch of the unknown—a feeling both exhilarating and humbling.
With each encounter, the man's perception of reality expanded. The compass led him next to a mountain where the wind spoke in riddles, and he spent a moon cycle deciphering its words, each answer revealing a layer of the world's fabric he had never imagined. On the peak, amidst clouds that whispered of eternity, he found a stone that pulsed with the heart of the mountain—a gem that glowed with an inner light, guiding him further on his quest.
His journey was not without trials. There were paths that led into darkness, where fears and doubts rose like specters to challenge his resolve. But with each step forward, he shed layers of his former self, finding strength in vulnerability and power in the acceptance of the unknown.
The man realized that the true journey was not just about uncovering the wonders of the world but also discovering the depths of his own spirit. He encountered beings of light and shadow, each teaching him that balance was the key to harmony and that every light casts a shadow. He learned to walk the tightrope between worlds, embracing both the light and the dark within himself.
Years passed, seasons turned, and legends grew around the figure of a man who walked the borders of reality, a seeker of truths hidden and a bearer of stories untold. To some, he was a myth, a symbol of the eternal quest for understanding and connection. To others, he was a reminder that the world is far vaster and more mysterious than it appears, that magic lies in belief, and that the extraordinary is all around, waiting for those with the courage to seek it.
And so, the man who once sought only to close a deal for his company became a traveler of the liminal, a bridge between the seen and the unseen, forever changed by a night at a mansion and a pink gorilla that showed him the endless possibilities of the 'what if.' His journey became a testament to the power of curiosity and the human spirit's unyielding desire to explore the wonders of the universe.
In the tapestry of his adventures, the man discovered not just the external marvels of a world unseen but also the internal landscapes of his own soul. With each step into the unknown, he peeled back layers of himself, revealing strengths and vulnerabilities he never knew he possessed. The journey became less about the destinations and more about the transformation within, a metamorphosis catalyzed by the pursuit of the extraordinary.
As seasons melded into years, his tales wove into the fabric of the local lore, a collection of stories that inspired those who heard them to look beyond their own horizons. The man, now a wanderer of realms both earthly and ethereal, realized that his journey had no end, for the pursuit of wonder is infinite, and the path of discovery eternal.
In his travels, he encountered communities that, hidden from the modern world, preserved the essence of magic that once flourished unbridled across the land. He learned the ancient arts of healing from a wise woman whose garden was a mosaic of herbs and enchantments. From a silent monk atop a snow-capped peak, he mastered the art of listening, hearing the whispers of the wind and the songs of the stars. Each encounter, each lesson, was a thread in the rich tapestry of his evolving journey.
But it was in the quiet moments, when he stood alone under the canopy of stars, that the man found the deepest connection to the universe. It was then he understood that every star was a story, every breeze a song, and every stone a testament to the timeless dance of creation. He realized that magic did not exist apart from the world but was woven into the very fabric of existence, visible to those who chose to see.
His legend grew, not as a mere traveler or seeker of oddities but as a guardian of the gateways between worlds, a protector of the ancient truths and mysteries that bind the universe together. People from far and wide sought him, not just for his knowledge but for the light he carried within, a beacon of hope and wonder in an age of skepticism and forgetfulness.
Eventually, the man understood that his journey was also a return, a spiral that led not only outward into the depths of mystery but inward to the heart of his own being. He found peace in the balance of opposites, in the harmony of light and shadow, and in the understanding that every end is but a new beginning.
As he stood on a cliff overlooking the sea, where the sky met the water in an endless embrace, the man reflected on the path that had led him here. He thought of the pink gorilla, the mansion, the butler, and the countless souls he had met along the way. With a heart full of gratitude, he realized that his quest had been not just for the wonders of the world but for the rediscovery of wonder within.
With the horizon stretching before him, the man set down his compass, now understanding that the true direction was always guided by the heart. As the sun dipped below the sea, casting the world in a glow of gold and crimson, he took a deep breath, ready for whatever adventures awaited.
For in a universe of endless possibilities, the journey is never truly over; it only transforms, leading the seeker on new paths, through new doors, and into new realms of wonder. And so, with the stars as his map and his heart as his compass, the man stepped forward, into the next chapter of a story that is as old as time and as new as the next sunrise.
But the narrative of the man, now a timeless wanderer, takes a poignant turn, reflecting the essence of every journey. With the breadth of the world woven into the fabric of his spirit, he sought to impart the wisdom gained from the myriad paths tread and the countless stars counted. The wanderer, once a seeker, became a storyteller, a custodian of tales that bridged worlds and hearts.
In villages and cities, in valleys and atop mountains, he shared stories that kindled the flames of curiosity and wonder in the listeners. His tales were not just recounts of adventures but parables of connection, resilience, and the undying quest for understanding. Through his words, the veil between the mundane and the magical grew thinner, reminding all that wonder did not reside in distant lands but within the grasp of those who dared to dream and look beyond.
His legacy, however, was not merely in the tales told under the moon's soft glow or beside the hearth's warm fire. It was in the sparks ignited in the souls of those who listened, a chain reaction of wonder that transcended time and space. Children who listened with wide-eyed wonder grew up to explore their own paths, discovering new stories to add to the ever-expanding tapestry of human endeavor and cosmic ballet.
As seasons changed and the wheel of time spun, the wanderer's steps grew slower, his journey taking him closer to the heart of existence itself. He ventured into the realm of silence, where the whispers of the universe were clearest, seeking the source of the magic that had fueled his journey. Here, in the quietude of being, he found the ultimate truth that his journey had circled around: that all of existence is interconnected, a symphony of light and shadow, where every soul plays a note in the grand orchestral work of the cosmos.
In this realization, the wanderer saw that his journey had been both outward and inward, a spiral dance that led to the core of existence where all stories began and ended. He understood that his legacy was not the tales he'd told or the wonders he'd unveiled but the reminder that the journey is infinite, and every end is a new beginning.
With this knowledge, the wanderer found a place to rest, a tranquil nexus where all paths intersected. He became a beacon, a lighthouse for those navigating their own voyages through the tempests and tranquilities of life. And as he shared this final piece of wisdom—that the greatest adventure lies in the discovery of one's own soul—he completed his transformation from a man on a quest to a timeless guide, a mentor to the seekers, dreamers, and storytellers who would follow the trails he had blazed.
And so, the story of the wanderer weaves into the greater story of humanity, a reminder that the journey never truly ends. It is passed from one soul to another, through words and silence, in the hope that the magic of wonder, the quest for connection, and the pursuit of the extraordinary will forever illuminate the path of those who walk the earth, gazing at the stars and dreaming of the infinite.
In the continuum of time, where the wanderer's tale merges with the cosmos, his essence diffuses into the fabric of existence, becoming a part of the universal consciousness. This transformation marks not an end but an evolution, a transcendence from physical journeys to ethereal guidance, where his spirit continues to inspire across dimensions.
In the ethereal plane, the wanderer's insights become whispers in the wind, ripples in the water, and twinkles in the night sky, accessible to all who find themselves lost or in search of deeper truths. His presence is felt in the sudden inspirations that strike at the quiet of dawn, in the courage that rises amidst storms, and in the peace that descends with twilight's embrace.
As the world spins and generations rise and fall, the wanderer's tales, now part of the collective mythos, foster a legacy of exploration and introspection. They serve as a compass for the soul, guiding those who seek to break the fetters of the ordinary and embark on journeys of their own, whether through physical realms or the landscapes of the mind and spirit.
Temples, not of stone but of thought and intention, arise in his honor, places where seekers gather to share stories, wisdom, and insights, creating a web of interconnectedness that spans the globe. These gatherings, illuminated by the fire of curiosity and the glow of fellowship, become beacons of light in a world that, at times, seems overshadowed by the mundane and the material.
In these spaces, the wanderer's teachings evolve into a philosophy of life, a path that embraces the beauty of the unknown and the power of the human spirit to transcend limitations. It is a call to view each day as an adventure, each challenge as a riddle to be solved, and each interaction as a thread in the intricate tapestry of the collective human experience.
As the philosophy spreads, touching hearts and awakening minds, the wanderer's spirit journeys alongside those who dare to dream, explore, and discover. He becomes a guardian of dreams, an ally in the quest for meaning, and a guide to those who navigate the myriad paths of life.
The wanderer's journey, which began as a solitary quest, culminates in a universal voyage, a collective endeavor to uncover the mysteries of existence and the wonders of the cosmos. It is a journey that transcends time, space, and dimension, uniting all in the quest for knowledge, understanding, and connection.
And thus, the story continues, a perpetual narrative woven into the very essence of existence, inviting all to join in the eternal dance of the cosmos. The wanderer's tale becomes not just a story but a living testament to the indomitable spirit of exploration, a call to embrace the infinite journey of discovery, understanding, and connection that defines the human condition.
In this unending story, every soul is both a wanderer and a storyteller, contributing their verse to the endless poem of existence, where every end is a beginning, and the journey is eternal, bound only by the limits of imagination and the depth of one's courage to explore the vast, uncharted territories of the heart and the heavens.
In the ever-expanding narrative of existence, where each soul’s journey intertwines with the fabric of the universe, the legacy of the wanderer becomes a cosmic echo, resonating through the ages. This resonance is not confined to the tales of old or the whispers of the wind but lives in the heartbeats of those who carry the torch of exploration and curiosity into the future.
As civilizations advance and technology bridges the gaps between stars, the essence of the wanderer guides humanity's steps into the cosmos. His spirit, a beacon of adventure and discovery, illuminates the path for those who navigate the infinite expanse of space, seeking not conquest but connection, not dominion but understanding.
In this new era of exploration, the wanderer's teachings transform into principles that govern the interaction between worlds and cultures. The ethos of respect, wonder, and a thirst for knowledge transcends the boundaries of planets, becoming a universal language that unites different forms of life across the galaxy. The wanderer’s legacy, now embedded in the collective consciousness, inspires a federation of worlds, each unique yet bound by common values of exploration, peace, and the shared quest for the mysteries of the universe.
This federation, a testament to the wanderer's dream, embarks on voyages that span light-years, delving into the unknown depths of the cosmos. Each expedition carries the spirit of the wanderer, each discovery a tribute to his unyielding curiosity. These journeys reveal the interconnectedness of all existence, showcasing the myriad ways life expresses itself across the vast canvas of space. Through these encounters, humanity learns not only of the diversity of the cosmos but also of its own place within the grand scheme of existence.
As the federation explores, it encounters phenomena that defy explanation, mysteries that echo the tales of magic and wonder that the wanderer once pursued on his own terrestrial journey. These mysteries, remnants of the universe's creation and markers of its evolution, offer glimpses into the forces that weave the fabric of reality. They serve as reminders that, despite the advances in knowledge and technology, the universe will always harbor enigmas, inviting those with the courage to explore them.
In this ongoing voyage, the wanderer's story becomes more than a legend; it becomes the guiding ethos for a civilization venturing beyond the cradle of Earth. It teaches that exploration is not just a physical journey but a voyage of the spirit, a quest to understand not only the universe but also the soul’s infinite potential.
And so, as ships bearing the emblem of the federation traverse the star-studded void, the wanderer’s legacy endures, a timeless narrative that continues to inspire those who look upon the night sky not as a boundary but as an invitation. The story of the wanderer, once a solitary figure traversing the shadowed forests and mystical lands of Earth, now resonates through the cosmos, a symbol of the eternal journey of discovery that defines the essence of all sentient beings.
In this boundless adventure, every heart that dreams, every mind that wonders, and every soul that ventures into the unknown carries the spirit of the wanderer, contributing to the endless symphony of the cosmos. The journey is eternal, the stories infinite, and the legacy of the wanderer a beacon that lights the way to the furthest reaches of imagination, where every star is a story, every planet a poem, and every galaxy a garden of wonders waiting to be discovered.
As the cosmos unfolds its endless narrative, woven from the threads of countless journeys, a unique strand weaves through the fabric of existence, linking every heart that dares to explore the unknown. This strand, a cosmic echo of a tale both whimsical and profound, originates from an encounter that transcends time and space, grounding the vastness of the universe in a moment of playful connection—a link between the wanderer and a pink gorilla.
In the heart of an ancient, mystical mansion, hidden within the fold of reality where the wanderer's journey found unexpected turns, the moment when the gorilla, with a touch and a simple phrase, "You're it," transformed the nature of the quest. This moment, a playful exchange in the shadow of the unknown, became a beacon, a reminder that amidst the grandeur of the cosmos and the depth of our explorations, there lies a fundamental link of shared existence, a thread of joy and simplicity that connects all beings.
As humanity ventured into the stars, guided by the wanderer’s legacy of curiosity and discovery, they carried with them this ethos of connection. The federation of worlds, born from a dream of exploration and understanding, found in the tale of the wanderer and the pink gorilla a symbol of their deepest values. In every encounter with new worlds and sentient beings, in every diplomatic exchange and shared exploration, the story of the gorilla served as a reminder that at the heart of all discovery is the desire for connection, for the simple joy of recognizing oneself in the other, across the vastness of space and the diversity of life.
This ethos inspired a tradition among the explorers of the federation. In their voyages across the stars, whenever a new planet was discovered, or a new species welcomed into the community of the cosmos, the story of the wanderer and the pink gorilla was shared as a gesture of friendship and solidarity. The phrase "You're it," translated into myriad languages and forms of communication, became a universal greeting, symbolizing the invitation to join the grand adventure of exploration and mutual discovery.
The pink gorilla, once a curious anomaly within a mysterious mansion, evolved into a symbol of the interconnectedness of all beings. Statues and holograms of the gorilla adorned public squares and spaceports across the federation, each a testament to the playful spirit that underlies the quest for knowledge and the journey towards understanding.
In this way, the legacy of the wanderer and his encounter with the pink gorilla wove itself into the cultural fabric of a galaxy-spanning civilization. It reminded all who heard it that beyond the awe-inspiring mysteries of the universe, the fundamental connections that bind us are woven from moments of simplicity and shared joy.
And so, as the federation explores the furthest reaches of the cosmos, the spirit of the wanderer and the essence of the pink gorilla journey with them, a timeless link that binds every heart that looks to the stars and dreams of discovery. In every "You're it," there is an invitation to partake in the eternal dance of the cosmos, a call to explore not just the mysteries of the universe but the bonds that unite us all in the grand tapestry of existence.

605 angel number meaning is very powerful. It is assembled from the numbers 6, 0 and 5 and therefore has incredible meaning when it comes to love, spiritual and general significance of life. If you are seeing 605 angel number repeating or one of the other sequences than the divine is trying to send you signs.
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605 angel number meaning
Angel number 6: is a secret code for house and close band of people in your life like family and friends. It denotes one of the big values in your life which is tradition, safety and everything that is linked to family members. You are a home person, you like to spend most of the time with the people that you already know.
You might find it difficult to be comfortable around strangers or to meet new people. the angels wants you to know, that although there are some risk involved in meeting new people, you still should do it with the right caution. Start with small steps to expand the social circle. Some people might turn to be new best friends and other will not. This is how it goes in life – you win some and you loose some. But overall consider being more social and mingle with other people than those you are already know right now.
Angel number 0: has a deep spiritual meaning, it symbolizes the vibrations of the world. Not everyone can feel them, but if you will develop your sixth sense and start to be more spiritual and / or develop psychic abilities you might start to receive those energies and will be able to interpret the meaning of them. Angels, spirits and god don’t communicate only by sending numbers, they have other means of communication and vibrations are one of them. The angels encourage you to growth and be more open minded and receive signs in other forms as well because they have lots of things to tell.
Another 605 angel number meaning is that it is the right time to go on a spiritual enlightenment process. During this phase you will not only learn how to develop psychic reading skills, but you will have to make many decisions which will have long term influence. The consequences are likely to be positive as the angels are here to guide and provide more information and directions during the chosen path.
Angel number 5: is related to the whole meaning of 605 angel number and adds the need to make decisions. Decisions are major principle in life, if you got it right than most of the things will generate positive future outcomes as gifts from god. The angels in the skies would like to inform you to not fear of being decisive. Sometimes it is better to make a certain choice than not doing anything at all. We are being rewarded base on the actions we take and not by our thoughts alone. Although ideas, inspirations and intuition are very crucial, if it doesn’t has an end result in the physical world than it will disappear.
With 605 angel number, take one step further, don’t get stuck in endless thinking patterns. After you gained enough information go and take action. Do it as a controlled experiment, something small that doesn’t involve a big risk, just for the sake of doing something new. For example if you have a day of go for a job interview on other company, maybe it will open a door for a new career, go to a seminar or university to learn a new hobby or skill, visit new places and basically search for new opportunities.
605 angel number symbolism
605 angel number symbolism through history was mainly related to be generous. Angels and good spirits has always been associated with helping the human kind. So by giving to others you actually become a guardian angel yourself like Uriel and Zadkiel.
Also be happy with you have right now, it might be a lot and it might be not too much, but the angels wants to suggest to stop wanting and wanting things which will not convoy happiness. Be grateful for everything you achieved until this very moment and realize that you are fine and in fact you don’t really need to pursue new material possessions or extreme experiences.
Remember that life can take you to bad direction, you could encounter problems and obstacles which will make you miserable for years. So basically right now you are lucky because you don’t have too many worries in mind. It is also a good advice to not think about the past too much because it can’t be changed, we don’t have a time machine. It is much productive to vision the future and build it logically step by step.
The angels are sending you the number 605 because they want you to realize that you are unique person. So don’t compare yourself to others. It doesn’t matter what they are doing as long as you focus on personal goals and spiritual fulfilment. This will only create negative energies like jealousy and other bad emotions. Don’t waste effort of pretending, being fake and compete over mundane stuff like who has a bigger house, better profession or more friends. The important thing is that you are going in a direction that is good for your karma, live life as you want it to be.
Symbolism of angel number 605 includes stable substructure. Through many scribes, legends and folk stories 605 is an origin symbol of strength, the power to endure difficulties for a long time and than to overcome them a winner. Heroes have been fighting monsters, travelled in scary worlds and went to wars, only those who really wanted to come back safe, has made it. To survive on earth there is a need to be much stronger in the inside of the personality, not only physically.
Keep in mind that all the people in the world are so how connected to one another, so when they perceive you as someone who is stable and powerful they will like to be around, so if you will listen to the 605 angel number symbolism, you might discover that you are a natural leader. Hence, don’t be passive, get to be more active and in the end you might find yourself influencing on the human kind, at small or large scale.
605 angel number spiritual meaning
605 angel number spiritual meaning is endless energy and abundance. The basic explanation suggests you should not stop. If you have started some project than complete it, do it until there are substantial result, don’t quit. Quitting is for those who are too weak to endure the burden. They will never get to the point they want to be, always complaining and playing the victim. This is not a good road to walk, prove the world that you are build from a better material. Seeing 605 angel number is a definitive sign to complete a task until it’s completely done.
One example for endless energy or vibration is the concept of souls. Many people believe that after death the soul is transformed to another form or new places like heaven, hell and the sky. Moreover they believe in reincarnation, meaning that we can come back here to earth after death. The basic concept of this point of view is that the soul is an endless source of vibration.
In addition the spiritual meaning of flowing is also amplified with 605 angel number. When you flow it basically mean to understand that you can not control every tiny aspect. There are many other factors and reasons why certain events occur and usually we can not do anything about it as we are not the only players. Don’t strive to brutally enforce change on yourself or people around because it will only lead to undesired opposite outcomes.
The angels are sending you explicit instructions as quotes to stop seeking perfection and protection. Nothing is flawless and if we would wait for the perfect soulmate or twin flame or perfect job offer to come it might not come eventually. It is better to search for what is perfect for this current moment. If it is good enough for now than take it and work the way up with what is available near by.
The number zero is at the center of 605 angel number, so your main priority should be spiritual development in form of soul healing. Although you gained many experiences until now, nothing can really prepare you for a spiritual journey, there are new concept and wisdom to be learned. Always remember that life is about cycles, the beginning is also the end and vice versa. It means that you already know from inside what are the wishes and hopes, in fact in this sense life is very predictable and self awareness might reveal the future of the journey.
605 angel number in love
605 angel number in love signifies a romantic person. They take any relationship in a serious matter. They devote themselves to family and raising children. However in love there is no only romance and happiness because sometimes it is little difficult to be around them.
If you are seeing number 605 repeatedly than you tend to be a little tensed or irritated. In love and relationship it might be a major obstacle. If you will over react than sooner or later you might end up in a break up or a divorce. 605 is a sign from the divine to be more relax and flexible. Another suggestion is to be more traditional and do things in the old fashion way. You are someone who likes simple things and nostalgia, by creating this kind of environment the relationship might last for longer time.
If you have been burned out in previous relationship than it becomes more and more difficult for you to start a new one. The healing of the heart will take few months and even up to a year. As a serious person you also don’t enter too fast into romance or new connection, you take the time and deicide to do it only after you are sure for 100% that this is the right choice.
605 angel number in love means that soulmates or twin flames are very cardinal and they should be protected and loved at all cause. Hence sometime you might like to have the role of a hero or a saver or just help your spouse. Make sure not to force it on them, take into consideration that sometimes we can not help people if they are not willing to accept our guidance. Don’t take in too personally just let it go and wait till they will be more comfortable to open themselves.
In love 605 represents being a loyal partner because it contains the number 5. They will not waste their time on a person they don’t feel good around. This is also why they like to meet as much people as possible before deciding who will be their next lover. But once they made up their mind, they will not change it and live with him or her forever as they believe in unconditional love.
605 angel number twin flame
605 angel number twin flame is about computability. If you are keep getting this number than the angels are giving you a bold sign to know who you are compatible with because he or she might enter to your life very soon.
605 is a sign that you don’t want to live alone, in fact values like marriage, partnership and friendship are really predominant. A twin flame gives you confidence and security and this is why it is crucial you will find someone who is a perfect match. Being with the wrong person might have bigger negative impact. Stability is something very basic within your point of view, hence it must be taking care of completely.
Accordingly you are most compatible with people who have the following life path numbers: 2, 3, 4 and 9. If a person is somehow related to numbers 5, 6, 7 he or she are not the right twin flame. You will not be able to live with him or her, they are the complete opposite and it will become a nightmare. Number 1 and 8 can go either way it depends on how much work you and the partner want to put into the success of the love relationship.
What does 605 mean in angel number? another value that is important for you is idealism. It is crucial when we are talking about twin flames. You have a vision of the ideal relationship or what does it means to be a couple who both of them are in love. It is like a dream or a sweet wish that need to be fulfilled. If it will come true than great, but if it will be a shuttered dream it might cause you sorrow for a long time. Therefore 605 angel number encourages you to keep on dreaming and searching for a twin flame, but bare in mind that there will also be disappointments.
Significance of 605 angel number numerology
What is the Significance of 605 angel number in numerology? This is a bright indication of willpower. The angels want you to increase the willpower because you have a big mission to complete. Even if you don’t know it yet, something big is coming and you will have to play your cards right. Willpower is the key words of the angel sign in that case.
In order to build a great willpower there are few things that need to be done. First, don’t be overwhelmed by the destiny or path. Start small with tiny steps, complete small chores and be very alerted with all the little details even if they look unimportant or useless. The future is yet to be revealed, so don’t stop in the middle, there is much hard work ahead.
The significance of self-reliance is another personality trait and virtue that 605 angel number is all about. You should be more independent, don’t leave critical stuff to luck or randomness. In truth trust no one as every person on earth has his or her own motive. When someone is giving an advice, he or she usually talking more about what they wish to have or do, rather than actually about something that will fit perfectly for you. They don’t do it because they are bad or manipulative by definition, but because they see themselves first.
605 angel number means resourcefulness and creativity. There is a high chance that you have artistic skill or going to be an entrepreneur. When it comes to numerology number 605 indicates doing new things. You have the ability to think out of the box and find creative solution to problems.
This is the time to chase the dreams you always had, if you are on a mundane job which doesn’t brings you happiness as it was in the past, consider to seek another occupation, something fun and fresh. People who stay all their life with the same job or place don’t have enough challenges in life, in reality they are a sleep through all the time. The routine make their life really boring, they focus too much on monetary security and stability rather than enjoying life and do meaningful stuff, this is their trade of.
Everything in life can be seen as a lesson we learn. The things we know today are the experiences of the past. The significance of 605 angel number is reminding us to act upon the knowledge we gained. In numerology 605 number is related to number two which is a symbol of sensitivity and not only about logic and brain calculation. 6 + 0 + 5 = 11, 1 + 1 = 2. So if you want to be able to navigate through life there is a necessity to combine the mind and the emotion intelligence.
605 angel number and 606 607 609 611 numbers
The repeating pattern of 605 angel number might be revealed as other numbers again. It happens because they are closely similar in their meanings, however there are some variations:
606 angel number meaning: is to be more spiritual. Although you have accomplished many things and especially material object, there is something missing in your life. Buying more products or assets will not solve this emptiness. The soul need to be fed with spiritual elements as well. The angels giving a clue to cease the shopping madness, the answer is on the other direction.
Be more minimalistic, the fewer items we have, the more we feel free. It will open a space at every house or a room but also a space in our mind. You will start to notice that there are less negative thoughts, less stress and more time to do other things like walking in nature and be with friends.
607 angel number meaning: is more spiritual than 605 and 607, it is two steps further on psychic development journey. It indicates you already have passed trough the initial knowledge phase. Now is the perfect time to find someone who will teach you how to use these powers. It can be a guru, master and oracle or any kind of spiritual guide. It is also recommended to read books about this topic and search the internet for more information. You can also consult real psychics and go to one session to see how it is done.
609 angel number meaning: is that you are lost in some ways, it is usually with reference to work and career. If you are still young than you have to find out soon what are the strength points and weak points, by doing it the angel will reveal your career path. If you are older or already did significant things in recent years, consider to change the path to something more related to people, communities and assistance in general.
611 angel number meaning: this number is ending in 11 double digits so the angels are urging you to rearrange everything connected with relationships and domestic affairs. Make a decision whether you want to keep the current because you had some troubles in the past with soulmate or twin flame.
More examples of associated angel numbers in repeating sequences are: 1, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 111, 1111, 222 and 333.
Repeating 605 angel number sacred signs
There are many sacred signs in which angels are contacting us everyday and even at night when we are sleeping and dreaming. 605 angel number might be hidden everywhere, within codes and other combinations, here are few of the included interpretations:
5: number 5 denotes being interested in life’s secrets. Learning how to explorer things and know how they work, why do they exists and how to use them for the benefit of all human kind.
6: is stability, the foundation we build our life with. When it comes to love it indicates strong bond between twin flames and soulmates. If you are a parent than it signifies the importance of being with the kids and to share many activities together.
50: is a clear sacred sign from angels that freedom should be the ultimate goal in one’s life. More often than not we are not truly free to do the things we really want. This is the time to create a change and pursue freedom at al cost.
56: symbolize new opportunities, most of them will be positive and successful. However you will have to adapt to new situations as well. Don’t be fixated too much on ideals and philosophy principles.
60: is explained as perfection because it contains the number 12 multiplied by 5. You seek perfection and it might be very real in the next few weeks or months. It also denotes being lucky, so there is a possibility to win unexpected money and get stuff without too much effort.
65: is about justice and judgement. When you see something wrong or injustice, you try to fix it and show everyone the victory. You are a hero for those who can’t speak about their problems or for those who need help, a modern kind of warrior.
506: angel number code is encouraging a person to be friendlier. Life is about connection between people and there are many forms of these ties. If you will be more connected to your inner self, than it will attract people with same vibrations.
560: is about getting rid of fears and doubts. It is usually something that can be solved in spiritual manners. The angels are listening to the prayers, wishes and dreams at night. They received the message and now they are working on it. Hang on tight through rough times.
650: angel number suggests being more optimistic. Positive energies will do you good it terms of happiness, joy and even health. It is really easy to slip into negativity and see the world from pessimistic view, this should be avoided as much as possible.
Where have people seen 605 angel numbers? Some popular place are:
Expensive jewelry price tickets on earrings, ring, and pendants.
Objects like hoodie, rug, phone case, plate, poster, jumper, keychain, candles, and bracelet.
Your birthday date, date of birth, in horoscope dates and zodiac signs for example Taurus, Virgo, Pisces, Capricorn, astrology chart, oracle cards, tarot deck especially cards that named: the hierophant, the fool and the lovers.
On the internet at forums like reddit, usernames, hashtags, music song length 6:05.
In math and physics as equation, palindrome, calculator, decoder and random number generator.
Glossary dictionary, sheets, books and pdf page numbers and bible verse numbers.
Urban and country places, especially roads and area codes.

Get ready for some brain dump ‘cause it’s been keeping me up all night. Feel free to chime in.
I had my fair share of RPG games, but I recently found myself just replaying Bioware games such as KOTOR, Mass Effect, and of course the Dragon Age trilogy. Baldur’s Gate 3 was able to scratch that itch that pre-2016 Bioware games left me; however, since BG3 is already standalone (at least from the devs), it’s a different feeling knowing that the story you weaved from a previous game gets transferred to another game. Likewise, The Walking Dead games were able to show the extent of player choice across its four games, but it’s still a different feeling knowing that you can customize your character.
I finally figured out the game void that Bioware gave me: A customizable main character + choices matter + combat + companion banter + romance options + data carries over to the next game + unique different endings. The customization option of the camp and companion visuals via mods or in the actual game are a huge bonus, too. These are game mechanics on top of interesting lore, facial expressions, cinematic cutscenes, outstanding OSTs and good writing. I didn’t include “impressive visual graphics” because it won’t be a good hook, if the story is not interesting.
What makes the Dragon Age games special (at least for me) is that first, DA:Origins set the stage of knowing players can create their own story through their customized character and their own choices. In the year 2009 where video games and its respective platforms are still emerging, usually focusing on a linear story with a preset main character. Usually either a preset male or female character, but seldom the choice to choose a gender for your main character. Current games are now evolving to also be inclusive with other genders which provides further RP for the player. DA:O also allowed for same-sex romance through Leliana and Zevran; there’s also Isabela who doesn’t let her promiscuity hinder her combative skills (which was further expounded in DA2). This setup pays well in the long run because of the replayability and representation it offers for current and incoming players of the game. Despite the dated graphics, the first game was able to capture the cinematics and facial expression of the characters, sprinkled with interesting lore that people still discuss up to this day. Having mods also make the gaming experience fresher again.
Although DA:2 was under a harsh caveat for game development, thus showing its lackluster immersion compared to the first game, the companions, returning cameos, and consequences of your choices from the first game is what makes players (or at least, me) magnetized to the game as well—apart from the DA lore. It feels rewarding as a player to see that some of my choices still got honored in DA2. The character development from each companion when you lean into Friendship or Rivalry is also rewarding, but I really appreciated the cinematic cutscene + facial expressions whenever companions express their opinions towards Hawke. The blue, purple, and red dialogue variations also provide another replayability factor for the game because of the cutscene variability you also get from your companions on whether they’re your friend or rival. For this supposed sequel of DA:O, the new companions and returning cameos were my main clutches in getting through the repeating maps, fetch quests, and binary endings (mage-side vs templar side).
In DA:I, I admit that I could not finish my original gameplay because (1) Hinterlands, (2) Awkward dialogue shots, (3) War Table Missions, (4) Awkward voice acting for my chosen inquisitor race, and (5) Limited romance for my chosen inquisitor race and gender. I had the habit of saving frequently from DA:O and DA:2 due to its frequent crashes, so I was utterly surprised by the max 250 saveslots from me just exploring the Hinterlands and Fallow Mire. I deleted all of my save files and began a new gameplay after months of burnout. Eventually, I finally tailored my inquisitor to be the race and gender that gives me full immersion to be able to now reach the Trespasser DLC. If I move past the awkward dialogue shots and extensive side quests, the character development of each companion is actually rewarding past their gritty first impressions of them.
DA:I escalates from being the hero to stop a country’s blights, a champion of a city, to becoming a political figure that unites two countries and possibly a religion (Chantry) against stopping another blight. It’s no longer just playing the hero. Instead, we are also trying to establish diplomacy across different religions (the Stone, Chantry, Qun, Elven Gods) and different races (dwarves, humans, qunari, elves). The shift from darkspawn antagonists to a possible elven rebellion is honestly a twist I didn’t expect, and this has been brewing from DA:O’s Dalish Origin and simple codex entries. The mage vs templar war has also brewed from the Circle of Magi quest in DA:O. These expansions of lore through more codex entries, map explorations, and companion dialogues make the Dragon Age games immersive in its own way, with every game release…on top of the character customization and choices you make throughout the playthrough. You also get to learn more info about some of your old companions and previous choices in DA:O either through written accounts or actual appearances.
I only got into the Dragon Age lore from buying the games on a random Steam Sale last year, but I didn’t expect to be this invested in a video game that began two decades ago.
So, I guess with Dragon Age: Dreadwolf upcoming this year (hopefully), I hope it still provides these same characteristics as its predecessors. A customizable main character + choices matter + combat + companion banter + romance options + data carries over to the next game + unique different endings.
I hope DA:D brings back the cinematic dialogue close-up shots with visible facial expressions reflecting their replies/opinions from the main character’s dialogue choices. It doesn’t really matter if the MC is voiced or not TBH. I hope the romance options extend to also include dwarf and qunari love interests. I think the downside of the DA:O mage vs templar buildup is that we didn’t get to have a playable origin story as a templar, that’s why it felt so one-sided up to DA:I. It’s limited to a specialization rather than an actual starting class nor character. Thus, I hope the DA:D story isn’t too centralized on a specific race and class, like how DA:2 preferred a mage MC, and how DA:I preferred a human or elf MC (which are also inclined to being mages). It would be great if say, playing as a rogue would make you more welcome in the Antivan crows; playing as a warrior makes you more welcome in the Grey Wardens, or playing as a mage makes you more welcome in the Tevinter Imperium; it would be the classes that define your character, rather than your own race. Dual-classing would be awesome, too. But maybe there’s already preference to playing as an elf in DA:D given that we’re dealing with the Elvenhan (Fen’harel and the risen gods), but there’s a possibility that there would be different interactions from being of a non-elf MC across the different countries and character classes. I hope we get to explore more of Par Vollen and the other side of Qunari philosophy/religion. I hope we get to interact with actual Antivan crows rather than just fighting them. Though most importantly, I hope our choices from the previous games actually do matter in DA:D, and we hopefully get to see returning characters. Also the soundtracks--please have amazing soundtracks.
IDK. The possibilities are endless for Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, though I don’t have any high expectations for it given the reality of game development now. What I said are all just speculation until we actually play the game (I’m skeptical over game trailers). Next week could not arrive any faster. sigh
Forgive my melancholy. I think these are all the whispers in my head lmao.
May the Dreadwolf take my ass to sleep. Thanks for reading.

