Here's a game I did a while back. If you have fun suggestions for similar 'Grand Connections' let me know. I just started listening to the podcast Fourplay (which works a similar way - only without trivia) and it reminded me of this game I wrote.

1. What recurring character portrayed by Wayne Knight (who also played Dennis Nedry in Jurassic Park) is Seinfeld’s arch-nemesis, often being welcomed into a scene by Jerry’s snide and condescending tone. Newman
2. The X-Men superhero Wolverine is known to his friends by the surname of his biological father, who he killed before discovering the truth. What name does Wolverine use? Logan
3. What 2-letter chemical symbol (don’t need the name) can be found in the following: the ‘king’ of the dinosaurs; a hair-tie finding renewed popularity with 80’s revival fashion; a mechanical force generated by engines to propel rockets, for example? Ru
4. Inspired by the container cranes in the Port of Oakland (across the Bay from ILM’s San Raphael offices), what is the nickname of the Star Wars armoured vehicle officially classified as AT-AT? Walker
5. Many of us first encountered social media in the early 2000s with MySpace. What was the name of your first MySpace friend? (Bonus point for full name) Thomas Anderson
6. How are answers 1-5 connected? Famous Pauls
7. In what part of the body would you find the smallest bone? (Bonus point for naming it) Ear (Stapes/Stirrup)
8. In what sport does a pugilist partake? Boxing
9. How do locals refer to the Pacific Coast Highway? This is also the nickname of Neo in The Matrix. The One
10. What is the nickname of former wrestler and actor Dallas Page? The word also describes a shape alternatively known as a rhombus or lozenge. Diamond
11. In Italian it is “nozze.” In Spanish it is “boda.” In German it is “hochzeit.” What is it in English? Wedding
12. How are answers 7-11 connected? Rings
13. What state has a state route marker with a silhouette of the president after whom the state is named? Washington
14. Who is the host of the Hardcore History podcast, once called, quote, “one of the greatest storytellers in the world,” end quote? Dan Carlin
15. Gavin Rossdale, ex-husband of Gwen Stefani, is famous in his own right as frontman of what rock band? The band found success in the 90s with the albums Sixteen Stone, and the single Glycerine? Bush
16. What word fills in both blanks of this quote: “_________ and _________!” Cried Alice. She was so much surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English.” Curiouser
17. Who was known as the Sultan of Swat? George 'Babe' Herman Ruth
18. Connection for the 13-17? All Georges
19. Which president, speaking in West Germany in 1963, declared, “Ich bin ein Berliner,” which, while understood to mean “I am of Berlin,” also translated to “I am a jelly donut.” JFK
20. Locals might catch a game at Coors Field or Ball Arena, a concert at the Red Rock Amphitheatre, or a train at Union Station. In what city? Denver
21. What HBO comedy stars Bill Hader as a disillusioned hit man who joins an acting class? Barry
22. TWO FILMS ONE TITLE. 1985: Tom Cruise tries to prevent Tim Curry from killing the last unicorn. 2015: Tom Hardy plays British gangster twins Reggie and Ronnie Kray. Legend
23. Set in the Salinas Valley and Monterey Bay, who was the author of East of Eden, Cannery Row, and Tortilla Flat? Steinbeck
24. Connection for 19-23 Famous Johns
25. What connects the 4 connections? The Beatles

I was extremely bored one night and bad things tend to happen when there was nothing to keep me out of trouble. I found myself down a rabbit hole looking at old or interesting websites. I think I saw the Space Jam site still up like a small internet time capsule. Seeing that had been a bit of a trip down memory lane. Through clicking random links, I found a site claiming to be a monster blind dating site. I only saw it for a second and the entire thing went down before I got a good look at it. After digging for information about it I read that it could only be accessed at midnight. If you clicked on the link at 12:01, you may get a glance of it but then it would go down before you could fill out a dating profile.
I thought it was a cute little gimmick. There was no way it could be real. I mean, a monster dating site sounded like something my kid sister would read. But I kinda did want to see what the site looked like. The second it was up I saw a chunky mouse cursor and blocky sidebars that reminded me of what the internet looked like in the 90’s. I can still remember the dial-up tone and my Neopets username...
The next night I found myself counting down the seconds until midnight. I refreshed the page a second after the clock rolled over. An odd excitement came when I saw the site go live. It reeked of the early internet, and I loved it. The webpage didn’t lag and didn’t have any terrible design choices that made it impossible to read text or find links like real older sites.
I didn’t plan on filling out a dating profile. Just to look around. I had a countdown of 13 minutes and not much else to look at. The home page displayed a few dating profiles of monsters complete with grainy images making it hard to really see their features. All of them were booked up. When I refreshed the page a few of the profiles changed and at least two had some availability. When I clicked on them, they became booked up within a second.
Were other people on this site? Or was it just a script running in the background? Was this just a fun little joke or some sort of code for people to actually hire sex workers but in a discreet way? I thought I would never find out the answer.
Another option was to make your dating profile instead of trying to book a certain monster. It asked very basic questions and thankfully lacked a spot to fill out your credit card information. As a joke I filled out a fake profile and used my burner email address I made just for things like this. My time ran out and the site went down. At least I'd been fun while it lasted. I wanted to get a screenshot of it but when I did, the image was black. I didn’t find that strange, but I felt a little disappointed I didn’t have any proof of the odd website.
That was until my cellphone pinged showing I had a text. I read the message of dread coming to my stomach. This could not be right. It was from an unknown number saying a date was arranged at ten PM next Friday with a Google Street View image of a nearby street corner.
I tried to think of a way this joke site got my phone number. I was under a family plan, so my number wasn’t even under my own name if they somehow got my name from, what? Hacking my computer somehow? Did I click a bad link somewhere? My Anti-Virus was normally so good at protecting me from my own mistakes. Maybe I should stop being cheap and pay for a VPN. Just to be safe I deleted the message and blocked the number. I then did a massive password overhaul and a few virus scans that came up empty.
I kept an eye on my bank and emails to see if anyone tried getting into my accounts to have nothing happen in the next few days. I learned my less than just clicking random links and going on a sketchy site wasn’t worth it.
I also avoided the street corner for the rest of the week. I needed to take a long way home from work but refused to be anywhere near the place. I got worried about how they got my address. Did they really have my address or just a general location and send the text to freak me out? I couldn’t really do anything about it besides keeping my doors locked and an eye out for anything strange. The cops would laugh in my face if I brought this to them.
I fully planned on staying on Friday night. Best not to even be outside in case this wasn’t a prank pulled by someone with a bad sense of humor. But a friend of mine called me over requesting I bring him some soup from a restaurant down the street. Everything was within walking distance and my buddy was sick as hell. He didn’t want to pay the ten-dollar delivery fee, plus the tip when he could just ask me to do it and give me the tip instead. I put aside my fear and did him the favor to get him his damn broccoli and cheddar soup. He'd done a bunch of stuff for me in the past, so I needed to help him out.
On the way back from his place I kept my hands in my pockets and looked around expecting someone to be following me. It was Friday night and almost ten. The sun has long since set and the street empty of other people. I took the long way again, still refusing to go near that street corner. My pulse rose every time I heard a sound on my walk. Only two blocks to go from home and I relaxed a little. I felt silly letting that site get to me so badly.
From behind I heard some papers fluttering in the wind. Nothing strange about that so I didn’t turn around to look. If I did, I would have gotten a head start at running.
“Mr. Stevens...?”
A voice came from behind and I stopped dead in my tracks. The voice sounded paper thin and hard to hear over the other rustling sounds. I realized that papers could not be fluttering in the wind because there wasn’t a breeze. Slowly, I turned only my head, trying to see the source of the voice that called my name.
The street was lined with lamp posts. From between two posts, a shape came out of the darkness and into the same light I stood under. The thing is at least ten feet tall and long. The body was in constant motion and made of different-sized pieces of dark stained paper. I didn’t see any kind of arms or legs on the creature, instead, it appeared to float a few inches off the ground. I darted my eyes upwards to look at the face. A large scroll hung down from the forehead attached to a massive twisted golden horn. The paper covering most of the face had odd golden writing on it. Under the paper, I saw a pair of sunken dark eyes and a mouth that reached to each end of the face. The hair was also made up of those papers flowing outwards. They were covered with the same golden writing. We made eye contact, and a smile came that showed off countless needle-pointed teeth.
Yeah, no.
I booked it. I wasn’t going to deal with whatever this thing was. I ran down the block, my legs burning within seconds. I wished I stayed in shape. The thing following behind, easily keeping pace. The countless papers rustled with each movement and the damn thing started to laugh making my heart nearly stop from fear.
Laughter grew making my head get dizzy. The sound echoed off the empty road and sounded so clear, almost as if someone was clicking glasses together. My vision faded and I found myself running the wrong way. I should have taken a left to get home but I turned it right and towards a park. When I pulled through the brain fog, I didn’t have a chance to correct myself. If I turned around, I would run right into the creature chasing me.
I couldn’t keep up running for much longer. My face dripped with sweat, my face red from effort. I ducked inside some trees a part of the very small park thankful my city even had a park like this. I slammed into a tree, panting and listening for the monster. The laughter stopped and I didn’t hear the paper rustling again. Was I going crazy There is no way that thing was real. I shook my head trying to figure out what I should do. I pulled out my phone to call for help. Even if it wasn’t real, I needed someone to come down here to get me to a hospital to get my brain looked at.
I stood sweating and fear turning my body cold. My phone refused to turn on. I held down all the side buttons forcing the phone to restart. It came back on, but the screen showed a glowing golden symbol and not the photo of my baby sister as my lock screen. This simply could not be happening. I needed to find a person, a real person to help.
I looked up through the dark trees and saw some leaves that looked a bit strange. All at once, golden writing flickered on showing the outline of the monster wrapped around a tree staring in my direction. I let out a scream that in any other situation would be embarrassing. Blinded by fear I ran right into a tree, smashing my nose and causing it to bleed.
I ran again, mind blank. I had no thoughts but to just get the hell out of there. I spilled out from the trees and into the park. The play equipment was off in the distance, but no one was in sight. I also considered trying to hide in the plastic slide, or inside the worn-out hollow plastic dinosaur that had seen better days. My feet became tangled trying to race up the hill and I fell forward.
The papers were on me at once. I rolled on my back, looking up at the creature and directly at the face inches away from my own. The eyes glittered in twisted joy at my fear. I was mistaken about this thing not having any limbs. A set of arms came from under the papers to grab my own. The ice-cold skin made my entire body crawl. I kicked my feet, and more arms shot out. Soon I was pinned down to the hard ground with too many hands to count. The creature let out another ringing laugh that made me nearly pass out. I snapped back, when the thing flicked out a tongue to run it over my face, tasting the blood from my nose.
“I Do not normally kiss on the first date, but you are a precious little thing.” The monster spoke, the whispery voice causing my body to shake.
“D-date...?” I choked out, mind moving slowly.
Was that damn monster dating website real? I didn’t have a chance to really think about it. The face came down over my own, the flesh colder than anything else I’ve ever felt. The sheer cold hurt my skin. Second passed and the pain became bearable, and the icy feeling started to fade. The hands gripped tighter, bruising in some places. When the monster pulled away, I gasped for air, unable to do anything else. I looked up and did not like the look in that creature’s eyes. It looked starving. Mouth wide and twisted in an uneven smile with saliva starting to drip out of the corners of the mouth. The long tongue came out and licked it away, but it was a losing battle to keep its face clean. I started to worry this thing had other ideas for me besides tearing my organs out as a snack.
“You are such a darling creature. I cannot help myself. I do hope you forgive my forward nature.” The monster spoke, and the tone sounded as hungry as it looked.
I struggled again against those hands knowing I wouldn’t get free. To my horror, the papers fanned out and they all came down wrapping around my body and blacking out my vision. I assumed this was another way this monster could eat me and was thankful it was fairly painless.
I jumped awake, finding myself in my bed safe and sound. Well, not entirely sound. My body had hand-shaped bruises everywhere that monster grabbed me. I looked around stunned by the previous events. It was early in the morning, and I wore the same thing I did the night before. I even still had my shoes on. I heard pans moving coming from my small kitchen and smelled of cooking.
Slowly I started to leave the room holding a bowling trophy as a weapon. I really didn’t have anything else and thought the heavy base might do some damage. I didn’t get the jump on the one inside my kitchen. The person turned around from where they stood at the stove and gave such a wide and blinding smile it made my head stop working. They were tall with an androgynous body. They were wearing my clothing that didn’t fit on their frame. I’ve never seen someone with such a beautiful shade of dark skin. Every feature was perfect down to evenly arranged pulled-back long dreadlocks.
“I made you some breakfast. I can’t stay long. You need to buy more food, there isn’t much here. Do you need money? Hang on.”
My mind was still in shock leaving me unable to respond. I watched as the stranger placed some scrambled eggs on a plate and set them down on the counter. I didn’t own a table and just ate my computer desk. When the person stopped in front of me, I became so spellbound by their golden eyes that I didn’t even notice they took my weapon away and placed something in my hand. I shook my head to look down to see a small pile of glittering gold pellets in my hand. No, they had a shape I recognized and wanted to toss the gold when I saw they were human teeth of different sizes.
“I can turn things to gold. I had these just taking up space, so I made them useful. Get yourself something nice and don’t be late for our date next Friday. Although I don’t mind chasing you down. That was the most fun I’ve had in a while.”
I couldn't find my voice. I had a million questions. The first one was why they just had human teeth. With so many questions I found it impossible to pick one to speak. This person didn’t look like the monster from the night before. They didn’t look like a monster at all. When a quick kiss was placed against my cheek, and I felt the cold feeling all over again I knew who this creature was.
“I... What... date this Friday?” I croaked out stunned thoughts jumbled together.
“Oh, you are too much!”
Three more quick kisses were placed on my cheek and if it was anyone else, it would be a cute action. The monster drew away and then quickly headed towards the door, face shining with a smile.
“I normally eat my partners quickly, but I’ll keep you around for a bit. We’ll have a great time together until I can’t hold back.”
Without being able to stop them, the monster left through the front door with a wave. A second after it peeked a head through to add one more thing.
“My name is Guild!”
And then they were gone again leaving me standing in the middle of my kitchen with a handful of golden human teeth and the first breakfast someone had made for me since I was a child.
I put the teeth down first and ate the eggs with some issues. My stomach turned. Somehow, I’d gotten myself into a huge mess. I would need to keep seeing the nightmare of a monster for dates until it decided to eat me. My life is now to be decided by someone else. I quickly sent a text to my sister telling her I loved her in case Guild came right back for brunch. She was confused at the random message, but I figured it was long overdue.
The only upside to this entire nightmare I found myself in was Guild looked cute disguised as a human. And I suppose I didn’t have to worry about money either, but I didn’t want to ask Guild for gold fearing what I may be handed next. My new relationship started with hundreds of red flags I can’t do a damn thing about.
Do me a favor and if you do come across a monster dating website, don’t humor it. I wish I never made that mistake. Just don’t go clicking on random links online. You’ll never really know where it might take you and what kind of horrible outcome it may have on your life.

Hi from the team at Saurian Era! We are a semi-realistic roleplay focused Path of Titans server. Interested in joining a budding server with deep lore focused on storytelling, nesting, family trees, territories, and in-depth dinosaur profiles? We're holding an event TODAY, starting around 3-5pm CST (depending on user activity), celebrating the return of the Utahraptor mod (we're super excited!). At the end of this post you'll find an invite to our Discord server.
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Return of the Utahraptor

This current arc follows the last remains of the Suncrest Pack. Devastated by sickness that ravaged their home in the Savanna Grassland, their leader, Arrowroot, lead the last of his kin to a new home, where the remnants of the group would lay their final nests—four nests. Each female took time to love and care, trying to showcase some symbol of admiration to their babies, knowing completely that they would never live to see if the eggs would even hatch.
But life finds a way.
Flower Ring
A nest surrounded by flowers, laid delicately by a silver and black female Utahraptor by the name of Minnow Shimmer. A sweet temperament, her former mate was a red and white male called Sun Bleed, who was protective over his mate until his last breath, keeping her body safe from scavengers until the sickness took him as well.
Current number of viable eggs: 4
Claws of Blood
Despite its dark name, this nest was made by a fiery red female named Sunchaser, youngest granddaughter of Arrowroot. She had an affinity for blood stones, believing them to be beautiful, as they resembled her feather colors. She, along with her mate Ash Wind, a gray male, carried stones from the nearby area, and laid them around the nest. They hoped the offspring would see them, and at least remember the color that resembled their mother.
Current number of viable eggs: 3
Moon Drop
She joined their pack shortly before the illness took it. Pure white in color, Stardust was rumored by members to be the reason the sickness came. But she remained pleasant, patient, and quiet. She formed a close friendship with Arrowroot in her time there. While no one knows who the father of her children are, she placed her nest between two trees, with a perfect view of the sky. She left the eggs with nothing but the ability to see the night sky.
Current number of viable eggs: 3
Royal Blood
Arrowroot was a handsome male in his time. Fiery colors with dark marks and white blazes, he carried the unique coloring of the Suncrest Ancestors with him. His mate, a brown female he stole from a rival pack when he was younger was simply called Mouse, a little thing. They grew together, raised many families together, but this would be their final that they would sadly not be able to continue this tradition with. They may not ever know what they were meant to be—the next generation of leaders for the Suncrest pack. Mouse stayed with her nest until her last breath, where Arrowroot carried her body off, and was never seen again himself.
Current number of viable eggs: 4
What path will you choose? Will this little pack remember their heritage—of what they use to be? Will a new alpha step up to reform the great Suncrest Pack? Or will they disperse, creating their own packs? What would happen, with all of these packs forming in the heart of an unfamiliar home? Who will come out the reigning champion of the forest?
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Hopefully I've piqued your interest by now. Join our Discord by clicking this incredibly convenient link and take a look around. We look forward to seeing you! :)

Cephalapod Genesis
The pharoah ejaculated into the river and in the sand the sperm found refuge and grew into papyrus. This an example of genesis.
Vampyrapods are the first intelligent species to live on this planet predating the dinosaurs. They came here somehow. They did not evolve on this planet. Perhaps just an ejaculated sperm from another being landing in the water. The direct offspring of this cephalapod is the modern octopus. Octopus are responsible for nearly every animal genesis on earth including humans and subsequently man made inventions and accomplishments. Octopus taught trees to fruit, destroyed the dinosaurs through becoming tapeworms, and even walked to the moon. Some of the animals you may recognize from the cellular genesis may have fused with the other local staples such as canine, equine, and feline, and reptile as well as temporarily the pachyderms in post-actualization causal genesis. This can be done by mating with, killing, eating, dying, being eaten, or simply a laying of hands or physical actions. Octopus only live for about 4.5 years of our relationship with time, but they have beaten death through a mix of telepathy and cannabalism. They've also mastered time travel. There are only 3 actual beings here. Others died in getting here and are fossilized. 2 males and 1 female survived. I call them Jack, Seth, and Claire. This is why the genesis had to completed this way as any direct offspring would not work. because theyve have infinite time to complete it, theyve walked over every inch of the planet and affected every species. In fact our own existence is simply the echo of the combined knowledge of the cephs. We are an amalgamation like the 'too much good stuff' guy from am/pm commercials. Make a bird with your hands. ¿Where are the beaks? The latest project is to use genetic science in order to bring back the mammoth and obtain a sixth digit from its feet. Should happen around 2027. When the vampyrapods first encountered life here it was eating their tentacles. So the first genesis occured in the offspring of those that ate of the tentacles. This is why modern cephs only have 8 limbs. The first language period is Enochian. A language of the eyes and limbs. Through different manipulation of limbs and eye fluctuations communication was made. After a while though telepathy became the established communication.
Here are some examples but not all of cephalapod genesis:
• Spiders (rare from trilobyte mix, had to go back in time to accomplish) (they had to avenge the original vampyrapods from being eaten from early organisms, thisnis how scorpions were able to evolve) • Mango (foilage and ceph mix. Ceph hung from a tree upside down) • Star fruit (the tree missed the octopus and tempted it to return) • Pinecone ( the bite marks of ceph beak eating the fruit of the trees) • Toucan (the beak formation from ceph in flux probably consuming a failed aviary) • Peacock (feather formations still in flux from limbs partial fusion) • Salamander (reptile/chameleon mix) (skin breathing evolution) •Sloth (feline and foilage mix) • Mistletoe bird (octopus ate a mushroom) • Lyrebird (mirage, digitage, and aviary from peacock and pheasant. Mastered the art of sound mimickry to develop better auditory communications) • Dung beetle (rolling backwards the earth through time) • VW bug (trunk up front) (mirage, digitage, pachyderm mix) (invented higher than the model T but arrived later in time) • Goliath bird-eating tarantula ( set a web to catch a bird which did not exist fully until the web was cast. When the spider consumed the bird the psuedo cannabalistic action resulted in a poison tree frog) • Snakes (a ceph lost its mating limb for some reason in a mirage mix experiment) • venemous snakes (a snake ate the eggs of its own offspring)(the cursed dinosaur souls live inside these) • Gumby (using hands to mold clay made a show about being an octopus) • Chameleon (reptile, ceph, foilage, mirage mix)(a ceph was purposely eaten by a komodo dragon to telepathically send a reverse osmosis of its makeup inside its body to another ceph that was attempting to kill the dinosaurs in the past. How they programmed the tapeworm to destroy them)

• Human organs (strife and love and tapeworm mix. Impregnating a mix of canine feline equine, ceph, pachyderm, reptilian, mirage, digitage, foilage, strife and love through years of experimentation lodged themselves systematically into more and more advanced versions and became functional in each iteration) • Sumi ink tattoo ink any ink really • The written word (anemone, sea urchin, porcupine quill, Bird feather and ink. Papyrus) • Floppy disk (suction cup on a piece of mail specifically a bill and the suction cup on the plastic window) • Cd, dvd, blu ray (laying of hands on a television screen) • Television (just a series of ceph exploring life through the inside of a glass tank with mirage and digitage mix) • Movie theater ( same but aquarium instead) • Papillon (love + insect from trilobyte and ink and papyrus needed training wheels to learn how to fly) • Taser (digitage mix of the two extra original tentacles lost from vampyrapod with mix of electric eel which was a detached limb of an octopus that had achieved ball lightning static existence) • Wisteria (ceph and foilage mix) (needed the seeds to play mancala or something) • Water strider (walked on water) • Lunar lander (digitage) (tapeworms in humans directed construction, the first electronic component gestalt high enough to become digital) (a tree really wanted to go to the moon) • Champagne cork (Ate some bark, vent plugged up and had to pee really bad) • Electrostatic Ball (attempting time travel, a ceph was meditating in complete non movement inside a digitized mirage flashing irridescence until it passed away) • Ball lightning (time travel attempt Same ceph tried a pure digitage and mirage mix) • Gnarwal (chameleon tongue, mirage and pachyderm) • Light bulb (ceph + mirage + digitage mix) (octopus crawled into a mirage jar and was irridescent) • Liquor bottle (octopus got stuck in a fulgarite and died temporarily trapping its soul in reflection but the invention of cork escaped it) • Silly string (mirage mix) (angry octopus sprayed another with diarhea from its vent) • Tapeworms (had to brave a walk into a volcano and die. As the octopus melted while running, it evolved the turkey, turkey vulture, vulture, and was just a slithering worm by the time it was engulfed by lava) • The Ten Commandments (vampyrapod fossils brought by a tapewormed moses to show people and try and explain the religion) • Dumbo (actually just a tiny cute octopus) • Hydra from capt america (introducing the public to idealogy of cephs) • Tobacco leaf (the laying of hands on deciduous plantlife, a gift to the early iterations of human) • Cow (equine ceph and pachyderm mix) essentially the Orca ate the Octopus, in its 4th stomach it finally died and so when the cow who has 4 stomachs manifested it came with udders symbolic of the octopus genesis in post actualization-causation • Rapa nui. The end of time. (Great stone heads disembodied) (mirage and strife)the final resting place. A graveyard. A place of rest always available

