Body aches, ringing ears, no fever

Introducing the Flex-O-Matic 3000! (Fake patent pending)

2024.06.02 16:47 Mike_Hagedorn Introducing the Flex-O-Matic 3000! (Fake patent pending)

Introducing the Flex-O-Matic 3000! (Fake patent pending)
The story of the why’s and how’s I’m just coming into this, after 43 years of playing, is a long one, so much so my fingertips ache from thinking about how long it’ll take to type out. But, I will say I had problems with mouthpiece work, as my fingers and hands hurt from holding it longer than a couple minutes at a time, and I had bad upper body- and face pressure problems which used to hurt my embouchure.
To the point, these are glasswork pliers, secured with a hair tie. Setting the mp on an angle as shown allows for the best grip and action. It can be squeezed pretty hard to “set”, then can be held gently with both hands. After a couple months I’ve found that it does not damage or distort the shank, which makes sense because it’s meant to hold glass firmly. Instead of a couple minutes, I can spend as long as I want buzzing - hours, even. No more aching hands and sore mouth. The days of warming up for 15 minutes on each horn before doing my most extreme playing are over; I get the horn warm (if it truly is cold), then off I go. It’s an incredible feeling of freedom. My trombone playing is beyond secure, my trumpet playing is a lot stronger, and I’ve exposed flaws in my tuba playing I never would’ve discovered otherwise. I figure by the end of the summer I won’t need to do even this; it’ll be the end of practicing forever, which is great because I have a stack of books I’ve been meaning to read.
So this is for you, brass. Maybe I invented something new, but probably not; I bet there’s some truss or harness out there that’s a lot more complicated and expensive than this tho. Pick one of these up at Amazon for under $10, some hair ties at Walgreens, and have at it.
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2024.06.02 16:46 throwaway4fem A simp to Ashley and her family. [Chapter 2]

My next chapter. I made this one a little "spicy", but the following chapters will probably get back to your regularly scheduled simping. Aw, poor Davey, lol
I made my way up their steps and into Ashley’s bedroom. It was far from my 1st time here at this point. I’d often be called over to “hang out”. At the best of times, this involved me down on my knees, rubbing Ashley’s tired feet or painting her toenails as she controlled the conversation. Mostly just her venting about her day, sometimes about some recent party she went to that I was never invited to. Or just tidying up as she relaxed on her large bed and played with her phone or watched tv. I loved any opportunity to be around Ashley. Plus her room had an electric energy to me. I could take a deep breath and smell her very essence through the air. Not to mention the perks of being her little “simp”. Last time I was over I found a loose stay hair on her pillow as I was fluffing it up after making her bed. I was able to sneak that little strand of hair in my pocket and take it home. OMG, I lasted for weeks with that being my main source of masterbation material!!
Tonight I was actually hoping for a quick cleanup. Between this, helping Mrs. Smith and Ashley’s homework, time always seems to get away from me and I spend the next day dragging myself like a zombie. As soon as I walked in her room, I knew I would be a while. Ashley has many great qualities; tidiness isn’t one of them! She had old plates of food sitting on her desk. Chocolate wrappers just tossed on hr floor. Her clothes! She had a mix of worn and dirty clothes thrown about and hanging off of every chair, banister, and littering the ground. I’d have to inspect each item to confirm if they were clean or dirty before finding the appropriate place for them. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her hamper with bra dangling out. It must have been worn. And I could touch it. I felt myself get hot and got those same butterflies in my tummy.
"There you are. What took so long?" Ashley had removed her makeup and decided to make herself more comfortable. She changed out of her trendy day clothes which still followed all school guidelines, which included , and plunging neckline of form rubbing jeans and a slight midriff-baring top, that had a swooping neckline to show off her chest proudly, Though they needed no help showing off. Her body often even had some teachers drooling. Those sexy clothes were gone now that it was just us. Now she wore her grey sweatpants, her socks and an old cami top. I know the look wasn't "sexy" but knowing she had removed her bra and only a thin piece of fabric separated us was almost too much to think about. Butterflies in my tummy again.
"Oh, i'm so sorry, Ashley! Your Mom just a-asked me to help with some, um, washing up, in the laundry room after."
"See! Her and my Dad complain about me not doing my own chores, but then she goes and has you scrubbing dirty underwear like some 1950's bimbo housewife! It's because she doesn't wanna do that gross boring shit either! And can you believe my Dad!? Building character!? Like, really? And another thing- Oh, Davey, didn't you hear? My mom gave the okay. You can start on my room.” She gave me an expectant look and I took the hint and grabbed y cleaning spray and rubber gloves.
"Here, start here-“ She remained standing but pointed at a stain with her socked foot. "I spilled some soda I guess and it's like, sticky or something."
And I got started cleaning the disaster of a room as Ashley finished venting and then relaxed at her desk. "I'll help in a sec. Just want to check insta 1st..."
Off I went scrubbing and dusting and tidying and primping and promping the teenage girl's room while I was for the most part ignored. I’ll save the boring details of scrubbing and tidying up a teenage girl’s bedroom. About and hour or so later, my fingers ached and my back was starting to hurt from being bent over so much.
"Okay, I think I pretty much got everything in a place your parents would approve, um, Ashley?"
She was now relaxing on her bed, reclined against the pillows. She was still over the sheets with her laptop on her stomach. I remember thinking how it must be hard to see the screen over her rising chest.
"What's that?" She looked up from her laptop for the 1st time in maybe an hour. "Oh sorry, I was messaging with Ryan. I must have got distracted".
Ugh, Ryan. Classic jock jerk! And of course her on again off again boyfriend. Honestly these days he mostly just treated her as friends with benefits. I have no idea why she puts up with him! He's crude, rude and just flat out doesn't treat her like the princess she is!! I have had her cry on my shoulder more times than I can count from this brute, but then the next weekend she is behind the bleachers sucking his cock!! Yuck, hard to imagine my sweet, confident princess getting on her knees for some brute! It's only a matter of time before she realizes she actually prefers sweet and caring types, and then maybe she even finds them sexy, and would even get down on her knees for someone like, like m-"
"Davey! This room looks great. What would you say to a little reward?"
Remember when I said the lines were blurred in the relationship. This is one of those blurred lines.
"A, r-r-rreward? You mean like-"
"OMG, look at your face. I really am too good to you, aren't I. God it's been what, a couple weeks since I let you eat me out, huh?"
"Uh, yeah, um, uh, yes, it-it's been um, yea, uh 3 m-m-months now, um, uh, A-Ash-l-ley..."
"Wowwwww, aw, that's a long time for you. Yea, I was gonna hop in a quick shower before bed, it was a long day. But then I started talking to Ryan and well, now I'm in the mood. Plus you really deserve it. You have been SO sweet lately. It’s nothing crazy. Just kinda want to grind one out to help me sleep you know?"
"Oh, uh, um, y-y-yes, th-thank you-u, I- I, uh, um yes, I unders-s-stand Ashley".
"Good boyyyy. K, in you go". She got under the covers and held the blanket up for me to crawl in. She pulled her sweatpants down, and then threw her underwear off the side of the bed. Under the dark heat of the covers, all I could see are the most beautiful golden tan and toned legs rising out of her ankle socks, and climbing until they met the most perfect, tight and perfectly trimmed pussy. When I got close I could smell her excitement and I could see a slight slickness by her folds. She must have been getting wet while talking to Ryan, ugh, yuck!
"Here!" she said as she ripped the covers off me temporarily blinded by the light. "Open!"
Instinctively my body naturaly obeys any command from her lips, and I opened my mouth wide. A second later I saw her reach for a tube and she squirted it in my open mouth.
"It's lube. Swish it around to warm it up for me. Plus it’ll get your tongue all extra slippery.” I obediently opened my mouth wider and stuck out my tongue as she took one hand and grabbed my face, squeezing my cheeks slightly to push open and out my lips into a dramatic ‘O’ shape with my tongue hanging out. With her other hand she squeezed the bottle with an undignified glorrp. I gently swished the off-tasting, gloopy mess around my mouth as Ashley instructed. "Mmmmmmmm, that's hot. That's gonna feel so good. K, ready?"
I tried to mumble something back, but warmed lube only crept out the side of my mouth. Luckily I think it was rhetorical as she threw the blanket down on top of me as I began gently licking. Just like that I was in heaven. She tasted of natural feminine juices with a slight hint of the day’s perspiration. My poor Ashley must have really had a long day! Her moans and grinding of her hips urging me on, as well as her little comments of direction here and there.
"Mmmmmmmm, slower. Flick it. Higher. Oh yes, Ryan. Mmmmmmm, fuck. Oh Ryan, Oh Ryannn, mmmmmm”
Ugh, really, him?
It was only a few minutes before her 1st orgasm. I could feel her thighs gently tighten with a delicate moan. I guess she changed her mind about a quick cum, as when I went to get up for air after her 1st release, her hand roughly grabbed my hair by the scalp and re-positioned my face so it was firmly mashed against her pelvis.
My aching erection was painfully pushing against my bikini bottoms and pants. I could feel my poor little penis throb and starting to leak. It was so hot seeing her as she took out her vibrator and pleasured herself as I licked wherever there was space around her movements. Desperate to please her and be useful. This was my chance to impress her, I thought as I licked so hard it ached. It was so cute seeing her comments getting more intense as she got more lost in her own pleasure.
"Fuck yes. Lick me, slut! Uuungh, deeper, I SAID LICK DEEPER! Oh fuck, yes, bitch, just like that. Fucking lick right there. Now lower, LOWER, SLUT”
Sure, I've heard the names the other kids call me at school. Simp, loser, cuck, her bitch. But who else but me gets to see her in these most intimate of moments when she really loses herself.
After another 10 min her thighs clamped down on my head. I could no longer hear anything, I could barely breathe and was trapped in a conjuncture of her sweaty flesh, lube and natural juices. Just as I was preparing to tap out, or succumb to her body, she relaxed. I heard the sound of her vibrator switch off.
Next thing I knew, the sheets were ripped off and I felt the flat of her somewhat sweaty foot on my forehead, pushing me away as I desperately tried to get 1 more glimpse of her most intimate area.
“Mmmm, that was nice.” Ashley rolled off the bed. Still in a daze, I had the most amazing view of her golden, toned ass cheeks. “Well I’m off to shower and then I need some sleep. I’m beat. Did you enjoy your little treat, Davey? You owe me one now!” she said with a wink. "No problem having my history homework done by tomorrow, ya?"
I went to confirm I’d stay up late but my sore and achey tongue just flopped out of my mouth with a “Yeth Asthley. Thatth no pwobrum".
Ashley giggled as she walked out of the room. I watched her butt cheeks bounce as she called over her shoulder “rinse your mouth after you finish whatever my mom needed. That lube stuff might be toxic or something. Can’t have anything happen to my little puppy. But it feels great! I’d get used to that lube taste."
My heart swooned as I drifted downstairs before I continued my night of drudgery. But nothing else mattered. Ashley was happy with me. And she must be satisfied with my oral servitude! She wants to keep it a regular thing!!! She must have really loved it. You know what they say, 1st comes love, then comes marriage!!
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2024.06.02 16:25 Arkegon290 Hol’up, I might be onto something? (Who is Melina)

Before I begin, I’d like to say that I have no idea if this theory is already floating around. If it is, please link me the discussion, for I need answers.
Part 1: The birth of the Golden Order
Alright, it all began with a doubt I had about “was the rune of death plucked from the elden ring, or taken from the Gloam Eyed Queen?”, which we reached a half conclusion that might make some sense.
User SplitSecond01 gave a nice insight:
“Just a guess but we find the elden ring within Marika at the end of the game (at least that's how it looks to me). So it's therefore possible she found the ring within the GEQ and took the rune of death out of it at the same time, in a similar way to how we can alter the elden ring depending on the ending.”
With that in mind, I drew some implications of that, which were:
With those implications, I thought that the theory that Melina=GEQ had to be wrong, for Melina was born in the Golden Order era and the GEQ was before it, but I did some more thinking and here is where my theory begins.
Part 2: The marked eye
First we need to look at Ranni. When she kills her fingers, we can see her body without her spirit attached to her, and the mark on her eye is colorless. With this in mind I would say that the eye mark only has color for the spirit, not the physical body.
Melina also has a closed marked eye, and as she is a spirit, her mark is colored, which means her spirit is attached to some physical body somewhere, just like Ranni.
In the game, it is never said the GEQ was killed. It’s said she was defeated and that nobody knows of her fate after that.
I think Marika sent Maliketh to defeat the GEQ, plucked the rune of death from within the GEQ body, sent Maliketh away to seal destined death, then needed to seal the GEQ somehow. So Marika created Melina and gave her the purpose of sealing away the GEQ. Now, Melina is just a spirit bodiless (the GEQ has her body) and burned.
Now let’s enter the burned part.
When we find Ranni’s body on one of the towers, her body is completely burned. So, maybe, the spirit-body sealing spell, or ritual, of whatever, has the need to burn the body.
It would explain the whole “burned and bodiless” thing, her closed marked eye, that she is the GEQ, the purpose she was given at birth, the reason why we don’t see descriptions of her at all anywhere (she was born, then fulfilled her purpose and nobody had to know about her existence), and that she could be daughter of Marika and the GEQ at the same time. It would also explain why, in the frenzied flame ending, the mark on her eye is colorless (that is the GEQ, Melina’s physical body, who detains the power of destined death).
There is one caveat though. The mark on Melina’s eye in the cinematic of the frenzied flame is on the left eye, and following what we know from Ranni, the mark should be on the right eye. This could either be an oversight of FS when making the cinematic, or it potentially breaks the theory.
Another possible caveat is that…
Part 3: Torrent
Miquella, in his adventures with spirits, met his sister Melina, and created a way to summon spirits (St. Trina’s creation, the Spirit Calling Bell), making Torrent special (that’s why he has a different summoning item). Torrent can move freely, without the need to be on someone to transport him (like other spirits we find).
I think whatever Miquella’s plan is, he needs a tarnished. So, when he goes to the shadowland, he leaves behind ways to aid the tarnished on his journey. He gives Torrent the mission to choose the right tarnished, he gives Torrent to Melina (Miquella has a will to help others, as we already saw), so that it can transport her around and aid her until Torrent completes his mission, and leaves with Ranni the Spirit Calling Bell for her to give it to the new master of Torrent. (He didn’t leave the bell with Melina because it is a physical item, and she, as a spirit, cannot carry it).
This would explain why Melina has Torrent, why Torrent chooses us in the beginning, and why there is sleeping mist when Ranni gives us one of St. Trina’s creations.
The caveat: in the frenzied flame cinematic (this bloody cinematic that is breaking the theory and my sanity with it), Melina takes torrent back. If that is indeed the GEQ, she shouldn’t have any sympathy for torrent. UNLESS, in that time, Melina’s spirit is reunited with her body (both eyes open), thus creating one body and two spirits (much like Marika/Radagon, or Miquella/St. Trina).
Another thing I would like to mention, but is not of much importance for the theory, is that Melina, after going to the tree, says she is now acting on her own volition, which could mean she, at the foot of the tree, remembered what happened, or that she got in touch with the GEQ somehow and agrees with the GEQ. That’s why she also says that this world is broken and in desperate need of repair, of death indiscriminate (of the rune of death/destined death back into the elden ring, back to the world).
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2024.06.02 16:24 arekban Harmless Human Sacrifice 4

First Prev Next Patreon
Gods were now fighting over Markus. On the matter of whether he should feel flattered or terrified, ‘terrified’ was looking to be the stronger adjective.
As many as six different voices had piped up in the last few moments expressing some level of interest over hiring Markus following his defeat of the monster. All of these voices emanated from high-class looking box seats, and all of them carried that same affectation of power and status that one might expect of a deity.
Naturally, the crowd had fallen to silence. Who wanted to interrupt an argument between gods?
It wasn’t long before the already nonplussed Markus was flanked by Drathok, who’d spawned into existence beside him in a flash of purple lightning. The creature took one look at his dead monster, another, much longer look at Markus, then waved his hand up at the gods.
“Sacred ones! Sacred ones… I trust you all enjoyed the performance?”
“I do not wish to converse with an imp baron,” the first god spoke, a touch of ire in his voice. He was the one who’d first propositioned Markus following his fight, and the tallest of all standing to address him now. Despite their distance, Markus could make out his features well, as if he were so defined that the limits of perception need not apply to his visage. “But I will indulge you if only to speed this up. Where did you acquire this one from? Where?”
“An exotic planet in the far reaches, my lord, one heralded to produce only the mightiest warriors with the highest inherent potentials…” Drathok smiled, that same wide smile from before. “Tell me, has your holiness ever heard of the planet Earth?”
“Earth…” the god grumbled, rubbing his fingers against his chin. “No. Can’t say that I have. Sounds rather exotic…”
Markus watched the whole exchange with incredulity, still reeling with exhaustion from the fight, barely staying aloft. He worried that if he fainted now, he’d end up having an important decision be made for him, and somehow, something was keeping him going even in spite of how hard and desperately he’d fought. He had no clue what.
Still, Drathok was lying through his teeth! He’d never even heard of Earth until Markus had told him about it, and he’d pulled Markus here by total accident!
To think that he’d still try and find a way to profiteer from this situation… or maybe he was just trying to cover his own hide. Markus found it difficult to tell. Was there a chance that Markus’ unexpected victory might provoke a god’s anger?
“Question,” another voice piped up, this one female. “You say this human hails from a warrior planet, one so exotic none of us would know of it. Then why is it that your announcer insisted he was a simple, weak primitive impossibly staked to lose his life?”
“A ploy to drive both tension and excitement, your emanence! An outcome so unexpected was only meant to surprise all of you most esteemed patrons with a bout beyond your expectations!”
“Beyond my expectations…” the goddess growled ferociously, the stands trembling around her. “I’ve lost good money betting on this fight! The otherworlder was meant to be eviscerated!”
“And you will be reimbursed in full! An unfortunate cost to provide you with this most glorious turn of events, I do hope you were entertained regardless!”
“I ought to gut you where you stand, but I do suppose lying is in the nature of hellspawn.” The goddess tutted. “I will pardon this deception, but only because the fight was extraordinary. A level one human besting a D grade monster? Almost unheard of.”
“Which is why I should be the one to claim him!” another god roared. “I was the first to take note of this human’s prowess, you all should’ve caught on sooner!”
“Esteemed patrons, sacred ones…” Drathok smiled at each of them in turn, giving a small bow. “I must make you aware, this one is contracted to fight for me for the foreseeable future. To terminate said contract—”
“To buy out his service?” The tallest god sneered. “Please. I care little about your petty soul contract. Name your price. It’s a pittance to me.”
“Do I get a choice in any of this?”
Markus had said it quietly and between coughs, but that was only because his throat was so coarse. He was so frustrated with the way that he was being bargained over that he wanted to scream at them all.
“We will settle this matter later. I’m tired of gawking onlookers,” the tallest god said. “See my new champion is properly cleaned up before I visit him.”
“He’s not your champion, he’s mine!” another god blurted.
“Of course, sacred ones. Any and all of you may visit the dungeons at my leisure, you need only ask. Thank you once more for your most esteemed patronage, and please enjoy the rest of today’s performances!”
With that, Drathok and Markus both were whisked away in a flash of lightning.
Before he blinked out of the arena, he noticed that the body of the bulleater he’d slain had seemed to almost be melting away around the chest area, as if its heart had been absorbed from its body.
When they arrived back in the summoning room, Drathok’s face was split by a massive grin.
“Wonderful, boy. Simply wonderful.” He levitated a far chair over to himself and proceeded to sit, as Markus stood before him, still wracked by pain. “You passed every test I put before you with ease. Truly, you are an impressive specimen.”
“Impressive?” Markus gulped, his throat dry. “You… you mean you expected me to kill that fuck ugly thing?”
“I estimated the chance to be around five percent,” Drathok admitted, eyes glinting red. “To say I expected it might be an overstatement.”
He folded one leg over the other, looking truly at ease. “When I saw your inborn trait, I became curious about your potential, so I started zapping you with just enough magic that you might make use of it, assuming your ability had any potency to it. Seems you drank quite greedily from my mana pool, and look what it ended up leading to!” He laughed. “You’ve done well. Well enough that you won’t be stuck rotting away down here for very long. Isn’t that just splendid?”
“You bastard…” If Markus understood the situation well enough, then it was simple. Drathok had known he might be able to absorb mana from attacks from the start, and that was the precise reason he’d cast his magic on him. Not for intimidation, not for torture, but to give Markus a weapon he could use, should he have the instinct for it.
Only, it was hardly something he should be grateful for, as he’d only done it so Markus could showcase his abilities in front of a bunch of gods, who’d now want to buy him instead.
Presumably, whatever Markus could do with Mana Manipulation was worth more than the cost of replacing that monster he’d slain would be. Good for him. Great for Drathok.
Markus wasn’t gonna take this sitting down. He hadn’t fought for his life just to be sold again. He raised his hand, ready to expel the last of his excess mana despite the screaming warnings of his body, but before he could do more than bring a small pulse of power to his palm, Drathok raised a finger and held Markus completely still in doing so, locking his joints and disrupting the flow of his mana.
“Come, now. Do you really think you have a hope of winning?”
The power difference between the two was so vast that it was indescribable, even after Markus’ victory. Drathok had proven so with that single display of power. Markus struggled and thrashed in place against Drathok’s invisible hold. Any head-on confrontation was likely to be impossible.
Markus began sweating, his body aching immensely. “Fuck you. When I get out of here, I’m gonna find you and make you wish you’d never summoned me. Mark my words.”
“You can talk about your daydreams all you like. It won’t change your fate.” Drathok grinned wider, probably mentally spending the fat purse of coins he’d receive for this even as they spoke. “You want my advice? Sign yourself over to Ciphelos. He’s more lenient than the others.” Drathok began to cackle as he spoke. “After a few decades of service, he might even let you go free!”
With that, Drathok snapped his fingers, and a small, red creature appeared in a puff of smoke. “What’s up, boss?”
“Show this one to his cell. He’s performed exceptionally, so give him a rag to wash himself with. Perhaps some cheese?“
“Got it, boss,” the imp answered, before swishing its tail twice. Immediately, an ethereal chain appeared from nowhere, wrapping itself around Markus’ ankle and clamping shut, as all the while the chain affixed itself to the imp’s right hip.
Markus couldn’t even begin to tug against it. It kept his foot completely in place. When the imp moved, he moved.
As he was pulled away, he turned back only to find Drathok waving, shit-eating grin everpresent on his stupid fucking face.
“Rest well, champion! Your new life awaits!”
Markus hadn’t taken more than two unassisted steps within his cell before he collapsed to the floor. The moment that the shackles had been taken off of him and his forced march through the torchlit corridors beneath the arena had ended, his body had taken its toll on him in full force.
[Mana Poisoning II in effect. Overcharging your body’s mana past 250% of its capacity causes extreme fatigue and a consistent drain in both vitality and strength. Reducing your body’s mana below 100% of its capacity will counteract this.]
[Dealing with Mana Poisoning for long periods leads to Mana Toxicosis, a condition that will render you incapable of casting magic without inflicting heavy damage upon yourself, and in advanced stages can simply kill you.]
[Overcharge (F Grade) in effect: all physical stats have been temporarily raised by 30. Magical affinity and resilience increased. Growth heightened by 50%.]
That didn’t sound good. No wonder he was laying here in such a miserable heap of exhaustion. His whole body felt utterly incapable of moving, to the point that once the promised wet rag and food were passed into his cell, Markus couldn’t even find the energy to get up and use them, no matter how he might want to.
He supposed the temporary boost in stats had probably been necessary to carry out the fight, but if feeling like this after was the cost…
Markus decided to look around at his system more. He’d been simply thinking things and getting answers from it up until now, which seemed fairly intuitive, but he wanted a way to view everything pertinent.
He imagined himself looking at a menu, and something akin to that appeared before him. There was a list of notifications spread out, as well as means to look at various advancement trees that he had yet to realise even existed.
One thing was for sure, between draining that creature and killing it, he’d been showered with levels. There were so many notifications here…
He counted, and there were seven level ups. He’d shot up from level 1 to 8 in a single fight.
44 unspent skill points. That sounded like a lot, but he had no basis for what was high or low right now. Markus opened his stat sheet, trying to determine what he might spend them on. Part of him wanted to wait until he could amass more information, but he was on a time crunch here. He wanted to be rid of this affliction plaguing him, and he was hardly about to ask whatever god came to buy him for pointers on the most meta build for escaping them.
No, he needed to figure it out himself. Head hazy, Markus summoned his status screen, staring at it for the very first time:
[Name: Markus Brown] [Class: Otherworlder (Earth) (Tier: Novice 8)] [Health: 253/340] [Mana: 832/430]
[Strength: 48 (+30)] [Agility: 42 (+30)] [Arcana: 6] [Constitution: 49 (+30)] [Spirit: 17] [???: 0]
Didn’t take a very long look for him to realise where most of his unspent points would be going. He’d deal with the other notifications and passives demanding his attention later. For now, too much mana was the problem, and a hefty dose of Spirit seemed to be the solution.
//
First Prev Next Patreon
A/N: Hey! Thanks for reading! Bit of system experimentation and build theorising coming up early next chapter, then straight back to the action! Hope you're enjoying the story so far, it's been a blast to write for all of you!
If you wanna support me and this story, or if you just can't wait for the next chapter, the next six chapters of this story are available right now on my Patreon!
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2024.06.02 16:17 ResponsibilityOk9033 Critique my magic system!

I saw someone else doing something similar and figured this is a good way to get some feedback on mine. For starters, this is my first attempt at creating a magic system. I am running a short dnd campaign and thought it would make things more interesting to establish some new "magic" type stuff into my world. We are still using all spells and everything, this is just an addition to it that the plot will focus on as a main point.
I wanted to create a kind of grotesque and disturbing magic system, with a focus on physically altering your body, trying to emphasize in the system how it's not really supposed to be fucked with by mankind, but it still is.
The world itself im running takes place in the feudal era. Thousands of years ago, the world was ravaged by dragons, but they went extinct after an ancient war. That's important context for the system itself since the magic is going to be used by a cult of dragon worshippers trying to attain dragonhood and immortality.
So in reality dragons aren't magical. They get their power from chemistry basically. Their stomach acid combines with certain elements of their diet, which absorbs into their bodies, and lets them do things. So, a dragon that eats x+y+z, that xyz combines with their stomach acid and lets them do "A" attack. However, it dosen't have to be from the dragon itself. If a human combined x+y+z+dragon's acid, it would still produce "A" attack. So by discovering what combination of different elements of the world can create different effects, the cult gets closer to finding everything about them. But the only way to actually perform the "magic" is by locating and collecting this acid, which is found around their corpses. This is the first half of the system. Based on collecting these materials and using them to get whatever effect. But it's very experimental and can end catastrophically.
Secondly, is the concept of a Seraphic Mantle. Basically, dragons have the uncanny ability to restore their limbs and parts of their bodies after they get injured. Despite what legends may state, dragons were not immortal. They just have the ability to recover from injuries incredibly fast. They recover from injuries, similarly to how they perform magic, through their diet. Humans can also emulate this effect, but it comes with a cost.
The enamel in a dragons mouth can react with certain elements to heal themselves, depending on what they consume. Remnants of this substance is still found in their enamel after their flesh decays, and trace amounts in whatever remains of their bodies when they die. These elements can also combine to create the desired effect outside of a dragon. Ie, growing back a draconic limb, or wing, etc. However, it's under no circumstance "designed" for a human body. Activiating a ritual to restore a limb, or sprout wings for example, is not a smooth transition. As a limb grows inside a human and expands outward, it commonly ruptures and completely shatters any bone, rips through flesh, and tears away at arteries in order to grow to maturity. This process can take a varying amount of time, from a few seconds, to weeks, and it can leave a host either dead, or dying, in its wake. However, these grown limbs can be used, and are incredibly powerful. This is an incredibly brutal act. I was somewhat inspired by the visuals of something like godrick the grafted from elden ring, or the general enemy design in bloodborne.
Anyways, like I said, the ritual of consuming these parts and receiving the effects is known as receiving a "Seraphic Mantle." Soon after consuming and receiving the effects of a Seraphic Mantle, the aspect of the Mantle will decay and fall off. Ie, an extra limb, wings, claws etc. The accelerated healing from the dragons enamel will help heal the body, but it still leaves scar tissue around where the limb ripped out of the person
In the case of something that physically affects the limbs you already have, like turning your legs into Draconic Legs or an arm into a Draconic Arm, the draconic limb will completely fall off with time. The original arm will grow back, but over the span of days. The accelerated healing can create stem cells to restore the limb, but without extensive training, further use of a similar enhancement might cause the recovering limb to pull itself apart entirely.
I wanted to lean into the generally grotesque nature of changing your body with new limbs or unnatural modifications, and create a kind of body horror with how this magic system affects you, and how terrifying it would be to see as a concept. Kind of the idea that this kind of magic isn't meant to be meddled with by mankind. I plan to focus on that a lot as a theme, how much it destroys and mutilates the user of it, even though it comes with great power. I'm not very good at doing it in this description, but the major focus of this system is how it can make humans completely otherworldly and horrifying. Like I said, sort of inspired by things like Godrick the Grafted in elden ring, or the enemy design in Bloodborne.
submitted by ResponsibilityOk9033 to magicbuilding [link] [comments]


2024.06.02 16:16 ResponsibilityOk9033 Critique my magic system!