Average Reading Time: 37-38 minutes
Part 1: Humanitarian Part 2: Gratitude Part 3: Peacemakers Peacemakers (Continued) Peacemakers (Conclusion)
The Blue Claw turned their nose at her and she saw the bloom of thrust light up some nearby asteroids behind them. Half a second later, she watched as two missiles released and adjusted to head straight for her. With the ECM field still up, she knew there was only one kind of missile that could get a target lock on her so fast. They were heat-seekers.
She cursed loudly, and as the following cry of pain escaped her, she turned the fighter and slipped down into the mineshaft. Switching to instrument only flight in the pitch-black hollow, she hoped against hope that she could get far enough into the asteroid for the missiles to lose their lock on her.
A yellow light momentarily illuminated the tunnel. She looked at her rear-view camera and saw a quickly dissipating cloud of dust and rock just inside the opening to the cave. To her horror, the second missile came into view, barely making the turn. It barely scraped the side of the tunnel, but soon regained its target lock on and began racing toward her.
The light from its chemical thruster illuminated the walls of the shaft directly around it, and she watched as it closed with its target. She watched as it closed with her.
A quick look at the readings confirmed that even at full thrust she would never make it to the second mineshaft before the missile hit her. She couldn’t run, and she couldn’t even maneuver.
Desperate, she looked at the rear-facing camera feed again and saw the ring closing faster with every passing moment.
Then, she had an idea.
Turning the main thrusters to put her into a spin, she took three quick breaths and turned the engines to maximum.
The ship rumbled violently as nausea mixed liberally with pain washed over her senses. The exhaust of the rockets reached out and flowed across the surface of the stone, creating a spiral pattern of heated rock behind ship as it plunged forward into the blackness.
When she reached her limit, she reversed the thrusters to slow and eventually begin spinning the opposite direction. The rotation now decreasing, she was able to focus through the pain in her chest and look at the readings of where the missile was.
It was nearly upon her.
With only a moderate roll now, she pulled her throttle to a full stop. The fighter went eerily silent compared to the tumult that it had been only seconds before.
She barely breathed, or blinked, as she watched the rear camera feed. The missile began to waver, then made a sharp turn into the wall. The explosion was close, and she heard fragments of missile and tunnel slam into her hull. Damage indicators began flashing, and three of her eight missiles showed their launch systems were damaged, and her engine cooling system had taken some damage as well.
She considered herself lucky that she got away with such a light damage, and made her way to the intersection with the other mineshaft. She decelerated and came to a stop at the turn. Carefully, she maneuvered in the tight confines to travel toward open space again.
On her way to the surface, she considered the ramifications of her assassin using heat seeking missiles. They were dangerous. Unlike the radar locking variety, they had no friend-or-foe functionality. That was the primary reason they weren’t in her weapons loadout. She had always worked in groups, and the last thing she wanted would be to have a friendly fire incident where one of her friends got vented by a missile she fired. For a lone wolf pilot like the Blue Claw, however, they were not only reasonable, but preferable.
Approaching the exit, she slowed and checked the environment visually. She didn’t see her pursuer, so she slowly worked her way out of the tunnel. A quick look at her readouts told her that the two ECMF’s that activated earlier would be going for about another thirty seconds. That gave her some cover to move without lighting up the Enemy pilot’s sensors.
She figured the most likely spot to find the enemy fighter was to check the entry point she first escaped through. She crept along the surface of the asteroid, skimming the surface to maximize the time she was hidden from direct observation. When she was close, she slowed and popped up to see over the horizon of the mighty rock.
There, near the opening to the tunnel, was the Blue Claw.
The nose of the enemy fighter was pointed down into the bore hole. With the electromagnetic spectrum flooded still, she figured they must be using infrared sensors for any indication of her survival.
She was so close to the asteroid that she knew that even though she could see the target, her direct fire weapons, being lower on the ship than where she was, did not. To pop up and remedy that would be to expose a large part of her ship and possibly lose the element of surprise. She decided to try and make an indirect shot with missiles.
Looking at her readouts, she saw the flares were about to expire. She armed two of her remaining five missiles, set them to go into active tracking immediately, and fired.
There was a slight shudder in her ship as the two missiles leapt out of their launch tubes and began streaking toward their target. By the time the missiles got a little past the half way point between her and the target, the ECMF’s countermeasures faded. The active tracking of the missiles immediately acquired their lock.
As soon as they adjusted their flightpath, the area was again saturated with static. She was confused for a moment as she glanced at her readouts. This shouldn’t have activated any of the flares she seeded before the fight began. Her suspicions were verified when her HUD notified her of the use of enemy countermeasures.
That pilot deployed a flare on sentry mode as they went in to investigate.
Wasting no time, she commanded the engines to life and pulled up and away from the asteroid to bring all her offensive tools to bare. As she did so, the Enemy pilot’s fighter seemingly leapt up and away from the tunnel, as her two missiles darted through the space it occupied a half a second before.
Not wanting to lose the initiative, she opened fire with her cannons and sent streams of metal toward her adversary.
It rolled to the side and powered its thrust again, and she was gratified to see it trailing some sort of gas for a moment. Whatever the leak was had been locked down, but she knew at least some of her shots hit home.
The Blue Claw’s engines cast out long streamers of flame and it began accelerating toward the far horizon of the mountainous asteroid in an attempt to break line of sight.
A shrill of excitement shot through her as she realized that the hunter had now become the prey. The Enemy Ace was running away.
“Oh no you don’t!” she said through pain-clenched teeth.
She pushed as much power as she could out of her engines, but it was clear something was wrong. They were sluggish. Whatever damage the fighter received in the tunnel had reduced their output by at least twenty percent.
Her target was still in sight for now, however, so she kept pouring on the cannon rounds. The way her opponent moved was truly impressive. Even at high thrust, they were sideslipping, rolling, bobbing, and weaving. It was equal parts impressive and frustrating.
A bright red indicator began flashing on her HUD, indicating engine 4 was overheating. She had to break off or face the possibility of her engine exploding.
There was still one trick she had up her sleeve though. She armed two of her last her last three functional missiles and fired. They streaked ahead unguided as her enemy disappeared over the horizon.
She knew for their countermeasure flare to activate so quickly, it must have been deployed very near their point of investigation. In their retreat, the Blue Claw, must have passed into the ECM shadow of the asteroid by now.
A Her mouth opened in her species’ version of a smile as she saw the straight line of the missiles’ trajectory suddenly shudder, then drop to dive beyond the horizon.
Without confirmation, she knew this wasn’t over, however. Her engines needed to cool off, she had used forty-six percent of her cannon ammunition, and she was down to a single functioning missile. She knew the Blue Claw’s ship had been damaged twice by her cannon fire, but she didn’t know how badly. Also, if they were using standard loadouts, the enemy fighter still had two missiles left.
She pulled back and got deeper into the ECM field, found a nearby tunnel, and hid. As she watched her engine temperatures drop, she considered her next moves carefully. She had to investigate to see if her latest missile strike had destroyed her opponent. If it hadn’t, she could be putting herself in danger of an ambush.
She set her fighter to silent running and powered down her systems. With the Enemy ECMF still operating, it all but guaranteed the Blue Claw wouldn’t be able to detect her. That of course assumed her missiles hadn’t found their mark.
As she waited there in the quiet dark for her ship to cool down, she tried to control her breathing. The pain of her broken ribs was becoming nearly intolerable. Every time she had to pull a high G-force maneuver it felt like things shifted inside for the worse. The thought crossed her mind of opening up her emergency medical kit and injecting a pain killer, but she knew she couldn’t afford to lose her clarity. There were a few times in the past handful of minutes since this all started that she would have been dead if her senses or thinking were dulled. So, she waited, taking shallow, controlled breaths.
She took another look at the environmental data and began formulating a plan to exit safely and finish this.
It struck her how strange this entire combat was. Everything was so close. ECMF’s that would generally work fairly well out in the vast expanse of open space wouldn’t normally be so effective. They were, for all intents and purposes, directly on top of the flares that were designed to give reasonable cover up to a kilometer away. Given the combat so far has been compressed to less than half that or less for most of the time, it made for some highly unusual options and choices.
By the time her systems were all showing green, or at least as close as they could get in their damaged state, the Enemy ECMF had been depleted. She restarted her systems and crept out of the mineshaft using only passive sensors to keep her position hidden. Her eyes were constantly switching between gazing outside through the canopy polyglass, down to the readouts, and back again. She was keenly wary of even the slightest hint on the sensors that her adversary may still be lurking.
With no indications that she had company, she moved out away from the hole and began in the direction she had fired her missiles. On reaching the location, she saw two large clouds of dust slowly spreading out and away from the mountainous form. When she got up close, she was dismayed to see no indication of a kill.
If the Blue Claw weren’t dead, that would mean-
Something caught her attention on the sensors, and instinct and training took over. She twisted her wrist and thrust the ship in a hard relative ascent evasive maneuver and nearly blacked out from the pain, just as a missile sped past.
Gasping in pain, she watched as the heat-seeker started to make a curve out in front of her to come back for another pass. She considered trying to shoot it down, but the odds of getting a lucky hit on something that small and fast was not a gamble she wanted to take. She turned thirty degrees to starboard, and sped off. Skimming the surface of the asteroid, she toggled a window on her HUD so she could visually track the projectile. As she expected, the munition reacquired her heat signature and turned to pursue her.
If there were any silver lining to this, it was that she knew the Blue Claw couldn’t be pursuing her too closely. That would risk drawing the attention of their own heat-seeker.
She knew the missile had her dead to rights. She had no effective countermeasure, and almost blacking out scared her enough to rule out another high G-force juke.
She blazed through space with as much thrust as her engines could give her. The heat gage on the engine readouts showed that she was still safe, but temperatures in all engines were rising alarmingly quickly.
The missile was closing fast. She pulled up away from the surface and saw down in front of her a large tailings dump. She lowered her landing skids, and turned her nose directly at the amalgamation of loos gravel and rock.
This would be close.
She turned her thrusters to retard her speed, then with only a few dozen meters to spare pulled the nose up and cut power.
The landing skids impacted the gravel first, soon followed by the belly of the craft. Finally, the nose and cockpit area slapped down on the loose rubble.
When the ship hit, she slammed against her harness. A bolt of electric twinge shot through her spine accompanied by an unsettlingly wet snapping sound in her shoulder. With these sensations, two new voices of pain were added to the chorus of agony she was struggling against.
A huge mass of gravel and debris were thrown out in front of her fighter, forming a wall of material in the low gravity. She struggled against being dazed from the impact and the new disfunction in her arm. Through sheer force of will redirected and reignited the engines. The exhaust blasted into the field behind her, throwing even more gravel up and away behind the ship. The skids dragged through the loos rock, and the ship nearly jumped forward when they were free from the hindering refuse. The ship bounded forward through the lower portion of the tailings, and its passage left a momentary hole in the rising wall of material. As soon as she was through, she pulled up hard.
A fraction of a second later, the missile slammed into the wave of rock and exploded.
She was not coming out of the fog from the impact, and let out an unavoidable cry of pain as the ship rose up and away from the relative safety of the asteroid. Tears clouded her vision, and when she coughed there was a metallic taste of blood in her mouth.
She took a few wet breaths and assessed the situation. Her mind was clouded, and it was hard to think. She was out in the open now, high above the floating mountain. With nothing to lose and her position being known, she turned on her active sensors. Almost immediately, her system identified the Blue Claw closing on her.
Fear shot through her, followed closely by despair. A deep sense of how unfair this all was threatened to overwhelm her. This Enemy pilot was more like a creature chasing her in a nightmare than a flesh and blood Shra. Was this what it was like for all the others she knew from the Academy that this monster killed? Was she just the next name on the Reaper’s list?
Her ribs hurt, her shoulder hurt, and her back felt wrong somehow. She was bruised everywhere her harness touched. In the background of her mind, she felt the icy grasp of shock pawing at her. Maybe this was the end after all.
But then, a thought came to mind: the next name on the list.
Would she just give up and let this pilot kill everyone she ever cared about? No, she had to end this here, today. The cost to her didn’t matter as much as saving the lives of her friends.
Bolstered by this thought, she tried with her enfeebled wits to find a way out of this. She knew there was no chance she could win in a dogfight, impaired as she was. Struggling to collect herself, she realized that she needed time to clear her head. Maybe she could get some distance between them in the ring like she did before. It may give her enough time.
She turned her wounded craft toward the ring, and began accelerating. Hopefully she could use it to get a lead on this demon like she did before.
The system alerted her to the Blue Claw attempting to get a targeting lock. The sound of the alarm helped her focus through the haze, and she accelerated toward the cover of the ring. She keyed the controls to release one of her last two precious ECMF’s. A box sprang up on her HUD indicating the system was damaged and inoperable. The release systems on the belly of her fighter must have been damaged by the impact with the tailings field.
Worried, she blinked twice and focused on the area readouts. Looking at how far her pursuer was to her, and how close she was to the closest pocket of decent cover, she felt some small hope. Even if that monster fired what was hopefully their last missile at her, she would be able to make it to the cover of the orbital rock in time.
That relief only lasted a few seconds before she was in the denser parts of the ring again, and actively dodging through the chunks of ice and rock. A quick glance confirmed her that her pursuer was still actively hunting her.
She was able to keep distance long enough to get her full wits about her again. The mental haze she had been fighting to recover from had cleared and been replaced with a splitting headache. Given the options, she was glad to have the latter.
She looked over her readings and saw that the Blue Claw had taken up a position above the ring, mirroring her flight path. That was both good and bad. Good in that she didn’t particularly need to risk a high rate of speed through the dangerous surroundings, but bad in that the Enemy pilot could now maintain a reasonable distance without any risk.
This needed to end. She knew in her current state there was little chance she could beat this assassin in a dog fight, especially with her being down to one missile and no ECMF’s. The Blue Claw had was sure to have a handful of flares still, and at least one missile. Given they tried to get a lock on her earlier, however, it was reasonable to assume it was not a heat-seeker, but a standard tracking missile. She needed to even up the odds.
She noted the relative positions of their two fighters and the edge of the ring. After that, she looked at the information on the large asteroid again. She got a bit of a crazy idea, and ran some numbers, while putting in a few waypoints into her navigation computer.
Being as prepared as she ever would be, she pointed her tool of destruction toward the waiting enemy and began the final moves of this deadly game.
She wove her ship as nimbly as its damaged and abused state would let her through the asteroids and other chunks of ice. She noted with some satisfaction that the Enemy pilot was pulling back and away to draw her farther out into open space. For the first time, she felt like she was starting to be able to intuit how her adversary fought.
She came up through the edge of the field and joined in open space. She began painting the Blue Claw’s ship with a targeting lock, and the favor was returned. She looked down at her area readouts and saw her window of opportunity was closing the closer she got.
When the navigation marker she had placed earlier was about five seconds away, she was questioning her tactical position, and all her tracking readouts went crazy. Relief and fear washed through her as she realized that the other pilot had done what she had hoped for. They had deployed an ECMF.
That meant it was almost certain she had a missile bearing down on her now, followed by a Top Ace determined to kill her.
She made three quick breaths as she turned her ship around and poured on as much thrust as she thought she could handle. Slowly, the effects of the ECMF began to fade as the distance between her and the flare increased. Soon, her systems were able to distinguish structures around her again in space. When she was about fifteen seconds away from returning into the ring, her system alerted her to an actively tracking missile.
This was going to be close.
To slow down meant the missile would catch her and it would be over. The only option she had now was to make a recklessly high-speed entry into the field, relying on the civilian map of the rings and her maneuvering skills to keep her alive.
Her HUD was clearing up now, and she activated the Collision Alert System. Immediately, dozens of red hexagons formed around the multitude objects in front of her the system determined posed a threat. Earlier the CAS would have only been a distraction, but putting aside all the other things she usually had to worry about in combat now it would actually help her mitigate the immediate threat of flying into some unnamed piece of rock, hopefully.
No longer able to divert any of her attention to the missile closing with her, she focused every thought and effort on getting into the ring and hoping she could maneuver better than the Enemy ordnance. She kept her nose pointed as much as possible toward the blue circle in the HUD indicating her next nav point as she sideslipped, turned, and twisted through the dangerous environment.
The pain in her body making all the jostling moves through the celestial obstacle course was intense, but it was the agony and disfunction in her shoulder that was hindering her the most. The ship was being no help either. The engines were beginning to overheat again and she couldn’t risk easing off of them. She had to keep moving, and with every meter she got deeper into the ring it the space was getting more congested with debris.
In a fraction of a moment between maneuvers, it occurred to her that the missile must have been destroyed by now. The alternative would have resulted in her being vented already.
She was jarred from this thought as one of her engine pods scraped across an icy protrusion on one of the asteroids she was passing.
A few seconds later as she had finally gotten her speed down from, “Insane,” to “Wildly Reckless,” she spared a glance at her readings. To her dismay, her assassin was only a few seconds behind her. A cold chill ran over her pained body as she marveled at the skill it must have taken to traverse the same path she just did without an accurate map.
Fear gripped her and gave renewed focus to her actions. Abandoning the reasonable and taking hold of the desperate, she stopped trying to decelerate, and continued making her way toward her second nav marker.
The two ships danced and wove through the obstacles on front of them. At times the maneuvers were elegant, but the need to make jerky, graceless movements to avoid the odd rock or chunk of ice remained a regular reminder of the sickle of death ready to reap either of the pilots should they make too great a mistake.
So focused was she on the piloting needed to stay alive it came as a surprise when she reached her intended position. The nav marker disappeared to be replaced by a new one, the last, about thirty degrees off her starboard side.
She gritted her teeth at the pain and redirected her craft toward the final marker. A window on her HUD showed that the Blue Claw had noted her chance in direction and was turning to cut the corner. If she wasn’t mistaken, her pursuer would be in direct fire weapons range very soon.
The final destination of the course she plotted would take her back to the mountain-sized asteroid, and the location of her final gambit to defeat the demon that had been sent to kill her.
She was about fifty meters from the edge of the clear zone when a line of tracer rounds streamed by. The engines were running almost to red line, but she needed more from them. She pushed them harder, and accelerated, trying her best to keep exactly lined up with the navigation marker.
When she was free of the ring, she armed her last missile and keyed in its targeting settings. When she reached the nav point, she checked to make sure the Blue Claw was almost out of the debris field, and launched it.
Detecting the threat, and likely out of missiles anyway, her opponent immediately deployed an ECMF. Her systems went haywire and she watched through the polyglass canopy as her last hope of survival streaked stupidly toward the mighty asteroid. A timer popped up on the screen that said, “TIME TO ASTEROID SURFACE:,” counting down from twelve seconds.
She twisted her controls, and with a gasp of pain jerked the ship around through a series of evasive maneuvers. Single lines of projectiles darted past her as she went. She was in between a rock and an Ace pilot, and she knew the closer she got to the rock, the more her evasive options dwindled.
The pursuit went on in a roughly straight path. When the timer read three seconds, a red emergency panel flared to life indicating the engines were overheating and about to fail. When that happened, the results were usually explosive.
She didn’t have time to process that before her ship shuddered and she watched as a stream of projectiles began on her starboard side, their line disappeared when it crossed her ship, and then flared to bright life again on the other side.
Damage notifications began lighting up all around her, and her controls were cutting out with fits and starts. She focused through the pain and panic, and saw the countdown timer was about to reach zero. When it did, she saw no explosion.
A surge of hope went through her as she realized she had hit her mark.
At that moment, the missile was passing through the mouth of the bore hole she had identified earlier. All the risk and work of keeping herself lined up to make a dumb-fire shot at that artificial cave opening, only two and a half meters wide, had worked. Right now, it’s active tracking would turn on, locking in on the most immediately available target it could. She knew that in that hole, it would be shielded from the countermeasures of the flare. The only thing it would be able to detect would be the broken, abandoned mining rig at the far end of the tunnel.
She directed the engines to sideslip out of the way, and then spun to open fire on her pursuer. The move was unorthodox, and seemed to take her assassin momentarily by surprise. It was a move that didn’t make sense to do in a dogfight. The projectiles she unloaded filled the space to one side of her opponent, and they deftly dodged the incoming barrage. None of the rounds found a mark on the Blue Claw’s ship.
That was her plan, however.
She knew her attack would be seen and easily dodged without the benefit of the still jammed targeting systems. In this case, she wasn’t aiming to hit. She was aiming to bracket and guide her prey to keep them lined up.
She glanced off to her left toward the bore hole shaft and saw a plume of fire erupt out with a veritable torrent of rock and metal fragments. The cloud of debris hit her opponent’s fighter like a battleship sized shotgun, tearing it to shreds.
She saw their engines sputter, and the directional control falter. Her adversary had a thruster misfire and began spinning as it dove toward the surface of the Asteroid that was subjectively beneath them.
With the immediate danger on hold, she turned her thrusters to decelerate, and lowered the output. She was just getting slowed to a stationary height above the massive rock when she saw the Blue Claw pancake into a tailings field, sending a splash of rock and debris out to every side in an expanding ring.
Not wanting to take any chances, she turned the nose of her fighter toward the ruined ship, and waited for her engines to cool off some before approaching. If they had anything left in them, she didn’t want to get caught unwary.
The relief of having defeated this monster washed over her in the ensuing minutes as The Enemy ship remained still, sparks erupting spontaneously from various systems across its hull. When the engines had cooled to safer levels, she moved in to finish off the one who killed so many of her friends.
The ECMF was burned out now, and her targeting systems were functional. She got a weapon lock, and prepared to vent this demon.
Then, she did something that had not been done in years. She opened up a communication channel to her Enemy.
Coughing, she was able to get out, “You are the best I have ever fought. You should know that before I end your miserable existence. Do you have any last words?”
The response was nothing like anything she had ever imagined.
Punctuated by coughs, she heard a labored voice respond, “Thren? Is that you?”
She knew that voice.
“Jurik?”
“Yeah, Thren, it’s me.”
She paused, then asked, “How do I know this isn’t some sort of trick?”
“I could ask you the same thing.”
She thought, then said, “Tell me something only Jurik would know about me.”
The voice replied, “You almost had me at the final cup match.”
“Way too common information. Try again,” she scoffed.
There was a moment where she heard some labored breathing, then the Blue Claw responded, “Every time you are about to make a high G-force move, you take three little breaths. I always thought that was adorable, if I’m being completely honest. Now, tell me something only Threnlis would know.”
She thought, and said, “I suggested you forfeit the academy cup, and you told me, ‘Not on your life.’”
A whisper replied back to her over the coms, “Yeah, yeah that’s right. It really is you, isn’t it, Thren?”
Sadness, anger, frustration, and a myriad of other emotions raged inside her, and eventually she asked, “What are you doing fighting for them? How could you betray your own people like this? How could you kill so many of our friends?”
There was an edge to his voice as he replied, “How could I do what? What are you talking about? You’re the traitor. Fourteen names. Fourteen names of our friends, people that trusted you once. Some even from your own wing in the Academy. You killed them all, Thren. When you killed Genrik, I begged command for the chance to take you out.”
A strange numbness that tolerated only anxiety suppressed everything else she was feeling.
With a tremble in her voice, she asked, “Wh, what are you talking about?”
“Who did you think you were going to go up against all this time, fighting for the Enemy? You killed fourteen of our classmates and friends.
At that moment, she was starting to put together the picture of what was going on.
Something swelled in her a chest that wouldn’t have been imaginable even a few minutes before. She felt pity for her friend.
“Oh, Jurik, we have both been so wrong. You don’t know either, do you?”
“Huh? Know what?”
“Jurik, all those pilots you killed getting to me, all but one were from our Academy class. Seliss, Fenia, Ashroka, Melisha,” she paused before continuing, “Sezkig, and the list goes on. You killed twenty-six of our friends.”
There was deep pain, both physical and emotional conveyed with the next utterance from Jurik, “How?”
“Think about it. Back at the Academy, the Caretakers never once mentioned either side. They simply referred to the people we were fighting against as, ‘The Enemy.’ We all just assumed we were fighting for the same side. They kept us so busy, and apparently our people are similar enough that we never even considered that our assumption wasn’t the case.”
Both pilots stayed silent for a time, stewing in pain in both body and soul.
“So, what now, Thren?” Jurik asked, “Are you going to kill me? My ship is ruined and I am helpless. You won in the end after all.”
Tears welled in her eyes and she said, “Oh Jurik, you’re such an idiot. Of course I’m not going to kill you. This needs to end. This whole damn war needs to stop. To steal and modify a Human sentiment, ‘I have seen the enemy, and they are my family.”
That exchange, broadcast over the information networks of the Sha’Lor and Sha’Kel worlds, was the beginning of the end of the Shra Civil War.

______________________________
Ambassador Edinkay approached the newly established Human embassy on the homeworld of the Sha’Lor. It was an elegant, if simple, building surrounded by a wall that appeared more suited for ornamental purposes than security. As he approached the gate, the guard nodded to him and opened the way for him.
As he got to about half way to the structure, the main doors opened and ambassador Dupree came out to meet him.
“Ambassador Edinkay, it is a pleasure to see you here. What can I do for you?”
Edinkay tried to hide his dislike and said politely, “My government has sent me to notify you that I will be replaced within the week by another ambassador.”
Dupree smiled warmly and said, “Well, in that case I will miss our conversations together. What’s next for you? On to some higher governmental office I assume?”
Suppressing his crest to not reveal his annoyance, Edinkay replied, “Oh no, not for me. It has been determined I must spend time in a reintegration colony. Apparently, my view that we should have won the war is considered antiquated, old fashioned, and unbeneficial to the post-war future for our people.”
Dupree’s eyebrows raised slightly at that, and she said, “Oh, I thought you would have been quite glad of the new era of peace for your people, considering how instrumental you were in bringing it about.”
Unable to control it anymore, Edinkay’s crest flared and he seethed, “I had nothing to do with this tragedy. What I wanted was to defeat our Enemy with your help. You tricked us into allowing you access to an entire generation of our youth. You took them in, trained them, honed their bodies, and exposed them to the corruptive influence of our enemies. You have destroyed the Shra and made it unrecognizable with your alien ideas and values. I just want to know one thing before they take me off for brainwashing: did you plan this all from the beginning?”
Dupree looked down and shook her head slightly before saying, “Do you have any idea how difficult it was for our educators to work in that environment? Knowing that they were teaching young people side by side, seeing friendships form, and knowing that as soon as they leave our care a genocidal civilization will immediately pit them against one another in a fight to the death? Your people were sick, Ambassador Edinkay, and that sickness made you blind to both the symptoms and the cause.
To answer your question, no, we didn’t plan for things to happen the way they did. The only thing we wanted to do was show each side who their enemy actually was. That simple truth was an early casualty of this war, and it was dead until now. We wanted the future prosecutors of war to know that the people on the other end of the battlefield were fundamentally the same as they were. Yes, we did train them to defend themselves, and we helped them to grow and mature to their full physical potential. That wasn’t us manipulating them into becoming what we wanted them to be. That was us enabling them to become what all of you should have been this whole time.
So, no, we didn’t plan this. There was no master plan to overthrow your way of life. We simply gave them a window of truth, and they climbed out of it and changed your civilization all on their own.”
Edinkay blinked a few times, then said with incredulity, “You expect me to believe that you did not have a hand in imbedding the returning youth within every rank and position of power throughout our society? When they rebelled, with their physical training and health, the rest of us never stood a chance.”
Dupree rose her eyes to meet his and answered, “No, Edinkay, I don’t expect you to believe that, yet. I do, however, maintain hope that someday you will.”


Epilogue:
The news that the Shra civil war was over became an immediate sensation in the news feeds. The momentous event was analyzed by professors and fools alike, oftentimes in the same person. When curious reporters went into Shra space, they found a society in the midst of a drastic restructuring. If asked what happened, the youth among them replied that they no longer had an enemy to fight. The times they were pressed for more details, their former students simply pointed to the Caretakers and said, “We are busy rebuilding, ask them.”
The inquiring minds investigated further. What they found was terrifying to the majority of the galactic community. The ability possessed by Humanity to subvert almost ten centuries of entrenched cultural, ethical, and societal morays in a mere handful of years was unprecedented. Questions arose regarding other species the Caretakers had interacted with. Had they also been influenced, undermined, and impacted in the same manner?
Ultimately, the galaxy was anxious because a new form of power, one they had never considered as practical in the past, had been exercised to greatly affect an entire civilization. Everyone was accustomed to the traditional tools of interstellar conflict like militaries, economics, politics, or ideologies. They had never experienced the weaponization of peace to destroy a society before.
In the end, after much debate from many different perspectives, it was concluded generally that why they did it, and how they did it, could not be considered nefarious or questionable. The Humans had simply been the agents, and ultimately creators of, peace.
In the years that followed, Humans gained nearly mythical status. Their ability to treat wounds was recognized not to be merely limited to the body and mind as was common to all species. In them was found the unique ability to heal injured and hurting civilizations.
A prominent Garensha scholar of Humanity noted some years later, “In my long years of study of the enigmatic and strange Caretakers, I have asked myself one simple question: how are we to understand them? In my early studies I thought this would be an easy task to address and then move on. I have found in the intervening years betwixt then and now that these beings are utterly complex and mysterious. My only consolation in this long earned yet unsatisfying realization is that I am not alone, and it has been the ultimate conclusion of many a scholarly work on their species.
From whence comes the wellspring of hope and reverence we feel when one of them walks into a room we occupy? Wherein rests the nucleus of the almost religious feelings they evoke in us?
I may have found some hint of it in my reading of one of their most prominent religious texts recently. It states, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.’ I have to date been unable to find a more complete answer to my original question of how to understand Humanity than this, not only in their motivations but in our reactions.”
When this observation was released, it soon spread outside the academic community. It rang so true with the collected peoples of the galaxy that the term, ‘Caretakers,’ was recognized to be insufficient in describing Humanity. A new term was adopted for them. Humanity would for ages to come be known as the Peacemakers.
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Improper Classifications
Sat Apr 08, 2023 12:39 PM
This is certainly one of the events of all time.

Welcome to the show, ladies and gentlepeople of HobbyDrama. Please, turn off your cellphones (except if you’re using one to read this very post), grab some popcorn, and get comfortable. Today I shall weave you a tale of Discord DMs and late-night forum posts, a tale of backstabbing and backpedaling, a tale of how a nearly decade-long treaty between the two biggest regions in NationStates fell apart, and what any of that even means.
This is the tale of The North Pacific Extortion Scandal.

Preliminary: What is NationStates?

