Class: AP Transformation, Zoner, Slayer, Specialist

Role: Mid

Client Theme

Contest Relation:

Contrasting Parts, from u/MrMeem1: Sareena & Askol are a zoner mage and skirmisheassassin combo.
Written By a Different Style, from u/lydongwapo: Sareena has a unique use for her ult that operates more as a basic ability, but can cast a full ultimate by meeting some conditions. Both parts have a unique Ult that share their CD.
A Story Through Action: Sareena’s playstyle can be best described as “a witch summoning Satan”, by setting up the field and targeting enemies as sacrifice for her demonic spawn. They also operate as a necessary pair. Sareena is squishy and lacks damage but her abilities are required to operate Askol properly. As such, they are symbiotic just like in their lore.

Commentary:

Once again this was a revamp of an old idea. The concept was to make a spin on the whole “mother of the anti-christ” trope, as well as the inner demon trope. Its usually smth horrific, a supernatural crime against an innocent person, usually a young woman. But what if it didn’t need to be? What if not only were they both evil but the host was actually the worst of the two? Take the trope of being forced to give birth to a demon, twist it on its head and make it empowering, having the vessel be the one twisting the second party but not for good, like how we usually see these situations in media. That's what's at the core of Sareena’s story and design.
Gameplay wise, they are a symbiotic pair that uses combos, cash ins, setups and versatile resources to accomplish their goal. Been playing a lot of Master Duel as of late, so I wanted smth that resembled that type of game feel.

Lore:

Sareena served dutifully under the Black Rose as one of many witches in charge of managing and weaponizing demons, the spirit realm and all matters of esoteric and ancient magics. But she was also special.
Centuries ago, the Black Rose encountered a most strange object in the spirit realm: some kind of spherical set of sigils surrounding a giant malformed entity, left alone in a ruin of Targonian origin. No mages could approach it without feeling an intense heat emanating from it, except for one. Erebas extended his hand and the sigils opened for him, letting him hold the now tiny egg like creature. As generations passed, Erebas’ descendants were the only ones capable of interacting directly with it. Further investigation on his family and the landscape surrounding the site showed that millenia ago a targonian sect crafted a demon that could kill a star dragon. Why such a weapon would be abandoned eluded the Black Rose, but it wasn’t relevant anymore. They had it now and they knew they couldn’t pass it up. Erebas’ bloodline was now purposely bred to be the most powerful and in touch with the creature, hopefully creating a suitable host for the demon. Sareena was the chosen subject. When she came of age, the entity was implanted into her womb.
Sareena was dutiful, but also ambitious, as any Black Rose witch worth her salt would be. As the being gestated, she slowly started connecting with it, analyzing it and learning about the spirit world through it. The entity was more awake than it let out and only she could see it. It had thoughts and agency. It had needs. Sareena started treating it more and more like her actual child, even naming it “Askol”, meaning “messiah” in Ochnun. Askol in turn gave her power. Sareena could feel unspeakable levels of magic emanating from it and flowing into her body. After a few months of testing the limits of their fused strength, black and red markings started to form on her skin. Her dreams were filled with visions of burning fields and blackened skies. One night, she decided to dig deeper into the dream.
She found herself in a completely dark space with a red orb in the center. She heard a strange voice from it. Askol’s voice. It told her to touch it and see what it sees the world for. She abided. Instantly images flooded her head: stars bleeding crimson, constellations made of black holes, planets cracked and reforged into rocky amalgamations held together by corpses of dragons, unspeakable monsters crawling on their surface. Sareena understood why the sect never released Askol: It was untamable, a wild beast bent on consuming and rebuilding all of creation. The truth of the method was also revealed: Askol was a parasite. The star dragon equivalent of a tapeworm. They knew they could never kill a dragon outright, so instead they made something smaller but deadly enough. Sareena reeled back, staring at the orb.
She smiled.She grabbed the orb and held it tight to her chest. Her baby, her little Messiah.
Her final weapon. Askol was a wild animal with the potential to sunder the universe, but ultimately still a cub in need of care and belonging. She knew she could use that to her favor. Askol now had something it would have never expected: A mother’s love.
As their hearts touched in the spirit realm, limitless power poured in the physical plane, destroying Sareena’s manor and all its residents. Askol emerged wrapped in the warped body of its mother and flew far into what used to be Camavor. There, it condensed back into her. Sareena was somewhat surprised to see herself in one piece as Askol cheered from her insides. She noticed that all pains from pregnancy were gone, she could only feel the wriggling demon and the seething power, though she was still visibly pregnant. She was transformed, warped into something greater than a mere human.
Askol may be just a worm to a deity, but for Runeterra and its heroes and villains, it might as well be their almighty God. And Sareena not only had exclusive rights to its power, she had its affection. Swain? An old fool. The Black Rose? Pathetic cowards Mordekaiser? A relic of the past. The Darkin? The other demons? Wannabe apocalypse bringers soon to be devoured by their true demonic messiah. Only the firmament could stand up to them.
Too bad that's exactly what they were made to destroy.

KIT:

Shared Passive: A Time and a Place 

Innate: Baleful Union

• You always start the game and respawn as Sareena, who has a small HP pool. When you die, you instead go into Stasis as Askol takes Sareena’ place after 1 Second.
• Sareena has 300/450/600/750 HP at levels 1/6/11/16 + (50 per level) and doesn’t gain Bonus AD but otherwise benefits normally from all stats and has her own set of abilities. Askol benefits normally from items and level stats.

Innate: Shared Power

• Both Sareena and Askol share their Ultimates’ CD
  Sareena Kit
  Passive: Marks of The Beast
  

All of Sareena’s abilities leave marks on the ground or on enemies. These marks are initially Dormant until triggered, becoming Manifested. In both states, the marks all last 6 + (0.3 per level) Seconds. Whenever a mark is triggered, Sareena casts an ability and when Askol emerges, the duration of both Dormant and Manifested marks is refreshed and Sareena gains a burst of 20% + (2% per level) Move Speed decaying over 2 Seconds, refreshing on acquisition. Additionally, Sareena gains a stack of Growing Power whenever a mark is Manifested, lasting until death.
For every 5 Stacks of Growing Power, she consumes them to earn a stack of Marks of The Beast. These stacks are consumed once Askol emerges, granting it 10 + (1 per level) AP until it dies.

Q: Brand Their Soul 

Cost: 50/55/60/65/70 Mana
CD: 11/10/9/8/7 Seconds
Range: 700
Width: 100
Active: Sareena launches a projectile of dark mystic energy in a straight line, dealing 30/60/90/120/150 + (40% AP) magic damage to all enemies struck and applying a Dormant mark on all enemy champions hit. The mark is Manifested if they trigger a mark from W: Corrupt the World and E: Etch Horrid Truths, dealing the damage again, resetting the duration and silencing for 0.5 Seconds.

W: Corrupt the World 

Cost: 70 Mana
CD: 10 Seconds
Range: 750
AoE: 400
Active: Create an evil sigil on the ground that arms after 0.7 Seconds. If an enemy champion, large monster or Sareena steps on it, it Manifests dealing 20/50/80/110/140 + (60% AP) magic damage and rooting all enemies in it for 1/1.3/1.6/1.9/2.2 Seconds. The same target cannot be rooted by another instance of this effect for 6 Seconds.

E: Etch Horrid Truths 

Cost: 35 Mana
CD: 2 Seconds
Charge Time: 10/9/8/7/6 Seconds
Range: 600
Connection Range: 1200
Line Width: 200
Passive: This ability holds up to 2/2/3/3/4 charges.
Active: Consume a charge to target a point, summoning a spatial rift that arms after 0.7 Seconds and lasts for 3 Seconds. When you summon another rift they send a connecting line of Ochnun text to the nearest two already existing rifts. The connected rifts and the lines become Dormant marks. When an enemy champion or large monster walks into these etchings, that particular line Manifests, dealing 15/35/55/75/95 + (20% AP) magic damage every half-second for as long as it lasts and slowing enemies in them by 30/35/40/45/50%, remaining for 0.7 Seconds after leaving the line.
You can have up to 4 rifts active at a time. New rifts over that cap despawn the oldest one.

R: Weave Into Eternity 

Cost: 100 Mana
CD: 90 Seconds
Range: Self
Fear Range: 700
At least 4 Manifested marks must be active to cast this ability
Active: Sareena makes all Manifested marks Dormant again, gaining a shield for 40/60/80 + (10% AP) for each mark affected, lasting 3 Seconds. Then if less than 8 marks were affected, refresh this skill’s CD and Cost by 50/65/80%.
If 8 or more marks are affected, the skill goes on a full CD and you additionally gain Eternity, an effect that carries over to Askol. When Askol dies with this effect on, it will instead reconstruct Sareena while Fearing all enemies in range for 2/2.3/2.6 Seconds.