The Days in Our Millennia
Stories of the Scions
Lessons continue...
4
Hale looked around and pulled out Bodley. The strange creature’s display also doubled as its own eye, and in this case it was displaying a waving hand to its master.
“Okay, so look up ‘DC Universes’.” Anna said as she pulled out Mr. Chompy and showed them what application to use. “These are called apps, older folks call them programs. Perfection yells at them.”
“He does not like technology, does he?” Hale asked, trying to understand the Scion of Chaos just a little bit.
Anna shook her head, “Like all things relating to Chaos, Perfection is complicated. Most of them are.”
“Most people in general are.” Sammy shrugged, then stared at Freddie’s screen. “Wow, that's a lot of heroes.”
“There are also a lot of villains and criminals.” Hale added, “Why are we here, Anna?”
So one thing to understand about a Scion and their balance is what happens when it gets very out of balance. Which is happening here.” Anna said, “The good guys have been winning a lot, like a whole hell of a lot.”
“So evil must swing back stronger.” Hale nodded in understanding, “Consumption is here?”
Anna nodded, “So is Raptor, but only we can see them. Maybe The Specter can too, but he’ll play by the rules. This place fell under our umbrella a long time ago when -”
An explosion erupted from a building down the street. Two forms streaked from the fiery building, but only one was in control of their trajectory. The one with no control landed and rolled in the street. Hale watched Anna who sighed and shook her head.
“Not a hero?” Hale asked, “Or not your fight?”
“A bit of both.” Anna rolled her eyes.” This is a fight between two mages, both decidedly jerks and scumbags.”
The man who had been blown from the building stood. He was blond with half his face covered in blood, but he wore a savage smile as he stood up and cast a spell that put his arm back into place.
“Really, you bloody wanker!” The man shouted down the street as the other mage approached. “Come on then Illidae, you ain’t got what it takes!”
A series of fireballs rained down the street.
Hale and Sammy watched the other man. He was floating with a staff hovering in front of him, a golden glow surrounded his form and his oddly teal hair levitated upwards as if repelled by gravity. His eyes glowed bright white and his mouth seemed to move rapidly with no words coming out.
“This is John Constantine and Choronus Illidae.” Anna sighed. “Both are the kind of guys who would sell out another person to the forces of evil to get what they need, but also the kind of guys who will make it so that deal also screws over the devil or whatever they made a deal with.”
Hale’s jaw dropped, “Definitely not heroes.”
“Uhh...” Sammy pointed to Constantine, “Uh this is...”
“Yeah...” Anna sighed as the world around them erupted into multiple shades of red.
Energy streamed from the power unleashed in the area as a demon tore through reality and knocked Choronus Illidae further back. Then it turned to Constantine and grinned.
“That is a very limited form of the demon Trigon.” Anna explained. “And this is about to get bad.”
“Someone’s approaching.” Hale noted, “Someone who has a heavy burden tied to the demon.”
“That’d be Raven.” Anna nodded, “She’s Trigon’s daughter, and if he possesses her, he gets to be on the material plane.”
“We can’t possibly be expected to allow that!” Hale roared.
“Right now we’re observing, if we act we jump right into a fight Raptor and Consumption are drawing around. We will drag the fight out because of how much aid we give Raptor.” Anna said, “And if we do that not only does it drag things out, it means Consumption can call in his own forces and while I haven’t seen who he’s put in those positions under his sway, I can assure you they are not going to be something we want to take lightly.”
“Uh...” Sammy pointed to the sky. “Am I seeing this right?”
Above the scene, which had now shifted to Constantine fighting Trigon with petty spells and tricks, was a clash of giants. Consumption was combating Raptor in a direct fight that wasn’t fully visible, even to the Lesser Scions.
“How are they not destroying the city?” Sammy asked.
“Because the fight hasn’t escalated to that.” Anna explained as a young woman in a dark cloak descended and cast a spell on Trigon.
“It’s about to.” Sammy winced.
Trigon roared with laughter as he grabbed Constantine and threatened the human’s life, ordering his daughter to stand down and submit to him. What he did not expect was Choronus Illidae to return and plunge the staff he had been using through the back of the demon, the golden head of Horus’ symbol pierced the demon through his chest and was covered in his blood. Still,the demon laughed and spun on the second mage, grabbing him in his other hand.
That was when the staff exploded. In a flash of power and wrath the Lesser Scions watched as the city of Metropolis had its downtown area decimated. When the flash died down Trigon was holding his daughter and stepping through a portal, the two mages laid motionless on the ground. In the fight above, the two scions had stopped their battle and Raptor was severely wounded as both Scions retreated.
“Are they dead?” Sammy asked with a slight whimper, “I don’t think they are.”
Anna nodded, “Constantine is harder to kill than a cockroach and Illidae is just as stubborn and both have a curse or two preventing them from just being killed outright like that.”
“Isn’t that a blessing?” Hale clarified.
“Not when demons do it so you don’t cause a war in hell, or Apophis does it to keep you from getting to your wife’s soul in the afterlife.” Anna sighed as a blue streak passed though the area and the mages vanished.
“Where was he?” Sammy asked, “This Superman guy.”
“Otherside of the world fighting with his friend to stop something similar.” Anna said and stepped onto the rubble filled street. “See this damage?” She sat on a large chunk of a torn up street.
Both of the newer Lesser-Scions nodded.
“I could have given any of those three a boost, Hale could have helped Raven, and Sammy you could have prevented the change that’s about to come by various means.” Anna said, “But then Consumption would have had to up his game and this explosion would have just been the start.”
“Hundreds dead could have been thousands.” Hale nodded in a grim realization, “Is this all we do?”
Anna smiled, “No, this is what they do, the full Scions. We can help or hinder but there will always be a cost. We have to decide if we’re willing to live with that.”
“Would you have helped if you weren’t teaching us?” Hale asked.
Anna smiled and stood up, Hong Long appeared and opened a portal with a clear location on the other side. “Come on, let me show you some fun parts of the job...” She stepped through and waited.
Sammy sighed and nodded, gesturing for Hale to go first. Hale cautiously stepped through and all three found themselves in a dark cave underground. A large computer system wasn’t too far away and a man in a dark costume sat staring at the screens.
“Batman, my personal favorite.” Anna smiled, “He often struggles with his own inner demons. Mostly fear.”
“And responsibility.” Hale nodded, “He knows a way to save Raven, but it could cost a hero their life. An Etrigan?”
Anna nodded, “And here’s where we can come into conflict Hale. Does he do the right thing and save Raven from being possessed, possibly losing a powerful ally and saving countless lives or does he sacrifice Raven, potentially saving an ally and saving countless lives?”
“You make the choice that saves the most lives, if you know it.” Hale said, “Otherwise you make the prudent move that gives you the advantage in the long run in what is clearly going to be a war.” Hale paused, “I’m hearing and feeling his own internal argument, aren’t I?”
Anna nodded.
“I though this was supposed to be fun.” Sammy said, “And how are there only two options?!”
“I did kinda lie, fun here is... in how you view it. We’re not enemies, but opponents.” Anna said.
Hale nodded and drew her glaive over her shoulder from nothingness, as her form shifted to wearing clothing slightly more appropriate for a fight and a cloud of bronze dust surrounded her. “You clearly see sacrificing Raven as the wrong move.”
“Batman doesn’t sacrifice people unless he has to, this plan allows for Etrigan to have a chance.” Anna nodded and dropped into a stance she had learned from an old friend and red ribbons of energy streamed around her.
“Whoa!” Sammy leaped behind a giant penny. He then paused and looked up, “Penny for your thoughts ladies?” He then pushed it over and watched as a flash of light froze the area they were in.
The penny fell over, but he could tell it wasn’t the penny that was present in the actual cave. Hale dodged out of the way and stared at Sammy in shock as the man focused and a set of armor, painted in flames and other designs, grew over him and a powerful hammer appeared in his hands. Anna merely let the penny slam down as her aura dissolved the object around her.
“There is always a better option than sacrificing people, he just needs to change his way of thinking!” Sammy roared, his voice distorted by his armor.
“Well now, we know what we’re fighting for.” Anna smiled, “Remember we can’t die, normally, but we can run each other ragged.”
Hale refocused on Anna, “And you have the most experience in this type of combat. Sammy we-”
Hale was interrupted as Sammy ran full force into her and then swung his hammer upward. Hale was slammed into the bones of a dinosaur, but managed to deflect the hammer with her glaive. She then brought forward a cloud of silver dust that turned into a series of flying daggers that all pointedly stuck into Sammy’s armor, mildly annoying him as they jammed a few joints. Then she raised her glaive to block the blade that Anna was rushing at her with.
Anna grinned as she then brought a powerful diving kick to Hale’s knees. The force sent Hale sailing into a wall. Anna then followed up by applying a powerful telekinetic blast to Sammy and he also went sailing, but fell down the pit that made up a good chunk of the Bat-Cave. Anna then made a beeline for Batman, before she could reach him though Hale slammed into Anna’s side, grabbing the hood of Anna’s hoodie and tossed her back towards the edge.
“I may not have your experience in this combat, but I was a god and I did fight.” Hale brought her glaive forward.
Anna stood up and smiled, “Yeah but you haven’t fought a Quain. We’re different beats entirely.” Anna bolted forward and Hong Long sprang forward and streaked off to a side as they separated and spread around Hale. Hale watched the two of them separate and quickly cast a spell, the bronze dust quickly encased her in a glowing armor that met the clashing claws of Hong Long and the telekinetic force of Anna and resisted both fully. Ann then dropped back and Hong Long coiled around her and snarled.
“Gold is a sign of haughtiness.” Hale said, trying to provoke Anna.
“Nah, that’s just the sign of me being stupid when I was a lot younger.” Anna began to stretch in place. “And if you think your armor can stand me, you’re in for a surprise.” She rushed forward again and drew back her hands as she ran.
Hale watched as Hong Long trailed behind Anna. The former god focused her bronze dust forward and created a hemisphere to protect her. Then everything shook and exploded as Sammy flew up from the pit and fired a weapon that blinded and stunned both Anna and Hale.
“Hahahaha!” Sammy laughed, “Eat mini-nukes!”
When Hale and Anna could see again Sammy was already at Batman whispering into the man’s ears.
Anna stood up, crossed her arms and puffed out her cheeks before declaring, “All right, Sammy wins this match.”
Sammy’s armor vanished as he rubbed the back of his head. “It just occurred to me, if the goal is to get him to listen, then we’re fighting each other to get the time to get him alone. So I used the ultimate disable button. Sort of.” He laughed nervously.
“Nukes.” Anna nodded, “I should have known something like that was coming.”
“What?” Hale blinked. “That...” She looked between Anna and Sammy, “That’s what the fight was for?!”
Anna nodded, “We’re part concept. So we need to get our ideas to the people who will listen and they need to choose in the end. So, honestly, this was Sammy and Batman’s win.”
“What?” Sammy blinked.
“If he hadn’t desperately been searching for a third option, you wouldn’t have had a chance.” Anna explained, “But he was at war with himself.”
“We are at the whims of their desires?” Hale’s face contorted in confusion.
“Not quite. I could have won too. So could you have. But Sammy was slightly stronger than us because Batman wanted a third option. Now he’s dedicated to that idea.” Anna explained. “If I had won, he’d have gone with the first plan, but still had a third option sitting in his head. Remember we can’t control them, only slightly influence them.”
“What if we had all lost?” Hale asked.
Anna smiled, “Then he would have made the choice on his own and knowing Batman he would have made that third option happen if it cost him his life. He doesn’t like leaving people behind if he can help it.” She then looked back at Hale, “Then again he will also sacrifice another world to save his own. He’s very complicated.”
“That’s cold.” Sammy blinked in concern as he watched Batman piece together a plan. “Is it bad that this plan scares me?”
“He does that.” Anna nodded, “How many steps is he on?”
“Forty-five.” Sammy blinked, “Can we please actually do something fun? This man is terrifying.”
Hale walked over and looked at the plans Batman was putting together, “I second this, this man is concerning.”
Anna nodded, “Okay, I got a place in mind. Who likes cute animals with elemental powers?”
Hale looked at Anna in confusion. “What?”
“Please don’t have dogs that shoot fire.” Sammy sighed.
“Several flavors.” Anna smiled, “Don’t worry, we have to stop by Perfection’s Verge to get you both ready.”
Anna had Hong Logn open another portal and the three walked through into a vast open forest. Hale looked around and then up at the sun, then she paused.
“The sun is blue.” Hale noted.
“But we’re in yellow sunlight.” Sammy looked up and then looked confused.
“Why does the sun seem to be looking at me?” Hale asked.
“Well, you all walk into what’s essentially my living room.” Perfection appeared from behind a tree, “Of course I’m gonna take interest.”
Hale looked at the Scion then at the star and then back again. “You’re the star?”
Perfection bowed and his human appearance faded and was replaced by a tall pillar of human shaped fire. His eyes were barely visible within the conflagration as a different shade of blue and white.
Perfection’s “voice” echoed in the heads of those around him as a memory of a voice rather than an audible sound.
Hale stepped back in awe as she took the form in, she had seen odd forms as a god. Forms that were clearly influenced by their positions. This was something else though. Perfection was Chaos incarnate and this form radiated power and confidence, but she could not make the connection of a star to chaos. Sammy simply let out a whistle that showed he was impressed.
“Gotta say boss, nice digs. Haven’t seen this much green all at once. The look’s pretty neat too.” Sammy smiled. “Anna said we need to speak to you before going to the next place.”
Perfection’s barely visible grin grew and he spun around and twisted his form back to his human guise. He looked at Anna and steepled his hands before he spoke, “Are we visiting family?”
Anna nodded, “I haven’t seen Rio in so long.” Her smile grew, “And these two need starters and an appropriate look.”
Perfection stretched his arm out to an impossible length and pulled a rack of clothes out from behind another tree. He put on a white lab coat and suddenly a green sloth-like creature appeared on his back.
“What is that?” Hale stared in awe and smiled, “It’s adorable.”
“This is Hattie, a Lazeleaf. Technically not a real pokemon, but we love her anyway.” Perfection patted the pokemon’s head. “I was her trainer a dozen and a billion lifetimes ago. I got Wraith to let me have her when that adventure was over. She’s a green sloth pokemon.”
“What’s a pokemon?” Sammy asked, “And does it taste good?”
Perfection was not surprised when Anna and Hale drew weapons on his subordinate. He shook his head and continued. “They’re animals in a reality we typically call a ‘Pokemon World’. Anna’s got some family in one and they can’t leave anymore.”
“So we’ll be going in under mortal disguises.” Anna smiled, “Not hard for me, I kinda prefer that. But you guys need to learn to separate your forms out.”
Hale nodded, “Because we can choose to be our ideal selves. I understand.”
Sammy shrugged, “Shouldn’t be too hard.”
“Change is a hard thing sometimes Sammy.” Perfection grinned, “So I’m going to scramble together a look for you both. First question though...”
“No!” Anna sighed, “Don’t.” She feigned annoyance as she tried not to laugh.
Hale and Sammy looked confused.
“Are you a boy or a girl?” Perfection grinned.
“Perfection, please stop.” Anna sighed.
“I don’t get it.” Sammy blinked, “You know that answer.”
“It’s a joke.” Hale sighed, “Something we’re missing.”
Perfection nodded and shrugged, “Look Anna, we got a red-hated lunatic we’re trying to give a job he won’t turn into a joke and this is me saying this. Let me have my fun, please.” He gave a pleading look.
Sammy stared in confusion. “What?”
“Who brought an Alucard here?” Anna snapped angrily. “He’s a terrible influence on my dad!”
“Alucard...” Hale paused and Perfection froze as he watched her mull the name over.
“Hey that’s Dracula backwards!” Sammy chuckled.
Hale turned to glare at Sammy, “What?”
“Yeah. Like in the horror book!” Sammy pulled a book out of his pocket. “Good read.” He handed it over.
Hale quickly skimmed a few pages and read the insert. “So it’s fiction based on him. I can only assume this was some sick joke.”
Perfection cleared his throat, “Alucard in his reality is the altered personality of Vlad Tepes.”
Hale’s glare became daggers as she closed the book. “We should probably not meet.”
“Why not?” Sammy inquired, “Seems like a riot.”
“I don’t know about most realities, but Vlad Tepes slaughtered many innocent people and many of my countrymen.” Hale said coldly.
“Look, I don’t approve.” Perfection said, “But your countrymen weren’t exactly innocent. Nor were all of those people. A lot were, but not most. He was brutal, efficient and fucking terrifying.”
Anna stared at Perfection.
“Yeah, I used a swear.” Perfection nodded then shook his head. “Look, Hale, he’s not from your reality, so please keep the prejudice contained.”
Hale took a breath, “I will do my very best, Perfection, but I cannot guarantee anything.”
“Well if he’s half the pest the other one I met was, you’ll have plenty of reason without your own issues.” Anna gave a concerned nod. “Has he pissed off Wraith yet?”
Perfection shook his head, “I’m hiding until he does.” He pulled over a spare white board from behind yet another tree. “Look, I’m gonna make you some bodies that fit the region and typical styles, you’re gonna be younger and mostly human, until you need to be what you are.”
Sammy raised his hand, “Okay, but do I need to be in a body like my old one?”
Perfection shook his head, “No we can stick with what you want.”
Hale nodded, “Well, I am a girl then. I would prefer something nice to wear. About what age would we be?”
“I’m going sixteen.” Anna nodded.
Hale nodded and in a moment her form changed. Sammy’s jaw dropped as Hale’s form became slightly shorter, she lost the wolf ears and features. Her hair remained mostly the same and so did her eyes. She mostly shrunk by about a foot and was wearing a pleasantly designed dress.
“Of course the former god has the talent for shapeshifting.” Perfection gave a laughing snort, then he looked at Sammy. “Want me to craft it or you want to try?”
Sammy looked about nervously, “I think you should.”
Perfection smiled and spun th white board multiple times before stopping it. When it stopped there was a neatly drawn form of Sammy. He was slightly shorter, with a less wide frame, he had sunglasses and a baseball cap turned backwards that had his hair sticking out. He was wearing a nice leather jacket and clean jeans with a rucksack hanging over his back. Sammy nodded in approval and in a moment he focused and became a living form of the image.
“Sorry, boss.” Sammy smirked nervously.
“Don’t worry.” Perfection waved his hand dismissively, “Envisioning others in new looks is often easier than one’s self.”
“Talking with Iroh lately?” Anna smiled and laughed. “Or maybe older Zuko?”
“So what if I was? They’re both awesome!” Perfection laughed. “Oh, Hale, you’ll need a backpack or something.”
Hale nodded and a shoulder bag appeared on her right shoulder.
“Now, next we’re gonna get you a starter.” Perfection grinned, “Normally I’d give you both a charmander or something, but you both got something about you I can use to give you a rather unique partner.”
Hale watched as Perfection stepped to the side and Kyra, her mount, was sitting, looking very confused until she saw Hale. The large celestial wolf stood at attention and then noticed Perfection, in a flash she was at Hale’s side growling at the Scion.
“Calm, Kyra, he is an ally. Possibly a friend.” Hale said calmly, the wolf slowly calmed down.
Perfection stepped to the side once more and a large scaled lizard with sharp claws and two curling horns appeared as if it had always been there. It roared and went to attack, then it paused and sniffed the air and found Sammy. It sniffed the man and quickly curled up at Sammy’s feet.
“Quigley?” Sammy’s eyes teared up, “I thought those Brotherhood assholes got you.” Sammy hugged the creature’s large head.
“Deathclaws are so adorable when they make friends!” Perfection beamed and wiped a tear away. “And it’s always nice to unite old friends.”
“Will Kyra, let alone Quigley pass for a pokemon?” Hale nodded to Hattie, “They seem far more adorable.”
“I mean there are some mean ones.” Anna nodded and pulled out a white sphere and tossed it out.
A large metallic looking creature popped out next to Perfection. It let out an annoyed cry, then curled up on the ground.
“That’s my Aggron, his name is Smudge.” Anna sighed, “And when he isn’t napping he’s throwing opponents into mountains. He’s my powerhouse.”
“I thought that was you cheating and using Hong Long as a shiny gyarados?” Perfection gave a smug grin.
“No, that’s me getting over-competitive.” Anna admitted. “Or needing to save people.”
“So...” Perfection smiled at Hale and Kyra, “What element do you think best defines Kyra and yours relationship?”
“I beg your pardon?” Hale asked, “How would you define ‘element’ in this case?”
Perfection sighed, “She really is a stickler for detail.”
Anna nodded, “She also has no knowledge on how the pokemon work.” Anna looked at Hale, “So basically there are like eighteen different classifications of pokemon ‘type’, a kind of elemental classification. Think fire, water, ice, steel and the like.”
“Steel?” Hale scoffed, “You’re serious?”
“Smudge is a rock and steel type.” Anna said, “His armor is metal he grows by eating dirt and stone.”
“A terravore?” Hale blinked in astonishment. “I see. Well if there was one thing that defines our relationship it is our loyalty to each other. An unbreakable bond we forged from the time she was a pup.”
Perfection nodded and smiled at Anna, “I don’t think she got the assignment.”
“You’re asking me to attribute our relationship with a system I don’t even understand!” Hale snapped.
Perfection jumped back, slightly shocked. “Right. Well...” He gestured to her bag and Bodley rose from it, “You have tools.”
Hale took Bodley and typed into it while glaring at Perfection.
“I think she’s slightly mad.” Perfection giggled.
“P, please.” Anna sighed, “I don’t want to spend an entire trip explaining your eccentricities.”
Perfection sighed and nodded. “Look up ice and steel types, I think you might like them.”
“I know what Quigley would be.” Sammy smiled, “We’re both fighters, is there something for that?”
Perfection grinned, “Very much so.”
Quigley then began to glow and its shape and form twisted and shrunk. Soon it was a lizard that was barely two and a half feet tall. It was wearing some form of sheep skull that gave it the curved horns and it had four long claws, though much shorter than what they had been, at the end of its somewhat comically large paws. Then it stood and roared.
“Clawswip!” Quigley shouted and stopped in shock. “Clawswip?”
“You plan to transmute Kyra?” Hale glared at Perfection.
“It, like most things, is not permanent.” Perfection explained, “Only while in a pokemon world would she have this form and it keeps you two together.”
Hale paused and nodded. She took a moment to remind herself that Perfection was chaos and also incredibly powerful.
“We both enjoy testing ourselves and snow is fun to play in.” Hale nodded.
“See.” Perfection smiled, “You got it.” He looked at Kyra, “So what do you think, pup? Steel and ice or ice and steel?”
Kyra cocked her head at an angle in confusion. Then her form glowed and she shrunk down, her saddle eventually covered her new form entirely. Hale lifted it up and had to hold back a happy squeal of joy. Kyra was now a fluff of white and silver fur with bronze eyes and ear tufts. The little canine howled and jumped forward.
“Slushowl!” Kyra rushed forward and cuddled with Hale’s leg.
Hale picked her friend up and almost dropped her, Kyra’s fur was now like a steel brush. Hale looked at Perfection who just nodded knowingly.
“So, what will you be using?” Sammy asked, “I mean besides the big guy?”
“I always keep Hong Long as a backup.” Anna said with a nod, then handed several spheres over to Perfection. “Put those up for me will you?”
Perfection nodded and put them in the pockets of his lab coat. “Want a new starter?”
“What you got?” Anna asked.
“Laaaze!” Hattie stretched a claw out.
“Really?” Perfection rubbed his chin, “Well it has been a while, I suppose you do need a bit of exercise. Want to take Hattie for a spin?”
Anna clapped her hands together and squealed as she jumped for joy.
Perfection pulled out his own sphere and held it up for Sammy and Hale to see. “This is pokeball, you keep pokemon in them.” He recalled Hattie and handed the pokeball to Anna.
Anna immediately let Hattie out and the sloth clung to her and slowly positioned herself to cling to Anna’s backpack.
Perfection then handed Sammy and Hale several pokeballs along with one marked for their partners. He also gave them several spray bottles labeled “potion” and a few odd looking berries.
“Now we’re ready.” Anna smiled, “We’re off to have a pokemon adventure!”
Hong Long appeared and tore open a portal, then turned into a limbless red creature with a gaping maw. He roared and disappeared into a ball on Anna’s side.
“Last one through is a mirelurk egg!” Sammy ran through.
“I don’t know what that is, but I won’t be one!” Hale dashed through after.
“Well, you’re a mirelurk egg.” Perfection snorted.
“I’ll take care of Hattie, I promise.” Anna smiled.
Perfection snorted, “She’s maxed out with eviolite. Hong Long would be less of a war crime.”
Anna rolled her eyes and stepped through the portal.
Once all three were through the portal Perfection smiled and enjoyed the silence for all of two minutes before a crimson clad vampire appeared in his Verge with Wraith chasing directly after him. Alucard lit several trees on fire as he ran through before vanishing once again. Then Alan appeared and handed the shocked Perfection a tropical drink.
“You know, I feel like even Deadpool would have more restraint.” Alan sighed.
“If it weren’t for the fact that I can literally revert the damage done, I would be supremely pissed off.” Perfection nodded as he sipped the drink. “Oh he crashed Wraith in a bar, didn’t he?”
Alan nodded and sighed.
“We figure out a position for him yet?” Perfection asked.
Alan nodded again.
Perfection took a deep breath. “He’s under me isn’t he?”
“Yeah.” Alan patted his friend on the back. “Mania.”
“Fuck.” Perfection said for the second time in far too close succession for his liking.
“Yeah.” Alan nodded.
“Wait, isn’t that madness?” Perfection asked.
“Lachesis clarified, Mania is a very specific and different condition. And no, he can’t really control it.” Alan chuckled, “Also Karma’s ready to kill him too.”
Perfection nodded, “I think I have a solution.”
“DM’s already going for his boss.” Alan smiled, “We’re thinking Lesser-Scion of Restraint.”
Perfection took another sip and nodded.
<<<>>>
The Scions are © /uTheSmogMonsterZX
All other characters not a part of the Scion-Verge-Verse are © Their Original Creators and are not used with intent to infringe upon their creator’s rights.
First Story
Previous Story <<<>>> [Next Story]()
SCIONS Spotify
<<< The Voice Box/Author’s Notes>>>
Smoggy: So, we have... 4 stories in the backlog.
Wraith: That outline was huge!
Smoggy: Welp, time to roll arc 7 into this one!
DM: Excellent choice sir!
Anna: Time to play pokemon champion! Wooo!
Alan: Calm down super-star. Time to train newbies.
Wraith: What’s the lesson this time?
Perfection: How to survive your own descent into madness?
DM: Respecting your peers even when they make bad decisions?
Alan: Relaxation 101?
Anna: Smoggy, help me.
Smoggy: No lesson.
Anna: Thank you.
Perfection: (leering at Smoggy suspiciously) Hmmm...
Smoggy: Time to touch base with the others!
Wraith: Yeah, that makes sense.

Hi from the team at Saurian Era! We are a semi-realistic roleplay focused Path of Titans server. Interested in joining a budding server with deep lore focused on storytelling, nesting, family trees, territories, and in-depth dinosaur profiles? We're about to hold an event celebrating the return of the Utahraptor mod (we're super excited!). At the end of this post you'll find an invite to our Discord server.
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Return of the Utahraptor

This current arc follows the last remains of the Suncrest Pack. Devastated by sickness that ravaged their home in the Savanna Grassland, their leader, Arrowroot, lead the last of his kin to a new home, where the remnants of the group would lay their final nests—four nests. Each female took time to love and care, trying to showcase some symbol of admiration to their babies, knowing completely that they would never live to see if the eggs would even hatch.
But life finds a way.
Flower Ring
A nest surrounded by flowers, laid delicately by a silver and black female Utahraptor by the name of Minnow Shimmer. A sweet temperament, her former mate was a red and white male called Sun Bleed, who was protective over his mate until his last breath, keeping her body safe from scavengers until the sickness took him as well.
Current number of viable eggs: 4
Claws of Blood
Despite its dark name, this nest was made by a fiery red female named Sunchaser, youngest granddaughter of Arrowroot. She had an affinity for blood stones, believing them to be beautiful, as they resembled her feather colors. She, along with her mate Ash Wind, a gray male, carried stones from the nearby area, and laid them around the nest. They hoped the offspring would see them, and at least remember the color that resembled their mother.
Current number of viable eggs: 3
Moon Drop
She joined their pack shortly before the illness took it. Pure white in color, Stardust was rumored by members to be the reason the sickness came. But she remained pleasant, patient, and quiet. She formed a close friendship with Arrowroot in her time there. While no one knows who the father of her children are, she placed her nest between two trees, with a perfect view of the sky. She left the eggs with nothing but the ability to see the night sky.
Current number of viable eggs: 3
Royal Blood
Arrowroot was a handsome male in his time. Fiery colors with dark marks and white blazes, he carried the unique coloring of the Suncrest Ancestors with him. His mate, a brown female he stole from a rival pack when he was younger was simply called Mouse, a little thing. They grew together, raised many families together, but this would be their final that they would sadly not be able to continue this tradition with. They may not ever know what they were meant to be—the next generation of leaders for the Suncrest pack. Mouse stayed with her nest until her last breath, where Arrowroot carried her body off, and was never seen again himself.
Current number of viable eggs: 4
What path will you choose? Will this little pack remember their heritage—of what they use to be? Will a new alpha step up to reform the great Suncrest Pack? Or will they disperse, creating their own packs? What would happen, with all of these packs forming in the heart of an unfamiliar home? Who will come out the reigning champion of the forest?
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Hopefully I've piqued your interest by now. Join our Discord by clicking this incredibly convenient link and take a look around. We look forward to seeing you! :)

Video openings are a staple of online gambling clubs, known for their connecting with interactivity, high level illustrations, and a plenty of elements. Dissimilar to exemplary openings, which for the most part have a predetermined number of reels and paylines, video spaces accompany a wide assortment of subjects, extra adjusts, and unique elements that keep players engaged. ” Kargototo ” Here is an extensive manual for the various kinds of video spaces accessible to players.

1. Themed Video Spaces

1.1. Experience and Dream Spaces:
Portrayal: These openings take players on legendary excursions, frequently highlighting storylines that include missions, legendary animals, and otherworldly domains.
Model: "Gonzo's Mission" by NetEnt, where players join the wayfarer Gonzo looking for the lost city of gold.
1.2. Film and television Themed Openings:
Depiction: In view of well known movies and Programs, these openings consolidate characters, scenes, and music from their particular establishments.
Model: "Jurassic Park" by Microgaming, including dinosaurs and components from the notorious film.
1.3. Verifiable and Social Openings:
Depiction: These openings are themed around authentic occasions, antiquated civic establishments, and social topics.
Model: "Cleopatra" by IGT, which takes players to antiquated Egypt with images like the Sphinx and the renowned sovereign.

1. Highlight Rich Video Openings

2.1. Reward Round Spaces:
Portrayal: These openings offer complex extra adjusts that frequently include smaller than normal games or intelligent components, adding profundity to the ongoing interaction.
Model: "Stunned II" by Microgaming, where different extra adjusts are opened as players progress.
2.2. Free Twists Openings:
Depiction: A typical component in numerous video spaces, free twists permit players to turn the reels without betting extra cash, frequently with added multipliers.
Model: "Starburst" by NetEnt, where players can win free twists with growing wilds.
2.3. Staggered Openings:
Depiction: These openings have various levels or stages that players can advance through, each offering various rewards and highlights.
Model: "Avalon II" by Microgaming, which has a staggered reward game including the journey for the Sacred goal.

1. Bonanza Video Openings

3.1. Moderate Bonanza Openings:
Portrayal: These openings include bonanzas that develop with each bet put by players across an organization of machines, until one fortunate player raises a ruckus around town win.
Model: "Super Moolah" by Microgaming, popular for its extravagant big stakes.
3.2. Fixed Big stake Spaces:
Depiction: These spaces offer a set bonanza sum that can be won by hitting explicit blends or extra adjusts.
Model: "Divine Fortune" by NetEnt, which offers both fixed and moderate big stakes.