(Note: I’m going to be using a lot of acronyms here in this post, so each word with a corresponding acronym will have that acronym listed in parentheses right next to it. Don’t question it, it’s just a NationStates thing.)
After reading the title, a good portion of y’all probably thought “Wait, NationStates? That website’s still alive?” Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on your perspective, it is. In fact, it’s arguably thriving - NationStates celebrated its two-decade anniversary two years ago and, as of the time I am writing this write-up, is home to 291,701 nations residing in 28,154 regions. It’s quite impressive how long it’s managed to last, really.
Now, for those of you who are unfamiliar, NationStates (often called NS for short) is a political simulation web browser game created in 2002 by author Max Barry. It was initially created to promote his at-the-time newly-released book, Jennifer Government. The game offers the opportunity for users to create, and subsequently govern, their own nation. These nations can also join a region, which usually functions as a cross between a social club/group chat and a nation in its own right, with its own formal government. There are a variety of different regions that a new nation can join, with a variety of themes, from fantasy to Ancient Egypt to leftism to the United Kingdom. NationStates is also home to the World Assembly (WA), a mock United Nations divided into the General Assembly (GA) and Security Council (SC), which are roughly analogous to the real-life UNGA (except our GA can actually do shit) and UNSC, respectively. The GA generally governs things like human rights, trade, world peace, etc, while the UNSC governs geopolitical relations between nations and regions. All you need to know about the WA for this post is that two types of proposals one can pass in the SC are commendations (essentially saying that some nation or region is good) and condemnations (essentially saying that some nation or region is bad), each giving the nation or region in question a shiny new commended or condemned badge. However, both are generally considered as rewards by their recipients - especially since, beyond the aforementioned shiny badge, commendations and condemnations don’t actually do anything.
One can subdivide the NationStates community into many different sub-communities focused on different things. For instance, there is NS roleplay (or “NSRP”), in which users roleplay as their countries and interact with each other on the international stage (this itself is subdivided into roleplay taking place on the NS forums and roleplay held in a single region). The sub-community that is relevant for this particular event is what is known as “NS gameplay”, or NSGP for short, a fascinating little dumpster fire of a sub-community best watched from a distance. In order to grasp what NSGP actually is, first you need to know the following:

• All members of the World Assembly can “endorse” other members of the World Assembly that are within their own region.
• Each region has a position known as the World Assembly Delegate, occupied by the nation which has the most endorsements in that region. When the WA delegate goes to vote for or against WA resolutions, its vote has more weight than the vote of ordinary nations - while all other nations get one and only one vote, the number of votes a WA delegate gets is equivalent to the number of nations endorsing them.
• The region’s government may incorporate the WA delegate in a variety of ways. In many regions, the WA delegate is the executive leader of that region, while in others the WA delegate has no power beyond its increased WA vote weight.
• In many regions, the WA delegate has actual executive power in the region as per game mechanics, including the power to ban nations and change the region’s appearance.

Now, a very long time ago, in the ancient times known only as the Year of our Lord 2003, a couple of NS players realized something. Specifically, they realized that if they all joined the WA, rushed en masse into one region at the same time, and endorsed each other, they could topple the region’s WA delegate and seize the region for themselves, essentially conducting a coup. These lovely folks became known as invaders or, more commonly, raiders, and they made invading regions into something of a hobby. However, not all were happy with the newfound frequency of invasions. Some of these unhappy people went on to form their own groups to defend regions from raids by rushing into regions that were being raided and endorsing the native Delegate. These folks became known as “defenders,” and depending on who you’re talking to they’re either the heroic saviors of innocent regions or buzzkills who hate fun.
Expectedly, raiders and defenders became consistent rivals, nemeses even, as each faction sought to remain one step ahead of the other. This would evolve into military gameplay, often also referred to as raiding/defending (D), and over time, the never-ending conflict between raiders and defenders would gain significant importance in other facets of NationStates such as the World Assembly (where defenders are routinely commended and raiders condemned) and inter-regional politics. R / D is the axis upon which all of NSGP revolves around, with entire regions being dedicated to raiding and defending. Most regions involved in NSGP have regional militaries, and almost all of them care about R / D in some way. Some regions are independent, meaning they engage in both raiding and defending - whatever serves the interests of their region. NSGP is a very unique sociological beast, with its own international relations and even its own political ideologies. NSGP is also a very old beast, resting upon a very long and rich history. I could go on about how fascinating it is that this one browser game that was meant to be an ad for a book has developed its own pretend sociology, history and philosophy, but I think I’ll refrain - for now, at least.
Okay, I think we’re ready to dive into the subject of this post. Strap in, folks, and prepare to behold the absolute clusterfuck known as the North Pacific extortion scandal.

The Revelation

On Friday, April 7, 2023 at 8:39 PM UTC, a post was made on the NationStates gameplay forums that would change the world (of this very niche section of the Internet) forever.
This post was made on the official forum thread of Lone Wolves United (LWU), a major raiding organization. Before, LWU had somewhat amicable relations with the titular The North Pacific (TNP), at the time the largest active region in the game and the most powerful region in the World Assembly. TNP has a very long and storied history, spanning from almost since the first few days of NS’s existence. It’s perhaps the oldest democratic region on NationStates, where governmental officials are elected by the residents. It was famously invaded by the New Pacific Order in 2004, and in its early days experienced many notable coups - these could all be their own HobbyDrama posts (honestly, you could fill this subreddit to the brim with the amount of drama NS has spawned). TNP was also unique in that, while it usually aligned itself with defenders, it was officially independent - meaning it was also the largest independent region in the game. In fact, TNP was one of the leaders in codifying independence, being the authors of the historic document “The Independent Manifesto”, which is where the very definition of an independent region comes from. Furthermore, at the time of this scandal, TNP’s delegate had a little over 1000 endorsements, meaning that their vote was often one of the deciding votes in whether or not a resolution passes or fails. (Even now, the current official delegate has around 770 endorsements, which is a decrease from their previous power but is still a lot). To put it bluntly, TNP is a pretty big fucking deal.
Now, LWU’s post didn’t exactly bear good news. In the post, LWU announced that they were cutting relations with TNP following a string of… rather unfortunate incidents. The first was one where TNP’s WA delegate, Hulldom, had approached LWU regarding an SC resolution that they wanted to get passed - a condemnation of Chef Big Dog, a “prolific raider and historic member” of LWU. Condemnations are generally regarded by raiders as badges of honor, or rewards for their extensive invading experience - so they understandably wanted this resolution to pass. Hulldom sent a screenshot of his Discord DMs where HumanSanity, the Minister of Foreign Affairs for The South Pacific (TSP), a staunch defender region and ally of TNP, threatened with an ultimatum that he and a host of other allied defender regions - The League (TL), the Order of the Grey Wardens (TGW), and 10000 Islands (XKI) - would vote against all commendations and condemnations of TNP members if TNP did not vote against Condemn Chef Big Dog (and any other resolution perceived to benefit LWU) - which was especially concerning to TNP considering that a commendation of MadJack, a prominent TNP resident, was at-vote at the time. Hulldom was aware that defenders were trying to strong-arm him into voting the way they wanted - this wasn’t the first time defenders had pressured them to vote against this condemnation, and the last time Hulldom had offered the compromise of abstaining from the vote. However, this time, Hulldom caved into the defenders’ demands - a win for the defenders to be sure but a blow to relations between TNP and LWU.
The second incident concerned a condemnation of Dream Killers, one of the oldest and most historic members of LWU, of which Hulldom was a co-author. When asked about whether he could be counted on to vote for the condemnation, Hulldom responded with affirmation - after all, he was the co-author of the resolution. It would make absolutely no goddamn sense for defenders to pressure him to vote against the proposal he helped write. And it would make even less sense for him to waver from his staunch support of his own proposal.
Take a lucky guess as to what happened.
Now, this wasn’t the first time there had been controversy surrounding condemnations of raiders. Condemnations of raiders have historically been treated purely as roleplay. However, at the time of this scandal, there had been a concerted push to repeal condemnations of raiders, which many raiders felt was a gameplay-motivated push by defenders to, essentially, erase raiders from NS history. But this string of incidents regarding Hulldom and the condemnations of Chef Big Dog and Dream Killers was the final straw for LWU. After repeated broken promises caused by what was perceived to be effectively bullying from defenders, LWU could no longer trust TNP. They broke off relations with TNP - which, I should remind you, is an independent region, meaning they theoretically shouldn’t take shit from either raiders or defenders but rather carve their own path. The fact that TNP, the largest region in the game, seemed to be acting as a lapdog for defenders shattered LWU’s conception of them as an proudly independent region.

The Fallout

Those sentiments weren’t limited to LWU. Very quickly after this forum post, the sentiment of shock and disappointment with TNP’s capitulation to defenders was widespread among raiders, independents and even some defenders. Responses in the thread varied from sneering about TNP’s independence to expressions of disappointment with TNP acting un-independently and defenders’ stances in the SC to just pure confusion. Memes were made, and of course, raiders from other regions grabbed their popcorn and watched with amusement. Defenders were especially criticized as being hypocritical due to respect for regional sovereignty being a stated core aspect of defender ideology - yet now defenders were trying to infringe upon TNP’s regional sovereignty. News of the TNP’s seeming submission to somewhat less powerful regions elicited anger among TNP citizens, with Francois Isidore, a former delegate of TNP, harshly panning the government as “weak” and calling Hulldom bowing down to defender pressure a “staggering failure” in a post on TNP’s Regional Message Board (RMB). Others were less harsh, but still critical. One prominent defender condemned the defender regions who had pressured TNP into voting against the raider condemnations as being captured by the “neo-moralist sect of defenderdom,” which became a rather popular term among those disgruntled with the “defender establishment” and its de facto inter-regional policy. Another at-the-time up-and-coming defender criticized TNP as having become a “lapdog” of the clique of defender regions that had pressured them. Later on, one critic argued that the pressuring of TNP into alignment with defenderdom’s SC agenda was a violation of the democratic norms practiced by the accused defender regions themselves, especially TSP - that it should be the residents of TSP who, explicitly or implicitly, decide the TSP’s voting record, not some NSGP agenda. Overall, most people expressed disappointment at the situation, concerned about TNP, a powerful independent region, seemingly submitting to smaller defender regions without good reason.
Then, a sign of things to come. Shortly after LWU’s post, Wymondham, the Minister of Foreign Affairs for the North Pacific, resigned. While Wymondham did not directly reference the events that had taken place between LWU and TNP, he said that his warnings were “consistently ignored” and stated that he “will not serve in an administration which allows the region to be blackmailed into allowing other regions to dictate our policy in the World Assembly and Foreign Affairs.” It was pretty clear among everyone who had been active on the NSGP forums what he was referring to.
The next day, at 4:30 PM UTC, Hulldom resigned from his position as WA Delegate of TNP, posting a lengthy statement on the TNP forums. In this statement, he gave his side of the story, framing the situation as a tremendously difficult calculus to balance the interests of two of TNP’s major allies, LWU and defenderdom. Hulldom also gave his advice on how TNP should move forward with regards to inter-regional relations, namely arguing that ties with raider regions should be cut and ties with defender regions, despite recent events, should be preserved. This advice fuelled further criticism from some, who saw it as more evidence of TNP’s long-held independence deteriorating. Quickly thereafter, Gorundu and Siwale were sworn in as Acting Delegate and Acting Vice Delegate, respectively.
Now, if you’re a leader in defenderdom, you’d probably have to be very careful as to how you want to respond to all this criticism. Defenders have historically had good PR among NSGP-oriented people who weren’t raiders or raider-leaning, but this turmoil threatens that goodwill. You would probably want to take a step back, considering your words carefully, and apologizing to Hulldom and TNP and affirming you would never undertake such coercion again. You would probably want to internally assess what led to defenders exerting such pressure on TNP and dial it back, while working to mend relations with TNP and the broader NSGP community. And, for god’s sake, you should not double down on your actions, attempt to throw Hulldom and TNP under the bus, or do something utterly stupid like that. You should not, under any circumstances, even think about doing something like tha-

The Doubling Down

On April 8, 2023, at 7:07 PM UTC, TSP Prime Minister Sporaltryus (more commonly known as ProfessorHenn) posted a “Response to Allegations from Lone Wolves United” on the NSGP forums. The joint statement, signed by leaders of the South Pacific, the League, 10000 Islands, and the Order of the Grey Wardens - all defender regions accused of pressuring Hulldom into voting against the condemnations of Chef Big Dog and Dream Killers - outlined the long-standing relationship between TNP and defenderdom, while criticizing TNP and Hulldom’s administration especially for “haphazard” and “unreliable communication.” The statement framed LWU as a “direct threat to the sovereignty of all our regions” and called Hulldom’s initial decision to abstain from voting on Chef Big Dog as “hugely damaging to [their] collective interests.” It also stated that the governments of these defender regions had informed TNP that “if [TNP] weren’t able to cooperate on this key agenda item, [they’d] be unable to cooperate on other parts of their SC agenda” - essentially, that if TNP did not vote for or against resolutions according to the requests of defenders, then defenders would not align their agenda with TNP’s - that is, they would not vote for commendations or condemnations of any TNP members. The statement concluded by blaming the incident on “escalatory miscommunications” from Hulldom and Wymondham.
So, um, this isn’t exactly an apology. It’s an admission of guilt, without remorse, and a series of deflections.
This statement went down about as well as you’d expect. While I’ll detail the response to this statement in a bit, you could honestly just scroll down to experience the backlash this response produced. The thread this statement was posted on spawned 12 pages of discussion, mostly criticism. Every aspect of the statement was picked apart and critiqued by the peanut gallery. Potshots were taken, memes were made, and meanwhile the mods were stuffing their mouths with popcorn. All in all, defenderdom’s response to LWU’s allegations were met with raving reviews:

• “A ‘comedy of errors’”
• “Awful cop-out”
• “Absolutely disgusting”
• “Definitely one of the statements of all time”
• “Disappointed in my own region”

That’s not to say that there weren’t people trying to defend (pun not intended) the defenders’ response in the thread. Qvait, a former Prime Minister of TSP, came out swinging by loudly proclaiming that “the defenders did nothing wrong,” and arguments between her and critics made up a significant portion of the thread. She wasn’t the only defender defender (heh heh), though - Grea Kriopia, at the time the First Warden of TGW, called criticism of the statement “substanceless clamor” (though this doubling-down was later retracted, more on that later).
Must I remind you, all this chaos and drama stemming from a few shiny badges.
Adding fuel to the fire, a pseudonymous nation posted some screenshots of the DMs between HumanSanity, TSP’s Foreign Affairs Minister, and Hulldom. These screenshots shed more light on the affair, detailing the exact nature of the pressure placed on Hulldom and adding specificity where there was vagueness. Critics of the defenders’ actions seized on these as further proof of defenders’ wrongdoing, without their sugarcoating. Arguments, agenda posts and memes abounded, and those not as directly invested in the affair looked upon the trainwreck with awe.
So, okay, doubling down didn’t do the wonders that defenders thought it would do. Now, if you were a defender, it might be time to reconsider one’s strategy here. Especially given how badly defenderdom’s response backfired, it might now be time to retract that statement and issue genuine apologies to the aggrieved, namely TNP and Hulldom.

The Apologies

It is perhaps surprising, given defenders staunchly standing by their actions, or unsurprising, given the backlash that caused, that HumanSanity resigned from his position as TSP’s Minister of Foreign Affairs on April 10, 2023 at 12:32 PM UTC. While, like Wymondham’s resignation, HumanSanity’s resignation did not directly reference the ongoing scandal, it did reference a vague “recent events” - the most impactful of which was almost certainly the extortion scandal.
Shortly after HumanSanity’s resignation, at 3:00 PM UTC, government officials from the League and the Order of the Grey Wardens posted a brief joint statement on the NSGP forums. Calling the earlier Response to Allegations from LWU a “poor decision, poor statement,” TL and TGW officials retracted their signatures from the response and formally apologized for their actions, expressing hopes that a “productive conversation may ensue.” Grea Kriopia also retracted her initial doubling-down in the April 8 response thread. Many officials and residents of TNP accepted the apology, with Hulldom himself praising the statement as a “positive first step.” Some others expressed skepticism as to the sincerity of the statement, while others argued that the statement would not have any meaningful effects, and TNP would go back to being a lapdog - just less obviously. Overall, though, the apology was received positively or neutrally, and many saw it as a first step towards reconciliation.
The next day at 2:10 PM UTC, 10000 Islands followed up with their own retraction and apology, made in a similar vein to TL’s and TGW’s apology. XKI offered their “humblest apologies” to TNP and expressed hopes that this apology would be followed up with “words of goodwill” and “commitment to good relations with the North Pacific.” Many TNPers, including Hulldom, accepted their apology, though not without a little bit of snark. Of note was a follow-up comment made by Lenylvit, then the WA Delegate of XKI, who admitted that they “did not read the statement that was drafted before giving [their] permission to have [their] name added to it.” This caused more snark to be hurled in the thread and opened up even more questions as to the drafting of the initial response. If Lenylvit hadn’t read the response before signing on to it, well then, who else didn’t fully read it or agree with it? And who actually wrote it in the first place? Similarly to TL’s and TGW’s apology, some questioned the sincerity of the apology, especially if one can just sign off on a statement without actually reading it.
Now, with three of the initial signatory regions having retracted their signatures and formally apologized to TNP, only one remained. The one who, arguably, played the most significant role out of all the other defender regions in pressuring the North Pacific: the South Pacific.
And, don’t you worry good reader, an apology from them did come! …Eventually. Two weeks after the scandal initially broke.
On April 22, 2023, at 11:05 AM UTC, ProfessorHenn posted a retraction and apology statement signed by them and Esfalsa (aka Pronoun), TSP’s new Minister of Foreign Affairs after HumanSanity’s resignation. In the statement, TSP expressed their “deepest regrets for [their] role in this series of events,” retracting their assent to both the original ultimatum presented to TNP and the subsequent defender response posted the day after the scandal broke. The statement stated their regret for “the threats issued to Hulldom and the North Pacific on the behalf of and at the behest of the South Pacific and its allies involved in this matter,” calling their actions “strongarm tactics” which were “needlessly unproductive, disrespectful, and antagonistic.” After this lengthy apology, TSP promised introspection and internal re-assessment so as to not repeat such actions in the future. Out of all the apology statements released by the defender regions, this is the most specific and detailed apology released, and the one which cast their actions in the most negative light. No TNP leaders posted their responses to the apology in the thread, though they later iterated they accepted it in a later statement (that’ll be covered in a bit). Some snark was hurled regarding how late the apology came, and the statement was picked apart and critiqued by LWU leader A Bloodred Moon (aka JoWhatup). However, compared to previous apologies, there wasn’t a major response for TSP’s apology.
So, we’ve now heard from all involved defender regions, both in terms of doubling-down and apologizing. TL, TGW, XKI, TSP, we know how they’ll be moving forward and correcting course. But there’s one region we haven’t heard from - the region central to this whole scandal, that is in the title of this very post: TNP themselves. While Gorundu, the new Acting Delegate, made an internal statement on April 9 to inspire confidence in TNP going forward, we have not heard any external statements, detailing how TNP would deal with the involved defender regions moving forward. People were hoping for a strong statement, one which reaffirmed TNP’s independence on the inter-regional stage and displayed leadership amidst the crisis.
And those people would get their wish.

The Re-emergence

On April 22, 2023 at 1:15 PM UTC, Gorundu posted a statement titled “Response to Recent Defender Transgressions” on behalf of TNP. The statement started off with “The North Pacific is a proud Independent region,” a confident affirmation of independence. While all defender regions’ apologies were accepted and hopes were expressed to re-establish ties with these regions, the initial attempts at coercion were scathingly criticized, as Gorundu and TNP firmly stated that “the tactic employed by [the defender regions] will never be accepted by our region, and will never be successful.” Stating that “TNP has been disrespected and humiliated,” a series of sanctions were levied against various defender regions in response to what the statement calls the “outrageous behavior” they took on when initially delivering the ultimatum, including the following, to quote directly from the statement:

The North Pacific Army will not partake in any bilateral military cooperation/training operations with the South Pacific Special Forces, The Order of the Grey Wardens, the League Defence Forces, or the Ten-thousand Islands Treaty Organization;
The talks in pursuit of a non-aggression pact with The League will be suspended;
No additional diplomatic agreements will be considered with the regions of The South Pacific, The Order of the Grey Wardens, The League, and 10000 Islands, nor additional embassies constructed where they do not currently exist;
All planned cultural events with the regions of The South Pacific, The Order of the Grey Wardens, The League, and 10000 Islands will be canceled, and no future cultural events or collaborations will be considered.

This statement was met with raving reviews - no, genuinely this time. A wide spectrum of players, from raiders to defenders to former TNP delegates to leaders of other non-military regions praised the statement, considering it a strong showing of independence. The defender regions involved in the scandal accepted the sanctions with grace, and it seemed that the turmoil that had afflicted TNP and the wider NS Gameplay sphere was finally coming to an end.
So this is the seeming end to the TNP extortion scandal - resolved by apologies from the involved defender regions and a confident affirmation of independence from TNP themselves. It seems that, while ties may have been broken between TNP and the involved defender regions, and indeed TNP and LWU, that these ties may one day be restored - and that the only lasting casualties would be the resignations of Hulldom, Wymondham, and HumanSanity.
“But wait,” you cry out, “I was promised that a (nearly) decade-long treaty would be ripped apart in this whole affair! You said that in the first paragraph of this post! Yet such a treaty was never even mentioned!”
Indeed. Yet, careful readers may have noticed that I indicated this was the seeming end of the scandal. Why is that? Well…

The Re-emergence (of the Drama)

On May 9, 2023, at 3:19 PM UTC, HumanSanity was re-nominated for the position of Minister of Regional Affairs in TSP, a newly revived position dealing with the region’s internal affairs and culture. You might remember that HumanSanity played a key role in the scandal, being TSP’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and the person who presented the ultimatum to Hulldom in the first place. This was generally supported by members of TSP’s government at the time, but was also quickly noticed by TNPers, who weren’t super happy about seeing one of the main players in the scandal re-appointed to TSP’s government a mere month after the whole affair. Both MadJack and Hulldom voiced their displeasure in TSP’s main forum thread on the NSGP forums, with the former casting doubt on whether TSP’s apology was actually sincere, and the latter stating that HumanSanity “shouldn't be within a mile of any Cabinet.” This quickly stirred up controversy, and it seems that TNP-TSP relations would once again be put to the test.
Well, shit. Here we go again.
Many players, including some notable TNP members, would arrive into the thread to give their opinions and spread some snark. TSP’s decision to re-nominate HumanSanity was firmly criticized, and as usual, jokes were made. Some residents of TSP, most notably Sandaoguo (a former Prime Minister of TSP) and Qvait, came to TSP’s defense in the thread, with the latter accusing TNPers of poking their noses into what was argued to be “no one’s business,” and the former engaging in long arguments with TNPers regarding the legitimacy of HumanSanity’s re-nomination, the sincerity of TSP’s apology, the usefulness of the TNP-TSP alliance, and more.
Now, this is where the treaty comes into picture. The Aurora Alliance is the primary treaty of friendship between TNP and TSP. Ratified all the way back in ye olde medieval times of January 2015, the treaty establishes mutual defense, intelligence sharing, and cultural exchanges between TNP and TSP and codifies their already at-the-time longstanding friendship. The Aurora Alliance was a cornerstone of TNP-TSP relations, an integral part that codified their friendship. And, at the time of this whole affair, the treaty had lasted for a strong eight years, which in Internet terms is a pretty long time.
And Sandaoguo, one of the loudest voices from TSP after the re-emergence of this controversy, was openly calling for it to be “thrown in the trash.” Furthermore, some noted that, curiously, TSP officials didn’t pop up in the thread to correct them or distance themselves from them.
Now, a good portion of the thread was essentially re-litigating earlier historical events and arguing over interpretations of said events, specifically the 2016 Hileville coup in TSP and TNP’s role in that (which, itself, could be a HobbyDrama post. I told you that NS spawns a lot of drama!). However, broader questions were brought up concerning relations between TNP and TSP - about whether TNP and TSP were both willing to engage in a collaborative, constructive partnership with each other, about whether TNP could trust TSP. The very merits of the TNP-TSP alliance were being questioned, and some of the loudest voices from TSP were openly calling for an end to that alliance.
All of this was not great news for TSP’s government, who very much wanted to keep the treaty and alliance in effect. Thus, a few days later, on May 17, 2023 at 8:28 PM UTC, TSP posted a statement, citing the recent strain that the TNP-TSP alliance had come under, announced that they would withdraw the nomination of HumanSanity and distancing themselves from “provocative” voices “expressing desire for the dissolution of the treaty which binds our two regions in partnership.” The statement apologized for the initial re-nomination of HumanSanity and endeavored to “engage with the best intentions with our friends and allies,” but “in a more consultative manner, learning from our mistakes.” Amerion, who was appointed as TSP’s Minister of Foreign Affairs after Esfalsa stepped down, reiterated that “this is the first move/step in the process of making amends and we are in open dialogue with our partners to the north.”
Yet the damage was already done. As the old saying goes - “fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice, shame on you.” This was the second apology TSP has had to issue in such a short amount of time, and at this point TNP’s trust in TSP had been shaken. Outside of TNP, some non-TNPers questioned whether TSP’s second apology would actually lead to anything, whether TSP would actually change their approach to foreign affairs and their partnership with TNP.
And it was all of this that set the stage for the last days of the Aurora Alliance.

MORE IN COMMENTS (Because character limit)

Hi, I'm 20(f) and have two older sisters who are Annie(29,f) and Beth (31,f). Beth is the one getting married and I really don't want to go to the wedding but I'm getting forced to go.
For a bit of context. We live in the uk, and last year, I moved 3 hours away from my home town due to some personal issues where law enforcement was involved and I had to move for my own safety. A big argument broke out between my family, and I had been mistreated by my sisters who blamed me for the incident. After the heat settled down, they realised they were wrong. However, I got no apology for how they had treated me. I also want to add my two older sisters to share a dad, and he passed when they were very young and I have a different dad who abandoned me, my mum and sisters. Me and my sisters and I do share a mum, but because they both had moved out by the time I was 9, it was just me and my mum a lot of the time. I also suffer with really bad anxiety, depression, cystic acne, adhd and autism. I have a comfitor ring and necklace that I play with so I don't have an anxiety attack.
When I had moved away, I had moved close to a group of friends I had met on xbox, and I couldn't ask for some better friends. One drove 3 hours to pick me up, and another is giving me a place to live. When I first joined this friendship group, there were 8 of us (me included), and it was great fun. There was Alan (33,m) Dan(21,m) Jack (30,m) Ian (44,m) Cole (38,m) ally (31,f) jazz, (38,f). This group has got me through hard times. Then, just over a month ago, I met Alan in person for the first time. To put it simply, we had clicked and hit it off. We decided to go on a date and since them I've been round at his house every weekend, watching films, going on walks and just having fun.
When my sisters found out, they hated the fact there is a 13 year age gap between me and him and started to assume there was something more to our relationship than we were leading on. I had comments made about me being a "sugar baby." he had comments about him being a "groomer" and/or "cradle snatcher." This broke me, knowing that is how my sisters viewed our relationship. I had made it clear that 1. I was the one who asked him on the date and 2. I am also the one who pays for all my expenses, and he pays for himself. Yes, we get each other small things every now and then. For one weekend, he will get a takeout, so the next time we get takeout, I will pay for it. He is also the first man to ever treat me with some level of respect, and he is also a gentleman.
Now to the drama. My sister Bethe said she has rules for her bridesmaids and on everyone else's list of rules it was simple small things that they could do but mine was long and full of stupid requests that through digs at my appearance. My list was •Must wear sandals (because you will towered over everyone if you wear heals) • Must gain some weight because you're too skinny •can't have an acne break out •Must have a natural hair colour •not allowed to travell to "home towns name" with a friend and Must find own why up •not allowed to take the old man to the wedding •not allowed to wear the weird ring or necklace •Must fake tan
This whole list was very hurtful, and whilst reading it, I cried. Alan comforted me and said he was going to calk my mum and see if we could sort some parts of this lift out and figure out why she was being so nasty to me. I had a call back off my mum the next day, and she was with my sister Beth. Beth said she isn't changing her mind about the list but she wants to tell be that she won't be paying for my bridesmaids dress anymore, or my nails because I now have a "sugar daddy" who can now pay for it all for me. This obviously wound up Alan. However, he stayed quiet. I ended the call and cried again. As now I had to pay for a dress that's £800, nails that £60, fake tan that's £200, and some other expenses when we only get £1000 a month. I also have to make my way to my old hometown via public transport that I can't take because of my anxiety that can hospitalise me or even kill me.
Alan has said he will pay towards stuff, but I can't ask him to do that as it's my family that is causing these issues. We later found out my sister is paying for all the other bridesmaids' dresses and just excluded me. As each week goes by, I get my anxious and stressed about this wedding even though it's next year. My sister Beth texts me every day, saying how the family will shame me for my relationship with Alan at the wedding. She also bullies me every day for my cystic acne. I can't control my skinny Ness or height. I had an anxiety attack this weekend that scared all my friends. Alan stayed by me all night and then took me home when I was allowed to leave. He gave me a Pandora bracelet with a stitch charm on it that was worth around £105 total. It made me cry(happy tears). When my sisters found out about the bracelet and their bullying of me and my relationship got worse and it began to spread onto my Facebook wall, they Snapchat stories and even instergram. I told my mum I didn't want yo go because I no longer felt wanted in the family or even welcomed to go.
I had made to be a verbal punching back, and I was made to feel insecure about my appearance, personality, and disabilities. My sister told everyone I wasn't going to her wedding and now I've been getting calls and texts from our family and her friends calling me vile names like "bitch," "hoe," "gold digger," "attention seeker," "liar." I found out she told them that I wasn't coming to the weddingband that I was faking my mental health and disabilities. She had also told them I was only dating Alan for his money. She told them all lies. I am now getting forced to the wedding by my family because it's "unfair" on my sister on her big day. Alan said he would stand by me. I'd I don't go, but that's unfair on him as he's only been seeing me for just over a month. What do I do?
(UPDATE!!!)
I appreciate a lot of your advice, and I did have to report a few comments as they were making fun or being horrible about mine and Alan's relationship. I had prepared myself for these comments as they are common when I talk about me and Alan. One of you told us to reconsider our relationship because its a "red flag" if I'm hounest these comments did hurt me, as you not only called us mames but also ridiculed us for how we met.
For those who supported and said friendly comments about me and Alan, thank you, we found the comments uplifting and reassuring.
Now, for the actual update. I sent it to my sister directly first. I said, "I really don't appreciate you sharing lies about me. I also don't appreciate the comments you have made about being and Alan. I don't appreciate your list for the wedding as I can't controll my height, weight as I have an E.D, I can't control my acne as it's cystic and hormonal, I can't come to the wedding without my necklace or ring as the comfort me when anxious. Last but not least, I can not afford everything you are getting me to do. I also can't get to the wedding because public transport gives me anxiety, and you won't let anyone simply give me a lift. It's not like they are going to the wedding with me." Beth, read my message and called me. She screamed down the phone at me, shouting that she would pay for the dress and some other bits, but I've got to pay for my own shoes they have to be to her standards. She hung up the phone on me, and then I started getting calls off the other bridesmaids shouting at me, saying Beth is stressed enough as it is without me being on her back.
I took some your advice and went went to Facebook with screenshots and evidence. I tagged my sisters and my mum and watched as chaos unfolded in the comments. There was no caption to the post. Just seen shots, pictures, and tags... I turned off my phone when calls started coming, and I ended up having an early night. This morning, I turned on my phone, and my notifications were insane. There Alot of apology messages off our friends and family. Not only that, my soon-to-be brother in law had called me. I called him back. He said, "Your sister and I had a chat for the way she has treated you, I had no idea this was going on. If her behaviour carries on, just let me know." The call ended, so I started reading the texts off my sister. I started off with lots of sweet sorry messages, and then it switched to telling me to delete the post, then demanding it. She switched to begging and then back to the apologies. My sister then also asked for me to do a group call with my soon to be brother in law, mum, and our other sister. I think I might do it, but I am unsure right now.