Askol Kit Passive: Blood and Starsfire 

Whenever a mark is Manifested or made Dormant, refresh the CD of all basic abilities by 1 Second.
If Askol took part in the last kill that Aced the enemy team, Sareena re-emerges.

Q: Reap the Offerings 

Cost: 45 Mana
CD: 10 Seconds
Range: 600
Cone Width: 600
Active: Askol swings its arms in an arc, slashing all enemies struck, dealing 50/90/130/170/210 + (50% AP) magic damage and Manifesting all marks in the AoE.

W: Spreading Doom 

Cost: 100 Mana
CD: 60 Seconds
Range: 900
Width: 450
First Active: Askol removes all marks and rifts regardless of their state or if there are any to remove. For the next 4 Seconds, it can recast for no cost.
Second Active: Sends forward a wide wave that applies Q: Brand Their Soul to all enemies hit, creates a sigil from W: Corrupt the World under all champions hit and connects all ally and enemy champions and large monsters with lines of E: Etch Horrid Truths.

E: Inevitability 

Cost: 80 Mana
CD: 15 Seconds
Range: 850
AoE: 500
Active: Target a Manifested mark to blink to it, making it Dormant and bursting with demonic starfire, dealing 50/90/130/170/210 + (50% AP) magic damage in an area.

R: Dies Irae 

Cost: 100 Mana
CD: 90 Seconds
Range: 600
AoE: 500 + 100/150/200 per consumed mark
Active: Target a Manifested mark within range to make all marks Dormant. From the mark erupts a rift in space that constantly disintegrates matter caught in it, dealing 30/40/50 + (10% AP) magic damage each half-second, lasting for 5/6/7 Seconds. For every mark made Dormant on cast, the AoE size is increased.
All marks inside the area are constantly made Dormant and Manifested every second.

Quotes: Sareena talks even while Askol is out, her voice gains a demonic filter.

Pick: “ Black hole sun, here we come! (Askol emits eldritch noises)”
Ban: “ Soon… “

First Encounter: 

Annie:

• “ They will never let you unlock your true potential, kid. Come with me! ”
• “ Ever wanted a sister, sweetie?” (Askol responds with intelligible noises)
• “ My new world will need kindling, child ”

Lux:

• “ Why fit in when you can dominate? ”
• “ My new world will need a source of light.”
• “ Leave them behind Lux! They don’t deserve you! ”
• “ Light and dark, together as one! Think about it ”

Sylas:

• “ Finally a Demacian I can respect “
• “ Oh by all means, try to touch me…”

Swain:

• “ You are delusional if you think that… thing listens to you (Askol screeches) No darling you are not a “thing” (Askol growls) “
• “ You lost an arm for that? Rookie ”
• “ Hmph. Men will let a monster replace a limb and think they can compare. Typical “

LeBlanc:

• “ I’ll succeed where you failed, hag “
• “ You lack vision “
• “ Don’t think for a second I don’t know you allowed this to transpire “

Vladimir:

• “ Do what you do best and go back to your hole “

Kayle:

• (Askol emits eldritch sounds) “ Oh so she has the stuff you want? I guess we are having chicken for dinner then! ”

Aurelion Sol:

• (Askol emits eldritch sounds) “ There it is! it's… bigger than I expected "
• “ Is THAT what we are looking for?! (Askol emits eldritch sounds) I… right, let's go! ”
  Kill
  

Mordekaiser:

• “ Big one down ”
• “ There. Wasn’t even that hard “
• “ Does soul stuff count as something you can eat? (Askol howls) huh. The more you know ”
• “ Demonic starfire does the trick it seems. And that idiot thought magnets were gonna work “

Aatrox:

• “ I can’t stand nihilists “
• “ viOLeNcE iS mY MeThOD. Oh, hush! “
• “ Ugh he was insufferable ”
• “ Fine, I’ll end the world. But not because you asked “

Any other Ascended:

• “ You already failed. Stay failed and spare us the hassle “
• “ You were terribly uninspired “
• “ For immortal god warriors they sure die real good “

Lissandra:

• “ Poor excuse for a witch “

Syndra:

• “ There can only be one “
• “ You were a liability “
• “ Pity. She looked fun “

Aurelion Sol:

• (Askol lets out an echoing roar) “ A god falls! Heaven quakes! I reign supreme!”
• “ Through the heavens and earth, I alone stand in the apex! (Askol sounds worried) Huh? Of course, Askol. You are with me too…”