I saw someone else doing something similar and figured this is a good way to get some feedback on mine. For starters, this is my first attempt at creating a magic system. I am running a short dnd campaign and thought it would make things more interesting to establish some new "magic" type stuff into my world. We are still using all spells and everything, this is just an addition to it that the plot will focus on as a main point.
I wanted to create a kind of grotesque and disturbing magic system, with a focus on physically altering your body, trying to emphasize in the system how it's not really supposed to be fucked with by mankind, but it still is.
The world itself im running takes place in the feudal era. Thousands of years ago, the world was ravaged by dragons, but they went extinct after an ancient war. That's important context for the system itself since the magic is going to be used by a cult of dragon worshippers trying to attain dragonhood and immortality.
So in reality dragons aren't magical. They get their power from chemistry basically. Their stomach acid combines with certain elements of their diet, which absorbs into their bodies, and lets them do things. So, a dragon that eats x+y+z, that xyz combines with their stomach acid and lets them do "A" attack. However, it dosen't have to be from the dragon itself. If a human combined x+y+z+dragon's acid, it would still produce "A" attack. So by discovering what combination of different elements of the world can create different effects, the cult gets closer to finding everything about them. But the only way to actually perform the "magic" is by locating and collecting this acid, which is found around their corpses. This is the first half of the system. Based on collecting these materials and using them to get whatever effect. But it's very experimental and can end catastrophically.
Secondly, is the concept of a Seraphic Mantle. Basically, dragons have the uncanny ability to restore their limbs and parts of their bodies after they get injured. Despite what legends may state, dragons were not immortal. They just have the ability to recover from injuries incredibly fast. They recover from injuries, similarly to how they perform magic, through their diet. Humans can also emulate this effect, but it comes with a cost.
The enamel in a dragons mouth can react with certain elements to heal themselves, depending on what they consume. Remnants of this substance is still found in their enamel after their flesh decays, and trace amounts in whatever remains of their bodies when they die. These elements can also combine to create the desired effect outside of a dragon. Ie, growing back a draconic limb, or wing, etc. However, it's under no circumstance "designed" for a human body. Activiating a ritual to restore a limb, or sprout wings for example, is not a smooth transition. As a limb grows inside a human and expands outward, it commonly ruptures and completely shatters any bone, rips through flesh, and tears away at arteries in order to grow to maturity. This process can take a varying amount of time, from a few seconds, to weeks, and it can leave a host either dead, or dying, in its wake. However, these grown limbs can be used, and are incredibly powerful. This is an incredibly brutal act. I was somewhat inspired by the visuals of something like godrick the grafted from elden ring, or the general enemy design in bloodborne.
Anyways, like I said, the ritual of consuming these parts and receiving the effects is known as receiving a "Seraphic Mantle." Soon after consuming and receiving the effects of a Seraphic Mantle, the aspect of the Mantle will decay and fall off. Ie, an extra limb, wings, claws etc. The accelerated healing from the dragons enamel will help heal the body, but it still leaves scar tissue around where the limb ripped out of the person
In the case of something that physically affects the limbs you already have, like turning your legs into Draconic Legs or an arm into a Draconic Arm, the draconic limb will completely fall off with time. The original arm will grow back, but over the span of days. The accelerated healing can create stem cells to restore the limb, but without extensive training, further use of a similar enhancement might cause the recovering limb to pull itself apart entirely.
I wanted to lean into the generally grotesque nature of changing your body with new limbs or unnatural modifications, and create a kind of body horror with how this magic system affects you, and how terrifying it would be to see as a concept. Kind of the idea that this kind of magic isn't meant to be meddled with by mankind. I plan to focus on that a lot as a theme, how much it destroys and mutilates the user of it, even though it comes with great power. I'm not very good at doing it in this description, but the major focus of this system is how it can make humans completely otherworldly and horrifying. Like I said, sort of inspired by things like Godrick the Grafted in elden ring, or the enemy design in Bloodborne.
submitted by ResponsibilityOk9033 to magicbuilding [link] [comments]


2024.06.02 16:16 Expendiboi Tight Money Ficnapping

Trelik paced in front of the bookshelf, its frame was smooth to the touch and was polished to where the wood it was made off could act as a mirror in some cases. But there was one issue with it, it lacked variety and interesting material. He had books from across the Federation but those had become harder and harder to get his paws on after the halt on trade. The only books available now were either the ones already on Venlil Prime or from the Humans.
He desperately wanted a human book or three to sit on his bookcase but there was a small issue with that... they were expensive. In normal times Trelik would have scoffed while trying to find a cheaper deal and if not he would defeatedly buy it, but the lack of trade had hit the economy hard and so funds had been getting a bit low for him as well.
He’d recently heard from some others on Bleat that apparently the government was offering to pay people to help house a human why the war raged. Most saw this as a dumb idea or thought the risk too big to take but the ones remaining were too desperate to pass up such an opportunity. Trelik fell in with the desperate crowd, he just had to get some of those human books and having a human helping him could make it easier.
A sound from the door alerted Trelik that someone had arrived, most likely his new human housemate. He’d signed and completed the forms almost a week ago and so had been waiting for news for a while.
Despite his best efforts his heart was pounding, he knew it was silly but something at the very back of his mind kept screeching that he should run or freeze or escape into one of his book, anything but open the door.
“Think of the money, how could you read a book made by humans if you are scared of them?” Trelik muttered to himself. It seemed to work, his steps became more confident and ordered and he swung open the door quickly before his mind had time to catch up with his actions.
The human before him was tall and thin, not unlike some of the trees that populated some of the outlying colony worlds. What little flesh Trelik could see was pale and near hairless, this was only around the wrists.
A pair of gloves covered their paws and a set of ‘clothes’ covered the rest while they seemed to have a bit of cloth covering their head with a mask covering the face. It was slightly unnerving to the Venlil, nothing told him how the human was feeling, no tail or ears gave away emotion.
Slowly the human put down its bags and reached down to grab a pad, as the figure scribbled something down Trilek noticed the name tag on the right side of its outfit. ‘Maxwell A.’ was written in such a way that it took the visual translator a few seconds to parse it.
Maxwell finished their scribbling and turned the pad around, a message was written that the visual translator could decipher. ‘You can just call me Max.’
It had been three days since Max had arrived in Trilek’s home, he was an odd sort compared to the humans he the Venlil had heard about. Most of the people that helped house the humans reported them as either being really energetic and wanting to explore everywhere or being near despondent to everything save the most determined of pestering.
Max however seemed to just sit in a corner and scribble stuff on his pad or cross his legs in a frankly uncomfortable looking position and stare at the pad for hours. Trilek assumed he was either writing something, idly scribbling or reading. He desperately hoped it would be the latter, if he had a human in his home that read almost as much as him, they might have access to some books that he could get his paws on. There was one small issue with this plan, Max hadn’t taken out any physical books and seem to be unwilling to separate from his pad.
A week had now passed and Trilek was starting to get irritated, he’d hoped to have his paws on one of the human books he’d heard about but neither Max nor the payment had helped. Max just sat in the corner of the library, Trilek couldn’t even tell if the human was asleep or not until it slowly lifted it’s head to check the time or look around the room.
The paycheck for helping house a human had taken longer than aticipated to arrive, and were smaller than he was promised. When questioned about this Trilek got the excuse of taxes removing a tenth of what was owed. Still money was money, but he was going to go crazy if he couldn’t get a new book or something to read soon.
The time had finally arrived, the human had left his pad and a pair of what seemed to be listening devices on the lunge of the office area. Trilek might not get a chance like this again, his body thrummed with nervous anticpation as he slipped the devices into his ears and quickly look for how to start whatever the human was listening to.
A small triangle was in the centre of a bar, a turning indicator with a number nearby faced both behing and in front of the symbol. Worse that could happen was he turned the pad off, so Trilek tapped at the arrow symbol, a voice flooded into his ears. It was even and filled with energy, it seemed to be rapidly reading something.
“’GOTREK!’ cried Felix, the monster’s hatchet landing a hair’s width beside his head, the smell of corruption and decay wafted from the rusted thing. Suddenly it came at him with a mouth filled with what seemed to hundreds of needle-like teeth, it’s breath a foul mixture of rotting fish and fresh blood.”
Trilek felt a cold terror settle in his stomach, a feeling like a claws was running up his spine informed him that every stand of wool on his body had stood on end.
“A mighty thunderclap sound of metal on bone broke Felix out of his terror, the head of the once-human thing thumped to the ground, a small river of black sludge pattered from where it’s neck had once been. The Slayer stood on it’s quilled back, his mighty axe in hand, Gotrek simply spat on the creature’s corpse and muttered about how he was hoping for something larger.”
A hand on his shoulder made Trilek lead almost a meter into the air, the human was behind him one of it’s paws gently placed on the Venlil’s shoulder. Somehow they were a reassuring presence, the lack of any detail save this simple gesture spoke more than Trilek could say. Maxwell had sat in the corner of the library for near an entire week and hardly interacted with anything but when he saw that Trilek had used his pad without consent he comforted him after the fact.
“Want to talk about it?” the voice was low and tinny, the Venlil looked at Maxwell as the human lowered himself into a sitting position. Trilek signed a simple ‘no’ with his tail, the human nodded and simply sat there with a hand on Trilek’s should as the other went about removing the listening devices and pad.
“Wh-why do you listen to that?” his voice was a shaking whisper, any mirth or confidence drained away by terror and the crash after the percieved danger had passed. Maxwell simply rubbed an aread of his mask with his hand.
“Because,” a sigh echoed slightly from the mask, “because I see it as a fun adventure between two comrades. Sure, there is danger and the reason they are engaging on their quests wouldn’t ring as very sensible but it allows me to live in a world of action and characters.”
They sat in silence for several minutes, his heart rate had returned to normal but all of Trilek’s limbs felt tired as if he’d run across the whole city without any breaks. Still, there was one question he wanted an answer to.
“Are all human books like that one?”
A barking sound quickly burst from the human before suddenly stopping, like a thunderclap in a storm.
“No, no, some are and they are my preferred reading material but I can see they wouldn’t be for you. Problem is though is that I can’t really speak on what novels outside of the genres I listen to are like or make any suggestions.” A pause followed this, as though some idea was brewing and Max was hesitant to say it. “There is another option, how desperate are you to listen to or read Human books?”
At the start of this whole day, by all the stars in the sky even an hour ago, Trilek would have excitedly shouted ‘I HAVE TO READ AT LEAST ONE!’ at the top of his lungs. But after listening to that passage, he wasn’t as sure anymore. Yet a small nugget of curiosity blazed in him, it couldn’t be quenched by ignoring it, so he might as well see what the human’s plan was.
“Kind of,” was his response.
“Then how about he start again, I’ll grab the first book of a serious I like and we can listen to it together.”
Original work belongs to u/Thirsha_42 and the original work can be read here: Tight Money
submitted by Expendiboi to NatureofPredators [link] [comments]


2024.06.02 16:09 Espazilious The Crossroads of Destiny - A Ficnapping for JulianSkies

u/SpacePaladin15 is responsible for the creation of the NOP universe. u/JulianSkies is responsible for the creation of a metric fuckton of fics within that universe.
this story is my ficnapping entry for... uhhhh... *checks notes* old scabbard, the allergy, gremlins, game review: escape series, river wolves and meteors. it's probably not strictly necessary to read them to enjoy this ficnap? but you should do it anyway, because they are Very Excellent™.
////////////////////////// Barkeep's Log: Reunion ////// Wednesday, July 9th, 2138 8:16 PM, Brasilia Time //////////////////////////
Ah, the middle of the week. For most bars, it is a time of quiet, of minimal activity. Some scant few people might show up; either regulars who come every day, or those who seek to unwind with a quick drink or just get out of the house for a bit, but they don't often stay long. They get one or two cups, share the bare minimum of a chat, and then get on their merry way.
...But of course, that's just the way humans do things.
The countless aliens who have taken up residence in Sao Paulo since the fall of the Federation simply don't seem to care for our silly calendar. They come in whenever they please, week or weekend, midday or midnight, rain or shine. Sometimes they want to get blackout drunk, other times they just want a quick taste of home. Or, there's always the frequent visitor who's just here to get their fill of social contact. Those ones are perhaps my favorite. After the horrors of the Federation War, and taking refuge on Skalga, I certainly won't ever tire of seeing aliens and humans—total strangers to one another—start chatting and getting along, coexisting in peace and harmony, without anyone batting an eye.
Today, though... was not the typical rush of aliens and one or two human regulars. When the bell above the door jingled and a figure stepped in from the cool outside air, consider my surprise to see not a small fluffy thing with no clothes, but a tall, lanky human man, with a face I hadn't seen in months.
"Lucas," I jovially said. "Welcome. It's good to see you again."
He smiled bashfully and raised an arm in a silent wave, seeing a dozen heads turn to look at him. One head in particular turned much farther than the rest; a gaunt human woman, accompanied by a relaxed venlil—Bella Rivers and Taya, both of whom are... perhaps my most frequent guests. "Oh damn! And here I was starting to think you died in a car accident, Luc," Bella said, clearly surprised to see another human at this hour, letalone one who'd been absent for so long.
"Haha, no..." Lucas said, making a beeline for the bar. "Just been... er, busy, you know how it is. How've things been here?"
Bella cast a brief glance at me, asking a silent question, to which I gave a simple nod. "It's been great," she answered in my stead. "Every day feels like more people know about this place. I keep telling Keeps to start thinking about remodeling, get some more space in here before it starts turning into a moshpit every weekend."
Lucas let out a chuckle. "I almost can't believe you two come here so often that you can say that."
Taya leaned around Bella just enough to look Lucas in the eye. "Well no duh! Where else are we gonna go? Name one pub in this city besides The Crossroad that's licensed to sell alien food and drink, and always cares about dietary restrictions!"
Bella laughed. "Okay girl, you ain't gotta shill that hard."
"Nuh uh. I'm not drunk enough not to shill," the normally-reserved venlil droned. She most certainly was a little drunk...
"Speaking of," I cut in, turning to Lucas. "The usual?"
His eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You still remember my drink?"
"Of course."
He looked thoughtful for a moment, before smiling. "Yeah. I'd love that."
I wasted no time in gathering my tools and the requisite bottles and ingredients to put together his complicated order. To say I pride myself on remembering my patrons, their quirks, and their likes and dislikes... would be an understatement. What is a barkeep if not the central pillar of the establishment? It simply wouldn't do for me to be anything less than reliable.
"For real though," Bella said. "It's not just the food that keeps us here. Like yeah, I love being able to trust my food, but there's more to it. Just look around," she waved a hand out at the rest of the room, "Isn't it great, seeing so many different people, from so many different walks of life, all come together in one place? Back during the war, I... we never imagined we'd get to see something like this. And yet here we are, back on Earth, with God knows how many aliens just hangin' around, being chill, doing their things."
"Huh... yeah, I guess I can see it-- ah, thanks Keeps," Lucas said as I passed him his completed drink. "If you forget everything that's happened, it kinda does look like how everyone dreamed things would go before first contact."
Bella smiled wistfully, idly swirling her half-full drink with her straw. "I think it's amazing. All these different cultures and faces mashing together at once, just this giant melting pot of people and worldviews and everything."
"...Yeah. It really is incredible."
Bella's brows furrowed as Lucas wasted no time in taking a large swig of his drink. It seemed as if something was on his mind, and perhaps she could tell. "Hey... where have you been, these past few months?"
"I've... well," he put down his glass, staring at it almost disdainfully. And after I'd made it so perfectly for him, to boot. Rude. "I've actually been trying to uh, cut back on the drinking..."
Bella turned, glancing confusedly at Taya, who flicked her tail in equal uncertainty. "Really? But you've always been such a responsible drinker. I don't think I can even remember a single time you've ever caused trouble, or got sick or anything. Did something happen?"
"No, nothing like that. I just wanted... well, here, look at this," he said and produced his holopad, skillfully swiping to his photo album. In seconds, he pulled up a picture of himself alongside an alien with gray fur... and long, floppy, dog-like ears. A farsul. "This is Talon. He's been staying with me since the xenomed center got going full swing."
Taya recoiled at the sight, ears flattening in apparent anger before Bella turned and shot her a firm glare. The venlil immediately shrunk on herself, looking both apologetic, and yet still agitated.
"I'm doing it for him. He... um, let's just say he gets a little nervous," Lucas mumbled. He swiped to another picture, this time with Talon hanging off his arm like a monkey, tongue lolling out of his wide-open muzzle in obvious glee. "He's such a sweet little guy, like the brother I never had. But it wasn't good for him, to be dealing with me coming home drunk. He needs stability, consistency. I... was making him worry whether I'll be the same every time I walk through the door. So I promised him I'd stop."
Bella put a hand on Lucas' shoulder. "Well that's sweet of you. I can tell you care a lot."
Lucas frowned. "Of course I care. After the shit he got put through in those... fucking goddamn facilities."
A bubble of silence surrounded the trio as his words sunk in. Bella swirled her drink one last time before she took a huge swig. Lucas watched her for a moment before he grabbed his own near-full glass and downed the whole of it in one fell swoop.
"Hhh. So much for that," he grumbled as he glared down at his freshly emptied cup. Then his expression softened slightly, turning closer to remorse. "...Sorry. I didn't mean to fuck up the vibe. I uh, got some other pics of him if--"
"No, Lucas, it's okay," Taya suddenly said. "There's nothing wrong with being honest. Especially not in a place like this," she pointed one eye toward me, "ain't that right, Keeps?"
All I could offer in response was a curt nod.
Bella reached over and laid a hand on his shoulder. "If something's on your mind, then... c'mon, be straight with us."
Lucas sighed. "I wish there were more I could do for him," he bluntly said. "We've tried so many things to help him stay calm. Breathing exercises, fidget toys, music... but it's never enough. He still just can't function in public, or around new people, or... anywhere. Especially if I'm not there. And I don't know what to do anymore. I keep telling him to take as long as he needs, but I..." Lucas slouched over, holding his head in his hands, "I feel like every time takes a little longer."
"Um... Y'know..." Taya spoke up, as her ears twisted nervously. "It... sounds like, maybe, um... he... needs a friend?"
"I am his friend," Lucas deadpanned.
"N-no, I mean... oorgh, how do I say this?"
"I think what she's trying to say is... if you want a little help, Lucas, we'd be happy to be there for you. For him."
Lucas's brows furrowed for a moment before he seemed to grasp what she was saying, and his eyes went wide. "Really? But-" his eyes locked onto Taya, "but you're--"
Taya shook her head. "Don't say it. I... I know. I know what I am," she all but whispered. "But maybe I don't want to be like... this. Maybe I want to be better. After all, if I'd never tried to have an open mind about humans, I never would've met Bella!"
"Well... okay," Lucas said, as a small smile grew on his face. "Here. Lemme get your numbers, and I'll talk to him, and we'll get in touch?"
Bella nodded and presented her pad, as Taya did the same. "Yep! And hey, if he isn't up to meeting in person, maybe you can see if he wants to try just being... like, pen pals or something?"
"Hah. He's not a child, you know. But thanks. I really mean it."
"I know you mean it. We're glad to help."
The three of them tapped pads to exchange contacts, and with that, their fates became intertwined. Whatever may happen to them after today, I cannot know. A humble barkeeper such myself shan't be blessed with the absolutes of the future. Some may try to predict what is to come, but I believe the future is theirs to decide, that they may take whatever happens in their own hands and mold it to their will.
It is all I can hope that Bella and Taya will return and share with me the stories of their antics. Or, as unlikely as it seems, perhaps Lucas could bring Talon here, for them both to participate in this gathering of souls; for them to find joy among friends new and old; for the chance to walk the wondrous crossroads of life and love.

////////////////////////// Barkeep's Log: Scampering Menaces ////// Monday, July 14th, 2138 1:39 PM, Brasilia Time //////////////////////////
Monday. The day of loathing. Of rest and relaxation coming to an end. Of waking up early, getting ready for work, and repeating yet another week of monotony. Some would question my sanity, to open the bar at all on a Monday, letalone to do so at noon. But those foolish few simply haven't seen how excited aliens can be about something so mundane as lunch.
But alas, the lunch rush never persists forever, and just like always, I eventually found my beloved pub woefully empty. As it would likely stay for the rest of the afternoon, save for the occasional visitor with a more unusual schedule.
...Or, perhaps, should I be so lucky... a much more rare sight; a true oddity, who might seek to come here only during the dead hours.
And wouldn't you know, it was on this day that I was blessed with one such patron. Or... multiple patrons. A human and a trio... no, quartet of dossur. It was very much a challenge for me to keep track of the little sapient rodents as they skittered about, both on and literally around their human, but I was more than certain that there were definitely only four of them.
At first, I thought there were three dossur. But then one of them retreated into their human's apparently rather spacious hoodie, and a very distinctly different dossur came out. She looked... mangy, for lack of a polite term, with numerous patches of discolored and uneven fur, and what appeared to be a few healed scars. It was clear to me that she must have been through something horrible, and yet had been saved by the miracle of modern medicine.
The small group's incursion upon my shop was... relatively peaceful. They certainly had no qualms about using their outdoor voices, speaking loudly and freely about whatever came to mind, from plans for when they got home, to theorycrafting about potential vacations they could take, and even to the status of the Sapient Coalition as a whole. I, of course, had no right to begrudge them for being so noisy—they were the only ones in the bar, after all.
But everything changed when the front door swung open, the gentle dingle of the bell heralding the arrival of yet another rare antisocial patron.
To my surprise, this newcomer was another human. But not just any human, oh no, this was a very particular human. One who I could say might be somewhat of a regular, despite his tendency to avoid the busier hours. It was no trouble for me to recognize him from the slightest glance, as his unforgettable silver hair, and the red highlights within, matched gorgeously with his red scarf.
As he entered, a somewhat shorter than average venlil trailed close behind. He too wore a red scarf, though for a... different reason. A deeply personal reason, that neither he nor his human have ever seemed keen to share. And I, out of respect for them both, shan't pry.
With a brief, wary glance at the table of chaos, the two of them made their way toward the bar. They hardly made it more than a few steps before a painfully loud shriek, followed by three more of the same, damn near shattered every piece of glass in my bar.
"HUMY!!!!!" "OH MY GOD HI!!" "JOHN! LOOK!!" "Don't yell in my ear--" "Wait is it really-- IT IS! GUYS GET OUT HERE--"
And in a staggering instant... where I thought there were only four dossur, I was once again proven thoroughly WRONG. From within John's hoodie came not one, not two, but four more of the little bastards! There were eight of them! They all scampered up their poor handler's arms and stood on his head and shoulders, waving their whole bodies and jumping up and down, and being so very loud.
"HI HUMY!!!!!!!!" "HI!!!" "HIIIIII!!!!!!" "He's so tall..." "Is that VV?? HI VV!!" "WOW I didn't know his hair was really that white!"
Humy, while certainly shocked by the sudden attention, somehow managed to take it in stride. He raised a hand and waved back to the crowd of not-squirrels, the action shutting them up for only a moment before they started squealing even LOUDER in sheer excitement.
"Guys... Y'all oughta quiet down a bit," John said... or so I think. I frankly couldn't hear him over the orchestra of rodent insanity.
One particularly bold dossur—the one with the damaged fur—made her way down from the chaos table and practically sprinted to Humy's legs, before climbing him like a tree. He recoiled in surprise, but she kept going until she was leaning off the top of his head, staring straight into his eyes. The others went silent, waiting with bated breath for whatever might happen next.
...
"Hi."
The poor man, frazzled, startled, accosted-by-an-alien-squirrel, took a long moment before he figured out what to do about this situation. "Um. Hi."
Unfortunately, that was the wrong response.
"HE SAID HI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" "I WANNA SAY HI TO HUMY!!" "THAT'S NOT FAIR, HOW COME SHE GETS--" "JOHN!!!" "Guys, pl--" "--TO SAY HI TO HIM?!?!!?!" "JOHN BRING US TO HIM OR DIE"
John abruptly slapped the table and stood up, nearly flinging half of his passengers in different directions as they panicked and clung to him for dear life. "I'm so sorry," he quickly said, "They're not usually like this. We'll just be going," he turned to me, making eye contact for an instant, "Cya later, Keeps."
"No, wait!" Humy said, just barely before the swarm could scream their collective dissent. "Please don't. I don't mind, I promise. All I ask is you quieten down a notch, is that okay?"
The dossur looked amongst each other; some of them drooped in shame, while others seemed to simply not grasp the relevance of the request. But in the end, it was John who spoke up first. "He's right, guys. Y'all need to tone it down. No more screaming."
"Okay?" "Sorry..." "Makes sense." "SURE!!--"
John immediately snatched up that particular troublemaker before stuffing him in his hoodie, never to be seen again.
"Ah... anyway..." Humy said, and gestured to the counter, where VV had already taken a seat during the commotion. John took the unspoken invitation, and the middle-aged man reunited with his friend as the dossur wrangler sat on his other side.
The swarm, of course, wasted no time in dismounting John and lining up right in front of poor Humy. Or, well, only two of them lined up. One crawled up onto his sleeve, two onto his shoulders, and the last simply kept climbing around, seemingly not intent on stopping ever. The seventh and eighth remained imprisoned in John's pocket and sprawled out atop Humy's head, respectively.
"Is Humy your real name?" "Why's your hair white?" "Your scarves are so cool!" "What's your favorite fruit?"
Humy burst out in a fit of chuckles, evidently amused by the dossur speaking over each other in their haste to treat him like a talking jungle gym. "Wow. John, right?" he turned to the other human, who gave a curt nod. "How do you live with this?"
"Very patiently," John deadpanned. "No one would ever believe me if I told them these little shits are highly trained Marines."
"Have you ever been on a cruise?" "What's your favorite game?" "If I gave you a strawberry, would you eat it?" "Are you two dating?" "Seriously, why's your hair white!?"
"Okay, okay, c'mon, one at a time! Why don't all of you line up right here in front of me, and I'll go down the line?"
"No." "...Nah." "It's comfy up here." "And it's boring down there!" "And your hair smells good..."
Humy sighed and shook his head, but his smile betrayed his mirth at the situation. "Fine... let's see... you, at the very top. What's your question?"
"Huh? Oh, uhhh-" the mangled one trailed off. She'd been rather quiet the whole time. "Hmm... what's your next video gonna be, and when's it gonna be out?"
"Ooh!" "Yeah!" "Yes yes yes tell us!" "Genius question, Fée!"
Humy, despite the dossurs' excitement, grimaced. "I'm sorry, you guys, but I can't answer that. I just can't leak upcoming content!"
"Auugh!" "Noo c'mon!" "What." "That's not fair!"
"But..." Humy cut them off, looking thoughtful. "Well... maybe I can tell you one thing. I might have something very, very special lined up soon. Do you all remember when I played that thafki game, Survivor? Well I--"
Humy jumped, startled as VV—who'd been totally quiet and unobtrusive the whole time—abruptly grabbed his sleeve and tugged it sharply. A sheepish expression spread across the human's face. "Oops! Can't spoil the surprise. Sorry! How 'bout we hear another question?"
The dossur pouted, looking dejected, disappointed and all-around displeased. But, with that, the seven tiny herbivores quickly moved on, and continued to pester Humy with evermore nonsense. Too much nonsense. Truly, veritably, too much.
It wasn't until hours later, around 4 PM, that both parties finally grew fatigued and split ways. In the wake of their madness, I could feel nothing but gratitude for the fact that, despite their behavior, the rodents hadn't made a mess of anything, nor skipped out on their tab. While they were loud, and excitable, and far too much enjoyed using poor Humy as a playground... they weren't hooligans. They were, in the end, people. Not just noisy squirrels.
With that in mind... perhaps, maybe, just maybe, next time they come in... I wouldn't be unwilling to greet them, to welcome them to this place of character and merriment; to welcome their uniqueness among the myriad faces that make themselves known; to invite them in as members, as friends, as we all tread upon the ever-exciting crossroads of greetings and farewells.