Special thanks to u/PreviousMud78 for linking me to u/TheGrimeyHole 's post with the theme lyrics.
So, I think the whole reason why Tancred's remembrance is a severed tongue is because he literally cut out Reinhold's tongue to prevent him from spilling his secret to others, of what sort of "monstrosity" he really is underneath that helmet.
His theme lyrics explicitly has Reinhold saying: "You took my tongue, and yet I scream."
It would make a lot of sense (and very much in character for the delusional knight who thought himself so mighty and pure) that he would literally cut his tongue out to ensure that nobody would find out what sort of monstrosity he really is beneath his helmet. How would it look to the rest of the church, if the great and mighty Master of Castigations was found out to be a literal two - faced being? The church would be in an uproar, maybe even brand him as a Rhogar.
(the following is personal opinion, feel free to add your own)It would also serve to make sense why Reinhold's dialogue always felt more internal, than actually lines being spoken out loud. It always felt to me that nobody else is able to hear his voice, except Tancred. Plus, with how he literally forced Tancred's hand to more or less kill their shared body so he could truly take over (as evident by Tancred croaking out "No" just before he stabs himself) shows that he really does not give a fuck - I feel - about what happened to them, despite being conjoined twins, so I don't think it would be beyond Reinhold to go yammering about dear big brother's secret.
Plus, all of the remembrances seem to have some sort of significance to the owner (Hushed Saint being a cavalryman and his is a horseshoe, Lightreaper's being a broken lamp, likely one of the ones from his belt, and Dervla's being the friendship bracelets [credit to u/Mr_Lexford for pointing out that detail] she and the Martyr wore), having Tancred's being Reinhold's tongue would fit into that pattern.

First Next
Sliplegs pulled the hooks in and counted the ygwin. Twelve and two, enough to tide them over until evening. He strung a weave through the swimming creatures mouths and eyes and slung them over his right shoulder. He looked out over the dark water, the gloom right before the light rises was the most dangerous. He chattered his teeth thinking soon, he would be the one hunting those depths. He crossed over the outcrop and climbed up a thick tree. He hurried to make it back to the nest to leave the food for the day.
The twins were waiting outside the entrance, their shetalf from the nets just visible inside. He entered, tapping, and dropped off the flopping ygwin.
Pusdot felt the taps and came out. He had spent the early hours gathering fuel for the ovens. "You three have done good. They should be satisfied until we return." He reached over and put a hand on each of his son's heads. "Come let us learn from the witch." He grabbed a nearby branch and descended into the gloom of the understory.
Sliplegs looked at the other two and meet eyes. He blinked quickly and followed his father down. The twins hit each other and then did the same.
---===*===---
Bubba pulled the tall boat out and had it loaded with gear, readied by the bank as the dawn came. He was sitting in the pilot chair enjoying some home brew when the gents arrived. He raised a mug smiling at them. "Hey fellas! Climb aboard!"
Pusdot widened his eyes and grasped the metallic edge, tapping it. "It is like your abode roof."
Bubba shook his head. "Naw, this is aluminum."
Pusdot looked up at the orb as it spoke. "How many types of substance are there?"
Bubba shrugged and walked over to help the two young ones in. "No idea bud. There's books about it, you could learn em if you wanted."
Pusdot watched the twins climb in and scoot toward the front, nestling in amongst several crates. He looked back at Sliplegs as he found a spot to sit and hold by Bubba's chair. He looked back at Bubba. "We will be fine in this? This close to the water?"
"Fine? I don't know about that either." Bubba walked back over to the chair and sat down. "Just keep your hands in, and hold on. When we get one I'll need your help pinning it. These slick fuckers have almost flipped me out of twice." He laughed again as he flicked a switch on the armrest. A loud rumble shook the boat, and the boys flinched and tightened their grips. "Alright crew! Here we go!" Bubba moved a lever on the left armrest and the craft started moving forward across the water.
---===*===---
Bubba watched and kept the speed low until the twins acclimated up front. The one on the left started peaking up over the lip, letting the splash hit him in the face. Once both were looking out he upped the speed, cutting through his normal route between the massive trees.
Pusdot chittered his teeth as he watched his sons up front. He looked at Sliplegs who was eying the trees up above, looking through the canopy, catching glimpses of the lightening blue above. He turned two of his eyes up toward Bubba. "How do you kill them?"
"That's easy Pus. The hard part is attaching the lines to make sure they don't sink."
"Easy? Killing such monsters is easy?"
"How do you call em again? Phee no goo?"
"Fnga. Pheen Gaw. Say slower."
Bubba nodded. "Fnga. Fnga. Yeah. Back at town they just call em moss gators. Not really gators though. They act like em though. Good eating aren't they?"
Pusdot widened his eyes, revealing a sliver of white in each. "Yes. Very good. The mothers have gotten fat this season. Many eggs are growing."
Bubba looked over at the orb tucked into its slot on the boat side. "This can be dangerous. I know we talked about it, but how ready are your kids?"
Pusdot focused all his eyes on the human. "We keep the females fed. When it was just myself it was harder. Sliplegs was a twin also. They know danger."
Bubba slowly shook his head and thrust the boat into a hard turn around a cluster of trees. "You're a hard people. I respect that. I get that."
"Your people, they are hard as we are?"
"Some are. Some aren't. I used to think they were weak, but. " He looked over at Pusdot as he slowed the motor. "I've always wished my life were easier, that I didn't have to struggle. But that would have made me soft too. So, I can't blame anyone for being soft. Just means that don't have to struggle like us."
Pusdot's eyes darkened and then widened. "I do not understand. You have such wonders. What struggles are you talking about?"
Bubba slowed down until the wake dissipated. "Your eyes are really good bud. You see shit. I don't have struggles do I?"
"I do not know, bud." He practiced the word of friendship in the human tongue.
"Here, fruits are hanging all over these trees. Fruits no man has ever had before. Sweet, makes for great grog, all I can drink." He pointed at Pusdot. "You've never complained."
Pusdot pulsed his eyes wide in response. "Your drink is good. I do not complain."
"The swamp provides, I got all I need out here." He stood up and looked out over the thin black strands of foliage clustering around the trees. "When I think of the human worlds, I see all the things I don't have. There are people who own entire worlds, armies, fleets of ships, and I'm here. I look at it that way I see myself as struggling. But you're right. People, armies, they need supervision. I hate that shit. Here, I can live my life how I like. Help you guys."
Pusdot pondered what he had said for a moment. "One human can own an entire world?"
"Yeah." Bubba looked out around the trees.
Pusdot pivoted his eyes, feeling the humans unease. "You sense something?"
"Yeah. I think there's one close."
Pusdot stood up, scanning the water and reeds. "I do not see any, nor smell one. How are you detecting it?"
"I feel it." Bubba toward a downed blue trunked tree. "There, those flowers. Get your boys away from the edge."
"What about the flowers? They grow all over the swamp."
Bubba looked over the spiderfolk. "Those sticks there in the floor of the boat. Each of you take one. They have a hook on the end, and the hook is lined up to these releases here by me." He watched as each took a hooked pole in their hands. "Now, I'm going to piss it off, get it to attack. You all hook it, aim for the pointy arm things. Get em in the joints. Once it's hooked I'll shoot it. Alright?"
Pusdot helped the twins hold onto their poles and looked over at Bubba. "Shoot it?" He watched the human as it put red cylinders into a metal tube. "What do you mean? You will throw something at it? You can throw that strong?"
Bubba put the metal tube down and reached into a box beside his chair. He pulled out a different, longer red cylinder with a weave hanging out the end of it. He pulled a device out of the skins on his legs and opened it, revealing a flame. The hanging weave lit, but didn't produce flame, rather it issued a loud hissing spark that ate the weave quickly. "All yall, steady yourselves." He laughed. "It's about to get fun." He then threw the sparkling red cylinder into the flowering moss.
Pusdot watched it sink. Bubba hunkered down, and then looked at the spiders. He reached over and pulled them close. "Get down dummies!"
Pusdot pulled his eyes toward his friend, leaving one on the flowers. "What is going on?"
Bubba pushed them all down below the lip of the boat just as water erupted high into the air, filling the air with slosh and mist.
The twins looked up as the loud rain fell on them, chittering their teeth.
Bubba stood up, grabbing his metal tube. "Get your hooks ready! It's going to be pissed!"
Pusdot scrambled, still recovering from the shockwave a moment before. His hands found his hooked staff and he readied it out toward the water. He focused and saw the the large ripples from, whatever Bubba had done, then he saw new ripples as the moss and flowers disappeared from the surface of the water.
The mouth of a massive fnga lunged out of the water, reaching toward Sliplegs. Bubba aimed the metal tube and another loud eruption filled the air, this time from Bubba.
Pusdot ducked down and watched as the fnga recoiled, slashing around in the water. Its hooked arms reached out, grasping upwards into the air.
"Hook it! Hook it before it runs off!"
The twins acted in unison, thrusting their staves at the beast. The one on the right landed his hook, pulling the pole back into the boat. A moment later the twin on the left landed his and pulled back.
"Nice! Two landed! Take cover!" Bubba shouted, patting them to get back down low.
Pusdot looked up as the human steadied himself and began moving the digit on its hand. Another loud burst of fire exploded from the metal tube, then another, and another. After the fifth explosive burst, the fnga quit thrashing in the water.
Bubba hurried back to his seat and flipped a switch. Witchery near the motor began moving, and the magic weaves of thread began pulling back into the boat. The fnga, already beginning to sink, moved back up to the surface.
Pusdot watched as all around the fnga the flowers floated up, attached to the moss coming from the back of the creature. "I didn't know. The fruits the ctanga eat. They, they come from the fnga."
Bubba walked over to the edge of the boat as the twitching beast got closer. "Yeah, I don't know all that you said. That moss, it grows on em. You just gotta look for it, easy to find round here." Careful! We gotta hurry before others come."
Pusdot stood taller, looking over the edge. Bubba raised the tube again and fired into the head of the creature. The twitching stopped. He looked up at Bubba. "We stay away from the water. The only ones I've really seen were washed up bones, that moss black."
Bubba reached over and pulled a limb toward the edge of the boat. "No worries bud. Everyone grab some of it, help the winches pull and guide it in."
The boys listened as the orb translated and then reached out, each grabbing hold of a fnga that was living and dangerous a moment before.
Puspot looked over his children as the strong weaves by the motor pulled. They touched, held, aiding the creature, larger than each of them put together, plop into the bottom of the ship.
Bubba looked out as the water level edged closer to the lip of the boat. He laughed. "Damn we got a big one. We're going to be slow getting back. Gotta be careful too. Ya'll stay up there, even out the boat." He said, motioning with his hands. He went back and sat in his seat. He reached over and pulled out a bottle. He handed it to Pusdot. "Open it, pass it up to em."
Pusdot pulled the bit of metal off the top and passed it up toward the twins.
Bubba pulled out one after another until everyone had a bottle of his brew. "Good hunting boys!" He raised his bottle and then took a swig.
The spiderfolk watched and then emulated, each drinking deep of the frothy nutrient solution.
---===*===---
Back at the stilted house, Bubba used the beam winch to raise the fnga out of the boat. He watched as the two little spiderlings crawled up into the rafters and started using their sharp fingers to slice between the plates of armor. He then looked at Pusdot as he was cutting around the neck. "You seem to know what you're doing for never having kilt one."
Pusdot shifted a single eye toward the man. "We steal them from the clutches when times are tough. This is same, just very large."
Bubba reached up and grabbed a house attached to the side of the house. He raised it up and sprayed down the blood in the boat, making it pool in the bottom. He turned on the motor and flipped a switch, causing the pump to pull the blood brine out, spitting it over the edge. "You all like the little shell things that come? I dunno if you can eat those, not brave enough to try."
Pusdot finished the cut, letting more blood spill out over the edge and into the water. He looked around with his eyes, noting the five sided creatures crawling up the stilts, slurping at the blood. "Gost. Scavengers. Only eat when starving. Full of parasites." Pusdot paused. "They do have a, worm, medicine. I do not know how to explain. Helps ease pain, but dangerous."
Bubba looked down at the shelled creatures crawling in spirals on their five legs. "Pain killers. Good to know."
Pusdot shifted back to the gutting, reaching up to help his children. Sliplegs was crawling on the fnga, carefully pulling out the bowels. "Yes. Pain killers. Very dangerous."
Alexandra stepped outside, her hair a mess. She was holding a cup of coffee in her hands. "Holy hell, that's a big one!"
Bubba looked over at her in her nightgown. "Yeah! Those two little guys, they're champs. Hooked it while it was thrashing crazy!"
"Our freezer is full up. You gonna save a side of it to sell in town?"
He looked over at her and then at the spiderfolk. "Ya'll are the natives, you do things with all the parts?"
Pusdot looked at his boys as they all paused and then looked at the human. "We eat all we can. Do you do different things?"
Bubba laughed. "The shell armor, guts, I dunno. The sharp bone things inside. You use them for anything?"
"You can't eat those things. The guts maybe, but this one is big. The bile will be strong. It would be foul to eat."
"No like tools. You make tools out of any of it?"
Pusdot looked down at his hands, and raised them out toward Bubba. "Tools? I do not understand."
Alexandra laughed and went inside. She came back out quickly and sat in the rocking chair with a tin round in her lap. "Pusdot come here."
The father widened his eyes at his boys to continue and walked over to the female human. "Yes Ma'am?"
She opened the tin and pulled out thin metal and unwoven silk. "People can't weave like your hands and body do. Humans have to make things to even attempt to do the weaves you can easily do." She thread the needle and pulled out a cross-stitch she was working on.
Pusdot stood enthralled, watching as she moved the metal thin back and forth through the weave, creating a simple child design. "This is how you weave."
Bubba laughed. "Smart wife."
She glared over at him. "Smarter than you Bubs. Best remember it."
Pusdot looked over at Bubba. "You make things, from things. Copy."
Bubba nodded. "Yup. Watch, learn, try and make it work."
Pusdot turned toward the hanging fnga, looking it over. "Bubba Yaga, what would you make from this?"
Bubba looked up at it, smiling. "I got lots of ideas friend."
Alexandra looked up from her cross-stitch. "Ideas, but never act on em. We got a dozen skins of those drying in the attic."
"I got the hint love. I'll get rid of em." He looked over at Pusdot. "You got any ideas Pus?"
Pusdot chittered his mandibles together, clicking his teeth. "Never before have I been asked for more ideas. I have been shamed. This, you, this is joy. I would love to idea with you friend Bubba."
Bubba smiled and climbed out of the boat, straightening up on the porch. "You boys want some more hooch?"
The twins immediately turned all their eyes on them, wide. "Yes please." They replied.

Hello Bi folk of the internet… I have an experience to share…. not really for a specific reason, just because I wanted to share it in a space that, I hope, is kind and understanding. I’m just going to brain-dump from my memory so, here we go…

• TW: Abuse and Loss of a pregnancy *

Eight-ish years ago, I started a shitty new retail job and became instant best friends with my coworker. Her and I, (36 and 23), became the embodiment of friendship soulmates. Instantly we found soulmate level kind of love in one another; confiding our woes, sharing hysterical laughter over the silliest things, engaging in one another’s interests, the gifts, the coffees. We were the purest form of friendship I’ve ever encountered.
During the duration of our workplace friendship, we had a… customer (and I use that term VERY loosely, as their presence in the store was wholly for my friend, no money being spent)… someone who came in quite often to visit with us. Our coworkers were openly active in the LGBTQIA+ community here, so their acquaintances often popped in for a visit. No biggy! This customer however, an older (50’s) M-to-F trans woman, was not like the rest. As soon as she set eyes on my friend, there was no relenting to the constant and vulgar commenting and ‘flirtation’ with her. She was relentless and it made my friend exponentially uncomfortable, understandably. This woman would come in and continually tell her how she wanted to have sex with my friend, how she knew she could ‘convert’ from her hetero ways, for my friend to be the one to take her new ‘trans-virginity’ and what have you, in a magnitude of ways. It was pushy, it was unwarranted and unreciprocated and above all, it was relentless. My friend and I had discussed at length how this made her feel, being a vehemently straight woman. Her soft spoken nature had her hiding in the back room until this person had left, just to not be confronted with the constant harassment. The day her and I both ended up leaving our jobs was a sigh of relief for her, knowing the constant sexuality terrorisim had finally ended.
Although our time at our job had ended, our friendship continued to remain strong and holdfast to the tests of time. My friend had, months prior to our job departure, had confided in me the revelation that she was unhappy with her current partner and their marriage. Not my place to air their marital woes, but long and short of it, she wanted a baby and he did not. They spent months trying to discuss and work out their issues, trying to make things work, to no avail. As time passed, her loyalty wavered and cast her attention elsewhere…
The internet is a funny place. People can be unapologetically alluring via text, like a venomous spider in a web of toxicity, coaxing you in before sinking their poison in, one drop at a time. This is precisely how she came to meet her current partner.
The ex military, Xanax addicted, mentally unstable, narcissistic, abusive, compulsive liar, criminal record toting southerner. He was everything I normally detest in a person, and he was now leechishly attached to my best friend. He spun stories of how much better of a life he could give her, how the first thing he’d do was put a baby in her, how he was so much better than her current husband… he fed her every line in the book, and she drank it down like he was the oasis she was desperately searching the desert to find. From the outside looking in, it was plain to see what he was all about, but for some reason, she was blind to it. Rose coloured glasses tint the world in dangerous ways.
Time passed and he, relentless as ever, chipped away to remove her husband from the picture, the house they owned, and the entirety of the life they had built as high school sweethearts. He spent months painstakingly whittling away at her mentally as well (as abusers do), to shape her into his perfect, passive possession to own and manipulate as he saw fit. She jumped through every hoop to make things work, giving him every penny she had, driving hours to see him for a day and drive all the way back the next, paperwork to bypass his ongoing criminal past haunting their relationship; she did it all, all while he greedily took without a thought or a care. They married, city hall style, before the ink on her own divorce papers had even dried. She endured the time consuming and expensive process of taking his new surname legally as her own. He overtook her life like a disease corrupting the body, one cell at a time.
When it came time for her to express her desire for the child she wanted, the one he had spend months emptily promising, he begrudgingly relented, or so it seemed. There was only so long he could use that as a maneuvering chip, ever looming over their relationship. Confided within our friendship, I was told by her how during intimacy, he would ask if she wanted a baby. Ask her and ask her during the act… making her practically beg… before pulling out and saying not yet. Her womanly clock ticked ominously over her head, making her ache for the family she so desperately wanted to start. Finally, he obliged and she did become pregnant… … only to lose the baby a few months later.
It broke my heart to see her become this diminished caricature of the friend I loved and cherished so deeply. He was little help to her too, often choosing to sleep (I’m assuming because of his drug abuse) or play games as opposed to talking with her when she was with him. She was broken, the “no I slipped and fell down the stairs” demeanour he moulded her into now her only piece of identity. She was heartbroken from the loss of her beloved baby, struggling with the ability to cope. I stood by her, a friend willing to do whatever in the absence of her partner, to make sure she was ok. When she was struggling, I was there either in person or on the phone, taking her to the hospital in a time of crisis, being there the best I could. His record kept him physically away, but sadly, his hooks locked in deep within her broken psyche, ever festering and refusing to relinquish its filthy grip. As their relationship simmered and she healed as much as she could from the loss. I could see her trying to repair slowly, no thanks to him, and move past her despair. Then, unexpectedly, it happened for her again. She was pregnant! I was happy for her, so happy to see her becoming a mother, her dream! Despite the bond it would weave between her and him, she was finally going to become the mother she was always meant to be. We talked of her baby, the nicknames we had for them, the future she hoped for them and how I would be an aunt of sorts; our bond was so deep and I was so happy to be there to share this with her. I was able to come to her ultrasounds, which thrilled me to the core. I remember seeing the baby for the first time with her, tearing up with delight for her… until I was told her partner didn’t want me, in particular, to be there. He didn’t want me to have any part of the pregnancy, to know the gender, names, nothing. For a time, he knew I had his number, could see the abuse he inflicted on my friend, both mentally and physically. With abusive men it seems, when they see someone who can see past their facade, well that made me enemy no. 1 in his eyes. He tried his damnedest to keep us apart, telling her I was a bitch and that I didn’t like him (which was true), and how I was intentionally coming between them, trying to split them up. He’d withhold attention from her when she was there, as a sort of sick punishment for associating with me. She as no longer allowed to talk to me, she couldn’t post anything about me or us, get upset when I was mentioned. He knew I knew exactly what he was doing and was scared I would show her the way out. When I couldn’t get ahold of her on one of her trips down to see him, I had messaged him asking if she had made it ok. He had red the message, I had seen it, but he claimed I didn’t message at all. I showed her upon returning, now seeing I had been blocked by him. Tensions were rising and I knew, when I was told I specifically was not to be involved with their child and her as little as possible (despite the criminal record keeping him at a distance), I knew our days as friends were numbered. To his credit, I did try to explain how toxic things were with them. When the fights became vile, leaving her crying in the back room at work because he was refusing to talk to her, i told her this wasn’t normal with a partner. I tried, all while trying to maintain our cherished friendship, to show her she was being abused.
Now comes the relevancy to this post being in this specific group… Her and I were close, messaging often, talking daily, told one another “I love you”, we had matchy tattoos done together, we knew nearly every facet about one another, had gone bra shopping together; we were the best of friends. FRIENDS.
With his oh so pleasant ‘southern charm and point of view’ on the world (racist, sexist and vile), he didn’t take too lightly to homosexuality. Constantly she would tell me how embarrassed she was when they went out and he would see a same sex couple; “who let the fucking f***ots in here?!” Knowing my friend, the constant harassment she endured at our former place of employment, he knew exactly how to drive a wedge in irreversibly deep; deep enough to cleave us apart entirely. “She’s just a dirty cunt of a lesbian, looking to fuck you the first chance she gets. That’s why she’s hanging around you with the ‘I love you’ all the fucking time, trying to break us up. She wants you for herself.”
Like the falling of the executioners axe, it was done. The talking daily stopped, the sentiments of love ceased. It was night and day with her. I could see after that, after the public Facebook comments he had made about me under photos of my friend and I together, after that comment, she had changed. He had won.
I remember crying during one of the truly last times we had spent together, before she packed up and moved her life down south with him… I had cried so hard knowing that this was going to be it for us. It was like watching a beloved creature wither and die in your arms. You want to stop it, you care so deeply and can’t fathom the thought of living without it… all while knowing that there’s not a damn thing you. An do. He had weaponized sexuality against me, not even knowing who I was or a fractal about our friendship. She hadn’t been aware of my bisexuality; I hadn’t truly known how deep it was in me back then either, but it certainly wasn’t something I wanted to share with her after her experience with the trans woman at work. I didn’t see my friend like that. I loved her so deeply, on a soul level, and cherished the friendship we had. Unwittingly, he had taken a part of me that I didn’t realize was more potent than it was and was buried so deep inside me, and made it a vile weapon of manipulation.
I’m scared now in my current friendships to be honest about who and how I am. My current partner, the first person whom I’ve ever told outright that I am bisexual, knows and has been beyond supportive. My friends though… none know out of my own fear of losing the friendships I currently have. I know with true friendships, they would accept me for me now… but the heartache of this whole experience, has terrified me into hiding this vital part of me. My mother and family could never accept it, and I know that… but now, in my 30’s, I desperately wish to own this part of me, wearing it with pride as opposed to hiding in fear.
I guess I just wanted to share this here, as my first step into owning who I am out loud, despite the fear and (wrongly) infused shame. I am bisexual, and I’m not hiding anymore…
Thanks for taking the time to read this. Just wanted to… share my story, if not wholly, but a part. If anyone else out there is being shamed, just know it’s ok to be exactly who you are. You owe nothing, not a thing, to anyone but yourself. Live and let live, those who love you truly, will be wholly by your side, despite what the other think or say.
🩷💜🩵

Last week, I started praying. I felt like I needed to. I clasped my hands and begged for my wounds to never heal again. I stood in front of the mirror and told myself that the one thing I can't afford to lose is my fear. I fear people. I fear the outside. And obviously, I fear Will. But my biggest fear is forgetting—forgetting my terror and my agony. Even though it might seem unimaginable right now, I fear that one day my hands will shake a little bit less, and the loneliness will creep back in like a recurring cancer. I hope typing my story out will force me to remember.
The 20th of May, the day our meticulously crafted friendship broke apart. It must have been around 10 PM when Will called me. He wanted me to come to the train station. For the first time, maybe ever, I sensed weakness in his shaking voice.
As I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, I wonder what would have happened to me if I didn't agree to meet him that day. I guess he would have simply remained a distant memory.
"The only friend I ever had was a short man who always wore cheap T-shirts and a pair of Ray-Bans he never took off. There was this big scar on his balding head. He looked about ten years older than a kid from college should have. But don't let his appearance fool you. Everybody, men and women alike, loved him to bits. So did I. He was the only person that ever dared to talk to me," I would have mumbled, unaware of the sharp claws hiding behind my back.
Instead, I decided to run to the train station. I saw him at platform four. We sat down and lit our cigarettes. A ritual as integral to our friendship as speaking the same language was.
"My brother died. I will have to go home for a while," he stated.
"I... I'm sorry."
"I'll be fine, don't worry. I will not be able to see you for a long time though. I will take the train straight to the airport and stay in Augusta."
I watched the tobacco slowly wither away. I knew that there was nothing I could say. Death remains a mystery to those that were spared by its effects. Will looked incredibly sick, even more so than was to be expected. His skin was pale and brittle, the blood apparently completely sucked out of him. The tiniest gust of wind would have been enough to sweep him off his feet.
"You look like a corpse."
"Fuck you, dude," he chuckled.
Soon after that, he got on the train and left.
"We will meet again," he said.
To this day, I wonder what prompted me to follow him. It was probably his appearance, his relative lack of grief, and the fact that he never once mentioned having a brother. But most importantly, it was the way his eyes shot up when he smiled at me. For just a second, I saw something heinous light up in him. Something that for most of our friendship had remained concealed. Without having the time for thought or contemplation, I stepped onto the train.
There were signs. So many of them that they practically begged me to leave. While I saw him mindlessly scrolling on his phone, his melancholic mask replaced by an expression of pure apathy, I could have left. When he surprisingly got up at the very next stop instead of going to the airport, I could have left. And even when he set foot in his squeaky clean apartment, struggling and groaning on the way, trapped in an endless trance like a junkie waiting for his next fix, I could have left. The entrances of innocence only really shut their doors on me after Will entered his study room. After I decided to stay long enough to hear the muffled voices coming out of it.
"Will, just let me go, bro. I don't care what type of shit you're on. You gotta let me go." A familiar voice pleaded. I recognized him almost immediately. It was Carl, a freshman from our college.
I will never forget the fear that overtook me at this very moment. For a second, everything went black. I barely managed to pull myself together and break my fall. As carefully as I possibly could muster, I opened the door just enough for me to peek through. The images and memories of that night have been forever imprinted onto me. They have left humongous craters on my being. Telling you about them now tears me apart. I guess I have no other choice. I can't allow the pain to fade.
A young man was trapped in a chair, his hands tied behind his back. He looked awful. Bloodshot eyes, covered in sweat, with small cuts and bruises scattered around his arms and legs. Will looked even worse. At this point, his body was caving in on itself. He was wobbling around the room, hunched over, his back appearing unable to hold his weight any longer. A smell of rotten flesh lingered in the air.
"You know I can't do this, Carl," Will said. He sounded erratic and confused, forced to slur his words since his lips only moved reluctantly. "This body... this body of mine, it stopped working. Died like a pair of batteries. So now it's your turn."
"Man, what are you even talking about... please just let me go." His eyes gleamed with panic as he tried to free himself from his restraints.
Will let out a laugh before answering, suddenly sounding sharp and rigid. Instead of hearing the voice I had gotten so used to, somehow multiple people spoke at once. A choir of people, from all walks of life and backgrounds, spitting Carl's weakness. It was overwhelming. Small cracks formed on the wall of the room as a thousand souls united in the body of one.
"Yes, of course, you would not understand. I am older than your feeble mind dares to imagine. I have possessed countless human beings, destroyed an infinite number of dreams and hopes. To you, I am a God."
Dazed by his hurt, Carl answered, "You are clearly not in the right headspace, man. Free me, and we can forget about all of this."
Will let out a furious scream. For a second, I thought he would maul his victim to death. With his back turned to me, he stood close enough to bite his prisoner's nose off.
"That's the one thing that always bothered me about you humans. You are always so ungrateful. You think I enjoyed talking to you? You think I liked hearing you discuss the newest Marvel movies? I did it so you would come here without making a big fuss. Giving me your body is the least you could do."
As he let out a vicious roar, my one and only friend pierced his finger into his victim's skull. His nails, apparently able to cut through skin and bone, created a small opening, fresh blood seeping out of the wound. Carl couldn't even dare to scream. His pupils were filled with the sort of deep desperation you only see once in a lifetime. Seemingly possessed by a horde of demons, he started uncontrollably shaking. His chair fell onto its side. The rope used to hold his hands together ripped apart, unable to withstand the force of his rapid tremors. A layer of blood and spit formed around his mouth.
Meanwhile, his captor carefully stepped away and cleaned his hands, enjoying the sick show of his own creation. Eying this poor fish on land, frantically trying to get back into the water. A few more moments of hell passed by me before silence reentered the room as Carl's body finally gave out and lay motionless on the ground. A last chuckle escaped his abuser's lungs, until he too crashed to the ground like a sack of potatoes.
Will's forehead slamming onto the hardwood floor. Carl's blood dripping down his face. It was just too much for me. The world turned into a senseless stage play, too messy for its naive audience to understand. My brain reduced to a computer with a million open tabs, just about to shut down.
I don't remember how much time had passed, imprisoned in a state of utter paralysis, rocking myself back and forth, till a voice familiar to a part of my brain that sat miles away calmly addressed me.
"What's good, my boy?"
Dream became reality and reality became nightmare. I raised my head to look up from the wooden floor. Roughly five feet away from me stood a man I thought would never get up again. It was Carl. Carl in all his glory. Lanky and timid, with a pair of thick glasses sitting on his nose. Yet I knew it wasn't him. It was Will. Will speaking out of the body he kidnapped and tortured, while standing right beside his old rotting corpse. If his eyes hadn't betrayed him, he would have almost looked indistinguishable. But every five seconds or so, his pupils changed in color and form. Green to blue to black to grey, and sometimes transforming into the wonderful, shining brown I came to associate with companionship and brotherhood.
He looked over my trembling presence. A small boy kneeling on the ground, unable to force his mouth to form into a scream.
"You know, you were initially supposed to be my next vessel. A few months ago I changed my mind. I wanted to keep you for a little bit longer. I came to quite enjoy your presence." Will winked at me. "Now that you've seen me, I guess I have no other choice."
People often say you experience a moment of calmness right before you die. There was no such thing for me. Death looked me in the eyes, and I couldn't look away. As the devil came closer and closer, I felt like a sick antelope, waiting to be devoured by a rabid lion. Standing only inches apart from me, he bent down and met my gaze.
"I want you to know that I am going to kill you now."
I let out a scream of pure angst, high and shrill, in a way I thought was impossible for me. Scrambling to my feet, I rushed towards him. I was possessed, controlled by fear and a deep sense of betrayal. Effortlessly, Will dodged my wild haymakers, mocking me while casually weaving and ducking.
"You know why I always choose people like you? The ugly, lonely, and desperate. It's because if I took over the rest, people would get suspicious. Yes, I can pretend and play my part, but they can sense the change. I chose you because nobody would care. Nobody would be there to notice you had been replaced."
My arms were heavy. My shoulders were about to give out. I had never felt such hopelessness before.
"If you hadn't followed me, you could have lived for a few months longer. I would have given you my last goodbyes and then switched bodies. Maybe I would have even considered befriending you again. Sadly, it seems you are destined to die."
In an explosion of rage, I picked up the old chair Carl was previously trapped in. A look of genuine surprise on his face, I smashed the timber against the demon's head. The chair instantly splintered into a thousand pieces. A loud bang rang in my ears, while a cloud of debris and dust lingered in the air. For a second, Will seemed confused and disoriented. With his jaw opened wide, he stared at me in disbelief. I couldn't move anymore.This was all I could muster. Upon realizing just how miniscule the extent of my power was, the beast's face morphed into a horrible grimace, the corners of his mouth wide enough to almost touch his nose. Men and women of all different ages and dialects simultaneously burst into a laughing fit.
"This is it? This is your grandiose strategy? You tried to defeat me with furniture?"
Tears of hubris streamed down Will's face, his endless cackling full of pride and egotism.
I put my hands on my knees, anxiously trying to catch my breath. I looked at him the same way a mountain climber examines the deep abyss.
With a smug smile plastered on him, he put his hand on my shoulder.
"I guess I ought to put you out of your misery."
Before even being able to process his sentence, he pounced and wrung me to the ground. Despite his cuts and injuries, his strength was far beyond anything I thought was possible. I only managed to hold onto his wrists for a few seconds until he freed himself and crashed his fist towards my jaw. The blast launched me into another dimension. Multiple teeth flew out of my mouth and landed next to me. The taste of iron covered my tongue. Will, now standing over my dazed self and surrounded by glittering stars, buried his sneakers into my stomach. A last defeated yowl. The world was hazy, every wave of pain overwritten by a new one, as he continued his brutal onslaught.
When Will finally stepped away, his face was colored in a pulsing red, a raging vein bulging on his forehead. He let out a satisfied sigh before leaning down to slit the top of my head. He needed some form of an entry point, I guess. A place for his soul to take over mine.
In retrospect, it's funny how in these minutes of indescribable agony, my body unable to move, not enough strength left to try and scream my suffering away, I wanted nothing more than to live. If only to prolong my journey for a little bit longer, I started whispering.
"I know that our friendship probably meant nothing to you. But to me, it meant everything."
His nail, cutting at my skin, suddenly stopped.
"Thank you for keeping up with me. If you had abandoned me, the solitude would have destroyed everything I had. I would have floated away into space, nobody left to bat an eye."
The words practically flowed out of me. I knew what the monster wanted: assurance, gratitude, and praise. My speech continued while I searched for that one magical weapon that could somehow save me from certain death.
I was now so weak that Will had to press his ears against my face to keep listening. A starving dog, licking up every single one of my compliments.
"You have given each and every one of your victims a wonderful present. A gift I would have previously laughed and sneered at. But perhaps the only gift that makes life worth living."
As quietly as I possibly could, I reached for the broken chair leg lying next to me. Oh, the relief I felt when its sharp edges rubbed against my palm.
"What I realized after meeting you, is that all my time spent alone, I was slowly killing myself. Take me if you wish. Is there really a difference between death and solitude?"
Inch by inch, I lifted up the stake and pointed it towards the monster's liver. He was still silently enjoying my declaration. This was all he ever dreamed of. Every muscle in my arm was burning. Fear can't even begin to describe my turmoil of emotions. I knew that in about five seconds, everything would be over, no matter the outcome.
"You have given me everything, and now I shall return the favor."
His face, first formed into a proud smile, then distorted into a grimace of utter shock, as the sharp side of the stick sunk into his torso. The melody of tearing flesh blended with his violent screams. Blood oozed out of his wound, tainting the timber still stuck in his abdomen.
Will bolted to his feet and ripped the chair leg out of him. Never in my life had I seen this much blood. It shot out of him like a relentless waterfall. The hurt blinded him, turned him into nothing more than an uncontrollable raging animal. The demon's eyes now transformed at a rapid rate. Green to blue to black to grey, until for a short moment, they were a burning red, fierce enough to by sight alone raise the temperature of the room. His voice became horribly distorted and metallic. His words were accompanied by an unbearable screeching.
Even if all my prayers one day fail, I'm sure that these memories will never lose their echo. The second I touch my door handle, forced to flee the dark aloneness, his voice will ring and hopefully make me hesitate just long enough for rationality to take over.
"Oh, you fucker. Now you've done it. I will skin you alive, you piece of shit."
The panic once again fueled my body's last resources. While Will still winced in pain, I rushed out of the door, ignoring every aching nerve and fiber.
As I collapsed onto the pavement, the faint calls of concerned strangers sounded like the singing of angels to me.
Two days later, I told the police my story. They found Will's old corpse, stuck investigating a case I know is far beyond them.
I have yet dared to step outside. Every time I even so much as approach my entryway, the fear pulls me back like a stretched rubber band. My terror is still strong enough to keep me safe. But I know that sooner or later the pain will pass. The suffocating loneliness will once again push me out of my apartment. Who knows what horrors will be waiting for me then? He could have taken over anybody he wanted to. He could be my cashier, nurse, or neighbor. He could at this very moment lurk in shadows I cannot see.
That is why I pray. Pray that the wonders of togetherness don't tempt me into a world of uncertainty again.
Please God make my fear eternal.