1. Lattice Based Video Spaces

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End
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i'm working on a novel and would like to know if anyone could tell me any improvements i could make to the first chapter and prologue
Prologue
The day had started the same way it had for the past two years. The only difference was that I was going home. The hallway was crowded with people walking to and from their classes. Everyone was crowded next to each other so the halls were making the area feel claustrophobic. All the people talking mixed with the summer heat made me feel like I was locked in a sauna. I walked with Preston to the last class we would ever have together and as usual he was smiling. I never got why he always smiled even in situations where people should be sad he still smiled. He knew what today meant for me and he tried to keep light of the situation. I kept my head down away from what was ahead of me. My mind was too clouded about returning to see my family to notice anything in front of me. I walked into another student. It felt like I had walked into a wall. I knew immediately I had walked into tree. I stumble onto the ground and the commotion around me slows down to make room for us. He turned his bulky body around and apologized profusely without saying a word even though I had walked into him. He helped me off of the ground before hurrying down the hall.
“Alexandria, are you doing okay?” Preston said he had tilted his body downward so I had to look down to look him in his eyes. The way he was standing made him look like an idiot but he didn't seem to care. The way he acted made me laugh, which caused his smile to widen.
“I'm doing fine, just got lost in my head.”
“Thinking about how you’ll leave soon,” he said
“Was it that obvious?” He was the only person I told about me being an exchange student. I came to spend high school in Newkinawa and he was the only person I ever hung out with.
“I see what you mean,” he said “Newkinawa is a beautiful place with beautiful people to live in it…myself included”
“You wish,” I say with a smile we continue walking through the hallway “I'm just not excited to go back yet”
After I say that his smile grows wider “So you will miss me after all”
“I wouldn't say that much” I responded whilst smiling.
We had made it to our last class only to see it closed with a sign labeled “Uma incident” Uma was a student known for messing with the chemistry lab and destroying school property in the process. I've never actually met her but Preston says “She's a little weird but still nice”
“Guess class is canceled for today,” Preston remarked with a smile “Wanna go out to the court till the bell rings.”
“Sure let's go” I respond
The place we ate every day was outside. It used to be a tennis court before I moved in. Now they put trees and flowers all over the place. Preston really liked the blue color of the flowers but it just never clicked for me. I look over at Preston and he's staring up at the sky. There are a number of clouds in almost enough to block the sun but it still pokes its rays through and lands on Preston's face. The clouds swim in front of the sun till they block out the sun's light. Preston faces towards me.
“I'm gonna miss you Alexandria” he says
“You know you can just call me Alex,” I replied. I start to smile again. “I'll miss you too!" He smiles toward me again as we get up to leave as the clouds start to clump together and rain slowly falls. As we're walking back to the school there's a loud tearing sound followed by screams as the ground shakes.
The ground tears itself apart as the dirt and stone erupt from the ground. The sky blackens and a pale blue light escapes the earth. Then creatures erupt from the ground in a violent ejection from the earth creating a white pillar diffusing as they reach higher in the air. Some are clawing their way out of the cracks like maggots out of a corpse. People are swept into the updraft screaming for their lives.
The creatures descend like a tidal wave and tear apart any people caught in their path. They storm out of the crack in hundreds as more cracks in the earth form. Me and Preston started running away as people were screaming behind us. A girl running next to us has her legs slashed by a creature. The monster begins to tear open her chest as she chokes on her own blood. The monster shovels her lungs and innards into its decrepit mouth. Me and Preston keep running until we're met at the entrance of the school and we catch the attention of a monster as it begins to savagely rush toward us. The monster resembles ghosts my father told me about. But this one looks monstrously horrific. It floats in the air and opens its mouth so wide it nearly replaces its entire torso; its jaws hold savage teeth each the same old gray color of its body. Its eyes glow a rotten yellow color through the dark. It stretches out its arms showing its giant hands and claws like fingers. It swipes at us leaving a giant claw mark on the door behind us but Preston ducks my body down to avoid the attack. We run around it as the monster swaps its focus to another bystander. Screaming past us. Me and Preston run into the parking lot as people scream around us. We hide next to a car.
“What the hell is happening!?” I yell to Preston. More of the creatures fly over us and swoop down to people like vultures on roadkill devouring the fleeing people.
Preston starts to breathe heavily ”we need to get out of here and someplace safer”. As we were talking one of the monster phases through the car we were hiding next to forcing us to run into the street.
“Lets go to your house till things cool down” i say to Preston through panted breaths
“Wait couldn't we head to your house instead” Preston says.
“Why would that matter your house is closer anyways” i respond
“But-” Preston is interrupted by two creatures swooping above us to grab another person. The two monsters begin to pull the person apart while he writhes in pain before having his flesh be torn in half and having his organs be devoured.
“Come on lets go!!” I say as I grab his hand and run even faster.
By the time we reach Preston's house any living person is gone. On the street are just corpses laying torn and mutilated on the roads and sidewalk. The air in the neighborhood feels cold despite the season being summer. When I walk down the street I can still hear the occasional horrific wail the monsters give off. We move closer to Preston's house and I can see him sweating. He looked more worried than before when the creatures were chasing us and he kept darting his eyes away from his home.
“Preston, are you feeling okay?” he doesn't respond to my question and keeps darting his eyes. He walks slowly behind me and as I reach for the door handle and when I touch it it feels nearly freezing. I wrap my hoodie around my hand and slowly open the door. The house is quiet so me and Preston creep further into his house. The inside is cold and damp as if we were locked in a freezer. The further we move into the house the louder a subtle chewing sound is heard.
“It sounds like rats are eating a dead cow over there” I whisper. Preston continues to stay silent behind me. We slowly walk closer towards the kitchen and the sound gets louder and louder and louder until we reach the room.
We're met with a rancid smell of vomit and blood. My blood starts to run cold and every instinct in my body is telling me to run. I can feel Preston breathing get heavier as we get closer. We turn the corner and see Preston's mom lying on the ground dead with one of the creatures hunched over slurping her intestines. The sight causes me to vomit alerting the monster to our presence. The creature turns around and its mouth turns into a mortifying grin as it flies into Preston's moms body. The corpse begins to rise and spur splashing blood over the kitchen. When the corpse stops spasming it picks itself up from the ground and with glazed over eyes it holds its intestines in its hand and gives us the same grin it did when it was outside her body. The possessed corpse lunges at me and starts to chase me around the kitchen. The body is running into the walls and cabinets spraying its blood and other loose organs around the area as I'm avoiding its assault. The corpse leans over and ejects one of its loose intestines towards me, wrapping me in it. It pulls me towards it so fast I'm flung towards the ground. The corpse limbers over to me and raises its free hand aiming for my head. The creature's deranged smile causes the corpse’s cheeks to tear apart. It places both of its bloodied and demented hands on my face and starts to press my skull into the ground. I struggle to breathe. The room starts to get dark and blood escapes my head.
Until Preston jumps on top of his mothers corpse with a kitchen knife and repeatedly stabs it in the head. The possessed body tries to shake him off but he keeps stabbing, blood gets in on his face and tears start to escape his eyes. The creature violently ejects from the corpse's mouth causing her head to nearly explode and Preston stops stabbing the body. The body falls over in a splash of blood and organs. The monster leaves phasing through the roof leaving Preston crying over his mother's body. As the blood mixes with the tears he collapses to his knees crying. I walk over and hug him as the air around us turns bitter and the chill of death leaves the room and us with it.
Chapter 1 Eclipse
It's been 2 months since the apocalypse started. We've kept ourselves alive by looting grocery stores and houses, we hide from the creatures as we have no way to fight back against them. Preston came up with the idea to call them glanter’s. He’s looking better since we left his family home but I can tell something is wrong with him that he's not telling me. Everytime I ask him about it he tells me it's no big deal. I asked him earlier today and he just told me
“don't worry about it, I'm over it” without even looking at me. Now we're walking through the street and I'm walking behind Preston, I can barely see his head past the giant bag we're both carrying on our backs we use to carry supplies. I look up at the sky and it's still pitch black except for the moon giving us any amount of light. Preston turns around to face me.
“Let's check out that house, it might have some cool stuff in it” he points to a white house to our right. The house is a two story building with steps leading to the front door. There's a generator poking out from the backyard. The driveway is empty save for a couple of dried blood stains and tire marks. It's similar to the other houses in the neighborhood except for a couple broken windows.
“Sure why not” We head over to the house and I see something shining on the side of the house in the corner of my eye. I turn my head to look at it closer but it quickly disappears before I can see it clearly.
“Probably squirrel or something” I mumble to myself. Preston walks up the stairs to the house and I walk up the steps behind him as a breeze blows past my face. Preston tries to turn the door knob but the door is locked. I start to pull out a lockpick I grabbed at the store earlier. I motion towards Preston to move out of the way as I kneel down to pick the lock. It takes me a couple of minutes to unlock the door so I walk inside the house and Preston follows behind me while closing and locking the door. The doorway of the house leads to a dark room so I take a flashlight out of my bag to illuminate the area. Were put into the living room and bookshelves are on the walls and a large TV sat in front of a large black couch with smaller chairs surrounding it. Dust is covering every surface of the room and spiderwebs litter the corners of the walls. The area smells like moth balls and there's a lack of blood anywhere nearby.
“Guess the owners got out before the Glanter’s got in, '' I say to Preston. When he doesn't respond I turn around and he's already looking further into the house. When I find him he's managed to find a flight of stairs that lead to a lower portion of the house.
“I'll check on him later,” I think to myself as I headed towards the kitchen to see if we could restock on food. I walk past a bedroom and remark on how childish it looked. The walls were painted with blue and green stripes and a bunk bed sat on the right wall. There's a chest at the foot of the bed so I walk over and lift the top off of it. The box is layered with children's toys, a multitude of dolls, bears, and figures all jut out of the box. I notice a small robot toy and inspect it in my hands.
The cold metal makes my hand shiver and the sharp body shape makes the robot bigger than my hand. There's red lining around the robot's buttons surrounded by the cold gray of the robot's “skin”. It reminds me of a toy my little brother had. My heart feels heavy as I worry about what happened to my family. If they're alive, dead, or worse…possessed. The thoughts send a chill down my spine but I push them aside for now. I put the toy in my bag and exit the bedroom.
I can see the kitchen is down the hallway so I walk down the hall and enter. The kitchen is pretty clean except for a couple of dishes in the sink and the dust. There's a table seated for 3 people in the center of the room. I start opening the cabinets in search for any food or water. There's boxes of cereal leftover on top of shelves and a mix of chip bags and cookies in neat boxes stationed in the cabinets.
“Score,” I say to myself as I begin to put the snacks into my bag. When the cabinets are empty I look inside the fridge. The inside of the fridge ran out of power so most of the food inside is rotted. There are a couple of bottles of water in the front so I shove those in my bag. There's also a bag of oranges that still seem to be healthy in the back. I grab them and toss them on the table. There's rotten sandwich meat hidden in the drawer of the fridge.it smells like a dumpster outside of a butcher shop. I wrinkle my nose at the smell. I look around the kitchen for any bread with no luck.
I continue to look through the fridge until I hear Preston scream from another room. Immediately I bolt out of the kitchen leaving my bag behind and run towards the lower part of the house. I run down the stairs and nearly trip on the steps. The stairs lead to a big room. There are posters to tv shows and movies I don't recognize. The walls are painted black and there's a bear skin rug on the floor. I notice Preston standing next to a really big TV hyperventilating. I walk over to him and ask him.
“Are you ok? What happened?”
He talks through deep breaths “I… saw a… spider.”
“What?!” I respond in confusion.
“It was really big and I had jumped at my face”
“Sure it was.” I say while laughing “Let's go upstairs there's some food in the fridge we can eat”
“Wait, I think you should check this out.” He says while pointing towards one of the walls. I grab Preston's flashlight off the floor and face it towards the wall. Hanging halfway off the wall is a large map labeled Newkiwana scavenger hunt of 76.
“I think we should take it,” Preston says “You can read a map right?”
“A little but I'm not the best at it,” I say to him “can you read a map?”
“it shouldn’t be too hard it’s mainly pictures any way I'm sure I can figure it out”
I walk over to the wall where the map is hung there are trophies covering tables and shelved in their own personal cases one of them reads “1st place 100-meter swimming competition for 1986 Zack Hemmingway” and another one reads “2nd place 100-meter swimming competition for 1989 Zack Hemmingway”
“Guess this guy really liked swimming,” Preston remarks while staring at a wall of newspaper clippings. All of them are about the same person in swimming competitions. All labeled different things like “a new record for Zack “the dolphin” Hemmingway”,
‘Zach Hemmingway our star plans for the future” all the newspapers are about this kind he has paler skin and a bulky enough build to swim pretty well. Most of the pictures have him coming out of the water in a pool, his long black hair soaked and sitting at his shoulders. Another one has him sitting at a desk over a pile of books and his hair in a knot , “vicious wipeout ends the Dolphins career”, and “ex-swim champ Zack Hemmingway found in a drunken stupor outside strip club.
“Everyone has their own hobbies I guess,” I say as I take the map off of the wall and fold it up. “Sucks what happened to Zack though” I walked over to Preston’s bag and put the rolled map in one of the pockets. I walk back up the stairs and Preston grabs his bag and follows behind me.
We make our way towards the kitchen and Preston starts looking through the fridge for anything to eat. I grab an orange from the table and throw it at his head. The fruit bounces off his head and rolls on the floor. He turns around and grabs the fruit from the floor
“Why did you throw an orange at me?”
“It's the only food we have unless you plan on eating spoiled a sandwich“ He starts to peel it while walking towards the table. We both take a seat and start to eat the oranges from the bag. He plants his feet on top of the table and bites into the fully peeled orange. I grab a water bottle from a bag and start to drink from it as Preston says.
“I saw a dvd player in that man cave downstairs we could watch a movie if it still has power”
“Sure it could be fun.” Me and Preston spend the rest of our time eating until the bag of oranges is emptied and we head back downstairs. Preston grabs the DVD player from under the table and blows the dust off the top of it; he plugs it into the wall as I plop myself onto the couch. He plugs the DVD player into the TV and sits on the recliner next to me. He presses a few buttons on the remote and the TV lights up. I squint my eyes at how bright it is. It's the most amount of light I've seen that didn't come from a flashlight. I notice there's a box filled with DVDs. I pull the box over towards me. I ruffle through the box and see movies like Silence of the Lambs, Terminator 2, and Home alone.
“Dude some of these came out just before the world turned inside out” I say to him.
“Really? Let's play one.” He responds. I toss him Terminator 2 and he puts it into the DVD player.
We spend the next couple hours watching movies and laughing together. It's some of our only moments of peace we’ve had since the end of the world and to me it's the most fun I've had yet. We're putting in the next DVD when there's a loud crash outside and the TV shuts off. Preston goes behind it to see if it's still plugged in.
“I think the generator outside is busted” i say
“It seems that way” Preston replies while backing away from the tv” i'm gonna go check it out”
“Don't worry I got it” I say as I hop out of my chair. Preston waves goodbye as I head up the stairs. I make my way back through the hallway leading to the living room and front door. I reach the door and start to turn the knob. I open the door wide as a car speeds down the street. I step out of the door to see what had happened when I hear the screech of a glanter. It cuts through the sky like an unholy opera singer. A group of them fly by and chase the car as I rush back inside the house. I slam the door shut and look through the window as I see a couple of smaller glanters grab and shake the car violently looking for the driver. They tear at it, ripping off doors and breaking the windows. The driver screams as the seats cover with blood and he's ripped out of the car as multiple smaller glanters tear and bite off parts of his body like piranha's until his body is completely devoured. I run back to the man cave to warn Preston about what had happened. I spot him laying in his chair spinning a DVD disc on his finger.
“It's not safe outside right now”
“Why not?
“There's glanter's outside, they just ate a dude in his car”
“Did they see you come inside?”
“I don't think so , they flew off before I went inside.”
“well we're not dead so I'm gonna say they didn't see you. But let's stay here for a couple more hours just to be safe”
“Sounds good i'm gonna go find the master bedroom.” I start to walk back up the stairs to the house
“ Hold on why do you get the master bedroom” Preston says while walking after me.
“Because I'm gonna find it first” I say as I start to run to find the bedroom. He chases after me in pursuit of the bedroom. Me and Preston run around the house looking for the master bedroom. We look through room after room finding closets, the garage, a bathroom and a door leading to a balcony in the back of the house. I manage to run into the bedroom and yell out to Preston.``Found it!!”
He comes walking into the room breathing heavily from the running. We both check out the room. The walls are painted a cream yellow and the bed takes up most of the room's center. The bed has burgundy sheets poking out from its bottom and a quilt with multi-colored floral designs lay sprawled out on top of it. There's a wardrobe built into the wall and a black leather couch sits comfortably on the left wall.
“Dibs on the bed” I say as I jump on top of it. I stretch out on top of the quilt and search for a comfortable part to sleep in.
“Where am I supposed to sleep then?” Preston complains
“You can sleep on the couch it looks soft enough” I respond while pointing towards the couch “I saw some spare blankets in one of the closets”
“Alright i’ll be right back” he mumbles to himself “why do i always get the couch”
“ I'll be right here if you need me,” i call after him. I sit up on the bed and start to look around the room more. I notice the entrance to the wardrobe is cracked open slightly. I hop out of the bed and grab a flashlight from my bag as I walk into the wardrobe. I turn on my flashlight and stare in awe at how many clothes are in there. The room is only half as big as the bedroom but it's still bigger than any closet I've ever had. The wardrobe is full of shirts, dresses, pants, and shoes for men and women. I immediately start to look through the shoes to see if any fit my size. I throw a pair of black high heels behind me as Preston finds me in the wardrobe. He looks around before asking me.
“What are you doing?”
“Finding a new pair of clothes to wear cause I've been wearing the same pair of jeans for waaaaay too long”
“Fair enough. Is there any guy stuff in there?”
“Yeah right there” I hook my thumb behind me to point to the other end of the closet.
“I'm sure they won't mind if we take a couple of things…they're probably dead by now anyways,” Preston says with a slight grin on his face. The way he said made me spin my head to look at him but he was already on the opposite end of the wardrobe looking at suits.
I shake away the thought and continue looking for any pair of sneakers in my size. 40 minutes pass before I walk out of the wardrobe holding a new pair of jeans and a black guns-N-roses t-shirt. I toss the clothes on top of the bed and check to see if the shower in the bathroom still works. I turn the dial and wait for a moment. The shower head chokes a little before water comes pouring out. I reach my hand under the showerhead to feel the water. The water is cold, it causes my hand to shiver when I take it out. I shake the water off and say to myself.
“Good enough” as I start to take off my old clothes and get in the shower. The cold water bounces off my skin, it sends shivers down my spine but I still get the old dirt from the last few months off of me. I step out and see a couple of dry towels hanging off of the door. I grab one and dry my body off and grab another to wrap around my head and dry my hair. I step out of the bathroom and Preston is still inside the wardrobe. I put on my new clothes while his back is turned and walk over towards him when I'm finished.
“Still haven't found anything,” I ask him
He turns around “Nothing yet, the only thing interesting was this coat.” He holds a leather coat up to me. The coat is made of black leather and has a skull covered with blue flames on the back. There's a black shirt inside the coat with a skeleton hand making a thumbs-up embroidered on the front.
“ That's pretty cool, it's better than what you're wearing right now at least” he's outfitted in a blue hoodie with holes on the chest and tears at the sleeves. He also has a shirt with a faded picture of a blue flower printed on it.
“I guess you're right” he gets up from the floor and exits the wardrobe. He lays the clothes on the couch along next to the blanket and pillow he brought into the room.
“The shower works so you can get yourself clean In there,” I say to him
“You know, a shower sounds really good right now.” He gets up from the floor and grabs a pair of pajama pants that were laying next to him. He leaves the wardrobe and enters the bathroom, closing the door behind him. After a moment the water turns on and I hop on the bed to get ready to sleep. I squirm myself into the quilt and rest my head against one of the pillows. I shut my eyes and fall asleep listening to the passive sound of the shower like rain on a car.
I'm in a void. It feels like I'm standing in a puddle of water that reaches to my knees. I wade my way forward looking around for anything in the darkness. In the distance I can see 3 figures l. I moved closer to them and their silhouettes get clearer. I realize they are my dad and brothers. I start to run towards them kicking up water behind me until something grabs my leg. It pulls down violently forcing me under the water without a breath of air. I kick at the thing grabbing me until something grabs my other leg. I look down and see two glanter's each with a monstrous smile on their faces. They stare back at me and one of them tugs my leg harder than before and tears it off of my body. The water around me turns red as the glanter laugh's. The other smiles wider as it starts to fling me around the water forcing any air left in my lungs to be forced out as I scream in pain. The glanter throws me away and I can see my family slowly fade into the distance as I'm flown away.
I struggle to swim back to where I was, one of my legs is missing and the other is broken. The glanter's find me again and I try to get to the surface to escape them. I'm flapping my arms in any attempt to escape as one of the glanter's flies in front of me and grabs my arm. I look at the monster with tears in my eyes as it bites my arm and tears my body away from it. It flings my body away and with my remaining arm I clutch the wound as the water floods into my body leaving me in the void I started in. I look around and the glanter's seem to have left. I turn behind me and see my family again, this time I'm closer than before.
I grit my teeth and drag my body towards them slowly as I leave a trail of blood and tears behind me. I finally reach my family and grab one of my father's shoes. I stare up and he looks at me. His stare causes me to feel cold as a grotesque smile grows on his face. I stare in shock as my brothers each have the same look as my father.
I shoot up from my sleep panting heavily in a cold sweat.
“It was just a dream..just a dream…just a dream” I look at my hands as tears fall into them. I look around the room and see Preston sleeping peacefully on the couch. The room feels frozen in place as a chill runs down my spine. I get out of the bed and walk out of the bedroom. I make my way through the dark hallway and find the entrance to the balcony I saw earlier. I creak open the screen door and head outside. The Balcony is pretty large, about the size of the kitchen in the house. There are some chairs knocked over next to a table and I pick one up to sit on it. I look out into the expanse of the neighborhood, houses lined up next to each other, dozens broken apart by roads, and dead bodies scattered across the roads.
I look up in the sky and sit back in the chair. The sky looks empty except for the moon giving this world its only source of light. Without the moon, we’d be left in darkness. It hangs in the sky alone, no stars, no clouds, nothing but itself, and the void of the sky. I think back about the dream I had. My dad and my brother's all dead and possessed and then they kill me. I start to tear up thinking about it. I try to wipe away the tears but it’s no use. I'm too scared for my family. I don't know where they are if they're alive if they're worried about me I don't know anything! I start to quietly cry into my hands. I don't know how long I'm sitting there until I feel a hand on my shoulder. I turn my head to face it and I see Preston. He was smiling and looking at me. I turn away to wipe my tears and he walks next to me.
“I heard you sneaking out of the bedroom so I followed you to see where you were going.” he says “but that's not my question.” he pauses and looks at me “my question is what’s got you feeling so down?” he leans over the railing of the balcony
“It's nothing, I just came out here to clear my head.” I say as more tears escape from my eyes in big slow drops that ride down the sides of my face.
“if you don't feel like telling me you don't have to but i'll be here if you ever change your mind”. He looks up at the moon before turning to face me and his smile widens “I'll always be here with you…trust me I'm not going anywhere”
I stare up at him and wipe away my tears as a smile grows on my face to match his. I get up and stare over the balcony with him. “So where are we heading next?” I say to him, Preston pulls the map we got from the man cave downstairs out from his pocket.
“After I got out of the shower I decided to take a look at the map for anything interesting we could see.”
“Ok did you find anything?” i ask
“I did,” he points at a spot on the right of the map. “We should head to the museum”
“I didn't want to go to a museum before the apocalypse why would i want to go now?'' I ask him.
“Well the best part of museums is the cool stuff right”
“Yeah what about it”
“The only problem is that you could only look at the fossils and armor but you could never take them.”
“So you want to rob a museum?” Prestons eyes light up at the question
“Exactly they might have a really cool sword I could use, or I could sharpen a dinosaur tooth and use that as a weapon, there might be a cursed shield that can summon the dead to fight for you. This opportunity is too good to pass up. We need to go!”
“That does seem pretty cool but wouldn't carrying that stuff weigh us down. What if a glanter is chasing us and we can't run fast enough because of the stuff we took from the museum.”
“We’ll only take things that are light. Even then I could just block the glanter with my newly acquired 2000 year old shield.”
“Fair enough we can go in a couple hours” I yawn and stretch out my arms. “Cause I'm feeling way too tired to walk all the way over there right now.”
“Alright i'm heading back to my couch and THEN we’ll head out to the museum” he leaves the balcony and heads back to the master bedroom leaving me alone on the balcony.
“Thanks Preston I'm not leaving either” I say into the sky. I turn around and walk back inside the house, closing the balcony door behind me. I walk back into the bedroom and Preston is hunched over and holding a flashlight looking at the map. He’s drawing lines through roads and marking X’s in different areas.
“What are the X’s for?” i ask him
“They’re places that glanter’s usually stay around. I'm marking them off so we remember not to go through them, or at least be more cautious.”
“Cool. Did you find where we are right now?” He points to an area where the lines all converge out of.
“Right around here is where the neighborhood ends. So if we follow this path we can make it to the museum in one piece” I pat him on the back and take the map from his hands.
“Get some sleep Preston, we have a full day tomorrow” he grins to himself before laying down on the couch. I put the map back into my bag and hop on the bed to get to sleep. I cover my body in the quilt and roll over facing away from Preston as he falls asleep. I nestle myself into the bed and slowly fall asleep to get ready for the next day.
I'm awoken by Preston shaking the bed I'm sleeping on. My eyes open and the room is foggy, I wipe away the sleep from my eyes and focus my attention towards Preston. He's practically jumping out of his skin with excitement, he's already fully dressed for the trip and shaking the bed with a wide smile on his face.
“Ok ok i'm up the air feels heavy as a groggy feeling fills my body. I wipe my eyes and the room starts to clear up. I turn to face Preston. He's still shaking my bed to wake me up, he’s already fully dressed and nearly jumping out of his skin in excitement.
“Ok ok, i'm up you can stop shaking the bed” i say
“Then get up we’ve got a long walk ahead of us” he says as he stops shaking the mattress. He grabs the map from my bag and points to one of the red lines.
“We're gonna follow this way to the museum. We’ll move past the hotel around the ice skating rink and around the park. We’ll mainly stick to walking through the streets, we might have to go rooftop hopping to avoid any glanter’s if we see them but i'm sure we won’t reach that point.” he explains
“Wait, wait, wait, why are avoiding the skating rink and the park” i ask
“ everytime we go near the park there's weird noises and light coming out of it”
“And why can't we go to the ice skating rink?”
“I didn't think it would be important”
“It couldn't hurt to check it out at least”
“Fine we could make a detour”
“Ok and how do you plan on getting on top of roofs?”
“I'm sure we'll figure it out when we get to it”
“Ok man as long as you’re sure '' I yawn and step out of the bed. Preston starts to put the map in his bag. I walk into the bathroom with my clothes and change out of my pajamas. Minutes later I walk out and see Preston sitting on the couch twiddling his thumbs.
“Finally you're out” he smiles at me before handing me my bag and slinging it over his shoulder. We took a last look inside the kitchen to see if we missed anything. Afterwards we leave for the outside. The cold air bites at my face but Preston walks down the stairs, his face buried in the map. I jog to catch up to him as we both head into the street.
“Hey Preston, could I see the map?”
“Sure” he hands over the map and continues walking. I look at the map and the numerous lines drawn on roads. I look at the corner of the map and notice a small map key with numerous symbols for different areas like a library, school, hospital, and more. There's even a way to tell how far away each location is. The text reads “1 inch=5 miles” I quickly count how far we are from the museum.
“Dude this museum is like 100 miles away.”
“Yep it'll be a long walk, it'll take us a while to get there”
“Did you plan on us walking there the whole time?”
“We might find bikes or something.” he pauses “well i did think we would walk the whole way”
“This is gonna take us weeks to get there!”
“Did you have anything else planned?”
“Well…i guess not but we should still try to find some bikes or something”
“Ok if we see any way to travel faster we’ll take it”
“Alright cool” I hand him the map back and he folds it back up and puts it in his bag. We walk further until we leave the gated neighborhood we started in. Preston takes the map back out and looks at it before he turns right and continues walking. I follow him staring forward at the expanse of the road. The outside of the neighborhood is surrounded by roads all leading to different parts of Newkinawa. We walk past a sign that reads “Coretown 20 miles ahead” I nudge Preston towards the sign and he checks the map again.
“Yep, the museum’s in Coretown. Would you believe the residents were pretty proud of it. Should be a fun place to explore” he says
“Yeah but it’ll take us a million years to get there.” i complain
“Lighten up, I'm sure it will be worth it”. We continue walking down the road slowly making our way to Coretown.

I saw Mikey's Video for when he asked Chatgpt about his Pokémon Region, and I figured I'd do the same. So here!
Make me a new pokemon region, should be based off a real world location. Cannot be Japan, New York City, France, Hawaii, The UK, or the Iberian Penninsula. Also talk about the environment. What kind of pokemon are there?
### Pokémon Region: Koriala Based on: Australia

Environment

Koriala is a vast and diverse region with a wide array of environments inspired by Australia's unique geography and ecosystems. Key areas include:

1. Outback Plains: Expansive deserts with red sands and sparse vegetation, home to hardy Pokémon adapted to extreme heat and arid conditions.
2. Tropical Rainforests: Dense, lush forests filled with towering trees and vibrant flora, harboring numerous Bug, Grass, and Electric-type Pokémon.
3. Great Coral Reef: A breathtaking underwater area featuring colorful coral reefs, teeming with Water, Rock, and Electric-type Pokémon.
4. Eucalyptus Woods: Forests dominated by eucalyptus trees, inhabited by a mix of Flying, Normal, and Bug-type Pokémon.
5. Mountain Ranges: Rugged mountains with snowy peaks and rocky terrain, where Rock, Ice, and Dragon-type Pokémon dwell.
6. Coastal Beaches: Sandy shores with gentle waves, a popular spot for Water and Flying-type Pokémon.
7. Wetlands: Marshy areas with abundant water plants and wildlife, attracting Water and Poison-type Pokémon.

Pokémon

The Pokémon in Koriala reflect the diverse wildlife of Australia, with unique and varied designs inspired by the country's fauna and flora.

1. Flamkang (Fire): A kangaroo-like Pokémon with fiery pouches, known for its powerful kicks and flame attacks.
2. Leafroo (Grass/Fighting): Resembling a wallaby, it uses its leafy tail as a weapon and is highly agile in battle.
3. Echidril (Ground/Steel): Inspired by the echidna, this Pokémon can dig through hard rock with its drill-like snout and spines.
4. Quokkle (Normal/Fairy): A cute and friendly Pokémon resembling a quokka, known for its charming smile and healing abilities.
5. Coralyn (WateRock): This Pokémon, based on coral, can regenerate parts of its body and is found in the Great Coral Reef.
6. Platypad (WatePoison): A platypus-inspired Pokémon with venomous barbs and excellent swimming capabilities.
7. Kookablast (Flying/Electric): A kookaburra Pokémon that can generate and control electricity, known for its distinctive laughing cry.
8. Cassorock (Flying/Rock): A cassowary-like Pokémon with strong legs and a tough beak, adept at both flying and ground attacks.
9. Koalava (Grass/Fire): A koala Pokémon that can harness the power of both plants and fire, living in the eucalyptus woods.
10. Womboulder (Ground/Rock): A wombat-inspired Pokémon that is incredibly strong and can move large boulders effortlessly.
11. Serpenvy (Poison/Grass): A snake Pokémon that blends into the wetlands, using its camouflage and toxic bite to hunt.

Regional Legendaries

1. Solaroo (Fire/Dragon): A majestic dragon Pokémon that embodies the sun, with scales that shimmer like flames and the ability to control sunlight.
2. Lunaroo (WateFairy): A counterpart to Solaroo, this Pokémon is connected to the moon and the tides, able to manipulate water and heal with moonlight.

Unique Features

• Safari Zone: A large conservation area where trainers can encounter a wide variety of Pokémon in their natural habitats.
• Gym Challenges: Each Gym reflects the unique environments of Koriala, with leaders specializing in types that match their surroundings.
• Cultural Influences: The region's design, architecture, and customs are inspired by Indigenous Australian culture, with respect to traditional symbols, art, and mythology.

Koriala offers a rich and immersive Pokémon experience, combining the unique landscapes and wildlife of Australia with the adventurous spirit of Pokémon exploration and battles.
Please tell me the name of the professor that is there. They should be names after a plant. And talk about some of the cities and towns in the region

Professor

Professor Banksia Professor Banksia is the region's leading Pokémon researcher. Named after the iconic Australian Banksia plant, she is known for her extensive knowledge of Koriala's diverse ecosystems and Pokémon species. Her research focuses on how different environments influence Pokémon behavior and evolution. She is a warm and approachable mentor who encourages trainers to explore every corner of Koriala.

Cities and Towns

1. Sunburst Town - Description: The starting town for new trainers, Sunburst Town is a small, quaint community located near the edge of the Outback Plains. It’s known for its beautiful sunsets and warm, welcoming residents. - Key Features: The player’s home, Professor Banksia's lab, and the first Pokémon Center.
2. Coral Coast City - Description: A vibrant city situated along the Great Coral Reef. It's a hub for marine research and diving expeditions, bustling with tourists and marine enthusiasts. - Key Features: Coral Coast Gym (Water-type), Marine Research Institute, Aquarium, and a port for boats to the reef.
3. Eucalypt City - Description: Nestled within the Eucalyptus Woods, this city is known for its eco-friendly architecture and strong emphasis on conservation. Buildings are designed to blend seamlessly with the natural surroundings. - Key Features: Eucalypt Gym (Grass-type), Botanical Garden, and Conservation Center.
4. Quokka Springs - Description: A charming town located near a series of natural hot springs. Known for its relaxed atmosphere and friendly Pokémon, it’s a popular spot for trainers to unwind and rejuvenate. - Key Features: Quokka Springs Gym (Fairy-type), Hot Springs Resort, and Spa.
5. Desert Mirage Town - Description: Located deep in the Outback Plains, this town is known for its resilience and resourcefulness. The people here are adept at surviving in harsh conditions and have a rich cultural heritage. - Key Features: Desert Mirage Gym (Ground-type), Outback Museum, and Survival Training School.
6. Thunder Peak City - Description: Situated in the shadow of a mountain range, this city is famous for its frequent thunderstorms and mountainous terrain. It’s a center for energy research and rock climbing. - Key Features: Thunder Peak Gym (Electric-type), Energy Research Facility, and Climbing School.
7. Breezewood Town - Description: A peaceful town located in the rolling hills near the wetlands. Known for its lush greenery and gentle breezes, it’s a haven for Bug and Grass-type Pokémon. - Key Features: Breezewood Gym (Bug-type), Windmill Farm, and Nature Reserve.
8. Cassowary Cove - Description: A coastal city famous for its beautiful beaches and vibrant birdlife. The annual Cassowary Festival draws trainers from all over to celebrate and compete. - Key Features: Cassowary Cove Gym (Flying-type), Bird Sanctuary, and Beachside Market.

Unique Landmarks

• Solaroo Shrine: Located on a sacred hill near the center of the region, dedicated to the legendary Pokémon Solaroo. It is a place of pilgrimage for many trainers seeking wisdom and strength.
• Lunaroo Lagoon: A serene and mystical lake surrounded by forest, where the legendary Pokémon Lunaroo is said to reside. It is a place of healing and reflection.

Koriala’s cities and towns are diverse, each offering unique experiences and challenges for trainers. From the bustling Coral Coast City to the tranquil Breezewood Town, the region invites exploration and discovery at every turn.
Give me information of the starter pokemon, there should be 1 grass type, 1 water type, and 1 fire type, and they all should evolve twice with the final evolution having a secondary type. Please explain these to me

Starter Pokémon of Koriala

Grass-Type Starter: Budraptor

1st Evolution: Budraptor - Type: Grass - Description: Budraptor is a small, agile dinosaur-like Pokémon with vibrant green foliage sprouting from its back and tail. It’s known for its playful and curious nature. - Abilities: Overgrow (boosts Grass-type moves in a pinch).
2nd Evolution: Vinedrake - Type: Grass - Description: Vinedrake grows larger and more dragon-like, with additional leaves and vines extending from its body. It becomes more territorial and protective of its habitat. - Abilities: Overgrow
Final Evolution: Fernagon - Type: Grass/Dragon - Description: Fernagon is a majestic, dragon-like creature covered in lush, leafy armor. Its powerful dragon heritage combined with its mastery over plant life makes it a formidable opponent. - Abilities: Overgrow, Hidden Ability: Chlorophyll (boosts Speed in sunny weather).

Water-Type Starter: Aquattle

1st Evolution: Aquattle - Type: Water - Description: Aquattle is a small, sleek platypus-like Pokémon with a playful demeanor. It has a streamlined body perfect for swimming and a tail that helps it maneuver in water. - Abilities: Torrent (boosts Water-type moves in a pinch).
2nd Evolution: Platysplash - Type: Water - Description: Platysplash grows larger and more agile in water. Its webbed feet and powerful tail allow it to swim swiftly, and its playful nature turns into a more focused determination. - Abilities: Torrent
Final Evolution: Platytox - Type: WatePoison - Description: Platytox is a powerful platypus-inspired Pokémon with venomous barbs on its tail and webbed feet. Its mastery over both water and toxins makes it a dangerous adversary. - Abilities: Torrent, Hidden Ability: Poison Touch (has a chance to poison the opponent on contact).

Fire-Type Starter: Emberoo

1st Evolution: Emberoo - Type: Fire - Description: Emberoo is a small kangaroo-like Pokémon with a fiery pouch. It’s known for its energetic and spirited nature, always eager to jump into action. - Abilities: Blaze (boosts Fire-type moves in a pinch).
2nd Evolution: Flareoo - Type: Fire - Description: Flareoo grows larger and its flames burn brighter. It becomes more agile and powerful, using its fiery kicks to fend off opponents. - Abilities: Blaze
Final Evolution: Pyrogaroo - Type: Fire/Fighting - Description: Pyrogaroo is a majestic, powerful kangaroo-like Pokémon that combines the strength of fire and fighting prowess. Its kicks are devastatingly powerful, and its fiery aura intimidates opponents. - Abilities: Blaze, Hidden Ability: Iron Fist (boosts the power of punching moves).

Overview

• Budraptor and its evolutions draw inspiration from Australia's prehistoric fauna, with a plant-dinosaur hybrid theme that evolves into a powerful Grass/Dragon type, representing resilience and growth.
• Aquattle is based on the unique platypus, evolving into a WatePoison type, reflecting its real-life counterpart's venomous nature and aquatic lifestyle.
• Emberoo starts as a fiery kangaroo and evolves into a Fire/Fighting powerhouse, embodying the strength and agility of a kangaroo combined with fiery combat skills.

These starters provide trainers with a diverse range of options, each bringing unique strengths and strategies to the table as they evolve and grow throughout their journey in the Koriala region.
Give me 10 pokemon that should get Regional variants that don't already have one. Can be from any region and should be of a different type

Regional Variants in Koriala

1. Korialan Sandshrew
   
   • Type: WateGround
   • Description: Adapted to the wetlands of Koriala, Korialan Sandshrew has a sleek, blue shell that allows it to swim efficiently. It burrows in the mud to stay cool and find food.
   • Abilities: Water Absorb, Hidden Ability: Swift Swim
2. Korialan Growlithe
   
   • Type: Electric
   • Description: Found in the coastal areas of Koriala, Korialan Growlithe has a bright yellow coat with lightning bolt patterns. It has adapted to hunting in thunderstorms.
   • Abilities: Static, Hidden Ability: Lightning Rod
3. Korialan Doduo
   
   • Type: Grass/Flying
   • Description: Living in the lush forests of Koriala, Korialan Doduo has feathers that resemble leaves, providing excellent camouflage. It feeds on berries and plants.
   • Abilities: Overgrow, Hidden Ability: Chlorophyll
4. Korialan Geodude
   
   • Type: Grass/Rock
   • Description: Found in the rocky, mountainous areas, Korialan Geodude has moss and small plants growing on its body. It blends in perfectly with its environment.
   • Abilities: Sturdy, Hidden Ability: Grass Pelt
5. Korialan Ponyta
   
   • Type: Water
   • Description: Korialan Ponyta, found near the Great Coral Reef, has a flowing, blue mane that resembles waves. It swims gracefully and uses water-based attacks.
   • Abilities: Swift Swim, Hidden Ability: Hydration
6. Korialan Jigglypuff
   
   • Type: Psychic/Fairy
   • Description: In Koriala, Jigglypuff has developed psychic abilities to defend against predators. Its eyes have a mystical glow, and it uses its voice to lull foes to sleep.
   • Abilities: Synchronize, Hidden Ability: Psychic Surge
7. Korialan Magnemite
   
   • Type: Grass/Steel
   • Description: In the eucalyptus forests, Magnemite has adapted by incorporating plant material into its metal body, allowing it to conduct photosynthesis.
   • Abilities: Levitate, Hidden Ability: Solar Power
8. Korialan Mankey
   
   • Type: Fighting/Dark
   • Description: Living in the dense jungles, Korialan Mankey has a darker, more aggressive nature. It has sharp claws and a mischievous personality.
   • Abilities: Intimidate, Hidden Ability: Moxie
9. Korialan Onix
   
   • Type: Ice/Rock
   • Description: Found in the snowy mountain ranges, Korialan Onix has a body made of ice and rock. It uses its icy breath to freeze its enemies.
   • Abilities: Ice Body, Hidden Ability: Snow Warning
10. Korialan Drifloon
    
    • Type: Ghost/Fairy
    • Description: In Koriala, Drifloon has a more whimsical appearance with a balloon-like body that glows softly in the dark. It guides lost travelers safely through the night.
    • Abilities: Prankster, Hidden Ability: Misty Surge

These regional variants reflect the diverse environments and unique adaptations of Pokémon in the Koriala region, offering fresh takes on familiar species with new types and abilities.
Please give me 6 different pokemon for Regional variants as Mankey, Jigglypuff, Ponyta, Geodude, Growlithe, and Sandshrew already have Regional variants.

Additional Regional Variants in Koriala

1. Korialan Hoothoot
   
   • Type: Psychic/Flying
   • Description: Found in the mystical eucalyptus forests, Korialan Hoothoot has developed keen psychic abilities to navigate and hunt during the night. Its eyes glow with a soft purple light.
   • Abilities: Keen Eye, Hidden Ability: Psychic Surge
2. Korialan Shuckle
   
   • Type: Bug/Poison
   • Description: Living in the toxic marshlands, Korialan Shuckle's shell has a dark, glossy appearance, and it secretes a potent venom. It uses its poison to defend itself and catch prey.
   • Abilities: Poison Point, Hidden Ability: Adaptability
3. Korialan Teddiursa
   
   • Type: Fairy/Normal
   • Description: In Koriala's enchanted woods, Teddiursa has a sparkling coat and a gentle demeanor. It feeds on sweet, magical berries and is known for its friendly nature.
   • Abilities: Cute Charm, Hidden Ability: Pixilate
4. Korialan Dunsparce
   
   • Type: Dragon/Ground
   • Description: Found in the desert plains, Korialan Dunsparce has evolved to resemble a small, wingless dragon. Its tough scales and burrowing abilities help it survive the harsh environment.
   • Abilities: Sand Rush, Hidden Ability: Dragon's Maw
5. Korialan Mawile
   
   • Type: Steel/Fire
   • Description: In the volcanic regions of Koriala, Mawile has adapted by developing a fiery bite. Its jaws are imbued with molten lava, making it a formidable opponent.
   • Abilities: Intimidate, Hidden Ability: Sheer Force
6. Korialan Blitzle
   
   • Type: Grass/Electric
   • Description: Found in the open savannahs, Korialan Blitzle has a mane that resembles blades of grass, allowing it to blend into its surroundings and charge with electric energy from photosynthesis.
   • Abilities: Overgrow, Hidden Ability: Solar Power

These additional regional variants in Koriala offer exciting new typings and designs for trainers to discover, providing fresh and unique takes on these Pokémon while complementing the region's diverse environments.
Please give me 2 more as Teddiursa and Dunsparce already have new evolutions in the newest games

Additional Regional Variants in Koriala

1. Korialan Gligar
   
   • Type: Bug/Water
   • Description: Adapted to the wetlands of Koriala, Korialan Gligar has developed webbed wings and a sleek, blue exoskeleton. It uses its wings to glide over water and its tail to swim.
   • Abilities: Swift Swim, Hidden Ability: Water Veil
2. Korialan Spoink
   
   • Type: Ghost/Psychic
   • Description: Found in the eerie, mystical areas of Koriala, Korialan Spoink has a ghostly aura. Its pearl glows with an ethereal light, and it uses psychic energy to float and move objects.
   • Abilities: Levitate, Hidden Ability: Cursed Body

These additional regional variants in Koriala bring fresh concepts to these Pokémon, reflecting the unique environments and cultural elements of the region.
Do Doduo, Magnemite, Onix, Drifloon, Hoothoot, Blitzle, Gligar, and Spoink evolve into their respective evolutions? Or do they evolve into something different?