////////////////////////// Barkeep's Log: Mayflies ////// Friday, August 1st, 2138 9:05 PM, Brasilia Time //////////////////////////
Ah, the weekend. For a bar, it is the busiest time one could imagine. But for a bartender such as myself, it is so much more. The activity, the bustle, the countless different people coming together and simply being themselves. Just by merely being here, serving drinks and dinner to all who would want it, I am blessed with the wondrous opportunity to overhear talk and tales of peoples' lives—their homes, their hopes and dreams, their fears and regrets.
And today, of course, was no exception. Perchance, allow me to skip the lengthy preamble and get to the good stuff.
The moment an elderly, borderline decrepit old man entered the bar, he had my attention. Someone his age, coming somewhere like this, alone? The scenario piqued my curiosity.
He had a tired air to him, something between boredom, the general fatigue that comes with such advanced age and... if my keen eyes didn't deceive me, a touch of discomfort. As if he was out of his element in some way, not quite sure what to do with himself. He kept silent, bothering no one as he approached the counter and scanned one of the many QR codes plastered around the dining room.
His face stayed the same as he reviewed The Crossroads' prodigious menu, as though he was unimpressed with our unrivaled selection. But then, he paused, and something changed in his stance. His eyes flicked up and met mine, his expression suddenly lit ablaze, full of energy that wasn't there before. "Redtato tacos?" he curtly asked, sounding almost bewildered. His gaze dropped back down to the menu, to the other dishes on that same page. "Spice plates... cricket burgers," he looks back up at me, wearing a deranged grin, "even goddamn ichor ice cream? You're insane."
"Insane? Tell me you're new here without telling me," a new voice interjected. One of the other patrons—a thafki, who unlike her kin, had taken to wearing a black hoodie with the emblem of the United Nations—turned to us, appearing amused as she looked between me and the old man. "Wow, you're a perfect match for one another. Didn't think humans could get any older than ol' Barkeep here. What's someone as ancient as you doing here, new guy?"
"Hah. I like you, Blue," the man said as he took a seat beside the nosy and maybe slightly drunk alien.
"My name's not Blue. Call me Ayeli."
He held out a hand toward Ayeli. She glanced at it before shaking it without a second thought. "Ryusei," he said, before eyeing her beverage. "Tell you what, Barkeep, gimme one of whatever that is. And a refill for her, if she'll have it."
"Saltwine," I said, and reached beneath the counter to procure the bottle from which I'd poured Ayeli's first glass. I turned it back and forth in front of him, letting him read the translated label. "Be warned. This is a specialty item. It is not to most peoples' tastes, nor is it cheap."
"Pfft just do it. I've eaten rocks, you old coot."
The sheer brazenness of his words, the unwavering resolve in his eyes, and the utter lack of hesitation in his voice, took me truly off guard for the first time in a long, long while. "I'm not an old coot, you bumbling codger," I grumbled as I took a glass and filled it. Then, putting my professional facade back on just like nothing ever happened, I turned to Ayeli and hovered the bottle over her cup. She gave a thumbs up, and I poured.
Ryusei stared at me with a smug grin. "Pff. Looked in a mirror lately? Time ain't been good to you, friend. Look at all them gray hairs. Yeek."
"I can poison you in seventeen different ways," I deadpanned.
"As if I'd even be able to tell? There's nothing you can do to me that my body hasn't done at least twice already."
"Venlise alcohol. Not diluted."
"Now there'd be a challenge..." he murmured, before his attention drifted to his idle drink. He raised the glass to his lips and took a hearty sip, allowing the fluid—its texture, its flavor—to rest in his mouth before swallowing. "Mmh. Damn."
"You like it?" Ayeli asked.
"Y'know what? Yeah. Shit's weird in all the right ways. Hits your tongue like a pile of salt, but goes down smooth. No aftertaste, no burn, just a quick slap in the face and then it's gone."
Ayeli drummed her fingers on the counter before taking a long swig of her own drink. "Mmmhmm. That's how it is. How it's meant to be. I can't wait 'til someone figures out how to make this stuff for cheap."
"Speaking of. Ey Barkeep, put me down for one of them fucked up tacos. Let's see just how close a buncha earthlings can get to authentic Martian cuisine."
With a nod and several practiced movements, I had his request sent to the kitchen in seconds. I don't believe he saw me even touch the order pad with how fast I was.
"...Martian?" Ayeli asked. "Now hang on. That's... the red planet, no?"
"Mhm," The man let out a grunt of affirmation. "First planet humanity settled besides Earth. It's a dead, empty husk. Nothing but rocks and dust and solar radiation. I was born there."
"Huh. What're you doing here, then? There no bars on Mars?"
"...Classified."
"Oh. Yeah..."
Quiet spread between the two, Ayeli staring blankly into her own reflection within her glass. Ryusei's eyes slowly drifted toward her as his brow furrowed. "You... were a soldier, huh?"
Ayeli jolted, startled by the question. "Wh--? How... I mean, yeah. I guess I was. But how can you tell?"
"Eh. I've been there. Where you are now."
"...What?"
He took another sip. "You know how it is. Everything goes to shit. Then it gets better. Now everyone's pretending life is back to normal, and you have to pretend too. Even if you lost friends. Or family. Or... parts of yourself."
...
Ayeli frowned. "I... yeah. I guess."
"You guess?"
"It's... it's not that I've lost people. Or parts of myself," she said. "It's not even that I have to pretend that everything's back to normal."
Ryusei raised an eyebrow.
"All things considered, I've lost nothing. I joined the UN Marines, killed some lizards, and now I'm here. And I'm fine. Not even 'oh you're lying to yourself, you need a therapist' fine, but just... actually fine."
"Why's that, do you think?"
"I don't know. All my friends are so much worse off than me. They're all... fucked up, from everything. But I'm not. I just don't feel anything."
"I just... shouldn't I feel something?" she continued. "I've killed people. Drowned people. Slit throats. But whenever I think about it, there's just nothing. No guilt, no shame, no... no empathy."
"I understand," Ryusei breathed. Something behind his eyes changed, his tone becoming more... genuine. "You and I are alike, in a way."
"...Really?"
Ryusei swirled his drink before taking a quick sip. "When I was younger, I was part of something bigger than myself. It was dangerous as all hell—sixty percent fatality rate—but I was glad to be doing it. Glad to be playing my part. Happy to risk my life so someone else doesn't have to. But then it was over, and I got back to life like normal. I got my accolades, I took my damn awards, and I went home. And that was that."
"Except it wasn't," he continued. "I went home, and found out my family had ripped themselves apart. Half of em were obviously over the moons with pride, knowing I'd been there in the very front and came home a goddamn hero. But the rest... they had been scared. Terrified they'd never see me again. It was all they wanted for me to just come home and be safe."
"And... that's what got you?" Ayeli asked. Something in her voice was vulnerable, almost afraid. "The fact that you were ready to move on, but no one else was?"
Ryusei nodded. "I felt like a shithead not because I'd almost died a hundred times, but because I'd been the reason my parents got divorced."
Ayeli stared into nothing, dead silent for a long moment before she grabbed her drink and downed the remainder of it in one go. "F-fuck," she rasped. "It was supposed to go back to normal. We were supposed to have our happy ending. So why is everyone still like this? Why can't we just be okay now?"
"Because people need time, kid. You and I are the exceptions. You'll get your happy ending, you just... gotta wait. Gotta be there for them when they need you."
"How?"
"Whatever way you can. My little brother got hit the hardest by our parents' shitshow. He couldn't stand being around either of them. So I would drive him out to the middle of nowhere, and we'd just watch the universe go by. We'd count the stars, talk about how small we are, how it just keeps going, how empty it all is, yet still teeming with mystery. By the end of it, we'd both be feeling better... and then we'd do it again a week later when we felt like shit again. And on and on, for years."
"...We've already seen the stars though. How would that help?"
Ryusei slid his glass over to Ayeli, offering her the last few sips he had. "There are more things of beauty in this world than just the stars. Take it from me, old fart that I am—if you just take the time to look, you can find meaning anywhere. Even things you might take for granted."
Ayeli perked up, as if she'd realized something. "The ocean..."
"Something like that."
"It's... it's simple, it's mundane, it's so normal to us now that we can just go swimming whenever we like. But ten years ago, that would've been different. We... we did it. We changed it. For ourselves. We won."
"You hit the nail on the head, Blue. Tell all that to your pals. Really show them that it's over."
She looked down at the drink she'd been given, and lifted it to her lips to take a small sip. "An ocean of water, an ocean of stars... what difference does it make? Maybe you're right. Maybe we really are alike."
"Both have been around for millenia. And both will be there still, long after we're gone," Ryusei said. He looked down at his hands, an odd half-smile on his face. "Call me a sentimental old coot, but part of me still finds comfort in the stars. An infinite sea of beacons, shining in every direction for eternity. Always there, always waiting, no matter what."
"Mmm... y'know, it's funny. Our ancient ancestors probably each thought the same at one point or another. Wonder if any of 'em ever looked up in just the right place, at the right time... and looked straight at each other, even if they didn't know it."
"Heh. As much as I want to rain on your parade and say that's impossible... well, just look at the two of us, eh? The chance that we both would happen to be here, right now. Maybe it's not. The universe is pretty damn huge, and yet here we are."
Ayeli sat up straight in her seat, a determined look spreading across her face. "Yeah. I... I think I know what to do. How to help everyone else move on. Thanks for the drinks, 'Keep. And the chat, Ryusei."
"Yeah yeah. Go on, get outta here. Get back to your friends."
The thafki nodded and gave us both a smile, and then with one last wave goodbye, she made her way out of the establishment. Ryusei sighed and turned back to the bar, crossing his arms and slouching in that tired, past-our-prime way we both must know so well.
Before long, his plate of redtato tacos were brought out, and without another word, he got to work. He remained silent as he ate, but I could tell by the look on his face that he was satisfied.
"Alright... yeah, yeah you did good..." he said when there was nothing left to eat. "I'll remember this place. Think if I ever end up 'round here again, I might stop by."
"You'll always be welcome... until you call me old again. Then you might find something different in your cup than you ordered."
He laughed, grinning like a madman as he stood from his seat. "Bold of you to threaten me with a good time. Now I'm definitely coming back!"
With that, he paid for his meal and his and Ayeli's drinks, and just as suddenly as it all began, he was gone. The cycle of greetings and goodbyes played its part yet again, bringing us together and pulling us apart as if no time had passed at all.
But where his and Ayeli's presence left my bar, their imprints have not. In my memory, and theirs, lies the everlasting essence of our encounter. The feelings of meeting, of learning, of sharing ourselves—and above all else, the words they spoke. The sentiment has truly been burned into my recollection, never to be forgotten with how it touched my heart, my very soul.
How wondrous it is that two people so similar and yet so different could ever meet. The universe is vast—immeasurably so—and still they both happened to be in the right place at the right time for their lives to become intertwined. Is it coincidence? Is it fate? I can't possibly know. Such things are beyond my station. All I can say for certain is that it will happen again, and again, on an eternal cycle. So long as life itself persists, people will always be bound to find one another.
And that, I believe... is the true beauty of our crossroads of destiny.
//////////////////////////
submitted by Espazilious to NatureofPredators [link] [comments]


2024.06.02 16:07 productivecagedpiggy 33M - struggling to breath. Inflamed Symptoms changing- 12+ days

33M - Inflamed feeling, tightness, very weak - Left breast & left lat/rib area 10 days+ - but has now mostly dissipated. Instead having fairly extreme shortness of breath. Worried I might me having mild reactions to Amoxillin
Doctors are not sure
33M, 92kg, exercise ~5 days/week, Stable, looking for help with potential diagnosis.
Doctors are struggling to understand my issues. At this point my symptoms are improving but I want to understand what happened. Any help is really appreciated.
19/05/24
-mildly uncomfortable, but otherwise unaffected. Nervous as its in the heart region.-Continues more or less the same for a few days.
22/05/24
-then on May 22 woke up at 4am extremely dizzy & faint. Pain in chest. I've never felt like this. Could feel heart but I don’t think it was racing. Went to hospital. X-ray/urine/blood/trompoid/ekg all checked out. Was held for 8 hours, rerunning tests
-started getting light "thudding" pain in left upper chest region that came and went & burning sensantion. Tightness remains
-since then have been unable to sleep except sitting up or on my left side. Any other resting position causes burning and increased tightness that keeps getting worse rapidly as I stay in that position.
24/05/24
-on Friday 24 drove to town nearby as we had weekend plans which was 300m higher elevation. condition worsened while there.
25/05/24
26/05/24
27/05/24
28/05/24
29/05/04 - Took 2 Naproxen and napped around 11pm. Woke up very groggy, brain fog rest of day. - Lowered dose to 1 in the evening (7pm) - Went to bed sitting up. - Around midnight feeling a lot of tightness in left breast & top of diaphragm. Felt like tightness but could still breathe decently. - Very rarely get sharp pain if breathe in deep quickly (maybe 3-4 times in 6 hours) - Took another Naproxen - fell asleep around 2. - Woke up with same tightness ~7:30am. Easier to manage once walking around. - Very comfortable 9:30-11. - 11:30 symptoms worsened, Diaphragm very tight. Pressure band on upper left chest returned (mild tightness) - 12:30 Felt better, took 250mg (1 pill) Naproxen. By 1:30pm feeling almost normal with light diaphragm pressure while sitting and light discomfort in right chest while walking. When I sit down I can feel tightness in left chest area. - 9pm took naproxen (1.5 pills). went for walk to dinner at 8.. Symptoms worse, tight chest/diaphragm and burning sensation/tightness on left breast and lat :( right breast is fine. - 9:50: pain gone but groggy. Assume Naproxen kicked in
30/05/24 - 5am: woke up to little discomfort for once, bit of chest tightness, pain in top of left foot~5am - 8:45am: Had a bit of coffee+honey+cacao. Sat down to work, light thudding pain in left breast felt. Not sure if related to coffee. Light tightness across rib lat has returned. We are now 12hrs from last dose, Naproxen should be gone. - 9:30 - Naproxen - 16:30 - Started to deteriorate- chest tightness - 17:00 - Took amoxicillin. Around 18:30 chest feeling very tight around sternum and at bottom of each breast. - 8pm, feeling quite stable. Will take naproxen at 9. Accidentally ate so will not take lanzoprazole. - 10:30 first time in a long time able to lay on my chest for a little while.
31/05/24
01/06/24 - 7:40 - woke, took Amxilin. no pain or Inflamed feeling on breast, chest a bit tight - 11 - took lanzó chest starting to feel a bit inflamed - 11:40 - not feeling pain. took 1.25 naproxen. - 3:50pm - Tightness worsening from ~3. Very light discomfort in left breast. Took amx - 7:30 take lzprn. Feeling a little groggy. - 8:15pm felt light thud pain in lbreast and left rib cage but now fine. Took 2xNaz @ 8pm - 9:30 chest tightness - Last amx ~ 11. Struggling to sleep - intense chess tightness, particularly behind ribs. Different from before where it was higher up - Salbutamol at 12:40 1 puff - Fell asleep around 3am. Felt like my body kept jolting me awake due to lack of breathing.
02/06/24 - 8am - slightly tight chest - 9:45 am - took amoxicillin, took ventolin - 10:40 - took lanzoprazone. Chest tightness is very significant. left side thudding chest pain appearing in area under armpit - intermittent. I’m very tired. Took ventolin - 11:40 - took nazoprene 1.25. walk to pharmacy. Slightly dizzy. Lower chest/diaphragm tightness is intense. Had to sit to calm down/ feel like I was getting air. Still very tight. Now have diarrhea - 1:12 - ventolin. Very tight lungs. Head feeling tight as well. Bleak.
submitted by productivecagedpiggy to AskDocs [link] [comments]


2024.06.02 16:07 Drakos8706 Powerless (part 68)

First. Previous.
‘Ri woke up in the hotel room to the sound and smell of cooking meat, as well as what she knew to be pancakes. Opening her eyes, she looked ‘down’ to see Kyle cooking on the small grill he packed with him in his subspace shadow, one of his near-silent air purifiers directly overhead, as he was using wood to cook with; the smell of fire-grilled meat was making her ravenous, and it was with a happy stretch that she sat up, Kyle turning to smile at her.
“Morning, beautiful,” he said as she smiled back, “Figured I’d make you breakfast-in-bed; we got dragon steak and eggs - chicken eggs - and I just got done with a bunch of dragon bacon. Pancakes were done a few minutes ago, and I’ve been letting the butter melt in; syrup’s over…” he looked around, spotting a metal container that looked somewhat like a drink pitcher. He set all of this down on a large tray, which he carried over to her, setting it down on the bed lengthwise between the two of them. He went back to the table he’d been working at to retrieve plates, flatware, and two glasses, floating a pitcher of what turned out to be gor’ahm juice, a sweet - yet slightly tart - berry that grew on verem’jiose, and also cost quite a bit, as it was difficult to get enough berries to mass produce, so it wasn’t ‘readily available’ outside of her homeworld.
All-in-all it was a rather enjoyable breakfast - whether or not he had any ‘professional’ training, Kyle sure did know how to cook. After they were done eating - and Kyle had moved their dishes over to the kitchenette their room came with - they took a shower, taking their time in the hot water, just enjoying each other’s presence. When they were done, they dressed in the robes that came with the room - they had gone with black all around - and went to sit together in the main room, putting on some soothing music as they sat together, tails and arms wrapped around each other. After a while of them just sitting there, Kyle stirred slightly.
“I, uh… I got a surprise for you.” He sounded a bit nervous as he said it, but she put that to the side; surely he was just hoping she’d like whatever it was. He smiled slightly, and said,
“Close your eyes.”
Doing as he asked, she shut her eyes, knowing full well that whatever he was ‘retrieving’ was in his subspace shadow, but she went along with the act. When he gave her the okay, she opened her eyes, and it seemed like her stomach dropped out from under her heart, and into oblivion; there in his hands was a thin, perfectly square - but not ‘cubed’ - black box. She looked up at him, unable to say anything, as he opened the lid, and she let out an involuntary gasp; it was difficult for her mind to process what she was seeing, as it appeared to be a round piece of the void cut out to look like a tiara. Or, at least it looked like the shape of one, seeing as she couldn’t really make out any details, though there obviously were details carved into it, as the little sparkles of what she knew to be black hole diamonds - she had seen the pendant Kyle had retrieved from the pirates - seemed to appear and disappear, depending on what angle she looked at it from. The big 8-point star in the middle - reminiscent of the shape their pupils took when observing peoples’ life-blood, and Gift - was always visible however, no matter the angle it was viewed from.
“I had to have Kay’Eighty sketch out the basic outline of where to cut to fit you,” he said, drawing her out of her stupor, “And I had the lead sehr’chtahb fit the diamonds on it, as part of the payment for bringing back the pendant, along with the diamonds themselves, of course. The actual tiara is made from the bone of the first dragon I killed, and I used the kath’loo’s Gift to turn the bone so black that it absorbs all light. I had to turn the bone behind the diamonds silver, because there’s only so much that refraction can do.” They both gave a little chuckle at that; finally, he pointed to the inside of the tiara.
“And here I put a strip of crysthril all the way around it,” she knew that he’d gotten the Gift from one of the sehr’chtahb before they’d left the planet, “Which you normally wouldn’t need, seeing as you’ve got a literal ton in your subspace; but this is different. While we can’t transfer our Gifts to anyone else, we can transfer them into the crysthril, and it stays enchanted with the Gift, no matter how much of it you use. It’s basically limited by your own power, and how much of each Gift was put into the crysthril. Right now, this has all the Gifts that I have right now, and I can always add more in later, when I get ‘em… So, will you wear it?”
The last part was said with a palpable level of nervousness, and she was unable to say anything at that moment. After a few seconds, she finally was able to nod her head yes, tears leaking down her face. Kyle’s face lit up in a wide grin, and she saw his eyes shimmer with unshed tears as he reached forward to grasp the tiara, showing her how to disconnect it at the sides. She leaned her head forward as he reached up to put it on for her, it fitting snugly not just around her head, but perfectly resting around her horns, so as not to be squeezing them, nor to be loose, and wobbly.
She reached forward, pulling him into a deep, passionate kiss, too happy to actually say anything; they sat there for a while, basking in their shared love, until she started getting a bit antsy. Kyle obviously noticed this, as he laughed, and said,
“Go look; I know you’re just dying to see it.”
After a smile, and a quick kiss, she ran into the bathroom, looking into the mirror, marveling at the dazzling headpiece that was now her’s. She sat there for a good few minutes, turning her head this way and that, admiring the craftsmanship Kyle had so lovingly put into it. It honestly looked like something a professional jeweler would be proud to call their own work, and she reveled in that fact as well. This was a testament to his love for her, and it was done through Kyle’s own handiwork; and where it wasn’t, it was small enough to excuse away, especially with having had the diamonds placed as payment for his actual work.
Eventually she was able to tear her eyes from the beautiful piece, and she returned to Kyle’s side, both of them grinning like children. After a few minutes of making out, and cuddling, Kyle insisted that they get dressed.
“I know you wanna show that off, and we can go look around the shops, see if there’s anything that we want. Then we can grab lunch somewhere, and later we can have dinner with your parents and ‘Lana. Tomorrow I’m gonna go back to the ship and get some brisket started up; Kohr’Sahr and the others’re gonna be here in a couple days, and I wanna have a party when we give them the news.”
“Do they know?” she asked.
“About me proposing? No,” he replied, “About everything else? I gave ‘em a brief rundown, but I didn’t go into too much detail. The suun’mahs representative got in touch with me yesterday: the broadcast is gonna come out later today, and anything that they need cleared up after that, I’m happy to be the one to tell ‘em… You’re sure you’re okay with them posting your general location to the public? I don’t want you to have to deal with any ‘fanclubs’ from back home.”
She smiled warmly at him, running her fingers through his hair.
“They’ll know that I’m taken, and that they have no chance; anyone who tries anything after that, no one will blame us for… teaching them a lesson. Besides, they already know not to bother me if they see me abroad; the secrecy was just an added measure.”
He bowed his head concedingly, as he got up, pulling her to her feet with him.
“Come on,” he said, giving her a quick kiss on the corner of her mouth, “Let’s get dressed.”
She got dressed in a simple black pleated skirt that came about ⅔ down her thigh, along with a teal button-up shirt. Kyle was wearing his black and red pants, with a silk purple shirt; he had decided to forgo his boots. Kyle applied a simple light layer of purple eye shadow, and simple black liner, with a reverse of that on his lips, having purple liner and black filler. She went with the same pattern, except she used a luscious red in place of her natural purple. Once they were ready, they were about to head out when she thought of something; she held out her hands, and pulled a certain large, flat box from her subspace shadow. Smiling, Kyle opened it, and gently removed the necklace he’d bought her the last time they were on this station. After he’d secured it in place, she dismissed the box, and they left the room arm-in-arm.
The payoff was near-automatic, as it only took as long as getting into the elevator before they encountered another person; this one turned out to be none other than the Captain, as the station leader had put the entire crew up in the station’s best hotels, save for a decent amount of the security, all of whom had gotten to leave the ship last time they were on this station. As soon as the doors opened, they saw her standing next to what appeared to be a golden drahk’mihn, with horns that protruded from his forehead, sweeping back over the top of his head, only to slightly curl upwards just as they reached the back of his head. He wore light blue shorts, and a matching vest, while the Captain wore her customary jacket; her eyes widened when she saw the two, going straight to the tiara on her head.
"By the Gods, man; do you do anything normal?"
"Define 'normal'," Kyle countered, which brought about a round of laughter.
“Were y’all gettin’ off?” Kyle asked, hooking his thumb over his shoulder; the Captain cleared her throat,
“Well, that’s really none of your business,” she replied, to more laughter, “But we can take another ride, either way.” She had barely taken her eyes off the tiara the entire time, much to ‘Ri’s delight. As Kyle pushed the button for the lobby, Golden asked how Kyle had made it, to which he obliged, occupying the time it took them to reach the ground floor; the Captain couldn’t keep her eyes off the headpiece the whole time, at which ‘Ri couldn’t help but smile with pride.
After they reached their floor, they bid the other two farewell, at which point the Captain seemed to remember herself, and gave a hasty - yet obviously sincere - congratulations to the two, which Golden echoed. After thanking the two, they disembarked the elevator, ‘Ri acutely aware that the Captain was still staring at the tiara, even without looking back at her.
The rest of the day passed in a similar manner, with the general crowd around them either going silent, or - less common, but still frequent enough to be noticeable - lightly gasping; all eyes were on her, which made her smile and cling to Kyle’s arm all the more. It was funny: she had never really cared about ‘tradition’, and had always simply wanted someone who saw her as her. Sure, there were several ‘high-born’ men who’d hunted dangerous beasts - even to a drahk’mihn - to turn into tiaras, all of them trying to ‘win her hand’. But none of that had ever mattered, no matter what they’d hunted, or whether they’d used their Gift, or not; none of them even knew who she was, so their efforts meant nothing, but whatever standing they could achieve by marrying ‘the girl who stopped the war’.
But here was Kyle, a man from another species entirely who saw her as a person, in a way that no non-insectoid ever had in her entire life. A man who’d had no problem whatsoever showing his anger at her - very much deserved, she had to admit; that was a rather rude wake-up call - before he really even knew her, not afraid to call her out on any toxic behavior she might display. And who had taken the fruit of his labors to produce a symbol of his commitment to her, fully embodying the true symbolism of the traditional way, not by simply trying to impress her by buying her affection, as the others had. And for the first time since she was a little girl, she felt a distinct pride in that tradition, and all the more love towards Kyle for it.
They didn’t really have any place in particular that they had in mind to visit, simply walking around, enjoying each other’s company, and the reactions of the various passersby. Among the obviously astonished expressions, there were quite a few jealous ones on a few of the women they passed by, which brought her no end of satisfaction; not that she had anything in particular against any of those women, it just felt good to have something that others wanted so badly. And though she doubted that many of them actually wanted her man - whom she still valued more than the headpiece he’d given her - what they wanted was a product of his work, and so either way - whether they knew it or not - it was him that they wanted; too bad for all of them that she’d gotten her claws in him first, and she was never letting him go of him again.
She had made sure of that, seeing as he could now issue orders to the Captain, and change protocol on a whim; she had also gotten him to give her authorization to take a shuttle planetside if she deemed it necessary, though he’d made her promise to exercise that authority only in cases of an actual emergency, and not for a small ‘threat’ that he could obviously handle. They had come to the agreement that the wild cats from Cheshire’s homeworld were the cutoff point: anything much bigger than those were enough to warrant her presence on the planet. She didn’t really like even that, but she had to agree that at that point it was almost insulting to his own abilities, especially since he had plenty of Gifts to help him out, including her own.
At one point, they were passing by a furniture shop when they spotted her parents and ‘Lana going in; it was her sister who noticed them, calling out,
“‘Ri, Kyle; hi!”
They both smiled and called back in greeting, waving as her parents turned around, their faces immediately breaking out in smiles as they saw the two of them; the looks on their faces - coupled with not a bit of surprise - told her that he’d already shown them the tiara, not that she minded. If he was going to show anyone before her - aside from those who helped him create it in the first place - she could accept her parents being the ones, and ‘Lana by extension.
They spent around an hour walking around the shop - Kyle having to encourage them to pick out the more ‘luxury’ goods - as her parents picked out a new mattress for their bed, along with a few comfortable chairs. They all went their separate ways, her and Kyle promising to meet up later for dinner together. As they had just come back from eating themselves, they went to do more shopping - Kyle reminding them not to worry about the price of anything - while she and Kyle went to go find somewhere to eat.
They decided on a unique shop setup, wherein there was an herbivore side, and a carnivore side; both were technically their own shops - separated by a wall, and everything - though there was no problem with an herbivore sitting with carnivore friends to go nextdoor to get a plate made, and bring it over, or vice versa. They decided on sitting in the carnivore section, and Kyle would go over to the herbivore side to get a bit of roughage for the both of them. After they had taken their seat - the keen’yhong waitress staring in awe at her tiara - Kyle excused himself to the shop next door; after he’d left her line of sight, she immediately got up and hurried to the restroom, eager to get another look at herself in the mirror.