Kyiv, Ukraine - 60 miles from the center of The Zone
Serhii Panchenko is a small and sickly man, both skinny as well as short. I already knew this as I studied his file before our interview, like I do with everyone I meet with for The Project. He was a learned man, with a passion for science and mathematics , specifically the field of physics. He studied abroad, only coming back to Ukraine when called by his country. Serhii heard talks that the Government had started some sort of special scientific research project regarding the recent reports of strange phenomena surrounding the second disaster at the CNPP. It had been hush-hush, and was still very much hush-hush. Serhii had the connections he needed and the motivation to pursue them, and therefore he was naturally selected. I was surprised when he agreed to meet me at his residence, a small bungalow in some unnamed suburb in Kyiv. I was expecting a more formal setting, given his experience and reputation. We shook hands and he just smiled, he preferred the informal setting anyways. His wife poured us tea and we began our interview.
Serhii Panchenko - Ecologist
I was never a soldier. The thought of combat terrified me. But I knew the importance of the mission and I wanted to help. I was also proud to be Ukrainian and I always did what my country asked of me. Therefore, I completed my training and became a soldier. I knew it wasn’t right in my heart but it was required. I had a passion for science and this new research opportunity interested me. I understood the need for the training, The Zone was a dangerous place. We all heard what was happening there; the mutant sightings, the unexplainable deaths, the deadly anomalies. I didn’t shame Petrov when he told me he had refused the offer. They promised us military protection, actual competent marksmen that will do the shooting for us. That was a promise that they actually fulfilled, thank god. I still hated carrying the rifle, it was awkward and bulky, and it constantly blocked my hands from doing what they were meant to be doing; taking samples, writing notes, and carrying my lab equipment.
I had only spent a couple weeks in The Zone before I got called back for a reassignment. I didn’t really accomplish much in that time, mostly measuring radiation levels and collecting various flora. Nothing really felt like the discovery that I was initially promised, I was young and I was eager, do you blame me for my excitement? The Second Disaster provided us with an opportunity unlike anything the world has ever seen. It was all out there for us, untapped, and undiscovered. I could only imagine it; my face on the Times, or maybe a Nobel Prize. That’s why I was smiling like a giddy school-boy when I first got the report.
It was classified of course. A military patrol had come across a young Stalker on the road near redacted, he had been in The Zone for almost a week. The Stalker was arrested, processed, and questioned for information. An intelligence report was then drafted and placed on my desk. Standard practice. The Stalker was believable, and described an anomalous zone he came across in some old department store near where he was arrested. The prospect of an artifact discovery in that area was deemed to be probable and as such, we were put to work.
I was responsible for assembling the scientific field team. I picked my two closest pals, Ostap and Stanislav. We went through training together and I trusted them. We were paired with a military escort led by Cpt. Lytvyn. I met him a couple times before, we didn’t always get along, but I trusted him to keep us safe. I made it clear to the Captain that he was not to interfere with any research tasks. Accompanying him was a field-medic and a young boy, who was no more than 20 years old. He was also our designated driver. In those days we always used the BTR-70’s. They were safe and the military still had tons of them. Besides the wild dogs, or the rare encounter with a disgruntled Stalker. We didn’t have much to worry about, especially not in the areas I went to. This was before the infamous faction wars, and mutant encounters were still rare and largely unheard of.
We arrived at the department store as planned. It was gutted, as were all the other buildings we came across. Looters made sure of that after the First Disaster. Radiation levels outside the building were high, but not alarming. We all wore SSP-99 Hazardous Material Suits so we weren’t concerned. Stanislov went first and I followed. Ostap remained back with the military and was instructed to set up our equipment, which consisted of some monitors, computers, and our EOD Robot, Explosive Ordnance Disposal. A donated item from your country that we refitted for dangerous artifact handling.
Our sensors began to alarm, we knew there were anomalies around us. They are usually hard to see in general, but through our visors, it was almost impossible. We had our methods, Stalkers famously used bolts and we adopted it. We sometimes used our bullet casings too if we ran out. We also learned that if you used an unspent round you could throw it farther. The captains would cite us for that, “wasting ammo”, we didn’t care. Stanislov led us, so he was responsible for throwing. You’d throw a bolt in a general direction and wait for a reaction. If nothing happens, then you can safely walk there. Other times the bolt bounced right back at you, or there’d be an anomalous discharge, sometimes that looked like a sudden flash of electricity or a stream of fire would shoot straight out of the ground. That was a warning - step there and you would die. We threw lots of bolts, casings, whatever as long as it was metallic. We had to be sure. I followed behind Stanislov, placing plastic markers along the safe route so we could find our way back. They had to be heavy enough, a strong gust of wind could move your markers and that could kill you.
We were in there for at least an hour and had almost mapped out the entire store. Ostap kept track of time and would radio us frequently for status updates and to check our wellbeing. He had full authority to pull us out at any point if he thought that we needed a break. It was my idea, it helped keep us mentally sharp and reduced accidents. Ostap didn’t remove anyone that night. At first I thought we busted, and then it appeared. A small milky-white ball solidified itself right in front of Stanislav. It was floating approximately three feet off the ground. It didn’t move or spin, as far as we could tell at least. It also didn’t react to our presence, which gave me this strange, but comforting feeling. We were both astonished, you don’t often come face to face with something so other-worldly, something that just plainly shouldn’t exist. Stanislav embraced me and I radioed our discovery back to Ostap. We respectively named it: “The Cue”, as it was similar in size, shape, and color to that of a cue ball. I liked the name, it was Stanislav’s idea.
The Cue was emitting a high level of radiation. I took several measurements with my geiger counter. From three feet away, I was getting returns of 5800-5900 Millisieverts. One foot away and it jumped dramatically to 7200. I got within one inch, and my geiger counter screeched at me. 9500 Millisieverts. “Be careful Serhii”, Stanislav had been watching me. He was right. We checked each other over, no rips or tears. Any sort in either of our suits and we would be in extreme danger. At 9500, any of us could be dead within a week. I ordered Ostap to bring us a lead-lined container. It was a heavy bastard but it would contain the radiation and keep us safe.
Stanislav volunteered to be the one to put it in the container. I let him, even though I wanted to be the one to touch it for the first time. We were both so stupid and should have known better. He had the container at his feet and was reaching out for The Cue. He was standing within that dangerous 5800-5900 range and needed to move quickly. I just stood there idly and watched him. I had a morbid curiosity and wanted to know what would happen. Foolish.
Stanislav made contact, he was smiling. I was happy for him. He said to me, “it is so light Serhii, almost like an egg”. He only had one hand on it, which is probably why he dropped it. A silly mistake. Instincts took over and he reached to catch it with his opposite hand. I would have done the same thing. He caught it and for the first time, The Cue reacted. At first it looked like the air around The Cue imploded, as if The Cue opened up and was sucking all the air inside. Then naturally, there was the explosion of outwards force. Stanislav screamed. His hand and all five of his fingers had been completely gripping The Cue, and now they were completely gone. I saw his fingers fly past my visor, I was wet with blood. I screamed for Ostap, but Cpt. Lytvyn came instead, he had watched the entire thing. He was calm and acted without hesitation. Stanislav was brought to the medical officer, he had fainted and needed to be carried. His hazardous material suit was blood-soaked and torn to the elbow. I was not only worried about his injury, but the radiation. He would have got a direct exposure. It was chaos.
All I remember was the Captain looking at me, and just muttering, “what the fuck happened”. How the hell was I supposed to know, I didn’t even know what that thing was.
What about the robot, why did you forget to use that for the collection?
I see that you read Cpt. Lytvyn’s after action report. He painted me to look like some inexperienced fool. You can judge me like the others, but my men would attest for me. To say that I “forgot” is simplifying a very complicated situation. I refreshed my men on the use of the EOD robot the morning of the expedition, it was written in my mission plan, and we had even talked about it up until the moment we arrived at the site. I learned after that Ostap hadn’t even unpacked it. When I asked him why, he simply told me that he didn’t know. How is it possible that three experienced and combat-trained scientists all suddenly forgot about the biggest and most expensive piece of equipment and life saving safety measure in their arsenal? And to suggest that all three of them forgot all at the same time? I cannot possibly explain it and it is still something that terrifies me to this day.
*Serhii checks his watch and pulls out a silver medication package from his pocket. He pops out two distinctive blue and red pills and swallows them back with a sip of tea.*
I was now starting to get operational pressure from Cpt. Lytvyn. He had ordered Ostap to replace Stanislav immediately and assist me with the collection. I couldn’t help but feel angry. This was my team, my field of study. Cpt. Lytvyn, how dare he order my men around, what did he know about the sciences, that ass.
We used the robot this time, it was my order and I made sure to say it loud enough for the Captain to hear. The robot you see, was like a mobile claw machine, mounted on small tank tracks. It was completely wireless, with this little camera on the arm to allow the operator to see clearly from a safe distance. We retrofitted the arm to include a scale and geiger counter. We also had to modify the claw to include six “fingers” instead of the standard two. Artifacts were more fragile and this worked better for us.
The Cue started to rise again, we waited for it to settle and then I moved in. Once I had it in my claws, I started the diagnostic process. Radiation levels were still the same, but I was surprised at the weight. Stanislav originally described it like an egg, which weighs maybe 50 grams. I was getting exact readings of 4.27 pounds! How is that possible I thought? I was even more surprised when it started to fluctuate. Every ten seconds, it would gradually add half a pound, quarter pound, sometimes even a full pound. The process would then repeat in reverse. I would move the arm of the robot slightly up or down. The weight would change even more quickly now, every half-second this time. The faster I moved it, the more it would change its density. I also noticed that in contradiction to its change in density, the actual size and shape of the artifact remained the same. I can see why Stanislav dropped it, his fingers weren’t prepared for that type of weight fluctuation.
I had to test a second theory, I had to see what had caused the Cue to suddenly explode. I knew it was somehow related to the change of weight, which in turn was caused by sudden change in momentum. I also figured that The Cue was storing energy somehow, like one of those wind-up survival radios that I often see in the packs of captured Stalkers. Forcing momentum on The Cue would change its density, which in turn would increase its internal energy. This energy would build up until The Cue was forced to release it - resulting in the explosion. What happened to Stanislav occurred only after he had dropped it, which I figured must have been The Cue’s triggering point. I could not recreate that amount of momentum by simply shaking the artifact while it was in my claws.
So as any professional would, I got to a safe distance and I started dropping the damn thing. First from three feet, no explosion. Then from five feet, which is about the height of Stanislav. Again, no explosion. I raised the arm to eight feet, its maximal length. No explosion. I waited 30 minutes, which was all the time the Captain would grant me and repeated the tests. All three tests resulted in the same findings. No explosion.
In those forty-or-so minutes I had alone with The Cue, I came up with a hypothesis. To cut it short for this interview, I believed The Cue was sentient, I wouldn’t conclude it to be some sort of life-form, but it definitely had the capability to think for itself. It reacted when picked up by Stanislav, and it reacted when picked up by the robot. However, when dropped by Stanislav, it exploded, and when dropped by the robot, nothing. The weight fluctuation was proven to be regular, and could be repeated. The explosion however, seemed to be more of a defense mechanism, like that of the porcupine, and that could NOT be repeated. So why did it happen? That was something that I couldn’t find out without further time and testing, and the Captain would give me neither of those. The unexplainable question I pondered was The Cue’s capability for intelligence. It’s defense mechanism, was it controllable? Could it have decided not to take Stanislav’s hand off? Did it want to.
That’s the most haunting thing, did it want to? Again, we knew nothing about it. This alien thing that appeared out of the Second Disaster like some demon rising from hell. We wanted so much from it, but we never stopped to think what it wanted from us!