Evolution Information for Koriala Regional Variants

1. Korialan Doduo

• Type: Grass/Flying
• Description: Found in the lush forests of Koriala, Korialan Doduo has feathers that resemble leaves, providing excellent camouflage. It feeds on berries and plants.
• Abilities: Overgrow, Hidden Ability: Chlorophyll
• Evolution: Evolves into Korialan Dodrio (Grass/Flying)

2. Korialan Magnemite

• Type: Grass/Steel
• Description: In the eucalyptus forests, Magnemite has adapted by incorporating plant material into its metal body, allowing it to conduct photosynthesis.
• Abilities: Levitate, Hidden Ability: Solar Power
• Evolution: Evolves into Korialan Magneton (Grass/Steel) and then into Korialan Magnezone (Grass/Steel)

3. Korialan Onix

• Type: Ice/Rock
• Description: Found in the snowy mountain ranges, Korialan Onix has a body made of ice and rock. It uses its icy breath to freeze its enemies.
• Abilities: Ice Body, Hidden Ability: Snow Warning
• Evolution: Evolves into Korialan Steelix (Ice/Steel)

4. Korialan Drifloon

• Type: Ghost/Fairy
• Description: In Koriala, Drifloon has a more whimsical appearance with a balloon-like body that glows softly in the dark. It guides lost travelers safely through the night.
• Abilities: Prankster, Hidden Ability: Misty Surge
• Evolution: Evolves into Korialan Drifblim (Ghost/Fairy)

5. Korialan Hoothoot

• Type: Psychic/Flying
• Description: Found in the mystical eucalyptus forests, Korialan Hoothoot has developed keen psychic abilities to navigate and hunt during the night. Its eyes glow with a soft purple light.
• Abilities: Keen Eye, Hidden Ability: Psychic Surge
• Evolution: Evolves into Korialan Noctowl (Psychic/Flying)

6. Korialan Blitzle

• Type: Grass/Electric
• Description: Found in the open savannahs, Korialan Blitzle has a mane that resembles blades of grass, allowing it to blend into its surroundings and charge with electric energy from photosynthesis.
• Abilities: Overgrow, Hidden Ability: Solar Power
• Evolution: Evolves into Korialan Zebstrika (Grass/Electric)

7. Korialan Gligar

• Type: Bug/Water
• Description: Adapted to the wetlands of Koriala, Korialan Gligar has developed webbed wings and a sleek, blue exoskeleton. It uses its wings to glide over water and its tail to swim.
• Abilities: Swift Swim, Hidden Ability: Water Veil
• Evolution: Evolves into Korialan Gliscor (Bug/Water) when exposed to a Water Stone

8. Korialan Spoink

• Type: Ghost/Psychic
• Description: Found in the eerie, mystical areas of Koriala, Korialan Spoink has a ghostly aura. Its pearl glows with an ethereal light, and it uses psychic energy to float and move objects.
• Abilities: Levitate, Hidden Ability: Cursed Body
• Evolution: Evolves into Korialan Grumpig (Ghost/Psychic)

These regional variants evolve into forms that retain the unique typing and characteristics of their Koriala forms, offering new strategic options and visual designs for players to explore and enjoy.

Evolution Information for Koriala Shuckle and Mawile

1. Korialan Shuckle

• Type: Bug/Poison
• Description: Living in the toxic marshlands, Korialan Shuckle's shell has a dark, glossy appearance, and it secretes a potent venom. It uses its poison to defend itself and catch prey.
• Abilities: Poison Point, Hidden Ability: Adaptability
• Evolution: Korialan Shuckle does not evolve. Like its original form, Korialan Shuckle remains a unique, standalone Pokémon known for its high defense and unique typing.

2. Korialan Mawile

• Type: Steel/Fire
• Description: In the volcanic regions of Koriala, Mawile has adapted by developing a fiery bite. Its jaws are imbued with molten lava, making it a formidable opponent.
• Abilities: Intimidate, Hidden Ability: Sheer Force
• Evolution: Korialan Mawile does not evolve. It remains a standalone Pokémon, similar to its original form, but with a unique regional variant twist.

Korialan Shuckle and Korialan Mawile do not have evolutions, maintaining their single-stage status while offering new types and abilities to explore within the Koriala region.
You touched upon the gyms and their types when you talked about the cities before, can you elaborate on them? Talk about the name of the Gym Leader for each respective gym, and their ace pokemon, as well as what their gym is based off of

Koriala Region Gyms

1. Sunburst Town Gym (Normal-type)

• Gym Leader: Finn
• Ace Pokémon: Korialan Dodrio (Grass/Flying)
• Gym Theme: The Sunburst Town Gym is designed like an open plains sanctuary, with tall grass and rolling fields. Trainers navigate through areas that mimic the natural habitat of Korialan Dodrio, encountering various Normal-type Pokémon adapted to the plains.

2. Coral Coast City Gym (Water-type)

• Gym Leader: Marina
• Ace Pokémon: Platytox (WatePoison)
• Gym Theme: This gym is an underwater-themed arena with large aquariums and water tunnels. Trainers must solve puzzles involving water flow and currents to reach Marina, who battles from atop a platform surrounded by cascading waterfalls.

3. Eucalypt City Gym (Grass-type)

• Gym Leader: Ivy
• Ace Pokémon: Korialan Magnemite (Grass/Steel)
• Gym Theme: The gym is set in a lush greenhouse filled with diverse plant life. Trainers must navigate through a series of botanical puzzles and avoid various Grass-type Pokémon to reach Ivy, who battles in a beautiful garden at the gym's center.

4. Quokka Springs Gym (Fairy-type)

• Gym Leader: Lila
• Ace Pokémon: Korialan Spoink (Ghost/Psychic)
• Gym Theme: The gym is designed like a magical, sparkling hot springs resort. Trainers must solve enchanting puzzles and navigate through steamy, sparkling pathways to reach Lila, who battles in a serene, fairy-tale-like area surrounded by hot springs.

5. Desert Mirage Town Gym (Ground-type)

• Gym Leader: Dusty
• Ace Pokémon: Korialan Onix (Ice/Rock)
• Gym Theme: This gym is an expansive desert with shifting sands and hidden pitfalls. Trainers must find their way through mirage-like illusions and sand traps to reach Dusty, who battles on a raised platform resembling a desert mesa.

6. Thunder Peak City Gym (Electric-type)

• Gym Leader: Volt
• Ace Pokémon: Korialan Blitzle (Grass/Electric)
• Gym Theme: The gym is set in a high-tech power plant with electrical puzzles and machinery. Trainers must navigate through areas charged with static electricity and avoid electric shocks to reach Volt, who battles in a control room surrounded by sparking equipment.

7. Breezewood Town Gym (Bug-type)

• Gym Leader: Flora
• Ace Pokémon: Korialan Gligar (Bug/Water)
• Gym Theme: This gym is an intricate, maze-like garden filled with flowers and buzzing Bug-type Pokémon. Trainers must navigate through hedges and flower beds, solving puzzles involving pollination and plant growth to reach Flora, who battles in a floral amphitheater.

8. Cassowary Cove Gym (Flying-type)

• Gym Leader: Skylar
• Ace Pokémon: Korialan Hoothoot (Psychic/Flying)
• Gym Theme: The gym is located on a beach with open skies and occasional gusts of wind. Trainers must solve wind-based puzzles and navigate through areas with varying air currents to reach Skylar, who battles in a skydeck arena overlooking the ocean.

Elite Four and Champion

The Elite Four and Champion reside in the Victory Plateau, each specializing in different types and providing the ultimate challenge for trainers aiming to become the Champion of Koriala.

• Elite Four Member 1: Terran (Rock/Ground)
• Elite Four Member 2: Aqua (WateIce)
• Elite Four Member 3: Pyro (Fire/Fighting)
• Elite Four Member 4: Sylvan (Grass/Fairy)
• Champion: Serena (Mixed types)

These gyms offer a wide range of challenges, each with unique themes and puzzles that reflect the diverse environments and cultures of the Koriala region.
Talk about the evil team of the region. What are they trying to do? What type of pokemon do they have on hand?

Team Dynamo: The Evil Team of Koriala

Objective: Team Dynamo is an extremist environmental group with a twisted ideology. They believe that the only way to save the planet from human exploitation is to harness and control the natural elements and forces of the region. Their ultimate goal is to create an artificial disaster to force humanity to relinquish control over nature and retreat from the region, leaving it to thrive on its own.
Leader: Zephyr - Description: Zephyr is a charismatic yet ruthless leader who believes that extreme measures are necessary to preserve nature. With a background in environmental science, Zephyr uses his knowledge to manipulate natural forces. - Ace Pokémon: Korialan Drifblim (Ghost/Fairy)
Key Executives: 1. Terra - Description: Terra is an expert in geology and earth sciences. She is responsible for operations involving the manipulation of the region's ground and rock formations. - Ace Pokémon: Korialan Onix (Ice/Rock)

1. Aqua
   
   • Description: Aqua oversees operations involving water and aquatic environments. She uses her skills to disrupt water supplies and manipulate weather patterns.
   • Ace Pokémon: Platytox (WatePoison)
2. Ignis
   
   • Description: Ignis is a specialist in fire and thermal energy. He conducts operations that involve volcanic activity and temperature control.
   • Ace Pokémon: Pyrogaroo (Fire/Fighting)
3. Aeris
   
   • Description: Aeris handles aerial operations and wind manipulation. She uses flying Pokémon to carry out her plans from above.
   • Ace Pokémon: Korialan Hoothoot (Psychic/Flying)

Grunts: - Description: Team Dynamo grunts wear uniforms that reflect their elemental alignment (earth, water, fire, air). They are often seen disrupting natural habitats, causing environmental chaos, and battling trainers who oppose them. - Common Pokémon: - Grass-type: Korialan Doduo (Grass/Flying) - Water-type: Korialan Magnemite (Grass/Steel) - Fire-type: Korialan Ponyta (Water) - Ground-type: Korialan Geodude (Grass/Rock) - Bug-type: Korialan Gligar (Bug/Water)
Headquarters: Elemental Spire - Description: Team Dynamo's headquarters is a towering spire located in the heart of a remote, untouched area of Koriala. The spire is designed to harness and amplify natural elemental energies, allowing the team to conduct large-scale operations. Each level of the spire is dedicated to a different element, with environmental puzzles and traps designed to test and repel intruders.

Team Dynamo's Plan

• Phase 1: Disruption – Team Dynamo initiates operations to disrupt human activities, such as sabotaging industrial sites, causing landslides, flooding areas, and igniting forest fires.
• Phase 2: Manipulation – Using the Elemental Spire, Team Dynamo begins manipulating natural forces on a larger scale, causing unpredictable weather patterns and geological disturbances.
• Phase 3: Control – With the environment in chaos, Team Dynamo plans to take full control, driving out human inhabitants and establishing themselves as the guardians of nature.

Player's Role

As the player, you encounter Team Dynamo throughout your journey, thwarting their plans and uncovering their true intentions. You must solve environmental puzzles, battle Team Dynamo members, and ultimately confront Zephyr at the Elemental Spire to stop their plans and restore balance to the Koriala region.
Other than Solaroo and Lunaroo, are there any other legendary pokemon in this region? If so, what are their types?
Yes, besides Solaroo and Lunaroo, the Koriala region is home to several other legendary Pokémon, each representing different aspects of nature and the region's mythology. Here are a few:

1. Florazeus
   
   • Type: Grass/Fairy
   • Description: Florazeus is known as the Guardian of the Forests. It is said to have the power to bring life to barren lands and heal the wounded earth with its gentle presence.
2. Tidaltus
   
   • Type: WateDragon
   • Description: Tidaltus is the Sovereign of the Seas. It commands the tides and storms, ensuring the balance of the ocean's ecosystems and protecting marine life.
3. Auroraptor
   
   • Type: Electric/Ice
   • Description: Auroraptor is the Keeper of the Skies. It controls the northern lights and winter storms, bringing light and energy to the darkest nights and coldest days.
4. Terraforge
   
   • Type: Ground/Steel
   • Description: Terraforge is the Warden of the Earth. It shapes the mountains and valleys, forging the land with its mighty strength and safeguarding the secrets buried deep within the earth.
5. Aerofalcon
   
   • Type: Flying/Fighting
   • Description: Aerofalcon is the Watcher of the Winds. It soars high above the clouds, guarding the skies and ensuring the safety of all who travel through the air.

These legendary Pokémon play integral roles in the myths and legends of the Koriala region, and encountering them is a testament to the region's rich history and connection to the natural world.
Talk about the battle gimmick, what's it's name, and what does it do? Like Mega Evolution or Gigantamaxing
In the Koriala region, trainers have access to a unique battle gimmick known as "Elemental Fusion." Elemental Fusion allows trainers to temporarily merge their Pokémon with the natural elements of the environment, enhancing their stats and granting them access to powerful Elemental Abilities during battle.

How Elemental Fusion Works:

1. Activation: Trainers can activate Elemental Fusion once per battle when their Pokémon's health drops below a certain threshold, signifying a moment of intense determination and connection between the trainer and their Pokémon.
   
2. Merging with Nature: When Elemental Fusion is activated, the Pokémon harnesses the surrounding elemental energies, fusing with the environment to become imbued with its power. This fusion alters the Pokémon's appearance, enhancing its abilities and granting it access to new Elemental Moves based on its type.
   
3. Enhanced Abilities: While fused, the Pokémon's stats are boosted, making it stronger, faster, and more resilient in battle. Additionally, it gains access to unique Elemental Abilities that are more powerful versions of its existing moves, tailored to the element it has fused with.
   
4. Temporary Transformation: Elemental Fusion lasts for a limited number of turns, after which the Pokémon returns to its original form. Trainers must strategically time their use of Elemental Fusion to maximize its effectiveness in battle.
   

Example Elemental Abilities:

1. Flameburst: Fire-type move that engulfs the opponent in a powerful burst of flames, dealing damage over time.
2. Aqua Surge: Water-type move that summons a torrential wave to wash away the opponent's defenses, lowering their stats.
3. Leaf Shield: Grass-type move that creates a protective barrier of swirling leaves, increasing the user's defense.
4. Rock Avalanche: Rock-type move that triggers a cascade of boulders to rain down on the opponent, dealing heavy damage.
5. Electric Surge: Electric-type move that electrifies the battlefield, paralyzing the opponent and disrupting their actions.

Strategic Considerations:

• Trainers must choose the right moment to activate Elemental Fusion based on the flow of battle and their Pokémon's remaining health.
• Each Pokémon has a unique set of Elemental Moves, allowing trainers to customize their strategies based on their team composition and opponent's weaknesses.
• Elemental Fusion adds an additional layer of depth to battles, encouraging trainers to explore the synergies between their Pokémon's types and the environment around them.

Elemental Fusion not only adds excitement and strategy to battles but also reinforces the theme of harmony between Pokémon and nature in the Koriala region.
Talk about the player's Rival, what is their personality? What's their name? What's their pokemon team at the end? Are they nice and friendly to you like Hop or Hau? Or are they cold and competitive with you like Blue or Silver?
In the Koriala region, the player's Rival is named Aria. Aria is a determined and passionate trainer who shares a deep connection with her Pokémon. She is driven by her desire to become the strongest trainer in the region and is always eager to push herself and her team to new heights.

Personality:

• Determined: Aria is fiercely determined to become the best trainer in the region, and she approaches battles with unwavering determination and focus.
• Passionate: She has a deep passion for Pokémon training and strives to form strong bonds with her Pokémon, valuing their well-being and happiness above all else.
• Friendly Competitor: While Aria is competitive and ambitious, she is also friendly and supportive towards the player. She sees them as a worthy rival and respects their skills and dedication to Pokémon training.

Interaction with the Player:

• Supportive: Aria acts as a supportive rival, offering encouragement and advice to the player throughout their journey. She challenges the player to become stronger but also celebrates their victories and accomplishments.
• Friendly Rivalry: Despite their competitive nature, Aria and the player share a friendly rivalry built on mutual respect and admiration. They push each other to improve and grow as trainers while also sharing moments of camaraderie and friendship.

Pokémon Team at the End:

Aria's Pokémon team at the end of the game reflects her diverse training style and strategic prowess. Her team consists of a balanced mix of Pokémon types, each carefully chosen to complement her battle strategy and cover each other's weaknesses. Some of her key Pokémon include:

1. Serperior: Aria's starter Pokémon and her loyal companion. Serperior embodies grace and elegance, reflecting Aria's refined battling style.
2. Lucario: Aria's powerhouse Pokémon, known for its strength and fighting prowess. Lucario shares a deep bond with Aria and trusts her completely.
3. Togekiss: Aria's Flying/Fairy-type Pokémon, known for its gentle nature and powerful special attacks. Togekiss provides support and coverage for Aria's team.
4. Garchomp: Aria's Dragon/Ground-type Pokémon, renowned for its speed and ferocity in battle. Garchomp serves as Aria's ace, delivering devastating blows to opponents.
5. Alolan Ninetales: Aria's Ice/Fairy-type Pokémon, prized for its beauty and grace. Alolan Ninetales provides strategic support with its icy moves and ability to set up Aurora Veil.
6. Hawlucha: Aria's Flying/Fighting-type Pokémon, known for its agility and acrobatic moves. Hawlucha adds versatility to Aria's team with its Flying-type attacks and Fighting-type coverage.

Overall Relationship:

Aria's dynamic with the player evolves throughout the game, from friendly rivals to trusted allies. While she is competitive and driven to succeed, she ultimately values friendship and camaraderie above victory, making her a supportive and memorable rival in the player's journey through the Koriala region.
What already existing pokemon have decided to make the Koriala region their homes?
Several existing Pokémon species have made the diverse habitats of the Koriala region their new homes, adapting to the unique environments and flourishing alongside the native Pokémon species. Here are a few examples:

1. Eevee and its Evolutions: Eevee and its various evolutions, such as Vaporeon, Jolteon, Flareon, Espeon, Umbreon, Leafeon, Glaceon, and Sylveon, can be found throughout the Koriala region. The region's diverse landscapes provide ample opportunities for Eevee to evolve into different forms based on its surroundings and the bonds it forms with trainers.
   
2. Pikachu and Raichu: Pikachu, the iconic Electric-type Pokémon, is commonly found in forests, grasslands, and urban areas throughout the Koriala region. Its evolved form, Raichu, is also known to inhabit certain regions, especially areas with high concentrations of electrical energy, such as power plants and mountainous regions.
   
3. Ditto: Ditto, the Transform Pokémon, has been spotted in various locations across the Koriala region. Its ability to transform into any other Pokémon allows it to adapt to different environments and blend in seamlessly with the local wildlife.
   
4. Snorlax: Snorlax, the Sleeping Pokémon, can be found resting in lush forests and secluded meadows in the Koriala region. Its docile nature and love for sleeping make it a common sight in tranquil areas away from the hustle and bustle of urban life.
   
5. Meowth and Persian: Meowth, known for its affinity for shiny objects, can be found roaming the streets of cities and towns in the Koriala region, often drawn to areas with abundant wealth and prosperity. Its evolved form, Persian, is also known to inhabit urban areas, where it serves as a symbol of elegance and luxury.
   
6. Dunsparce: Dunsparce, the Land Snake Pokémon, has been sighted in the vast plains and grasslands of the Koriala region. Its burrowing abilities allow it to create underground tunnels and navigate through the region's expansive landscapes with ease.
   
7. Lapras: Lapras, the Transport Pokémon, can be found swimming in the crystal-clear waters of lakes, rivers, and coastal areas in the Koriala region. Its gentle nature and ability to ferry trainers across bodies of water make
   