Vohr’Sin - a light blue drahk’mihn with horns that curved back, down and around, so that the tips pointed forward, just under his ears - was having a bit of trouble, as the restaurant was currently too full to seat them.
“There’s nothing you can do for the drahk’mihn ambassador to the humans’ system?” he asked jokingly, “She should be on her way any minute.”
“Sorry, sir,” the black gah’rahtoe replied to him, his face showing genuine regret, “It’s the lunch rush, right now. You’re welcome to wait for someone to finish up, if you like.”
“No,” he responded, “She had to skip breakfast this morning to attend a virtual meeting, so I doubt she’ll be up to waiting… Well, thanks anyway.” As he turned to find somewhere else to eat, he nearly walked right into another person; it took him a moment to realize who it was.
“My apologies,” he said, “I should have been paying more attention to where I was going… Forgive me for bothering you, but aren’t you Ambassador Redding?”
The human was easily recognizable, the ‘scars’ across his face and the horns - which the Empress herself had expressed to his wife were not to be commented upon - that were in a very unique shape. Personally, he wasn’t too comfortable with the human getting a pass at imitating their race - especially Kah’Ri’s horns, of all people - but if the service that he’d provided to their race by coming up with the idea of how to find the slavers was enough for Empress Ella’Ven to excuse it, he had to accept it, as well. The man was carrying a tray with a few plates of vegetables on them, including two baked tass’guds.
“I am,” the human replied with a smile, “Sorry for eavesdropping, but I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation: if you like, you can come sit with me and my fiance; we’re out celebrating our engagement.”
“Oh,” he began sheepishly, “I really wouldn’t want to intrude…” but the human waved him off.
“I’m sure it’ll be no problem; you know how women like to show off their jewelry. It’s just us, so I’m sure it’ll be fine. Besides, I can answer any questions your wife may have about humans, and any social customs she might need to be aware of. Well, any that I know of, anyway.” He finished with a slight chuckle, and Vohr’Sin was torn between not wanting to intrude, but also not wanting to insult the Ambassador by refusing; it was at this time that his wife Vir’Ell walked up.
“I see you’ve met the human Ambassador, love.” He turned to see the yellow-tinted woman that he’d pledged his life to, wearing a light purple tube-top, and matching shorts. Her slender horns swept backward, ending halfway down the back of her head, pointing down.
“I’m Vir’Ell,” she said, directing her attention to the human after exchanging a kiss with Vohr’Sin, “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“And you, as well,” he replied, “I was just telling your husband that y’all can join me an’ my fiance, if you like. We just got engaged this morning, and I’m sure she’d just love the chance to show off. Of course, I don’t wish to interrupt your own time, if you’d rather eat alone, but it seems that we took the last free table, here.”
“That sounds lovely,” she replied easily, lightly squeezing his tail with her own, “I look forward to meeting your betrothed.”
The human - Kyle, as he asked them to call him - led them inside, and over to an empty table, where they all took their seats.
“I’m sure she went to freshen up,” he said as they all sat down,
“So,” he continued as they all settled down, “I hear you’re on your way to Sol?”
“We are,” Vir’Ell replied brightly, “Several factors have come together to convince the Empress to send an envoy to your system; the two biggest factors being - of course - your own contribution to freeing those enslaved, but also from the fact that even through the outcasts of your society, it is entirely obvious that humans had nothing to do with the enslavement of our people. There are obviously other reasons - ones that she wishes to keep close to her wings - but she has decided that humans will be the first race to whom she will reach out a hand of open friendship. Obviously, this will have to be taken slowly, but we’re hopeful that this could open new avenues of trade and friendship that we’ve been so sorely missing all these years.”
“Well,” Kyle began, “I hope we can come together as peoples, especially since our introduction to the wider galaxy came about in quite similar circumstances.”
“Yes,” Vohr’Sin replied seriously, joining the conversation, “That is something that we - as separate races - can relate to, you more so than others, I’m sure. I can’t imagine what it must have been like to endure the mahn’ewe’s captivity, and I commend you on your mental fortitude to be able to make it through all of that relatively unscarred. I won’t claim to know how you’ve dealt with it since your escape, but the fact that you came out of it without any noticeable xenophobia is exemplary.”
“Yeah, well,” Kyle began a bit darkly, looking off to the side a bit as his mind wandered those detestable halls, “I’m kinda used to misfortune, and holding it against those who brought it on, specifically. As a matter of fact, the mahn’ewe look human enough that it doesn’t even translate the same when looking from even the drahk’mihn to them. And everyone else just looks like ‘humanoid animals’, or ‘insects’, so it’s less of a comparison to the mahn’ewe, and more so towards our own myths and legends. And I guess I can’t really complain about my lot in life, ‘cause if I hadn’t been abducted, it’s likely I never would’ve met my future wife… Who seems to finally be done admiring herself in the mirror.” This last part he raised his voice slightly, obviously addressing someone over Vir’Ell’s shoulder, who was on Vohr’Sin’s right side. Before they could turn to look, a surprisingly familiar voice rang out, the smile audible in her voice.
“Can’t you go anywhere without ingratiating yourself with whatever drahk’mihn may be in the vicinity?” Looking around at the woman who had just walked past them to sit next to Kyle, his heart seemed to stop in surprise, both at who was talking, as well as the tiara she was wearing; and looking at her now, he fully understood why the Empress had directed them to ignore Kyle's choice in horns. Kah’Ri Mih’Rell wrapped her tail around Kyle’s waist - even as he wrapped his around her - and even hooked her right wing on his right shoulder, a wide grin on her face. On her head was what appeared to be the void itself, elegantly wrapped around her head, twined gracefully over her horns so as to appear as if the void really had inserted itself onto her head.
“‘Ri,” Kyle began, obviously enjoying their reaction just as much as Kah’Ri was, “I’d like you to meet Vohr’Sin, and his wife Vir’Ell; they’re heading to Sol, as she’s been appointed the Ambassador to humanity.”
“Oh,” she replied, obviously surprised, “I honestly didn’t expect that, though I suppose Ella would have ample reason to reach out to humans, of all peoples.” Obviously it was common knowledge that the Empress had taken Kah’Ri in when she’d lost her own parents, but somehow it had never occurred to him to imagine anyone being ‘close’ enough to her to call her by a nickname.
I’m sorry,” Vir’Ell cut in, “But that tiara is absolutely stunning.” Mixed in with the pleasure at such an extravagant praise, there was an obvious strain of pride in their faces as they both grinned, Kah’Ri leaning closer to Kyle.
“Thank you,” she replied, “He made it according to tradition.”
“You made that?!” he couldn’t help but exclaim, causing them to smile even wider, “From what? I recognize the black hole diamonds, but the material that the rest of it is made of…”
Kah’Ri gave Kyle a knowing look, and - still smiling - said,
“Show them.”
Kyle gave her a conceding nod of his head, and fiddled with the small monitor that was strapped to his wrist. Soon enough, a small hologram appeared on the table between them, depicting Kyle in a strange white tree, looking down at a - comparatively - giant red reptile of some kind. There was a seemingly one-sided conversation where he was obviously speaking with the razum’yilahn that was partially wrapped around his neck, the rest of their body disappearing beneath his shirt. They were still able to catch the gist of what they were saying, mainly that he couldn’t kill that creature until they were sure it wasn’t sapient, which would require them going into its mind.
What followed was an epic battle between man and beast, his uplifted canine companion joining the fight once it was clear that it was indeed a fight. And though it fended off any attacks the canine - Cheshire - threw its way, it seemed intent on finishing the one that had invaded its mind. It eventually had Kyle pinned on his back, both claws - and most of its weight - braced on the staff of the spear he wielded, while Cheshire continued to draw its attention. One such attempt resulted in the reptile shifting its mass, causing one of its paws to slip off the staff, producing what would obviously eventually become the tattoo across his face, though his eyes were destroyed beyond repair in the process.
He managed to catch the claw back on the staff again - obviously using the razum’yilahn’s eyes to operate - soon after which a shuttle appeared, its door open, and what looked like an automated weapon hanging out the side. It fired once, catching the reptile in its backside, and doing little more than making the beast angrier. As it hissed at the shuttle, the weapon fired again, and caught it in the throat, opening up a shallow cut, which Kyle wasted no time in exploiting. Bracing the staff between the arches in his boots, he reached down and drew another knife from his boot, and quickly used it to open the cut wider, rolling out from under the monster to avoid the spray of blood. As the hologram cut out, Kyle began speaking.
“I used the skull plate to grind out the tiara itself, though I had to use nanobots to carve out the clasp to hold the two pieces around her horns. The diamonds were a reward for returning a pendant to the ory’lagus who run the black hole mining company, and the sehr’chtahb who originally crafted the first black hole diamond shaped and set ‘em for me, and I used the Gift I took from the Kath’Loo who was holding her father to change the bone so that it absorbs all light; I also had to turn the bone behind the diamond - and every flake of diamond dust - to silver, to have some light reflect back.”
Vohr’Sin was quite taken aback by everything that had gone into making that tiara, and he was beginning to see possibly a bit of what Kah’Ri must have seen in him in the first place. He was only just realizing that Kyle hadn’t seemed phased to have seen a drahk’mihn; which now it was obvious as to why, but it should have been something that he noticed when they first met. Perhaps it was the horns, and his eyes, of course; another thing the Empress had instructed them to ignore. He was also acutely aware of how… desirable that course of events made him.
Goddess, man,” he said, putting an exaggeratedly jealous arm around Vir’Ell’s waist, “Save some for the rest of us.” That got a good laugh out of the table, shortly after which their waitress showed up to take their orders. Luckily, they all knew what they wanted, and they were soon talking back and forth, sharing anecdotes from their home world, and asking questions about his. They learned a few things that weren’t easily discernible by simple study of their culture through text, or even video. Kah’Ri stayed quiet, mostly, letting them do all the talking about Verem’Jiose; probably since she had been - intentionally - absent from there for so long, it wasn’t like she would have any idea of more recent news, or trends.
All-in-all, it was an enjoyable lunch, with the time slipping by as they ate and talked the meal away. Towards the end of the meal, the women excused themselves to the restroom, and while they were gone, he took the chance to ask Kyle about the possibility of being allowed to hunt one of those lizards himself, as Kyle had informed them that he owned that planet.
“Well,” he began after a bit of thought, “If you do hunt one, you’ll firstly have to do it without your Gift,” that took him by surprise, but Kyle didn’t stop there, “You also have to fight without any kind of ‘modern’ weapon. Which is mostly just saying that you can’t use guns, though nanoblades are not only acceptable, but also needed. And I’ll even make sure that you’re supplied with some mithril to use, as well. And just so you know: not only will you have a guide with you at all times to make sure you stick to the rules I set out, but they can see if you use your Gift.”
He flexed his eyes for a moment, having already explained how they worked - as far as he knew, anyway - to them earlier, when they revealed that that was why Kah’Ri’s eyes were red, instead of purple.
“I understand,” he replied seriously, “I wouldn’t want to disrespect your world.” Kyle nodded once, saying,
“Well then, I think we can work something out. If y’all’re gonna be here for a couple days, I might be able to get in touch with someone who can set up a way to get you there ‘n back.”
“That would be most appreciated.” As Kyle nodded his acceptance of his thanks, an idea came to his mind.
You know,” he started in a conspirator's tone, “Before we left home, I managed to get my claws on a crate of krav’ashah wine; it’s a ‘luxury’ berry on Verem’Jiose, as it’s hard to farm, and doesn’t produce a very high yield, even when done correctly; aged twenty years. I would be willing to gift a couple bottles to the two of you, in celebration of your engagement.”
Kyle smiled knowingly, and replied with,
“Well, that would also be much appreciated; I’d definitely owe you a lot… You know, the ory’lagus gave me a lot of extra diamonds, not just enough for ‘Ri to make my circlet. Once you get the piece you wanna make for Vir’Ell, I can shape and set a decent-sized one for you.”
“I think we have an understanding,” he said, smiling.
“As do I,” Kyle replied, a smile of his own on his face.
Their other halves came back shortly after that, and after they all said their goodbyes - he had insisted on paying for the meal - he made his way back to the ship with Vir’Ell, already planning the shape of the new tiara he would be carving for her. And while the one he had bought her would always be special to him - a simple golden band, with a blue diamond in the center of her forehead - he wanted to make this one even better; perhaps he could find a way to incorporate her old one…
[Next.] Patreon
submitted by Drakos8706 to HFY [link] [comments]


2024.06.02 15:59 Green_Spring_3657 Do you ever wake up feeling well-rested, refreshed, restored?

Maybe once a year I wake up feeling well-rested or refreshed, but it's been many many years (decades?) since that would be a regular occurrence. I wake up tired, no matter how much sleep I get. About a month ago I started taking 3 magnesium citrate pills (total of all 3 pills is ~100% DV of magnesium) about 2-2.5 hours before bed. Because of that, I can tell that I am finally getting some deep sleep again (thank you fitness devices), and that my sleep is improving, but I'm not feeling well-rested/refreshed yet. I also recently got an Oura ring and that has been helpful monitoring my sleep and has given me better insight to improve it (like what time I should go to bed based on my body). I hope in time I'll start to get refreshing sleep again. Other things I do to help with sleep are NO alcohol at all and not eating anything within a few hours of going to bed.
Does anyone have any other tips/tricks that helped give them refreshing, restorative sleep?
submitted by Green_Spring_3657 to Hashimotos [link] [comments]


2024.06.02 15:46 Star_Gamer3726 Here it is, my 5193 word essay analysing Will Wood's 'Suburbia Overture / Greetings From The Marybell Township! / (Vampire) Culture / Love Me, Normally'. Enjoy. (once again not sure of the tag, let me know if it needs changing <3)

(note to teacher: you made a mistake by having one of the prompts be “what are you interested in”, get ready to experience the true power of an autistic hyperfixation. Warning for,, kinda vulgar lyrics? They’re important in the context of the song and it's actually really interesting. I swear I PROMISE I'm not insane.)
I will be analysing Will Wood’s song ‘Suburbia Overture / Greetings from Marybell Township! / (Vampire) Culture / Love Me, Normally’. which, for simplicity, most fans refer to as simply ‘Suburbia Overture’. This song is the first on his first solo album entitled ‘The Normal Album’, which came out in July 2020.
This song, in the most general possible terms, is a criticism of modern suburban life, how it is advertised as “the perfect life”, and how this advertising is incredibly false unless you fit the picture perfect standard that these facets of society seem to require.
The song itself is split up into 3 distinct sections, “Suburbia Overture”, “(Vampire) Culture” and “Love Me, Normally”. I'll be tackling each section one at a time in order to properly break down what each means, what different analogies they use, how they all relate to each other and the intended end result of the song and the message it intends to convey.
Let's begin with ‘Suburbia Overture’. This section of the song uses a lot of analogies that compare suburban life to a warzone, the first line of this section being “white picket fences, barbed wire and trenches”. This section also focuses heavily on the concept of the nuclear family, and it often literalises the term and uses analogies based around radiation and nuclear warfare. Such analogies can be found in lines such as “the snap crackle pop of the Geiger, camouflage billboards for lead lined Brookes Brothers”. Now there's a couple of terms that require definitions in this line. The first of course being “the Geiger”. A Geiger counter, which is what this lyric is referring to, is a tool used to measure levels of harmful radiation. This, paired with the concept of billboards advertising “lead-lined Brookes Brothers” when lead is a material used to deflect radiation, and the knowledge that ‘Brookes Brothers’ is an American vintage style clothing brand, this line really paints a picture of a seemingly post apocalyptic/post nuclear war but still consumerist and capitalistic suburban society. The last line in that verse is “buy now or die”, which ties back to the concept of safety equipment being advertised on billboards, while residents of this town have no choice but to buy the products. This all relates back to the hyperconsumerism that plagues our society, and runs particularly rampant in middle to upper middle class neighbourhoods. The very same neighbourhoods that are often referred to as “suburban”
In the second verse of this section there are a lot of hard hitting lyrics that to me really show that this perfect idealised life is far from perfect or even good, so we will work through them one by one because I feel that they all deserve proper analysis.
The first line that i want to point out from that verse is the line “takes a village to fake a whole culture” which is clearly a rip off of the phrase “it takes a village [to raise a child]” but it also references the fact that usually suburban towns are incredibly monotonous in both residents and architecture, and so it takes the collective effort of the entire population of the town to pretend that there is an actual culture to it.
The next few lines I'll speak on all come in quick succession of one another, essentially blending them into one line. “Your ear to the playground, your eye on the ball, your head in the gutter, your brains on the wall.” So let's break these down. This line is easily split into 4 distinct phrases, and all of these phrases have a few things in common, which I will point out later.
“Your ear to the playground” is a play on the phrase “ear to the ground” which essentially means that the person with their ‘ear to the ground’ is attempting to carefully gather intel about something. Someone having their ear to the playground simply reinforces the idea of this suburban “paradise” being. Not as paradise-y as one would hope, seeing as the people who use playgrounds most of all are children, so this line is demonstrating that the picture perfect life that this suburban town offers is actually corrupting children so young that they are still on the playground. The next phrase is “your eye on the ball” isn't a play on anything and is in fact in itself a common phrase. To have your eye on the ball means to be entirely focused in and paying attention to something, and not allowing anything to divert your attention. Given the last line this line very well could be another reference to the corruption of the youth and the idea that their every day play has already been tainted with the hostilities of modern life usually reserved for adults. Following this is another well known saying “your head in the gutter” which, as most know, someone whos head is ‘in the gutter’ is someone who will see some sort of innuendo or otherwise vulgainappropriate meaning in something that was intended to be entirely innocent, leading to others in the interaction telling the perpetrator to ‘get [their] mind out of the gutter’ And finally, in my opinion the most hard hitting phrase in this set, “your brains on the wall” which is clearly in reference to the notion of ending your own life with a shot to the head, which would lead to, well, brains being on the wall. These last 2 phrases come in stark contrast to the seemingly picture perfect life that suburban towns offer and advertise, the concepts of suicide and perversion are not concepts one expects to see or hear when imagining this idealised form of life.
There is one main similarity in each of the 4 phrases, that being that each phrase has some body part being on something else, your ear to the playground, your eye on the ball, your head in the gutter, your brains on the wall. This similarity almost offers a body horror aspect to the song, which when paired with the concept that this is written about a seemingly post nuclear apocalyptic town presents an interesting idea of possible mutation, but i'll be the first to admit that may be a little far fetched. However that's not the only similarity that these 4 phrases share, another is the fact that they are all directly, or only slightly modified versions of already well known phrases, a similarity that is found in many lines over this entire song, through all 3 sections.
I want to analyse a few more lines before we move on to the second section of the song.
This next line comes directly after the previously analysed line, and it goes “home is where the heart is, you ain't homeless, but you’re heartless” Sticking with the theme of using already existing and commonly used phrases, “home is where the heart is'' is once again a phrase that you could likely find as a cross stitch hung up on the wall of any of the homogenous houses you could likely find in this idealised suburbia. But what Wood is saying in this line is that home is where the heart is, and that while people in this town may not be homeless, they are certainly heartless, meaning that they in fact don't have homes. They have houses. Rows upon rows of houses that all look the exact same in the horrifying monotony that is suburban living.
Following this line is the lyric “it's the safest on the market, but you still gotta watch where you park it”. These lines seem to be in reference to buying a car. The car being the "safest on the market" is likely in reference to the fact that it may have a lot of safety features. But this is immediately negated by the fact that you “still gotta watch where you park it” meaning that the safety features could be a reason that the car gets stolen, rendering all the safety that those features offered useless because in the end it made the car and the owner less safe.
In the third verse of this section, you immediately hear the line “so give me your half-life crisis” which partially is a play on the term ‘mid life crisis’ wherein which one realises that they may have wasted their life up till that point and they're already halfway through, but the use of the term “half-life” instead of ‘mid-life’ is very intentional, as the term “half-life” can also be used to refer to the half-life of an isotope, which is the amount of time that isotope takes to lose half of its radiation, which ties back into the theme of radiation that we see mentioned a lot in this section.
Later in the same verse is the line “if it's true that a snowflake only matters in a blizzard”, which is interesting in a few ways, first, it brings up the idea of a singular individual means nothing on their own and that they only matter when they’re part of something larger or a larger group, but i also think that the use of the terms “snowflake” and “blizzard” instead of something like ‘raindrop’ and ‘storm’ is very intentional in the fact that snowflakes are known for being individual, none are alike, every single one is different. So saying that a snowflake doesn't matter unless it's in a blizzard is yet another hit at individuality, essentially implying that in this town individuality means nothing and is essentially rendered useless.
The final line in this verse is “everybody's all up in my-” repeated thrice, and on the third time the sentence is finished to say “everybody’s all up in my business” and before the word “business” can be finished its overlapped with the beginning of the chorus, the first word of which is a very loud “SUBURBIAAAA!”. I believe this is reminiscent of the fact that in towns like this, everyone cares so much about what everyone else is doing, they’re all so interested in everyone else's business, and i think that sentiment being stated and cut off by the word “Suburbia” is essentially saying that ‘this is the norm, this is just Suburbia, this is how it works around here.’
After the final chorus of this section, in the final verse, you'll find the line “chameleon peacocks are talk of the town” which particularly interests me because if you know anything about chameleons or peacocks you’d find that they seem incredibly different as animals. Chameleons blend into their environment in order to stay safe, whereas peacocks are known for parading around bright colours to make themselves look better, but if you think about it the term “chameleon peacock” actually makes a lot of sense, a person who blends into their surroundings in order to make themselves look good. This sentiment seems to perfectly describe the homogeneity of the people that live in these perfect towns, they're all the same, they blend in with one another in order to make themselves look good, or perfect.
Another line heard shortly afterwards is the phrase “he cums radiation”, rather vulgar, I grant you, but it's important because it is yet another literalisation of the phrase ‘nuclear family’. It could also be a reference to the general toxicity of this societal norm.
The final line in this section of the song is “the dog bites the postman, as basement eyes dream of a night at the drive-in, with an AR-15”. Which is another use of juxtaposition, intended to cause a kind of whiplash in the listener and reinforce the idea that while in this place there is scenarios that would happen in a hollywood movie esque picture perfect neighbourhood, like the dog biting the postman, there's also horrors that lurk below the surface. (although clearly not TOO far below.
Now let’s move on to the second part, ‘(Vampire) Culture’.
If you listen to the song, you’ll immediately be able to recognise where ‘Suburbia Overture’ ends and ‘(Vampire) Culture’ begins, due to the insane juxtaposition between the two. Where ‘Suburbia Overture’ is soft and sort of reminiscent of the 1950’s, ‘(Vampire) Culture’ is loud, jarring and grotesque, complemented with much raspier and strained sounding vocals compared to ‘Suburbia Overture’’s soft and melodic ones. The tone for this section of the song is immediately set with much more graphic lyrics, the very first line of this section (after the opening scream) is “i dropped my eyeballs in the bonfire, we fucked on a bed of nails” which absolutely sets the scene for how different this section will be to the previous.
This song immediately jumps into using cannibalism as a metaphor, with the first line after the jump start opener being “I caught kuru from your sister, and I'm laughing in jail”. While this line is written to sound like the concept of catching an STD from an act of adultery, Kuru is actually a disease only found in human brain tissue, meaning that you can only contract this disease by eating a human brain.
This use of cannibalism as a metaphor is used again immediately after in the line “smell those screaming teenage sweetbreads on that 4th of July grill”, ‘sweetbread’ is the term used to refer to the pancreas and thymus gland of an animal, usually a lamb, but in this particular case it is in reference to the human teenagers that supposedly lived in The Marybell Township, or a least they did before they were dissected, cooked and served at a neighbourhood 4th of July barbeque hosted by the same people that were once referred to as their neighbours.
This line adds an interesting level of patriotism to the song and criticism of how America utilises patriotism and their love for their country as means to justify harming the youth, however a 4th of July neighbourhood barbeque is also commonly associated with white picket fence gated community America, which ties us back to the base criticism of that style of life and how it is seen as the “proper” and “perfect” way to live. These cannibalistic sentiments are followed up with the line “smile and wave boys, kiss the cook, live laugh and love, please pass the pills.” which brings us back to the repeated use of commonly known sayings being taken directly or modified only slightly to remind the listener of the setting were in, that being a seemingly 1950’s era tight knit neighbourhood.
Phrases like “live laugh [and] love” or “kiss the cook” are both phrases that could easily be seen in a setting like this, especially “kiss the cook”, as this is a phrase commonly associated with aprons worn by grillmasters at neighbourhood barbeques, not unlike the cannibalistic 4th of July barbeque that this particular neighbourhood seems to be hosting. These phrases being immediately followed up with a sentiment such as “please pass the pills” serves to entirely undermine the pleasantries that, until a moment ago, seemed to be plastered all over the faces of the people living in this fictional town that Wood has created. I think that final phrase brings the listener back to the realisation that not all is right here, quite the opposite in fact, and drags them from their momentary paradise. Circling back very quickly to the phrase “smile and wave”. I felt the need to point out that this phrase has been used for centuries as a way to say “stop talking and act normal” which once again reinforces that these people are pretending to be something they’re not in order to fit in.
We enter the next verse with the repeated phrase “it's only culture”, after that line is repeated three times we hear “sulfur, smoke and soot”, which could either be a reference to how dirty and disgusting the ‘culture’ is, or it could be a different way of saying that this culture and the people participating are going to hell, as per the common phrase ‘fire and brimstone’ and the fact that sulfur is another way of saying brimstone, and smoke and soot are both byproducts of fire.
The last line of this verse and the first line of the chorus blend into each other, so I’ll speak on them both.
First, the last line of the verse. It goes “you cocked and sucked your lack of empathy, pulled the trigger with your foot to prove you've got-” Putting aside the clear innuendo, this line refers to the idea of ending one's own life with a long shotgun. According to the media, by the time the gun is cocked and the barrel is in your mouth, you're not able to pull the trigger with your hands due to the length of the barrel. This line instead presents the solution of pulling the trigger with your foot to end your life.
So this person “cocked and sucked” the gun (cocked the gun and put the barrel in their mouth) before pulling the trigger with their foot to prove they’ve got-
And here's where the verse blends into the chorus.
Because the first line only consists of one word.
“Blood”.
The person who was shooting themselves with a shotgun only to prove that they bleed. Which is where the title of this section comes in. (Vampire) Culture”. This section seeks to portray either the people in this culture or, the more likely option, the culture itself, as metaphorical vampires, who aim to destroy those around them. This knowledge makes the next line “didn't they want your blood, so why apologise for being blue and cold” make a lot more sense. After all, if these culture vampires have drained you of your blood, is it not their fault that you’re now “blue and cold”, as bodies tend to be if they lack blood flow. However if you look at synonyms for the words “blue” and “cold”, you could also interpret this phrase as meaning “sad and apathetic”. A sad and apathetic person doesn't seem to be the kind of person this ‘culture’ seeks to enlist however, and so one who is “blue and cold” is shunned as an outsider. What Wood is getting at is that if this culture is the one who made you sad and apathetic, then you should not apologise to it for being so.
The next verse is short, and like the previous one, also blends into the chorus in the same way, by having the last line of the verse cut off right where the chorus would finish the sentence with the word “blood”. However in this verse, there's an interesting line. “It's only culture and it's more afraid of you than you are of it”, which is a sentiment usually used by adults to attempt to subdue a child's fear of something, usually insects. However it's interesting in the fact that it brings up the idea that this culture that has caused so much damage and harm is actually incredibly fragile, and would, in theory be very afraid of the concept of the individual, because if this ‘culture’ is only being held together by the silent agreeance that everyone will simply pretend, then the idea that there is people who refuse throws the whole idea into jeopardy.
This line is followed up however, by the line that blends it into the chorus. “Go on drink that-”, clearly intended to be finished by the first line of the chorus, making the full line, “go on drink that blood”. This line is in reference to the phrase “drink the kool-aid” which essentially means to pledge your undying loyalty to something, a concept, a person, a god, etc. and it derives from an infamous mass cult suicide where over 900 people drank poisoned Kool-Aid and subsequently died for the cult. It is not a far cry to believe that this event and this phrase is what the line is referring to, as it's something that Wood has referenced in other songs, so it only makes sense to believe that this is what he means here.
After that chorus we move on to the bridge, which begins by listing 3 pairs of names, all famous or semi famous, and each pair being similar in one right but opposite in another, the line goes as follows; “were you Nabokov to a Sallinger, were you Jung to Freud or Dass to a Leary”, so let's break down these pairs one by one.
First “Nabokov to a Sallinger”, these names belong to Vladimir Nabokov and J.D. Sallinger, both authors who wrote famous books that both surround the theme of innocence, but in very different ways. Nabokov’s book “Lolita” is a story told from the perspective of a grown man about his sexual obsession and attraction to a little girl, and his desire to ruin her innocence, exploring the theme of innocence in a grotesque and frankly horrifying way, which is in stark contrast to Sallinger’s book “The Catcher in the Rye”, which explores the topic of innocence through the main characters desire to preserve their little sisters innocence, and in that desire displays hesitancy at the idea of sex themself. Both books explore the topic of innocence, however while one seeks to preserve it, the other seeks to destroy it, two sides of the same coin.
The next pairing is “Jung to Freud”, meaning Carl Gustav Jung and his mentor Sigmund Freud, who once again are similar in one right, but opposite in another. Jung and Freud both had theories on the nature of the human mind, but where Jungs was all about the concept of spirituality and how that ties into the collective unconscious, Freud's approach was much more focused on the individual unconscious and the concept of sexuality.
The final pairing is “Dass to a Leary”. both psychologists, both at the forefront of the ‘Harvard Psilocybin Project’ (before they both got dismissed from harvard entirely following controversies around the project) Richard Alpert and Timothy Leary were both psychologists and eventually authors who studied the effects of psychedelic drugs on the human mind, and while they were co workers they ended up with pretty conflicting views. Dr. Richard Alpert, who apparently ‘died’ and was ‘reborn’ as spiritual guide Ram Dass, centred his teachings heavily around the concept of living in the moment, (in fact his best selling book, written in 1971 was titled ‘Be Here Now’) and he believed that psychedelic drugs were not needed and that a permanent version of the same effects could be achieved through meditation. Whereas Dr. Timothy Leary advocated heavily for the use of psychedelics, believing that LSD specifically had great potential for therapeutic psychiatric use.
All of these pairings and examples utilise the concept of duality and speak on how every coin has two sides, which can easily be tied back to the idea that the picture perfect suburban life is just one side of the coin. This idea is then reinforced by the next line, “were you mother, daughter, subject and author?”, The use of the word ‘and’ here shows that it's possible to be two sides of the same coin at once, just like how this town, which is perfect on one side of the coin, is still terrible on the other side of the coin. The line is stating that it's possible to be both at once.
The very last line in this section is; “you don't make the rules, you just write them down and do it by the book you throw around”. This line combines a few relatively well known phrases. The first being of course ‘i don’t make the rules’, which can have two distinct meanings. The first is to express a kind of sympathy for someone being punished, and the second is to absolve yourself of the blame for that person being punished, a sort of ‘don't shoot the messenger’ situation.
The ‘rules’ that are likely being referred to here are the societal norms and expectations forced upon people who reside in these towns, the standard for ‘perfection’.
However, following this sentiment up with the phrase “you just write them down” is essentially saying that while it's not the fault of the people in these towns, they didn't create the norms, they still enforce them. They expect everything to be in line and perfect at all times, they follow these ‘rules’ to a T, and they shun and punish anyone who doesn't fit the standard and/or refuses to follow these ‘rules’, which is where the line “do it by the book you throw around” comes in, doing something ‘by the book’ means to follow rules strictly and to the letter, nothing out of line, and to throw the book at someone means to punish them as severely as possible, usually used in the legal sense to mean punishing someone for their crime as severely as the law will allow. So in all, the lyric “you don't make the rules, you just write them down and do it by the book you throw around” ends up meaning ‘you didn't create these norms but you still enforce them by following them to an absolute T and punishing anyone who doesn't.’
With that we enter the third and final section of the song, entitled ‘Love Me, Normally’, a title it shares with another song on the album, but of course this song is partially meant to serve as an overture for the whole album, meaning it shares some similar lyrics with lyrics from other songs on the album, so sharing a title isn't all that surprising.
The first lyric in this section is “do you know the difference between blazing trails and slash and burn?” which is another instance of duality in this song. Trailblazing or being a trailblazer means doing something no one has done before, paving the way for other people to follow in your footsteps, it comes from the literal act of creating a trail in the woods for people to follow, usually by creating notches in trees or setting small fires, hence ‘blazer’, as blaze is another word for a fire. However “slash and burn” is a method of deforestation that involves cutting down and burning a section of forest to create a field. Both examples include using fire to change something, but where one is seen as progress and positive, the other is negative, and seen as a means of destruction. Once again, two sides of the same coin, innovation and destruction.
This is followed up with the line “going against the grain and catching splinters”, which is a line i particularly like because while it is something that literally can happen, if you run your hand along wood in the opposite direction to the grain, you're more likely to get a splinter because you're essentially pushing your hand against the chips of wood, but it also is another metaphor for the dangers of not being the same. Going against the grain in this instance means daring to be different, not going the same way everyone else is going but instead the opposite of that, and in this example splinters are the consequences one would face for being different, especially in a setting like this perfect town, where everyone is the exact same as everyone else.
A little bit later you hear the line “well Lot he had his lot in life, Job his job and i guess you’ll too, and die”. Lot and Job are both figures found in the Bible, whose names both share spelling with common English words, but are pronounced slightly differently.
Job, from the Book of Job, was a man that was tested by God, made to suffer to test his loyalty, his ‘job’ was to believe unendingly in God and see Him as always correct no matter what.
Lot, from the Book of Genesis, was a man who went through a lot, and the phrase ‘my lot in life’ is a phrase commonly used by people to write off/explain why they don't have it as good as others, they say it's simply their ‘lot in life’.
The end of this line “i guess you’ll too, and die” i believe refers to the fact that everyone will have their own job and their own lot in life, and then everyone in the end will die.
This theory is solidified by the fact that the next line is “The Lord looked down and said ‘hey, you're only mortal’” which is a play off of the phrase ‘you're only human’. Wood himself said that the phrase ‘you're only human’ has always felt weird to him, he says, “cause like, of course I am, aren’t we all? How is that fact supposed to help? I still feel bad. What does being human mean to you?”. He follows this up by saying that the idea of God saying "hey, you're only mortal" offers the same kind of sentiment, but in a “cosmically condescending” sort of way.
The following line reads “giveth and taketh away, till things come out a certain way, leave you wondering when they might go back to normal… leave you wondering why they can't have just been normal”.
This line presents a sort of hopelessness in the realisation that things are constantly changing, nothing is any more ‘normal’ than anything else, there's no such thing as ‘normal’, which is an overarching theme found throughout the album. Once again bringing back the fact that for all intents and purposes this song is an overture for the rest of the album.
To conclude, ‘Suburbia Overture’ is, in my opinion, one of the greatest criticisms of suburban, middle class, gated community, nuclear family life i've ever seen, it highlights the problems in that life and showcases how this kind of lifestyle in its incredibly rigid and restrictive standards is incredibly harmful to the very concept of individuality, because the expectations and unspoken rules set in communities like this and the widespread idea of forced normality seeks to crush any individuality before it even has a chance to blossom.
The use of metaphors and phrases that are well known and are likely to be seen in settings such as this gated community suburban town that Wood has created really paint a subconscious picture of what this community looks like, the use of duality, how every story has another side, and how nothing that is seemingly perfect from the outside is actually perfect on the inside.
Will Wood is an incredible lyricist and the fact that he was able to cram so much symbolism and such a powerful message into a song just over 6 minutes long is genuinely incredible.
Thank you for listening to my/reading my autistic hyper fixated rambling, i hope i didn't melt your brain too badly.
submitted by Star_Gamer3726 to willwood [link] [comments]