Part 66 What makes a species scary (Part 1) (Part 65)
[Help support me on Ko-fi so I can try to commission some character art and totally not spend it all on Gundams]
​
With her whole-body sensory suite, vastly increased processing capabilities, and a self-recharging power cell and battery system capable of sustaining moderate activity for years at a time without refueling or recharge, Nula'trula had spent over two days straight wandering about the Amenities Section of The Hammer and taking it all in. Between the vibrant lights of the higher density entertainment and shopping districts, the cozy suburban segments full of smiling faces, and the serene nature areas that held flora from across the stars, there was so much that it would take months, if not years, to see it all. Now that her new physical form allowed her to feel the difference betweens in the artificial day-night cycle's cool mornings, warm afternoons, and chilly evenings, the sights and sounds weren't the only things to be experienced. And while she couldn't be certain that the various fragrances which graced her olfactory sensors were being interpreted the same way her creators would have experienced the smells, the android woman was simply happy to have this full and nearly organic ability to perceive her surroundings.
​
The particular place Nula had found herself walking through at the moment was lush with fully natural plant life, filled with actual birds chirping and fluttering about the domed off area, and even featured an immaculate recreation of the physical conditions of a world she had never even heard of. Though most of the people in this aviary and greenhouse were Qui'ztar, just like every other location throughout The Hammer, the second most numerous species the artificial woman saw as she took in the sights and smells seemed oddly familiar to her. Their snouts weren't quite long enough, their facial shape was far rounder than it was triangular, and their vertical slit pupils were quite unique. However, despite those obvious differences and the preloaded information in her upgraded memory banks informing her that they were from an Ascended feline species, these Kikitau bore an uncanny resemblance to the Artuv'trula species who created her.
​
After only a few minutes of walking through this natural area, reading the various signs describing the flora and fauna, and basking in every sensory input she could, Nula'trula noticed herself slowly spending more time casually glancing at the other people also enjoying this space. Having spent most of the past couple days going unnoticed as she wandered about the ship, and only receiving the occasional pleasant smile from passersby, there had been no real want or need to pay close attention to the sentient beings who called this ship their home. However, as the android woman bent over to smell the flowers and carefully examined the intricate structures of some of these plants, she couldn't help but notice many of the feline eyes falling on her. As she approached a small water feature, a glistening pond with a small creek flowing into it via a waist high waterfall, Nula happened to see a Qui’ztar security guard approaching her, as well as one of the Kikitau seemingly half hiding behind a tree.
​
“State your purpose for being here.” The moment the security guard was within just a few paces of Nula, she spoke up with a tone that implied she was speaking to a non-sentient being. “And who is your owner?”
​
“Oh! Uh… I don't have an owner…” Being unsure of how to respond, Nula hesitated for a moment and glanced around. “And I was just enjoying this beautiful and serene place… Is this area not open to the public? Because if so-”
​
“You're a sapient AI?!?” Those crimson red eyes which had held a noticeable amount of annoyance just a moment ago now looked positively embarrassed. “My deepest apologies, ma'am. I had received a report that an unescorted automaton was lost and wandering alone. That was obviously untrue and, again, I apologize. But, yes, this area is open to the public. You are free to enjoy it to your heart's content.”
​
“If my presence here is causing discomfort to anyone, I can leave or-”
​
As Nula quickly looked around, she noticed a few of the Kikitau staring her way in a manner that made her feel a bit uneasy. Hesitantly, the android peered to the side of the brick house of a woman who was standing in front of her and towards the feline who was still skittishly peeking out from behind a thick evergreen. Following the AI woman’s glowing golden eyes, the security guard noticed the poorly obscured person who, quite likely, was the individual who submitted the anonymous report that had brought her here for nothing. Considering that most of this Qui’ztar’s job was to handle misunderstandings such as this, especially with security being so tight, the proper course of action was already clear to her.
​
“No, you don't have to leave.” There was an almost tired and annoyed inflection in the blue woman’s deep voice as she made a gesture with her head meant to beckon over the cowering Kikitau. “And I suspect we can settle this right now… You! Get over here!”
​
“Oh! We don’t have to-”
​
“Trust me, it’s better to talk these kinds of things out.” As the Qui’ztar’s red eyes momentarily returned to Nula, she spoke with a soft voice and shot the digital being a quick wink before returning to her commanding tone and directing her piercing gaze to the now approaching Kikitau. “I am Sergeant Helicha of Ten’yoish, acting security officer for this area, and I assume you are the person who called in the report about an alone and possibly lost automaton?”
​
“Ye- Yes, ma- ma’am.” Though the feline’s stuttering response came at no surprise to Helicha but thoroughly confused Nula. “M- my name is Minchin Salocia and I’m the c- caretaker of this garden. I- I‘m sorry if I filed a false report, ma- ma’am.”
​
“Ah, don’t concern yourself about something like that, Minchin Salocia. This was just an innocent mistake, isn’t that right? And it isn’t everyday that a sapient android visits your greenhouse, now is it?” As the security guard's facial expression shifted from stern to surprisingly compassionate, she turned back towards Nula. “I’m sure our friend here isn’t offended by your confusion and we can all move on with our day in peace and harmony.”
​
“Oh no! I'm not offended at all.” Nula bowed slightly towards the clearly intimidated cat-man who flinched slightly at the motion. “And I'm sorry if I scared you in any way. My name is Nula'trula but you can call me Nula if you prefer.”
​
“I don’t believe Minchin here is scared of you, Nula'trula. Isn’t that right?” While Helicha had simply believed it was her large size and ample muscle mass that had been causing this man’s timid behavior, the look in his violet, vertical eyes caused her to question that assumption.
​
“A- Actually…”
​
/------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
​
“Hey, Hompta…” As soon as Nula spotted her furry little friend standing in front of Tens's mech with a tablet in his hand, she sheepishly approached him and tried to get his attention without distracting him from his work.
​
“Aho, Nula!” Hompta didn't lift his eyes from his tablet as he greeted the digital woman. “How's it?”
​
“Can… Can I ask you a question? And please be completely honest with your answer.”
​
“Uh… Sure…?” The Kyim’ayik man still hadn’t looked up to see the almost painful expression on the AI's mechanical face as he carefully examined the data he was receiving.
​
“Is my face and form scary?”
​
For a brief second, the beaver-otter froze in place, his eyes staring blankly at his tablet, before he slowly turned towards the canine android. Though his expression was initially more of confusion than anything else, the moment he saw the sad look on his friend’s face, he immediately knew this was a serious question.
​
“Well… You aren't scary to me. The only beings in this galaxy that actually scare me are Nishnabek.” An empathic smile spread across Hompta’s whiskered lips as he lowered his tablet. “But… I do know some species have a natural fear of canids. It’s something that happens when a species evolves alongside, are hunted by, apex predator canines. Sort of a… genetic phobia, if that makes sense.”
​
“Is… Is that common? Your species doesn’t have that phobia, does it?”
​
“Ehhh… I wouldn’t say it’s rare…” Hompta was struggling to find the right balance of honesty and compassion in his explanation, especially considering the clearly distressed expression written all across Nula’s incredibly detailed mechanical face. “And no. Gi’schia does not have any species that quite match the canine category. It does, however, have predatory felines. Some Kyim’ayik I’ve met just don’t like Kikitau or Op’thulians because they’re vaguely reminiscent of our ancestral adversaries. Nishnabe, on the other hand, genuinely are terrifying pretty much no matter what.”
​
“That's the same thing the security officer said.” Where the android's face had softened into a slight smile, it was the small furry man's turn to have a look of distressed confusion appear on his face. “Not about the Nishnabe, but about fears related to morphologies.”
​
“Hold on! What's this about a security officer?!? What have you been doing, Nula?!?”
​
“I was just exploring a greenhouse meant to simulate the Kikitau homeworld. At least I think that's what Caretaker Minchin told me.” Seeing as that wasn't anywhere enough to alleviate her friend's concern, Nula began recounting her encounter that happened less than an hour ago. “While I was exploring the greenhouse, a security guard approached me after receiving a report of an unsupervised automaton. As it turns out, the caretaker noticed me, saw how I looked, and got scared. Scared enough to call in a security guard. Luckily, after Helicha brought us together, Minchin and I were able to talk it out. And I think I may even have made another friend! But…”
​
While Nula'trula's voice trailed off, the slight smile that had spread across her lips began to show a certain sadness.
​
“Being judged by the way you look isn't fun, is it?”
​
“No. No, it isn't fun at all.”
​
“But you said you think you made a friend?”
​
“Oh yes!” Nula's heartfelt grin returned as she turned to look in the general direction of the nature area she had just come from. “Minchin is a very nice man. After we started talking, he showed me all of his favorite plants and birds. And he even invited me to come back whenever I wanted. But… Well… He kept looking at me in a certain way and…”
​
“What kinda way?” Though Hompta could see something was still bothering his friend, he couldn't help but give the android’s impressively sculpted body a quick once over.
​
“Honestly, I'm not sure.”
​
“Could he have been flirting?”
​
“Wha-! What do you mean?!?” That possibility had obviously not yet crossed Nula's mind and a slight glow suddenly became visible from between the small and finely crafted paneling of her mechanical face. “Why would he be… Why would he do that if I scared him?!?”
​
“I mean…” Hompta began chuckling in an adorably high pitched tone. “You aren't too far off from the morphology of Kikitau. And, if I remember right, they are a female dominant species. I'll bet money that man's been scared of every woman he's ever been attracted to!”
​
“Really?!? I- Uh… Well…” The light emanating from Nula's face grew more intense as she slowly reached into the small pocket on her thin, loose fitting, and flowing top that covered just her chest and arms but not her sculpted ab-like stomach paneling. “He did give me this before I left.”
​
As the canine android pulled out a short cutting of small, purple flowers with tiny pink spots, Hompta immediately knew what he was looking at. While the hyn’jutori plant was incredibly similar to countless other minty flora that exist across the galaxy, there was a very unique and particular fragrance that was recognizable to anyone who had spent enough time around Kikitau. While it wasn't exactly bad smelling, the sweet and crisp aroma greatly overpowered the other aromas produced to the plant, there was a certain odor that species who could consciously pick up on pheromones would notice. And while that scent wasn't particularly strong, just enough for the little beaver-otters to know what he was looking at, the fact Nula had been given the flower gave Hompta all the confirmation he needed.
​
“Oh, if he gave that, he was definitely flirting!” The squeaky giggle had become a full on cackle as the furry little man looked up at the now obviously flustered and blushing android. “What were you two talking about before he gave that to you, huh?”
​
“Oh! Um… Uh…” Nula was at a loss for words and her glowing face and fidgeting body made that clear as day while she stared at the blossom in her hand. “Why would you think that him giving me this would be flirting?”
​
“Nula, hyn’jutori is the Kikitau national plant, acts almost like a drug, and is prized above all else. And… Well… They use it as an aphrodisiac!”
​
/------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
​
“Are you Minchin Salocia?” A masculine and authoritative voice called out right as the feline man began reaching for the control panel to open the door to his quarters.
​
“Uh… Yes…?” As Min turned to see who was speaking to him, he saw a species he was unfamiliar with. Though this person looked vaguely similar to the Qui’ztar that constituted the majority of this ship's population, the medium tan skin, relatively short stature, and piercing brown eyes were quite unique. “And you are?”
​
“I am Tensebwse of the Nishnabe.” As Tens slowly approached the Kikitau man, his ball-headed club mounted to his thigh in a manner similar to how Qui’ztar often carried their bladed weapons, he neither blinked nor shifted his stoic expression. “I heard you met my friend Nula earlier.”
​
“Nula?” Though Min wasn't familiar with the approaching man's species, he could immediately recognize the expression on the man's face. “Yes, yes! She is a wonderful person and I am very glad to have met her. But… Uh… Why do you ask?”
​
“Well… She's my friend.” Tens came to a stop a pace and a half away from the cat-man, just within reach if either were to try to take a swing. “And you gave her a hyn’jutori flower.”
​
“Oh! Yes, she said she liked the smell so, yah know, I-” Min panicked for a split second and tried to play off his reason for giving the blossom to the, frankly, quite curvy android he had met just a few hours ago and was still thinking about. However, when he saw Tens's eye twitch, he cut himself off, took a deep breath, and decided against trying to lie about his reasoning. “I thought she was really cute and… Well…”
​
“Uh huh…” Even though this Kikitau was a few centimeters taller than Tens and they both had similar, somewhat wiry frames, especially in comparison to the truly imposing Qui’ztar primes, Tens somehow seemed much larger than Min in this moment. “And you're not scared of her canine shape?”
​
“I mean… Kinda… A little bit… But…”
​
“But…”
​
“Well, you're her friend! You know how she looks!” After half-shouting a bit louder than he intended, Min paused for a moment as he looked around to see if there was anyone within earshot. “Don't tell any of the other Kikitau about this… But… Uh… She's scary enough to be quite attractive, if you know what I mean.”
​
Despite doing his best to play the part of a deadly cousin trying to look out for someone he truly cared about, Tens couldn't help but let a slight smirk peek out from the corners of his mouth as he let out a light chuckle.
​
“Yeah… I think I know what you mean…” In an instant, the Nishnabe's stoic expression returned as he gave the Kikitau a quick once over. “So you were flirting with my friend?”
​
“Well… Yes… I- I… Uh…”
​
“Relax.” Tens finally let his glare fade into a friendly smile. Though he wasn't done grilling this man just yet, his first impression of this Kikitau was far more positive than a couple of the others he had met over his years of anti-piracy work. “I just wanna make sure you weren't leading her on.”
​
“Oh! No! Not at all! I swear!”
​
“Eh, eh, eh. Like I said, relax, niji. You seem like a decent guy. Nula's my friend and… Well… She doesn't have much social experience. Like, at all. She didn't even know caniphobia was a thing until Hompta explained it to her. And I know how y'all kazho-bemadzejek are around nemosh so-”
​
“I'm sorry. What did you say?” The look on Min's face wasn't offended in any way which told Tens that his Nishnabemwin words weren't understood by the cat-person. “What is a kaz-ho-”
​
“Sorry, I forget that not everyone has a translator implant.” Tens’s soft and slightly embarrassed smile brought a bit more confusion to Min’s violet, vertical eyes. “It means feline sapient people. And nomesh is my people’s word for domesticated canines.”
​
“Domesticated canines?!?”
​
“Yeah, my people domesticated a type of canine so long ago that we kinda have caniphilia.” Tens’s overly simplified explanation drew a coy and almost blushing smile to Min’s furry face. “Eeee, not like that! It's more that we see canines and immediately want to make friends with them. One of my cousins tried to pet one of those massive nethivichioks while on a hunt on a Nukatov world once. Basically, we see all canines as our long lost companions. Sort of the opposite of being terrified of anything even vaguely canine-shaped. But, anyways, I just wanted to be sure you weren't gonna do anything to hurt my friend. Like I said, she doesn't have much social experience. So, you're gonna be nice to her, right?”
​
“Of course, of course! If I'm being entirely honest… And please don't tell her this… I was actually planning on asking her out on a date if she stopped by the greenhouse again while I was working.”
​
“Were yah now?” Tens's smile became almost devious and his eyes grew more intense. “In that case, we may want to step inside your quarters. There's some things you should probably know which are… Let's just say… Classified.”