Here's a link to part 1. Now onto the upper half of the list!
18th place: The Amazing Race 14
TAR14’s final leg is set on the island of Maui and it’s one I think most of us remember quite fondly. It begins with a Detour aired as a Route Info task where teams have to season and carry a pig to a lūʻau, and then a needle in a haystack task where they have to get on a watercraft and search a bunch of buoys for their next clue taking them to the final challenge. Once again it’s fairly short for a final leg and neither of these first two tasks are anything to write home about, but it’s really this season’s final memory challenge that steals the show. Having to search through dozens of decoy surfboards for ones with symbols they actually recognize and arrange them in the correct order makes for a task that’s both very challenging and very physical. It's without a doubt one of the best final memory challenges we’ve seen. Eventually all three teams are working on this challenge at the same time and it really is anyone’s game; every time a team asks the judge for a check, it’s more suspenseful than the last. Finally, Victor figures it out and his team goes on to win. If the rest of the leg was more interesting this could have been one of the best finales.
17th place: The Amazing Race 13
Though some might rank it lower, this has always been a cozy finale episode for me. Portland is a pretty unexpected but unique choice for the final city. In general I really enjoy this final 3, with Andrew & Dan and especially Ken & Tina being some of my favorite teams. After a fairly simple Detour teams have to travel to a bridge and zipline to “Thunder Island,” an awesome-sounding place to have a final memory challenge. While not one of the best of all time, I still really love this memory challenge with the 150 clue boxes scattered across the island, it’s just a super awesome visual. The task itself is fairly tricky and quite physical, and it ends up being a very entertaining two-horse race between Ken & Tina and Nick & Starr. However, this is far from the end of the episode; the older seasons had this tendency to put a bit of ARI (Additional Route Information) between the final challenge and the actual finish line. I’ve always thought of it as a “homestretch of Route Info.” I would always love this portion of the finale because it feels so high stakes— there’s so much adrenaline and you know one wrong move could cause a last minute placement shift. You never knew exactly how many more clues there would be, but usually at least one. TAR13 has quite a lot, first requiring the teams to find a green dinosaur in an office building, then make their way on foot to some food carts and find the one selling Russian food, then travel on foot to Voodoo Doughnut, and then finally hail a new cab to take them to the finish line. This whole sequence is a riveting, closely matched showdown between the top two teams and is what really boosts this leg up into the top 20 for me.
16th place: The Amazing Race 6
As we start getting into these super early seasons, the task quality plays much less of a role in my ranking because at this point in the series, the focus of the show isn’t really about the tasks, it’s more about everything else. While TAR6’s final episode is still really good, I do think it’s noticeably weaker than other early finale episodes. There’s just not that much going on in the Hawaii portion of the episode and even though the final destination city is typically light on tasks, I feel like anything extra to do after “eat two slices of pizza” would have made the Chicago portion feel much more satisfying. Where TAR6’s finale shines though are in its two airport segments which take up about a third of the episode and in my opinion are exciting enough to carry this episode all the way into the top half of the ranking. There is a lot of drama in getting from Xi’an to Honolulu leaving all of the teams frustrated and anxious, especially Adam. In one of the series’ most comically pathetic moments, he tells the lady working at the counter that she’s a very “mean” person for not putting them on the faster flight. In the second flight scramble, Freddy & Kendra manage to secure an earlier flight that gives them a 5 minute advantage in Chicago. They manage to hold onto the lead, but what really secures them the win is an ill-timed train that blocks Kris & John from reaching the finish line. What could have potentially skyrocketed this leg into the top 10 is if Freddy & Kendra were a few seconds slower and were stopped as well, leading to a footrace, but alas.
15th place: The Amazing Race 34
This is a surprisingly enjoyable finale given how mediocre the majority of this season is. It takes place in a great new city: Nashville, at sunset! And like its predecessor, it features self-driving the whole way through which is always a delight. The first couple of tasks aren’t terribly interesting but the first half of the episode is still fun to watch because of the self-drive. The second half is where things get really good, starting with a very navigation-heavy task requiring teams to deliver Gibson guitars to three different locations. Teams aren’t provided maps so they are forced to do a lot of interacting with locals to figure out where to go. Like TAR29, I feel like this finale has more of an old school vibe; the self-drive combined with this guitar challenge result in a leg with a pretty strong focus on navigation. To top it all off, we get one of the most creative and thematically appropriate final memory challenges of all time in the keyboard task, and unlike TAR29, this one actually ends up being super tight between the teams. The only thing preventing this leg from ranking much higher is that the teams themselves just aren’t that interesting in my opinion. I really like Emily & Molly but at the end of the day, there is zero conflict and few standout moments in this episode which make the stakes feel somewhat low.
14th place: The Amazing Race 30
Another recent season with a surprisingly good finale. Once again it’s a San Francisco leg which is a bit of a tired location, but running it at night was a great idea and gives this episode a pretty unique vibe. Like TAR14 what really carries this leg is its final challenge, but the three tasks we get beforehand are also pretty good. Ascending and plunging into the dark abyss was an interesting take on the obligatory fear of heights challenge, and I love that they hid a clue in a giant fortune cookie. The final memory challenge is one of the most intricate and physically exhausting of all time and by far the best task of the season. The location and execution itself was really cool— spreading the entire challenge across a giant aircraft carrier— and I think the nighttime setting really accentuated its epicness. While I generally miss the extra few Route Infos we’d get after the final task, I also think being able to physically see the finish line while working on the final challenge, knowing for a fact “THIS IS IT—” works really well too, and plays an important role in making TAR30’s final task so stressful and intense to watch. This is another finale that probably would have been an all-timer if it had a more interesting final 3.
13th place: The Amazing Race 27
It’s funny, if you watched only the last two episodes of TAR27 you’d think it was one of the best seasons of all time. This is a pretty unique finale as it features not one memory challenge, but three memory challenges scattered throughout the leg. In addition to a few other tasks, teams had to remember the order of countries they visited by placing their respective capitals in the right order. Later, they had to do the same thing for their flags. And for the final challenge, they had to assemble and arrange Adirondack chairs painted with objects seen throughout the season in the correct order. These are all pretty simple challenges but together they form a final leg that feels much more cerebral than usual which I really enjoy. The best part of this episode though is the taxi drama that occurs after the first Roadblock. Justin & Diana and Logan & Chris both make critical mistakes by losing their taxis and ending up stranded in a place where no cabs are readily available; Justin & Diana were rude to their initial driver and he just flat out refuses to drive them anymore which was some nice poetic justice, and Logan & Chris attempt to steal Kelsey & Joey’s taxi before getting cold feet. They then proceed to comically bicker about this while desperately running around looking for a new cab. At the final challenge, it’s Kelsey & Joey who come out on top in a tense final showdown with Justin & Diana. While they are very boring winners, I think narratively it’s a satisfying ending to the season as the Green Team is finally defeated and Kelsey & Joey end their streak of 2nd place finishes with a win on the only leg that really counts.
12th place: The Amazing Race 4
The best airport drama in the entirety of TAR4 happens in its final leg, and since airport drama tends to be my favorite type of content The Amazing Race has to offer, it shouldn’t be too surprising that I think pretty highly of this finale. Without the airport drama, you don’t really have that great of an episode, but like TAR6 it takes up a pretty decent chunk of the runtime so for me it manages to shoot TAR4’s finale pretty high up on this list. The headlines here are that David & Jeff make a fatal mistake in taking a short-sighted connection to Sydney, which puts them so far behind that they don’t even get to cross the finish line. Meanwhile, Reichen & Chip and Kelly & Jon vie to make a tight connection in Tokyo; Reichen & Chip manage to get on but Kelly & Jon receive some bad directions and after an extremely suspenseful rush to the terminal, are ultimately rejected and forced to take a later flight. Of course, these two teams will eventually end up equalized on the final flight to Phoenix, but they had no way of knowing that and neither did we the first time watching this episode! The tasks in Australia and Hawaii are fairly meh, but the final stretch of Route Information in Arizona is another highly exciting part of the episode because Reichen & Chip and Kelly & Jon are so close together. There’s also a very funny moment when John tries to jump over a wall and utterly fails. Overall TAR4’s finale isn’t consistent in its quality but when it’s good, it’s really good.
11th place: The Amazing Race 9
This is a very enjoyable finale from beginning to end, largely driven by the fantastic chemistry between BJ & Tyler and Eric & Jeremy. Seeing these two teams finally face off in the last leg is a great narrative payoff, and since BJ & Tyler are the clear underdogs in this rivalry, their win makes it even better. One of my favorite moments in any final episode is towards the beginning of this leg when BJ & Tyler convince the hotel staff to lie to Eric & Jeremy about the hotel having no internet service. The staff follow through (albeit hilariously unconvincingly) and ultimately prevent Eric & Jeremy from using the internet. Even Ray & Yolanda get some fun moments, like when Yolanda is begging for money and the locals decide to donate due to her looking like Janet Jackson. The Alaska portion of the episode is decent enough, though it is unfortunate that the more interesting side of the Detour couldn’t be chosen due to weather. The last 15 minutes in Denver are truly fantastic, as Eric & Jeremy arrive at the final memory challenge first but are ultimately overtaken in a scene I’m certain convinced the producers that final memory challenges need to be a thing more often.
10th place: The Amazing Race 33
I don’t think anyone expected this episode to be as good as it was but kudos to TAR33, you have one of the best finale episodes in recent memory! This is the first finale episode in the series to have self-driving for the entire duration which immediately gives it a boost in my eyes. This leg also has some great tasks plus an excellent, competitive final 3 giving it all the right ingredients for a quality modern TAR finale. It begins with a cryptic challenge that essentially tanks Ryan & Dusty right from the get-go, followed by a blindfold piñata task that tests communication. This is a very colorful task that really pops on screen. Then the foley task, which is honestly one of my favorite challenges they’ve ever done; what a fun and creative way of paying homage to the older seasons. The leg ends with a fairly good final memory challenge, but what really makes it great is just how close together Kim & Penn and Raquel & Cayla are in a leg that’s already had quite a few placement shifts. Overall a fantastic leg, especially by COVID era standards.
9th place: The Amazing Race 21
In my opinion, TAR21 is the paragon of a modern Amazing Race finale: Creative ideas, cryptic clues, a navigation-focused task and a brutal final memory challenge. The season has a great final 3 and the episode is, quite simply, a blast to watch. The first route marker hidden among the advertisements at Coney Island was BRILLIANT and is the type of thing I wish the producers would do a lot more of. Then we get a fairly unique take on the fear of heights challenge with the Houdini-style escape task, then a fun navigation challenge with delivering pizzas, very similar to the guitar task we saw in TAR34. But of course the star of the show is once again the final memory challenge, and depending on the day, I might call it the best one in series history. The iconic “hello and goodbye” challenge is not only a great idea in of itself, but it feels like a perfectly thematic, almost solemn way to conclude an epic race around the world. The challenge is very difficult but also uniquely approachable, sort of like putting together a jigsaw puzzle. Start with the obvious ones like Spain, France, China, and potentially Russia and then apply lateral thinking and some guesswork to figure out the rest. I really love this one and it ends up producing a major upset as Josh & Brent, probably the two guys nobody expected to even make the final 3, let alone win, end up finishing first. A great ending to a fantastic season.
8th place: The Amazing Race 31
Similar to TAR21, Reality Showdown’s final leg is simply a joy to watch. It’s filled with memorable moments, and this one even takes places in a unique city, Detroit! But probably more than any other finale, I think this one is elevated by its outcome. Normally I’m of the mindset “It really doesn’t matter who wins;” There’s so much luck involved, especially in the final leg, I’ve never understood the perspective some people have that the “wrong team winning” retroactively ruins a season or that satisfying winners can do much to boost its overall quality. But the 15-year journey of Colin & Christy culminating in their win and redemption has to be one of the most amazing storylines in the history of RTV. If Tyler & Corey had won the season instead, this still would’ve been a good finale, but it just wouldn’t have had the same impact. The Seven Nation Army final challenge was easily one of the best of all time and the showdown between Colin & Christie and Tyler & Corie was unimaginably intense. I also love me a good “disastrous downfall” storyline in the finale and the Afghanimals delivered in spades in that department. The middle tasks like fowling were somewhat dull, but overall this would have to be my pick for best Amazing Race finale in recent memory.
7th place: The Amazing Race 12
TAR12 was the first to use the modern finale format, and I must admit, it made a pretty compelling first impression. While I miss getting airport drama in the finale, this leg more than makes up for it. The episode has a perfect combination of great tasks, a beautiful location, plenty of memorable moments, and an engaging final 3. This easily puts it in the top 10 because the reality is, while most finales have one or two of these things, it’s very rare for a finale to have all of them. An intriguing segment early in the episode comes when Nicolas & Donald get to the Detour site and realize they forgot to pick up the required gear from the previous location, forcing them to go all the way back. This is a setback from which they are unable to recover. The majority of the finale is a struggle for first between Ron & Christina, who have the lead, and TK & Rachel, who trail closely behind. If you’re like me, you were rooting hard for Ron & Christina so you have a strong feeling of nervous excitement throughout the episode. Things come to a head when teams reach the legendary final memory challenge, a fiendishly difficult logic puzzle. While TAR3 and TAR9 had memory challenges too, I feel like this was the first truly intricate one and you could certainly argue it still hasn’t been topped. I think this puzzle would be a challenge even for an Amazing Race superfan who had just binged the season, so asking the final teams to take it on when their exhaustion and stress levels were at an all-time high was brilliantly evil. This is where Ron & Christina lose their lead, and after a bit more ARI that continues the suspense, TK & Rachel cross the finish line first. Yes, we do get the typical “least exciting teams goes on to win” result that we’re all so accustomed to, but TK & Rachel are still a solid team, and Ron & Christina and Nicolas & Donald are so compelling that their presence alone easily carries the episode.
6th place: The Amazing Race 20
It may be a controversial season, but TAR20 has an electrifying and explosive finale from start to finish. On paper I don’t even think you would expect this episode to be that good, as the tasks are mostly very straightforward and the final challenge is quite unusual, having no business being as good as it ends up being. But this season just happened to have the right combination of teams and moments in its finale to create an episode that feels downright cinematographic. There are so many placement shifts, and every one of them is dramatic. Brendon & Rachel are in a good position but fall into dead last by taking a taxi instead of traveling on foot to the next clue as instructed. I don’t care what anyone says, Rachel Reilly will forever be one of CBS’ most spectacular casting finds; she’s in the tier of Dr. Will Kirby or Charla & Mirna of people you can just stick onto any show with any format and practically guarantee it will be entertaining. Her meltdown in the final leg and throwing her fanny pack at Brendon is peak Amazing Race comedy. An even more entertaining mistake comes later on though, when Rachel & Dave somehow bypass the final Roadblock and end up at the finish line too early. This is a jaw-on-the-floor moment in Amazing Race history as a team believes to have won the race only to have their dreams shattered by Phil, shocking all of the eliminated teams as well. At this point we’re all thinking “Welp, congratulations Art & J.J. on winning TAR20,” but it turns out there are still more shocking moments to come. By the time Art & J.J. reach the Roadblock, they firmly believe there’s no hope and that Rachel & Dave have already won, so their reaction when Rachel & Dave finally show up is fantastic. In one of the most infamous challenge blunders of all time, Art manages to squander his team’s tremendous lead by being unable to complete the sledding challenge, which allows Rachel & Dave to overtake them and claim 1st place after all. Brendon & Rachel manage to catch up to the Roadblock and Rachel actually overtakes Art on the sled, but then squanders the second part of the challenge allowing the placements to swap one last time. It’s a spectacular roller coaster ride of a finale.
5th place: The Amazing Race 3
I would die on the hill that TAR3 has the greatest final 3 in the series. There’s usually at least one interesting team in the finals, and if we’re lucky there’s two, but TAR3 is on another level. These finalists— Flo & Zach, Teri & Ian, and Ken & Gerard— are maybe 3 of the top 10 most entertaining teams of all time. The fact that all three make it to the end is nothing short of astounding. I’m confident this will never be topped. Still, this isn’t the #1 best finale because while excellent, it doesn’t quite have any of the jaw-dropping twists and turns that define the remaining entries on this list. Still, there are tons of great moments and let me just go through my favorites. Because they’re in Vietnam, teams have to get their tickets from a travel agency before going to the airport. Teri & Ian are the first to reach the travel agency followed by Ken & Gerard, and a hilarious scene ensues as Ian attempts to micromanage everything the travel agent does and gets on everyone’s nerves. Flo & Zach are the last to arrive at the travel agency and their fate seems bleak as there is no more room on the first flight. Then teams have to take a 17 hour train ride to Hanoi, which is just an awesome thing to include in a finale, especially since the leg right before this one had a 24 hour train ride. This season surely has the most brutally exhausting course in the series. While on the train, Zach uses a stranger’s phone to call a travel agent who finds a flight that arrives earlier than the other teams and promises to give them their tickets at a hotel in Hanoi. Flo & Zach are understandably quite skeptical about whether this is actually real, but to their utmost joy they arrive at the hotel and see that it is. Then we get some airport drama as Ken & Gerard find out about the earlier flight and manage to get seats, but by the time Teri & Ian find out the flight is full. But in another twist, this earlier flight gets a weather delay causing it to leave only 15 minutes sooner than Teri & Ian’s flight. Teams are only in Honolulu for a few minutes before another clue instructs them to fly to Kauai; I absolutely love how much travel is incorporated into this final leg. We don’t even get to the first task until the episode’s halfway over, a simple Detour that then sends teams to Seattle, their final destination. This final flight turns out to be an equalizer leading to an intense final segment as the final three race by cab and on foot through the city to their last few route markers. This is also where we get the first ever final memory challenge, a simple but charming little puzzle where teams have to remember the order in which a few animals appeared throughout the race. Flo & Zach are the first to finish and go on to win the race; I know they are controversial winners but in my opinion it’s a perfect ending to the season and I think they easily have one of the most interesting season-long storylines of any winners.
4th place: The Amazing Race 7
Here is a finale so epic and brimming with content that the editors decided to shorten the previous episode just so they could devote more time to it. In typical old school fashion, the tasks and route remarkers in this leg were split across three different locations: Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and the final destination, Florida. On paper I think this actually could have been one of the best designed finales because each of these locations are close together and there are many flights between them every day. Flights are less likely to be equalizers so it feels like every second counts. However, there is an hour of operations pretty close to the end of the leg and I see no world in which the teams don’t end up equalized here, which is pretty lame. I’ve made a whole post about this before, but to me this equalizer has always seemed like a pretty transparent attempt by the producers to make a close ending in an artificial way, which I’m not a fan of. I must admit though, from an entertainment perspective, it worked. The result was probably the most satisfying underdog victory in the entire series, as Uchenna & Joyce manage to come from behind— in a leg where they started with nothing— and take down the season’s biggest threat, Rob & Amber. Rob & Amber were outstanding characters this season— Extremely dominant, undeniably entertaining, but ultimately they were villains whose downfall was exciting to witness.
For those of you who claim the original Non-Elimination penalty was the best, I think this episode is easily your best argument as it delivers what I consider two of the most memorable scenes in the entire series. The first is at the beginning: It’s the middle of the night and Uchenna & Joyce have absolutely nothing. They need to travel an hour by taxi to the next route marker but can’t pay for one; they consider going to the airport to beg, but it’s in the opposite direction and they have no way of getting there either. Their position seems utterly hopeless (and to be honest, without the equalizer it would have been). A kind stranger agrees to bring them to the airport, but they have a very hard time begging for money. The scenes of Uchenna approaching tourists and asking for money feel raw to an extent the show rarely reaches. You can see in their faces they feel both despaired and degraded. Eventually they earn enough to begin the leg but are essentially running on empty the whole time. The second scene comes at the end of the episode— Against all odds, Uchenna & Joyce have taken the lead and they have their last clue; all that’s left is the finish line. With almost no money left, they get in a taxi they know they can’t afford and in their ultimate desperation, try begging for money from inside the cab windows. Eventually they arrive at the finish line still short on cash, and there’s this intense anxiety knowing Rob & Amber could show up at any moment. You can hear the despair in Uchenna’s voice as he continues to beg; some locals agree to help, and others refuse. This may legitimately be the most intense, anxiety-ridden segment in the entire series, and even though it in some ways feels unearned, it’s so good that you honestly just don’t care. Overall this is just an exceptional episode of television.
3rd place: The Amazing Race 1
The first season of The Amazing Race is magical in a way the subsequent seasons could never hope to replicate. It is far and away the “rawest” season of the show, certainly in how it’s produced but I’d say in the storylines as well. This finale episode is one of my favorite episodes of TV, but it’s totally different from the other finales I’ve ranked highly on this list. If this ranking was based on sheer excitement factor alone, TAR1 would rank much lower, but excitement is not really the main thing the editors were trying to convey here. Instead, the tone is much different, and the episode has an almost somber vibe. It feels like this grand, epic first-of-its-kind adventure is finally coming to a close, and as you’d expect, it’s bittersweet. It’s sort of like getting back from a long vacation; you are excited to be home and you’re still feeling the high of all the fun things you got to do, but there’s also this feeling of... sadness. This finale does such an exceptional job of conveying every emotion on that spectrum. The entire season is a work of art, but to me this ending is what really cements it as one of the all-time great pieces of media. I mainly want to talk about the end of the episode, but there is a pretty awesome strategic moment in the middle. In order to ensure his team gets the fastest flight to New York, Brennan approaches several strangers and offers to pay them $300 to use their phone for the rest of the day. One lady agrees, and he tells her to call him the next day and he’d mail the phone back to her. I’m not sure if it’d be allowed today, but I’ve always thought this was such amazing, outside-the-box thinking, and I think it’s really incredible we get this level of strategic gameplay out of the very first season of the show.
But it’s the NYC stretch of the episode that puts this finale in elite territory for me, and I’m just going to come out and say it— This is my single favorite segment in the entire series. To me, TAR1 has always at its core been the story of Frank & Margarita, who have this incredibly engaging relationship. I think they’re probably the most complex team in the whole series. A deeply imperfect couple who are separated but have decided to go on this adventure together in part because they want the best for their daughter. Throughout the race they have highs and lows, and Frank in particular says some really mean things, but deep down you can tell there is love and they have an undeniable chemistry with one another. It’s clear they’ve been through a lot with each other and the whole season feels like we’re seeing this epilogue to their relationship; it’s incredibly raw. This final leg is probably when their relationship is at its highest point, and it just so happens that Queens is their hometown. You can’t help but to root for them. There is only one route marker before the finish line and Frank thinks he knows a shortcut to get there, but it turns out to be slower and Rob & Brennan pass them. However, they don’t know they’ve been passed. The final clue tells them to take a train to Flushing Meadows, but at this point it’s obvious to viewers that they won’t be able to catch up. What follows is the most bittersweet ending in the series, accompanied by a truly magical score, Now We Are Free. While playing, the episode cuts back and forth between Rob & Brennan running towards the finish line, Frank & Margarita looking longingly through the windows of the train, and the cheers of eliminated teams standing at the mat. The entire segment is masterfully put together, and it makes me wish the editors were more willing to experiment with the tone and presentation of the race to the finish line in subsequent seasons.
2nd place: The Amazing Race 5
What is there to say about this season that hasn’t already been said? The season is virtually flawless from beginning to end, so it's no surprise that its final leg is another contender for the #1 spot. Like TAR3, this is an exceptional final 3 whose personalities and interteam dynamics play a tremendous role in the quality of this finale episode. Going in, it kind of feels like Colin & Christy’s season to lose, as they are an incredibly dominant, athletic, and self-admittedly “intense” pair of racers. Meanwhile, Chip & Kim are easily one of the rootable teams in the series, but it definitely seemed like they had the least chance of winning considering their competition. The stopover location happened to be Canada (a new country) which was really awesome, and teams had to compete in tasks which seemed to perfectly match the gravitas of a finale like hiking to the Continental Divide and luging through the Olympic Park. But what really cements this as one of the greatest finales of all time? The airport drama, of course! In fact, almost half the entire episode takes place inside airports, and every second of it is magnificent. Predictably, Colin & Christy and Brandon & Nicole get through the tasks in Canada way quicker than Chip & Kim, and both teams secure tickets on what appears to be the earliest flight. But in the greatest twist of fate in Amazing Race history, Chip & Kim’s ineptitude at the tasks actually turns out to be a blessing in disguise. When Kim calls the airline to book reservations, she learns that unbeknownst to the leading teams, the first flight had been delayed by almost 3 hours. This allows her and Chip to secretly book tickets on a faster flight in what will turn out to be a race-deciding move. Colin & Christie and Nicole & Brandon don’t learn about the delay until the morning. After an intense scramble in Denver, they’re able to get on a flight that arrives 10 minutes after Chip & Kim but are not able to get on the same flight because they fatally checked their bags on a flight with a different airline. This plays out so perfectly because it’s a shocking and exciting turn of events in which the underdogs seemingly come out on top, but Chip & Kim have such a small head start that it still feels like anything could happen entering the Dallas stretch of the episode. So many of TAR's best moments are the result of pure, dumb luck and TAR5’s airport chaos is a great example of this. In order to make up ground, Colin called to get a cab driver ready in advance, and I swear he must have hired this guy off the dark web because this driver is UNHINGED. This portion of the episode is a beautiful blend of extreme anxiety as Chip & Kim narrowly hold onto their lead and absolute hilarity as this taxi madman speeds down the shoulder of the highway honking his horn. As we all know, Chip & Kim do manage to keep their lead, ultimately becoming another one of the most satisfying winners in the series.
1st place: The Amazing Race 2
For me there was never any question. Not only does TAR2 have the best finale episode of any season, I think you could make a very strong case for this being the single best episode in the entire series. I mean, the episode’s called “Follow That Plane!”, you know just from the title it’s going to be iconic. Like TAR7, the editors shortened the previous leg in order to devote more time to this one, and even with the extended runtime the episode does not slow down even for a moment. I’d say the final 3 isn’t quite as strong as the last few seasons I’ve talked about, but when one of the teams is Tara & Wil, it doesn’t really matter who the other two teams are; the finale is practically guaranteed to be entertaining. The episode begins with some airport drama as teams need to get from Hawaii to Anchorage where they must visit a seaplane base and instruct a pilot to take them to their next destination. However, shortly into this segment, Tara & Wil find themselves in a terrible predicament: Somehow, they’ve lost their clue and have no idea where they’re supposed to go once they get to Alaska... This is the funniest possible team this could happen to. They immediately start blaming each other and Wil threatens to quit for like the 10th time this season. First they try to ask Blake & Paige to show them the clue, but they awkwardly refuse. Then they approach Chris & Alex, who also reject them after reaching the pretty obvious conclusion that if the roles were reversed, Wil wouldn’t help them. This turns into a very funny argument as Wil tries to convince Chris & Alex he actually would help them, albeit in the most unconvincing tone conceivable. This leads to Wil arguing with Tara about how her “buddies” let them down, which turns into another argument about how Wil is too mean to everyone and that’s why no one will help them. At their layover in Seattle, Tara & Wil purchase books on Alaska to see if any names sound familiar. When they think they might have the right place, they essentially reverse-engineer the race by calling the company and confirming they are expecting teams to come by. It’s a very smart and meta strategy that’s unlike anything else we’ve seen in the series. Once in Alaska, they’re still not exactly sure where to fly, so of course, Wil tells their pilot to “follow that plane.” This whole storyline is so legendary and it’s somehow not even the main headline of the episode. Teams then have to spend the night in an igloo; it’s an artificial equalizer that I’m really not a fan of, but thankfully doesn’t affect the outcome since the teams were already tied. We get some fun tasks in Alaska made better by Tara & Wil’s constant bickering, and then some really great travel drama as teams are sent to their final destination, San Francisco. Chris & Alex decide to drive to the closer but smaller airport in Fairbanks and quickly realize they’ve made a mistake, so they catch a last minute flight back to Anchorage before joining up with the other teams. This final portion of the episode in San Francisco is unquestionably the most dramatic and exciting 20 minute stretch of the season, and possibly the entire series. Zero tasks, just pure navigation and extreme suspense backed by an absolutely phenomenal score. To me, it’s the total embodiment of what TAR is. There are way too many highlights to cover them all, but my favorite is this exchange between Tara and Wil:
(Wil) Tara, just please leave me alone man, I’m trying my best.
(Tara) Was that really a smart move? Could you tell me that was a smart move?
(Wil) I was trying to shake them. And then you—
(Tara) SHAKE THEM AT A DEAD END?!!!
(Wil) I tried my best.
(Tara) You’re... you’re stupid though. You really are. I mean, I hate to say it Wil.
But even through all their mistakes, Tara & Wil are the first to arrive at the final location. All they need to do is run to the finish line. There’s just one problem— Chris & Alex are only a couple minutes behind and are much faster runners. With the finish line in sight, Tara & Wil desperately try to hold onto their lead, and it still seems like they’re probably going to win, but then you see Chris & Alex arrive. And then you see Chris & Alex slowly start to catch up. And then you realize “Oh my God. They’re actually going to pass them.” And then, only a few meters from the finish line, they actually do. You couldn’t script an ending more sensational and poetic than this. It’s a truly perfect ending.
And that concludes my rankings! It's a lot of words so thanks to those of you who read, and please share your opinions too!

Section 1

1. How do you work? Why do people go to work? Are there any parameters that determine whether you can do work or not? What are they?

I strive to work efficiently and can do it much better when I’m actually doing it myself, when someone told me how to work I progress way slower and become super demotivated and lose interest, I don’t know why. People go to work because people want to progress. As for me, I absolutely hate working but I have to work because I know if I don’t work hard the consequences will be bad. And for me only if I have goals I have the motivation to work otherwise I can be super lazy and don’t want to work at all. I don’t know how can one love doing for the sake of it, I have never been like that.

1. How do you determine the quality of work? How do you determine the quality of a purchase? Do you pay any attention to it?

Quality is determined by 1. what it’s being valued and perceived 2. objective measurements 3. the existence of it. What other people perceive the work is extremely important to me and I hate and afraid of subjectivism because it drives me crazy, and I always try to think what they will say when doing work, try to think potential criticisms. Besides that objective measurement is important as well especially when it comes to efficiency and time. Also I believe an absolute hierarchy of quality which means in terms of good quality there’s only the best, the second best, the third best… etc. but for bad quality I don’t care much because bad quality is not worth to waste my time to analyse. And I strive for the absolute best for what I do.

1. There is a professional next to you. How do you know they are a professional? How do you evaluate their skill?

A lot of self acclaimed professionals are not really professionals even if they hide this well I can tell because they didn’t get to the absolute sort of deepest, most elitist and nerdish side of what they claimed to be professional at. If you don’t even understand the history of the subject, how it went through, how it works, how to evaluate it reasonably, what’s the absolute top and ideal vision of it and make sense at each one of these, you are not a true professional.

1. If you struggle to do something, how do you fix that? Do you know if your performance is better or worse than others?

I mostly do my own research, sometimes discuss with people with same interests and trying to be professionals, or if I can find an absolute professional I’ll ask them. I’m extremely competitive at everything I do (people always said everything is competition for me and that’s spot on), and I have never been satisfied with my own performance because it’s not at the top of the hierarchical pyramid in both what others think and objective measured values, only if both are achieved I can be satisfied.

1. How do you measure the success of a job? What standard do you use? Do you pay attention to it? When should you deviate from this standard?

What do I achieve, what people see you, what titles and positions do I have, and then how well do I do it. I demand everything must be on the very top and if not I’ll never be content.

Section 2

1. What is a whole? Can you identify its parts? Are the parts equivalent to the whole?

Some argued a whole is the sum of its parts, some argued a whole is more than the sum of its parts, but I can see the point of both arguments. A whole is not magically created at a sudden, it’s constructed by its parts, but at the same time if you just put all its parts together you still won’t get the whole because you need a framework to systematically organise them. So my argument is a whole is the sum of its parts constructed by a framework. And I can identify the parts of a whole and see what the whole could be by its parts (through possible different constructions and different frameworks, sometimes they are quite easy to see).

1. What does "logical" mean? What is your understanding? Do you think that it correlates with the common view? How do you know you are being logical?

When it makes sense. If it doesn’t make sense then it’s illogical and should be think further to solve contradictions. I like to think in sort of “devil’s advocate” way like one argument and the possible counter arguments and to further deduce them to find a solution that makes sense. But then does the solution really make sense? What about another argument and why does that argument exist? It goes on forever. Speaking on common views, why are those common views common? Why did they became common? What’s the historical background? Does the common view make common sense? I’d ask all these questions. No one can be fully logical until they really figure the logic out and make perfect sense.

1. What is hierarchy? Give examples of hierarchies. Do you need to follow it? Why or why not? Explain how hierarchy is used in a system you are familiar with.

Everything has a hierarchy and there’s no two things are at the same hierarchical level. From people’s positions to abstract ideologies, from artistic aesthetics to scientific measurements, all things have hierarchies and there are many hierarchies for different subjects, different categories. As for how to determine the position within one hierarchy it’s just about how do I evaluate things which I already explained in the last section. I do care about hierarchies and I get super frustrated when I’m not the one on the very top of the hierarchy.

1. What is classification? How does classification work? Why is it needed and where is it applied? Give examples.

Classifications are frameworks within a whole, and there are more detailed classifications under the bigger classifications. Classifications can also be used in a hierarchy, in this context it’s about the groupings of hierarchical levels, sort of like a tier list. In social context hierarchical classifications mean different levels and tiers of human beings in terms of social classes and philosophical classes and we should all strive to be of the high class and being low class especially philosophically (like being anti-intellectual) mustn’t be consider a tolerant thing.

1. Are your ideas consistent? How do you know they are consistent? How do you spot inconsistency in others' ideas?

When I figured out how it works it will be consistent. But I’ll still play the devil’s advocate and think potentials why it’s not ideal, dive more into it and hopefully it will come to a better solution. I can spot inconsistency in ideas but that’s all by pattern recognition and the sort of sharp sense of the things (like reading behind the context), but I’m super jealous about those who can actually explain the inconsistency, logically debunk them and solve them.

Section 3

1. Can you press people? What methods do you use? How does it happen?

Yes and I enjoy doing so. I like to use emotional manipulations, potential bad visions of future, and use fear and potential threatening. According to the people I’m pressing I’ll behave differently and the more I know about them the more ways of pressing them I can think of. It happens in so many situations, but mostly for personal gain and personal goals or manipulate situations to defeat enemies.

1. How do you get what you want? What do you do if you have to work to get what you want?

I know what I want and if things don’t get my way I react dramatically and aggressively, people always called me too reactive to that but I can’t control myself in this kind of situations. I’ll do anything to get what I want and I don’t care about some side effects like if I can achieve a goal while ruin a personal relationship I don’t give a fuck because I can see if I achieve it I’ll have so much more relationships and relationships with more important people, how impressive that is! Or if I can achieve my goal but someone else will be hurt, but if I strive for something a little bit less that person won’t be hurt, then I’ll absolutely put myself first and strive for my goal and as long as I achieve it successfully I don’t have any regrets at all. Despite all of these, although I do know what I want, I often don’t know exactly why. I know it’s super weird for a person who cares about goals so much but I really don’t have any interest to introspect the why nor do I have a clue about it. I just strive for them and try to achieve them.

1. How do you deal with opposition? What methods do you use to defend your interests?

Two aspects, 1. I’ll try even harder to prove myself 2. I’ll try to make them look bad, form a group of people on my side and we all loathe them. I can act whatever it requires to make them get on my side whether emotionally empathise with me or more often get super angry on what’s happening on me. And since they are on my side they will hate everything about the opposition. Also if I proved I’m superior I’ll get more people on my side. So at the end of the day it will become a situation of the people on my side and the people on the opposition, and the people on my side are all fuelled with hatred passion toward the opposition and the circle of my group will expand further and further.

1. When do you think it's ok to occupy someone's space? Do you recognize it?

No, because it’s too animalistic, too low class and I loathe it. High class people climb the social ladder and take over others’ social space.

1. Do others think you are a strong-willed person? Do you think you have a strong will?

People keep telling me that, but they only see the surface. In my case it’s super weird it’s like in a sense I’m strong-willed, I care about goals and such and I’m super hardworking and like to push my limit, but I don’t know exactly why I want to achieve, I don’t even have a clue about that at all and asking me for this kind of questions makes me feel “where am I”, “why the fuck do they want to know”. So I don’t know if I’m really strong-willed, just very driven and competitive.

Section 4

1. How do you satisfy your physical senses? What examples can you give? What physical experiences are you drawn to?

It’s hard to say what physical experiences I’m drawn to, but I’m extremely un-sporty and I don’t like to do anything physical at all, in fact quite afraid of it when it comes to something requiring sort of heavy physical stuff, I absolutely am afraid of carrying anything that is heavy or doing rough stuff or bear super loud noises. But I also don’t do anything for physical pleasure, and I consider satisfying physical pleasure is a waste of time.

1. How do you find harmony with your environment? How do you build a harmonious environment? What happens if this harmony is disturbed?

I seriously don’t have a clue. I guess I only care about my environment’s appearance if presenting to others. And if possible, make it appear more luxurious.

1. What does comfort mean to you? How do you create it?

Comfort is mental, so unless my goals are fully accomplished and like what I want I never feel it.

1. How do you express yourself in your hobbies? How do you engage yourself with those things?

My hobbies are all intellect related and all research related. I like to explore things in depth and become more and more knowledgeable, and I also do brain training either pondering on philosophical concepts or do some puzzles and pattern recognition stuff, but all those hobbies have purposes, I don’t do anything just because I like them because I don’t even know what I really like, but I do them for making myself smarter and keep a sharp brain.

1. Tell us how you'd design any room, house or an office. Do you do it yourself, or trust someone else to do it? Why?

I hate to do any house work and super fucking lazy in chores especially routine chores I absolutely dislike to do such things so I don’t design my room at all unless it’s a room that will welcome others then I’ll design it and make it looks aristocratic and luxurious.

Section 5

1. Is it acceptable to express emotions in public? Give examples of inappropriate expression of emotions.

Absolutely, if you have spirit and not a robot you have emotions. I can read other people’s emotions very well and I get super nervous (often lead to extreme madness) if people don’t give me emotional responses and being rather calm and stoic, even if they don’t respond with dissatisfaction, hate or opposing me, but being still and completely calm can already make me feel nervous. I also hate when people want to mess up by creating chaos or just simply can’t read the emotions of the group and give very inappropriate emotional responses. Especially when in a group someone is creating chaos and trying to stir up the emotional vibe and trolls all the way to make everyone get distracted, this can make me want to kick them out or at least silence them, so some really chaotic trolls said I’m a sort of dictator but for me it’s their fault that they are behaving inappropriate and distracting us plus slowing us down, so I don’t see any point to not silence them or kick them out.

1. How do you express your emotions? Can you tell how your expressions affect others in a positive or negative way?

I don’t remember when was the last time I feel positive emotions so it’s hard for me to express joyful, cheerful and light-hearted emotions. I do smile but don’t feel like it at all, and I laugh only when something is too ridiculous and usually for being sarcastic (but more often I make super funny memes to express sarcasm). But I’m not stoic at all, I express negative emotions, I can be really emo (which is also why I’ve even been typed INFP in the MBTI before). I cry often and I have anger issues, more than often my eyes can be very teary and with despair and then turn into full fiery anger. Even a small dissatisfaction can make me bursting in anger, and it’s rather things make me feel than I feel about things. People always said I’m a super hot-tempered person and my emotions often get out of control.

1. Are you able to change your demeanor in order to interact with your environment in a more or less suitable way? How do you determine what is suitable?

Yes, in fact I interact with different people in all different ways and I can switch between them fluently. I know what’s suitable for the situations so I behave that way. But I still need to improve this ability because I want to be less explosive and more controlled to behave in some situations better. I train myself acting and even study the Stanislavsky acting method because it’s what I do 24/7, it’s a skill that I think it’s very necessary to master. Also I like to act like different fictional characters in order to master different behavioural characteristics which I might use in some certain situations. Basically my philosophy is if you are more confident in acting characteristics you can control the character better in real life situations.

1. In what situations do you feel others' feelings? Can you give examples of when you wanted to improve the mood of others?

I have good cognitive empathy and I read people’s minds. More than often it’s like I make others feel scared or angry when they are too in their joyful fantasy or being too easy-going, while others want to improve my mood when it hits rock bottom. But my mood is too heavily dependent on the negative aspects of the outside world and it’s so hard for me to be indifferent.

1. How do others' emotions affect you? How does your internal emotional state correlate or contrast with what you express?

As I said, others’ emotions and the aspects of outside world are the key influences of my emotional state, especially negatively. I’m not emotionally flexible therefore I learn how to act differently from my emotional state, the goal is to make what I express on the outside completely independent.

Section 6

1. How can you tell how much emotional space there is between yourself and others? How can you affect this space?

Grew up in a family that super heavily valued interpersonal distances, I sometimes find it annoying to talk about it haha. But I usually can tell if this person wants to get closer to me or even befriends me, usually based on the pattern of our conversations. But unlike my family, I don’t have the sort of “reservation” to interpersonal distances, so when meeting new people I usually just talk with them like we’ve known for long time, and treat them as allies at first even if later I find out they are not.

1. How do you determine how much you like or dislike someone else? How does this affect your relationships?

I don’t like to be judgemental about people’s characters, unless they ruin the vibe of room or get in my way (in this case it will make me super vengeful). But if this person will be useful for me in the long run I’ll act much more politely when interacting with them.

1. How do you move from a distant relationship to a close one? What are the distinguishing characteristics of a close relationship?

Common ideologies and common interests in this order. It’s not me who’s making a bond but my ideologies and interests. Because of talking about those things, the relationships are strengthened.

1. How do you know that you are a moral person? Where do you draw your morality from? Do you believe others should share your beliefs on what's moral? Why?

Well define moral. How do you know the morality we’ve been told is really moral? You have to constantly ask why and again, using the devil’s advocate method to think. But according to me, some aspects of morality are clearly abolished or at the very least underrated by the society, like being intellectually curious and being highly conscientious, for me those values are clearly some of the most important in a person and everyone should see it.

1. Someone you care about is acting distant to you. How do you know when this attitude is a reflection of your relationship?

I know it by seeing their emotional responses, and if that’s an important person to me in the future then it will drive me mad and I’ll looking for other important people and try to establish relationships with them, if that’s a person betray me and my group of allies then I’ll revenge against them with my people and make them look super badly.

Section 7

1. How can you tell someone has the potential to be a successful person? What qualities make a successful person and why?

To be a successful person needs to be high in the hierarchy and to be seen as high in the hierarchy as well and theoretically everyone has the potential to be that. But precisely because everyone has the potential, I know I have to be better than all the others, and achieve more and higher positions than all the others.

1. Where would you start when looking for a new hobby? How do you find new opportunities and how do you choose which would be best?

When I think I’m not knowledgeable enough, because all my hobbies are intellect related and research related. I’m just too black and white thinking to know what would be the best way to go, but I wish I’m more flexible for different opportunities.

1. How do you interpret the following statement: "Ideas don't need to be feasible in order to be worthwhile." Do you agree or disagree, and why?

Yeah but they must have clear vision that goes beyond. It’s nice to have many ideas but in my opinion if the idea doesn’t have clear future vision you can simply put it apart. But then I envy people who can generate ideas out of nowhere, it’s very difficult for me to do so unless there’s a clear end goal or future vision then I can immediately generate loads of ideas around it.

1. Describe your thought process when relating the following ideas: swimming, chicken, sciences. Do you think that others would draw the same or different connections?

Some people might not think in the same way but here’s what I’m thinking: At what point did humans start to swim? How did swimming method develop and what are the basic concepts of it? What’s the highest hierarchy of swimming and how to achieve it? Why do some animals swim and some don’t? How do different animals swim and how does it relate to the animals’ evolution? How did chicken evolve from dinosaurs? Why is chicken the way they are now? Why is chicken considered one of the most popular meat we eat? How did we find science? How science related to philosophy? How does science develop and expand? What fields of science are there and what’s yet to be discovered? What’s the scientific aspects of human swimming, animal swimming and the biology of chicken?

1. How would you summarize the qualities that are essential to who you are? What kind of potential in you has yet to be actualized and why?

I’m a super weird person, sort of a combination of a high achiever who is very competitive, determined and efficient, a person who is extremely intellectually curious who wants to gain more knowledge from everything, be more intelligent and expertise at everything, and an artistic emo who is extremely sensitive but explosive and dramatic, can be whiny at times even. All three at the same time (I know it’s super hard to imagine a person with these three groups of qualities at once). Potential is achieving to the very top end of all hierarchies I’m already into. I can see the potential because again, theoretically everyone could have the potential so I must have the potential too.

Section 8

1. How do people change? Can you describe how various events change people? Can others see those changes?

People change by time because they experienced different things through different periods of their lives, they change both ideologically and practically. For example, I was quite an agreeable and introverted person as a kid, because I did not know I was super naive and didn’t know the value of thinking deeper and thinking in longer terms, but as I grew up, experienced more, read more, learned more, I began to think really deep and I realised how ridiculously idiotic and naive I was and how many years I wasted in my life. So I became more and more outspoken, aggressive, disagreeable, assertive and demanding through the years due to my extreme frustration. But on the other hand I’ve also seen people change in the reversed way. And the better the person you know, the more you can see their changes through the time.

1. How do you feel and experience time? Can time be wasted? How?

Time can and is often being wasted, sadly. I always wish I could waste less time and that’s why it’s super fucking painful to talk about my past and I hate to do so as well. I always feel like I could’ve done A if I didn’t do B, this kind of feeling triggers me just so much that is part of the reason why I have anger and frustration issues.

1. Is there anything that cannot be described with words? What is it? If so, how can we understand what it is if language does not work?

Words are one form of language but there are many forms of language including sounds, shapes, colours and motions. All forms of language can be communicated and if the message is clear enough can be understood. The key is the symbolism, what symbolism is the most communicable? What’s the most obvious way of communicating your message? In order to communicate well you have to exaggerate it, dramatise it or at least expand it to make the symbolic message clear enough for people to understand and that could be words or any other forms of language.

1. How do you anticipate events unfolding? How can you observe such unfoldments in your environment?

For me it’s just very natural and normal probably because I can see the pattern of how it goes through so I can immediately see how it will unfold. I always think anticipating events is very instinctual and I never understand how many people don’t see it, especially when it comes to world events and politics, the consequences are just right behind what you see and very straightforward as well. Some people called me a prophet because my forecasting of events is usually very spot on, but in my opinion it’s not a superpower or anything close to it, it’s just because the fact that an event doesn’t occur at that moment, it started long time ago and I don’t see the end of it because it will be in history therefore there’s no end.