2024.06.02 15:43 moondog151 A 16-year-old girl would google her mother's new boyfriend and discovery that he was a notorious double murderer who killed his previous girlfriend and child, stuffing their bodies into barrels and burying them on his property. She soon went missing, her mother having chosen the murderer over her.

A 16-year-old girl would google her mother's new boyfriend and discovery that he was a notorious double murderer who killed his previous girlfriend and child, stuffing their bodies into barrels and burying them on his property. She soon went missing, her mother having chosen the murderer over her.
(This case was sent my way via this post asking for case suggestions from my international readers since I focus on International cases.
So I would like to thank xzwkimin for informing me about this case. And as this case is from a country that I skipped over during America's Series, that means I am delaying the Japan case and going backward to do this one
There is also a very lengthy 1 hour long video on this case by Jackie Flores which I used as a guide since it was helpful. But rest assured, I did my own research, used by own words, included additional information and didn't just copy her.
And as you my expect from that prior statement, this is a huge case so information is surely missed so like always your own research is encouraged in case I missed anything.)
Ámbar Cornejo Llanos was born on February 14, 2004, in Villa Alemana, Chile to her mother born in 1982 and father Ulises Cornejo. Ulises was mostly absent and seemed to have separated from Denisse before Ámbar was even born. Not long after their separation, Denisse began dating a new man named Juan Carlos Pérez Aguirre, a friend of Denisse's since before Ámbar was even born. This relationship would result in them having two children and thus Ámbar having two step-siblings although one tragically passed away at 4 months old due to malnourishment brought about due to improper care. After the death, Denisse would fall into a depression, heavily drink and neglect Ámbar and her surviving brother. It got to the point where their school requested the two be removed from Denisse's custody as they were visibly not being taken care of. The request was granted and the two were removed from her custody and held in an Institution for minors.
Ámbar Cornejo Llanos
Denisse Llanos Lazcano
In 2009, Denisse had her final break up with Juan, their relationship was a dysfunctional on-again-off-again relationship with constant break ups and reunions but eventually, their final break up would come. Also in 2009, Denisse had improved enough for a court to deem it safe for Ámbar and her brother to be returned to her care. After the break-up, Denisse and Ulises appeared to reconcile and Ulises grew close to Ámbar.
On September 27, 2012, Ámbar confided in two of her school teachers that one of her friends had been sexually assaulted, after they called her friend's mother, she broke down and admitted that she had lied and was in fact talking about herself. Ámbar was taken to the police to give a statement and she told them that whenever her mother took her and her brother to visit Juan back when they were dating, Juan would sexually assault her during these visits. Juan was arrested and on November 25, 2013, The Oral Criminal Court of Viña del Mar sentenced him to three years imprisonment, ordered him to pay and cover the entire cost of the trial, prohibited him from even having any contact with Ámbar or her family, and had to disclose his address to the police. The court also again, took custody away from Denisse and sent her to live with Ulises for a few months, The no-contact order went both ways as Denisse was ordered to have nothing to do with Juan either so long as she wanted to raise Ámbar. Eventually, Ámbar was returned to Denisse's custody after she obeyed this court order.
Ulises, viewing Denisse as an unfit mother, and since he saw her as manipulative wanted to keep Ámbar. When Denisse found out, she prohibited her daughter from ever visiting her father and tried to manipulate her into disliking him, saying that it was his fault and that he was trying to break up their family. Ulises would also send money to the family for Ámbar but Denisse would often, not tell her when the money arrived and simply pocket and spend it for herself.
Denisse's plan to turn Ámbar against her father backfired and the older Ámbar got, the more strained her relationship with her mother would become. They would constantly argue and one time, Ámbar had a friend over when she and Denisse had another argument and Denisse moved to strike her daughter. Ámbar and the friend ran to another room and locked the door but Denise was so angry over whatever the fight was about that she hit the door with enough force to break it open. The only reason that Ámbar never defended herself was simple, according to friends, Ámbar told her that since Denisse gave birth to her, she was obligated to respect her mother and could never raise a hand to her.
Soon Denise would date another man, the landlord of their apartment, Manuel García Queirolo. Tragically, Manuel wouldn't be any better than Juan. Whenever he heard that Ámbar was showering, he'd use his position as the landlord to go to a room on the second floor that gave him a clear view through the bathroom window so he could watch Ámbar. Ámbar would eventually find out and inform her mother to which she told her and her brother to just not shower unless she were home. But beyond that, she took no action, she didn't even stop seeing Manuel. She actually did the opposite and got mad at Ámbar for being the subject of Juan and Manuel's lust. The worst of Manuel's depravity wouldn't come out or be known by others, even Ámbar until years later, that will be discussed further in the write-up.
With all this tragedy and her dysfunctional and abusive home life, one may expect Ámbar to have been troubled. But on the contrary, all her friends said she was happy, outgoing, kind, would do anything for them and loved to engage and share her hobbies with them such as dancing. Ámbar was deeply liked by all her classmates and was very popular. She had managed to not be defined by all that was going on in her life.
In late 2019, Denisse had found her next boyfriend, a man named Hugo Humberto Bustamante Pérez with the two moving in together in relatively short order. Ámbar was not very keen on Hugo and how fast their relationship was progressing, she also felt uneasy about him as well and how he looked at her. Ámbar told one of her friends about her mother's new boyfriend and her friend felt his name sounded familiar to the two looked him up and did not at all like what they had found.
Hugo Humberto Bustamante Pérez
Hugo Humberto Bustamante Pérez was born on March 28, 1965, in Quilpué as the third out of four siblings. His father worked as an electrician, and his mother a housekeeper with domestic violence a frequent occurrence in the household. His mother was described as neglectful while his father was actively abusive and had him put to work at the age of 8 to sell fruits and vegetables at markets. To escape his father's abuse during his most violent outbursts, he would go stay at his grandparent's house. At the young age of 13, he would fall into a drug addiction, starting with marijuana before escalating to opium and cocaine.
At the age of 15, his father kicked him out of the home so he went to Mendoza, Argentina and lived with a classmate. There he claimed to have travelled all to Bolivia, Peru, Spain and Brazil. He returned to Chile at the age of 18 and began stealing goods to sell back as well as trafficking drugs. When he was 20 he would, with the help of an accomplice take part in a scam where he would get on a bus, gain the trust of the passenger sitting next to him, offer a drink laced with sleeping pills and then steal their belongings as they passed out in the street. He would also attempt this on beaches as well.
Several times, Hugo would attempt to start romantic relationships but none of them would last particularly long usually breaking up almost immediately due to a lack of commitment from Hugo. For legitimate income, Hugo got into bodybuilding and according to him, he owned a nightclub. On May 27, 1987, Hugo was arrested for the first time on a charge of theft but he doesn't appear to have suffered severe consequences for this. He later began another relationship but this one seems to have lasted a little longer with them even having a child and Hugo getting employed as a serial guard. But they broke up shortly after the birth and in 1989 Hugo was arrested for nine counts of robbery, four counts of theft and 5 counts of armed and violent robbery earning him a 10-year prison sentence.
Hugo had a rough stint in prison, with his drug habits routinely sending him to a hospital in Valparaíso and often had extra security and shackles because he once tried escaping during a transfer. In 1992, he suddenly had a mental health crisis and was admitted to a mental hospital for 25 days. In 1995 he was granted parole but was sent back to prison 8 months later after violating it. He was finally released after serving his sentence in 1999. After serving his sentence he again attempted to turn his life around, getting a job painting and repairing cars and saving enough money to open his own store. He also took an interest in yoga and spiritualism. At a yoga class, we would meet 49-year-old kindergarten teacher Verónica Vásquez Puebla (born in 1955) who had a son named Eugenio Honorato Vásquez.
Verónica Vásquez Puebla and Eugenio Honorato Vásquez
Unlike Hugo's prior relationships, this one actually appeared to be promising. Eventually, Hugo asked Verónica for money for "home improvement" and initially she wouldn't hesitate to give her money away. Tragically, Hugo would begin squandering the relationship and would become abusive and temperamental. So on January 8, 2005, he came to ask for money, money that he had never paid back any time prior, Verónica finally said no having now wanted nothing to do with him.
When met with this reply, Hugo was left enraged. In his fit of rage, he grabbed a baseball bat and struck Verónica with it before strangling her. All the commotion had woken up 9-year-old Eugenio after being witnessed, Hugo set his sights on the child and began strangling him as well. Now that both were unconscious, he shoved a cloth down Verónica's throat, tied her hands and feet together and slit her throat. Afterward, he finished them by wrapping their heads in plastic wrap and tying a plastic bag around their heads. He then got a metal drum and hit their bodies repeatibly with a cane and breaking their bones so he could better fit Verónica and Eugenio's corpses inside. Then to hide the smell of decomposition, filled the drum with water, line and plaster before sealing it. He then proceeded to ransack Verónica's house to look for the money he had asked for and left once he found it.
He left the barrel in Verónica's home for a few days and blew her money on his old habits, that being drugs, drinking and prostitutes. Eventually, despite his methods to mask the odour, the bodies inside the drum began to smell. To deal with this, he bought a house with a patio and transferred the barrel to that property. He then asked his father if he could help him dig a hole in his yard. The hole was two meters deep and one meter wide. He asked the movers, moving in his furniture to help move the drum to the back of his house. Hugo was almost caught right then and there because liquid began leaking from the barrel but Hugo said that he worked in the food (specifically French Fry) industry and that it was a chemical from making the product. After everyone left, he buried the drum in the hole he had his father dig. Verónica's brother noticed she was missing and called her only to be answered by Hugo and said that she had gone on a spiritual retreat. Eventually, he and her family went looking for her and found her identification documents in a ditch. Hugo was again called and simply said she was bored with Verónica and hung up.
On January 26, Hugo's new neighbours called the police to report the smell and when they arrived, despite how confident Hugo was that he'd get away with it, and despite all the work he put into hiding his crime, he confessed immediately. The police placed Hugo under arrest while they excavated his yard and recovered the drum and the bodies. Tragically, the news broke at the same time as Hugo's daughter began making plans to reconnect with him. This murder gained Hugo the moniker of "The Drum Psychopath"
The police outside Hugo's house.
The police in Hugo's yard
The drum.
Hugo spent his first few months in a mental hospital where he boasted to the doctors about his economic situation and martial arts talent. Hugo's trial took place in November 2005 held by The Guarantee Court of Villa Alemana, and he was handed down a sentence of 27 years imprisonment with his release date set for January 26, 2032. Hugo would now be one of Chile's most infamous criminals and was the subject of an episode of "Mea Culpa"
Hugo being brought to court
Hugo was even given interviews while in prison, in one of these interviews he was asked if he would ever kill again if released and he would tell the interviewer that he didn't know because "I am not the master of destiny". He also told the interviewer that he was triggered by a whistling sound in his ear and he said that it was like watching a movie while he was killing Verónica and Eugenio.
On April 29, 2016, Hugo was put before a parole board and even though Hugo publically said to an interviewer that he was uncertain about whether he'd kill again or not, and even though the prison itself told the judges in charge of the parole hearings not to release him, they outraged all of Chile by granting him parole regardless on the basis of him serving 10 years, learning an actual skill he would use at a job while in prison and good behaviour meaning, legally, they had no reason to deny parole and he was released amongst 788 others. Hugo was despised by all the locals he was now living with, no employer would hire him for any more than a day so he mostly worked odd jobs. Even those who reluctantly admitted that Hugo was nice, added that he still seemed odd and one of his neighbours said "When he looked at you, it felt like he was undressing you with his eyes"
Neighbours would even put up flyers all across the area warning residents about Hugo and to make it clear to Hugo that he wasn't welcome. Parents even refused to let their children go outside alone now that Hugo was back and living alongside them and women wanted to be driven to work and driven home from work instead of walking. Even the mayor of Villa Alemana had ordered an extra police presence in the neighbourhood he moved into.
As soon as she finished reading up on his lengthy and disturbing history, Ámbar was left horrified. Denisse had had 4 partners, one sexually assaulted Ámbar when she was 8, the other was a blatant pedophile who would stare and watch her shower and now her newest one was a man who killed his girlfriend and her 9-year-old child. The only one of Denisse's partners that she actually treated with disdain and contempt was Ámbar's father who cared for and had her best interests in mind. Ámbar explained this all to Denisse who got mad at her daughter and started another fight since she saw Ámbar as judging her newest boyfriend without getting a chance to meet and know him. She even told her that everyone deserves a second chance despite barely knowing Hugo herself at this point.
Seeing as her mother remained stubborn, Ámbar went behind her back and wrote a complaint letter to the apartment's manager requesting that Hugo be banned from the premises. This complaint found its way to the public and soon the other residents of the apartment learnt that Hugo was living with them and essentially, they all came together to demand that they all leave and take Hugo with them. Leave they did but Denisse took Ámbar's brother and moved into Hugo's own home. But Denisse, now on the verge of hating Ámbar for not accepting her relationship with Hugo, punished her by abandoning her underaged daughter and having her live alone in the apartment with a very minuscule amount of money.
After only a week, Ámbar would have to leave the apartment and would go back and forth between staying at various different friend's houses but none were able to let her move in full-time. And she couldn't move into her father's place because he lived in Northern Chile and that would involve abandoning her brother and mother with Hugo. In December 2019, Ámbar moved in to live with Manuel's daughter who was old enough to have her own children and for Ámbar to refer to her as an "aunt". She was described as a much better mother figure than Ámbar's own mother and she was completely ignorant to Manuel's crimes so Ámbar felt safe around her and didn't hold her father's actions against her. And by this point, Denisse disowned Ámbar in all but name. She ended up having to repeat a grade and the school and teachers took note of this and tried to call Denisse 6 separate times for a parent-teacher conference only for her to get aggressive toward the teachers for even calling her at all.
The only interactions she would have with Denisse would be when child support was sent and Ámbar still all these years later had to go to Denisse's house to collect the money in person before her mother spent it all herself. And often she wouldn't even go inside, she'd just knock on the door, Denisse would give her the money without saying a word and close the door. And even if she didn't behave that way, Ámbar steadfastly refused to ever step foot inside Hugo's home. The latest payment was sent on July 29, 2020, when Ámbar told her "aunt" that she was going to head over. After three hours had passed Ámbar had yet to return home from Denisse's and wouldn't answer her phone her respond to any messages. Her Aunt actually called Denisse who blatantly didn't care about her daughter's disappearance and actually hung up the phone. Afterwards, the police were finally called.
Both the police and the entire neighbourhood dismissed the possibility of a runaway and together with the police, the entire neighbourhood began a search effort for Ámbar. Ulises also heard of what had been going on in Ámbar's life as well as her disappearance and immediately travelled to Villa Alemana to join in on the search and of course call and confront Denisse who would never answer or respond. Even when the police themselves showed up, Denisse refused to cooperate or help and ignored even those tasked with finding her daughter. Some witnesses even said that she just stood on her porch and drank a beer with Hugo while others tried finding her daughter
The police would put several flyers all across the local area appealing for information, questioned every neighbour they could find, and together with the Red Cross, firefighters and local volunteers searched the nearby grasslands, bushes, forests, mountains and so on utilizing sniffer dogs, drones and even thermal imaging cameras with the searches continuing into the night. A witness would also come forward and say that in the morning he drove by Ámbar and saw her crying as she walked away. One of Denisse's neighbours also said that in an unusual course of events, Ámbar actually entered Denisse and Hugo's home instead of waiting outside and that she didn't leave. This statement was supported by a CCTV camera showing her walking toward their house but never walking away.
Ámbar's missing notice
This time, simply ignoring them wouldn't work. On July 31, A large group of neighbours went to Hugo's house and waited for him to come outside so they could all gang up on and confront him and some wouldn't even let him go back inside. Hugo acted strangely amicable this time and even invited them to come inside and said the police could even bring in search dogs. Hugo even confidently stated, "If I had a body in here it would smell, Don't you think a body that's been here for 2 days would smell". This statement had the opposite effect of what Hugo had intended since as of now, most people thought Ámbar may still be alive.
Since he gave consent, everyone agreed and entered his home on August 3, including police with search dogs and although no human remains were found, they did find clothing with traces of human blood which were seized to be analyzed by forensics. The blood would end up being a red herring as it was old and belonged to Denisse. Even though Hugo seemed to have been in the clear for now, having just invited police onto his property and them finding nothing, he decided to, on August 3, with Denisse, leave Ámbar's brother in the care of one of his sisters and then the two would just flee and leave the area without notice. By now the search expanded to find them, as suspects to be arrested.
On August 6, photos were uploaded on social media showing Hugo and Denisse at a camp ground in Lilu Lilu trying to find someplace to hide, police also pulled CCTV footage from a store near the camping ground and saw the two buying clothes, hats and sunglasses in an attempt to hide their appearance. The police searched the nearby woods and found the two relatively easily and began interrogating them separately.
Hugo and Denisse at the campground
Denisse who clearly had no concern for her daughter's safety and disowned her over not accepting Hugo, turned on him very easily. She confessed that Hugo had murdered Ámbar and that she knew he did but was too afraid to come forward as Hugo had threatened her, her son and her parents and that he forced her to run away with him. According to her, Hugo had dug and torn up his living room floor to make a 6-foot ditch, bury her in it and refill the living room. The police believed Denisse and figured she'd be a valuable witness so they released her. Hugo exercised his right to remain silent and told the police nothing.
It was fortunate for the police that Hugo didn't need to speak. They checked his cell phone and found that from July 20-July 28 he had searched the following terms "Price of electric weapons, Ranged stun gun, Using chloroform to sleep, Sale of straightjacket psychiatry, Chinese bamboo torture, Chinese water drop torture, Ether sleeping spray, Using ether to put people to sleep, Medical use of scopolamine, Where to buy hydroxybutyric, Total and absolute power, How to change your first and last name, Psychological torture, Torture methods, Meat grinder price, Blows to faint, sleep or immobilize," and so much more which clearly showed that not only did Hugo premeditate Ámbar's murder, but that the murder was likely horrific. Inside his backpack were two knives, a hatchet, rope and a receipt for paint and paraffin wax.
The police easily obtained a warrant to search Hugo's home that same day. They broke up the floorboards in his living room and dug up the soil underneath. There they found three plastic coolers upside down and wrapped into plastic bags. The police removed the bags and opened up the coolers, there they found the decomposed, eviscerated and partially skeletal remains of a young girl, dismembered into 15 separate pieces. The remains were easily identified as Ámbar's based on her clothing. The autopsy revealed that Ámbar had been attacked and suffered numerous blunt force injuries across her body but especially to her hands, arms, forearms, buttocks and thighs. a cloth was stuffed down her mouth as seen with her head, and there were signs on the remains that she had been violently raped. According to the medical examiner, a saw and knife were used for the dismemberment
https://preview.redd.it/yobqrydqv54d1.png?width=710&format=png&auto=webp&s=8713a8ee0d0efdb04689406f2d9897214a07e97b
https://preview.redd.it/wfpw4m47u54d1.png?width=760&format=png&auto=webp&s=ddafe2a0402d76e0c2cc8d3cd6c729feb9f73dbd
https://preview.redd.it/ygeyfrwbu54d1.png?width=640&format=png&auto=webp&s=8019b513bad529d81215e0a2452b41ecb4cf9e54
Police and forensics
Meanwhile, the police faced backlash for releasing Denisse and not investigating her further, many did not believe her to be as innocent and a victim of Hugo as she portrayed, her prior history and actions during the search made that hard to believe. And even after her daughter's dismembered body was found under her living room, Denisse wasn't sad, mourning or even. After several threats including her apartment being vandalized as she was led home under her police guard and threats over the phone, Denisse was sent to a psychiatric institute after attempting to take her own life. The backlash continued after it was revealed that the institute was being kept anonymous as a "witness protection" situation.
And speaking of outage, outrage toward the Chilean government and judiciary was immense as Hugo's release led to Ámbar's death. The families of Verónica and Eugenio were also furious that their killer got to go free to kill again instead of serving his sentence. The outrage was in fact so intense, that the judge who approved Hugo's release was even suspended and investigated for misconduct. Eventually, though, she was reinstated with no consequences because although the law was flawed, she was doing her job as a judge by following it. Instead, Chile changed their laws to make the parole process much more thorough and over all harder to have parole answered as opposed to the rubber stamp process it was before.
On September 24, Denisse was removed from Witness Protection and instead placed under arrest with now the police labelling her a murderer instead of a witness. The police ended up going through Hugo's entire phone history, Denisse's, and CCTV footage around the area before and immediately after the murder which showed that Denisse was an active participant. Denisse's motive was simple yet heartbreaking and horrifying. She had on some level wanted to do this ever since their neighbours forced them to leave their apartment because of Hugo, she and Hugo both said that Ámbar wasn't letting them live together as a romantic couple in peace and she saw Ámbar as coming in between him and Hugo and that as long as her daughter was alive, she would never be with the man she wanted.
Denisse's arrest
While in prison, she was the most hated inmate by her fellow inmates and her own cellmate said that she would "make life impossible" and went out of her way to stay up late just to make sure that she could keep Denisse awake and not let her sleep. This led to Denisse being moved to solitary confinement after a "lynching" attempt. A move that infuriated the public and her fellow inmates. It also upset Hugo who was said to have been begging the courts to let him visit Denisse.
Denisse and Hugo were both tried together with the trial beginning on October 26, 2021, at The Oral Criminal Court of Viña del Mar. During the trial which was held over video link due to COVID-19. Denisse somehow found a way to play Ámbar's favorite music which the court and her relatives saw as a provocation. with the prosecution calling over 54 witnesses, 113 relevant documents, 30 expert reports, and the prosecution presented strong DNA evidence, Psychiatric reports showing them to both be sane, and biochemical reports. According to the prosecution, this is what happened.
Hugo and Denisse during the trial
On July 29, 2020, Ámbar was called by Denisse to pick up the money sent by Ulises. Before Ámbar arrived her now 14-year-old brother was sent to school to pick something up so that he couldn't be a witness to the crime. When Ámbar arrived, Denisse refused to go outside, meet her and hand her the money like always, instead, she insisted and demanded that she enter the home if she wanted it. Somehow, she did convince her and Ámbar went inside where she was immediately attacked by her mother and Hugo with Hugo proceeding to rape Ámbar.
Soon a problem in their plan emerged when Ámbar's brother returned home much quicker than Denisse had expected him to. When Denisse saw her through the windows she hurriedly ran outside and told him that they needed to go to their old apartment because they had gotten a call that someone was breaking in. He couldn't see anything that was going on and really needed to use the bathroom, but his mother insisted that they had to leave now and when he moved past Denisse to use the bathroom, Hugo from the inside kept pushing the door shut so he couldn't enter, something he found odd. He was only allowed in after Hugo dragged his sister's body to another room and closed the door. When he was finally let in to use the bathroom, he heard a loud thumping noise coming from the other room. He left the bathroom and didn't even ask about the noises but Hugo felt the need to frantically explain them away and say it was his mother coming over for a visit and folding clothes. Ámbar's brother was one of the prosecution's star witnesses.
Hugo, now left alone, began dismembering Ámbar into the aforementioned 15 pieces and placed them into the coolers while CCTV cameras showed Denisse and her son at a metro station on the way to their apartment. Denisse showed no reaction to helping her boyfriend rape and murder her daughter. While at the metro station, she sent the following text messages to Hugo. "I'm more calm now, I love you, kisses", "I hope everything goes well for you", "See you tomorrow" and "Good night love" That second message was her wishing Hugo luck in disposing of her daughter's body. They also exchanged 14 phone calls. When they arrived at the apartment, Denisse had her son stay there while she rushed to a store to purchase paint and paraffin wax. Denisse was caught on CCTV doing this and the cashier was called to testify. To keep him away from their home, Denisse had her son stay at the apartment alone for the night as she returned.
Hugo and Denisse then went to the living room to remove the wooden floorboards in the living room, dig a six-foot hole through the soil underneath the floor, dumped the coolers into the hole, filled the hole back in, and placed new replacement floorboards where the old ones were and nailed them back to the floor sealing up the makeshift grave. The paraffin wax was used to try and keep any search dogs from detecting the stench of decomposition. Neighbours heard the sound of equipment such as drills and hammers being used but that the sounds were spaced out as if Hugo and Denisse were trying to be quiet with them. Denisse then wrapped Ámbar's cell phone in aluminum foil, burnt it and discarded it in a crawl space. Denisse's fingerprints were pulled from this foil. Denisse's shoes were also examined and traces of wax were found on the soles. Hugo seemed supremely confident that he would never be caught but as soon as he was confronted by his neighbours he was suddenly terrified and frantically told Denisse that they needed to run away.
On November 26, 2021, the two were found guilty and on December 7. both were sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole until at least 40 years into the sentence meaning the two won't even have the possibility of release until Hugo is at least in his 90s. It wasn't just murder the two were convicted of, they also were sentenced for rape and abuse, tragically not just that of Ámbar. Ámbar's brother wasn't just a major in the murder case, Hugo and Denisse had been sexually abusing him as well this whole time and the two were sent to prison for those crimes. For the sake of his protection, specific details involving his case have thankfully not been made public. They were both acquitted on the charge of illegally burying a body and Denisse was acquitted on the charge of raping Ámbar. They both appealed the verdict and sentence but on June 2, 2022, the Chilean Supreme Court upheld the decision.
Now I mentioned that Manuel García Queirolo would be brought up again as his actions were even more heinous, Well, during her disappearance and murder, the Cyber Crime Unit was investigating Manuel for completely unrelated reasons, he was suspected of producing and possessing child pornography on his cell phone and other sex crimes from 2016-2020. On August 17, 2020, he was placed under arrest while investigators went through his phone. As they expected, he did possess mutable inappropriate images of minors.
Manuel's arrest
Horrifyingly enough, 400 of which were all of Ámbar back when she lived in his property. Aside from photographing her while she was showering, he also had pictures of upskirts and pictures taken up her dresses and the phone camera zoomed in to focus on her privates. Ámbar never found out about these images. On December 15, 2021, Manuel was convicted by The Oral Criminal Trial Court of Viña del Mar and sentenced to 14 years imprisonment on December 27.
Ámbar's other relatives, friends and various women's rights organizations were satisfied with the verdict and even celebrated in the streets. The families of Verónica and Eugenio were also pleased to know that he was back in prison. For Hugo and Denisse, they are likely to never see each other face to face ever again. Ironically, that is despite being in the same prison. On April 27, 2022, Denisse was transferred to the same prison as Hugo after an apparent "lynching" attempt which led to lacerations on the scalp, bruises on both sides of the neck, an orbital hematoma, a laceration in the right eye, a wound on the lower lip, a hematoma in the lumbar dorsal area and on the left elbow. Although she has been attacked several times before this was the most brutal one.
Ámbar's brother is now 17-18 and is living with other family on Ulises's side. He is said to be doing well, has made several new friends and has moved on and put this incident behind him with his life looking up for him.
Sources (In the Comments)
submitted by moondog151 to TrueCrimeDiscussion [link] [comments]