Although the following written content is entirely my work and I independently chose the artist that I wanted to explore and review an album from, the original idea of making this post was undeniably inspired by u/SeeTheSeaInUDP's 'Reviewing Korean 80s Pop Albums No One Cares About' series (which I suggest you check out if you haven't already).
To get acquainted with the artist whose album we'll be looking at, here's a quick rundown of Min Haekyung's (early) career.
Min Haekyung debuted in January of 1981 with "Whose Song is This" (누구의 노래일까) and just under three months to go until her nineteenth birthday. She released her second album later the same year with the breakout hit "One Girl's Love Story" (어느 소녀의 사랑 이야기) that stayed at number one on the Gayo Top 10 (가요톱10) for three weeks. In 1983, she was faced with a TV ban, causing her to move to Japan. When Min Haekyung returned in 1986, she brought a new sound with her, distinct from that of her previous albums. She began to lean more and more into the dance pop genre and tended to sing in a higher register than in her older works. This is evident in her KBS 가요대상 (KBS Music Awards) performances across the years (compare 1981 and 1982 to 1987, 1988, and 1989). With this new sound, she continued increasing in popularity, and won her first and only Gayo Top 10 Golden Cup (가요톱10 골든컵) with "The Face I Miss" (보고싶은 얼굴). (Although she probably would have won the Golden Cup in 1983 had the song "My Life Belongs to Me" (내 인생은 나의 것) not been banned after its fourth consecutive week at number one (a song needs five consecutive weeks at number one for a Golden Cup))
With that out of the way, let's jump into the review of her debut album! The album isn't available on streaming services, but Music Mook kindly posted a vinyl rip of the album (and several of her others, a few of which are also not available on streaming services) on YouTube.
Track 1: Whose Song is This / 누구의 노래일까 1981 가요대상 performance
The intro immediately reminded me of Kim Soohee's "Last Hug" (마지막 포옹). It's a pretty easy song to listen to, with just enough direction to keep the listener engaged. It also has nostalgic appeal to some degree, the kind of song one would put on in the morning and reminisce about old times.
Rating: 6/10
Track 2: Ecstasy / 사랑의 절정 video with better audio quality than the full album rip
This song is a remake of Ecstasy, the winning song of the 1980 TBC 세계가요제 (TBC World Music Festival), sung by Shoody, who represented Mozambique. Min Haekyung also participated in the festival, performing her not-yet-released "Whose Song is This." Simply put, it's a catchy disco track, and incredibly danceable. The song includes English in the lyrics (albeit only the word "ecstasy" repeated in the background vocals), which was rare at the time, though not exactly surprising because it's a remake of an English song. As much of the song is in a higher register than the other tracks, it serves as a sneak peek at her later albums. Like the appearance of English, you can likely attribute the higher register to Shoody's original version.
Rating: 8/10
Track 3: 내 곁에 없어요
It's one of those classic 'starts sad, ends sad' songs and noticeably shorter than the first two tracks. The verses suit her voice nicely, though she sounds a bit nasal (unsurprising) in the chorus.
Rating: 6/10
Track 4: And Look at Me / 그리고 나를 보세요
This song has the same case of verses well-suited to her voice and a more nasally chorus as the last song. I quite enjoyed the instrumental in the middle of the song.
Rating 5/10
Track 6: Early Evening Star / 초저녁 별 Onions original song
This is not Min Haekyung's song, nor does she even appear on it, and I honestly have no idea why it's on her album. Regardless, it's a solid Onions (technically just Lee Sooyoung (이수영) here) song.
Rating: 5/10
Track 7: 아직도 어린가요 Definitely a song to listen to as you sit on the bench and swing your legs while you wait for the bus. Rating: 6/10
Track 8: You Needed Me / 떠나버린 그대 This song is a remake of Canadian singer Anne Murray's Grammy-winning 1978 hit "You Needed Me." I don't love her voice on this track, but overall, it's sweet and the outro feels like the perfect ending. Rating: 5/10
Track 9: 사랑은 그래야만해요
A nice groovy track with a snappy chorus.
Rating: 6/10
Track 10: 달려오세요
This track is fast-paced and weirdly catchy, though I think her vocals shine more on the rest of the album.
Rating: 5/10
Track 11: 목마른 소녀
I'm really not a fan of those higher, nasally choruses on songs with lower verses that she sounds great in. If the songs on this album that fall into this category had choruses that were lower like their verses, I think they would all be at least a seven for me.
Rating: 6/10
Track 12: Rivers of Babylon / 강가에서
This song is a remake of the 1978 song of the same title released by Germany-based disco group Boney M. (If I had a dollar for every song on this album that is a remake of a song released in 1978, I would have two dollars, which is not a lot, but still a bit funny.) Ironically, the Boney M. song is a remake of the 1970 original "Rivers of Babylon" by Jamaican reggae group The Melodians. Continuing with the irony, of the three singers on this track, Min Haekyung is not one of them. Instead, the song is sung by Lee Sooyoung (sang a solo track 6 earlier on the album), Park Kyungae (박경애), and Jung Mijo (정미조). Anyways, the 70s folk arrangement combined with the remnants of the Boney M. disco version makes for a pretty interesting listen! This arrangement also suits the vocalists more than I believe the Boney M. arrangement would.
Rating: 7/10
If you read this far, thank you! Of course, feel free to discuss the album, Min Haekyung, or anything you found interesting in this post (and ask any questions you may have). If you have any feedback on my writing, content, or anything related to my work in writing this post, feedback is appreciated as this is my first ever piece like this.
Sources:
가요톱10 역대 1위 곡 30번째 김현준 독집 앨범 수록곡 '내 인생은 나의 것' (tistory.com)
Shoody(슈디)-Ecstasy(엑스타시),.. : 네이버블로그 (naver.com)
민해경 - 나무위키 (namu.wiki)
Happy Hub , 영도문화예술회관 : 네이버 블로그 (naver.com)