1. In what situations is timing important? How do you know the time is right to act? How do you feel about waiting for the right moment?

Every single situation. Because again, a situation does not begin with the present moment and does not end at all, so you can see when is the time to act by seeing a situation as sort of horizontal motion lines. And as many events (as many horizontal motion lines) overlap with each other, some combinations will have much greater effect therefore that’s the right moment. And that moment itself is an even broader and larger horizontal motion line and will meet other large horizontal motion lines too, creating even bigger effects, and those effects will be bigger horizontal motion lines… etc, it goes on forever.

Cephalapod Genesis
The pharoah ejaculated into the river and in the sand the sperm found refuge and grew into papyrus. This an example of genesis.
Vampyrapods are the first intelligent species to live on this planet predating the dinosaurs. They came here somehow. They did not evolve on this planet. Perhaps just an ejaculated sperm from another being landing in the water. The direct offspring of this cephalapod is the modern octopus. Octopus are responsible for nearly every animal genesis on earth including humans and subsequently man made inventions and accomplishments. Octopus taught trees to fruit, destroyed the dinosaurs through becoming tapeworms, and even walked to the moon. Some of the animals you may recognize from the cellular genesis may have fused with the other local staples such as canine, equine, and feline, and reptile as well as temporarily the pachyderms in post-actualization causal genesis. This can be done by mating with, killing, eating, dying, being eaten, or simply a laying of hands or physical actions. Octopus only live for about 4.5 years of our relationship with time, but they have beaten death through a mix of telepathy and cannabalism. They've also mastered time travel. There are only 3 actual beings here. Others died in getting here and are fossilized. 2 males and 1 female survived. I call them Jack, Seth, and Claire. This is why the genesis had to completed this way as any direct offspring would not work. because theyve have infinite time to complete it, theyve walked over every inch of the planet and affected every species. In fact our own existence is simply the echo of the combined knowledge of the cephs. We are an amalgamation like the 'too much good stuff' guy from am/pm commercials. Make a bird with your hands. ¿Where are the beaks? The latest project is to use genetic science in order to bring back the mammoth and obtain a sixth digit from its feet. Should happen around 2027. When the vampyrapods first encountered life here it was eating their tentacles. So the first genesis occured in the offspring of those that ate of the tentacles. This is why modern cephs only have 8 limbs. The first language period is Enochian. A language of the eyes and limbs. Through different manipulation of limbs and eye fluctuations communication was made. After a while though telepathy became the established communication.
Here are some examples but not all of cephalapod genesis:
• Spiders (rare from trilobyte mix, had to go back in time to accomplish) (they had to avenge the original vampyrapods from being eaten from early organisms, thisnis how scorpions were able to evolve) • Mango (foilage and ceph mix. Ceph hung from a tree upside down) • Star fruit (the tree missed the octopus and tempted it to return) • Pinecone ( the bite marks of ceph beak eating the fruit of the trees) • Toucan (the beak formation from ceph in flux probably consuming a failed aviary) • Peacock (feather formations still in flux from limbs partial fusion) • Salamander (reptile/chameleon mix) (skin breathing evolution) •Sloth (feline and foilage mix) • Mistletoe bird (octopus ate a mushroom) • Lyrebird (mirage, digitage, and aviary from peacock and pheasant. Mastered the art of sound mimickry to develop better auditory communications) • Dung beetle (rolling backwards the earth through time) • VW bug (trunk up front) (mirage, digitage, pachyderm mix) (invented higher than the model T but arrived later in time) • Goliath bird-eating tarantula ( set a web to catch a bird which did not exist fully until the web was cast. When the spider consumed the bird the psuedo cannabalistic action resulted in a poison tree frog) • Snakes (a ceph lost its mating limb for some reason in a mirage mix experiment) • venemous snakes (a snake ate the eggs of its own offspring)(the cursed dinosaur souls live inside these) • Gumby (using hands to mold clay made a show about being an octopus) • Chameleon (reptile, ceph, foilage, mirage mix)(a ceph was purposely eaten by a komodo dragon to telepathically send a reverse osmosis of its makeup inside its body to another ceph that was attempting to kill the dinosaurs in the past. How they programmed the tapeworm to destroy them)

• Human organs (strife and love and tapeworm mix. Impregnating a mix of canine feline equine, ceph, pachyderm, reptilian, mirage, digitage, foilage, strife and love through years of experimentation lodged themselves systematically into more and more advanced versions and became functional in each iteration) • Sumi ink tattoo ink any ink really • The written word (anemone, sea urchin, porcupine quill, Bird feather and ink. Papyrus) • Floppy disk (suction cup on a piece of mail specifically a bill and the suction cup on the plastic window) • Cd, dvd, blu ray (laying of hands on a television screen) • Television (just a series of ceph exploring life through the inside of a glass tank with mirage and digitage mix) • Movie theater ( same but aquarium instead) • Papillon (love + insect from trilobyte and ink and papyrus needed training wheels to learn how to fly) • Taser (digitage mix of the two extra original tentacles lost from vampyrapod with mix of electric eel which was a detached limb of an octopus that had achieved ball lightning static existence) • Wisteria (ceph and foilage mix) (needed the seeds to play mancala or something) • Water strider (walked on water) • Lunar lander (digitage) (tapeworms in humans directed construction, the first electronic component gestalt high enough to become digital) (a tree really wanted to go to the moon) • Champagne cork (Ate some bark, vent plugged up and had to pee really bad) • Electrostatic Ball (attempting time travel, a ceph was meditating in complete non movement inside a digitized mirage flashing irridescence until it passed away) • Ball lightning (time travel attempt Same ceph tried a pure digitage and mirage mix) • Gnarwal (chameleon tongue, mirage and pachyderm) • Light bulb (ceph + mirage + digitage mix) (octopus crawled into a mirage jar and was irridescent) • Liquor bottle (octopus got stuck in a fulgarite and died temporarily trapping its soul in reflection but the invention of cork escaped it) • Silly string (mirage mix) (angry octopus sprayed another with diarhea from its vent) • Tapeworms (had to brave a walk into a volcano and die. As the octopus melted while running, it evolved the turkey, turkey vulture, vulture, and was just a slithering worm by the time it was engulfed by lava) • The Ten Commandments (vampyrapod fossils brought by a tapewormed moses to show people and try and explain the religion) • Dumbo (actually just a tiny cute octopus) • Hydra from capt america (introducing the public to idealogy of cephs) • Tobacco leaf (the laying of hands on deciduous plantlife, a gift to the early iterations of human) • Cow (equine ceph and pachyderm mix) essentially the Orca ate the Octopus, in its 4th stomach it finally died and so when the cow who has 4 stomachs manifested it came with udders symbolic of the octopus genesis in post actualization-causation • Rapa nui. The end of time. (Great stone heads disembodied) (mirage and strife)the final resting place. A graveyard. A place of rest always available

I'm going to do something a bit different and take a close look at two major works from the DC Universe: Darwyn Cooke's The New Frontier, and James Robinson and Paul Smith's The Golden Age. If you're playing along at home, the texts I'm using are The Absolute New Frontier from 2006 and The Golden Age trade paperback from 1995.
First a bit of personal context: I didn't enjoy The New Frontier when it first came out, serialized in six quite expensive installments. I loved Cooke's art, I loved the use of some of the more obscure DC war characters, and I loved the characterization of the Martian Manhunter, but the narrative didn't work for me when read in small monthly doses back in 2004. I had read all of the full-length work Cooke had done up until 2004, and none of it had disappointed me at all. But The New Frontier seemed to read more like a tour through the 1950s and 1960s than an actual story. It wasn't until the final issue that I really understood what Cooke was leading up to, but then it was over, and I didn't have the time or the inclination to dig out the back issues and read the whole thing in one sitting. Even when I got the two-volume trade paperback collection a couple of years ago (in an eBay lot of trade paperbacks I bought off of none other than comic book scholar George Khoury), I still didn't bother to read it. To paraphrase Hemingway's Frederic Henry, we don't do the things we want to do.
So I never actually read the entire text of The New Frontier until this past winter, when I was able to sit down with the luxurious Absolute edition and dive into Cooke's illustrated world. I enjoyed it immensely, enough that I wanted to reread it again this summer, which is what I have just done, and now I want to talk about it. But I don't want to talk about it in isolation, and I'm interested in the connection between texts, so I'll also talk about its logical precursor: The Golden Age.
Like The New Frontier, Robinson and Smith's The Golden Age deals with the era between the 1940s and the 1960s. The era in which the comic book Golden Age grew into the comic book Silver Age. The era in which America was undergoing its own transformation, moving from threats abroad to suspicion at home. And just as I had difficulty enjoying The New Frontier as a serialized comic, I couldn't appreciate The Golden Age in that manner either. I only bought the first two issues, actually, back in the early 1990s, and then I lost interest, vaguely thinking that I might buy it as a collected edition some day (even though collections were not guaranteed the way they are today). I did buy it when the trade paperback was released, and because I had never finished it originally, I read the collection immediately. And I liked it. But I thought it was deeply flawed.
I reread The Golden Age yesterday, after thinking about it in regards to The New Frontier. It's not a surprising connection, after all. Cooke himself claims The Golden Age as an inspiration for his own work. But my memory of The Golden Age was a bit hazy, and I recalled it being a much more cynical view of the territory than what Cooke achieved in The New Frontier. My recall was pretty accurate--Robinson and Smith present a quite cynical view of the late Golden Age America.
Now that I've read both works back-to-back, I'm interested in exploring what each says about super-heroes, what each says about America, and how each achieves its (very different) effects. These are the kinds of things I'll be looking at over the next few days.
James Robinson's use of History in The Golden Age
One of the things that strikes me about both The New Frontier and The Golden Age is the way the creators weave American history into their stories. On the surface, such a technique might not be surprising, especially considering that both tales take place in the past. And while it may be true that a so-called "historical novel" or "period film" would be amiss to neglect the details of history which fit its setting, the same isn't always true for comics.
In comics, stories set in the past tend to take place in some vague memory of the past, without any apparent intent in locking the stories into a particular date or era. Take the typical origin stories, or "Year One" stories which DC Comics' creators have retold again and again. In such a story, whether it be Miller and Mazzuchelli's take on Batman, or Waid, Augustyn, and Kitson's take on the Justice League, the setting lacks a distinct time stamp. The characters are younger, true, but the setting lacks specific period detail. The reason for this isn't at all surprising, because locking the characters' past into a specific date would require some major explanations about their ages in the present. Had Miller time-stamped the date on Batman: Year One, and included captions saying "May 3rd, 1980," or whatever, then that might have worked for a few years, but even if we assume that Batman was only 23 when he took inspiration from that window-smashing flying rodent, according to that temporal continuity, he'd be 50 years old in the current stories. And he's clearly not.
So we expect stories set in the past to avoid any kind of specific references to contemporary history, at least in comics. A recent jarring exception to that can be found in Diggle and Jock's newly released Green Arrow: Year One, in which a young Oliver Queen references the "Kevin Costner" Robin Hood. That means Queen must have become Green Arrow sometime in the mid-1990s, which might explain his age today (if he was 22 in 1992, he'd be 37 today, which might be right), but it also implies that his son Connor must only be a teenager today, and he's clearly older than that. Perhaps the reference will work better 10 years from now when the Kevin Costner reference will become part of the vague historical past, but right now it seems too current to make sense.
Anyway, the other MAJOR exception to the rule of not using historical references in comics is the case of stories set during World War II. Even comic books written at the time of WWII regularly included time-stamp references in a way that later comics tended to avoid. Yes, since then, Superman has met Kennedy, and you might see analogues of Bill Clinton or George W. in a story or two, but in the 1940s heroes came face to face with major historical figures (contemporaries to them) on an almost daily basis. Here's FDR! Here's Superman grabbing Hitler on a cover! Here's Tojo! Here's Hawkman enlisting in the army to fight overseas! Etc. Such close ties between "comic book reality" and real-life events never matched the heights of the WWII comics.
And that's why later writers, Roy Thomas MOST prominently among them (he practically invented the whole idea of historical nostalgia super-hero comics), felt compelled to weave actual historical events into the retelling of stories from the WWII era. Thomas's Invaders for Marvel and his All-Star Squadron for DC playfully fit the timeline of actual US history into the fictional timeline of the past super-heroes. In his letter columns, Thomas would often explain (or justify, for the more contentious fans) how the chronology worked.
But, other than WWII era-stories, most comic book stories that take place in the past (unless they are time travel stories, which have their own rules) DO NOT USE SPECIFIC HISTORICAL REFERENCES. It's weird to imagine novels or films avoiding such references—they would surely be criticized for it—but in comics, it's commonplace.
So, in the case of both The New Frontier and The Golden Age, you have two rather significant violations of that standard "rule." And both of which seem deeply indebted to the type of approach Roy Thomas favored so much.
Let's take The Golden Age first, since it was published a decade before Cooke's work. The Golden Age seems like a logical off-shoot of Thomas's All-Star Squadron. It features many of the same characters, and Johnny Quick, a relatively obscure DC character from the past, would certainly not have been a suitable narrator for the story without the characterization Thomas provided in years of All-Star Squadron stories. James Robinson is clearly building on the foundation Thomas created. So, it's not surprising that he would, like Thomas, blend US history into his story. Yet Robinson's approach differs in two distinct ways: (1) He doesn't seem interested in the exact historical details and how they fit into his timeline—he seems more interested in the general sense of historical forces of the time, and (2) Unlike Thomas, who was writing out of a Golden and Silver Age optimism and a belief in the American Dream, Robinson was writing from a post-Watchmen perspective, as a foreign-born writer, who could play with the cynical expectations of the time.
Thus, Robinson gives us coke-sniffing "super-heroes," corruption, brutality, and sex in a tale which features the "pure" heroes of the DC Golden Age of comics. Robinson's approach is not to use specific elements of McCarthyism or the Red Scare (even though those ideas are referenced at least once), but to use the general sense of paranoia and panic, the cynical manipulation of the public for personal gain, and the looming threat of the bomb.
Ultimately, however, Robinson uses all of this as a backdrop for a traditional super-hero romp. The coke-sniffing "super-hero" turns out to be Hitler in disguise!!! (Well, actually the brain of Hitler in the body of a former kid sidekick—talk about a symbol of corruption!) And the hero-turned-power-hungry-politician in the form of the patriotic Mr. America turns out to be old JSA villain the Ultra-Humanite, who knows a thing or two about brain transplants. So, in the end, it's just a classic Golden Age story about punching Hitler and defeating an evil genius.
But it's Robinson's historical subtext which makes the story resonate. It's his use of those undercurrents of paranoia and despair which make these formerly perfect heroes of the past seem flawed and human. His story starts dark and becomes darker but, by the end, Robinson's veil of cynicism falls away, and he reveals himself to be a humanist, if not an optimist. His reverence for these Golden Age characters would not let them be truly corrupted—it had to be evil masterminds and Hitler all along.
And that, perhaps, is one of the failures of The Golden Age. The shock of the initial chapters is just a ruse, and as low as these characters seem to sink, everything can be explained by pseudo-science and comic book logic.
It's just another Justice Society of America story, ultimately, but it's a good one. And Robinson's use of the undercurrents from that era of history make it work, even if it never transcends its roots.
The New Frontier and Camelot
While The Golden Age used the historical subtext to evoke currents of paranoia and doom in a super-hero story, The New Frontier approaches history with a different agenda. As Ultimate Matt pointed out in response to yesterday's post, The Golden Age is labeled an "Elseworlds" title, which not only grants it an exemption from DC continuity, but it allows more freedom for the creators to take the characters and setting in a fresh direction.
The New Frontier, however, is not labeled as an "Elseworlds." And yet, it strays far more from the currently accepted version of continuity than The Golden Age does. The key word there is "accepted." Darwyn Cooke, in his annotations, states that he approached The New Frontier with a set of rules:

1. The timeline is real and covers 1945 to 1960. Silver Age characters appear at the time DC started publishing them.
   
2. Retcons haven't happened yet.
   
3. No New Frontier retcons could contradict original continuity—they had to complement existing continuity or show a fresh point of view.
   
4. When the story ended, everything had to be as it was when the JLA debuted in Brave and the Bold #28.
   
5. Snapper Carr does not exist.
   

In other words, you should be able to pull out your original comics from that era (or the Archive editions) and read them concurrently with The New Frontier and nothing Cooke does should contradict what happens in those old comics.
The problem with the continuity is that the comics from that era didn't have any continuity. It was never explained how a character could be on the moon in one issue of his own comic, and under the ocean in the same month in his Justice League adventure. All Golden and Silver Age DC continuity is a retcon. So what Cooke did was create his own continuity—he made his own sense out of the various adventures as they were originally published, although the bulk of the book deals with the time between major events. Just like The Golden Age, The New Frontier is about filling in the gaps.
While James Robinson filled the pre-Silver Age gap with an almost allegorical tale of Cold War paranoia and corruption, Darwyn Cooke fills the gap with a sense of wonder and idealism, and he uses his attitude toward history to solidify that tone.
Cooke's approach takes three strands: (1) The Right Stuff-inspired history of that era, embodied by the test pilots and early astronauts, (2) The early promise of the Kennedy administration, and (3) The strange DC comics history as seen in the stories published during that time. Cooke uses the first two strands to illuminate the latter. He puts the Silver Age ascension into perspective as part of a generation of hope and achievement. He shows that the formation of the Justice League was not a random incident, but part of a larger historical movement which led (in our reality) to things like the Peace Corps and Apollo 11.
Cooke ties together such disparate elements as The War that Time Forgot, The Challengers of the Unknown, Dr. Seuss, and all of the characters who would join the initial incarnation of the JLA into a single narrative. And although it takes quite a while before the villain emerges and the heroes band together, the narrative is structured around the real historical forces that would have shaped the creation of these characters. John Broome doesn't wax poetically about the symbolism of Hal Jordan's career as a test pilot in the original Green Lantern run from the Silver Age, but Cooke takes the fact that he was a test pilot and places him in the actual context of such a man. He even includes a scene where the young Jordan meets Chuck Yeager.
That's quite a different approach to history than we saw in The Golden Age, which covers a very similar time frame.
Although Cooke didn't intend (according to his "rules") to change any of the original stories, his interpretation of "fresh point of view" allows him to add things which would have been more historically true even if they weren't addressed in the comics of the time. For example, he not only changes Wonder Woman into an almost plump, hawkish, zestful character (to signify her Greek origins and Amazon heritage), but he creates an entirely new character to illuminate the civil rights struggle of the time. Since he had no black DC characters to draw upon, he created a Silver Age analogue to Steel, the black Superman ally. The Silver Age Steel, unlike his modern equivalent, isn't a technological marvel. Instead, this earlier incarnation of John Henry suffers at the hands of the KKK before taking vengeance, and ultimately dying when he's betrayed by an uncaring white America (symbolized by a blonde little girl, who points out his location to his pursuers). John Henry never meets the Justice League or teams up with any heroes. His death doesn't affect them at all, really, since they didn't know him. But Cooke includes a scene where Edward R. Murrow mourns the fallen hero and laments the state of the country, bringing an actual historical personage into the DC story.
The civil rights subplot, although powerful, is overwhelmed by the exceeding optimism of the other plot threads. Cooke's America, as full of conflict as it might have been, is one of scientific progress and movement toward a brighter future. His villain, ultimately revealed to be Dinosaur Island itself (a sentient being who has unleashed monster after monster), is even more absurd than the Hitler-brain-transplant nemesis in The Golden Age, but because Cooke accentuates the fun and spectacle of the super-heroes (and, to be clear, his emphasis is on the men and women in the costumes, and the risks they take for their heroism), the absurdity of the villain doesn't detract from the story.
Both The Golden Age and The New Frontier end with similar images (the first appearance of the Justice League banded together) and similar sentiments (hope for the future), but where James Robinson built that hope out of the wreckage of the 1940s, Darwyn Cooke builds it out of the dreams of the men and women who sacrificed for the promise of tomorrow.
Both books end with optimism for comic books and optimism for our country, but they took starkly different approaches to get there.
The Unstoppable Force of Progress: Characterization in The New Frontier
Since both The New Frontier and The Golden Age re imagine comic book chronology through one part actual US history, one part comic book history, and one part imagination, it's not surprising to find both Cooke and Robinson taking liberties with the characterization of these pre-Silver Age heroes. Both creators ask the question asked by any creator attempting to retell stories from the past: Okay, this is how they were portrayed, but what were the characters who did these things REALLY like?
I'll start by looking at The New Frontier. Cooke doesn't focus his story on one dominant point of view the way Robinson does (with Johnny Quick), but he tells his story through a few central characters:
Rick Flagg: Leader of the WWII-era Suicide Squad (and presumably the father, or grandfather, of the Ostrander-penned incarnation). Cooke presents him as a tough guy cliché. He's a Hemingway hero—he does what needs to be done and doesn't whine about it or waver in his determination. In Act III of the narrative, his position in the story is replaced by the similarly-characterized King Faraday, who also does what needs to be done, although he seems to have more internal conflict than Flagg. Faraday is a spy, after all, not a soldier. But both characters represent a government which has the best interests of the country in mind. If they hurt a few individuals along the way, that's a necessary sacrifice for the good of the many.
Hal Jordan: The man who would be Green Lantern is NOT portrayed as a cocky rocket jock, as he usually is in contemporary interpretations. Cooke turns his lack of fear into a self-destructive streak stemming from his face-to-face act of self-defense in Korea. In Cooke's universe, Jordan doesn't immediately become a hero just because an alien handed him a ring. It takes time for Jordan to learn that he deserves to be a hero, and that's a large part of what The New Frontier is about. He doesn't reveal himself in Green Lantern costume until AFTER he risks his life to save the world working as a pilot. The two-page "hero shot" of the characters walking towards camera (a la The Right Stuff) shows some costumed heroes, but Jordan is wearing a flight suit. Cooke seems to be showing that he needed to prove himself TO himself before he could accept his new identity, but his reluctance to use the power of the ring leads to Nathaniel Adam's death. (Adam is later reborn as Captain Atom in the comics, but that doesn't happen in this story, and as far as Jordan should be concerned, Adam is dead.) Cooke doesn't provide Jordan with any time for remorse, though, since he needs to use his ring to kick alien butt. The ring, by the way, is also shown as a symbol of destructive energy. When Jordan first uses it, he cannot control it, and it causes great damage. Cooke, then, seems to indicate that the ring might symbolize nuclear energy, and the subtext would be that Jordan's hesitance to use it led to another hero's death. Ultimately, Jordan is Cooke's symbol of the Kennedy era: conflicted, yet determined to bring forth a positive future—harnessing great powers for the good of the nation (and the world).
John Jones, the Manhunter from Mars: Jones says, "...this is a world where good and evil struggle in all levels of existence. I want to be a force for good." That's a simplistic view of humanity, but it's one seemingly shared by Cooke throughout this work. Good and evil may not be easily discernible on the surface, and Cooke gives us the threatening-looking John Henry (with a hangman's hood) as a hero and a little blonde girl as a villain, but the line between good and evil is absolute (and, in fact, John Jones assumes the role of a film-noirish detective so he can find the evil beneath the surface appearance of the world). Jones defines this ethical stance for the reader, and it represents the code of Golden and Silver Age comic books, which lacked anything but absolutes. Even though Cooke might try to provide some not-so-subtle shades of gray (Jordan as a murderer, Wonder Woman as feminist avenger, an undercurrent of xenophobia), his view of history seems to echo the simplicity of the comic book stories of the era. Individuals may not have always done the right things at all times, but it was an era of progress, and good triumphed over evil. The subtext could also indicate that governmental order triumphed over chaotic nature, with the unified heroes, under the leadership of the US government, destroying a threat that wasn't so much malicious as it was animalistic.
Even though Cooke's characterization of some of these characters, Hal Jordan in particular, might not match traditional representations of these individuals, I think it works in the context of the story. The characters serve the story and add a few layers to the text, but it's primarily a historical action spectacle, a celebration of progress over stagnation, and Cooke's characterization unifies the text. I don't think his characters have many hidden depths, but I think their lack of depth matches a story which is primarily about the grand force of history.
As one final observation: Cooke is actually better at small character moments with the minor characters than he is at developing convincing lead characters. The death of Johnny Cloud, Jimmy Olsen's eagerness, the sassiness of Carol Ferris, and several other character bits show Cooke's facility on the small scale, even if his epic narrative doesn't provide the opportunity for subtle nuances with the major characters.
Characterization in The Golden Age: Dragging Heroes to Earth
While Cooke ignores anyone else's retroactive continuity to graft archetypal personalities onto the early Silver Age heroes in The New Frontier, Robinson takes characters straight out of Roy Thomas's All-Star Squadron (like Johnny Quick on the left here) and Young All-Stars and sends them on a dark journey into the 1950s. Robinson does not re imagine these characters drastically, although he seems to do so with Mr. America (but that's part of his narrative ruse). Instead, he takes their established characterization and expands upon it by adding seeds of self-doubt, paranoia, and despair as the characters face a world in which the villains are not as easily identified as they once were. Robinson misdirects the reader at first by pretending to adopt a simplified Watchmen approach, pretending that he's showing what these characters would have been like without costumed villains to fight or gangsters to punch, when, in truth, he's simply changed the nature of the evil to something more covert and less easy to spot. (Which might seem Watchmen-esque as well, except Alan Moore showed us that the heroes were the villains in that story, and here, Robinson ultimately reveals that secret villains with brain-transplant powers were behind the whole thing from the beginning.)
Here's a quick rundown of the central characters in The Golden Age:
Johnny Chambers, a.k.a Johnny Quick: Johnny not only provides the book-ends to the story but, as a documentary filmmaker, he provides the exposition which sets up the story context. One of the things Robinson does NOT do well here, by the way, is clearly distinguish between narrative voice (provided through white, rectangular caption boxes), and newsreel voice over (also provided by white, rectangular caption boxes), although perhaps the colorist was supposed to use different color cues for each and didn't. The CHARACTERS who narrate, like Johnny Chambers, each have their own style of caption—Johnny's are rounded and blue, as you can see in the image. Actually, it's not that it's so difficult to identify the narrative voice, it's just that there is an omniscient narrator who pops up every once in a while for no good reason, and tells us things about the story sometimes, while other times he sounds like he's trying to give us character thoughts but not really: the highly subjective "fingers...fumbling...focusing...trying to..." immediately follows the objective "a photographer lurks among the rubble." The photographer is the one who's fingers are supposedly fumbling as he tries to snap the photo, so why does the caption sound like a bad Batman internal monologue? This really has nothing to do with Johnny Chambers, but I just wanted to point out this major flaw in the narration throughout. With so many characters (Johnny being one) actually providing narration through captions, why does Robinson add an omniscient narrator also? It's jarring and ineffective. It's like he took the strategies of Watchmen with the multiple points of view, and then spliced the conventional narrator on top of it. It just doesn't work.
But a few more things about Johnny: He smokes, and he wears glasses. He still has his powers, but even though they would help him in his day job, he doesn't use them. And he's incredibly suspicious, which is the characteristic that makes him the character the reader most identifies with. He's also lost the woman he loves because he works too hard, although he gets her back in the end. In short, he's a slightly older (although he actually seems to get younger as the story progresses, perhaps symbolizing his return to heroic stature), slightly more sullen, slightly more flawed version of the character we saw in the comics produced in the 1980s (even though those stories were set in the 1940s). He refers to his costumed self as "That Jerk!" at the beginning of the story, but ends on a hopeful note as he describes a "new age...fresh and clear and bright...as sterling silver!" He's never really a cynic, but his pessimism and self-loathing turns to optimism in the end (even quickly dismissing the threat of McCarthyism to look ahead to the glowing future of super-heroics).
Paul Kirk, a.k.a Manhunter: If we play out the James-Robinson-is-trying-to-do-Watchmen-but-not-as-well game a bit more, we could say that if Johnny Chambers is the Dan Dreiberg analogue (the low-self-esteem voice of reason and calm) then Paul Kirk is clearly the Rorschach character. He's the crazy one who will surely upset the apple cart, yet isn't that what has to happen in order to get to the truth? That's his role, anyway. Unlike Rorschach (in his insane way), Kirk doesn't have a methodical approach to uncovering the truth. In fact, he's tormented by the truth, which lies buried beneath mind implants, exploding into awareness only through a series of horrible dreams. He seems deeply disturbed because of the War, but he's actually deeply disturbed because of the secrets he knows. He's another character, like Johnny, who seems to become more youthful and vibrant in the final Act, when he is able to unleash his demons through old-fashioned fisticuffs. Unlike Johnny, though, he visibly suffers for a long time before he reaches the point of action. Here's a sample of his internal monologue from one of his many tortured dreams: "Save the eagle. Save it. Save—n...no...nooooohhhh!!" Then he wakes up and thinks, "Still afraid." That's about the extent of his characterization. He's tormented, fearful, and knows he should be better than that. And, "save the eagle?" Geez, I wonder what in the world that could possibly mean in a book about corruption within the American government. Clearly, even though this book is directed at an older audience than the original Golden Age tales, Robinson keeps his symbolism quite simplistic.
Tex Thompson, a.k.a. Mr. America, and Daniel Dunbar, a.k.a. Dan the Dyna-Mite: These are the two characters most radically changed from their Golden Age counterparts. Mr. America was a whip-wielding patriotic hero and Dan was a kid sidekick who later, under Roy Thomas's writerly guidance, became one of the lead characters in Young All-Stars. In Robinson's story, Mr. America becomes a corrupt politician who seeks power by any means necessary, and Dan the Dyna-Mite becomes America's beloved Dynaman, the only active costumed crime fighter of the time. And he snorts coke. And he's evil.
Neither of these two characters have internal monologues via captions for the reader, because that would give away the twist. Tex Thompson is not really who he seems, for he has the brain of the evil Ultra-Humanite (who has in previous stories adopted the forms of a gigantic white gorilla and a hot ex-starlet, among others). And Daniel Dunbar, who has fallen so far from grace in our eyes (a former teen sidekick with a drug problem whoring around) actually has the BRAIN OF ADOLF HITLER!
So there's not much to say about the characterization here, since these are two evil characters in the most simplistic way. What is interesting, though, is that (a) Robinson chooses one character, Thompson, who seems vaguely sleazy to modern readers anyway, what with that whip and the mustache, and when he's shown to be corrupt, we can buy into it, falling into Robinson's trap of thinking that it's just a regular dude becoming corrupted by power; and (b) Robinson's use of the pure and innocent Dunbar is also a good choice, because it is not only shocking to see him corrupted so extremely (before the truth of the brain-swap is revealed), but it's a nod to cultural expectations about former child stars, who, by the 1990s, were expected to grow up and become criminals or drug addicts or worse, at least by our tabloid-fascinated society.
Like a director who makes his film better through excellent casting, Robinson uses the right two ex-heroes in the apparent role of the villains. His bait-and-switch works, although I was personally disappointed that the threat turned out to be external (evil villains) and not the corruption of these characters from within.
Robinson uses other characters to show the corruption of innocence and loss of the heroic dream. Robotman, so noble in Roy Thomas's All-Star Squadron, has lost any humanity by the time of this story—he's pure machine, while Alan Scott, Green Lantern is conflicted about his duty as a business leader and law-abiding citizen and his passion for ring-slinging and butt-kicking. Hourman is shown to be addicted to his Miraclo pills, while the man once known as the Tarantula is an egoist with writer's block. Ted Knight, Starman, who Robinson would go on to write with great depth and sensitivity in the ongoing series about Jack Knight, is a mad genius who is trying to put the pieces of this shattered world together through science.
I should add here that Robinson, unlike Cooke, isn't drawing from the original sources as the basis for his story. He's adapting his characterizations from the work done during contemporary comics, as Roy Thomas provided retroactive characterization (and explanations) for the WWII-era heroes. Robinson is building on the layers which Roy Thomas built upon the layers which Gardner Fox (among others) built.
Overall, Robinson does provide a sense of disillusionment in his characterizations in this story, even if his narrative technique is sometimes sloppy or inconsistent. Cooke tried to add a bit of humanity to iconic characters in his work, but he was mostly interested in the icons of the era. Robinson drags his characters down into the muck and then builds them back up again, hoping to show how their inner humanity wins out (with all of its flaws) in the face of systematic adversity. Cooke's characters inhabit the skies, the stars. Robinson's characters live on the ground.
So, the final verdict, after looking at The Golden Age and The New Frontier for a week: Not much different than my initial assessment after reading them both last weekend. The Golden Age is flawed because of its inconsistent narrative point of view and it's cheap, brain-swapping revelations. Robinson and Smith capture the disillusionment and paranoia of the time quite well, but it all amounts to nothing except a superhero slug fest in the end. It's 80% of a great work, and 20% of stuff that doesn't quite fit (including the optimistic ending, which seems unearned). As part of a larger, genre-wide trend to make super-heroes more "realistic," violent, and depressing, I'm not a huge fan of its influence.
The New Frontier is flawed, but it's a flawed masterpiece, and I can imagine revisiting the story many times in the future (and I can't say the same about The Golden Age). Cooke tries to include too much in the narrative, and the main threat of Monster Island isn't presented as well as it needs to be, but the book contains dozens of amazing sequences, and it features sharp, engaging characters who flash in and out of the story. The speed of the narrative demands that the book be read quickly, and it works best when read this way, not because it allows the reader to gloss over the weak parts of the story, but because The New Frontier is an overture, and can be best appreciated when all of its notes are heard in rapid sequence. I didn't love it when it first came out, in the completely inappropriate floppy installments, but I loved it after reading the Absolute version a week ago, and I love it just as much after studying it closely all week.
As one final thought: Both The Golden Age and The New Frontier tap so deeply into comic book lore, and I am so deeply embedded in it myself, that I wonder if either of these works has any merit for a "civilian" reader. And I wonder if, perhaps, the darker, more "realistic" tone would be appealing to a non-comics fan, more so, perhaps, than the wide-eyed optimism (tinged with bits of darkness) seen in Cooke's work. Or would the non-comics fan find both stories completely useless and without merit? Are both works examples of the snake swallowing its own tail? I've already been swallowed by the snake of comic book geekery, so I can't answer that one.
SOURCE

New Flash everyone: the guy who hangs out with Daniel Greene(a pro-fairy rights socialist), is loved by redditors, and got a Hugo award is… woke. Who would have ever seen that coming? But, thanks to Jon Del Arroz making a video about it on May 18th, I am here to repeat the news back to you so there is an easily accessible source as to HOW he’s woke. Everything was revealed back in January 2023, but I want people to understand the implications and narrative that he’s presenting when he says his concerns about fairy rights. By the end of this, you will realize that people calling themselves Christian does not cause them to be immune to wokeness.
In fact, with how Christianity has influenced wokeness into existence, it’s likely a lot of "Christians" are what we can call “first wave wokeness”.
For context, Brandon Sanderson is a Mormon, part of the Latter-Day Saints (LDS). Mormonism is almost exclusively a US issue, and I’ve also noticed that there are a lot of youtubers who tend to be Mormon women(probably because they have other women in the house to do the chores). These people are great with money, big in business, and their church is anti-fairy. A lot of problems the fairy-rights activists have are with Mormon churches, which is strange for Europeans to witness with how open a lot of their churches are, outside of the US. Protestant, evangelical, unitarian, the national church of Denmark, it’s a big list.
But in 2008, Brandon wrote an essay about his Mormon beliefs on how Dumbledore from Harry Potter liked to have wands stirred around in his brown cauldron. His quote:

How does this relate to Dumbledore? I'm not trying to present him as an antagonist or a villain. All I'm saying is that if you believe in the truth of your message, then you shouldn't care if someone decent, respected, and intelligent is depicted as believing differently from yourself. Decent, respected, and intelligent people can be wrong--and you can still respect them. It's okay. That doesn't threaten our points, since we (theoretically) believe that they are eternal and stronger than any argument we could make.