2024.06.02 15:41 ocranky Weird Encounter which left me second guessing

Not terrifying but just weird, I was in 10th standard, for context, used to live in a colony which was 25+ km away from the city, used to go to school in the city by company provided buses,there were many schools/colleges so students were clubbed and buses were assigned based on the route. Unfortunately the driver we had, lets just say there were very few people who liked him.he used to change the route whenever he liked never stopped for students who weren't standing exactly on the designated stop, no consideration for emergency situation whatsoever.He used to get scolding for this behaviour but was always hired back for some or the other reason. Anyway it was summer time,June, and this driver decided that he wouldn't drop us near our houses as there were only 15 People, instead dropped us at the entrance of our colony for us to walk to our houses.I used to live on the opposite end as officer's Quarter were made there which was little more than 2 km from the colony gate, I looked at the helpless people walking as none were from officer side I started walking in the scorching sun, cursing the driver and thinking how I was gonna complaint about him. Suddenly I had an idea to minimise the distance to my house, The only problem was I had to choose a desired path/ fisherman trail of an area where I had to cross two big fields(one thoroughly covered with 3-6 feet shrubs and other the plain field with helipad at the centre used for colony gatherings for events like independence day, etc.)diagonally with only 2 houses(mostly unoccupied throughout the year due to its location) in between, It wasn't some scary path just felt deserted even at day hours but for a kid who grew up listening all shorts of storying of grown up people getting scared there for no reason and parents warning us to not to use the path from the shrubs field as there had been some sightings of 'coyotes' in there, it was,let's just say for small kids looking for adventure it was a place with potential.
Anyway, I took the path as it was 3 pm already and It felt like fire was raining from the sky and hot winds 'loo' were blowing and I wanted to reach home as fast as I could. While passing the shrub field all the stories, about that field and how I was going to defend myself, kept coming to my mind.it was an ok journey till I heard some rustling in the bushes more than once,it felt it was following me i stopped to hear it clearly suddenly a man with face totally covered with big white cloth( not uncommon due to heat) passed by me on a cycle and I was little startled but at least I knew the source of the sound. I called that man twice to take a lift,but the guy totally ignored my calling and cycled away.but when he rustling sound came again i started walking faster and crossed the 1st field and was soon on a 200m long road where the empty houses were situated,at the end of the road was the second field with the helipad which I had to cross diagonally.
It was getting hotter and wind blowing faster, little on the path field I heard the sound of a heavy anklet just beside me, I turned and this lady more that 5' 10" as I was 5' 8" and she was taller in bright red(simple maybe new) saree maybe in her 30s, probably married guessing from the sound of the ornaments coming from her, with a huge veil walked past me. I didn't realise how I missed her walking behind me as it would have been impossible to ignore all the jewellery noise coming from her. Anyway, my mind was dwelling on where she came from and also there was something about her as she was walking past i felt goosebumps throughout my body(or maybe it was just the sun)which made me start walking a little faster to match her pace as couldn't get over this urge of wanting to see her from front. Nolo matter how fast I walked the distance between us neither increased nor decreased and all i could hear was the constant rhythm of her heavy anklets, at one point i remember i forgot everything and was so focused on seeing her from front for only once, that l was literally walking so fast that any faster one would start running but still the distance was maintained and the constant rhythm of heavy anklets was the only sound one could hear.At this point we both were on the small elevation leading the the helipad in the middle of the field.
Suddenly, upon reaching the middle of the field it was like i snapped out of some dream or a hypnosis session or a sleep and as I stood in on the helipad in the center of that field and there was no one around me, no lady in red saree, not a bird,nothing only a very weird feeling as if every pores on my skin was awake. There was no way one could suddenly disappear or can run and vanish from sight as we were in the centre of a huge field with a capacity of 20,000 people.i started second guessing myself if what happened actually happened or if there was any lady to begin with.
Anyway my house wasn't too far so feeling weird I started walking toward my home, as I reached home was approaching my gate I heard a loud ahem from my neighbour uncle who asked in a roaring sound 'where do you think you are going??', little background he has some knowledge of things like evil eye etc as he had a shaman back in his village who gave him some mantras, this wasn't a common knowledge about him there but since we were neighbours from time to time he looked into some stuff like when kids had fever or won't stop crying etc., which I will admit always helped. Anyway after his question I looked at him and he was directly looking at me and usually he teases me for some or the other stuff by being all tough and loud but this time he was just looking at me or it felt like he was looking at me and I was still feeling weird hence gave him a salute without speaking and entered my house with him still looking at the gate behind me. By evening I had a 102 degree temperature and out of nowhere his wife brought some cloves as he asked her to give it for me and asked my mother to tie it in my hands. Next morning I was alright and ready to get scolding from my mother for going here and there besides school as the aunty told her something previous night.
I have few more but wanted to share this one,please share if you had similar encounter.
Also, if you want me to share more,response to this will motivate me to write more as this indeed was a lot of typing.Take care.
submitted by ocranky to ParanormalEncounters [link] [comments]


2024.06.02 15:24 Grouchy-Extent9002 MIL rant

I’m sure there a lot of people who think they have the worst MIL, and I’m one of them ! This is a (long) rant and also I’m looking for some insight and advice bc I truly have no idea how to interact with this women.
Just a quick run down : I have been told she is bi-polar and unmedicated. Only 2/5 of her children talk to her. She has no relationship with her other grandchildren or great grandchildren. Twice divorced, 4 different baby daddy’s, home wrecker- her last husband was very successful and when they divorced she went for all he has and now he owes her I believe 300k a year … and She is notorious for making a scene.
When I started dating my now husband he always told me his mom and how she’s bi-polar and nasty and unpredictable and will probably end up hating me at one point bc she hates her sons partners. So I immediately was skeptical of her and wanted to spend as little time with her as possible. The first few times I met her it was brief and went fine. There were a few weird times like we were at her house once when I was pregnant and I was napping in the guest room and she came in and accused me of going through her closet. Or she fed our dog people food and then told me to clean the floor bc he was so messy. Or when one of her sons was accused of SAing his own daughter she called her own granddaughter a whore.
When I got pregnant My husband had said he never wanted her to spend a lot of time with our son so she doesn’t ‘sink her claws into him’ and just being generally unpredictable. She was surprisingly really excited for our son and it made my husband feel like she has changed, he thought after all the shit she has done and in her old age she has changed and convinced me she has as well. He said she doesn’t have much time left and I should give her a chance. I was open to the idea, especially bc my family isn’t much involved and if she wanted to love our baby then I would let her.
I’ll start with the build up of events. When our son was born they thought we would have complications so I gave birth at the children’s hospital and he was in the NICU for 4 days. We had our dog with us and my dad was watching him but had to go back to work and we didn’t know how long we would be in the hospital so we asked my MIL and she said no bc he has too much fur so our dog slept in our car for 4 days. Then we got home with the baby we would FaceTime her. She told us, via FaceTime, our home was too cold. It was not, it was well over 70 and we had a fireplace that was always going. It was December in the mountains and I hate being cold, the house was not cold. My MIL emailed her ex husband (who really hates hearing from her) telling him our house was too cold and he needed to call us and make sure the heat is on. So he calls us explaining she emailed him and we need to turn the heat on. The heat was never not on, I can literally pull up on excel our heat use. Anyways. My MIL wanted to see our son but we lived in the mountains and it’s hard to travel in the winter so we met her somewhere kind of in between. She got us rooms at a really cool hotel and there was hot springs and I was 6 weeks PP and excited to soak. So we go down, we get our rooms and ours is bigger than hers bc there is 3 of us including a baby. She immediately wanted our room and we couldn’t really argue bc she paid but I mean with a newborn we could have really used the extra space. Things were going okay. She was really excited but something I found really off putting is she was walking around the hotel saying it was her baby then introducing my husband as her son and when you totally ignore me. She kept saying “my baby” “my baby doesn’t cry when he’s with me” “everyone loves my baby” I told my husband its weird and he ignored me. She continued to blatantly ignore me or talk over me. I felt frustrated and again told my husband who said I was being a selfish only child. So my husband and I go to soak in the hot spring that was 2 minutes away from the hotel. Our son is asleep, has plenty of milk (my supply was strong then) and everything he could need. We really enjoyed ourselves and it felt so good on my body to soak in the hot spring. We went back to the hotel and knocked on her door. She open the door with our son in her arms and backed into the corner. She started pointing at me saying I’m a drug addict and she is taking out son and we will never see him again. I am absolutely shocked and sit down bc I can not register what is happening. My husband goes to grab our son and she steps back and he now has to tower over her demanding our son and takes him out of her arms and hands him to me. Unfortunately my reaction in this was freeze, I stood there in shock and she ripped my engagement ring off my finger that she gifted me as an heirloom and we left. We cut off contact and my husband said he has seen her do some fucked up things but that was insane. I was 6 weeks PP with a newborn, a first time mom, I felt traumatized. My milk supply dropped after that and we kind of struggled emotionally with what just happened. A month and a half later our dog who was only 2.5 was struck by a car in front of us bc a tourist was driving too fast. Another traumatizing event and my milk supply then dried up and I was really sad about it bc I loved nursing. I was then 3.5 months PP and all of this has happened. We ended up leaving our home after all that in search of a new chapter.
By Mother’s Day my MIL had reached out to my husband apologizing which I guess was a big deal bc she has never apologized to anyone before. To me, it was literally the least she could do and I’m not celebrating her for having a human emotion. She then offered to buy us a house. Okay I know what you’re thinking - what ?! She offered my husbands inheritance early if we wanted to use the money to buy a house. It was a pretty appealing offer given we were looking for a home in the worst housing market ever. But obviously I’m so skeptical and do not think it’s a good idea to accept this from her. My husband says she’s old (79) and probably dying soon so we should just accept the offer. But then we would have to open up to her seeing our son again. I hope it’s understandable how uncomfortable this all makes me feel. We talked to a friend who is a real estate agent explaining our circumstances and honestly we asked if she bought the house outright and her name is not on the title or deed or anything except the fucking wire transfer she would never be able to take it from us. So we took the offer from her and bought a house and it was really easy bc we bought the house outright.
I definitely knew the repercussions of this and it got weird fast. She started just showing up at our house unannounced, then would be offended we weren’t ready for her or hosting to get standard. It would be like 10am, still in pj’s about to eat breakfast and she would show up and criticize how we looked and call us assholes. Always telling me what my baby likes and doesn’t like, giving age inappropriate gifts like lollipops and toys for 5 year olds. Every time she leaves she makes a comment about taking out baby. Expects us to host and cook for her but she never eats. She bought a house down the street but didn’t tell us till after the fact- then later pulled out and lost all that money.
Anyways, so my husband invited her for thanksgiving and he told her it will be lowkey, we aren’t doing a big meal just an easy lunch and relaxing. We have asked her to please let us know when she’s leaving so we can expect her, she lives about an hour away. Well she didn’t, she showed up around 9:45am- my husband was out running errands and I had just put the baby down for a nap. I was not dressed, hadn’t eaten yet and still had to tidy up- all things I usually do when it’s nap time ! So I answer the door already annoyed and she is dressed up and said “what you weren’t expecting me?” Yes I was, but I thought I’d have a heads up ! Then she asked where the baby was and I said he’s napping and she said why is he napping when you knew I was coming !! 1. Morning naps are crucial 2. I didn’t know when she was coming but that doesn’t matter bc baby’s nap schedule is #1. She came in and i said I’m going to get dressed real quick, baby is asleep in his room please do not wake him up. So I got dressed maybe took me 2 mins and I opened my bedroom door which is across from the nursery and I saw my MIL in my babies room playing with him, she smiled and giggled at me and left his room. My baby is now obviously up and I’m so fkn annoyed. So I brought the baby out to the living room to her and continued to brush my teeth, do some dishes and eat breakfast. Now I admit at this point I was so annoyed and didn’t know what to do bc if I expressed that I knew she would lose it and if I didn’t say anything so would lose it. So I chose not to say anything and continue on with my morning as I do when the baby sleeps bc that’s my time to get ready and clean. Finally my husband came back and as soon as he walked in my MIL lost it saying I’m so rude and nasty that I haven’t spoke to her for an hour (she had been there for 15 mins) and she’s concerned about our baby who is so out of it and not smiling (he was woken up from a nap he needed). She denied waking him up then got mad at my husband for not defending her waking him up. I said he’s teething we were up all night and she said I always have excuses. She then left and as she was pulling out of our driveway said to me, “now I know why your mom doesn’t love you”. I have a difficult relationship with my mom, that one cut deep. So she left, from her arriving to leaving was maybe 30 minutes. Then my husband was furious with me, that I should have just played the game bc it’s so much easier than actually dealing with her. She proceeded to text my husband saying I’m a horrible parent, my baby is only happy around my husband and we set her up.
The most common advice I get is suck it up she bought us a house. Of course I’m grateful but I can not act normal around her and I hate when she’s around my baby. I don’t know what to do, I’ve considered this being a deal breaker and leaving my husband. I have tried to play along but I simply can not and it makes me uncomfortable and I’m worried about the safety of my baby.
submitted by Grouchy-Extent9002 to motherinlawsfromhell [link] [comments]


2024.06.02 15:21 polyphonic_peanut It All Starts in Childhood

I am trying to get to the feelings and experience of myself as a child.
It's actually quite sad how the template for how i've lived as an adult was set so far back, and how I keep re-running the same cycles.
I hope that in finding that childhood in my memory, I can give myself true compassion as an adult, and so dissolve the patterns that are still holding me down.
...
I am looking back ...
That little boy feels like he has to carry the can for others. He takes on their burdens. He feels responsible for their health and safety.
There is constant tension. There are frequent moments of chaos and overwhelm.
He has to be on alert for signs of danger, and to run to stop it. His ears are pricked. He is in one room but listening to the sounds of people elsewhere. He is testing the air for a forthcoming catastrophe. He is ready to run to stop it or to help with the fallout.
He has to give in with others' demands and wishes. He has to appear like everything is fine. He has to falsify his outward expression to people closest to him. Constantly.
Why? Because his care-givers scare him, reject him, shame him, gaslight him, ridicule him, ignore him, belittle him when he expresses his wishes, preferences, his inner experience, his needs.
...
He is highly distressed but he has no one to turn to.
His feelings and authentic expression are suppressed. The feelings build and build. Occasionally they rise to the surface in huge outbursts of anger, causing harm to people around him.
He is disgusted by his parents, frustrated in their inability to change, to listen to him. He tries to stop their self-harming behaviour. He tries to get them to improve like he is doing. He is irrate with their lacking. He shows his aversion. His mother calls him a control freak. Just like his father. He feels this is true.
He feels sorrow, shame and guilt for his behaviour. He tries to make amends. He arrives with his olive branch. It is not accepted wit the same grace. Sometimes his attempt to make amends are flatly rejected or make no impression on his parents. He feels his mother is scared of him, walking on eggshells like she did with his Dad.
He learns further to suppress his feelings. They build and build again, but this time there is nowhere for them to dissipate. He is locked into a state of anger and stress that he finds hard to release. His heart pounds in his chest. He is pale with stress. He is scared of what this is doing to his health. His mother dismisses his health fears, and he turns to medical encyclopedias to find answers. Alas, there he finds more things that could be wrong with him.
He becomes fearful of so many things besides his health. He is highly phobic. Anxious. Panicking. He finds little to no comfort in telling his care-givers. They are distant, bewildered, annoyed. His fears are dismissed. His parents look scared of him.
...
With his peers, he feels this sense of being an outsider, different, strange. He is teased and bullied. He finds comfort and pride in being the care-taker of others. He stands up for those less fortunate.
As he grows older, he spends lunch times and breaks alone in the music room.
...
Feeling hopeless about getting support from others, he escapes into himself.
He finds both a thrill and a soothing quality in his reflection. On his own. Safe. In the hallway or bathroom mirror. He admires himself - his appearance, his abilities, his capacities - and it feels so good. He remembers the compliments of others. He imagine he can get better and better over time. Better than others. He plans to work on himself further.
...
He learns to become self-reliant for his emotional and psychological wellbeing.
With no ability to influence change in others, he finds comfort - and escapism - in changing himself. He reads academic psychology and self-help books to find answers. He goes for long walks in order to think through his own puzzles. There is comfort and safety being in his own thoughts like this. Away from people.
He enjoys the feeling of improvement, in his body and mind. He works more and more to figure things out and resolve his own issues. There is even a thrill of that eureka moment when he lands on a solution. When he takes his inner achievements to his care-givers or peers, they show no interest, they belittle him, or appear confused. Or scared again.
...
He loves music and is seen to be good at it after he takes lessons. He enjoys it when is able to show off on stage and receives applause. He stands out from others. It gives him a feeling of warmth. A glow. But he is envious when others receive that applause instead of him. He begins to compare himself with others. He secretly judges their efforts harshly, noticing their faults and feeling happy or relief when they appear. On the surface, he remains very friendly to them.
...
He uses his imagination to feel good about himself.
He imagines a future where he will be successful. It feels safe in that future. It feels easy. It feels free. He dives into those utopian visions, where he is one of the elite. Respected. Given opportunities to flourish, to demonstrate his abilities. Where he is truly appreciated. Listened to. Seen.
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2024.06.02 15:20 ANGRY_CENT_MAIN A Night on Chemos

Luxurious silk caresses your skin, some of the finest silks in the Imperium, but even they cannot compete with the feeling of lips on your cheek
“Good morning my muse” the lips whisper into your ear, a light kiss follows. “Five more minutes please” you groan, receiving a laugh in response “Did I wear you out that much last night little muse?” Her laugh sounds like dozens of little bells
“Just not a morning person” you sit up, grateful for the cup of recaf she places in your hands, perfectly made. Taking the first sip you immediately perk up, opening your eyes you see her
He hair falls, framing her face, twin purple eyes gaze lovingly into yours. A beauty mark under her left eye, even just waking up she still looks perfect, though she's always perfect in your eyes
You lean in to give her a kiss, even her lips taste perfect, she laughs again as you break the kiss “I might have made your coffee too sweet, I can taste it”
“Can't help when I kiss the sweetest thing” your reply causes her to blush, red filling her cheeks as she ducks her head “stop dearest, you know I don't like false flattery”
“It's the truth love” placing your recaf down you lean in and pull her into a deep kiss. A few muffled noise of complaint as you plant multiple kisses over her face
“Stop please my Muse, or we'll never get out of bed” she laughs as you pull back and stare into her eyes “would that be such a bad thing?”
“As much as that would be nice, we do need to get ready for tonight, it's the big show” excitement in her voice. “It is your first show”
Laughing you turn and rise out of the covers, stretching fully you hear a small “eep” from behind you along with rustling sheets. Turning you see Fulgrim with her face buried in the covers
“You weren't like this last night” you tease as you pull the covers from her blushing face, “what's the matter? Don't like seeing your own handy work?”
“Shower time” she declares, rushing forward to pick you up over her shoulder as she heads to your bathroom. Brushing past the curtains that surround your bed she heads past dozens of statues and paintings of the two of you.
Heading into the bathroom she drops you on the marble flooring, reaching over to start the shower.
Cold water comes crashing down on you. Startling you away from the falling water with a yelp. “Not so full of yourself now are you?” She laughs turning the water up, stepping in to the warming rain, offering you a hand up
Taking her smooth hand you rise and begin to wash each other. Hands glide over each other as suds appear on both your body's. All too soon are you both clean
Letting the water come to a stop you both make your way out of the shower, before you can take another step a massive towel envelopes you.
Fulgrim laughs as she pats you dry, never letting you out of your fluffy prison. Looking up you see her smiling into your pillowed tomb, a blush as she realizes where you are looking
With a scoff she pulls the towel over your head, not before you see a quick blush and smile on her face. After wrestling the towel off your head you manage to see her standing there in a towel to match your own
She smiles as she points to a small platform “only the best for today my muse” she moves to place a tomato on her wrist, needles and thread already in place as she holds up two bolts of fabric
You step up on the plate, holding your arms our as she begins to lay fabric over you, not needing to measure knowing yours by heart
She plays around with many different styles and types of fabric. Given your late awaking and her insistence on making an even better set of clothes it's after lunch before you are startled out of your daze
“Ah ha” you hear, zoning in you see her face set in a grin of wild joy as she finds the style that suits you. Her hair is loose and a few strands are untucked from behind her ears, her face relaxes from a scrunch, a few wrinkles still visible
You smile sweetly at the love of your life as she does a little victory dance, laughing you press your lips together, knowing better then to move after she found what she was looking for.
A kiss answers your call as she pulls several bolts of fabric out. Siscors flashing with expert skill as she cuts the fabric to shape. Pinning it in place she takes several looks at you, swirling a finger around wanting you to turn
As you spin her laughter sounds out like bells, you swear no bells could ever sound as pure. “Alright alright, that's enough for now” her words are cut off by her growling stomach “and it seems we've worked through lunch, what do you say we take a break?” She asks already moving to help you out of your clothes
Getting you changed into a loose robe the two of you reenter your bedroom, a lavish tray of food left in there for the two of you. As you rush over you hear “ah, ah, ah” as the reaches over you to grab the tray, lifting it over her head
You turn, a pout on you face as she lowers some grapes into her mouth. She laughs through the grapes, an adorable sound as she looks at your pouting face. “Do you want some?” She teases as she leans down, still not on your level from her height. You turn your pout into a plead, eyes going wide as you look up into hers
“Aww” she coos as she pinches your cheek “I could just eat you up” she says before launching a vicious kissing attack on your face, only relenting when you fall onto the couch laughing
She sits next to you, placing your head on her lap as she lowers the same bunch of grapes into your mouth. As you lay there she alternates between feeding you and herself. Before you know it only crumbs are left on the plater
And herself, as she brushes crumbs off the two of you. “Come on my muse. I have to finish fitting your new clothes” she stands and turns to offer you her hand
Seemingly forgetting she's was only in a towel, one that you are left resting on. She realizes and strikes a pose “come on muse, just a little longer” she sways a bit, knowing your mind is already made
You just grind and take her hand back to the platform. Where her hands quickly sew you a full suit.
The deep purple matches her eyes, cloth draped over your shoulders. It comes together just above you waist, where it wraps around before heading back over your shoulders to trail behind you. Several gold and purple tassels are hung in the wraps to fall just above your ankle. You turn, swishing in the almost dress/toga combination to happy clapping
“I think you look great my muse, now let me get changed and we'll head out” she ducks behind a screen, her shadow visible through the thin material. You see her step up and into something, shimmying up her body, along with several other movements
She steps out in a purple dress. Fabric falling to the floor and clinging to her form. Her arms are covered in long deep purple gloves, coming up to past her elbows. Which stand bare, as does most of her back, the dress showing off her perfect figure
She laughs as she walks over to you, heels adding adding extra inches to the already vast height difference, as she places a finger on your chin and closing your mouth
“If you want a treat sugar, you just have to ask” she gives you a wink as she turns to lead the two of you out of the room, her hand naturally grabbing her new blade as she does
A sour taste takes over your mouth upon seeing it. “Darling, do you need to take your blade?” She jumps a little, hand falling to her waist as she realizes that she's wearing it
“Of course dear” she says almost automatically “it would not do for someone like me to not wear a weapon, even on Chemos” she says drawing her blade and looking at her reflection
A wave of nausea hits you as the blade is exposed to the air. You swear you see another figure in the reflection. “I think Fireblade would look better dear, you know that lovely glow would compliment your own”
She doesn't respond, still looking in the blade. You approach her without her noticing, she only moves when you place a hand on her arm. “I'll wear my own blade and we can match” you say as she jumps
Worry crosses her face “but your outfit isn't designed to hold a blade dear, id have to make a belt to fit it” she looks at you as she tilts her head “you are right about Fireblade though, I do love the glow that come from the sheath” she says rubbing her chin
She sets the Lear blade down, hand coming away from the blade trembling as she grabs Fireblade, dust falling away from it as she swings it into place on her hip.
She looks at you, hand on her hip, “come now muse, we have a long night ahead of us” she says with a grin “especially sense last night wasn't too much for you”
Check out my other works here
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2024.06.02 15:18 jackolantern717 Stress nightmare tonight