I am not the OOP. The OOP is u/MakersOnTheRock posting in daddit and survivinginfidelity
Ongoing as per OOP
3 updates - Long
Original - 16th October 2023
Update1 - 7th March 2024
Update2 - 10th March 2024
Update3 - 21st May 2024
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Wife just told me she's been seeing someone for the past 6 months.
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Been married 8 years. 5 & 6 year old kids. I've been madly in Love the whole time as she's an AMAZING person and mother. literally keeps the family together and is just... spectacular. Truly.
She was showing me something on her phone and I saw a text come in saying "I love you more!" and I asked who it was.
she explained it was a coworker that she's been helping out and I thought nothing more of it.
That day we had a lot of family over to celebrate our daughters birthday and it was a wonderful time. Some stayed overnight so the next day after a wonderful weekend getting company out and putting the kids down my wife said she needs to tell me something.
well that I love you more was not from her coworker. (well at least not the one she explained it was, but I'm not sure because she's not sharing any details regarding the other person)
she told me that 6 months ago when I was in a dark place and have since come out of (no drugs except weed and booze, which we both partake) she found love in someone else. love I wasn't providing in our relationship.
"If I have feelings for someone else, I'm not sure that I should be married. It's not fair to you or me. I never planned for this to happen, but now that it's a reality, we need to deal with it."
she explained that she wasn't looking for someone else, it just happed. A friendship that bloomed into more. she's also told me that they have not been intimate, and explained that as a sexual relationship.
she says life is too short, and she wants to be happy. she's proud of all the changes I've made and I've always been a good dad, but I've grown into a great daddy and my kids and I have never been closer.
but she wants to be 100% happy and the changes I've made haven't gotten her there, so she seeking elsewhere.
she says this person may not be the 100% answer. she worries that I'm at the best I can be and it's not enough, yet she's not giving me specifics.
we've had a beautiful loving relationship. we are know to be well out together and have our shit in line. we'd be the last couple that folks would think this is happening to.
so, I'm devastated. absolutely totally ripped apart and don't know what to do.
we own a house together what we're making payments on, I carry no debt besides said home and she's in the same position.
we had a perfect life together and I'm suddenly being blindsided by this 6 month relationship where she has feelings for and thinks it's best we split.
I have no idea how to move forward.
I've told her she needs to let her family know what's going on, so I can tell mine. it's her cat to let out of the bag.
I'm just so sad for our kids. when we were dating and in marriage, cheating was the one thing that would break us. we both come from broken families, and it was something I never wanted for our kids.
I just...and so hollow and broken. She is/was my everything and am so thankful for the 10 years we've been together.
but I think the writing is on the walls and I'm helpless. it's all up to her.
I'm broken into a million pieces.
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Comments
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[deleted]
Amazing people and mothers don't cheat on their spouse for 6 months in secret.

OOP: Heard.

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Kurt0690
So the things that stand out to me is that she has not been intimate and she's not 100% sure it's him. First of all, you should assume she's been intimate, you have no reason to trust her. She's trying to break it to you slow either because she wants you as a soft landing if he doesn't work out, or because he's married too and she's waiting for him to leave his wife. This is not going to be fixable and you need to start making plans to protect yourself and your kids.
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Update - 5 months later
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She was caught by me catching a text at my daughter's birthday party come in that said 'i love you more!' when I asked what that was about she said it was a co-worker she's been helping.
Because we had all our family and friends there, I didn't push it.
later the next day she came clean and said that she's been in a relationship for 6 months (this was back in October) She refused to tell me who it was with or what they've done.
I was devastated. Absolutely destroyed. Still am.
So we spent some time apart and she continued her relationship with Him. I did some digging in the mean time and looking at the phone records it was our Son's coach.
I called her out on it and she still continued the relationship. I saw a lawyer and he told me to not leave the house or the kids and either try to work it out or time to leave and to see a therapist.
my therapist says she's a narcissist and that I should protect myself, protect my kids and run.
Come December, she said she had cut it off with him and wanted to try again. I gave her all the effort in the world, but I don't feel like her souls been in it. she's not over compensating or has even truly apologized for what she's done.
I've also gotten access to her photos (I'm the admin on the family Google account) and she doesn't know that I've seen all I have.
she framed a picture of him and had it (maybe still does) at her Desk, I found naked selfies she's sent him that I haven't even received, I found a picture of his naked ass in our Beach Condo which I thought was natural space as we were nothing sharing it during our time apart.
I slept on those same sheets.
I know that she was at a fancy restaurant with someone else, she screenshots all these deep love quotes that I know aren't about me....so much that loves rent free in my head.
she has a white bracelet with one black bead that she now wears every day. I've called her out on it. she lied once and said it was from her mom, and up to last week said well my best friend has the matching one. well, her affair partner wears an all black one aith one white bead.
I know what that represents.
again, she doesn't know I've seen all these things.
so now to current day, I can't place it find anything that suggests that she's still with him, but I know she used snap chat often and is secretive with her phone.
whenever I bring up the affair this blow up because I said I'd try to not bring it up and get over it, but I simply can't.
I'm not rubbing it in, but it does come up when we argue which is almost every week. we do really well for a bit, up to and including intimacy, but then something happens and we go back to shit.
she cancelled our babysitter for trivia this past Tuesday, and for this Friday where I got tickets for us to see a show, but she doesn't want to go because I can't get over her affair.
her parents (mom and stepfather) both cheated on their spouses for each other and support my wife and both call and text me that it's unfair that I bring up her affair.
the pictures of him life rent free in my head almost constantly. I can't get past what she's done now matter how hard I try.
I don't know what to do as she's trying to make me the bad guy and I'm like...I've been here the whole time. I didn't fall in love with someone else.
I just don't understand and am an emotional train wreck.
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Comments
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One_Relationship3159
So you live somewhere that has at fault divorces? If so use the evidence against her, if not still use the evidence to help speed up the divorce. It doesn’t sound like she loves you at all just needed you at the moment. The AP may have broke it off and you are safety net. It doesn’t seem like you will get over this betrayal. So it’s time to move on without her.

OOP: Unfortunately no. I'm In MD and my lawyer says the laws just changed.

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One_Relationship3159
So you have a lawyer? You started the divorce process? If so have you asked her to leave?

OOP: I've had consultations. I have not officially started the process, and no I haven't asked her to leave.
I don't want to do that to the kids...but maybe I should ask her to. We have the condo just a few mins away.
I haven't left because she's a teacher and has to leave before I get the kids on the bus , then I go to work.
I have to be around as her job doesn't allow her to. My lawyer has also stated that this fact would be helpful in custody matters.

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Update - 3 days later
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Welp, long story short, I literally just caught her at the family condo with the AF and have photos and video of his truck, his belongings in the home, and her coming out of the Master where he stayed behind a closed door.
I also went into our shared car that she drove and it was left unlocked in the parking garage with an open high noon on the cup holder and her wallet and belongings still in it.
she came home and tried to talk. it was calm conversation but she kept saying it was my fault and if I communicated with her last night (I gray rocked her 🪨) maybe she wouldn't have been with him.
So I communicated that I will be home later this afternoon/evening, so she's unexpectedly watching the kids today. I wanted to hang with them, as she took them away from me yesterday to go do activities and I would do separate activities today, however I'm not emotionally able to give the kids the best of me right now and I definitely don't want to be around her.
I asked if she could sleep in a kid's room and she got upset and stated that our bed is her bed and she will sleep where she wants. I said obviously...
I've been for a 6 mile walk already and have been calling and leaving VMs at all the lawyers around.
I know I can't abandon the home but I can't be around them after what I just saw this am.
THANK ALL OF YOU who responded earlier this week and suggested Gray Rock and 180 for me. I implemented them and I guess it drove her to this.
but I'm officially divorcing her and there's no going back.
Thank you so much SI crew.
EDIT AND UPDATE:
Legal counsel told me to no contact her, so that's what I'm doing. She texted me last night all about how she hasn't asked for a second chance even though I've given them and she loves me and she now is willing to do therapy and share her locations and access to her phone and can't see rocking on the porch with at 80... Yadda yadda.
When I got home last night she was in the Master so I slept upstairs.
This AM, no communication. She wouldn't even look at me.
Yesterday, when I caught them with video, I saw his hat and it noticed it was a local landscaper. So I called to see if he worked there. He does. Ok thanks. That was it.
This MF just called me saying if I want to talk to him here's his number, don't call my boss. I said I have nothing to say to you. He replied and I have nothing to say to you and hung up.
Also her Mom reached out and said how I must be devastated and she's so sorry and to call her when I have a chance.
I'm going to continue my no contact with everyone and let my lawyer (once I secure one) do all the talking.
This is so damn hard!
[UPDATE #2] 3/27- I'll keep this one short. So she love bombed me, confessed a lot of what she's done, I fell into it for a few days, the sex was great, then we had a tiff last Friday and we've basically been no contact, yet living under the same roof. She got into my Google photos acct and deleted a lot of the evidence id collected from her and videos I had, but the important ones were backed up. Literally trying to hide and cover up her affair.
I have an appointment with my lawyers this Friday and we will go from there. I've been running, house shopping and trying to stay distracted.
It's very hard. I have a lot of emotions and sadness. I lost my best friend and lover to another. I know I need to keep saying it's her loss, and it will be, but it all still sucks. Especially hearing her tell me all she's done...horrible shit.
I don't want to get divorced, but it's what has to happen for my own self respect and happiness. I can never ever trust her again.
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Comments
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Agile_Opportunity_41
Blow up the baseball coaches life. Tell his partner and the league and all the parents of the team. Nobody will want their kids coached by him.

OOP: My wife is his SO. He's divorced because his wife cheated on him.

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MongooseLoud
So the lesson he learned from being cheated on was to cheat with another man's wife and break up another marriage.

OOP: Right? How absolutely shitty. Kids involved too...

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SarcasmIsntDead
Be sure to tell your kids why you are splitting don’t let her paint the narrative speak to a counselor on how to tell them the truth or she is going to paint you as the bad guy…

OOP: Yeah. I need to get back to my therapist.

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Update - 2.5 months later
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Shew, where to start...
well first off, I did it. I officially filed for divorce, and she has been served. She has less than two weeks to respond.
Quite literally the hardest decision I've ever had to make and to be 100% honest, I still don't want to, but I know that it will be what's best for me, my soul, my anxiety and my mind.
Over the past month we'd have good days and bad days. tension was always high, and it turns out she still kept lying about him.
I got a hold of her phone again and she had shared locations on snap with him, and when we were supposedly trying to make it work she wouldn't even share that with me, her husband. And I had asked. (oh and she changed his name in SnapChat so I wouldn't know it was him. Multi levels of deception. She also had changed his name in her contacts to throw me off. sucks for her I know tech well, and am a bit smarter and clever than the average bear)
On her Birthday, we weren't getting along, so she chose to go spend time with him in the evening while I hung out with out kids. (didn't tell me, found out by searching her phone for his name)
That same day, she had been texting her BFF and literally told her I was being annoying and said 'why don't you just divorce me?!' to her regarding me.
In arguments, she'd text me to divorce her because I would express how I was unhappy and am struggling trusting her because she's been so shady.
Everything from blocking me on Snapchat (because she didn't want to see my snaps was her reason) to a crazy phone screen cover, to changing the lock code on our car. (Both names are on it, but it's primarily hers)
just really odd shit and then would also try to love bomb me and have me just go along with everything and be a good family man.
More recently, on my birthday I made the poor decision to go out with her, absolutely we had a lovely time till something triggered me and her affair came up, and we started arguing.
It escalated up to the point where I was recording her on my phone as she was going nuts, and she straight up hit me in the side of my head, knocked my phone to the ground and we tussled over my phone. (all recorded)
She called the police, no charges pressed and I was told to sleep upstairs, which I did willingly.
the next day, she filed a protective order against me and I couldn't reach out to or see the kids (or her, which was a ok) for a week. I couldn't even be in my own home. She did have the kids call me everyday which was very nice.
During that week, my lawyers convinced me the best thing to do, especially for custodial reasons was to file as it supersedes the restraining order, so I did.
At the court hearing she was served, and knew it was coming the night before as her friend is an officer and it's public record.
In front of the judge, she said that I was no threat to her or our children and that Im a great father. She also stated that I'm allowed to freely come and go at the house and anywhere else I chose as I'm not a threat and she wants me to see and be with the kids. it's in the transcript, so I'll use that in the custody battle. (we will and have talked about 50/50, but it's good to have in case)
So the judge basically said that this was all a waste of time and now because the restraining order has to be extended till we divorce, it's all null except that I'm not allowed to threaten her. (not like I ever have, or would ever do.)
I've moved to a family home which has room for me and the kiddos (they have their own room and beds, as well as toys books and everything else they could possibly need at this home) and we're splitting time with them.
She expected me to make the AM 40 min commute to watch the kids by 730 so she can get to work, but I've made it very clear that if we have them overnight, we take care of the ams regardless where the kids are. She fought that for a bit, but I showed her I have a Pendete Lite order ready to go, and I could just take the main house 50% of the time and displace her, and she calmed down.
So that's about it with an update. She's trying to win me back again, but I've now caught her 4 times going back to him so I can't giver her another chance. I want to, but I know I can't. I can't trust her.
it's the hardest thing in the world. I break down crying randomly, I and am terrified about the future and how it will all work out, I hate that she chose him over me, and tries to win me back. Telling me how much this is hurting her and all that jazz and it's like...
well maybe you shouldn't have had a fucking yearlong affair! An affair that was first discovered by an 'i love you more' text. Maybe you shouldn't have given my engagement/wedding right back TWICE.
YOU CHOSE HIM.
A one time thing I could have recovered from and forgiven, but to go back time after time after time after time and hid it all and did all the things I know she did...
Ugh. It's too much. I'm choosing to break up our beautiful little family and it kills me.
however, I have to stand up for myself and I know I could never trust her again.
She keeps asking for time to heal, but she keeps going back and getting mad at me for bringing her affair up when we bicker.
I can't help myself. That mother fucker lives rent free in my head all the time and almost everything reminds me of her infidelity.
She chose him over me, and now will suffer the consequences. It just sucks because I'm suffering greatly too.
don't get married folks.
I'm sure more will come to me, but I'm just having a hard time and needed to type this all out and get it out of my head.
thanks for reading my wall of text, and I appreciate all the support over the past few months.
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Comments
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massofmolecules
Yeah affairs are amazing when they’re just these fantastical detached things with only the fun parts of life associated with them. As soon as they move in to regular life relationships with all the ugly everyday things associated with them, their fantasy starts to break down, oh nooo the affair fog is gone what have I done?

OOP: Yup. Shits getting very real for her, very fast.

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I am not the OOP. Please do not harass the OOP.
Please remember the No Brigading Rule and to be civil in the comments

First Chapter. Link for all the chapters available here: Engines of Arachnea on Royal Road
The Leapers were fast learners. Rene had erred in setting off that one bomb amid the pines. Rather than catching a whole bunch of them by surprise, he had given away the presence of his boobytraps. The warband stayed well clear of the tree line and patiently found and marked the fire gourds, pointing them out to each other and sidling around them with unhurried steps. Rene counted thirty-one braves, give or take a couple more veiled by the dissipating fog. Individuals were easy to tell apart, as it turned out. He began to make out variations in the shades of their fur; a few sported thick honey-brown manes of hair around their necks and down their shoulders. Others had clearly bulkier and more muscular frames than their brethren. Most telling of all were the heraldic tattoos on their abdomens. Generally, the larger the adult was, the more intricate their markings were. Like the chevrons or pips on an officer’s uniform, patterns of dots and geometric shapes radiated outwards from the central motif, which for all the Leapers in the warband was a red-and-orange viper with a flaring hood and fangs bared in an expression of gleeful malice.
The older heads among them were conferring with each other with rapid-fire clicks of their palps and mandibles. Planning their next attack, no doubt. Then the crowd parted to let a trio of them through, a large and flabby Leaper being borne on a woven stretcher carried by the other two. The wounded elder on the stretcher seemed to command considerable respect among the others, for they all turned to him and awaited his next move.
Riveted by the all-too familiar display of martial social dynamics, Rene studied the leader. His rank designator was a unlike all the others in that it was a coal-black snake whose coiled tail formed a neat spiral before passing over the Leaper’s shoulder. Something about the wide set of his upper torso was strangely familiar. Rene’s eyes widened in recognition.
“Kryptus,” Rene said with bitter regret, “I should have known.”
Rene could’ve beaten his head in when he had the chance. But perhaps there would be an opportunity to correct that mistake. Kryptus’ bearers moved a few steps forward and the alpha rolled off his litter, boldly approaching Rene all by himself. The other Leapers chattered and gesticulated at him, trying to dissuade him, but Kryptus shrugged their objections aside and went on waddling up the hill.
The alpha had somehow regrown his helm and watched Rene intently through his new set of eyes, giving the Pathfinder a cheeky wave with all four of his arms.
We’ll see if you’re still smiling after this, Rene malded. Kryptus’ path took him directly under a hanging gourd. But before Rene could swing up the gauntlet in time, Kryptus shot out a lasso of silk and yanked the mine out of its nesting place, tossing it casually behind him. The warband scattered as it bounced among them, groveling on their bellies as it rolled down the slope and out of Rene’s sight.
When nothing exploded, the Leapers sprang to their feet and immediately began imitating what their leader had done, dismantling Rene’s minefield with great enthusiasm. Understanding the peril he was in, Rene dashed outside the hedge of stakes and gathered up all the field that he could and planting them in a tight circle around his position. In short order the pines were completely cleared of boobytraps and the warband advanced on Rene’s position, wary but determined to avenge themselves upon him.
Rather unexpectedly, Kryptus ordered them all back, again strolling up to Rene all by his lonesome self.
“Parley, hatching?” he shouted up to Rene.
Parley? So the swine did understand the concept of bargaining. Rene held up a mine as if to hurl it like a hand grenade, and Kryptus froze.
“Exar?” Rene pleaded.
“T-minus eleven. Just stall em for as long as you can, cap’n.”
“I will try,” Rene lowered his arm but kept a tight grip on the bomb. Eventually Kryptus regained his courage and started waddling again.
“Say, Exar,” Rene said by way of idle conversation as the Leaper hiked, “Is there some reason these kits don’t come with guns? Bit of an oversight, wouldn’t you agree?”
“It isn’t,” Exar said, conversation, “You remember that 95% I was telling you about? Well, as to the other 5%...how can I say this? See, the company T.O.R.U’s are almost exclusively deployed on exoplanets completely devoid of life even down to the microbial level. In which case there’s nothing much to shoot at to begin with. A man gets marooned on a place like that, at the absolute tip of the Alcubierre trade routes where supply convoys crawl along at just under relativistic vees,” Exar stopped, considering his next words very carefully, “The human mind goes funny in places like that. It’s the loneliness that does it.”
“You mean they would…”
“Pretty much. Usually they’d punch their own tickets during that first month, once it became clear that nobody would be coming for a very long time.”
“I hate to say it,” Rene said after a contemplative moment, “But I’m starting to envy their fate.”
At last Kryptus came within speaking distance.
“We meet again, hatchling,” he greeted Rene quite jovially. The alpha surveyed the line of staked corpses and added: “I like what you’ve done with the place.”
“Do you really?”
“No,” Kryptus replied, a hint of bright fury in his warbling baritone, “I tried telling the youths that you were a forsche not to be reckoned with. But the young never listen, do they? Today is an important lesshun for them. They will never again take your kind lightly. You fight like demonsh.”
Rene nodded respectfully at the compliment.
“I would have preferred it otherwise, but you forced my hand. What do you want, Kryptus?”
“You sspared my life lasht night. I would offer you the shame courtesy. You will not be killed or devoured. We sseek only the genetic material within you, and the knowledge contained therein.”
“You’d let me live? Why?”
“You professh to believe in the mythical origins of our genuss. You think that we have a common progenitor, and that thish makess ush one brotherss.”
“I would like to. But your actions towards me have been anything but brotherly.”
Kryptus tucked his chin and cocked his head back in a very recognizable expression of outrage, shouting:
“Your fire giant laid waste to our territory, razing the Looms of many tribes, not just the Weeping Vipersh! A spawning chamber full of hatchlings not yet borne from their egg sacks…” Kryptus broke off, struggling to master his emotions.
“We are the injured party here, not you,” he continued, “Thoushands of acres of prime hunting grounds, reduced to ashess. Where will the herds of frillhead migrate to now for passsturage? What will they eat when the dry spellss come? What will we eat? The Vitalush will do what It can, but make no misshtake—there will be famine. And with famine, war among the kindredss, among Leapers tribesh, even. But shurely you already consssidered thissh?
“I…I had not.” The Pathfinder was rendered speechless by the Leaper’s outburst. Kryptus gave a shrug that somehow implied that he understood and forgave Rene’s ignorance.
“Desspite all that, I am willing to make you the same offer you gave me. In fact, I will make you a better one: put ashide your weaponsss and I will take you back to the Loom. I will clothe you in the armored hide of a Leaper, and henschforth you shall become one of us.”
Rene goggled at him. He could sense sincerity in the Leaper’s words, and something else. Caution? Duplicity? The expression in those four bulging eyes was hard to read.
“You would make me a Leaper? Is that even possible?”
“Look at me. Do you not notice anything different?”
Kryptus did a slow turn to show Rene the entirety of his body. It was even more unwholesome now beneath the light of day. The right half of his body was larger than his left, the disproportional muscle densities skewing the angle of his torso off-center and giving him the lurching gait of a cripple. His new headpiece as also too small for the rest of his frame, giving him an almost comical, pinheaded look.
Tufts of golden fur had sprouted on his shoulders and underarms, rough and patchy where they met the velvet black of the rest of his hide. Rene squinted at him uncertainly—his vision was starting to get cloudy, his facial muscles trembling along his jawline.
“You’ve grafted on some new additions,” Rene finally deduced.
“Not quite, hatchling. Thish entire exomorph is made of spare parts. The damage that mad Gallivant did to me wass irreparable,” Kryptus corrected him, pointing at the comatose Zildiz.
“But my immune system would simply reject it,” Rene objected, putting what Zildiz had told him to good use.
“I think not,” Krytpus said, wagging a claw at him, “You shee, I’ve finally worked out what you are. You aren’t from any of the kindredsh. You are of the primordial genetic stock which the Vitalush has not yet altered—the genome of the Betrayerss. Your nucleotidesh have not been bonded with the miraculous gilt helix, which meanss you are not yet confined into any of the kindredssh. You can become one of ush, the loom-motherss could weave our blessed pattern within you. We would gird you in the finest armor and give you the rank of alpha, making you my equal. You will never want for food or mates. And mosst important of all, we will keep you hidden from the wrath of the Vitalush.”
Rene tried to imagine himself in the bones of a Leaper, flying through the woods on transparent sails and riding the coattails of the mighty Storm Catcher. Hunting his prey on moonless nights, a perfectly adapted killing machine that would never have to confine itself to the rank, festering holes of the mounds. For the first time in his life, he could be truly free to live as he pleased, pursue any wild pleasures he wanted without the nightstick of the law to beat him into submission.
The thought was certainly intriguing.
“I, uh, I thought you…you were…” thinking clearly was fast becoming a chore to Rene, “…you worshipped the Vitalus as a deity?”
“It ish a god, make no misstake. But it is not one of our choosing. For shome of ush, that ish. There are ssecretss that it consseals from ush mortulss. It has snarled and twisted the tapesstry of hishtory for its own purposess. We could unravel thossh ssecretsss together, beginning now…”
Kryptus extended a hand in an unmistakable gesture of friendship. Rene squinted at it uncertainly—his vision was getting awful cloudy. All the exertion and excitement had accelerated the effects of narcosis. In no time at all he would lose control of his body entirely.
“And what ‘bout her? Rene sleepily nodded at the unconscious Zildiz.
“She musst die, naturally,” Kryptus said frankly, “We will make her dishappear. She is not the only Gallivant to have been foolish enough to challenge us in our own biome.”
That was what decided Rene. The Pathfinder held the mine out dangerously close to leaping bonfire.
“Have you losht your mind?” Kryptus was apoplectic with rage, “Why would rissk yourshelf for this she-devil, this ravening beasst?”
“I’s ken barely wrap my head around it meself, governor,” Rene blathered, hanging his head in weariness, “But either she comes with me, or…or the whole thingy is off. Deal, I mean. Whatever!”
“We cannot axshept that! She would inform the Vitalush, bring about the extinction of my tribe!”
“Then go catch a fruit fly in your mouth, or somefing,” Rene said irritably, “Pish right off.”
“You will not live to regret your idiocy!” the alpha said with haughty imperiousness.
Rene’s left arm spasmed and he nearly dropped the mine into the side of the bonfire. He spent a very intense couple of seconds juggling with it in the air, desperate not to blow himself up by accident.
“Whoah! Close one, heh heh,” he slurred at Kryptus, finally snatching the mine out of harm’s way, “S’alright now. No worries!”
He looked up to see Kryptus beating a hasty and undignified retreat, roaring at his warband to begin the final attack. At least one mine had not been discovered, and Rene trained the beam upon it, thumbing the button hard.
No light shone from the underslung lamp--the gauntlet's mysterious juices had run dry at last.
Slicing open one of the dead Leapers, he gouged out a mass of silk and used it to glue a mine to either of his hands.
“C’mon then!” Rene invited them in, holding the explosives up in a crucifix-pose and preparing to sell his life dearly, “C’mon if youse hard enuff!”
The Leapers saw his suicidal measures and held back, hovering just out of the likely blast radius. Sorry kid, he thought with a glance at Zildiz. At least you won’t be awake for this part.
“Birds are inbound, boss!” Exar blared, “I repeat, the chickens have come home to roost!”
The timing was nothing short of providential. The warband pointed and blubbered at a dot on the horizon as a keening banshee’s wail filled the air. As one they turned and spun their airfoils to their underarms, gliding off into the lowlands as if their lives depended on it.
It was too much. Tears of joy stung Rene’s irises and he collapsed next to Zildiz, sobbing fitfully as he was wracked by a myriad of bottled-up emotions.
“Thank the ancestors,” he whispered, gazing at the rapidly widening speck with a swell of gratitude and joy.
“Uh, I don’t mean to rain on your parade, sir,” Exar tooted sympathetically, “But that’s not our ride.”
“What?”
“I’m picking up two flyers on my visual feed. Our shuttle is still three minutes out. I haven’t been able to identify the one you’re seeing right now. It picked up on my comms chatter, but it’s not responding to my hails. But whatever it is, it’s moving hellaciously fast!”