Back in this time, Brandon had only been an author for 3 years, but he won an award for his first published book, Elantris. He was being careful with his words, and his take is considered liberal. He was trying to defend the backlash JK Rowling received for her (poor) choice of virtue signaling and tried to mend this defense with his own religion. Mentioning his religious views is what got him canceled back then, which he later apologized for in 2011:

I cannot be deaf to the pleas of [fairy] couples who want important things, such as hospital visitation rights, shared insurance, and custody rights. At the same time, I accept and sustain the leaders of the LDS church. I believe that a prophet of God has said that widespread legislation to approve [fairy] marriage will bring pain and suffering to all involved.

He was not backing down from his religion yet. His goal post moved to the legal ramifications of the US, which are separate from his church(remember, church and state, supposed to be separate in the US), but he was still saying his religion wanted him to oppose people calling it a marriage and having it in churches. This was a second “cancellation” that didn’t go very far, mostly because he was able to use religion as an excuse for his take, with the Christian Cake Packed With Fudge Scandal not happening yet(2018).
Fast forward to 2023, after he hangs out with a bunch of woke youtubers, and we get a new quote from Brandon:

The church’s first prophet, Joseph Smith, famously taught, “I teach them correct principles and they govern themselves.” My current beliefs are where I’ve arrived on my journey, as I attempt to show the love that Jesus Christ taught. I look forward to seeing further changes in the church, and I work to make sure I am helping from within it to create a place that is welcoming of [fairy] people and ideas. I would love, for example, to see the church recognize [fairy] marriage among its members. Both temporally and eternally. I would support ordaining [tinkerbell] men to the priesthood. (And would support the ordination of women, though that is another issue.)

That’s interesting. It seems like he made a complete 180 on his stance, claims that he’s always believed this new stance, blames Jesus for this new stance, and then doubles down on this new stance by adding female ordination(becoming a priest and higher) and even Tinkerbells. As time went on, he decided that his religion was totally wrong about fairies, and this 13 year difference means way more than the nearly 200 years Mormonism has been around. I believe a fellow Mormon, Shadversity, would love to have a discussion about how any of this makes sense, but I’m starting to feel that he’s the same way. Who knows if Ethan Van Sciver understands Mormonism as well as Brandon Sanderson does, with how easy it is to manipulate prophecies and reinterpret scripture.
But that’s been the point for a while, right?
Wokeness is here to restructure both historical evidence and even religions, in order to shift cultures and social institutions to obey this progressive change. Words are changed in the dictionary, social “norms” are changed to be updated for a “modern audience”, and postmodernists like Foucault were able to trick college kids into thinking the Greeks were all pixie fairies. Once a critical theorist gets their hands on something with power, their goal is not to keep it as it is. It is to keep it for themselves. This is why you will hear these people say everything is subjective, which is secret code for “Look at me: I’m the captain of reality now.”
But wait, it gets better! Brandon Sanderson continued with:

Back in 2007, I was mostly known only in my community, not to the world at large. The essay, then, was directed at my local community, and was more controversial among them (for being too liberal) than it was controversial to the world at large for being [fairy]phobic. That might surprise you, if you’ve read the excerpts that often float around the internet. This was mostly me trying to encourage other members of the church to be more open and welcoming of [fairy] characters and ideas.
That said, the essay does display the casual bigotry common to people who (like myself) have lived lives where we haven’t had to deal with some of the issues common to the lives of people suffering discrimination. Many of the assertions (such as my view on [fairy] marriage) do not reflect my current stance. After writing it, and interacting with those who found it objectionable–even painful–I came to understand them and their experiences better. Though they did not owe me that honor, they gave it freely.

You see, he's honored to hear about the life of a bug chaser.
Brandon cares deeply about the pain he caused to his wallet… I mean the fairies who saw his essay. He was an award winning author back then, he didn’t know it would be a global thing. It was supposed to be only seen by people in Utah, that’s it. This is what we call: bullshit. The woke rely heavily on gaslighting and pretending they’re ignorant of everything, while telling others that they need to learn and understand EVERYTHING about a subject before they are even able to mention it.
He was already big on reddit, he knew all about his fandom, and he knew about his publisher, Tor. The only thing that really changed is that now he is unable to stick to being liberal and he has to present himself as progressive. Why? Well, the new Amazon deal happened recently, and he’s the writer of the series The Wheel of Time. As if Rings of Power wasn’t evidence enough of how Amazon mistreats their properties, Brandon was forced to erase his own past, like Agent J in Men in Black, burning his own hands in the process.
I’m not surprised that he’s woke or even that Christians are falling to this woke inquisition. When I said first wave wokeness, I would like to clarify why it’s the catalyst for all of this stupidity. Wokeness is not of Christian values, but instead a parasite upon Christianity, in the same way Gnosticism and Satanism would be. When Christianity started to allow new sects, and a lot of these were considered valid, the crazy sex cults of the 60s opened the floodgates for a bunch of crazy reinterpretations. It’s the same way as how there are still circles of Christianity that go for flat earth theory or say that dinosaurs don’t exist, with these people usually at the forefront of the home-schooling movement.
It’s not that home-schooling is bad by itself, it’s that bad people use it to then have the good people using it be wrongfully grouped into the same area, in the same way gun-ownership does. This type of bastardization has always been a problem in the US, due to the lack of authority over what makes something categorized as such a thing, thanks to liberalism allowing the freedom to constantly change things. As time went on, this liberalism changed into progressivism, with the key difference being that liberalism is an allowance of change while progressivism is an enforced change. The liberalism of the 1800s allowed the Confederates to claim Christianity approved of their enslavement of black people, by blaming the story of Ham and using scripture to claim it was okay to enslave certain people for generations. We always see this strange cherry-picking of scripture from fake Christians, and this problem has expanded into the Vatican itself with the current and following generations of Popes.
A lot of times, we’ll hear news about how Christians are under attack, a bakery is targeted to expose discrimination, or even where people claim they were banned from twitch for being Christian. But what they get wrong is that they are in the same circle as liberal and progressive Christianity, their openness created this weakness to tourism, and most Christian circles have been taken over in the US since before the 60s. The south has a culture of being liberal, Mormons have a culture of being liberal, protestants are very liberal, all because the US began as a liberal culture in the form of classical liberalism. The libertarian argument is always used by these liberal groups, that changes into the progressive enforcement, and over the years these liberal people get infected by the virus.
Add money to the mix, and we have ourselves an endless chain of liberal minded people falling to wokeness. The “redemption” narrative, along with original sin, from Christianity is currently its main weakness. The appeal to ignorance is another weakness, with people playing skeptic as a snake slithers through the grass. Christianity isn’t the problem by itself, it’s the naivety that comes from blind faith, which then expands into a contradictory blind faith that people are good inside, only to later wonder why everything is changing for the worse when evil people are put in charge. Fantasy stories have been under attack by the woke for quite a while, long before they tried to appropriate Tolkien with Rings of Power.
The fantasy that is controlled by the woke is an extension to their attack on religion, because to them a fantasy story is no different than a bible. Mythological presentation, symbolic themes, a dream-like world to present morals to follow; the entire thing has been used by Brandon to then have him later claim that he’s always had fairy characters since the beginning. Sure, his religion says fairies are bad, but then he virtue signals by claiming he’s always made fiction about how they’re good. He would never say this if the publishing world made sense and if publishers were the way they were in the 1950s. That is because he would never have to choose between religion and money back then, with money always mattering more to the typical materialist.
I’m sure people will say that I’m being hard on Christians, or that I’m evil for saying this, or even that I am a satanist for noticing. These people would only be angry at the truth being said, which is the opposite of what Christianity teaches. Fantasy writers, like Brandon, have a lot of supporters, with this support merging between the woke and Mormons. So many feel that they need to make sense of their fandom, so they claim their religion is wokeness, converting it into blind Satanism. This is far from the truth and we need to condemn those who focus solely on radical subjectivity.
Especially if they blame God for their stupid takes, like how Brandon does now.

Cephalapod Genesis
The pharoah ejaculated into the river and in the sand the sperm found refuge and grew into papyrus. This an example of genesis.
Vampyrapods are the first intelligent species to live on this planet predating the dinosaurs. They came here somehow. They did not evolve on this planet. Perhaps just an ejaculated sperm from another being landing in the water. The direct offspring of this cephalapod is the modern octopus. Octopus are responsible for nearly every animal genesis on earth including humans and subsequently man made inventions and accomplishments. Octopus taught trees to fruit, destroyed the dinosaurs through becoming tapeworms, and even walked to the moon. Some of the animals you may recognize from the cellular genesis may have fused with the other local staples such as canine, equine, and feline, and reptile as well as temporarily the pachyderms in post-actualization causal genesis. This can be done by mating with, killing, eating, dying, being eaten, or simply a laying of hands or physical actions. Octopus only live for about 4.5 years of our relationship with time, but they have beaten death through a mix of telepathy and cannabalism. They've also mastered time travel. There are only 3 actual beings here. Others died in getting here and are fossilized. 2 males and 1 female survived. I call them Jack, Seth, and Claire. This is why the genesis had to completed this way as any direct offspring would not work. because theyve have infinite time to complete it, theyve walked over every inch of the planet and affected every species. In fact our own existence is simply the echo of the combined knowledge of the cephs. We are an amalgamation like the 'too much good stuff' guy from am/pm commercials. Make a bird with your hands. ¿Where are the beaks? The latest project is to use genetic science in order to bring back the mammoth and obtain a sixth digit from its feet. Should happen around 2027. When the vampyrapods first encountered life here it was eating their tentacles. So the first genesis occured in the offspring of those that ate of the tentacles. This is why modern cephs only have 8 limbs. The first language period is Enochian. A language of the eyes and limbs. Through different manipulation of limbs and eye fluctuations communication was made. After a while though telepathy became the established communication.
Here are some examples but not all of cephalapod genesis:
• Spiders (rare from trilobyte mix, had to go back in time to accomplish) (they had to avenge the original vampyrapods from being eaten from early organisms, thisnis how scorpions were able to evolve) • Mango (foilage and ceph mix. Ceph hung from a tree upside down) • Star fruit (the tree missed the octopus and tempted it to return) • Pinecone ( the bite marks of ceph beak eating the fruit of the trees) • Toucan (the beak formation from ceph in flux probably consuming a failed aviary) • Peacock (feather formations still in flux from limbs partial fusion) • Salamander (reptile/chameleon mix) (skin breathing evolution) •Sloth (feline and foilage mix) • Mistletoe bird (octopus ate a mushroom) • Lyrebird (mirage, digitage, and aviary from peacock and pheasant. Mastered the art of sound mimickry to develop better auditory communications) • Dung beetle (rolling backwards the earth through time) • VW bug (trunk up front) (mirage, digitage, pachyderm mix) (invented higher than the model T but arrived later in time) • Goliath bird-eating tarantula ( set a web to catch a bird which did not exist fully until the web was cast. When the spider consumed the bird the psuedo cannabalistic action resulted in a poison tree frog) • Snakes (a ceph lost its mating limb for some reason in a mirage mix experiment) • venemous snakes (a snake ate the eggs of its own offspring)(the cursed dinosaur souls live inside these) • Gumby (using hands to mold clay made a show about being an octopus) • Chameleon (reptile, ceph, foilage, mirage mix)(a ceph was purposely eaten by a komodo dragon to telepathically send a reverse osmosis of its makeup inside its body to another ceph that was attempting to kill the dinosaurs in the past. How they programmed the tapeworm to destroy them)

• Human organs (strife and love and tapeworm mix. Impregnating a mix of canine feline equine, ceph, pachyderm, reptilian, mirage, digitage, foilage, strife and love through years of experimentation lodged themselves systematically into more and more advanced versions and became functional in each iteration) • Sumi ink tattoo ink any ink really • The written word (anemone, sea urchin, porcupine quill, Bird feather and ink. Papyrus) • Floppy disk (suction cup on a piece of mail specifically a bill and the suction cup on the plastic window) • Cd, dvd, blu ray (laying of hands on a television screen) • Television (just a series of ceph exploring life through the inside of a glass tank with mirage and digitage mix) • Movie theater ( same but aquarium instead) • Papillon (love + insect from trilobyte and ink and papyrus needed training wheels to learn how to fly) • Taser (digitage mix of the two extra original tentacles lost from vampyrapod with mix of electric eel which was a detached limb of an octopus that had achieved ball lightning static existence) • Wisteria (ceph and foilage mix) (needed the seeds to play mancala or something) • Water strider (walked on water) • Lunar lander (digitage) (tapeworms in humans directed construction, the first electronic component gestalt high enough to become digital) (a tree really wanted to go to the moon) • Champagne cork (Ate some bark, vent plugged up and had to pee really bad) • Electrostatic Ball (attempting time travel, a ceph was meditating in complete non movement inside a digitized mirage flashing irridescence until it passed away) • Ball lightning (time travel attempt Same ceph tried a pure digitage and mirage mix) • Gnarwal (chameleon tongue, mirage and pachyderm) • Light bulb (ceph + mirage + digitage mix) (octopus crawled into a mirage jar and was irridescent) • Liquor bottle (octopus got stuck in a fulgarite and died temporarily trapping its soul in reflection but the invention of cork escaped it) • Silly string (mirage mix) (angry octopus sprayed another with diarhea from its vent) • Tapeworms (had to brave a walk into a volcano and die. As the octopus melted while running, it evolved the turkey, turkey vulture, vulture, and was just a slithering worm by the time it was engulfed by lava) • The Ten Commandments (vampyrapod fossils brought by a tapewormed moses to show people and try and explain the religion) • Dumbo (actually just a tiny cute octopus) • Hydra from capt america (introducing the public to idealogy of cephs) • Tobacco leaf (the laying of hands on deciduous plantlife, a gift to the early iterations of human) • Cow (equine ceph and pachyderm mix) essentially the Orca ate the Octopus, in its 4th stomach it finally died and so when the cow who has 4 stomachs manifested it came with udders symbolic of the octopus genesis in post actualization-causation • Rapa nui. The end of time. (Great stone heads disembodied) (mirage and strife)the final resting place. A graveyard. A place of rest always available

Sitting here, in this chair, it's hard to believe the view from my window used to be the endless stretch of the city. Now, it's all trees, hills, and the most picturesque town you could ever imagine. They call it Big Sky, right outside Yellowstone, which suits it perfectly. I've been here for six months, and honestly, I've never been happier to be out of the city.
But I don't think I deserve this peace after what happened. Ten years I spent as a cop in LA with little to no incident. That's why they only fired me, I suppose. Ten years and one day, I made a mistake that changed everything.
I responded to a bank robbery call, and half of the force was downtown in seconds. With no clear leadership, chaos ensued. I'm not sure who shot first, but it triggered an eruption of bullets toward the robbers.
We're trained to react in a second to situations like this. So, after only five seconds, every gun was empty. For some reason, I paused. I didn't pull the trigger. When I realized what had happened, I panicked and shot at the first thing I saw move while everyone else was reloading.
It was a mother and her daughter trying to run away from the shots. Everything stopped in my life at that moment. I saw every cop's eyes on me; some were confused, but some who realized what happened had a look of sympathy.
The media frenzy was insane, and I don't think I'll ever fully recover mentally. I've grown my beard, and my hair is longer than usual. I've successfully gone under the radar, except when I tell someone my full name. I can sense their looks of disgust, even though they never say anything.
There's not a night that I don't see the mother and her daughter in my dreams. Their faces haunt me, and their screams echo in my mind.
It's funny how things change, you know? One minute, you're a cop; the next, you're a park ranger. Well, not really a park ranger; more of a forest ranger. The forest's solitude amplifies the guilt that gnaws at me every day. Every rustle in the leaves and every gust of wind feels like a reminder of what I did. And yet, I can't bring myself to leave. It's as though I'm punishing myself, living in this quiet, isolated place where my only company is the ghosts of my past mistakes. Sometimes, I catch myself thinking about what their lives would have been like if I hadn't made that fatal mistake. Would they still be alive, laughing, and enjoying life? The weight of their loss is a burden I cannot shake.
Out here in Big Sky, it's not like dealing with bears and mountain lions; it's mostly just tourists lost in the woods and the occasional poacher. And then there are the kids... God, the kids. They're always sneaking into places they shouldn't be, trying to find a thrill.
The air is clean, the sky is blue, and the trees stretch for miles in every direction. The only time you see a cop around here is when they're escorting a senior citizen across the road.
And then, just like that, everything changed. Two hikers went missing. At first, it was just another day. I went about my rounds and checked in on the usual hotspots. But then I saw their faces. They were young, probably in their early twenties. Their faces were plastered across every news channel and every billboard in town. It was almost as if they were haunting me.
The first few days were chaotic. Search parties were organized, and the entire force was called to help find them. But as time passed, and there was no sign of them, the search began to die. It was as if everyone had accepted the fact that they were gone.
I couldn't help but feel a weight on my chest every time I saw their faces. It was like they were a constant reminder of my own failures. I tried to push the thoughts away to focus on the task, but it was impossible.
The search parties continued, and with every passing day, the hope of finding them alive dwindled. It felt like I was holding my breath, waiting for a miracle. But deep down, I knew that miracle was unlikely to come.
And with each passing day, the guilt weighed heavier, sinking me deeper into despair. Every time I looked at the faces of those missing hikers, it felt like a punch to the gut. Their disappearance was a haunting echo of my failure, a stark reminder of the lives I had unintentionally shattered. The knowledge that my hesitation and mistake led to this tragedy was a burden I could hardly bear. It felt like I was carrying the weight of their absence on my shoulders, and no amount of searching could alleviate the guilt that consumed me.
I decided to go where the hikers were last seen along the trail. They'd passed another group of hikers around the five-mile marker, but who knows how far and in what direction they have gone since their last sighting.
As I get to mile marker 5, I notice a tree that looks freshly fallen. The inside was splintered with fresh, healthy lumber in the middle of the tree like someone or something had pushed or fallen on it. I went to investigate and noticed large footprints leading further into the woods, but I'd never seen anything out in these woods big enough to create something this large. My mind immediately went to dinosaurs, but I quickly shook that off.
The footprint was unlike anything I had ever seen before. Enormous and ominous, it stretched deep into the earth, leaving a chilling impression of what had passed through the forest. Each claw mark was etched deeply into the soil, as though whatever creature had left it had tremendous power behind each step. For a moment, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being watched. It was a footprint like that of a wolf but far larger and more menacing, a stark reminder that things in these woods were far beyond my understanding.
With a shiver, I followed the footprints' trail into the woods, my heart racing. The air seemed to grow heavier with each step, as though some immense weight was pressing down upon me. The trees seemed to close in, forming a menacing canopy overhead, blocking the sunlight and casting the forest into a cold, eerie twilight.
The footprints led me to a small clearing, where I caught sight of movement out of the corner of my eye. My heart leaped into my throat as I whirled around, but there was nothing but a small opening for a cave on the side of the mountain.
I walk closer to peer in, but it's too dark to see anything. I contemplate using my phone light when I hear a huge thud in the trees behind me. I turn quickly, but I can't see anything. Thinking I was too paranoid, I decided to walk back to the path. I walk past the spot where I thought I heard the thud, and it looks like a fresh pair of prints. I have to be going crazy. I return to the path and make it to the station as the sun sets.
I can't stop thinking about those footprints and that cave. As I lay in bed later that night, every time I fall asleep, I dream about the entrance to the cave and the two hikers screaming for help inside. It's like there's an invisible wall preventing them from escaping. I see their faces better as I approach and realize it's the mother and daughter I shot in LA. I wake up covered in sweat every time.
The following day, I asked Lauren, one of my coworkers and the only person who treats me like I'm not an outsider from a secret club.
"You should ask Henry; he can access any record we've ever kept. Maybe he can find something about the cave in that clearing." She told me.
"You think he'll help? Since I've arrived, everyone has been so distant, like they're hiding something from me." I reply, hoping she feels enough sympathy to ask Henry herself.
No luck as she replies, "Yeah! Henry's a good one. Look, you've only been here, what, six months? Give it time; I know people will warm up to you."
"Thanks, Lauren," I say, disappointed, as I head to Henry's office. He's been here longer than anyone, so he must know something. When I knock on his door, he looks up at me over his glasses as wrinkles form inquisitively on his forehead. I wait for a greeting, but it never comes; there is only an awkward silence before I break it.
"Hey Henry, how's it going?" I ask awkwardly
Henry sighs and leans back in his chair as he folds his arms, waiting for me to ask him to do his job.
"Um, yeah, so I found this small cave entrance near the Hart Trail. I saw a tree that must've just been torn down from the middle a few days before I arrived, and I saw these giant, weird-looking footprints. I followed them, and I found the cave entrance. Do you know anything about that cave?" I ask, hoping he'll be more willing to help.
Henry's unamused look faded the more I told the story. He knew exactly what I was talking about.
He leans forward, resting his forearms on his desk, looks up at me, and says, "Nope."
I waited for him to expand, but once again, he left me to marinade in the awkwardness.
"I mean, can you look at least? And even if it's not recorded, don't you think you'd want to put it on record?" I ask, annoyed at his unwillingness to act like he wanted to help.
My frowns and sits back in his chair and says, "Are you telling me how to do my job, rookie? I've been here longer than most of these townsfolks were even conceived," He started to raise his voice the more he talked, "and you come in here after what you did to that poor mother and daughter. Yeah, you didn't think anyone knew?" I knew people were aware, but hearing him say it, it stabbed through my chest like a serrated knife made of ice.
Realizing that he has lost his temper, he calms himself and cleans off his glasses, "Get permission from Forest Supervisor Reggie, and I'll be your personal Google." He looks back down at his computer and continues doing whatever he does.
Still stunned, I stand there, not knowing how to react to this interaction. After a few seconds, I slowly turn around and return to my desk.
The rest of the day is a blur as I try to focus on my other tasks, but Henry's words keep replaying. Every time I close my eyes, I see the footprints and the tree that was torn down. Everyone in this office knows something they aren't telling me.
Finally, after what feels like an eternity, I muster up the courage to go see Reggie. I knock on his door, and he calls me in. He's an older man with white hair and a kind smile.
"Sir, I-" I say, but before I can continue, Reggie puts his hand up to stop me from talking and chuckles.
"Please, just call me Reg. Sir, sounds like we're in the military." He said as he placed his hand down on his desk.
A little thrown off, I continued telling him about the tree off the hiking trail, footprints, and the cave I found. Just like Henry, Reggie's face dropped as I explained. He stares at me briefly before fixing his face and responding, "Oh, yeah, that sounds like old Grungers Cave. It's probably recorded somewhere."
"Yeah, that's why I'm here. Henry said I needed your permission to get more information about the cave." I reply
He looks at me, puzzled and weary, "What kind of information are you looking for, exactly?"
"Well, I don't really know yet. Something about it gave me a weird feeling, so I thought I'd look into it." I said
Reggie looked at me briefly before changing gears, "With all due respect, you don't have anything else to do?"
I was caught off guard, not expecting him to shut me down like that, "Yeah, you're right. Sorry sir, Uh, Reggie."
I turned around and left the room. As I thought of how to get information without letting anyone at the station know, I decided to try the library.
The library is quiet, with a few people here and there doing their own thing. I asked the librarian if they had anything on Grungers Cave, and she directed me to the local history section. I spend hours pouring over old newspapers, books, and archives, trying to find anything to help me.
One book, written by a local historian, has some information on the cave. According to the author, Grungers Cave was found in 1917 and nothing in particular sticks out except for a short passage that briefly mentions local tales about a giant creature who is said to live near this cave. After about an hour, I gave up and decided to go out there again to see for myself, making sure to bring a flashlight.
As I drive back to the trailhead, I wonder if the stories about the giant creature were just a cover-up for something else. Maybe there was something else in that cave that people didn't want found. Tonight, I'm going to find out.
It's getting dark as I return to the hiking trail and the cave. I can see my breath as I walk, and the air is crisp and cold. The trees loom overhead, their branches swaying gently in the breeze. I can almost feel the presence of whatever has been haunting me since I found that footprint.
I take a deep breath and steady my nerves as I approach the cave entrance. The entrance is narrow and covered in moss, making it appear almost organic. I flick on my flashlight and step inside, bracing myself for what I might find.
The cave's interior is more extensive than I expected, with jagged stalactites hanging from the ceiling like teeth and jutting stalagmites rising from the floor around me like bones. I move further in, feeling a sense of dread creeping up. There's an unsettling silence here, broken only by the echo of my footsteps and the distant sound of water dripping from above.
I shine my flashlight around, searching for anything unusual, and my eyes fall on a large, irregular shape half-hidden in the shadows. As I approach, my heart starts to race. It's a pile of bones, human bones. The realization hits me like a punch to the gut. This is a crime scene.
The hair on the back of my neck stands on end as I carefully move around the cave, finding more and more evidence of foul play. The further I go, the more confident I am that something terrible happened here. The bones of at least four people are scattered about, and there are signs of struggle everywhere. I try to remain calm, but I can feel my breath coming faster and faster.
Suddenly, I feel the air get thick as I hear the rumble of big footsteps in the shadows before me. My heart pounds against my ribs as I realize what's about to happen. Before I can react, the creature lunges at me, its massive form filling my vision. Its skin is pale and rough, covered in dirty and matted fur covered in moss and twigs, like it's been living in these caves for centuries. It's a monster, a beast that shouldn't exist in the modern world.
I manage to dodge out of the way, but it's not fast enough to escape its grasp entirely. The creature's claws rake down my arm, tearing through my jacket and leaving long, deep gashes that fill with blood. I stumble backward, feeling the cold, hard stone of the cave floor beneath me. My heart is racing, and all I can hear is the sound of my own panicked breathing.
The creature looms over me, its putrid breath washing over my face as it growls low in its throat. Its eyes are like two burning coals, glinting in the light of my flashlight. It's not human, not anymore. Whatever this creature was once, it's been twisted and warped by whatever horrors it's faced in these caves.
I try to stand, but my legs are weak and shaking. The pain in my arm is excruciating, and I can feel warm blood trickling down my side. The creature circles around me slowly, claws clicking against the stone floor. It seems to be studying me, sizing me up. I can't move, I can't breathe, I can't even scream.
It turns its back, and I take a moment to get on my feet and run out of the cave, hearing the creature's roar echo against the cave walls. I can hear its giant footsteps getting closer and closer until I finally reach the entrance and throw myself out. The creature doesn't follow as I sigh in relief on the floor.
Shaking uncontrollably, I try to catch my breath as I look at my bloody arm. The cut is deep, but I don't think it's life-threatening. I need to get out of here and call for backup, but first, I must find something to use as a tourniquet. I look around and spot a nearby tree, its branches laden with vines. I rip some of the vines off and quickly tie them around my arm, trying to staunch the flow of blood.
Once I'm sure I've done what I can, I return to the station, my heart pounding. My vision is blurry from the pain and shock, but I manage to make it to the front desk. I collapse into a chair, trying to catch my breath. The receptionist looks at me with wide eyes, concerned for my well-being.
"What happened?" she asks, her voice shaking. "Are you okay?"
I try to calm my breathing before responding. "I...I think so. But I need to tell you what I found." I gesture to my bloodied arm, and she jumps to her feet, looking horrified. "No, no, it's not as bad as it looks. Just...get a first aid kit."
She practically runs out of the room, and I lean back in the chair, closing my eyes for a moment. When she returns, she carefully cleans, stitches, and bandages my arm, all the while listening to my story. I told her everything that had happened, but I could tell that she didn't believe me.
"You're sure you didn't imagine this?" she asks, her voice filled with doubt. You should get some rest and reconsider your story in the morning.
I nod, trying to convince myself as much as her. "I know what I saw. It wasn't a dream, and it wasn't a hallucination. That thing...it wasn't an animal. It was some sort of Monster. And it's still out there."
She sighs, looking unconvinced. "Look, I'm sure you've been through a lot tonight. Why don't you just go home and get some rest? We can deal with this in the morning, okay?"
Reluctantly, I agree and head home, hoping word doesn't get around to Reggie that I went back. The rest of the night passes in a blur of nightmares and restless sleep. I can't shake the image of that creature from my mind, and every time I close my eyes, I see its razor-sharp claws and ravenous yellow eyes.
When I finally muster the courage to return to the station the following day, I find that the receptionist didn't report my little expedition after all. Maybe she thought I was crazy too. I feel a strange relief as if admitting my story would make it real.
I make my way to my desk, still shaken from the events of the night before. The station is bustling with activity as usual, but it's difficult for me to focus on anything but the Monster. I try to convince myself that it was just a dream, a hallucination brought on by stress and exhaustion.
I went through my day on autopilot, trying to make it through my shift. When I went home, it was only 8, but I went to sleep as soon as my ass hit the couch. I had dreams of the creature and what it could do to me. I woke up in a cold sweat; looking at the clock, it said 2:03am. I knew I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep, so I decided to start my morning early by brewing some coffee.
The Monster still plagued my mind as I showered and groomed for the day. I dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, the injury on my arm itching slightly as I pulled a long-sleeved shirt on to hide them. I didn't want to draw more attention to myself than I already had.
I decided to head to the station since I had nothing else to do. As I drive, I start concocting a plan to get the information from Henry. I knew he wouldn't be in for a few more hours so I could snoop around his office. I park my car and go to his office; I take a deep breath and slowly open the door. The room is just like I remember, messy and full of clues. I sit at his desk, feeling guilty but determined to find what I need to know.
I begin by searching through his files, looking for anything that might have a connection to the secret society. Finding a few files with suspicious names and symbols doesn't take me long. As I flip through them, I notice a hidden drawer in the desk. I pull it open and find a stack of even more incriminating files. They're filled with names, dates, and locations of people who have disappeared, all linked to something called The Covenant of the Hound. I feel a mixture of fear and determination as I slip the files into my bag.
With the evidence in hand, I know I have to do something about this. I can't just ignore it and hope it goes away. I decided to see if I could find anything else on The Covenant of the Hound. I search the dusty shelves and find an old, leather-bound book. The title page reads: "The Covenant of the Hound: Values".
I carefully open the book, expecting to find some twisted code or hidden message. Instead, I'm met with seemingly innocuous paragraphs about loyalty, obedience, and protection. As I read on, however, a darker undertone begins to emerge. The Covenant seems to be less about helping others and more about controlling them. There are mentions of ancient rituals and bloodlines and a monster demanding complete submission from his followers. In return, the Monster provides protection from any threats brought to the members. This had to be the Monster I saw in the cave.
Shaken by what I've read, I quickly close the book and put everything back in place. I can't help but feel a sense of dread as I make it to my desk. I know that I have to do something about this, but at the same time, my mind is running about who exactly is a part of the Covenant.
I decided to start with the files I found earlier and see if I could find any connections between the names on the list and Henry's friends or acquaintances. As I searched through the files, I came across Henry's note that he was meeting someone important early in the morning at a local diner. The time said 4:30am, an hour away. I decide to find the diner and wait for them.
I drive to the diner, parking my car discreetly down the street as I wait until I see them. I watch Henry's car pull up, and another person pulls up behind him. They exchange words before Henry hands something over, and the other man leaves. Henry returned to his car, likely heading to the station, so I did the same.
As I follow him, I can't help but feel a sense of dread in my stomach. I don't know what I will do, but I know I can't let him get away with whatever he's involved in. Maybe if I confront him, he'll tell me the truth. Perhaps he's not part of it, and this was a misunderstanding. But then, why did he have those files on his desk? And why did he meet that man at the diner? I decide to keep the information to myself and act like I know nothing as I park my car at the station.
I walk into the station, trying to act casual and approach the locker room. There's a strange atmosphere in the air today; everyone seems on edge. I quickly change into my uniform and head to my patrol car, hoping to avoid awkward conversations.
As I drive through the forest, I can't help but feel a sense of unease. Every shadow, every movement, every sound makes me jump. I try to push these thoughts away, telling myself that I'm just being paranoid.
When I get to my post, I notice Lauren sitting in her car. Was she waiting for me?
I get out and knock on her window to get her attention, and she rolls it down.
"Hey, you okay?" Lauren asks, noticing the look on my face.
I take a deep breath and try to compose myself before answering. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just... I think I might have made a huge mistake." I tell her about finding the files in Henry's desk and seeing him at the diner earlier, giving something to a mysterious person. I leave out the part about the Covenant, just in case.
Lauren listens intently, her eyes narrowing as I speak. "And you think Henry's involved in something shady?" she asks.
I nod, feeling a mixture of fear and anger. "I don't know what to think, but I know I can't ignore it."
Lauren sighs, her expression softening. "Look, I can't confirm or deny anything, but I can tell you this: if you're worried about Henry, you should stay away from him. He's not who he seems."
I nod, feeling a mix of relief and fear. "What about you? Can I trust you?"
Lauren gives me a small smile. "You can trust me. I've been watching out for you, even before all this. I want to help you, but we need to be careful. The people you're dealing with are dangerous."
I nod, still not entirely sure what to think. "What do I do now?"
Lauren looks around, making sure no one is watching us. "We need to be careful. I can help you, but you need to trust me. And you need to understand that this goes deeper than you think. The people you're dealing with are powerful and dangerous."
"How do you know that?" I ask hesitantly.
"Let's just say I have my sources," Lauren replies cryptically. "Now, listen carefully. You need to keep your guard up at all times. The people you're dealing with are smart, and they're watching you. They'll try to make contact again, probably through someone close to you. You can't trust anyone."
As she says this, I can't help but feel a chill run down my spine. "So, what am I supposed to do? Just wait for them to make the first move?"
Lauren shakes her head. "No, you need to be proactive. You need to find out more about this secret society. You need to find out what they want from you and why they're after you. You need to figure out how to stop them. If my research is correct, we need to kill the Monster."
I take a deep breath, my heart racing. "Kill the Monster? What do you mean?"
"The secret society is called the Covenant," Lauren explains. "It's been around for generations, and it's behind some of the most horrific events in the town's history. They're led by a man called the Master, who you saw at the diner earlier. He has a pet name for the creature: the Dogman."
I don't know what to do with this information. Ironically, I trust her less now that I'm aware she has ties to this Covenant; even if they're loose ties, it still makes me weary. I try to gather my thoughts, but my mind feels like puzzle pieces. "So, what's our plan?" I ask, not seeing any other direction to turn.
Lauren leans in closer, her expression serious. "Our plan is to kill the monster."
I get into her cruiser, and we drive toward the cave, not knowing if I will make it past today alive.
"I don't understand why they're after me," I say as Lauren navigates the narrow path to the cave. "What do they want from me?"
"You know too much, James, and they know it. You've been asking questions about things you shouldn't have. You were getting close to something they've been trying to keep hidden for a long time. They want to control the information, and they can't do that if you keep digging." Lauren says as she parks the car, and we both get out.
She takes a deep breath, steeling herself before continuing. "They're not going to let you go easily. They'll come after you again, and getting away might not be easy next time. We need to be prepared. You need to trust me, and I need you to trust yourself."
I nod, feeling a mixture of fear and determination welling up inside me. "Okay," I say, taking a deep breath. "Then let's do this."
We approached the entrance to the cave, and I quickly set up bear traps that Lauren had stored in her cruiser. Lauren watches me intently, offering advice and suggestions when needed. As I work, I can't help but feel a strange sense of purpose, as if everything in my life has been leading up to this moment.
Once the traps are set, we both step back, our hearts pounding in our chests, "Now, we just wait." Lauren said
Hours have passed as we sit in a bush, out of sight, and still no creature or signs of anything. Lauren, ever so patiently, is chewing on her fingernails, making my stomach turn. I look at her, and she looks back at me, worry etched on her face. We've been sitting here for an eternity, and I'm curious if I've made the wrong choice. I should have run away, hidden somewhere, and tried to forget about this whole mess. But I can't shake the feeling that I'm not supposed to leave this place, that there's something more I need to do.
Hours pass as we tell each other our life stories. I must admit, at some points, I'd forgotten the danger we were in and found myself having fun. Lauren's an interesting person. She's lived a life of adventure. She's seen things that I can't even begin to imagine. And yet, here she is, sitting beside me, waiting for a monster to come out of a cave.
My eyes grow heavy as the sun starts to set. It's completely night when I open my eyes, and I panic, forgetting where I was and why. As it all starts coming back to me, I look for Lauren, but I don't see her anywhere. I get up, trying to stay quiet, to look at the traps. One is closed and has a blood trail leading to the cave entrance. I frantically look for Lauren but still don't see her. As I peer into the cave, I can see light flickering like the cave was lined with torches the further you go in. I continued to follow the torches with my flashlight in hand when I heard an uneven sound of giant footsteps behind me. When I turn around, I see the vast creature limping into the cave, so I find a crevasse to hide in.
As I carefully peer out, I see the creature limping slowly, periodically stopping to lick its wound. I try to shallow my breath and stay as quiet as possible. The light flickers brighter as it draws closer, and I can see it better now. It's massive, with skin like burnt leather and eyes that glow with an eerie yellow light. Its limbs are like a twisted and deformed wolf, moving with a strange, jerky grace.
As I carefully shift my weight, a small pebble, just big enough to make a noise, tumbles. The creature jerks its body in my direction and roars. It sounds like a mixture of a human screaming and a lion roaring. It takes a step closer to me, its yellow eyes piercing the darkness. I try calming my breathing, praying it doesn't hear or smell me. The creature takes another step and another, inching closer with each move. My heart feels like it's going to beat right out of my chest. I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to face this creature in a fair fight.
Just as I'm sure it's close enough to smell me, I hear what I can only assume is Lauren screaming at the top of her lungs. The creature quickly limps away, further into the cave. I'm momentarily relieved but then realize that I have to find her. I carefully follow the creature's trail, hoping it leads to Lauren. The cave winds deeper and deeper into the mountain, the air growing colder and more damp. As I round a bend, I see a flickering light in the distance. My heart pounds in my chest as I cautiously approach, wondering if it's Lauren or the society.
I enter a pitch-black round room. As I swing my flashlight, I can't see anything in the room until I hear Lauren whisper, "Pssst, James."
I go toward the sound, but I can't find anything. When I turn around, my flashlight catches the creature before me as it lunges toward me. I was able to jump out of the way, just in time, but he was able to scratch my cheek a bit, but nothing life-threatening. On the ground, I frantically search for something to defend myself with, and I find a sharp, long rock and pick it up.
I looked up and saw the creature lunging at me again, but this time, I wasn't fast enough to move as it grabbed me with one hand, tightly by my waist. It lifts me up to its face, but before it can do anything, I plunge the rock into its left eye as it drops me onto the floor.
It roars and stumbles around as it runs into the walls, falling to its knees periodically. I slide my body on my butt until I hit a wall. I get to my feet and follow the wall, making sure to avoid the stumbling creature. I finally found an entrance, but it's different from where I came in. Finally gaining composure, the creature sees me leave and stumbles toward me. I run deeper into the new tunnel, praying it leads to safety.
I hear voices further into it, and I sprint as I make my way into a room of about eight individuals dressed in brown cloaks. Some of them have a hood, hiding their faces. Startled by my entrance, they all look up, and I recognize most faces. Reggie, Henry, Freddy the theater owner, Larry the elementary school principal, and the most surprising one, Lauren.
One of the men I didn't recognize, who looked to be the leader, opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, the loud footsteps limping is heard echoing toward us. The man smiles wide and relaxes himself, likely confident he controls the creature. As I hear the footsteps, I run toward what I assume was the exit, but I'm tackled to the ground, and everyone cheers and laughs.
I look up and see Lauren on top of me, the one who tackled me. Her smile is horrifying and not at all like the Lauren I know. She leans close, her breath hot on my face as she whispers, "I'm sorry, James. I had to do it." The creature enters the room, still stumbling as it accidentally crushes two members under its foot, not seeing what it is doing. The leader begins screaming mysterious words that I can't remember, which seems like it snapped the creature out of its destructive ways for a second before realizing the pain in its eye again.
It continues destroying everything in its path indiscriminately, killing most of the Covenant members. Lauren was still on top of me, and neither of us was moving in shock about what we saw. I snapped out of it and used the moment to get the advantage, so I grabbed a nearby rock and hit Lauren over the head with it, causing her to fall to the ground, still conscious but unmoving. I run toward the exit, but I look back one more time and see the creature tearing bodies apart as blood and the screams of something I've never heard in my life fill the room.
As I run, I can faintly hear Lauren begging me to help her, but it turns into a blood-curdling scream that echoes in my ears to this day. Finding my way out took about half an hour, as the cave was like a maze. When I make it out, I head to Lauren's cruiser and dig through her stuff, hoping to find something to help destroy the cave entrance. Finally, after too many minutes, I see a pickaxe, which, thinking about it now, looks pretty odd. But then again, Lauren was never the person I thought she was.
I use the pick and attempt to remove enough rock on the sides so the top will cave in and cover the entrance. I was doing this for about 45 minutes when I heard the faded, limping footsteps of that creature heading out of the cave toward me. I hurried my pace, but I'd already done a good amount of work on both sides. My arms are starting to give, but my mind won't let them quit as I hear the footsteps, which are now accompanied by the roar and growl of the creature getting closer. I only have about 5 more minutes until it makes it to me.
As the growl gets louder, I finally remove enough rock, and it all comes tumbling down on top of the entrance, sealing it shut. I fall backward onto the ground, exhausted and out of breath, as the growling gets louder. When it finally reaches the caved entrance, I can hear it howling and roaring in anger.
Looking around, I see I'm now at the forest's edge. I stand up and walk away, still in shock at what had happened, not knowing where to go.
Walking, I feel something warm and sticky dripping down my arm. I look at it in horror and realize that it's blood. I've been wounded, somehow. I try to remember if it was from Lauren or the creature, but my mind is still reeling from the night's events.
I keep walking, figuring out where to go or what to do. The forest around me is eerily quiet, almost as if it's holding its breath, waiting for something to happen. The trees loom overhead, their branches swaying gently in the night breeze. I try to remain calm and focus on my surroundings, but the adrenaline from the attack keeps pumping through my veins.
I look down at my arm again and see that the blood is still seeping out, staining my shirt and dripping onto the forest floor. The pain begins to set in, and I realize I have no idea how badly I'm hurt. I can't get to a hospital in time; hell, I don't even know where I am. Feeling weak, I sit with my back against a tree and slowly fall asleep.
When I wake up, I'm in a hospital surrounded by doctors. I feel an immense pain in my arm as they wheel me into the ER. I pass out again and wake up four days later.
Doctors tell me that another ranger found me and brought me in. My heart sank as I thought of the possibility of the Covenant saving me for some reason. I started to panic and asked about discharge, but they told me that they had to do surgery on my arm since it had gotten too infected.
Long story short, I had to be sedated for a month straight, and I lost my arm. Every day, every moment I wasn't sedated was filled with panic. I dreamt of the creature and Lauren. The creature scared me, but Lauren's betrayal hurt me the most. I know I didn't know her for long, but she was the only one there for me. I now realize that she was probably planted to ensure I stayed away, and when she realized I wasn't going to back down, she led me to a trap.
The doctors kept telling me I was lucky to be alive, but I didn't feel lucky. I felt like a failure. A month passed, and I finally fully woke up from the sedation, feeling restless and angry. I demanded a discharge, and after hours of arguing, I was back on the streets.
That was eight years ago, and I still dream of the creature and Lauren every night. Whenever I have trouble with my missing arm, I think of them. At this point in my head, they have become the same Monster.