This will hopefully be my last post on this sub for a long time, but I’ve been using this place to vent about my toxic situation for a while so I figured I might as well post how everything concluded and what happened when I left. I’m going to reflect on everything and recap the important parts so no one has to read 3 posts.
It all started when I decided to start DMing to keep in touch with some college friends after graduation. During my first campaign, one of the players, Pirate, asked if his friend, Colorado, could join. I didn't really know Colorado, but I figured, "the more, the merrier."
Colorado had some issues early on, giving unsolicited advice to everyone on how to play and viewing newer or shy players as “side characters”. However, he frequently missed sessions, only showing up for less than half of them for the first few years so nothing came to a head early on. Then, Colorado decided he wanted to bring back his tabletop campaign from his college days and started trying to recruit players after my sessions. Pirate suggested I join the campaign, promising that Colorado was a better DM than player. Since I had been the Forever DM up to that point, I agreed to give it a go.
I created a character who was part of the royal family but enjoyed interacting with commoners in the slums, even having a secret girlfriend from that background. After that, Colorado also started hitting me up to help with the campaign. I ended up photoshopping character art for a bunch of his NPCs and I even drew his world map for him. I didn't mind doing it, as I do that kind of stuff for fun.
For our first session, Colorado had already created character sheets for us based on our backstories, but only he could see them. Colorado would also roll all the dice himself so “all we had to focus on is roleplaying”. We played one on one in different "scenes" that could last around 30 minutes to an hour each. We usually had around 2 to 4 scenes per session, depending on what Colorado thought was important. During the game, Colorado asked us to write down quotes from him and the other players when it wasn't our turn.
I had to wait for well over an hour before I could finally play. My first session was on rails. I mostly just had to repeat after Colorado during a ceremony. Afterwards, I got to sneak out of the castle and meet with my commoner girlfriend, but Colorado immediately had her break up with me. Then I was told that I had to leave the city. I was essentially locked out of my hanging out in the slums and commoner girlfriend subplots. NPCs generally disliked my morally good character, especially my sister who was depicted as purely evil towards me. Despite my efforts to mend the relationship, she never changed her mind and Colorado never rolled any dice to determine that. Later Colorado revealed to me the character was based on his ex-girlfriend, who was originally intended to be the player character from my country before they broke up.
Eventually, I finally got to interact with another player, Soldier, who I had really good chemistry with and we had a really fun scene. Which Colorado exclaimed, “See! This is why I keep you apart. It makes these moments so much more epic!” But I’m just thinking that if we were in a party, every session could be this epic.
Then Colorado got busy. He went to some alternative medicine nature retreat and didn’t pay his rent the whole time he was gone so he got evicted. At that point, the campaign went on hiatus as people got busy and Colorado was couch hopping. It was during that time I considered the campaign over and made my first post because I thought it fit the sub. Then a year after the last session, Colorado started trying to organize the group to do 3 more sessions to finish the campaign. I just ghosted the group chat for a while, but Pirate’s roommate is a player in the campaign I DM so Pirate started hopping on the call asking me to come back for the finale. Pirate told me that it would be different this time because all of our characters were going to meet up for the finale and he really wanted to play with me. I naively agreed to give the game a second chance.
The first of those three sessions led to this post and this follow up.
[TLDR - I never got to meet up with the other characters. Colorado made my ex a stripper and I was captured by invaders with no dice rolls to prevent it. I had a conversation with him about my concerns after the last session. He apologized and agreed to make changes saying he needed the campaign for his mental health.]
Colorado decided to have a single super finale session, which I reluctantly attended because of sunk cost fallacy. I was imprisoned, beaten and whipped, separated from my girlfriend and recently resurrected bodyguard. A deus-ex ninja offered to help me escape, but I wanted to save all the prisoners. So I helped the commoners escape with the ninja before saving my girlfriend. My bodyguard got captured, but I made sure my girlfriend escaped and then I went to save my bodyguard because I wasn’t letting her die after she just got resurrected. I tried to find my bodyguard but every door was locked and I was forced into a long one on one fight with a guard that would make John Carpenter blush. I lost the fight due to an unknown -2 modifier on my fighting rolls, leading to my re-imprisonment.
Pirate tried to board a boat to reach my location, but was unsuccessful. Colorado informed him that the sailors refused to let him on the ship because they didn't like his tone. Fortunately, Soldier saved me and we agreed to stop the big bad and rescue my bodyguard together. With a squad of Soldier's peers, we pursued the big bad into the woods. Without any rolls, all the other soldiers were sniped by archers.
Finally, the two of us reached the clearing where the big bad and his followers were. We were outnumbered about 30-2. My bodyguard and the other commoners were tied to a tree. Soldier was the same race as the villain so he approached while I stayed hidden. He delivered an awesome passionate speech against the big bad's actions saying that it wasn’t what their ancestors would want. I’m sitting there waiting and hoping for a persuasion roll… and nothing. Colorado says the big bad doesn’t change his mind and he sets the tree on fire, causing my bodyguard and the commoners to burn to death. Soldier and I retreated into the woods to end the campaign.
Pirate was supposed to have a scene after us, but he fell asleep because it was past 1am. Colorado kept trying to call Pirate on the phone. I joke, “Hey, we’re old now, being up past midnight isn’t as easy as it used to.” To which Colorado replies, “I just thought Pirate had more respect for me than this.” The Discord call becomes quiet and after Colorado starts focusing on Soldier and I. He wants to know why we’re not discussing the ending more. I remarked that it was a bit of a downer and I’m tired. Then Colorado starts spiraling, saying that RPGs are just another medium that he failed at just like film and music. HE STARTS CRYING and hangs up from the Discord call. Soldier and I stayed on and had a short “That was awkward” conversation. I don’t know Soldier well so I didn’t say much about my grievances with the campaign and eventually we ended up just talking about Baldur’s Gate 3 for an hour.
The next day, I wake up to a barrage of texts from Colorado apologizing, mansplaining how hard it is to be a DM as if I’ve never done it myself. He then starts sending me messages with all his ideas for my character in the next season and how he promises I’ll have more freedom next time. I wouldn’t understand, but he NEEDED to do the prison sequence and my bodyguard to die for my character growth, but next season will be different. I tell him I’m not doing another season. Colorado replies saying that he thought I’d say that because Pirate (who was apparently not sleeping) told him Soldier and I were bitching about the campaign after the session. Colorado said that once I get over it, we can start talking about season 3. I reaffirmed my stance. Then Colorado texts me one last time and asks if I’ll still make his maps and character art even if I don’t play. I said no again.
It's been two months since I last heard from Colorado or Pirate. We used to play games and talk about pro wrestling all the time, but now there's been no contact. A lot of the comments on my posts helped me realize I was prioritizing Colorado’s mental health over my own and I felt like it was my responsibility to support his campaign because he constantly referenced how important it was to his mental health. Intentional or not, he preyed upon my empathy. I’m not his Giving Tree and I shouldn’t be left a stump for a campaign where he doesn’t even want us to affect the world.
I sometimes worry Pirate is going through a similar situation to me, but for a longer period of time. Pirate introduced me to Colorado, and he's really loyal to him. I think that slowed down my exit from the group because I trusted Pirate to be my friend as well. I remember opening up to Pirate about a panic attack I had while Colorado was spiraling one day, and he just shrugged it off as me being dramatic. It's frustrating. I want both of them to be happy, but I can't make that happen for them, especially if it comes at the expense of my own well-being.
I ended up venting to some of my irl friends and they really supported and listened to me which is why I didn’t feel a need to vent here. I learned a lot about what not to do when DMing from this campaign and it made me reevaluate my approach to playing RPGs. Now I'm in a group with my irl friends and it's a blast. I can relax and just have fun playing again.
TLDR - I started DMing to stay connected with college friends who were scattered across the country. One player, Pirate, introduced me to Colorado, who eventually took over as the DM. Colorado had some unconventional methods, such as not using character sheets and controlling all the dice rolls. The game became focused on his storyline and my character had limited agency. Despite this, I gave the campaign a second chance. In the final session, things went poorly, and Colorado had a breakdown. Despite his apologies and promises for the next season, I decided not to continue playing. I have not heard from Colorado or Pirate since. I now play with my real-life friends and it's much more enjoyable.