Once fog had rolled away, the Vitalus had found the pilot at last. Its first clue had been the Leaper warband running silent with their magnetosynaptic activity switched off. They had probably shirked their duties on the storm catcher out of idle hunger. They had thought themselves undetectable, but the Vitalus had contingency after contingency in place for just such an eventuality. Duplicity was ever the way with the sons of Arachnea. They had no idea what they were dealing with here, the danger this one human represented.
As the Leapers of the warband had died, the secret tracker implants within them had broadcasted their successive deaths.
Now the Hollowore homed in on its target below, broad wings tucking in close as it dove in for an attack vector. Rows of barnacle-like growths on its armored belly belly gaped open, revealing a battery of underslung nozzles or udders which now seeded the lower atmosphere with trailing transparent aerosol clouds of nano-thermite fuel mix.
The god was not taking any chances. The Engine’s bonded pilot had to die, even if it meant rubbing out a whole tribe or several minor subspecies in the process. As for the warband below. It was unfortunate that they now stood in the way. Leapers had a prodigious birth rate in any case and would recover in a decade or so. There was always time enough to rebuild.
This, however, could not wait. The Hollowore draped the shroud of invisible death over the unsuspecting jungle, and with a single spark of the electrogenetic cells in the hairy tips of its hind legs, the thermobaric holocaust began.
First Chapter. Link for all the chapters available here: Engines of Arachnea on Royal Road

Thank you u/SpacePaladin15 for the amazing universe!
l Prologue l Previous l
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Memory transcription subject: Kalsim, Captain, United Federation Fleet
Date [standardized human time]: December 31st, 2136
Maronis walked me through the village, which adopted the character more befitting of a graveyard. Gutted rooms, empty perches, silent avenues absent the talons which once treaded its dirt and gravel. If I closed my eyes, I could almost here the calls, the conversations, the barters of my people most likely long dead. The last remnants of my old kind, spared only for the purpose of bureaucracy, now finally wiped away by the Federation. All that was left was their ghosts, and I felt one among them.
I could only speculate what happened to them, but the point was they were gone, and Maronis wanted me to see for myself. I suspected he knew I wasn't fully on board with his plans, even after I shook his tentacle on his offer. I guessed that the tour, letting me see what they took from me, was his final play to fully move me over to his side. But that didn't change the fact that he was still a member of the shadow caste, another player in the game that sacrificed my people. And for all I knew, I was still a piece on the board.
That wasn't much solace, to say the least.
"What are we getting into, Cap?" Kelum said, his usually upbeat demeanor now extinct, anxiety reflecting alongside the subspace in his eyes. "I didn't plan on getting roped into some shadow caste power play."
"Neither did I" I said standing over his shoulder, "But we don't have much of a choice, do we?"
"Your playing right into his tentacles. You could've walked away, said no."
"And right back into the arms of Nikonus?" I somehow managed to chuckle. "Form the maw of one predator straight into the other."
"And you think this one is less likely to bite down?" He muttered.
A wall of unknowns peppered with truths and lies, that was the picture I was looking at. Power games, the humans, the war to come, all different paints coming to compose the canvas of the galaxy. And at the center of it all, Clear Sky. But there was still colors missing, a splotch of cyan and yellow, bearing now a streak of purple across it's breadth.
"I don't know."
Kelum looked as if that was his answer as well. He turned back to the navigation console, listing Nishtal as the destination among other numerous destinations. His talon hovered over the touchscreen, shaking slightly. "So where do we go from here?" he said.
As though it was such a simple question, but we both knew there was no easy answer, not anymore. Maybe that was never the case to begin with.
Left with no clear direction, no purpose, no drive, to be carried with the currents until I was dashed against the rocks or I drowned. That put me on par with someone else, a fellow captain. One whose relationship to me could be considered sparse at the best of times, but could prove useful in the game we were now forced to play.
"Kelum, send a message to Sovlin on the private channels."
Kelum titled his head in confusion. "What for, Cap?"
I sat down alongside him and stared forward into the subspace tunnel ahead of us. There was a destination somewhere at the end, there had to be. Otherwise, what was the point? Maybe Sovlin could help me find it.
"We need to talk."
Memory transcription subject: Sovlin, United Federation Fleet Captain
Date [standardized human time]: December 31st, 2136
We need to talk.
That's all the message from Kalsim said, cryptic enough to spark my interest, more than sufficient to fuel my anxiety.
Me and Kalsim rarely spoke, and when we did, it was usually only in an official capacity. Coordination between our fleets during counterattacks, small talk at diplomatic functions. But no such events were lined up, no fleets were coordinating, and it was sent over the private channels.
Whatever he wanted, I couldn't count on it being good. And the last thing I needed right now was more on my plate. With the coming war, and...
Recel.
"Captain?"
Recel had turned in his first officers chair to face me with a worried expression. His tentacle, resting on the console, twitched slightly. What seemed like an anxious tick before now was a ticking clock, a constant counting down that I could now never escape.
"It's...nothing, don't worry."
I slipped my holopad back into my pocket, intent on returning my attention to my proper duties, but as per usual, Recel was insistent. That's what made him a good first officer, after all. Even now walking dead, he still carried the drive and determination that I saw in his eyes when he first stepped on my ship. He rose from his seat, strode over to mine, and wrapped a tentacle tightly around my paw. I could feel the vibrations in his arm.
"Do you want to talk?" he asked softly.
"I...I do." I mumbled.
He nodded his tail, before guiding me off the bridge, down into the quarters, and into his own. I couldn't help but recall the day we discovered the humans, and me finding him curled up in the corner. I thought he was afraid of the humans.
He was really only afraid for himself.
But looking in his eyes now, I could see that in some way, he had found peace in what was to come. Not fully, but most of his worry wasn't directed at himself anymore. It seemed directed at me.
"Sovlin," he took both my paws in his tentacles, "you can talk to me."
"I know, its just..." I muttered.
"Difficult." He nodded his tail again. "I understand."
There's a long moment where we stand in silence, taking in each others company, surrounded by the life we both shared for so long. Each and every twitch marking one inexorable step towards the day that would all be taken away. Tomorrow, in a decade, it didn't matter. More than the war itself it's specter loomed, haunting my every waking step and sleepless night. And before I knew it, I was surprising him with a hug, and tears were in my eyes.
"I'm so scared." I choked out.
Recel pulled me in even closer. "I am too."
"I don't want to lose you. I can't lose you."
"We still have time. We just need to make the best of it."
To make the best of it, when everything was spiraling out of control, when so many questions still lingered. Would Recel even live to see a better world? Would I ever have to change, would I no longer have to be the predator demanded of me?
Maybe that's what scared me the most, not the thought of losing him, but him not getting the better world we both wanted. A dream that only seemed to slip further away day after day.
But I had to fight. Because if even there was the slimmest chance that he got to see that world, even if it bled me dry, left me choking on my own nature until I could no longer breath, then that fight was worth it.
I sniffled, as did he. "We'll make the best of it, I promise."
There was another buzz from my pocket, but I ignored it. I didn't need, no, I didn't want to deal with anything else right now. This galaxy already demanded too much of me, and I didn't want to bow to it anymore.
Whatever I did now, I did it not for them, nor for myself.
I did it for him.
Memory transcription subject: Piri, Prime Minister of the Gojid Union
Date [standardized human time]: December 31st, 2136
"Fuck."
I had gotten used to Sovlin ignoring my messages, but now was really not the time. I needed someone to talk that didn't carry a set of loose lips, so that counted out everyone in my admin. Sovlin may have turned his back on the Coalition, but he carried a secret like he would his newborn.
Several hours later and the chatbox still remained empty, leaving me the option of discussing matters with my most 'trusted' advisors. 'Trust' being a strong word, considering how many were just locked up for taking credits from the Dominion. Seeing their heads roll for treason was one the few things I had left to look forward to.
But that left me with no one to discuss a very serious matter, all besides the intelligence officials who sent me the footage in the first place. After ensuring no blood stained credits were lining their pockets, I had the footage erased, all except for the copy now hiding in my holopad.
After the ecologists little surprise and then the spies, the last thing I needed was another scandal rocking my already shaky administration. No one could no about the footage. Not even my partner, not even-
"Excuse me?"
Sara stared me down, confusion sparkling in her eyes, for I had just interrupted the meeting with my sudden curse. Then I had left her waiting as my mind went on one of its usual internal rants. I wasn't fully caught up on human customs, but it was no challenge guessing what I just did was rude.
"My apologies," I straightened myself out as I met the scientist in the eye, "I have a lot on my plate at the moment."
"Oh, no worries. If anything, I should be thanking you for the time."
"No need to thank me," returning to the point of the conversation, "you and your colleagues insights have proven valuable to the recovery effort. It would be remiss of me if I were not to reward your efforts in person."
"Well," she turned off to the side as blush came to her cheeks, "I never wanted a reward, I just want to do the right thing."
"So then your passing up a fifty percent pay raise?" I raised my brow in emphasis.
"No, no, no," her demeanor changed to panic in almost an instant, "I would greatly appreciate that, thank you."
I chuckled. "Sara, it's the least I could do."
"Well, I don't know what I would do with all that money, she mused, "You already gave me an apartment, I don't go out that often, uh..." she seemed to go blank as she considered the possibilities.
"Don't worry to much about it. Just keep doing what your doing."
Her smile returned. "I would do it even if you payed me with lint and paperclips. The opportunity to work with alien species..."
"It only comes once in a lifetime. Take advantage of it."
She nodded as her cheeks continued to redden. "Thank you so much once again. I..." She glanced down to her wristwatch, before her eyes widened slightly. "Oh, I have to go, I have a flight to catch."
"A flight?"
"Yeah, I uh, should've mentioned that. I'm going off to Skalga for New Year's celebrations. Gonna meet up with Noah again." She spared little effort hiding the excitement in her voice.
I remembered her fellow astronaut being quite friendly, if a bit more on the tempered side. If she deserved anyone to celebrate a holiday with, it would be someone like him.
"By all means go ahead, you deserve a little break." I said, returning to her one of those smiles they did.
Sara only seemed to know to respond with increasingly flustered nods and 'thank yous' which followed her right out the door. I couldn't help but be caught up her in wake, if only a little bit. Her continued wonder at our surroundings was certainly endearing, even if she had trouble expressing it a lot of the time.
But even her optimism still wasn't enough to override the present reality, which, to put it kindly, was dire. No amount of childlike enthusiasm could hide that fact. I only wished it could.
I pulled my pad out of the desk door and flicked it on, quickly navigating back to the private channels. I didn't need to check again, her identity was already confirmed, but I couldn't help it. The fact that she was here, on the Cradle, was still hard to believe.
The video came up on the feed, security camera footage from right here in Cenovak, in one of the many tunnels that ran right beneath my feet. It showed weaving between the crowds, cloak clinging tightly to her scales and scars, an arxur. An uncommon but not all too unexpected sight, ever since I opened the planet to the refugees. And with the harchen at her side, she looked almost like any other you would find making their way.
Almost.
I don't know how they did it, but the wizards in intelligence managed to glean the specific scar pattern on her snout. Half buried in shadow, half smudged by grain. But after cross referencing it with propaganda footage and available photos, it was as clear as day.
Ten seconds of footage, fives seconds of her in view, one frame at the perfect angle. Taken at exactly the right place, at exactly the right time.
That was all that was needed to show that a Chief Hunter now walked the streets of the Cradle.
Memory transcription subject: Shaza, Chief Hunter, Sector Commission Four, Greater Dominion, Seris, Serith, Arxur Refugee
Date [standardized human time]: December 31st, 2136
Serith plodded her way down the balcony, cloak working well to hide her binocular gaze, as she snaked her through the crowds of the undercity. Most gojid paid her no mind, many gave her disgusted looks, only one managed a smile. It was a reception partly shared with that of the venlil, only that many gojid dispensed with the notion that they considered her sapient. Serith quickly learned that the citizens of the cradle were much less permissive of the refugee presence, even in the relatively liberal capital of Cenovak.
She learned quite a few things about the city very quickly. She learned to stay out of the way, less she catch the ire of a police officer or the rare exterminator. She learned only to leave home when absolutely necessary. But most importantly of all, she learned to never show her face, unless it was someone she could trust. And there was only one person like that.
A gentle rain began to fall from the chasm above as Serith arrived at her apartment, 707, level seven, block 0, room seven. Near the center of the city, located just a short walk and a climb away from the general assembly. From her view below, she could see the roof of the ornate building just poking above the lip of the chasm, watching all those who passed beneath its shadow. Serith wasn't a fan of the view, and the holoboards lining the walls of the chasm certainly didn't help. Advertisements for the local exterminator guild and the space corps, promising a 'satisfying career' and 'memories of a lifetime'. She wasn't convinced by the pitch.
With a grocery bag in one paw, keys in another, Serith dodged a passing couple, who shot her a look of suspicion, and walked up to her door. She hesitated a moment with the keys, before slotting therm firmly in the hole. She reminded herself that there was someone waiting on the other side, as she twisted the lock and pushed in the door.
The familiar must of the room immediately invaded her nostrils as she stepped inside. The apartment was by no means impressive, a dump by any reasonable standard. Living space erred greatly towards cramped, a single bedroom, bathroom, and shared living room and kitchenette. A single low table spanned in front of the well worn couch, occupying the space between it and the ancient flat screen tv bolted to the wall. The countertop was of a fake vinyl retanwood, lacking any of the luster of the real thing. There were no pots and pans occupying the sink, nor mugs left to be washed. The tiny dishwasher was empty, but Serith knew the trashbin was overflowing with takeout. She had to take that out soon, before that smell became a problem of its own.
It was actually the first time she had gone out for groceries since they moved in not too long ago. She dumped the contents of the bag on the counter, taking in the meager collection. Those bug chips that Kiris liked to munch on, strips of lab meat good for frying in a pan, and some leafy greens that she knew he liked. It didn't cost much, only a couple hundred credits. But even that meager amount was too much at this point.
"Kiris?" She called out to the shower humming in the background. "I'm back, I got us some food."
The shower stopped, and it was only a couple moments before the harchens crested head and green irises poked out from one of the two doors inset in the back wall. His scales were flared a brighter green than usual. Serith knew he preferred them on the hotter side, indicated by the steam slowly seeping out from the crack.
"How was it?" He said stepping out from the door, towel wrapped around his waist, before wrapping Serith in a hug around the knees. "Anyone give you any trouble?"
She returned the compassion with a gentle rub on his head, the scales around her claws pulsing in bright verdant bands. "Not today," she sighed, "plenty of looks."
"Nobody saw your face?"
"No, but they don't need to."
A sad look crossed the harchens face, before he glanced over to the counter and witnessed the meager bounty. His sadness was quickly replaced with a grimace. "How much did that cost?"
"300 credits." Serith mumbled. "It's cheaper than takeout. Healthier too."
"That's still..." Kiris breathed out, "one of us needs to get a job. The money isn't going to last."
"You know we can't do that, not when-"
"Do we have any other choice?" Kiris cut her off. "Shaza, I don't want us to-"
"Don't." There was a sudden edge to Serith's voice, one that sent Kiris back slightly and inflamed the color of his scales. Serith hesitated for a moment, seeing a fearful glint in the harchens eye for the first time in months. She breathed heavily, before bending down, and taking the fellow lizard in a strong hug.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you like that, just...don't use that name." she whispered softly.
Kiris was somewhat hesitant, but he eventually returned the hug. "I'm sorry. I won't use it again." He whispered back. Serith could see the color of his scales slowly begin to temper.
"I can find a job."
"No, what if your-"
"I don't care, Kiris." she stated definitively. "They're after me, not you. I care about you. If something happens to me-"
"Don't say that. Nothing's going to happen to you, or us. As long as we're careful, we'll-"
"Do you believe that?" She asked him genuinely. "That what we have will last?"
Kiris hesitated, and Serith could see the doubt build in the color of his scales. "I don't know. I want it to, I...love you."
"I know, I know. I love you too." Serith fell the tears begin to well. "But...I don't think I deserve us. Who I am,"
"Your not that person anymore." Kiris said almost pleadingly, "Your not...her. Your Serith."
"And that doesn't change the fact of what she's done, does it?"
Kiris didn't answer.
Serith stepped back from the hug, and stood to look down at the harchen. Kiris, the person she loved. The love that she didn't deserve.
"I'm going to go take a shower."
She stepped past Kiris into the bathroom, closed the door, and saw that steam still clung to the mirror. Serith took her paw and wiped it away, revealing many things staring back.
Someone broken, ripped from the life she knew, master of her own undoing. Torn between what was said, and what was true. A walking lie. An inherent contradiction given shape and a name.
She was Serith, an arxur refugee, in love with a harchen named Kiris, on the run from Betterment.
And I was Shaza, Servant of Betterment, Chief Hunter of the Greater Dominion.
Memory transcription subject: Glim, Venlil Guild Exterminator
Date [standardized human time]: December 31st, 2136
"Hey, it's gonna be alright."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure."
Kilsis thumbed her claws anxiously against the car door. She stared ahead to the rec center, where the support group meeting was taking place.
"You've been here before, right?"
She nodded. "Islo took me once. He told you, right?"
"He said you had a bad time."
"Yeah..."
"Look, the fact that your here right now, with me? The fact that your even doing this at all? That's...incredible."
She sighed. "Glim, why are you doing this for me?"
I paused for a moment to think, as a gentle rain began to patter on the windshield. It was a quesiton I had asked myself many times before. Why did I care?
Not so long ago, I was the biggest asshole this side of Skalga. Treated Vitin like shit, Islo less than shit, threw Marcels compassion right back in his face, all becasue I was afraid. It only took nearly losing all of them to realize how wrong I was.
Maybe I cared because this was my way of repenting for my past. Was fixing Kilsis my way of fixing myself? But thinking about it that way made the whole endavour feel selfish, and I didn't want to think I was.
Maybe this was my apology to Islo? He still hadn't fully forgiven me, and in some repsects I had come to udnerstand that, especially after how I treated him and Vitin. Maybe he would come around to me if I helped her out?
But again, that only made it seem selfish. And I knew in my heart that I was doing this for something more than my own ego. Because if I was, I wouldn't be doing this in the first place. I had nothing to gain from helping Kilsis, besides constant reminders of that terrible day. The best thing for me to do would be to ditch her and pretend like she never existed in the first place. But I couldn't do that, not after all I've done for her.
Maybe I was overthinking things. Trying to find a complex answer when the simple one was standing right in front of me, as it always had been. Why did Marcel continue to help me, even after I rejected him wholeheartedly? Why did Vitin try to help Islo, a kraktol falling in love with an arxur? Why did I help Kilsis, a living reminder of a dark past?
Becuase for all of us,
"It's just the right thing to do, I guess."
"And what's the right thing for me to do?"
I placed a paw on her shoulder. "To be strong, that's all."
She thumped her tail in what I recognized as agreement. "I think I can do that."
I nodded as I unlocked the car doors. "Alright then, let's get going."
We quickly ran over to the building as the rain started to really come down. Once inside the lobby, we met with the expected company, along with a red headed suprise.
"Marcel, what are you doing here?" I said, pulling the humans attention away from his conversation with Islo and Vitin.
"Hey Glim, Kilsis, how's it going?" He pulled me into a hug I readily accepted, thumping his arm across my back. "I just came to check out what's going."
"Check it out? Your gonna shadow the meeting?"
He shrugged. "Tell me a better way to spend the afternoon."
"He just wanted to check it out," Vitin cut in, "see what they get up too."
Islo shurgged. "It's honestly not that exciting, we just talk. Sometimes about our problems, sometimes about random shit. Really depends on the day."
"We'll I'm not looking for a show," Marcel said, "I'm just here to support my friends."
Kilsis thumped her tail nervously. "Thank you, Marcel, I really appreciate it. All of you, for helping me out."
"Hey, no problem." Vitin waved his tail happily. "What else are we here for?"
"Glim, are you gonna stick around?" Kilsis turned to me. "Are you gonna be comfortable with...we talked about some stuff the last time, and I don't know-"
"Hey, hey," I placed my paw on her shoulder and waved my tail in assurance, "I'll be fine. Are you gonna be fine?"
"Well, if your all here..." She took us all in, and her tail thumped in happiness, "I think I will be."
"And," Marcel added, wer're gonna have one hell of a new year's party after. 2137, new year, new opportunities, who knows..."
He paused. Our expresssions dropped slightly as we remembered exactly what the new year had in store. Kilsis took notice.
"Is there something wrong?" She asked.
Marcel smiled again. "Nothing, it's just-"
"Our wedding!" Vitin cut in a bit too enthusiastically. "Me and Islo are gonna finally tie the knot, that's what you humans like to say, right?"
"Yeah..." Islo shot Vitin a look like what the fuck was that before he turned back to us. "We've already started to plan, but we have a location in mind, you'll love it."
"That sounds nice, congratulations." Kilsis said, But I could tell that she knew somehting else was going on, and that it was best not to dwell on it. "Hey, what time is it?"
"Almost time for the meeting to begin." Marcel said glancing at his watch. "Y'all ready?"
We all nodded, and began walking down towards the gynasium. It was a short distance, but one not too long ago I'd never thought I cross. The very idea of doing what I was doing now would've sent my old self into conniptions.
But now, I was finding friendship among predators. And that was okay.
Becasue they weren't really predators at all.
- - - - -
Memory transcription subject: Kam, Advisor and Senior Commander of the Venlil Space Corps
Date [standardized human time]: December 31st, 2136
"Six months, almost."
The day out today was a lot like that one, almost six terran months ago. The blades of grass and the bows of the trees were still, no company of the wind to join them in dance. The sun shone as it always did, it's crimson embrace dappling the greenery and facades of the entire governmental complex. The steel and industrial paint of the landing pad shone particularly bright, complimented by the bulbs flashing on and off in their perpetual rhythm. If not for the fact that Noah stood alongside us, I could almost say that nothing happened at all.
"Six months." Tarva sighed. "Is that a long time in human terms?"
"It can be, but time is a funny thing." He adjusted his suit as he set his binocular eyes to the clouds. "Six months could feel like six years, or six days. It all really depends."
"How long has it felt for you?" I asked.
"You know?" Noah let a small smile play at his lips. "These have been the longest six months of my life." He placed a strong hand on Tarva's shoulder. "But they have also been the best, so really, I'd say it was worth it."
Tarva bayed her tail happily as she leaned in closer to Noah, and as Noah did the same. I simply nodded my head. Tarva and Noah had found happiness in the times that we lived in, stars knows how that was possible. With the war, and now the election coming up, the task seemed comical in it's difficulty. But they had done it, however they did, and that was something that could only be appreciated.
And maybe it made me a bit envious, too. Maybe that made me an asshole. But looking at what she had, sometimes I couldn't help but think back to what I lost. What the Dominion, the Federation, what they both took from all of us, what they almost did take from us, and what we had left.
There was still so much to fight for, even after all this time. The Coalition, our little bastion of freedom surrounded on all sides by tyrants. The cultures we've cultivated, the first not be crushed underfoot by Federation doctrine. The many we've saved from the clutches of the Dominion, and the many more to come. There was so many things in the future that looked bleak, because the future did look bleak. But in the present, here and now, there was so much to love, to appreciate, to fight for to my last, dying breath.
And maybe that, looking around, appreciating all that we have, maybe that was the only thing keeping me sane.
The clouds parted as a shuttle broke through, retro-thrusters firing to full effect to slow the vessels manic descent. We straightened ourselves out, suit adjusting, robes flattened, as the wind blew detritus off the pad, and as the landing gear bayed under the 50 ton weight of the frame. Scorch marks painted the metal where the ablator shield didn't quite cover the hull properly, and around the thruster ports as well. But it was not enough to mar the Coalition logo painted upon the side, modified now in relation to it's newest member.
The landing ramp lowered, hydraulics hissed, smoke blew, and just like that day six months ago, a pair of legs began to descend. Only this time, they were not donned in an expensive, clunky spacesuit, nor accompanied by Noah. Instead, two venlil guards gave way to Sara, wearing a causal dress, smile beaming as she stepped into the light.
"Sara!" Noah exclaimed as he strode over and took his fellow astronaut in a massive hug, one she returned in kind. "It's so good to see you again, how have you've been?"
"Oh, I've only been working on restoring the ecosystem of an alien planet." She said.
"So amazing then?"
"Absolutely." Sara stepped back from the embrace, and took a moment to take in the surroundings once more. Her optimism did not fade for even a single moment as the sunlight washed across her face and brought a sparkle to her eyes.
"It's nice to be back." She said, taking a deep breath of the fresh air. "I missed Skalga, even if I spent most of the time cooped up in your house."
Tarva smiled. "Well, such precautions are no longer necessary. How about a tour around Dayside, now that we no longer have to worry about exterminators getting all in a huff?"
Sara blushed and bowed her head, her smile somehow becoming even larger. "I would be honored, Tarva."
We began back towards the mansion, Sara and the others catching up on time apart. Stories of the Cradle, of the friends she made, the hard work she did, her hopes for the future. How it oftentimes seemed so hopeless, trying to fix what seemed so beyond her scope, and sometimes her understanding. Picking up the broken pieces long after the hammer had been swung. How in the end, even the slightest indication of progress, the chirping of birds, the calls from the grasses, the bounty of the Cradle blooming once more, how it made it all worth it.
It was an almost intoxicating optimism, a refusal to bow to the darkness that lay ahead, and to look towards the beams of light breaking through. How humanity, hearing whispers from the void, dragged itself from the brink of annihilation and set forth to the stars, seeking companionship that Earth could no longer provide. Endangering to befriend a galaxy so actively hostile to its existence, in spite of their own demons and those traveling among us. Sara, a simple astronaut, represented all the hope and dreams of humanity, their drive to seek forth the best of the universe, despite its worst clawing at them every single step of the way.
Darkness did lie ahead. War was coming, whether it came to the cattle farms, to the rocks of Wriss, or to the soils of Skalga. The very nature of the galactic order, of the entire galaxy, was forever bound to change, for better or for worse. What I could do, what we could do, was infinitesimal to the forces now at play. We were but children dashing among the battleground of gods, trying desperately not to be crushed underfoot as their steps altered the landscape forever more.
All we could do was to try and protect those we loved, fight for a better future, even if it seemed so distantly out of reach. And if we had people like Sara, the best of humanity, the best of this galaxy at our side?
Well then, maybe it would all be okay.
l Prologue l Previous l

"Fear me… if you dare!"

Puss in Boots

♫ Theme ♫
This thread would not be possible without the help of kalebsantos, seoila, and InverseFlash. Thank you for your resource submissions!

Background

Orphaned as a kitten, the legend known as Puss in Boots aquired his namesake through an act of heroism in stopping a bull from running over a frail woman at a town square, being awarded by his adoptive mother with a pair of boots. This would set Puss on the path to heroics and adventure, however the unsavory company he kept in Humpty Dumpty eventually resulted in a betrayal that left him as a jaded rogue that acted towards his own self-interests.
It wouldn't be until he was shown kindness by a particular green ogre that Puss would fall back to the virtuous path, although he still treated his lives with carelessness due to having nine of them. It was only when Puss was down to his last life that he'd undergo a journey with old and new allies that would teach him of the value of it, and give him the proper will to fight for it.

Source Guide

Feats I find notable are bolded. Feat sources are listed at the end of each feat as a superscript.
Note that, while the Shrek movies and 2011 Puss in Boots movie all seem to be canon to The Last Wish and Adventures respectively, it's not very clear if The Last Wish and Adventures are canon to each other. So take conflicting feats from the two with a grain of salt. That said, the end of the show had Puss time travel to undo the events of the entire show sans keeping his memories, so take that what you will
If anyone knows where to find the interactive Netflix special, shoot me a DM. Peacock appears to have just left it to become lost media instead of finding a way to host it.

• Shrek = Shrek #
  
• Puss in Boots (2011) = PB
  
• Puss in Boots: The Three Diablos = TD
  
• Puss in Boots: The Last Wish = LW
  
• The Adventures of Puss in Boots = S#E#
  

Physical Feats

Strength

Sword

Piercing

• Cuts his symbol into cloth^PB
• With help from Humpty and Kitty Softpaws, cuts the beanstalk down^PB
  • Some more shots of it for scale
• Cut a P into tree bark^S2
  • Does the same to Pinocchio's wooden posterior^S3
• Carves his symbol into a rock^TD
• Slices through a thick vine with one slice and stabs into the giant's stony body, causing it to scream in pain^LW
• Quickly removes three corks from the kegs while doing a flip^LW
• Cuts Death's staff in two^LW
• Stabs between a giant Big Jack Horner's nail and finger after being thrown by Goldilocks^LW
• Revealed to have cut off the Duchess' leg^S1E4
• In a flashback, shown to defeat monsters far larger than himself with increasingly mundane equipment^S1E5
• Rams a sentient sword into a boulder to trap it there^S3E5
• When both he and another swordfighter have their swords struck out of their hands in a clash, both embed into a nearby stone fountain^S4E9
• Stabs into the belly of a gargoyle, which he describes as having stonelike skin^S5E6
• "Pops" a monster filled with gas^S5E9

Striking

• As a kitten, Knocks out little boy blue with a wooden spoon^PB
• Sent people flying as he disarmed them^LW
• Destroys a giant hourglass, sprinkling its magical contents over a group of sick children to cure them^S1E2
• Blocks and engages in a swordfight with a cursed sword weilder who could launch Dulcinea across a plaza^S1E10
• Him and Dulcinea together overpower this swordmaster, launching his sword out of his hands hard enough to embed it in stone^S1E10
• Launches a bunch of gold plates, cups, and vases at an enemy, knocking them into a treasure chest^S2E1
• Knocks out Jacque in one hit with a pommel strike^S2E2
• Disarms a spear wielder, sending her weapon flying off hard enough to pierce through a crystal ball^S3E2

Unarmed

Striking

• Kicks a Soldier into another Soldier, knocking them both out^PB
• Stepped on Donkey's hoof so hard he shed a tear^S2
• Breaks a glass case by trying to pull a beaker out of a hole that was to small for it^S2
• With Donkey, pushes Merlin into a wall^S3
• Floored a guy causing him to tip over a nearby table when he kicked a cup at him^LW
• Made Death do a flip with a kick to the face^LW
• Floored Death with another^LW
• Claws at a bandit's face to disorient him, before knocking him out with a kick^S1E1
• His strikes are generally powerful enough to knock out bandits in single hits^S3E8
• Punches and swings his sword at bandits so hard they're sent flying dozens of feet across a plaza and into the air^S4E6
• Disarms a demon of its cursed sword with a kick that embeds the sword into cobblestone^S5E4
• [Limit] Cannot meaningfully damage a giant boulder^S5E12
• Knocks out El Moco's tooth with an uppercut^S6E6

Claws

• Quickly cuts a silhouette shaped like himself into a window^PB
• Draws blood from a soldier with a claw scratch making him flinch and stop grabbing Puss^PB
• Easily picks several padlocks with his claw^PB
  • Again^LW
  • Does so while bound himself^S3E2
• Slides down a tapestry using his claws^PB
• Unsheathes his claws resulting in a guards pants falling down^PB
  • For context^PB
• Crawled all around Shrek attacking him with his claws^S2
• Cuts out a hole in glass^S2
• Is able to cause pain to Shrek by clawing him^S3
• [Limit] Didn't immediately cut through some rope with his claw^S3
• Destroys a large portrait by scratching it as he slowly moves down^LW
• Briefly digs into the bark of a tree^LW
• Tears into an armored soldier's leg, causing him pain^S1E1
• Uses his claws to grind himself to a halt on vertical and horizontal surfaces^S4E1,7

Lifting

• Quickly swings in saving a woman from being stomped on, lifting her in the process^PB
• Tackled a charging bull to the ground by pulling it down by its horns^PB
• Easily lifts a large golden egg with one arm^PB
  • He was initially surprised by its weight when he first tried to lift one^PB
• Holds up the weight of the golden goose and Humpty with each of his arms in an awkward position^PB
  • Humpty is solid gold beneath his shell^PB
• Reins in the Great Terror^PB
• Opens a relatively large door^TD
• Lifts the weight of a guy by his belt as he dangling from a cliff edge^TD
• Buried alive, manages to excavate himself^TD
• Carries a section of brick wall with a drawing of him on it^S1E1
• Lifts a horse and runs across a country, crossing a desert, forest, and kingdom entirely pitch dark before reaching a sphinx's temple^S1E2
• Hefts a giant hourglass for a moment, but is overwhelmed by how heavy it is^S1E2
• Pulls away a giant monster mid-tackle before it could hit a group of children^S1E5
  • Somehow flips over this same monster while being pinned to a wall^S1E5
• Steers a large dragon around San Lorenzo by lifting its head^S2E1
  • Later directly lifts its jaw open as it tries to eat him^S2E1
• Drags a giant jar of lard larger than himself^S2E1
• Lifts a rock the same size as himself^S2E7
• Drags around increasingly larger boulders by a rope tied around his waist^S3E4
• Flexes out of a cocoon made of spiderwebs^S4E2
• Tips over a giant boulder, although he couldn't do this without leveraging the pommel of his sword^S4E13
• [Limit] Cannot lift a giant boulder^S5E12
• Rescues a man with a thrown rope. Although he struggles to pull him up, gets into a tug of war with an ogre that repeatedly smashes the man against the hull of a flying ship^S6E9
• Pins a flying enemy that could hold up a giant metal spiked ball, positioning her so that it would fall and break down a door^S6E11

Speed

VS. Projectiles

Arrows

• Ducks under an incoming arrow while having an argument with Kitty Softpaws^LW
• Catches an arrow in his teeth^S1E1
  • Does it again, this time noticing the arrow after it was fired^S4E4
  • Does it while in the air^S4E6
• Ducks an arrow, before cartwheeling across a plaza and running while dodging more arrows^S1E1
• Weaves through an arrow trap in a temple, only getting one on his hat^S1E5
• Twists his body out of the way of an arrow as he's falling^S4E4
• [Limit] Dozens of arrows fired at him at once is too much for him to dodge^S4E4
• Leaps across a bandit market, has arrows fired after him, and reaches his target before the arrows do^S5E6

Other

• Seemingly gets away from a gunshot from Jack's big flintlock cannonball gun thing. If you slow the gif down you can see a projectile exit the window after puss escapes (after the flash)^PB
• Dodged the unicorn horn Jack Horner shot at him with a crossbow^LW
• Leaps from stone pillar to stone pillar to dodge blasts from a power gauntlet, before landing on and kicking the person using it^S1E3
• Jumps out of the way off a fire spell cast by the Dutchess^S1E4
• Flips and leaps over steel darts fired from the Dutchess' mechanical leg, then parries several with his sword^S1E4
  • Again. Overwhelmed by them when cornered^S1E4
• Does the same with pendulum blades^S1E5
• Dodges lightning fired by a wizard at him^S1E8
• Tackles Dulcinea out of the way of the path of a falling flaming rock^S1E10
• Leaps out of the way of projectile electricity at the very last moment^S1E12
• Dodges and deflects thrown spears midair, later deflects three thrown at him at the same time^S2E9
• Dodges and parries dozens of thrown knives in the span of a fight, but eventually one clips his sword^S3E3
• Parries a series of telekinetically thrown objects^S4E2