About me, Job compensation + benefits, CoL for reference

About me:

• Ethnicity + Name: Indian (south asian) as hell.
• Work experience: 3+ years of co-op / internships. (Didn't matter, read full post). No big name internships, just random startups.
• University: University of Waterloo (Mech eng Bachelors; robotics / AI / ML background)
• Graduated 2023, 2.1 GPA
• Applications sent: over 10,000; this is not a joke. Shotgun approach mostly.
• Interviews: 5. Not 50 or 500, but FIVE.
• Disabilities: Autism / Aspergers. Made the interviews hell for me.

Compensation / Benefits:

• $70,000 Base (salaried, boss doesn't care if I leave early as long as I get work done)
• Work as little time as you want as long as you get the work done. I work 5 hrs a day on average now.
• $10,000-30,000 Profit sharing + Bonuses (directly put into 401k / Roth, company does additional 4x matching for bonuses only; reaching bonuses literally made a senior engineer a multi-millionaire here over 20 years in his 401k).
• Guaranteed raise after 6 months of stay / onboarding finished.
• Subsidized Masters / Ph.D. sponsored by the company.
• Full health + life + vision + dental insurance.
• Contracted inflation pay raise every year.
• Weekly pay.
• Paid maternity + paternity.
• Vacations whenever, just make sure you get your job done on time and let manager know before hand. Any vacation over 1 week must be approved by HR and other management levels. Be reasonable about how often you take it (Senior devs often take 1-2 weeks off every 2 months unless tight deadlines).
• Boss literally told me to go the fuck home when I tried staying overtime out of guilt / confusion.

Cost of Living:

• Low? Breakdown below, idk how to determine.
• Studio apartment + internet + heat + water < $1050.
• Average food cost (groceries + eating out every other day + weekly pizza) < $400.
  • Loaf of bread for reference: $1.99
• Downsides: neighbor won't stop smoking weed; the smell is annoying every Friday. Ugh.
• Downsides: Extremely car-centric area; no public transportation.

Listen to the goddamn Boomers / Gen X folks here

As much as the older folks are 'behind the times', you need to remember who is still disproportionately in charge of companies and how they are structured, even in the tech sector. Hell, I had my dad (the BOOMIEST BOOMER I know) help me out.
I went to my 7th job fair after graduation about 2-3 months ago (Feb 2024) and my dad came with me as moral support. Just as usual with most job fairs, there isn't anyone there actively recruiting for engineering / IT / software roles because of the current market. BUT, my dad was having a 'fun' chat with the CTO of a random medium sized company and they both hit it off HARD. Both of them were born in the same part of India, went to the same temples there, and they just kept on chatting. Next thing I know, this same CTO came to me and asked if I was competent at engineering and he'd like to interview me on the spot, but sadly his company had no open software roles. I agreed.
I shit you not, this test was this simple and BLEW it:

1. What is Ohms law? (I got this right)
2. What is an inverter? (I got this wrong)
3. What is a diode? What is it's symbol? (I got this right)
4. Explain what an LED is and what it's symbol is. (I got this half right)
5. What is the purpose of a rectifier? (I got this wrong)
6. Questions about embedded C/C++ (I don't even know the language well T.T)

Thing is, the interviewer was really interested NOT in my capabilities or even my previous experiences. He was intrigued at just how many questions I asked and how I even asked some questions he didn't know the answer to, and how quickly I learnt the information. He told me to come to the company's HQ because he wanted me to meet the R&D manager.
1 week later
I met the R&D guy. Something I noticed is that this whole department was filled with dinosaurs. Not a single human within a 1 km radius appeared below the age of 50 outside of the technicians / trades folk. These dinos didn't even know how to post a job online without the help of HR (I'm sure everyone here knows how HR writes posts and filters applications). Just after half an hour of talking and the R&D manager apparently loved me because "this kid knows jack shit but he's a sponge, he'll learn faster than anyone else we got", which is apparently what R&D is actively looking for in fresh recruits.
Then bam-bam-boom, I got my position starting at this pay, with a guaranteed pay boost after onboarding + training is finished in 6 months, while I bombed every interview question / test. My position is as an R&D Engineer specializing in Embedded Design / Programming. Hell, one of my first projects is to tinker around and try to create and integrate a custom trained AI model with Altium to see if the autopathing system and autolayouts can be made better and human centric if possible.
I looked into this company's history and they have an average employee tenure of 10+ years without a single person ever being laid off ever since 1985. People wouldn't actively stay at a company that long without job hopping if the pay wasn't satisfactory or if it was toxic. Plus it was written into my contract that base pay is tied to inflation!
What are the lessons here?

1. Don't quit. It's a shitty market, but a 0.01% chance is INFINITELY better than 0% if you stop trying.
2. Have a boomer / gen x person help you network and connect you with other boomer / gen x people. Boomers and Gen X folks hire more based on word of mouth and interactions than younger folk like me who focus on the 'skills' part of the resume.
3. Become a sponge. The more absorbent you are and the more questions you ask, the more the senior engineers will love you and actively want you on their team.
4. Target industries that are filled with older folks in white collar positions (assuming you want white collar positions). Here are some examples:
   1. Metallurgy (filled with trades people and old engineers, they are actively looking for fresh blood in white collar areas).
   2. Agriculture (mechanization).
   3. Carpentry (same as metallurgy above).
   4. Welding companies (they have active R&D for building welding machines, just like metallurgy and carpentry sectors).
5. Learn, learn, and learn. Especially for the first job you get, especially so if you don't have internships / co-op experience, people will look for your ability to learn. How fast can you learn everything we teach you?
6. HR seldom knows what the company wants / needs when they post job listings. Getting out there and talking to NOT the recruiters but the engineers will give you that edge. Bonus points if you also do bullet point 2.
7. Be ambitious with your future goals. Not just pretend; you'll run out of steam. If you are ambitious despite your current situation, people will see it and engineers / senior developers will like it. That was also one of the things a senior there liked about me and explicitly said "you're ambitions behind closed doors, I love it, you'll go far and I hope you take the company there with you; more profits for all of us!".
8. Nepotism isn't the right word for how many here think of the job situation, it's just much MUCH more networking than previously thought. This has it's own issues like for those from disadvantaged / foreign backgrounds, but this world isn't fair, and that won't change reality.

Check my post history to know I was literally in your position just a few months ago. I hope this post helps people.

I have been cooking up a worldbuilding thing involving an island of living dinosaurs with the main species of the story being a species of sapient troodontids who I’ve termed “the Birdfolk” who have developed a Stone Age level society. One thing I’ve thought about is what kind of symbolic meaning would they assign to the other dinosaurs that they live alongside. One basic idea I had was inspired by Inuit beliefs of all creatures having spirits and that they are not above other living things. During a hunt an animal must be given a proper humane death and afterwords a spoken ritual must be done so its spirit does not become upset and cause misfortune. I also have the idea of the shamans of the Birdfolk use skulls to commune with the spirits of animals in order to ask for guidance.
There are animals that I have given specific symbolic meaning among the Birdfolk. The island’s native tyrannosaurs are seen as mighty symbols of strength and are associated with storms as their low growls sound like thunder. The titanosaurs of the island are viewed as messengers between the Birdfolk and their deities with specific rituals done when a there comes by in order to give messages to the gods. The island has a species of megaraptor which has evolved into a leopard like arboreal ambush predator, they are associated with the night, trickery and death. A smaller cattle sized species of ceratopsian are used by Birdfolk dwelling within the island’s interior savannahs as beasts of burden like camels or donkeys, they are seen as strong but stubborn and often unreasonable.
I want some more help as I continue to build this world, what symbolic values do you think certain dinosaurs would have? I know this is a strange post but I love having input to make my creative works better. Thanks!

Feel free to make art of these redesigns and give criticism of the designs
Redesigns: Heatblast Redesign: Sleeker with magma-like veins glowing beneath his rocky exterior. Equipment: Volcanic Gauntlets that enhance his fire abilities. Outfit: A flame-retardant suit with a core reactor symbol on the chest.
Diamondhead Redesign: Crystalline armor with reflective surfaces and sharper edges. Equipment: A crystal shield that can morph into different defensive shapes. Outfit: A suit with geometric patterns that shimmer with a diamond-like brilliance.
XLR8 Redesign: More aerodynamic with streamlined armor and a visor for high-speed travel. Equipment: Turbo boots that leave a trail of blue energy when he sprints. Outfit: A racing suit with a sleek helmet that has a retractable visor.
Fourarms Redesign: Bulkier with reinforced joints for extra strength. Equipment: Heavy-duty gauntlets that can smash through barriers. Outfit: A gladiator-inspired ensemble with a belt displaying his alien number.
Stinkfly Redesign: Brighter colors with translucent wings and bioluminescent spots. Equipment: A harness that helps distribute healing mist more effectively. Outfit: A lightweight suit that glows in the dark, highlighting his flight path.
Upgrade Redesign: Futuristic with a sleek metallic finish and circuit patterns. Equipment: A modular backpack that can transform into various tech gadgets. Outfit: A tech-suit that integrates with his body, allowing for seamless transformations.
Ghostfreak Redesign: More ethereal with a ghostly aura and chains that represent his phasing ability. Equipment: Ectoplasmic chains that can extend and bind enemies. Outfit: A tattered cloak that billows as if always caught in an otherworldly wind.
Snare-oh Redesign: Ancient Egyptian motifs with hieroglyphs etched into his bandages. Equipment: Ankh-shaped gauntlets that enhance his sand powers. Outfit: A pharaoh’s headdress that symbolizes his regal presence on the battlefield.
Frankenstrike Redesign: More industrial with visible bolts and conductive wiring. Equipment: A pair of Tesla coil shoulder pads that amplify his electric attacks. Outfit: A patchwork suit that resembles a mad scientist’s lab coat.
Eye Guy Redesign: Eyes of varying sizes with adaptive irises for different vision modes. Equipment: A visor that coordinates his eye beams for precision strikes. Outfit: A suit with lens patterns that focus his ocular energy.
Swampfire Redesign: More plant-like with vibrant green foliage and fiery red flowers. Equipment: Compost Gauntlets that enhance his regenerative abilities. Outfit: A botanical suit with leaf patterns and a fiery emblem on the chest.
Echo-Echo Redesign: Sleek and white with sound wave patterns across his body. Equipment: Sonic Amplifiers that boost his sound-based attacks. Outfit: A suit with a sound equalizer display that reacts to his sonic screams.
Humongosaur Redesign: Dinosaur-like with armored plating and a more pronounced tail. Equipment: Meteor Hammer fists that increase his smashing power. Outfit: A prehistoric-themed armor set with bone and rock elements.
Jetray Redesign: More streamlined with sharper wings and a jet engine-like back. Equipment: Aero Fins that improve his maneuverability in the air. Outfit: A flight suit with a sleek helmet and goggles for high-altitude visibility.
Big Chill Redesign: Ghostly with icy blue tones and frost-covered wings. Equipment: Frostbite Claws that leave a chilling effect on enemies. Outfit: A cloak that shimmers like thin ice and leaves a trail of frost.
Brainstorm Redesign: Brain-like patterns with neural connectors and a brighter shell. Equipment: Cerebral Enhancer that increases his psychic abilities. Outfit: A lab coat with a brainwave pattern and a utility belt for gadgets.
Goop Redesign: More viscous with glowing internal organs visible within. Equipment: Polarity Boots that allow him to stick to surfaces and maintain shape. Outfit: A containment suit that helps him keep form and focus his attacks.
Spidermonkey Redesign: More arachnid with additional eyes and spikier fur. Equipment: Web Slingers that shoot stronger and stickier webs. Outfit: A stealth suit with a spider emblem and grip-enhancing gloves and boots.
Loadstar Redesign: Magnetic with a core that glows when using his powers. Equipment: Gravitational Greaves that enhance his magnetic field control. Outfit: An armored suit with polarized plates that attract and repel metal.
Rath Redesign: Fiercer with more pronounced claws and tiger-like stripes. Equipment: Rage Amplifiers that boost his strength when his health is low. Outfit: A luchador-inspired costume with a mask that embodies his wild spirit.
Water Hazard Redesign: More aquatic with a sleeker, streamlined body and gill-like structures. Equipment: Aqua Cannons that can shoot high-pressure water streams. Outfit: A wetsuit with hydrodynamic patterns and a water drop emblem.
Ampfibian Redesign: More translucent with visible bio-electric currents flowing through his body. Equipment: Electro-Flippers that increase swimming speed and maneuverability. Outfit: A suit with neon trims that pulse with his electric charge.
Armodrillo Redesign: Bulkier with reinforced armor plating and drill bits. Equipment: Seismic Boots that enhance ground-shaking abilities. Outfit: A miner’s outfit with a helmet light and a rugged utility belt.
NRG Redesign: Glowing core with a more robust containment suit. Equipment: Reactor Gauntlets that can channel and shoot nuclear energy. Outfit: A radiation suit with a warning symbol and energy-absorbing layers.
Terraspin Redesign: Shell patterns resembling wind turbines and more pronounced fins. Equipment: Cyclone Discs that can be thrown to create gusts of wind. Outfit: An aviator jacket with a turtle shell pattern and wind direction arrows.
Clockwork Redesign: More gears and clockwork mechanisms visible with a timeless finish. Equipment: Chrono Keys that can unlock temporal abilities. Outfit: A steampunk-inspired suit with brass accents and a pocket watch.
Jury Rigg Redesign: More mechanical with tools integrated into his limbs. Equipment: Wrecking Ratchets that increase his dismantling speed. Outfit: A mechanic’s jumpsuit with patches and a tool belt.
Chamalien Redesign: More chameleon-like with adaptive skin that changes patterns. Equipment: Camo Cloak that enhances his stealth capabilities. Outfit: A suit with a chameleon scale motif that shifts colors with his movements.
Feedback Redesign: More electrically charged with pulsating energy lines across his body. Equipment: Antenna Arrays that increase the range and power of his electrical attacks. Outfit: A suit with circuitry patterns that glow with stored energy.
Bloxx Redesign: Modular with interlocking blocks that can reconfigure on the fly. Equipment: Building Bracers that allow for quicker construction of barriers and structures. Outfit: A construction-themed outfit with a hard hat emblem and utility belt.
Ball Weevil Redesign: Brighter colors with a more pronounced spherical body for rolling. Equipment: Plasma Cores that create larger and more potent explosive orbs. Outfit: A sleek suit with orb patterns and a visor that helps target his plasma globes.
Pesky Dust Redesign: Fairy-like with more delicate wings and a dreamy aura. Equipment: Dreamcatcher Net that can capture and amplify his sleep-inducing dust. Outfit: A mystical robe with star and moon motifs that enhance his magical presence.
Atomix Redesign: Radiant with a mini-reactor core and energy veins visible on his body. Equipment: Fusion Gauntlets that stabilize and focus his nuclear energy. Outfit: A hazard suit with a reactor symbol and protective plating.
Gutrot Redesign: Chemical tanks visible on his body with tubes connecting to his gauntlets. Equipment: Diffuser Mask that spreads his gases over a wider area. Outfit: A biochemical suit with a respirator and hazard symbols.
Whampire Redesign: More vampiric with bat-like features and a darker color scheme. Equipment: Echo-Locator Goggles that help him navigate and hunt in the dark. Outfit: A gothic cloak with a high collar and a clasp shaped like a bat.
Shocksquash Redesign: Bulkier with coils and capacitors integrated into his limbs. Equipment: Shock Boots that generate electricity with each stomp. Outfit: An electrified suit with lightning bolt patterns and insulated gloves.
Wildmutt Redesign: Enhanced sensory nodes and a more streamlined body for agility. Equipment: Sonic Collar that amplifies his roars and tracking abilities. Outfit: A sleek suit with padded armor to protect while maintaining flexibility.
Grey Matter Redesign: More pronounced cranial features and brighter skin to highlight his intelligence. Equipment: Quantum Computer Backpack that assists with hacking and strategy. Outfit: A miniaturized lab coat with various gadget holsters.
Ripjaws Redesign: Sharper teeth and fins, with a bioluminescent glow for underwater combat. Equipment: Aqua Jetpack that allows for swift movements in and out of water. Outfit: A reinforced diving suit with pressure resistance for deep-sea excursions.
Cannonbolt Redesign: A more aerodynamic shell with reinforced plating for rolling attacks. Equipment: Momentum Wheels that increase speed and control during rolls. Outfit: A racing stripe motif with impact-absorbing materials.
Wildvine Redesign: Thicker vines and a broader range of plant-like features. Equipment: Photosynthesis Boosters that enhance healing and growth abilities. Outfit: A botanical armor set with leafy camouflage.
Spitter Redesign: More pronounced glands and a wider mouth for his spitting attacks. Equipment: Hydration Pack that keeps him primed for slime production. Outfit: A moisture-retaining suit that helps in slime regeneration.
Buzzshock Redesign: Brighter electrical arcs and a more compact body for zipping around. Equipment: Static Amplifiers that boost his electrical output. Outfit: A suit with conductive pathways that glow with stored electricity.
Blitzwolfer Redesign: More pronounced fangs and claws, with a darker, more intimidating appearance. Equipment: Lunar Lenses that enhance his night vision and howling range. Outfit: A tattered cape that billows as he moves, adding to his fearsome presence.
Upchuck Redesign: A wider mouth and a more robust digestive system visible on his belly. Equipment: Digestive Accelerators that allow for quicker consumption and energy conversion. Outfit: A suit with reinforced areas around the stomach to handle his expansive appetite.
Ditto Redesign: Brighter colors and more expressive faces to differentiate his clones. Equipment: Cloning Belt that enhances the stability and independence of each clone. Outfit: A uniform with a number system to keep track of his duplicates.
Waybig Redesign: Cosmic patterns on his skin and a more imposing stature. Equipment: Stellar Stabilizers that help him maintain balance and leverage his size. Outfit: A suit with celestial motifs that reflect his cosmic origins.
Arctiguana Redesign: Icier appearance with sharper spines and a more pronounced frill. Equipment: Cryo Converters that enhance his ice beam’s freezing capabilities. Outfit: An insulated suit that protects him from overheating and helps focus his cold powers.
Chromastone Redesign: More prismatic with a crystalline structure that refracts light. Equipment: Prism Gauntlets that enhance his energy absorption and refraction abilities. Outfit: A suit with angular, reflective panels that mimic his crystalline form.
Alien X Redesign: Cosmic and ethereal with starry patterns that shift and change. Equipment: Celestial Scepter that focuses his reality-warping powers. Outfit: A robe that seems to contain a piece of the universe, complete with twinkling stars.
Nanomech Redesign: Sleeker with more advanced nanotechnology features. Equipment: Micro-Assembler that allows him to construct various devices on the fly. Outfit: A tech-enhanced suit that adjusts to his size changes.
Fasttrack Redesign: Streamlined with aerodynamic features for enhanced speed. Equipment: Velocity Vambraces that boost his speed and agility. Outfit: A racing suit with dynamic lines that glow when he accelerates.
Eatle Redesign: Bulkier with a reinforced exoskeleton and sharper mandibles. Equipment: Digestive Reinforcement Belt that aids in processing consumed materials. Outfit: A utility belt with compartments for storing consumed materials.
Gravattack Redesign: More planetary with a core that glows like a molten core. Equipment: Graviton Anchor that helps him control his gravitational fields. Outfit: A suit with orbiting bands that represent his control over gravity.
Crashhopper Redesign: More insectoid with enhanced leg hydraulics for powerful jumps. Equipment: Impact Dampeners that protect him during high-velocity landings. Outfit: A suit with spring-loaded accents that highlight his leaping abilities.
Walkatrout Redesign: More amphibious with sleek scales and a streamlined body. Equipment: Aqua-Dynamic Fins that improve his swimming and maneuverability. Outfit: A wetsuit with a slippery surface to aid in evasive maneuvers.
Molestache Redesign: More distinguished with a larger, more versatile mustache. Equipment: Mustache Combs that can be used as weapons or tools. Outfit: A Victorian-style suit with a bow tie and a monocle for a touch of class.
The Worst Redesign: Tougher looking with visible scars and a more rugged appearance. Equipment: Resilience Amplifiers that make him even harder to take down. Outfit: A battered suit that looks like it’s been through many battles.
Kickin Hawk Redesign: Sharper talons and more pronounced feathers for a fiercer look. Equipment: Talon Enhancers that increase the power of his kicks. Outfit: A martial arts gi with feathered accents that flutter as he moves.
Toepick Redesign: Darker and more ominous with a face that’s hidden until revealed. Equipment: Fear Inducers that amplify the terror he instills in enemies. Outfit: A cloak that shrouds him in mystery, only opening to unleash his frightful visage.
Astrodactyl Redesign: More alien with wing membranes that glow with cosmic energy. Equipment: Jetpack Harness that enhances his flight and energy projection. Outfit: A suit with aerodynamic features and a helmet with a visor for space travel.
Bullfrag Redesign: More muscular with amphibious traits and a tougher skin texture. Equipment: Strength Enhancers that boost his physical prowess. Outfit: A tactical vest with various pouches for carrying mission essentials.