For context: i am autistic and 5’2”
In my dream, i was at work. This big kinda fat guy ive never seen shows up and starts pushing me and a shorter younger guy around (i am an employee, the other kid was a customer). To defend us, i blocked the shorter guy with my body from the guy’s punches and then hit him really hard in the face. Then i ran behind him and got him in a chokehold. When he was able to fight back, i hit him in the face more and used my legs around his stomach to try and restrict breathing. Once he was struggling to stay awake, i grabbed his arm, got on one knee and threw him over my shoulder. He was down and the other kid had run away.
So i moved through the crowd of people and say down on the ground covering my ears and started crying. One of my managers (who in real life yelled at me last week and made me cry) walked up and was suspicious of me and yelling at me. He tried to touch me and i screamed - i was mid meltdown at this point. I was scared from getting hit and i was scared that i attacked the guy but i was just trying to protect myself and make him stop.
The police were called and showed up, and the grabbed me and handcuffed me. I was screaming and crying because i did not want to be touched. No one tried to talk to the cops to help me and i was completely alone.
I saw what seemed like a tv interview of the bully, and he was talking about how wild i was and how i choked him and he was scared for his life, and how he could still feel my legs wrapped around his stomach, squeezing. Like he was the victim.
Then the dream transitioned, to what seemed like a few days later. I was at work again, and this time my manager was grilling me saying that company property had been drawn on and paint was dumped on it (we sell EV golf carts and someone had drawn childish animals and hearts all over the fabric seats). They suspected me, and i tried to say i didnt do it, and i asked them if they had looked at any of the cameras - to which they said there was no angle on the carts (i call bullshit). So i showed them each camera i knew about, where you could clearly see the cart and would have seen who messed with it. Part of my job is to drive the carts outside every morning and lock them up, so they claimed i had access and keys (all of my keys are turned in at the end of my shift, but okay). It seemed like there was no way i was going to beat these accusations.
Then my mom appeared and had this big creepy smile on her face. She kept poking and pinching my side really hard. She said something like “dont you like the carts?” And by the look on her face i knew she did it, but was going to let me take the blame for it.
Then i woke up.
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2024.06.02 15:18 Writteninsanity [OT] The Prompt:Everybody in the world has a superpower that compliments their soulmates superpower. You have the most useless power ever, when one day... Is now a full novel!

Everybody in the world has a superpower that compliments their soulmates superpower. When together, both their powers increase in strength exponentially. You have the most useless power ever, when one day......
Hi, I'm Writteninsanity. 8 years ago I started my writing career with this prompt. It is now available on Amazon as a full novel!
TLDR: Amazon: COM / CA / UK / AUS
Title is also available internationally.
The night Toby Vander met his soulmate, he became the most wanted, and perhaps the most powerful, man on the planet.
Everyone has a superpower, enhanced and changed when around their soulmate. Most never meet theirs, but when Toby met Emma, his power leapt from enhanced perception to stopping time.
Now, Toby finds himself at the center of a violent struggle. Surrounded by powerful agents from the Department of Power Regulation and rebels from the fearsome Red, Toby must discover the truth behind his power and his new place in the world.
Alongside him is Zoe McCourtney, a city-shaking telepath torn between her obligation to the DPR and keeping her best friend Emma together with her soulmate.
Can Toby and Emma survive this? Can they stay together?
Can the world handle a time-stopper?

Reviews!

This book is a great read! Well written with good pacing and dynamic characters. The twists and turns of the book caught me by surprise and just made it impossible to put it down. Fans of urban fantasy and superhero stories will love this unique take on superhero dynamics and powers. Give it a try!
I follow the author on Jacksonwrites, so I've read snippets of Splitting Seconds before, but it was great to see how much more polished the finished product is! It's a fun premise with a lot of charm, with interesting characters and some really thoughtful worldbuilding. Would highly recommend you pick this up, as well as Evergreen, another novella by the author. Would highly recommend, take the time to pick this up, it's absolutely worth a second look.

Chapter One: Blind Dates:

It candidly sucked being surrounded by constant reminders that you’d lost the genetic lottery. Sure, it was easier than some people thought to get around the world without powers; it wasn’t like the government expected everyone to be a speedster or to be able to fly. Hell, a hundred years ago, nobody even had powers. The infrastructure was there. Life went on.
That said, staying cheery about the hand I’d been dealt was difficult. Enhanced perception was useful for a lot of things, from party tricks to always reading the fine print, but next to flight? Next to teleportation?
I’d gotten hung up on movement powers because I’d taken the bus to the bar, and the only superpower buses had was being late.
I was specifically at the bar for the sake of a blind date set up by my best friend; Todd was about two times my size and could throw a car across the street. His powers did nothing to help me with his current obsession with my dating life, but here we were. I supposed it was a fair obsession. I hadn’t been trying.
It honestly made sense that Todd had been keenly aware of romance since he’d met his soul mate. See, a strange thing with powers was that when you were around your soulmate, they were inexplicably stronger. Todd had met Soo-jung when she’d been on vacation in Crescent three years ago. They’d been inseparable since, and he’d been able to throw a car down three blocks instead of across the street.
Or so he claimed. Nobody was eager to volunteer their car for a demonstration, or anything else heavy and expensive, for that matter.
For my part, I hadn’t spent a lot of time guessing what would happen if I met my soulmate. It was a common train of thought for some, but I never found that it stopped at any fun stations. Instead, I indulged Todd’s meddling because he was my friend and bad dates at least made good stories.
“Gimme a sec, I’ll grab us another round,” Todd announced as he pushed out from our table. “Emma said she’s going to be here soon.”
“You bought the last one.”
“Yeah, now you can buy two in a row once Emma gets here and look generous. Think about it, man.”
“Sure,” I answered, but Todd was already walking away from the table and toward the bar.
Soo-jung leaned in. “You know he’s trying, right?”
“I know, maybe a little too much.”
“You don’t hear the half of it.”
“Oh, good.”
“I had to tell him to calm down when it came to buttering you up to Emma,” Soo-jung explained as she took a sip from her drink. “Sometimes I wonder about him.”
“I’m surprised he says anything nice about me.”
“He’d never say it to your face.” She watched Todd at the bar instead of looking at me during our conversation.
“Does that mean you’ll do it for him?”
“He trusts me to keep his secrets.”
“How about I suggest things and read your reaction?” I asked.
Soo-jung frowned in response before she pointedly rolled her eyes. She knew that reading reactions was one of my party tricks. If you couldn’t be powerful, you could at least read a room.
“Okay, fine. What do you know about Emma?”
“Her last name’s Tavish.”
“That’s it?”
“She works with Todd.”
“I knew that. He kept telling me she was a co-worker.”
“Todd thinks she’s cute.”
“He told you that?”
“No, but he has high standards for you.”
“That’s all the detail you have?”
“Todd’s not allowed to talk about work at hom- Hey, honey.”
Todd was back at the table holding all three pints in one arm; he passed one to each of us despite Soo being less than halfway finished with her current drink. Once he’d finished distributing, he turned to Soo-jung and asked her a question in broken Korean.
He’d been trying to learn, and he was still struggling. Not that I knew the language.
“Yes,” Soo-jung responded in English, “we were talking about Emma; no Korean around Toby. It’s rude.”
“I thought you wanted me to practice?”
“You can practice at home.”
“So we were talking about Emma,” Todd jumped back to the previous topic instead of discussing his inconsistent study of Korean. “Awesome woman, perfect for you, man.”
“What makes you say that?” I asked.
“Oh, she sucks too.”
“Ah, thanks.”
“He means powers-wise,” Soo-jung stepped in.
“So you do know something about her,” I pointed out.
“Something? I’ve been telling Soo everything since we got in the car to come here.” Just as Todd finished, he flinched. Soo had kicked him under the table. “But it wasn’t much, really.”
“What do I get to know?”
“I don’t want to taint your expectations.” He pushed his empty glass away, swapping it with the new one. “But can I be serious for a second?”
I considered it. “Sure.”
“She’s like my boss’, boss’ boss. So best behavior.”
“Wait. Seriously?” I leaned in. Todd worked for the CPRU, which meant that she had to be a heavy hitter if she was high-ranked in the city’s power regulation department. “She’s—”
“Not quite.” He backpedaled. “We share a building. She’s straight DPR.”
I blinked twice at that. “Way to set me up to fail.”
“You should believe in yourself,” Soo cut in.
“Todd, I w—”
“And she’s here.” Todd had turned his attention away from me and toward his phone. “Hope you’re ready to meet your soulmate.”
“Honey, don’t set that expectation.”
The bar’s front door opened, and I was the only one who could hear it over the atmosphere. I glanced over, and there she was.
She was stunning by any definition, but especially mine. Maybe it was a strange way to describe someone, but she looked beautifully meticulous, from brunette hair to olive skin, to her light blue jacket; everything was in place, and everything about her was gorgeous. Assuming that was Emma, I owed Todd big time.
“Okay, that can’t be her, right?” I asked Todd. After a second, without a response, I checked to see if he was waving at her, but he was stock still, a stupid grin plastered over his face. “Todd?”
Holy shit. The DPR had some crazy people on their roster, but this- I waved a hand in front of Todd’s face and snapped my fingers, then caught the sound of a single cautious heel clicking against the floor.
I stood up from the table and looked back at the door. She’d taken one step into the bar but had gotten caught in the same shock I had. “Emma?” I asked.
She snapped her attention to me -god, her eyes were- but she just looked confused.
“Toby,” I explained, “I’m Todd’s friend.” I motioned over to Todd’s still body and took the first steps to say hello. “This is really impressive. I didn’t think this was possible. It’s cool to meet someone wh—”
“I’m not doing this,” she said. “This is impossible. How are yo—”
“Trust me, this isn’t in my…” We stared at each other for a moment. Somehow, time stopped more than it already was.
“Holy shit.” We both said it at once.
“So this isn’t you?” she asked. Her eyes were still meandering around the frozen bar instead of staying in the conversation with me.
“No, it’s not.” I walked along her gaze and ended up against the bar counter, “did Todd tell you what my power was?”
“He just told me you wouldn’t mind having me around,” Emma answered, which somehow just brought up more questions.
“Enhanced perception.” I grabbed a drink off of the bar to see if I could; As soon as I touched it, it seemed to animate back to life. “What do you mean, ‘mind having you around’?”
“I dampen powers,” she explained, a little quieter than anything else she’d said, “make them weaker, hard to use. The technical definition is long and wordy so…” She sighed as she watched me slosh the beer around. “It’s a lot of trouble, really.”
“Probably good for work,” I offered.
“Pretty much the whole reason I have my job, but Callum wouldn’t admit that.” She approached, but there wasn’t an open seat near where I was standing, nor could we ask for someone to move. “Callum is—”
“Callum Rehsman, head of the D.P.R for the past six years,” I stepped in, “sorry, comes with the perception thing.”
“Honestly, I’m just glad I don’t have to explain it.” Emma took to leaning against the bar instead of walking over to a seat. She undid the top button of her shirt, which was probably too high for a date, anyway. “Emma Terish. Ring any bells up there?”
“No.”
“And you’re?”
“Toby Vander.” I put down the beer to offer my hand, and it froze as soon as I let go. We both paid attention to that instead of the potential formal hello.
“So this isn’t you.” Emma reached for the glass and picked it up; once she did, it animated just like it had with me. “And it isn’t me…”
I swallowed nothing. We’d both said holy shit for a reason, but it felt impossible to admit it. Wasn’t there supposed to be a—Well, something? Anything?
Then again, we were stopping time, and what else could you ask for?
“Do you want a drink, Toby?” Emma asked. She vaulted herself over the bar with a frankly shocking amount of grace for someone in a pantsuit.
“Uh, sure.”
“I’d ask what you were drinking, but we might have limited options.” She was considering her new vantage point from behind the counter.
I took the opportunity to grab the drink I’d left behind on the table. “I’ll use the one I had.” I tapped Todd’s hand for posterity, and nothing happened to him. “Any idea what this might—”
“No idea,” she answered without letting me finish, “but my job involves dealing with unknown powers, so…” She tried to use the soda-gun and swore when it didn’t work. “You learn to roll with it until people cooperate.”
“You still think I’m doing this?”
“I know it’s not me, and there aren’t many options here with us,” she said as she ducked behind the bar and came back up with a lemonade cooler, “but I came here for a date, and I plan to have one. Been a long week.”
I returned to the bar, finding a seat now that she was on the other side. “I just need to establish that this isn’t me. I’m not trying to—”
“If it isn’t you and it’s not me stopping time around us, then someone is giving us a very private venue for our first date.”
“Isn’t that nice?”
“It really is.” She took a sip of her drink, then pulled it away before she had time to swallow. “Shit. Do you have cash?”
“I’ll cover you.” She frowned at that; clearly she wasn’t satisfied with someone else paying for everything. “Plus, you’re serving me tonight. So…” That seemed to be enough plausible deniability to satisfy her. “Cheers?”
“Cheers.”
Throughout drink one, we were casting nervous glances around the paused bar; by drink five, we were laughing, just the two of us. Hours dripped by with the free beer… or they didn’t… It was hard to tell.
Emma added her sixth can to her pyramid and composed herself. “Okay, okay, okay. One second.” She took a deep breath. “This has been so much fun, but I told Todd I’d tell him when I got here so” — she needed another second to find her verbal footing — “can you stop this now?”
“Stop what?” I was halfway through a sip.
“This is the coolest power I’ve seen but—”
“It’s not me, I promise.” my insistence ended up sounding more like a drunk debate. The drunk part was accurate.
“So your power really is enhanced perception.”
“Yes.”
“Okay. Okay. You’re not lying.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Because that’s lame and—” She stopped herself. “Shit, sorry.”
“I am so used to it.”
“You wouldn’t say that drunk if you could stop time is my point.” She almost ducked down to grab another drink but thought better of it. “So, that makes us…”
We’d reached this impasse several times in the last hours. I scanned her. The lines on her face. The size of her irises. She was worried. Apprehensive.
So I said it first.
“We’re soul mates.”
She looked down and to the left, considering instead of answering.
“Why else would one of us display a power we’d never seen before? Unless you’re right and someone was stopping time for everyone but me and—”
“And the woman who’s immune to powers,” she cut in. “Maybe we are soul mates, but turn it off.”
“It’s not—”
“Toby, please.”
“I don’t—” I stopped short and instead tried even though I didn’t know how. My perception was passive. I didn’t get to choose whether I used it. Was there supposed to be a switch somewhere inside my head? Was I...
How long had it been at this point? Six, seven hours? We’d planned to meet pretty late and it would almost be light out by now. She was right. We had to get—
“I don’t know how,” I admitted, “if it’s me.”
Emma opened her mouth to say something, then reconsidered. Her perfectly manicured nails were digging into the vinyl of the bar top.
“Okay. It’s been lovely, but if you getting here started this then,” I said as I stood up, “maybe I just need to leave, and that will turn it off so we can figure out what’s going on.” I took the first steps toward the door.
“That’s a good plan.” She nodded along with what she was saying, like she was convincing herself, “I’ll reach out to you. It was an excellent date.”
“Let Todd know for me,” I added as I reached the door; a second later, I stepped into the chilled early-fall air. The door didn’t shut behind me, so I kept walking until I would have been out of eyesight.
Then I stopped.
Should I have turned around? What were the chances that she was my soul mate? What was I leaving behind if I didn’t see her again? It was a dumb thought, but the idea of walking away started gnawing at me.
But what choice did I have? In front of me, a couple was frozen in the middle of a quiet conversation on the way to the bar. Soul mates only affected one another when they were close by. I took a few more steps and started to sprint.
I was three blocks away when the world stuttered around me. My vision blurred, and the moonlight was shattered by the sun. I stumbled, almost crashing into a woman dressed like she was on her way to brunch.
Shit. I’d left my jacket at the bar, but—
I checked my watch; 8:06 AM.
Hope your enjoyed!
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2024.06.02 15:00 youknowimsaucy I just want to lay down 24/7

This is miserable. My brain, my personality, all want me to get moving. I’m a very active person. I’m somewhat new to my diagnosis, around 8 months. It wasn’t the worst at first, extreme fatigue and joint pain and rashes and mouth ulcers were my biggest complaint. In the last two months, this illness has gone on an absolute SPREE. I went to the ER after experiencing a sudden high fever, full body rash, and facial swelling- I was unrecognizable. I’ve been struggling since then. Initially no changes to meds, other than I was off both for a few months due to insurance and got them re approved again and began taking. The rash was wild- still have a little. It itches, almost looks like pimples. The joint pain increased significantly. Doc increased my HCQ and had me come in for one high dose steroid infusion. The next day after the infusion, I felt AMAZING. It is quickly wearing off.
I am struggling because I need to and want to go out and move around and do things and be active as that’s who I am, and after just a few minutes up and around all my body wants to do is lay back down. It is fatigued and hurts. Sitting or laying is the only time I’m not in pain. I’m hoping this passes soon, maybe I need more steroids? The oral steroids didn’t work for me. Maybe the higher dose of HCQ will kick in soon.
How do you cope?
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2024.06.02 15:00 BrodogIsMyName Frontier Fantasy - Chap 41