VS. People

• Dodges a weapon swing from Jill^PB
• Unsheathes his claws resulting in a guard's pants falling down. Arguably this is FTE speed^PB
  • For context^PB
• Outspeeds a man's weapon swing^PB
• Dodged Donkey's kick, causing him to kick Shrek in the nuts instead^S2
• Jumps between two soldiers' sword swings^LW
• Avoids several soldiers attempting to dogpile him^LW
• Slices the governor's wig in half, cut his frill, cut a P into his shirt, and cut his pants causing them to fall all FTE^LW
• Dodges an attack from Death^LW
• Dodged an attack from one of the Baker's Dozen^LW
• Disarms and dis-clothes three opponents before they could retaliate^S1E1
• Dodges strikes from a sphinx, then slips away from her grasp after she seemingly landed on him, leaving just his hat^S1E2
• Tackles Toby out of the way before the Golem could punch him, then dodges a variety of hits after^S1E8
• Has literally struck the pants off of a fly^S1E9
• Leverages his small size to slide under larger opponents to dodge^S2E1
• Rapidly deflects spear thrusts from two enemies at once^S2E9
• Repeatedly dodges strikes from giant spider legs, before crushing one of them^S4E2
• Punches a bandit's head like it's one of those small hanging punching bags^S4E6

Mobility

Jumping

• Jumps through a hole his exact size^PB
• Launched himself and Kitty Softpaws by spinning each other around and around^PB
• Gets good air-time from spinning on a pole^PB
• Polevaults over a Group of Soldiers using a polearm^PB
• Grabs the golden goose as it is falling, sticks his sword in the wall and uses it to swing around and both thrown the golden goose up to the bridge and jump up back to the bridge^PB
• Jumped off of Shrek and did a cartwheel in mid-air, landing in his boots^S2
• Nimbly jumps and climbs up a large set of shelves^S2
• Jumps from knight to knight as he fights them^S2
• Jumps from rooftop to rooftop as a giant swings a giant bell at him eventually running on the rope and athletically jumping through the air landing on his satchel^LW
• Jumps several feet through the air while dueling with Death^LW
• Easily traverses around a city through rooftops and using household items to fling himself around^S1E1
• Uses his sword to flip multiple times while hanging it on the side of a building, before nailing a perfect landing, and having the sword drop on cue^S1E1
• Jumps dozens of feet and nails two bandits with a double kick^S1E1
• His typical maneuvering can backfire on him if his opponents can also perform some of the same feats^S2E5
• Maneuvers to the top of a stone pillar, jumping over three spear users trying to stab him^S2E9
• Jumps to the top of a larger enemy by bouncing between its arms^S2E10
• Jumps between guards at a rapid pace before launching himself dozens of feet in the air, although having to dodge a spear last minute sends him off-course^S2E2
• Jumps around the heads of his enemies before leaping over ten feet to a nearby pillar where he swings between embedded spears^S3E6
• Leaps and quickly climbs around trees while carrying a coconut on a stick^S4E4
• Leaps so far in the air that he's barely visible, before dropkicking an opponent from that height^S6E4

Running

• Throws a dagger and moves from the bar to a table fast enough that nobody sees him^PB
• Runs up an arc^PB
• Uses his partners synchronized feet as a dance floor while falling slowly^PB
• Runs up a bit of a wall^PB
• While being chased in the clouds, disappears into the environment, sets up a decoy and pounces on Kitty Softpaws while she's distracted by the decoy^PB
• Runs up a wall and into a quarter upside down loop^TD
• Grabbed his hat before a closing door could separate him from it Indiana Jones style^S2
• Runs nearly vertically up a cave wall, then clings to a stalactite^S1E5
• Climbs to the top of a golem to swiftly swap out the commands written for him in his mouth^S1E8
• Crawls around a stone pillar while dodging lightning blasts from the Dutchess^S1E12
• Completely disappears from view after a short conversation between the black cats and goblins^S1E15
• Maneuvers above a group of guards after turning a corner in front of them, vanishing from view^S2E2
• Runs visibly fast while racing a duck, but gets full of himself and loses due to trying to run backwards^S3E3
• Runs out of a building and to the center of a plaza shortly after Dulcinea cries for his help^S4E6
• Runs vertically up a nearby rock formation to get behind an enemy, then jumps around him to avoid and land hits repeatedly after^S6E4

Durability

Collateral

• While on a rope, swings into a wooden box creating a cat-shaped hole in it and is fine^PB
• Was thrown into a sign so hard it broke free of its chains and was launched through several walls^LW
• [Limit] Dies after being crushed by a giant bell^LW
• [Limit] He also dies after being trampled by bulls, being torn apart by a group of dogs, falling off a tall tower while drunk with milk, being crushed by a heavy barbell, getting shot out of a cannon, eating shellfish (which he is allergic) and being consumed by fire after putting too much heat in an oven^LW
• Papa Bear throws him through a window^LW
• Survives getting tackled into a wall hard enough to damage it, although we don't see how well he took the hit^S1E3
• Thrown into a barrel hard enough to shatter it and jumps out of the way of the next attack^S1E4
• Has the Seven League Boots uncontrollably fling him into a wall hard enough to crack it^S1E9
• Has a giant section of San Lorenzo's stone archway fall on him. While he's pinned under it, he's not immediately knocked out^S6E9

Distance

• Not harmed by a ship crash which launches everyone in to sea^S3
• Is hit off a seat a by Donkey, is fine^SH
• Death drags him across a bar and throws him at a chair^LW
• Gets kicked out of a boarded up window and falls from the height of a building and survived^S1E1
• Gets decked by a bandit, sending him flying across a plaza, and then knocking over a set of crates, which dazes him but is still able to continue fighting^S1E1
• Impacted by a high speed horse multiple times and is fine^S1E2
• Has a giant stone pillar fall over him and many others and is later shown to be unharmed^S1E3
• Hit by an explosion of gold coins hard enough to send him flying across a plaza^S1E4
• Hit across a plaza by a projectile tongue^S1E5
• Flung from the middle of a desert to San Lorenzo^S1E9
• Kicked across a cave and gets up dazed^S2E1
• Recovers after being flung around by a giant bird house^S2E6
• High-fived by a god so hard he's sent flying for miles out of San Lorenzo^S4E8
• Punched off of the top of the mountain San Lorenzo sits on, then falls down the rest of the way^S4E13
• Kicked across a bandit market and into a pile of crates, gets up shortly after^S5E6
• Repeatedly throws himself off of larger and larger heights and gets back to it^S5E12
• Recovers immediately after being punched several meters away^S6E6

Other

• Doesn't seem to mind a boar biting into his boots^PB
• Relatively fine standing on a rock while surfing on lava^S1E1
• Jumps through a flame trap^S1E5
• Trains for Dulcinea for around 12 hours^S1E9
• Resists the mind controlling powers of an evil sword^S1E10
• Has a stick of dynamite explode while in the same barrel as him, coughing out smoke after running away^S2E3
• Struck by lightning^S4E8
• When against an enemy's power that could summon the worst fears of his victims, Puss was unaffected due to his only fear being the loss of Dulcinea, which he thought had happened already^S4E13
• Makes himself immune to a noxious gas by exposing it to himself so much that he didn't smell it anymore^S5E9

Scaling

Also see:

• Death

Blocking and Parrying Attacks

• Parries the Whisperer's flail attacks with his sword^TD
  • The Whisperer was able to embed his mace into stone with a swing^TD
• [Limit] Gets dominated by Death^LW
  • Does a lot better in their next fight^LW
• Parries and blocks sword strikes from Dulcinea while she was wielding a cursed sword that could cleave rocks in half and crack the ground^S2E7
  • Takes a direct hit from the sword, but is knocked out in the process^S2E7
  • Does the same when the sword is wielded by a demon who can crack portions of cobblestone with his downwards swings^S5E4
• Parries and blocks attacks from a queen who could crack stone pillars and embed her weapon slightly into stone^S3E2
• Blocks strikes from an evil clone of himself^S5E5

Direct Hits

• [Limit] Fares pretty poorly against hits from Jill and Jack^PB
• Pummeled and attacked by the three Diablos^TD
• Gets kicked twice by Kitty^LW
• Gets the breath knocked out of him by a giant rose^LW
• Gets backhanded by Papa Bear^LW
• Gets knocked around by Death ^LW
• Repeatedly hit by luck blasts from Black Cats^S1E15
• Flicked by Dutchess' mechanical suit, this cracked the street with punches previously^S2E10
• Hit by a skeleton's mace while it was clawing its way out of the ground and gets back into the fight^S2E11
  • These skeletons could shatter wooden crates and barrels with their strikes^S2E11
• Hit by an ice elemental, and deflects his projectile icicles, which embed into cobblestone and crack cobblestone^S5E7
• Punched around by a monster that could shatter barrels^S5E9
• Gets into a swordfight where he appears to get hit by Dulcinea after she was compelled to kill him, for reference earlier Dulcinea could crack large sections of stone flooring by accident^S6E12

Senses

• Detects a man with a dagger sneaking up on him. Steals the dagger and shaves half the facial hair off two men sitting at a nearby table, then returns to his seat in about a second^PB
  • Reference of the distance the two were apart^PB
• Catches a sword strike from behind^S1E1
• His sense of smell is good enough to pick up the smell of cinnamon from a two hour walking distance away^S1E8
• Discerns what a woman ate previously in the day by drinking her milk^S1E11
• Sniffs out Jacque from across San Lorenzo^S2E2

Skill

General

• Puss is generally a highly skilled swordfighter^PB
• Steals Kitty Softpaws as a dance partner from Humpty without him noticing somehow^PB
• Is undetected hiding in a man's hat (even by the man). The has is lost by the wind and is carried normally, then puss makes his exit^PB
• When his rapier is lodged in the ceiling, taps his foot on the ground causing it to fall into his sword holster on his belt^PB
• Lights several sparklers as he skids by them^S4
• Pogosticks his sword between a man's fingers^LW
• According to him, as of Last Wish, he's never been touched by a blade^LW
  • Obviously this is exaggerated, if Adventures is taken to be canon.
• Can use his sword in either hand, training with both^S1E5
• Swordfights two thungs while not even looking at them^S1E5
• Traps a faster opponent by prepping the field with glue^S1E9
• Skewers a mosquito with a rapier^S2E1
• Somehow escaped while falling to his death to a variety of spinning gears^S2E5
• Fishes out a coin from a coin slot with the tip of his rapier^S2E10
• Taught a kid hundreds of pressure points in the hand alone, one of which makes a bandit she applied it on scream in pain^S1E2
• Breakdances out of rope restraints^S2E9
• Can fight surprisingly well underwater^S3E11
• Uses trees as cover to sneak around an enemy and disarm them of their arrows^S4E4
• Beats a group of armed bandits with a toy baby^S4E5
• Is notably worse in a fight without his boots, losing his footing more easily and failing to land hits that otherwise send the same opponent flying with them^S6E4
• Can lockpick with his sword^S6E11

Disarming/Parrying

• Kicks Kitty Softpaws' rapier into a barrel lodging it there and disarms her^PB
• Fights off a pirate with a sword^S3
• Defeats the Governor and his men with ease^LW
• Disarms three bandits before they could retaliate against him^S1E1
• Accurately throws his sword to knock a set of toy owls on rope out of his hands and pins it to a wall, then disarms two bandits and catches the sword on cue^S1E1
• Easily dodges the blows of one bandit, disarms him, then causes another bandit to knock himself out^S1E1
• Disarms one bandit, sending his sword flying into another bandit's sword to disarm a second time^S2E2
• Kicks an opponent so that his weapon goes flying in the air, then lands on his head to knock him out^S2E2
• Disarms a mole man guard without him realizing it after a downwards slam of his weapon^S2E2
• Isn't hit once while getting attacked at three different sides by bandits^S4E6
• Parries a sword strike while distracted in a conversation^S5E5
• Deflects attacks from two badits without realizing it^S5E7
• Bounces back from being thrown across a plaza by launching himself at an enemy, ducks under their midair attack, and positions himself to disarm her of her magical ankle bracelet^S5E10
• Parries attacks from three bandits simultaneously, although he reaches his limit when a crowd of dozens begins to gang up on him^S6E1
• Predicts the aim of a crossbowman before disarming him with a kick^S6E6
• Sends a bandit's sword out of his hand, then catches it midair and uses it to best them^S6E6

Throwing

• Throws his sword into a lever, activating it^PB
• Does a variety of sword tricks that involve pulling up vegetables and slicing them midair^S2E1
• Launches his sword into the air with just his tail, before leaping across buildings and catching it^S2E5
• Slips an enemy's necromantic ring off their finger, catches it with his sword after its sent flying, then flings it out of San Lorenzo^S2E11
• Kicks a variety of mugs into the hands of bar-goers without looking at them, although he knocks out one guy by accident^S1E1
• Ricochets a guitar off of multiple different guards to knock each out before jumping to catch its return^S3E2
• Repeatedly nails Dutchess in the head with kicked desk objects^S3E5
• Catches a ball of webbing in a bowl, then chucks it back right into the open mouth of the woman who shot it at him^S4E2
• While leaping around a monster, throws apples into the holes in its body that release gas, nailing every hit^S5E9
• Clips a fuse at a large distance with a thrown rapier point, although this could be a lucky shot^S6E1
• Nails an ogre in the head with a thrown bucket^S6E9

Maneuvering

Melee Weapon Fights

• Defeated the Sleeping Giant of Del Mar through many acrobatic maneuvers that covered the entire city, making it knock itself out at the end of the fight^LW
• Manipulates one opponent's sword to block the hits of another opponent attacking him behind, causing the second to bind himself by accident with a set of rope he had on him^S1E1
• Uses his small size to jump around and disarm two bandits^S1E7
• Overwhelms and leaps over three swordfighters attacking him at once after being backed into a wall, but a fourth is able to take advantage of his leap as an opening^S1E15
• Plugs an opponent's weapon to make it backfire^S2E2
• Throws his sword into cobblestone from across a plaza^S2E3
• Even after being disarmed, leverages his own enemies' tactics and weapons to get back to his sword^S2E9
• Embeds his sword into the ground, then uses it to spin and kick multiple goons at once before jumping between them and grappling them to the ground^S2E4
  • Does a similar maneuver while using a guitar as a weapon^S3E2
• Surfs on a guitar while repeatedly throwing and catching it as a weapon^S3E2
• Repeatedly jumps onto and moves with spear strikes to disadvantage and even make his enemies attack one another^S3E2
• Ducks out of his hat right in time for it to get skewered in the place of him^S5E5
• Leaps onto an enemy's weapon without them realizing it^S6E6

Hand to Hand

• Headbutts a bandit in a way that makes him pass out on cue when Puss snapped^S1E1
• Uses an opponent's rope to quickly bind his legs and trip him over^S1E1
• Rolls with a grapple to kick an opponent off of him, sending them flying dozens of feet into a rock and knocking them out^S1E3
• Slides under one bandit, before stomping on his head and dancing on another's^S1E12
• Causes a bandit to knock out every one of his allies by jumping between them while dodging punches^S2E2
• Clings to a skeleton's shield to make another skeleton mistakenly hit it^S2E11
• Times a bicycle kick to knock out a bandit to also dodge the bandit's sword swing^S4E5
• Uses the dust generated by his fighting to leap between bandits and take them out individually while they're unable to see^S4E5
• Despite being under a magical curse that compels him to dance, outmaneuvers and takes out a group of bandits^S4E10
• Uses tent poles to swing around while dropkicking bandits^S5E6
• Somehow propels himself midair after one punch to punch again without any sort of leverage^S5E7
• Leaps to each of two bandit's heads to take them out, and still has time to eat an apple on his way there^S5E9
• Uses his small size to get under an kick out an opponent's legs^S6E4
• Grapples an ogre to make him smack himself in the head, briefly knocking him out^S6E9

Cat-Related Abilities and Weaknesses

Cuteness

• Gets a guard to open a door and drop his weapon. However he resists at the end and does refuses to move aside^PB
• Convinces Shrek to let him tag along on his adventure despite him previously having none of it^S2
• Distracts several knights before dueling them^S2
• Sometimes the cute eyes do not work^S3
• Has a cute-off with the Three Diablos. When sand gets into his eyes, is able to use his eyes to put them in a cute-induced trance^TD
• Made a sphinx who had guarded an hourglass for hundreds of years abandon her post instead of killing him, since he was too cute^S1E2
• Out-cutes a baby dragon^S2E1
• So cute that a golem that was being magically compelled to attack him froze in place^S3E4

Other

• As a cat he has nine lives, having died many times previously. As of Last Wish, he's down to his last one^LW
• Incapacitated by a hairball^S2
• Like many cats, easily distracted by string^S1E1
  • Drops everything to chase runaway balls of it^S1E13
• His cat instincts make him uncontrollably attack a mouse on sight even after being confronted about it and trying to hold himself back^S1E11
• Lands on his feet after falling down a massive chasm^S2E2
• Distracted by laser-like reflections from shields^S2E9
• Hates getting wet on a causal level. Another example
  • However in more serious circumstances where there are actual stakes, will push past this fear with no effort and can actually swim well although was startled when a water spray bottle was used on him

"Pick it up. I know I can never defeat you Lobo, but I will never stop fighting for this life!"

What a finale! It was nothing short of spectacular, a fitting conclusion to a truly remarkable show. Often, series finales struggle under the weight of tying up countless loose ends, burdened by the pressure of deadlines. This can result in endings that fall short, doing a disservice to the characters we've grown to love. Yet, there are those rare gems, like "Archer" or "Bojack," where the creators eschew convention, crafting endings that are uniquely beautiful.
This finale, however, stands out as something truly special. It delivered a conclusion worthy of a series that has been a part of my life for over a decade. From freshman year of high school to college, grad school, and now a job on the other side of the country, this show has been a constant companion, shaping countless memories and friendships along the way.
For an ending that does so much service, it is wrong for the audience to do it so little. I had to rewatch the ending a couple of times to truly appreciate it. So many subtle jokes, callbacks and character growth. As a fan of the shisno storyline it saddened me a little to find out it was a simulation, but after watching the explanation of Church/epsilon running the simulations and literally tearing himself apart to find a solution to save his crew? Masterful storytelling. And that’s the thing with this finale, it was masterfully done. Comedy mixed in with seriousness at just the right moments. It would have been so easy for the comedic elements of the reds and blues to cheapen the emotional moments, but it was so beautifully worked in.
Not every character made an appearance, and that's okay. Not everyone needed to be a part of this storyline, the reality is that the reds and blues have been fragmented through years of battle. People move on and don’t necessarily get a great ending. What upped the stakes for this last hurrah was that the consequences not only felt real but were real. Sarge’s death came as a massive shock, and I actually could not believe they would kill a main character like that. But after that scene, nothing was off the table; the final battle was not some normal reds and blues battling the bad guy. Our beloved characters could actually die, and that heightened my experience.
Let's talk about character growth. Caboose's transformation from comic relief to a source of empathy and strength was particularly moving. Going from “Tucker did it” to “I’m sorry you’re going through this, its not your fault”. Tears man, what a stoic moment. Also having the wherewithal to finally end the AI’s even though it meant killing his best friend. “I’m going to be sad for a while”, same Caboose, same.
Sarge died in the most Sarge way possible, walking one of his own back from the depths of hell. A true leader with a fitting end for a character who embodied loyalty and sacrifice. I am so glad the writers did not cheapen his death with some slapstick comedy and made it a solemn moment throughout the ending. Paying homage to his memory and using it as springboard to make the other characters better. Grif finally got discharged, it was all he ever wanted, but not before making the conscious decision to stay for one last battle. Character growth doesn’t get much clearer than that.
And that final battle? It was a testament to brilliant storytelling, deftly weaving together past conflicts and character arcs into a thrilling conclusion. Stories have this problem when they create a monolith enemy, someone that is so strong that the heroes need a deus ex machina to win. I honestly could not anticipate how they were going to beat the Meta until the very last bit where the final plan was revealed. Brilliant storytelling bringing back a character skilled in handing it to the reds and blues while training the AI enemy on how to fight like a red and blue. Not only is this next level writing, but it sticks true to the modus operandi of the crew, they fight by taking a galactic whooping and outlasting the other guy haha.
Finally let’s talk about the nostalgia hits. Returning to Blood Gulch for the finale was a nice touch, bringing the story full circle. That montage of Grif, Simmons, and Caboose around Tex reminiscing about the story just sent me. The “Cone protect me!” and “How is this physically possible?!” scene were favorites. I didn’t notice though until a second rewatch that most if not all of those scenes they were remembering involved Tex, a hint to who Caboose was really trying to bring back. Just another layer of nuance.
To Rooster Teeth: thank you for crafting an ending that honors the legacy of a show that has meant so much to so many. It truly feels like the end of a chapter in my life, and for that, I'm grateful.
Bow chicka bye now.

I was thinking of trying my luck here to find some roleplaying partner(possibly only one) so yeah first few things about me; I am 20y old woman and I have roleplayed several years so I am looking for some woman too with a little experience HOWEVER most importantly English is not my first language and I haven't written fully in english before, dialogs sometimes so if you are okay with that by any means continue reading.
(Immediatly as I started to write this post I feel like all my thoughts disappeared...how typical..)
Okay few things before to the actual plots:
Discord only (I would wanna create a channel in there for this)
18+ and you are able to handle a brutal topics
I write on 3rd person and in past tense which I prefer from you but am flexible with. I play male characters only(aside from side characters ofc) but depending on the plot I don't really mind is yours a male or female
My writing length varies quite much also mirroring how my partner writes but right now I feel like it would be nice to write in chat type so like somewhere <100 to 200 words as I feel like work and overall life keeps me quite busy and writing little shorter would lower the verge to answer if don't have much time. Still even tho I want quite relaxed tempo I aim to answer daily at least once, hoping from you the same, and in every aswer I hope there is something to react and it still moves the moment forward. Also with the shortness I sometimes feel like I can cling to the moment at hand more, because some players sometimes move the game forward whit such a fast tempo that I feel like I can't quite get all the things out of some moment as it would be possible. I am highly capable to write from 5-8k words and more and is possible that it happens if I get carried away with the plot and all so I would not mind if you bend to that aswell.
Also something which can affect our playing pace is time zone. Mine is currently UTC +3/EEST so even tho overlapping time zones would be nice I don't have any requirements for this.
I obviously hope that you are interested in plotting the game and contributing to it by also playing side characters. I am not much of a drawer so I mainly use pics for example from pinterest to my characters and also to their outfits or locations as sometimes the picture of some place is different in our minds so a pic can clear that. Communication is key and recommended to get us through any problems.
Just bare with me this one moment more...
So as the title says our characters would be friends (depends on the plot enemies to friends too) or family members (siblings) and it would be nice to be set somewhere in the historical times (castles, empires, kingdoms) but as the world might be our own creation I am not gonna nitpick in the terms of accuracy as I want to hand pick the nice features what to have and especially when there will be twist of fantasy(so they are not realistic anyway). This is few plots (very shapeless ones tho) I have in mind but I will be flexible and open for suggestions as these have also been just some thoughts in my head and possible partner has not been in my mind so they may seem unfair:
Two brothers which older one is gifted with good magic and yonger one (played by me) with badBecause they are born in the royal family the older one gets the crown and yonger one is send to be advisor to neighbouring kingdom. But after a unofrtunate event he rises to be king of that kingdom and at the same time there is impending doom (not sure what that would be yet) of the whole world knocking the door which lead the rivalring siblings having to work together to stop it. I also thought that people with the gift of magic are born very rarely and that there would be only enough that all the kingdoms would have one or two as advisors and that all of them would get a vision of that doom as protectors of the world and humanity so they would also have some gifted counsel where they could have meetings and all. I have few details left out from this still but this whole post is already getting so long...XD
Other plot would be powerfull and immortal wizard(played by me) and hunter trying to save the world or more like wizard trying to save all the witches and hunter the rest. Roughly I thought that long ago some witch ancestors would in order to save the witches because they are being hunted make sure that in the future there would be born an all powerfull leader who would lead all the covens. So then he was born but people terrified of witches overpowering them started searching for that leader, found him and trapped him so he would not learn any magic as killing him was not possible. But obv that would not stop him. He learned everthing he needed to know through sleep and visions, broke free of his prison and started his reign as the leader of all covens. So as he is immortal and powerfull to make the plot interesting I was thinking that there would be ways he can be weakened with various techniques like magic preventing bracelets, weapons and places and all of those to make him dependent to the human hunter character which I would prefer to be male but okay whit woman too.
Then there is also lot of other plots of some sort which I would like, for example some assasinXsome law person (I love AC games) in some medieval times with fantasy twist and possible revolutions agains current crown and I like in those to play the one in the other side of law, also some wild west type of plot would be interesting.
Huh maybe that was all so if you are interested in one of those plots or something similar to them with the friendship/family setting message me and lets see if we click together and are able to create something we can both enjoy!

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Memory Transcription Subject: Hileen, Krakotl Fugitive Recovery Agent
Date [standardized human time]: November 28th, 2136
It'd been a while since I sat in Marlig's office for a talk face-to-face. Given the agency's secluded location at the edge of the downtown region, it was a chore to drop by when it wasn't for business, but I'd deemed the matter at hand to be worth my time.
I passed by Nampi at her desk on my way to the door and she gave me a coy glare as I carried on. Trying to ignore her risible ear waggle, I turned the corner to the door with my boss’s name painted on the glass panel where I could hear the frantic crumpling of paper.
Quietly, I entered Marlig's office without prompt as I knew he hated to be spooked by knocking. My mentor was surprisingly spry for a bird at his age, sorting through papers with one wing and an eye while using his talons with the other to set away the papers he had splayed out.
“Hileen!” he chirped. “Glad you could make it in today. I was just finishing up my paperwork. Take a seat.”
It was always nice to hear him drop the professional motif for a more grandfatherly attitude when speaking in person. I did as he suggested and took a seat while he grumbled to himself over the sorting. My eye caught a few of the old contracts he was rifling through and saw that some dated back to his days as an agent.
Eventually, he left some sitting out as he sequestered the rest back into their files, sorted by a dichotomy that only he and Nampi could comprehend fully. He motioned with a wing for me to peruse and I turned the first one to face me to find it was my first contract, signed by me in a sloppy fashion. “This takes me back a couple of years.”
“Slick bastard thought he could get away on a forklift but you showed him! Certainly more exciting than my first day!”
“Mm-hmm. And it was when I nearly got impaled that you had the idea to commission all of us utility vests.”
He chuckled, “I really should’ve done so sooner. Cuts and scratches were already a risk, but a forklift was a new one!”
I flipped through the pages of each report, finding that Marlig's notes were filled with praises of my work. There were highs and lows, but I was flattered to find that the grizzled krakotl held my performance in such high regard.
“Flawless interception!” read one footnote about me catching a runner. “Couldn't have done it better myself!”
Marlig waited patiently as I browsed quickly through each page, realizing more and more how the notes also marked improvements in my work. How I found it easier to talk down a rowdy client, or apprehend them in the case that they were beyond helping on my part. Flowery language plastered most pages with him fawning over my work as a doting father would to his prodigal child.
The trend took a sharp turn as the notes became fewer and more critical the closer the dates reached to the present. I brushed the others aside with a wing to peruse the final paper. “And this…”
“Is Tac. Your latest contract. The most recent in a line of declining performance since the interview. This has become a pattern, Hileen, and its consequences are beginning to reach beyond yourself. Paji and Vesek resigned recently for personal reasons, which leaves us even less hands on deck than before. That's four people to cover the entire municipal region, and maybe even beyond, should needs arise. Three, if we include this little probation I have you on.”
“What was I supposed to do? Marlig, these ‘jobs’ you've got us working on overstep the contracts we were signed on with. Our job is to make sure people obey their court-mandated duties, not drag them off to the facilities ourselves!”
“... So the trip we took to the facilities did bother you.”
A sigh clicked in my throat as he reminded me. “Is that what happens to the people we take in, Marlig? Is that what would've happened to your wife?”
His feathers ruffled.
“That's what happens to those who are too dangerous to the general public to be left roaming free. Not everyone we deal with winds up there, but everyone can be subject to it. Miskela sued for her exoneration and proved in court that she was not diseased. I brought you there to show you how it helps the people, but I see now that it was a mistake. I understand why you were so perturbed, really, but it's how things have been for centuries. It's how we've protected ourselves from the dangers out there.”
“You were willing to let Barsul be interned there, too.”
Marlig flinched and sighed as he swept the papers towards himself once I'd signaled I was done. He turned one eye to me while he sorted them.
“There's no room for favoritism, girl. I negotiated for him to be allowed to walk free, and look where that got me. That boy - your neighbor - suffered the consequences of my nepotism. So too would the girl, had nobody intervened.”
“Like Richard.”
“The human, yes. Or you. Or the police. Where does this sudden obsession with humans come from, anyway? I get notifications of you talking about the acceptance of them all the time on forums.”
“Does it even need explaining?”
“Well, I guess not, no, but it's certainly an about-face from the way you used to talk about them with me beforehand.”
“People can change, for better or worse. Which one I fall under remains to be seen.”
Marlig stroked at the plumage on his neck as he finished his sorting. “I hope it's the former, for your sake. Was there any reason you came to talk, or were you just checking that I hadn't gone senile?”
“Well, I was hoping to borrow your secretary for the evening.”
He perked up while his eyes narrowed and he laced his fingers together with curiosity. “You… want to spend an evening with Nampi?”
“It's not what you're insinuating, but yes.”
“I was insinuating nothing,” he warbled coyly. “Go ahead and take her, and make sure to split the bill at dinner.”
“Pain-in-the-ass geezer. I'll keep in touch if your friend causes any more trouble.”
“Keep in touch regardless. Miskela and I get lonely in our old age,” he called back. “Take care.”
I stepped out into the hallway and turned toward the desk where I could hear the secretary's claws tapping furtively at her keyboard. Nampi sat silently with her ears and tail in a relaxed position that implied a bored demeanor. There was barely any response as I stood before her, waiting politely for her acknowledgment that never came.
Hesitantly, I cleared my throat.
An ear raised in acknowledgement, but her focus remained on the screen of her computer. “Mhm?”
“Do you…?”
Her ear rotated toward me, though she still maintained a passive attitude as she continued to glare mindlessly at the monitor.
“Are you free this evening?”
“Well, I'm quite booked, I believe. Why do you ask?”
I was surprised at her curt, dry tone. She hadn't spoken with me like this since we first got to know one another.
“Well,” I started. “I realized something. Every time we went out, whether it was clubbing, or dinner, or even walking around the parks, you always footed the bill. And so…”
Slowly, her other ear perked up and I saw her keystrokes slow down as she listened in.
“I wanted to return the favor?”
Her lips smacked as she opened her mouth, though paused before she spoke. “How could you possibly do that?”
“With a little gesture of friendship.”
Nampi's horizontal pupil turned up toward me and her tail twitched.
I continued, “So that belt you're wearing? It's the same belt you've worn since we first met. And I know you're the pragmatic type who'd never spend a credit more than she needs to, except for all the times you do"- her ears twitched in indignance -"I wanted to see about getting you a little something… extra?”
Her paws raised from the keyboard and she leaned in, resting her snout on her palms. “Go on.”
The bubbly venlil's tail sold out her collected facade as it twitched with anticipation. She was cornered and she didn't even know it yet.
“Well, I found just the place on the other side of town where we can start. It's a place almost as rich and indulgent as yourself.”
“The Platinum Paw? I mean3”
Her ears folded back in embarrassment as she cracked. She wasn't cut out for acting anyway.
“So that's what it's called! Jeez, I couldn't for the life of me figure out what it was called. Now what do you say? We go over there and find you something nice—”
I hadn’t even finished my thought before Nampi had grabbed her bag and was out the door, giving me a playful tail flick that said come and get me.