Hi hi!! I'm currently writing up a story for a ttrpg for me and my friends for our after-school club and it's a robotic apocalypse style plot. (With elements of AM from I have no mouth and I must scream, in the sense one character is like a plot twist in the story) and I'm having a bit of trouble trying to make classes (with the system itself being stripped off of Powered By The Apocalypse) I have ideas to do something for Wealthier, intellectual class, a mechanic who can disable the Autominds, and a basic citizen who's just trying to survive..but these sound bleak and unappealing. I'm looking for suggestions of what I could do for character classes for this world. I've dropped the backstory and the objective down below. Granted this was written at like..2am, so bear with me.
Backstory: A walled city constructed after a great war, the city of Eden was known for its spectacular automata, not only the notable robotic machines (Known as Auto-Minds, or AMs for short.) that worked for the people of Eden, but even anthropomorphic automata! Machines did the work for them, and while there were labor strikes, people who demanded wages, this was only in the lower parts of it, far from its centre, where the capital lied, but even those parts were filled with robotic life. These robots could have done everything from mechanical factory work, to cashiers, even walking pieces of knowledge to teach a classroom of the new generation of young minds. However..somehow, something went wrong. At first it was only one robot, no one knows what was its designation was, but in a factory in one of the the middle sectors of (Tritté and Quarti,) there was an incident involving the overseer of the factory, where he was beaten to death after berating a robot. The truth is...AMs are not meant to respond with emotion,as cruelly as the creators figured, but this incident should not have happened again after the AM was sent to a facility near the centre for recalibration, but instead, it grew worse. Not only was there one rampant AM, but the whole facility of manufactured, or broken, AMs escaped the facility and just..began attacking people. Even Autominds who had no prior exposure to any emotional experiences began attacking people. First it was in the centre, then It spread out, the zenith of the massacre spanning in the middle sectors where all the impoverished, where mostly the factories are, and where most AMs tended to work. Now the city is a former shell of itself, any place with actual people are huddled up, kept together by little pockets of resistance against the Autominds, but sometimes,hoards of them just are in parts of the living zones, and people either hide..or fight to survive.
Objective: You and your group has been living out in an abandoned part of the 7th layer, the centre of the city, and you are attacked by Autominds, but for some reason, when you are finishing off the last Automind, another one just..destroys it. It is battered in many places, its voice receptors only working half the time, but it's peaceful..somehow? It does not remember it's life as an Automind worker, but all it knows is that it wants to stop this insanity, and reverse the effects of the Automind Infection, (which the Magistrate called it the Gnosis Virus.) Which while a cure may not be likely, to figure out what has happened, could be a bit more likely. The peaceful Automind names itself Adam, and it wants to join you, it's already proved itself to you, it too wants to know just why..why has this all happened? It does not know who it is, but it knows that it is not mindless, it carries something of a conscious. It carries no serial number, nothing except the name Adam. What lies at the centre of the city? Why does it's sporadic glitches tell itself to head to the capital? All you can do is follow it, where else could you go?

On Wednesday, OpenAI released a draft of its Model Spec sheet that details how it intends its AI models to behave. There is a section focusing on NSFW content that gives the impression that the company is exploring ways to make AI porn, but the company says that is not happening.
Want to stay ahead of the curve in AI and tech? take a look here.
Key points:

• OpenAI Releases Model Spec Sheet for AI Behavior: This week, OpenAI introduced a draft document called the Model Spec Sheet. This outlines how their AI models should behave, focusing on helpfulness, safety, and following instructions.
• Focus on Safe and Ethical AI: The Model Spec Sheet prioritizes preventing the creation of harmful content. This includes pornography, hate speech, and violent content. OpenAI has no intention of developing AI-generated pornography and emphasizes child protection.
• Exploring Age-Appropriate NSFW Content: While the Model Spec Sheet restricts generating explicit content, it hints at exploring ways to handle age-appropriate NSFW content through their API (application programming interface) and ChatGPT.

Source (Gizmodo)
PS: If you enjoyed this post, you’ll love my ML-powered newsletter that summarizes the best AI/tech news from 50+ media sources. It’s already being read by hundreds of professionals from OpenAI, HuggingFace, Apple…