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Generous hours donated to the editing foundation by WaveOfWire
- - - - -
Lukewarm water gave way to sand underfoot, frequent rocks and dried sea flora giving the orange shore a coarse design. Following an animate piece of metal to harvest underwater stone was not something the gray-skinned fisherwoman thought she would ever be doing. She hauled the ‘potassium’ up and into the wheelbarrow alongside her sister, the once-submerged resources’ rugged texture reflecting the bright sun’s rays in peculiar ways. Unfortunately, the days were getting colder much faster than she would have liked, despite the plentiful light. It was dismissible, but it ever so slightly urged her toward the warmth of the fires… and her new living quarters—the luxurious abode provided by the star-sent himself.
She could not understand how the brick home was capable of keeping such heat without flames, but she would not question it. Instead, she elected to enjoy the first nights of truly comfortable sleep in a long while… and it had been quite some time since the fisherwoman twins enjoyed the luxury of proper civilization. The village was quiet and peaceful compared to the bustling capitol, but it simply lacked the amenities that a large population provided. Their escape to the island provided poor bedding, no entertainment, little variation in food, and a nauseating deficiency of rum. Oh, how the sisters missed the sweet burning liquid. Their… past… may have heightened such affection for the alcohol, but it also didn’t help that they were suddenly branded as sky-worshipers and forced to flee to a humble islet—one that didn’t have any drinks besides boiled water…
Now look at the fisherwoman; there was no escaping her banishment. All that time spent making good with the locals, just for the inquisitors to show up once more and throw her onto the deck of a boat before it departed for an unknown land. She was not scared of the prospect, no. So what if she was to live on the mainland? It was no less rural than the last island—one they were just getting used to. No, she was vengeful for what they had stripped from her and her sister. They had crawled their way from nothing to something within the capitol only a winter or two prior. They could have lived like regular citizens. She supposed it was the grace of the Mountain God that they were led to an actual deity-sent. The siblings’ living situation had improved, too, even over their previous urban living situation. The two would not have to resort to… alternate forms of making a living ever again. She was even starting to appreciate the honor of completing a hard day’s work.
The wheelbarrow creaked and whined underneath the strain it was put under. The hefty rocks were intent on digging the two wheels deep into the dirt. Her sister’s equipment was fairing much the same, but they persevered, dragging the precious haul to the workshop where the Creator needed them. She shoved the portable storage up and over the small hump of the ‘cargo bay’ entrance, hauling it down the rows of animate creations.
Dozens of ‘hums,’ ‘whirrs,’ ‘tonks,’ ‘slams,’ and ear-mauling scrapes assaulted her senses. The ‘machines’ were clumped up with one another under the bright white lights. They spat materials, clear liquids, and yellow gasses amongst their others in a jumble of… something. Some things boiled, others hissed. There was much going on, with one foreign male at the center of it all.
The Creator stood by a towering device, pushing it with the help of the juvenile and the ceramist. The group slid the apparatus into place, leaving the star-sent to deftly manage the many colors on the glowing, rune-filled panel, while the assistants were dismissed, having received a few genuine words of appreciation from the male.
The gray-skinned fisherwoman clicked her tongue, garnering his attention, his weary eyes meeting her own.
“Hey,” he addressed them casually, eyeing their cargo with a raised brow. “You two are back soon. You can put the stuff in the same place as last, then just close the panel. Appreciate the hard work. Feel free to take a break between the next three loads; these machines won’t work fast enough to keep up with y’all.”
“You have my appreciation,” the twins said in unison.
The two of them did as asked, traversing the maze of tubes and metal, pouring the crumbling rocks into the belly of the machine, making sure to close the door as requested. Her sister sighed and stretched her back, extending all four arms up and backward, revealing the short cuts she had on their undersides. The fisherwoman cringed underneath the sudden aura of shame at the sight… It was the only real differentiator between the two, and it was her fault.
“I believe I shall take up the Creator on his blessing and take a short break by the fire. Will you join me?” her twin asked.
“I will be there shortly. Allow me a moment,” she returned.
Her counterpart squinted playfully. “Planning on something with the males, eh?”
“Nothing of the sort,” the fisherwoman chided, flicking her sister's snout with a singular talon.
The twin scowled and turned away, exiting the castle swiftly.
The fisherwoman shook her head and made her way to the star-sent, heedfulness and hesitation quieting her footsteps. It was an unusual feeling. She was never the best when it came to respecting those higher on the mountain than herself; they were always flippant, derisively ordering and pecking at those ‘who make not an honest day’s work.’ She despised giving her labor for such self-assured fools, forced to put on a face for them while suffering through their ‘hierarchy.’
That was why the small island villagers were so welcoming. They were much less strict in their positions or status, allowing for a community focused on the goals of the whole rather than the aspirations of a singular high-ranking Malkrin. Maybe that was why it was so easy for the gray-skinned twins to return to sincere labor there.
The star-sent was much the same, though… different in one aspect. Where the village had a sort of collectivism while still keeping some status of the elders or those higher up the mountain, the Creator did not seem to place himself within any sort of hierarchy. He was solely focused on seeing the settlement progress, addressing and communicating with whomever as if they were of the same status. It made tasks a lot easier and was most certainly why she felt it so easy to approach him with such an unnecessary question.
He was not by the previous set of machines, leaving the fisherwoman to look around. She scanned the entire floor, looking over much of the equipment, spotting him by one of the desks. She stepped up behind him, curiously eying the items on his table. He was… disassembling his staff? His blunt digits twisted small metallic pieces and pulled off larger ones, sliding the large cylindrical end out. He continued until all the components were resting on their respective cuts of cloth, each cleaned and rubbed down with a few liquids.
The fisherwoman did not realize she was leaning over him and staring until he stopped and stretched upward, inadvertently tapping her snout. His chair jolted out of the way, turning around to face her. The Creator’s body was stiff as his wide eyes bored into her, palm resting atop his shoulder-bound blade. He stared up at her for a long few seconds, his burning glare stunning her in place all the while. A loud huff finally escaped him, his strained posture loosening.
“…Jesus, you fuckin’ scared me,” the high male groaned, his chest still rising and falling rapidly. His hand still had not left his knife. “Did you need something?”
“Forgive me star-sent,” she bowed her head, embarrassment and a hint of shame running through her frills. She quickly excused her actions nervously. “I did not mean to startle you… Nor did wish not to bother you, b-but I have a query. You had mentioned that I was free to ask any.”
“Mm, yeah.” The Creator finally released his blade and took a piece of cloth, returning to his task of rubbing down another metallic piece of his staff. “I’d rather you guys ask questions than sit in confusion. So, what’s up? Is there anything you need to harvest the deposits? We’ve got some metal to spare.”
Sparing metal for her simplistic job? Lord above… “N-No. Please excuse my prodding, but I wish to know what these machines are doing.”
“What they’re doing? Like, each one specifically or as a whole?”
“As a whole, Creator.” She did not dream of wrapping her head around the blessed equipment.
He grabbed a gray tube from his staff’s belt. “Gunpowder… for these. Or, more accurately, modified black powder. It’s just as powerful, but it’ll also put on more of a smoke show… and dirty the hell out of barrels and bolts alike…” He frowned at the components next to him before noticing her confused expression. He shook his head. “Sorry. It’s a powder that ignites and propels—” he dug into the cylinder with his digits and slid out a piece of metal. “—slugs and bullets. It’s essentially the whole reason guns work. I’m sure you’ve seen the FAL Akula’s touting around, right?”
She slowly nodded, understanding what he was alluding to. The dark-green-skinned fisherwoman was quite proud of receiving her own staff, keeping it in hand at all times.
“Yeah, so without this, her weapon would be as good as a piece of wood. That’s why I plan on making so much of it.”
“I… see.” She looked back at the whirring snake of moving parts within the center of the castle, a greater sense of awe settling on her as she took in its final purpose. “So it takes metals from a cave, rocks from the sea floor, and the burnt husks of logs to produce such?”
“There are a few more ingredients, like the spider-crab biofuel and trace air elements, but yeah.” The high male continued to clean the components of his weapon as if the process of gunpowder creation was only a menial accomplishment. “It takes a good bit of specific inputs to make the stuff.”
The others claimed the star-sent to be a wizard, and that would be an easy assessment with his staff and mystic equipment, but that would not be accurate. The Creator was clearly a great alchemist, turning useless materials into the very power of his grand weapons. Not to mention forming fine metals from coarse rocks. How did the settlers not see such? The villagers were more blessed than they realized.
A thousand other questions burned into her mind of what else he was capable of creating. What could he do with tree bark? What about dirt and fish? Were they ingredients of powerful remedies or sturdy materials? The dam almost burst, but she held it in. The star-sent’s invitation to casual conversation should not be squandered by her pestering any further. Perhaps he would enlighten her another time. For now, she was required to complete her tasks—this time with much more purpose than she had prior.
She thanked the high male and left for the shore with a swaying tail. Perhaps her efforts would be rewarded handsomely were she to keep it up.
\= = = = =
Harrison sat back on a stool by the outdoor range. The sun had already been down for some time, keeping much of his work underneath the few Malkrin-sized floodlights placed around the settlement. Their bright white light illuminated the decimated wooden targets twenty meters out, dim moonlit covering the rest of the meadows further beyond. It wasn’t a great idea to stay out in the night, given Tracy’s reconnaissance drones weren’t equipped with any night vision or thermals yet, but there was still work to be done, so he instead relied on two armed females to serve as early warnings and defense while he finished up his testing.
The modified black powder was finally narrowed down to a suitable side-grade for traditional double and triple-base gunpowder. The first batch wasn’t nearly powerful enough, and it dirtied the hell out of the FAL he used. The second attempt was much the same, but actually managed to reach an acceptable muzzle velocity. Now, after a whole day of experimenting with the ingredients, it was a damn powerful propellant. The most important ingredient was the added biofuel-adjacent compounds that were made from, of course, biofuel, and much of the air-extracted elements like oxygen and nitrogen.
It was an increasingly convoluted process that required many of the machines to be switched around. Most of their programmed inputs and outputs had been changed several times by the end of the day. Hell, almost the entirety of the workshop’s stock of chemical and mechanical fabrication units had been used up by the operation—if they hadn’t already been taken by the other ongoing lines of industry.
The powder dirtied the hell out of the rifles, it kicked like a horse, and it was a pain in the ass to synthesize, but it was done. He wouldn’t need to worry about letting loose any bullets into those spider-crabs anymore. He even had a suitable source of metal, solving all of his iron and steel needs too. It was small scale, but it was something, and that little bit of income was all he needed to start scaling up the process and deal with all the alloy-hungry projects he needed to start on.
The first of which was probably going to be simple automated mules for the heavy ore. He spent a good portion of the morning assisting with the mining operations until he was confident that the lumberjack got a hang of the hand-held lasers. The most prevailing thing the engineer learned from his efforts was how much of a pain in the ass it was to drag the sphalerite back on sleds.
They didn’t have any on-hand blueprints for any transportation droids until he traveled to the vehicle bay and got them himself. Thankfully, there just happened to be a woman who specialized in creating automated drones, and she was more than happy to take the task on herself. Some part of him felt a little bit of remorse for dumping the work on the technician, but she genuinely seemed to actually kind of enjoy it, almost like it was just a hobby for her. The woman even had her own corner of the workshop dedicated to her tinkering. It had two fabricators, warm yellow lighting, and plenty of cluttered parts and pieces around her laptop. All of it surrounded a central chair that she used to bounce between the different sections of the building process. One corner was for the printers and requesting components, another was for welding, a third for circuitry, and so on.
However, the whole thing did urge him to visit the vehicle bay before the blood-moon. There were a hell of a lot more applications for drone automation than he realized, and he wasn’t intent on putting all of that on Tracy.
The engineer sighed and rubbed his forehead, grabbing for another blue-leaf on the nearby bullet casing-covered table. The finger-width frond was something he’d been enjoying since the foraging Malkrin started to bring them back. They tasted like the fragrance of jasmine. Simply chewing it and letting the small particles of plant matter mix with saliva created a sort of tea in his mouth. He saw Cera using it alongside the whole ‘females using a stick to sharpen their teeth’ thing, so he asked and was generously given a bunch.
The blue-leaf jutted from his mouth like those depictions of Old-Earth farmers chewing the stems of wheat, slowly being gnawed until its tip as the night went on. He eyed Sharky and the ceramist standing at their post nearby, the two of them staying as alert as possible despite it being later than they would usually go to sleep… Maybe it wasn’t best to test gunpowder late at night with unsuppressed fire while the others were sleeping. A tinge of embarrassment and regret nipped at the back of his head.
It was worth it, though. Their ranged capabilities would benefit immensely from the gunpowder, most likely ensuring their survival to come… if it weren’t some small issues. It was a shame the Malkrin had such difficulties with the weapons. Not enough to make them unusable, but enough to cause annoyance with general handling. The guns were practically compact submachine guns to the giant females. Cera and Akula had a hard time reloading with their big ‘ol talons, especially for the mag-release paddles by the trigger. Not to mention the process of actually packing ammo back in the empty magazines… Furthermore, there was irritation with trying to keep the firearm in a suitable place while they worked. Slings swung around too much, and pack attachments poked their lower arms and back. Of course, none of them voiced their opinions on it. He simply noticed all the ways they squirmed when the gun swung out and poked them in the side, or how they fumbled with them while reloading.
Honestly, at this point he might just consider designing a whole new weapon system if the most basic aspects of kinetics were a bother. Something more ergonomic for them to use and store… probably with a bigger bullet that’s easier for them to handle. He’d figure it out later, after he managed to finish helping Tracy build the automated mule.
“Shar! Cera! C’mere!” he called out, his voice somewhat muffled by the frond stuck between his teeth.
The two females perked up, quickly making their way back to his ramshackle firing point. The paladin clipped her M2 onto her back as she trotted up to his side.
“Are we fin—hed for the even—g?” the maroon-colored Malkrin questioned, looking rather tired.
He packed the can of ammunition up, slapping its cover closed. “Just about. I’ve still gotta test the fifty-cal ammo for your browning, but that’s for us to deal with tomorrow.”
“Of course. Will y–u be requiring this firearm for the durat—n?”
“Luckily for you, I won’t.” He pointed a thumb in the direction of the workshop. “I’ve got another being printed right now.”
The paladin squinted. “Anot—r? For whom?”
Cera flipped through the notebook she used for communication, scribbling on it for a mere second before turning it around for the other two to see. It showed a crude outline of the turret they used during the last blood moon… How’d she know?
“I’m guessing Tracy filled you in, huh?” The technician and the ceramist were pretty close, especially whenever Tracy went to help her with drawing. He slid a few FAL magazines into a small pseudomycelium bag, glancing up at Shar. “We’re planning on putting two or three active turrets up around the modules and possibly around the beach and sphalerite cave—depending on resources, of course.”
A grin spread across Shar’s muzzle, her tail swaying. “So we sh—l be furthering our fortificat—ns? It is wise we act early before the bl—d-moon.”
The engineer continued to pack the range items away with the ceramist's assistance. “Yeah, only about ten days or so until then. We have to make the best of it. But that’s not the only reason; I’m planning on setting out sometime ‘fore the blood-moon to retrieve some data from a module further out. This time, it’ll be a longer expedition; ‘Smore than a day’s walk. We’ll be needing more than just the two of us to keep watch overnight. So yeah, we’ll need to keep home base safe while we’re out.”
She leaned forward, an inspired glint in her eye. “I underst—d. Will there be anyth—g I can do to assist the p—paration process?”
“Nothin’ specific.” He smirked, patting her on her oversized forearm for a moment. “‘Cept training and lifting stuff like you do anyway. Definitely gonna need yer strength for hauling turret materials around. Even more for the bullshit we’ll probably have to go through on the journey.”
Her restrained smile turning into something different than the grin she wore before. “I-I am at your c—mand, Harrison. I give my labor to y–u freely.”
Harrison caught Cera idly watching their conversation, a curious look gathering on her face as she observed him. He soon noticed his palm was resting atop shar’s wrist, his hand in a much different place than he last remembered leaving it. He awkwardly coughed and removed it, returning his attention to the mass of equipment he packed up. “Right, uh… Again, that’s all for the day. Cera, you’re free to check out if you want.”
The addressed female raised a brow, still eying up him and the paladin before wiping the look off her face and smiling. She bowed and gave a short wave, leaving him and Sharky to stand underneath the outdoor floodlights while Cera slunk back to the barracks. He looked back up at the tall female beside him, giving her a knowing look.
“You can head off too if you want. I know you’ll be sleeping anyway if we head back into the workshop.”
She stood up straight, an adorable mix of furrowed brows and a pout resembling offense forming on her visage. “I w—ld not fall asl…” The flushed paladin paused, clearly realizing her inaccuracy, causing Harrison’s smile to grow all the wider. She huffed and quietly continued with her excuses. “I can not leave you to the night by y—rself. What if sculking b—sts enter the castle? I should not dare to l—ve your side.”
He stared at her with lighthearted contempt. “C’mon, Shar. Wouldn’t you rather fall asleep in a comfortable bed than a metal desk? I’m gonna be helping Trace with her drones for a long while too.”
“I would prefer noth—g more than to be within arm’s r—ch of you,” she insisted. Her orange irises burned as her tail found its way around him. “Even still, the other star-s—t has left for the other castle alr—dy.”
He raised a brow, the cool skin of her limb rubbing against his palm. “Wait, Tracy left already? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“F—give me, I was busy patrolling the settlem—t. She offered a short wave to me as she left.”
If the technician was gone already and wasn’t in the workshop in the first place to need his help… why did he even need to be in there? She noticed his realization, leaning in closer. Her eyes glanced away nervously for a short moment as she appeared lost in thought before being wrangled back to match his gaze.
“Then, if there is noth—g else for you to complete with the machines, might I sugg—t a compromise to the is—e at hand?”
He raised a brow curiously.
Short clacks of the talons tapping together filled the air. “W-Well, If y–u were to join my slumber, It would satisfy your wish as w—l as my own. I will not fall asl—p atop the desk and you shall be within my p—tection. I-It would be best for your sl—p if I were there, no?
He gave her an incredulous look, the corners of his cheeks breached by a small smile. It wasn’t a great ‘compromise’ for him, but it wasn’t like he had any place to argue against it, really. He wasn’t that tired, yet there was fuck all to do in the workshop until tomorrow… so… “If it’ll get you to sleep, then fine.”
Her eyes lit up in surprise. She clearly wasn’t expecting him to go without debate. “Y-You… Yes, of c—rse. The offer was intended for both our be—fits…” The paladin gestured toward the other module with a wide arm, her thin confidence barely hiding her vibrating frills. “Sh—l… we…?”
He nodded, letting her tail rest on his shoulder like a scarf as he turned around, nudging her to follow. They strolled through the soft grass and night breeze, eased by the thought of a comfortable bed and sound sleep.
\= = = = =
A consistent click came from Kegara’s talon tapping rhythmically against her shield, the piercing sound mirroring the force of her scalding breaths. The tent was bathed in the flickering hue of flame from a centralized fire, yet the warmth bled from everywhere she looked, which was primarily the current target of her displeasure. When their excursion team returned, the Grand Paladin thought them to come back with results or news, yet they brought only an infuriating pitiful recount of a spineless worm.
Every exhale was riddled with the white-skinned female’s ire as she paced around the trembling, pink-skinned female that stood inside the Grand Paladin’s tent. The fisherwoman’s shaking breaths could barely be heard beneath the sizzling of Kegara’s unfinished meal. She had lost her appetite, and the contents she had been looking forward to were now tainted by the taste of ineptitude. A burnt smell permeated throughout the room. A waste, but no more of a waste than the pathetic trash currently fouling her tent.
The failure’s back was straight, her head was kept level, and her tail was as still as the mountain towering above the camp outside, yet nothing but inadequacy was visible.
The Grand Paladin stopped her pacing in front of the messenger, covering her burning vexation with cold, quiet intent and an edged stare. The fisherwoman swallowed heavily. “Were you at least capable of finding their sea vessel, incompetent one?”
“W-We did, Grand Paladin,” the pitiful excuse for a Malkrin quickly returned, fear and guilt bleeding through her voice. A sense of hope entered those dull eyes as they tried to salvage what was already lost. “There were footsteps we followed along the beach, b-but they were cut off abruptly by the tracks of abhorrent!”
Kegara took another step forward, brows furrowing as she bore her gaze ever deeper into the scum that stood before her, the head-height difference in stature between them further emblazening the glare. Her words grew more heated with every question, each syllable teeming with threats. “Then they perished? Was there blood? Signs of a battle?”
The pink-skinned female struggled to keep herself straight, trembling down to the talons. “T-There was no sign of s-such.”
“And you did not pursue them?” A simple question, and one spoke through a frigid, flat tone. Dignified and controlled, yet making no effort to hide the malice underneath. Her digits twitched, barely restrained.
“N-No, we f-feared the abhor—”
The fisherwoman’s speech was cut short with a choke and a flicker of movement from the white-skinned paladin. A singular hand wrung the failure’s throat and lifted the veritable waste, her grip tight enough to cull the fouled intent before it could spit more worthless drivel. Kegara’s frills shook with her burning projection. “You failed because you were *scared? Fourteen females were **frightened of footprints? You insolent failure! Your heathenous brothers and sisters are left to the whims of the mainland because of your fear! Left to be mauled and eaten alive by the abhorrent!”*
“W-We could not have—”
SILENCE, she commanded sharply, her voice a blade that tore through the fisherwoman’s denial. She snarled, feeling the very heartbeat within the fragile neck as her grip tightened. Shameful vocalizations and strained breaths failed to bring air to the pathetic one’s lungs. It would be quicker to silence the fool permanently, and Kegara’s pride demanded it be done. Every move within the paladin’s talons threatened to rend the very flesh beneath them, yet her claws must be stayed, for allowing blood to spill would be an equally foolish mistake. The fisherwoman was lucky; menial labor was a strained resource. Such a failure of a banished fool would be culled on the spot otherwise.
The pink-skinned female was thrown to the ground, dirt being tossed into the air as she skid to a stop. She hacked and coughed on her back, her ragged gasps irritatingly scraping the high one’s ears. Kegara’s slow exhalations poured through clenched teeth as she controlled herself. Perfection required persistence. If she wished to send the group back out for their incompetence, then she would need them to live long enough to do so. To ensure the new banished were found and brought back. To prove themselves worth her kindness.
But were there banished left to collect? The latest group was most likely reduced to bones for the repulsive creatures to gnaw on by now, and it would be but a waste of Malkrin to frivolously send more out. It was a situation wrought from mistakes and inadequacy, searing her flesh with its reflection onto her, painting her image with its wretched color. The vexation burned her from the inside as she resisted the urge to stain her tent with the failure’s red. This was much greater a failure than the fisherwoman could understand, but at least a large catch of meat had been procured. This was still a salvageable outcome.
“Bring half the food to the cooks,” the grand paladin relented with a simmering hiss, glaring down at the coughing lump of shame. “Leave the rest by the cave as always. Do not fail me with such a simple task, or you will prove my benevolence to be a mistake.”
“Of… c-course.” The fisherwoman shakily nodded before shuffling away, all but fleeing the tent to complete her duties. The failure was gone, but her stench persisted.
Kegara spat on the ground, no longer wishing to return to her meal, as disgusting as it had become. The searing exasperation that gnawed at her chest slowly fell away, leaving only the frigid caress of mortification on her frills. The lack of success would carry with it great consequences, and those would carry more in an ever-growing rockslide of punishment.
Would it impact her mission? What would happen if her settlement was incapable of providing logistics for the excavation? Would they no longer return with the relics? How would the Grand Script-keeper react? What of the high priestesses? The Grand Paladin was no fool; she knew where their disdain would lie, should she prove to be as pathetic as that fisherwoman. The blame could not be siphoned off into the tainted peasantry beneath her command. It would be put on her and her alone. She would face judgment without reprieve.
The white-skinned Makrin let out a shaky breath, steeling herself away from the agonizing worries. The solution was as clear as her faith, and just as certain. She would not allow such a mistake to occur again. More capable laborers would be sent next time, paladins without such weaknesses as fear, and success would be enforced.
According to the report, the next island that the inquisitors were approaching was one with a larger population, numbering in the thousands. It was assured that they would find many more of the blighted Malkrin to be exiled, and the traitorous filth would find their labor funneling directly to the mainland. She could perform her duties properly once she had the subordinates to do so.
Those higher on the mountain would see her accomplishments then. Surely.
- - - - -
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Next time on Total Drama Anomaly Island - Space Marines Malkrin
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2024.06.02 14:51 shadowphile Sharing my 4th generation custom Delta printer (long)

Sharing my 4th generation custom Delta printer (long)
This is the result of four generations of design trying to max out my printer.
8 years ago I paid $800 for a small delta kit with no instructions and almost threw it in the dumpster after wrestling with all the technology and no docs or guidance except help on the web. That was my first 3D printer, had not ever touched one before so I was pretty green.
Anyway, once I got it working, my first thought was..."too small!". So I started designing (in Solidworks) a larger scale version with improvements. 4 generations later I had bought and learned to use a CNC mill so that I could machine totally custom parts (in my dining room, so I also had to design a sound-and-spray-proof enclosure and then a custom large table for that, then a super-quiet air-compressor, and...yeah, it got kind of ridiculous. But a sweet setup. I could run CNC jobs at 11pm without bothering the apartment below me. Stealth prototyping! I sold the whole setup for $4K to somebody ELSE living in an apartment. 3D CNC design and machining is a LOT of work and it was taking up half of my dining room.)
YEAH, THIS WAS A *SIDE PROJECT* FOR MAKING A MORE CUSTOM PRINTER
https://preview.redd.it/mu0umexpc54d1.jpg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=84fa7f107c71648c4f78d4396e96575d25c9dfca
https://preview.redd.it/4erkb136d54d1.jpg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2650c815fb7763bc03e190495a873c22bf8200cc
---BACK TO THE PRINTER---
My design goal was to make it big, fast, accurate, and print anything. Also wanted multi-filaments. I was less interested in turn-key reliability and automated functions like filament detectors.
It's not as fast as I wanted; I underestimated the stiffness required when trying to balance weight vs strength, mostly in the machined vertical stages, which I believe are warping under hard moves. I got too hung up on saving weight! This version, despite adding a second extruder, was almost half the weight of the ponderous V3.
Shown with two E3D Volcano hot-ends
---THE FRAME---
Robotdigg parts using 20x40 upright extrusions and 20x80 extrusions for the base
---THE BED---
Multi-layer metal bed. Main bed is 1/4" MIC6 aluminum (cut with a water-jet!). MIC6 has low internal-stress so it doesn't warp when heated. The other two thinner layers were added later to sandwich in the bed temp sensor and a layer to hold the magnets.
500W 120VAC silicone heater underneath. Bed has no problem hitting 100C.
https://preview.redd.it/iskmpy4r844d1.jpg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1f87412975d4fdaa2c0185657b3e7f78ddf86b17
---PRINT SURFACE---
Flexible spring-steel sheets with two registrations holes for the pins sticking up from the main bed.
The sheets have different surfaces for different materials, especially a Garolite surface for nylon. Nylon both warps bad AND grips so well that one larger print would curl up and pull up the sheet with it! I made a second version with a thicker plate to solve that problem.
My main surface for PLA uses an adhesive film of PET. Since I don't trust a surface to stick well for printing AND pop off easily, I just always use cheap hairspray. Sticks really well and easy to clean off when it starts to build up too much. I now get nostalgic for 3D printing whenever I smell grandma's hair.
https://preview.redd.it/i927gci6b44d1.jpg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6fd2ab2d47288a7e8aa2c6f6afe71fc35f0eeb98
---VERTICAL STAGES---
These are the main reason I bought a CNC mill. I designed them to be as light as possible and especially to accommodate the spring-clamped effector rods. Belts should be easy to pop off if needed. Polycarbonate wheels for stiffness. Most parts are from OpenBuilds store.
BTW, ALL the big screws on moving parts are aircraft-grade aluminum.
I went through most of the main rod-joint designs: Traxxis captured-joints, magnets-ball-ends, but I came back to the spring design once I tried the others. Easy to remove, shock-absorbent, light, no slop. My biggest issue with the magnets was the weight. 12 sets of magnets are heavy and I had thicker rods with those too. Otherwise they worked great and perfect. The difference between a magnet and a spring is that a spring gets stronger as you pull away so it will try to pull back in. whereas a magnet gets weaker when pulled away. The result is that magnet-held rods will print perfectly with no errors, right until they pop off from too hard a move and ruin the entire print job. The springs however can actually temporarily pull away under a hard force, causing a slight position error, but they WON'T pop off. I'd rather have poor prints than ruined ones.
Also, the belts. I wanted to put stiffer ceramic-reinforced belts but discovered (after I bought them) that they can't bend around a typical 10mm pulley and bigger pulleys won't fit into my design.
https://preview.redd.it/8ggpt28kb44d1.jpg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3a92942037d6be0841ecaf2b72e175d5523e14ca
---ALL THE GUTS---
Duet controller board by Escher3D. fan cooled. PT100 temp sensor daughterboard.
0.9 deg steppers
24V electronics
3 super-bright white LEDs on top of the tower steppers for no reason except it was time to sprinkle a little fairy dust.
The dreadful looking box on the left was my attempt to make a control interface but it never got very far...one button to cycle through of list of things that can be adjusted by the knob. Mostly I just used it set the brightness of the main effector lights.
https://preview.redd.it/i0u6wya2f44d1.jpg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=64baa320f11057d411329faad795c81c6cba6eb5
---THE EFFECTOR---
The effector stage platform went through numerous iterations and the final one is visible here. The rods are connected to the triangular frame but a quick-release plate holds everything else and only requires loosening 9 screws then twist-and-lift to remove it. I hate removing screws and this allows me to completely remove everything if I want to convert the stage to something else.
https://preview.redd.it/uwrx80quf54d1.jpg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=76033312fd416a4aeab0fe8f00f28a3fe29c1e1f
A number of 'innovations' were attempted with the effector, some effective, others...not so much :/
-'Use forced air instead of fans to reduce clutter, weight, and provide more intimate targeting of the print close to the nozzle' This failed: I could not find an air-pump that could push enough air through the air-lines to the effector. High flow-resistance through the tubing requires a very high-pressure air-pump with decent through-put. The pumps would need to be way too big and noisy so I had to settle for the two fans in the picture.
This shows the full blower assembly that was designed into the existing effector stage. Air flows down from one connection, splits down each leg and extrudes from a ring of tiny nozzles surrounding each extruder nozzle. The height can be adjusted to accommodate different extruder block and nozzle sizes (sliding o-ring seals).
https://preview.redd.it/udcd2452x44d1.jpg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7c613accde162b4a2e58abf0b1672c823084c85a
This shows the two halves of the air-nozzle array I machined with a *tiny* ball endmill. The assembly snapped together is 2mm thick. It was a work of art...what a waste! The first time I snapped them together it was like they were, er, machined!
2mm thick fiberglass halves that snap together and hover right underneath the heat blocks.
-'Use water cooling instead of fans to again reduce clutter and noise' (this works well but I'm not sure that in the long run it was really a benefit given the complexities. Water is WAY better coolant than forced air, and so far leaks have not been an issue, for some time now. Leaks are the bane of every fluidic design!)
Here is the external pump assembly: A CPU water-cooler with a radiator and fan. The large empty bay was designed to 'sling' a large air-pump that turned out to still be too weak.
https://preview.redd.it/35090hh7z44d1.jpg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8fc104ba8f32abc63497365ab8f2a9caf6c55c7b
-'Probe the bed using the nozzle itself' Other methods had too many issues, especially with a larger machine, and delta printers calibration tolerances allow the effector platform to tilt, displacing the nozzle. So a separate detector or touch-switch may not match the nozzle itself. The solution was to build some piezo sensors under the extruder bodies to detect when the nozzle presses down. They are just the cheapo piezo-buzzers you can get for hobby electronics, cut-able with scissors. I have one piezo sensor under each extruder and they are cross-wired so that side-ways forces will be rejected. I built a tiny inline custom module to provide a digital output. This has been working very well! Moving the effector stage too hard can cause false triggers though, and because the voltage on a piezo will fade away quickly, you can't probe TOO slowly. I got it dialed in though and routinely probe 400 points across my bed for mesh-bed leveling'.
-'Dual extruders with (fairly) easy-to-swap heat-blocks such as between a V6 and a Volcano'. They work. I designed the water jackets to use the E3D's Chimera-style smooth heat-breaks so that I can pull them out easily, or precisely level the two nozzles together. I still had the hassle of the wiring but RC power connectors worked well (the ones like a thin brass cylinder no bigger than the wires themselves)
https://preview.redd.it/ll1sinxp254d1.png?width=1850&format=png&auto=webp&s=e3143128e825bc2c0a4fa13c8468400ea1b4bc82
The extruders themselves are Zesty Nimbles. They are classified as 'remote direct-drive', meaning the grip on the filament is very close to the nozzle tip but the motor is far away; very important for flexible filaments and overall precision of the extrusions. Normally that means the extruder motor would have to be right above the nozzle. Fine for cartesian printers, awful for a light moving delta head. The Nimbles use a motor mounted on the printer frame that turns a drive cable connected to the hot-extruder gear that grips the filament. You can see them flaring out from the sides (in the main pic) attempting to balance the torques created on the effector stage by the weight and stiffness of the drive cables.
Anyway, they have their issues but the only workable solution for me.
https://preview.redd.it/5n1n4su1354d1.png?width=1850&format=png&auto=webp&s=e9b4433307a3613f6d563a490ac8b990af8ab84c
---MY HELP---
Squeek is good at finding things I drop
https://preview.redd.it/8rv04b5v754d1.jpg?width=2880&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7042092c4809fa23f4bb671b736ca4f721f82daa
---CALIBRATION---
I would never build another delta. The advantages from the early days were short lived and I've learned that print speed tends to be limited by the filament itself and not how fast the head can move. The extruder can only push so much through before it starts to skip. Also, you can't really 'square-up' a triangle, so all the methods for measuring how square a joint is are worthless. Plus dimensional errors in the rod joints, 12 of them, stack up in too complex ways to easily wrangle.
Ultimately, by giving the frame some quick grunts warping it in just the right way, got things to about .25mm flatness and with mesh-bed leveling I can pretty much print a .1mm layer across the entire print space.
---FINALLY, THE PERFORMANCE---
I can print any filament, including the softest ones out there, with the right bed surface and easy to pop off when done.
I printed these (working) 4mm gears using a .15mm nozzle.
https://preview.redd.it/oh5uiqel354d1.jpg?width=5312&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=93e2bd026f5256dc5c21f52a89fd001a4dd5ca9c
This is a test print of my maximum printing volume. So this passes the 'Can it make an Iron-Man helmet?' test.
https://preview.redd.it/1md62mur354d1.jpg?width=1868&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7fffab87bc233ebc15377e851bde84ce66303516
TPU-Phone Case.
I don't know why promoters like to say things like 'make your own phone case!'. This was probably the most difficult print I've ever done. I needed the 2nd extruder for dissolvable filament and had to precisely mock up the phone to make sure the fit was not too tight or too loose. Lots of iterated sub-prints to dial in the dimensions just right. It has air pockets throughout the volume, especially the corners. And no more losing my black phone in the car!
However, TPU collects dirt easily so it starts off looking like this glowing green but then gets grimier and NOTHING will clean it up.
https://preview.redd.it/896ong1we54d1.jpg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6db30a1d39b7a18869a5155c93d3ca7b1b05f6dd
And finally, wear gloves! This is what can happen slinging a long 1x2 pine strip. It didn't hurt at all and I had fun waving it at my co-workers and saying "What should I do about this?"
https://preview.redd.it/nkui2bzaa54d1.jpg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=672b906445b06919c046e592bb45921d8feecf4d
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