The place I suggested was in a shopping center on the opposite side of town, though easily accessible because of its proximity to the transport rails. Nampi had insisted on grabbing something to eat beforehand and so now gleefully bit into a bundle of stalks that had been “grilled” as explained from the food truck we'd stopped at.
Her tail flicked back and forth with her usual enthusiasm as we entered the massive complex of stores. The roofless plan allowed the natural, orange sun to flood the upper levels while artificial lighting illuminated the ground level wherever the light couldn't reach.
The place was built in the last decade by the previous City Magister in a bid for popularity, though ultimately for naught as he would lose the vote following a scandal involving an iftali priestess and a carved bar of soap. I had to say that despite being sick in the head, he sure had a great sense of decor.
Nampi snacked away, joining me in admiring the scenery as we continued to the place I’d planned out for us. Aimless chatter all melded together into a single, thrumming murmur as pedestrians navigated the many levels and stores offered in the place.
A troupe of children passed by us, held in a chain of tails and arms as they were escorted by a pair of venlil who I assumed were students and teachers on a school trip. I caught a whiff of a sweet, aromatic breeze and found it to come from a perfume shop on the same level as us; naturally, venlil were not to be found inside.
We passed a fountain where a couple sat on the edge, their tails twined together as they giggled and flirted. I turned and caught Nampi watching them as well, though she awkwardly returned to sucking the remains of her meal from her claws when we made eye contact. Her ears lifted when I raised a wing to signal to the store we were going to stop at first.
“Platinum Paw, The Greatest Fashion Emporium For Everyone!”
The title alone was painfully cliche, taken to the tenth power by the brightly lit store taking up three department slots. Despite the flashy exterior, though, it was the best place to shop for belts, brooches, and bracelets alike. Customers who looked like they earned my yearly salary in a week browsed the higher end brands while I brought my friend to the section I wanted to show her.
Her ears were held up as we stood together next to a shelf chock full of fashionable bags and bandoliers of every variety.
“Pick one,” I told her.
Nampi's ears shot to a straight pose in surprise, “Any?”
“Within reason. I've got a few extra credits to blow and I know nobody better to spend it on.”
With an inviting headtilt, I let Nampi peruse the shelves at her leisure. Her lips pursed together and her tail flicked with glee as she fingered at every piece that caught her eye. I chuckled at her outburst of enthusiasm while turning to find my own items to gloss over.
A breeze from outside nipped at my beak while I considered what I’d like to purchase. The place dripped with an atmosphere of faux hospitality, from the bright blue-stained floorboards to the radio prattling off advertisements in a sickeningly sweet tone to the faint, fruity aroma of scented cleaner. It was oppressive as only a fissan-owned company could be to the senses.
What I wouldn’t pay to see how a human would fare in such an environment.
I knew they were social creatures at least, but I had no doubt that the predatory senses of a human, so honed to hunting, would get overstimulated in this center of gaudy indulgence. Knowing I was something of a predator myself made me sympathize provided that even I had to squint to keep the pale lights inside from searing my eyes. I could only imagine how the arboreal eyes of a Terran would fare. I was so lost in thought imagining how lost the Terrans would be that I could almost ignore the obnoxious giggling and metallic rattling coming from behind me.
Risking a peek at the source, into my sight came a pair of venlil, one a male carrying a pair of bags as well as a couple more strapped to his belt. The bored expression in his eyes was not one of a man who was in high spirits. The other venlil was a woman who was the source of the noise.
Her mottled gray pelt was accented by a tasteful belt design, free of almost any practical functions but not flashy or excessive in garnishment either. At least, that’s what I would say, were it not for the braid of beads that dangled on the belt, jingling with each bounce of the lively woman’s stride. It was clear that such a gaudy accessory was intended to draw attention to her, though why was a mystery. Certainly, the shiny braids seemed designed as decoration first and practical second.
She turned about and I faced back to my browsing before she could catch me staring. Nampi was nowhere in sight, though I figured she was somewhere behind the shelf, sifting through every accessory on the section I'd suggested.
Clink.
Something pelted to my immediate right. I tilted my head to spot a tree nut shell clattering to the floor. Without being able to guess where it came from, I had to wonder what could've launched it over this way. Even with my keen eyesight, nobody in the crowd seemed to be a suspect.
Clink.
Another shell pelted my vicinity, ricocheting off of the floor and hitting the shelf I was standing next to. I ruffled my feathers in frustration - clearly, someone was trying to get my attention, though I couldn't make out who it was. Out of the corner of my vision, the woman from before eyed me curiously as I looked about, though I wasn't interested in engaging with her.
Thwack.
One more shell came flying and, unfortunately, the aim on this one was true, nailing me on the beak. Irritated, I stormed out of the store to find the source of the instigator. I scanned over the bodies to find anyone who could've been responsible for this indignity, eventually concluding that it came from the dining area across the walkway.
Whoever was responsible was in for an earful and I was already structuring which of the offender's family members would be acceptable as fodder for stray words. As I approached, I found the tables were mostly empty save for one, which made my heart begin to drop as I met eyes with the only occupant. Suddenly, I was much less inclined to hurl insults.
“Oh, hi there!” Qitel called out in a sickly sweet tone. “Come, take a seat! We have much to discuss!”
The Exterminator clutched a bag of tree nuts in his claws, a pile of discarded shells already gathered on the table next to him. He grabbed another as I approached, effortlessly prying the shell in half between two claws and tossed the contents into his mouth. “Good protein, these,” he commented as I sat down.
“Must be for that good arm you've got there,” I mumbled. I caught sight of a couple of bags beneath his chair, seemingly from one of the tech stores contained within the center.
“Bah, it's guesswork. So how are you? I haven't heard from you since we worked together!”
“I was just spending time with a friend, shopping and enjoying my time off.”
“Your time off? Oh, am I interrupting something?”
His snide tone irked me, though now wasn’t the time for interjections. “You are, Qitel,” I replied with no shortage of vitriol in my tone. “But I see no harm in chatting for a bit.”
“Good, because I have some merchandise”- he reached into his belt pocket and deposited a couple of items onto the table -“and you’re just the person to look into it, human sympathizer.”
I drew a terse breath in shock, but my worries were quelled when I considered that if Qitel had the power to do anything about it, he would’ve done so instead of approaching me so discreetly. A glance down at the item on the table showed that he was presenting what looked to be a tracker as well as a personal drive. “Found in the garbage,” he told me.
“The guild resorts to dumpster diving when they already have such a bloated budget now?”
“No, featherbrain, I have decided to keep this for myself. These items were found together, sealed in a plastic pouch, and placed in a garbage bin. The city has bans against electronics being placed into public bins, and so I was curious why this wound up in there. Managed to get my coworker, a techie, to crack it open and…”
Qitel reached into his belt again, glowering at me with the same condescending gaze he’d given me when I first saw his face. He seemed to revel in digging for the item as slowly as possible to waste my time. Finally, he found whatever he was looking for and revealed it as a printed piece of paper, folded into eighths. The snobby yotul threw the unfurled paper on the table and rolled it toward me.
I craned my neck to look at the parchment, though I was immediately perplexed by the text on it; it appeared to be some sort of form, going by the boxes with words on the inside, followed by blank lines. “Found on the drive, here,” Qitel told me, jabbing a claw to the storage. “Translator shows it as Terran writing.”
Drawing my holopad from my satchel, I held it over the paper with the translator to get an understanding. Surely enough, the language on it came up positive as a variant of Terran writing and I was affirmed in it being a form of some sort based on the wording of the text. The boxes seemed like an odd sort of job application, asking for the typical name, contacts, and prior work experiences, but quickly took a strange turn as it began asking for where their home on Earth was prior to arrival, what family they had on Venlil Prime if any, and where they worked, implying that they were seeking individuals who were already employed.
I knew little about human employment methods, but I didn’t imagine that sourcing individuals from other jobs was the most efficient way to gain a workforce. Terran service industries already dotted the planet while many humans also found work in local environments. So what was the angle that the creator of this application was going for?
Most concerningly was that the paper had no insignia, identifying marks, or noted address to return the form to. “And where did you find it again?”
“In the garbage, alongside this intact tracker that was activated at the time of recovery. Y’know, when I was dumpster diving. Text on the document showed it was addressed to one ‘Choctaw Nexus’.”
“A pseudonym of some sort?”
“Clearly. Short sorting through the archives shows the first name traces back to the group out east - perhaps you've heard about them. How the name and the items we have here are connected is beyond my understanding, but-”
“Well, this has been an absolutely riveting discussion about your collection of trash, Qitel,” I told him as I stood up to leave. “But this really sounds like an issue to be resolved by your fellow guildsmen.”
The sound of another shell splitting rang out as I turned away.
“I'm not through talking with you, predator.”
The sting as a piece nailed me in the back of the head prompted me to whirl back around, sticking my beak in the insolent yotul's snout. “Perhaps you've forgotten, little man,” I cooed in an equally bittersweet tone to the one he gave me before. “The krakotl never had a problem with settling issues the old-fashioned way before the interview. Try me and find out why I'm in the line of work I am.”
“Oh, we wouldn't want that in such a"- he waved his paw to a group of passersby who had stopped to gawk at my display -”public forum. Please, contain yourself.”
I had to force the feathers on my back to settle and I raised my head away from him. “What else is it you wanted, then?”
“Well, I'd appreciate if you took this merchandise off my paws,” he told me as he brushed the electronics and printout toward me.
“Why would I do that?”
“Because you're closer to the humans than I'd ever care to be, and may be able to find out who this Choctaw Nexus is. Something about the package just feels… off. And I know when to trust my feelings. Besides, we both know that you know where Tac is, don't we?”
“I don't-”
“We have videographic evidence that you conspired with a human - of the aforementioned squatters, no less - and let the kid escape. You're not as sneaky as you think, and if we find this ‘Choctaw Nexus’ turns out to be a bad actor that can be traced back to them - and by extension, you - well, there’d be no talking down my boss from having you dealt with. By helping me find out who this is, you may yet be able to clear your name of any wrongdoing.”
I clenched my beak tightly to maintain a straight face. Qitel stood up with a flourish and discarded the bag he was carrying in a bin.
“See, the krakotl were never special for using threats and bullying to get results. It's because you were good at killing predators,” he jeered. “Now, if you don't mind, this primitive has appointments to attend to… old lady who got trampled courtesy of the humans and all. You stay out of trouble, Hileen, and stay in touch.”
The self-assured marsupial melded into the crowd in a matter of seconds, leaving me with a table containing dumpster trophies and a pile of shells. Reluctantly, I swept the shells into my wing and dumped them into the bin before gathering the other two items he'd left me and stuffing them into my bag. I'd been gone from Nampi long enough and she would notice my absence before long.
Crossing the walkway again, I could spot from where I stood that Nampi was indeed still in the Platinum Paw. I approached, and soon I found that while she didn't seem to have noticed me stepping away, she was definitely in a soured mood based on the sagging of her ears and tail. With my talons clacking on the floorboards, I hustled to her side and her mood chippered up ever so slightly as she heard me approach.
I chimed in, “Find anything?”
“Everything. I want everything, Red, and I can't decide on what I want. They all just look so great!”
From behind, a voice called out, “Nampi!”
We both jumped at the exclamation and turned about to spot the venlil lady I'd seen before spring from behind the shelf. The man poked his head from behind the shelf too, though less enthusiastically and with yet another bag in his clutches. My friend's eyes widened in surprise with her tail and ears perking up in kind. With a light in her eyes, she exclaimed, “Nalek!”
The two embraced with shrill squeals and laughter as Nalek's accompaniment and I traded awkward glances.
“It's been too long!”
“You never stayed in contact!”
The women exchanged giddy greetings and the pompous stranger turned to me, leering over me as though she was sizing me up.
“Who's your friend here?”
“Oh she's actually my-...”
Nampi paused for a moment, looking back to me.
“Yeah, she's a friend.”
“A friend,” Nalek repeated while her eyes flicked between Nampi and I. “Right.”
Somehow, I get the impression that that was judgemental.
“I'm Hileen, by the way,” I chirped, “if names are to be exchanged.”
“Hileen, that's a lovely name! And such plumage to match, it's a wonder you aren't swarmed by suitors!”
Internally, I groaned at the notion. The idea of being approached by someone to state their interest in me made me queasy, to say the least. Thankfully, I never had that issue growing up as most of the other drakes in school were too busy chasing girls who didn't have a lousy pigmentation mutation such as myself.
“I'm flattered,” I told Nalek before turning to the man whose name had yet to be introduced. “May we get your name?”
“Sask.”
His response was succinct and tonally flat, though there was a brief silence as I expected him to elaborate. Nalek's beads jingled as she lashed him on the calf with her tail.
“I'm Sask, Nalek's fiancée,” he added, throwing her a look to see if she was satisfied.
Nampi gasped with her paws over her snout. “Fiancée! Nalek, you're getting married and you never even told me!”
“Well, I felt a little guilty since it technically broke our pact we made when we were pups. You remember that?”
“Of course! Why wouldn’t I? ‘Let she who bonds through betrothal first be cast out unto the world for all to admonish her!’”
Sask and I both gave inquisitive expressions. “You two spoke like that as pups?” Sask asked.
“Well, I'm paraphrasing,” Nampi admitted with a playful ear waggle. “But you get the gist.”
“Indeed, they do, sweet Nampi. Now, may I ask what you're doing bringing your avian friend here into this store on this fine claw?”
“Oh, no no, she's the one treating me! Isn't that right, Red?”
I saw her tail twitch and was sure it took restraint not to tickle my neck with it as we stood before her old friend.
“She's been a good friend,” I explained. “So I wanted to reverse the roles for once and treat her to something myself.”
Nampi skipped over to me and wrapped her arm around me, glancing back to her old friend. “See? We'd all be so lucky to have a… friend like her.”
“So I've witnessed. But perhaps you're a bit stuck, as I've seen you prancing up and down these aisles for a while, no? Maybe you don't know what you want?”
“Nalek, you know I've never been good about making my mind up.”
“Some things never change, you ditz. Tell you what: you and Sask go find us a seat and we can catch up all we'd like when we're not taking up aisle space, yes? So shoo! I'll help Hileen here pick one out for you!”
With a bored grunt, Sask made off with the goods he had strapped to himself, followed by Nampi who gave me one more playful tail flick before dashing off into the crowd. I looked back to the mottled snout of Nalek who watched her friend wander off with a wistful glance.
“She was my first, you know.”
“Your what now.”
“Love. Way back when we were growing from pups into young adults back in private education, we explored much together. We saw each other through a lot, including the less savory parts of finding a mate. When Nampi realized it wasn't the boys she was into, she turned to me, and I offered my hand as her stalwart companion… to a point.”
“You weren't interested in her the same way?”
“I'd grown up seeing her as a sister of sorts, so ultimately, when we split it off, we stayed close as friends and she never seemed to be bothered by it. She struggled to find others in school who had the same interests as herself, but she never fussed about it.”
Nalek's claws browsed over a set of pouched bandoliers made with intricate embroidering. “Have you two… spent the night together? Alone?”
Spiritually, I reeled from the inquiry. The whiplash from that question was equitable to being smacked by a human. “Wha- why? How's that pertinent to the subject at hand?”
“That sounds like a ‘yes’ to me,” she purred with a smug glance my way.
I didn't need to begin to list the different ways such a question was violating to our privacy, and yet this woman was treating it like a game.
“Not really your concern, ma'am.”
Nalek chuckled as she picked out one of the bandoliers and inspected it with her claws. “I'd like to think that she and I still have that old connection, despite everything. And to that end, I know that she's no slag and doesn't trust easy. To see her be so vulnerable around you and to talk so highly of someone who's clearly below her income level as a predator…”
She stretched the bandolier out to appreciate the design in its entirety.
“Well, that's something special. Here"- she foisted the accessory into my wings as I stood gobsmacked -"this just screams her name.”
“This is, like, double my budget.”
“Love don't come cheap, darling. You wanna see good things happen, sometimes you've gotta step out of your comfort zone and grasp for it!”
“I'm being lectured by a rich woman on finances.”
“It's a philosophy that goes beyond money, ‘Red.’ The humans have a saying, in their horrendously predatory nomenclature, that contains a kernel of truth: ‘you miss every shot you don't take’.”
Yep, that's definitely a human phrase.
Nalek's steely braid rattled with every flick of the tail as we proceeded through the checkout.
“You want things to change between you and her?” she continued. “Don't just wait for it to happen.”
She let the conversation rest there as we finished the purchase, possibly to let me recuperate mentally from the damage done to my account. Outside, we found our respective partners sitting at a table with Sask looking up in boredom as Nampi chatted away, though she immediately shut up and turned to me with excited flicks of her tail as she saw what I was carrying.
I held it toward her and she happily shot to her feet, effortlessly removing the tags with her claws and clipping it to her belt. Nalek clapped and waggled her tail as the giddy lady did a whirl about to let us admire the accessory. While I'd have preferred one with pockets to give it a more practical use, I decided to let Nalek have the victory as our mutual friend clearly enjoyed it.
The rest of the paw was a blur as the two friends chatted without end until Sask eventually reminded his betrothed that they had a schedule to attend to. Though Nalek offered to call us a taxi home as a gesture of kindness, I saw through her ruse to determine that she was trying to pull a fast one on me - the clever ear flick she gave as we boarded the automated vehicle sold it for me.
We sat in the seats as the vehicle took the express ride home.
Nampi cleared her throat before she spoke, “Thank you for taking some time to spend with me, I know you've had a lot less free time as of late.”
“It's a prison of my own design, if I must be honest. A feedback loop of working a job that doesn't guarantee a paycheck to pay for rent that keeps going up, and thus needing to work more.”
The venlil giggled and chided me, “You really should've stayed in university.”
“There's a lotta 'should haves’ that've led me to this point. No use wondering what could have been.”
“There's always a use for wondering what could have been, Hileen.”
She wrapped an arm around my shoulder.
“Every decision I make, I always wonder what I could've done differently that it'd have turned out better,” she explained as she waved her free paw to the sky. “It's how you grow as a person, Red.”
Her silky pelt felt heavenly in contrast to the chilly air from outside, making it hard to let her words sink in.
“You rich types seem chock full of philosophy. I wonder if I'll become a brooding orator when I get some cash to my name.”
The cab filled with laughter as we veered around the final corner to my neighborhood, as it was the closest stop. The door popped open accompanied by a chime from the drone, signaling for me to depart.
But before my talons could even hit the pavement, I felt Nampi's scrawny arms wrap around my waist and she let out a pitiful mewl again.
“You don't need to get off here,” she told me with a pouty expression. “We can spend the rest of the paw at my place.”
“I'd love it, but I need to water my plants and get the month's bills sorted before they're due. Again.”
One claw at a time, I plucked her paws from around my waist and the childish venlil conceded, giving me another ear waggle as I departed. “I'll see you tomorrow?” I asked her.
“If you still have eyes by then, then you can bet your ass!”
“I still don't gamble.”
“You'll come around to it eventually.”
I shut the door to the taxi and watched as it carted away the one venlil who I ever truly felt on the same wavelength as. Fiddling with the lock felt like more of a chore than usual at this time as I felt a little voice tugging at the back of my head.
“You miss every shot you don't take.”
The lock felt jammed as I began to jiggle it more vigorously with the electric key. Either the RFID or NFC readers were messed up, as the lock refused to accept my key. I looked up and down the street, though Nampi was now long gone for me to rescind my earlier rejection.
“Every decision I make, I wonder what I could've done differently.”
The door rattled as I grew more and more infuriated with the lock. Qitel's smug expression as he threatened me so boldly in public played back in my head, and I wondered what would've happened had I decided to go through with insulting his mother. Better yet, I wondered what could've been had I not backed down in the face of his unflinching confidence.
Bzzt. The lock rejected my key again.
“Raagh! You fucking useless hunk of junk!”
I squawked in anger and kicked against the door, careless of the consequences of having Markol back down here to admonish another of his tenants for causing a ruckus. The walls were surprisingly sturdy for how ineffective the venlil architecture looked on the surface and I reeled back in pain as my leg throbbed.
Click.
I looked to my left to see that it wasn't my door that came open, but that of the twins. The door cracked open ever so slightly, no doubt nudged by the force of my tirade and I sighed. Nobody was expected to be home at this time, with Vili being away and Luka leaving early to get a head start.
Luka had been given a stern talking-to by the landlord for allowing one of those cats into his apartment through neglect, and I was disappointed that he seemed to have not learned his lesson this time. In fact, it seemed he hadn't even thought to lock the door this time.
I took it upon myself to shut the door for him before turning back to my own apartment door. Grasping the key with one talon, I turned it ever so gently, though the lock still refused to give in.
With a bit more force, the torsion applied to the key felt as though it should've snapped it by now. Markol sure didn't waste any expense for the security for this place, doubtlessly as a result of his history in electronic security, but I wished now that he had provided a way in that didn't rely on privately sourced locks.
Considering my options as I stood trapped outside, I realized that I had never gotten around to paying for a new lock for Tadi. I'd considered contacting her to inform her that Tac had made it out of town safely, but that'd involve also telling her that her son was now in the care of humans as if that was a better outcome to her.
Stepping out front, I realized that there was one more option I hadn't considered: my window. I usually forgot to lock it after I was through letting air circulate and I was silently grateful to myself for this absentmindedness now more than ever. Sticking a foot on the threshold, I lifted myself in a way that'd allow me to have leverage to force the window open.
The window made me fight for every inch, but I felt a strange satisfaction as it slowly opened up into an entrance that I could squeeze my way through. I let out a sigh as my talons clicked against the cool floor and slid the window shut.
I laid my satchel on the couch and turned back to the door, ready to unleash my fury on the disobedient object. But as I reached for the lock to manually open the door, I noted that the lights on the RFID interface both flashed at once, blinking erratically. Red and green flickered without rhyme or reason, indicating that it was both active and inactive.
As pretty as the colors were, I now knew that Markol's locks were not as reliable as he had touted them about: typically, such would not occur unless the device was damaged deliberately, and yet nothing indicated that I'd had uninvited guests. One could pray that those cats didn't secretly know how to cobble together an ECM jammer, but my personal wager was on faulty equipment.
Settling in, I browsed my favorite soaps on the television. For what was intended to be a day of relaxation and show of affection for a friend, I found myself rather wound up over all the things that added up. Couples threw around flowery words and swooned over one another on screen as I felt the tension diffuse. My holopad rang and I turned it over to spot that Nampi was informing me that she'd arrived home safely.
>>> Feels empty here, all alone.
She made sure to drive the point home with a sticker of a venlil making a pouty expression.
Next time, I thought to myself, I'll get it right for you, Nampi.
[ First / Previous / Next ]

Spring had finally begun to fully settle over Casterly Rock, and the early season showers had slowly given way to serene, sunny afternoons. Joanna kept the windows cast open as often as she could, especially in the nursery. The children would need the fresh sea air to preserve their health, what with so much travelling ahead of them.
Daena most of all, blessed creature.
Joanna had perched herself on the edge of Daena’s bed, running a comb through the princess’ tangled tresses. Daena was doing her utmost not to fidget from her place on the horsehair bench, and failing.
“It hurts,” she reported, though Joanna had taken care to be generous with the oil she put on the comb.
“I know, precious, but this is why you ought to let me braid your hair before you venture into the brambles.”
She hummed a tune from a play they’d seen the evening prior, which distracted Daena for a good while until the Princess started squirming once more.
“I made you something,” she said after a time.
“Oh?”
“By myself, with my needles.”
Without turning round, Daena stuck a hand under the waist of her skirt to rummage through her pockets, eventually producing a small wad of cloth.
Joanna couldn’t determine what it was with any certainty, but she inspected it with awe nonetheless.
“Such fine craftsmanship! Show me how to use it properly.”
“You do it like this,” Daena said, dabbing the cloth against her face. “But with water.”
A washcloth, Joanna realised.
“Oh, how thoughtful of you. I’ll treasure it always. Thank you, sweetling.”
Daena settled then for a while, it seemed, listening patiently to Joanna’s humming. It was a play about the trials of a young shepherd. Willem had spent much of his time since imitating the sheep, bleating at his siblings while they broke their fast. It caught her by surprise when Daena spoke next.
“I wish you were my mother.”
Joanna paused, halfway through a tangle. She set the brush aside, leaning down to envelop Daena in an embrace.
“I would be so honoured to have a daughter like you, but we ought not to discuss such things.”
“Why not?”
“Because it would make your mother sad. We can be something else, if you want. Something special, but different.”
Daena was content with that for only a moment. Joanna hadn’t even begun to tackle the next knot when a small hand closed around hers. Daena had twisted in her seat to look up at her.
“My mother won’t be sad. She’s never sad.”
“I had a lovely little girl much like you, once. I know it would have made me sad.”
That was enough new information for her to ponder in silence. Daena resumed her obedient position between Joanna’s knees and let her finish her work on her hair. It shone in the firelight, a molten mix of silver and gold. Joanna weaved it into two neat plaits before pinning them, one overtop the other, to form a crown at the top of her head.
“There we are. You look lovely, Princess.”
“Are we going sailing today?”
Joanna wished that Damon had neglected the topic entirely, but he’d slipped, mentioning their plans to the children over breakfast. While Desmond was entirely uninterested– or perhaps more excited to have the opportunity to get up to mischief without them– Daena was less than thrilled at the idea that she was not invited.
“Another day, perhaps. It’ll just be me and your father, I’m afraid.”
“Can’t I go with you?”
“Not this time.”
“I never get sick on the boat.”
“I’ve never been afraid of that.”
“I don’t understand. Why do you have to be alone?”
“Because, little dove, people who love one another want to spend time together.”
“You love him?”
“What do you think?”
Joanna squished Daena’s cheeks between her hands just to watch her squirm before sending her off with a kiss.
She met Damon at the docks before the sun had sunk below the horizon, casting its light in shades of red, orange, pink and purple all across the sky. She wondered if she ought to have been worried by the invitation, given his sudden morbid fascination with an untimely death, but the evening was too lovely to squander contemplating such matters.
“A thousand apologies for the delay, Your Grace. Your daughter’s hair was beyond saving.”
“A family trait, I’m afraid,” Damon said with a smile, and he extended a hand to help her onto The Maid of the Mist.
She rewarded him with a kiss on the cheek once safely on board.
The Maid of the Mist was one of the few places where both she and he could truly be alone – no Kingsguard, no city watch, no advisors… just the two of them. Oftentimes, they’d retreat into themselves, Damon focused entirely on the sails, the rudder, the horizon, herself daydreaming of what could have been.
Being alone together was something they both cherished and had unfortunately found little time for in recent weeks. Joanna’s residual anger aside, Damon had been too preoccupied with the Great Council to escape. Once again, they were left to pretend that things were simpler, and that they’d never ceased taking the opportunity to enjoy each other’s company in contented silence.
Once Casterly Rock was far enough behind them and Damon had set the sails, they found each other. Damon had kicked off his boots and sat himself by the rudder, leaving a place for Joanna to sidle up against him. It was quiet, save for the lapping of the waves, and slowly she could feel the tension they’d boarded with melting away.
“My sister will be arriving soon.” It was Damon who broke the silence after a time.
“I have everything in hand. You needn’t worry.”
“I’m worrying about the things that cannot be in hand. Such as my sister herself.”
“I think you forget how well I know your sister.”
“Knew my sister.” He looked down at her, nestled in the crook of his arm, and raised an eyebrow. “Have you forgotten the reception she gave you in Oldtown?”
“I had other things on my mind. Seeing you again, mainly. Besides, we’ve always had that sort of relationship. The push and pull.”
“Another thing about women I suppose I’ll never understand.”
She looked up to see him smiling; she hated that she could forgive that sort of grin so readily. Doubly so now that their son shared one that looked much the same. She swatted him before settling back into his arm.
“Don’t spoil the moment, Damon Lannister.”
He squeezed her tighter to himself.
“I’m glad we have this moment.”
Her throat suddenly felt unbearably tight. Every conversation they’d had as of late had been tinged with a sense of foreboding, as though a fortune teller had promised Damon that his death waited just around the corner.
“The children are displeased with their new wardrobes.”
“Oh?”
“Well, Willem didn’t fuss at least, and Daena is positively delighted we’ll match. Desmond, however… was very unhappy. Especially about the stiffness of his shirt collars.”
“Hm. There will be more than just the children unhappy with a matching ensemble.”
“I don’t mean to offend. In truth, if I thought it bothered you, I never would have suggested it.”
Damon pulled away to look her in the eyes. “No, it doesn’t bother me. Quite the opposite, in fact. It brings me great pleasure to see our family presented as it ought to be.” He leaned back into their embrace. “It’s only my sister I was thinking of,” he explained. “Though nothing will be able to appease Ashara in this regard, and so half measures are whole wastes of our time.”
“Ashara is hardly the sort to be unhappy without reason.”
“I don’t mean to say she hasn’t her reasons, only that those reasons needn’t beckon me to action. I cannot fix the world’s unhappiness, Joanna, but I can try to make my children happy. I can try to make you happy. Tell me how I can make you happy.”
“I am the most happy.”
“Hm. And yet not the most believable.”
She scowled at him then, though it was only half meant, and quickly soothed when he offered her an apology kiss in turn.
“I have something for you.”
“I’ve heard that from one Lannister already today.”
“Oh?”
“Daena made me a washcloth.”
“Ah, is that what that was?”
“As though you could ever present a gift even half as worthy – handmade, thoughtful.”
Damon raised an eyebrow playfully. “What I have for you is handmade, just… Well, not by my own hands, necessarily. And thoughtful? I hope so. A great deal of thought went into it. All the thoughts I have, in fact.”
“Well, not to be greedy but get on with it then.”
“Wait here.” He got up, taking care not to disturb her, and moved to the cabin.
Joanna pulled her knees to her chest and rested her chin atop them. The breeze off the Sunset Sea was warm. Spring has truly settled in and she decided that should summer never come, that would be fine enough. This was fine enough – for both of them.
When Damon returned he was carrying a small leather pouch in his hands, which he held with care as he took his seat back beside her on the deck.
“I hope it isn’t another washcloth, darling, because I already have a favourite.”
“Here, see for yourself.” He gingerly passed her the bag, not being able to contain a final, “careful,” as he did so.
Joanna opened the bag carefully to find a set of jewels– necklace, earrings, bracelet and small sunburst tiara, all in the most dazzling matching rubies.
“These are Lannister jewels.”
“They’re your jewels.”
“No, they’re–”
“They’re yours, Joanna. For decades now, they’ve been set aside for you.”
Joanna felt almost afraid to touch them, still holding the open satchel and staring at the treasure within. When she reached a hand forward, her fingers were trembling and she could not bring herself to continue.
“Put them on,” Damon insisted.
“No, you put them on me.”
He obeyed, taking back the satchel and then sitting up properly to clasp the necklace around her throat, the earrings on her ears, the teeth of the tiara’s comb in her hair, the bracelet around her slender wrist. The last she could see glittering in the sun reflected off the Sunset Sea.
She wished she could see the rest of them.
“Well, how do I look? Like the Lady of the Rock?” It felt strange to say out loud. They’d been dancing around the subject for so long.
“You’ve always looked like the Lady of the Rock, Joanna. Now you look like my wife.”
He had always been the only one who could make her blush.
“I’d say to never take them off, but you do have to sleep, I suppose.”
She laughed, feeling light and breathless as she tilted her wrist to watch the gold of her bracelet catch the gold of sunlight.
“I wonder,” Damon said, “how it would be for you to do so in my bed once more.”
“I have been sleeping in your bed, Damon.” Joanna refused to let him be coy. “Are you asking me to bed you properly?”
If he were embarrassed, he was trying not to let it show and Joanna delighted in that.
“I am the Lord of the Rock, am I not? What am I to do with its Lady?”
“I think you’ll be disappointed when you find that this lady does as she pleases.”
As if he’d taken it for a challenge, Damon leaned over to slide an arm around her waist, pressing his forehead against hers. She could feel her hair brush the floorboards of the deck, and at once wanted to feel them under her back.
“You’re my wife, Joanna,” he said, murmuring the words as he buried his face in her neck, the heavy gold and ruby earrings becoming tangled in his windswept curls. “I want to have another child with you – I want to have seven children with you. It’s a holy number, Joanna, don’t you see?”
“Well, I do believe we made our last on this boat…” With his lips against her throat she found it harder to come up with the right words – the sensible word – no. That no, it was too risky, that no, they had gone far too far already, that no, to push even further now would be taunting the very gods themselves with–
“Six more to go, then.”
“Damon…”
“If my life were to end tomorrow, my only regret would be that I didn't spend more of it with you, Joanna, that I didn't leave this world without leaving more of you and I together in it.”
“Don’t talk like that, you aren’t–”
“But we can fix that – we can fix something at least, right now.”
Joanna slid her fingers into his messy hair, the golden bracelet disappearing into golden curls. She knew what was sensible, but The Maid of the Mist was hardly a place to be sensible. It was home, after all. For all of them.