We look the same and we always have but we couldn’t be more different from each other. I think that’s the best place to start with this. Some identical twins have a lot in common. They like the same foods, the same things on television, some even spend their entire lives dressing in the same clothes, but we were never those girls. For as long as I remember, it’s been hard for even our own parents to tell us apart were it not for our very different personalities. Our own mother can’t tell the difference between our voices over the phone to this day. We even have the same laugh, but after that we diverge. I’m extroverted and would much rather be outdoors than inside where she is bookish and reserved. As far as personality traits go, Lily and I have always shared very few.
We both have our father’s nose and our mother’s heart shaped face and her high cheekbones. The same raven-black hair falls in waves past both of our shoulders and the same emerald green, almond shaped eyes sparkle with hidden flecks of gold that you can only see if you take a look up close.
Still, there’s a connection between us that can’t be explained. We just feel it. Know it’s there. It’s a thing with identical twins no matter how truly different they really are. Some say it’s a sort of telepathy, if you believe in that sort of thing.
That’s the reason I knew something was wrong before I had proof. I knew when I woke up in the morning that something was happening and that it was big. I even knew when I finally got up the nerve to send her a text, she would reply this time; not right away–but this time–she would. She hadn't been replying to me at all lately, no matter how often I sent her messages. Something was different now. I'd hear back from her but it would be at least a week–possibly a few days more before I did. Sending this text was different. Something I could feel in my bones told me she'd finally tell me what was going on with her. Where had she been? In my heart, I knew the lack of communication over the past several months wasn’t something she had chosen. Somehow I knew she wanted to talk to me but for some reason she couldn’t and that was a very strange and unnerving feeling for a twin to have. In the past, before Lily’s recent radio-silence, she and I had rarely gone for more than a day or two without checking in. In the past year that had suddenly changed and I had no logical explanation for it.
This particular morning, a feeling of unease is everywhere around me and even somehow inside me. I feel it in bed before I even open my eyes. Like an itch you can’t scratch because you know it will just make the rash worse and trying to ignore it altogether will drive you mad. The worst part about the itch was knowing that after months of nothing, I would finally hear back from Lily. It was time. She was ready to talk. I knew it. I don't know how–I just did. Somehow after months of unanswered messages, my next text would finally garner a response and knowing that made me jittery. The itch was made worse by the inexplicable knowledge that the response was going to take days. At least I would get it, but I'd have to wait for it for days. If she hadn't replied to me in months, why should that make me feel so uneasy? I couldn't say. The whole prospect of this scenario made me nervous but I told myself I would send the message right after breakfast because my sister needed me to send it and she needed me to send it today. It was important that I reached out to her this morning.
Whatever happened is bothering me so much that I burn the pancakes and have to start them over three different times.
“Vibes are off today, Emily,” my wife Jasmine begins. She sits patiently waiting for me to serve her a plate of good ones, pancakes that aren’t burnt, at the table in our kitchenette, “I just changed that bag last night you know, and if you keep doing that I’ll have to take it out again before we even get to eat. What’s up with you?”
“Not me,” I reply, “it’s Lily. Something’s up with Lilly.”
“Oh? You finally hear back from her? What’s going on?”
“That’s just it. I haven't heard anything in months but that's definitely about to change. I don’t know. It’s just a feeling, babe. Hard to explain,” I say.
“A twin thing?” She asks.
“Exactly. It’s twintuition. It’s like–”
“–Intuition,” she finishes for me, “I get it. Did you try calling her or texting her yet?” Jasmine asks.
“No, but it’s because I’m afraid she won’t answer right away and I don’t want to have that fear be real.” I admit. “That’s weird isn’t it?”
“Very,” she says getting up from the table. She picks my phone up from the counter and grabs me by the waist, moving me away from the stove and spinning me around. She pecks a small kiss on my lips and lifts one of my hands, placing the phone into it. She gives me a little shove toward the kitchenette table and pulls out the chair for me.
“You’re going to sit here and write a text to your sister and I’m going to finish making breakfast.” She tells me.
I sit here looking at my phone for a while, unsure of how to start. Finally I type:

Anything wrong? Worried about you.

And I hit send.
_____________________________
Eight days pass before Lily texts me back and it’s a flood of texts in the morning from an unknown number. One after the other.

Sorry I didn’t get back to you right away. You were right about Eric. I didn’t tell you a lot because I thought you’d be ashamed of me. Or mad. You’ve always been so much stronger than I am.
I packed and left the night you text me. I was afraid to reply because I thought he might be able to read it somehow. He definitely was tracking the phone so I left it at the bus station that morning.
It took me a few days to get set up, but I’m in Echo Bay now and this is my new number. Just got one of those burner phones from Walmart. It’s nothing special but that’s on purpose.
I’m staying in a bungalow on the beach. Very cute. Just a few miles from you and Jasmine, actually. It’s nothing permanent, just an AirB&B. I figured coming here would be safest for now to figure out what to do next.
I never told him where you were and he’ll try to find me if he can. He’ll follow me to the end of the Earth. I should have told you about him. The whole truth. Now I finally can. If you’re not busy, come by today and I’ll tell you the whole story.

The last text she sends puts tears in my eyes and I call her right after I read it and we make plans…

I’m pretty sure if I stayed he’d have killed me sooner or later. Probably sooner.

I meet Lily for lunch at her bungalow in the afternoon and she’s right, it’s very cute. She, on the other hand, looks like a mess and I find myself both irate and awestruck. I don't understand how the bruises haven’t fully healed or even begun to heal a little. That bastard really did a number on her. It's eight days later and her face and skin is purple and green with bruises in so many places–appearing to be so fresh that you'd think she'd been at the bottom of a three-car pile up just the night before.
“He wasn’t always like this, you know,” she tells me, “in the beginning he was really charming…it took a long time to figure out that person wasn’t real.”
She doesn’t eat much, mostly just moves the food around on her plate with her fork. She goes quiet and drifts away from the conversation a lot which is strange for me because she was always the one with more focus. I’m the daydreamer. She’s the grounded one. That’s how we’ve always been. A few times while she’s sitting silently, she begins to cry. When I hold her hand, it turns into a wailing sob and I reassure her that none of this is her fault. That this sort of thing happens to a lot of women. That they feel trapped and never try to get out. Never try to escape. They don’t make it out. I reassure her that she’s still strong because she saw what was happening and she did something about it. She left. I reassure her quietly that although it shouldn’t be this way, that it shouldn’t happen, this still happens to lots of women anyway. She’s not alone. She escaped it. She’s a survivor.
“We can help find you a lawyer if you want,” I offer at one point, “we have money saved. We can pay for it,” and she immediately shuts the idea down.
“No. I’m not doing that,” she says adamantly, “I just want to be done with it. I came here to heal. I don’t know if I’m staying or not yet…”
She pauses for a moment and then adds: “I just need some time to figure out where I’m supposed to be.”
“But if you let him get away with it, he could do this to someone else,” I say, “you do realize that right? You need to do something. He needs to pay for this.”
“He does need to, but what if he gets away with it?” she asks, “what if I report all of it and he sits trial for it…and what if he gets off? I can't take that chance. It isn't worth the consequences of it. What if I don't win?”
“What if you do?” I ask her. She gets really quiet then, “promise me you’ll think about it.”
“I will,” she says and it’s almost a whisper, “I just need some time. I made it away and I’m safe. I don’t know if I want him to know where I am. If I do this then he knows I’m here and when he does, if I lose, he will kill me. You understand that don’t you? He will kill me. That man operates on some sort of twisted revenge. He won't even consider what would follow once he's gotten it. He'll just think about getting even with me.”
“Jail isn't a deterrent when you're dealing with a human grenade. He'll only want to explode–to destroy. He won't worry about what happens to him after that. He doesn't work that way.” She says.
She doesn’t want to let me take pictures of her bruises but I insist on it and somehow actually win that argument. She tells me she’s been trying not to even look in mirrors right now. She doesn’t want pictures of her looking like this on her brand new phone because what if she decides to take a picture of something beautiful, like a sunset, and she opens the camera and the photo gallery is right there and she has to look at this instead. I tell her that she’s still beautiful no matter what happened to her. All that matters is what happens next. So I take the pictures for her with my phone. She takes off her shirt and there are more bruises everywhere underneath and we take pictures of those too.
I manage to keep my own feelings bottled up for the entire afternoon until she takes her shirt off and now before I realize I’m doing it, I’m crying also.
“Shhh,” she whispers, “you can’t cry. You’re the strong one.”
I shake my head and tell her that we’re both strong and then we’re both sobbing and she presses her face against my chest and I press my head onto the top of hers until she steps away from me and tells me that I have to stop crying on her because I’m getting snot in her hair. We both laugh.
It’s not funny. Nothing about this afternoon has been, but we both laugh anyway and our laughs still sound the same.
I spend the entire day with her and as the sun goes down we leave her bungalow and take a walk along the beach.
“So, can I ask how you ended up falling for this guy? Identical or not we clearly operate on different wavelengths romantically and I just don't understand.” I say, and then add: “forgive me if that's too personal.”
“No. It isn't.” She begins, “and if only we operated on the same wavelength or even similar ones. I thought about you a lot in the past few years. Thought that if only I was a big old lezzie–like you, if I'd just went for girls, none of this would've ever happened.”
“Don't be so sure. Domestic abuse doesn't have a gender. There's shitty, abusive partners in queer relationships too.” I tell her.
“Well, regardless, I've actually asked myself the same question about a hundred times in the last week. What drew me to him and where and when did things change–you know? When did he go from the ideal boyfriend to an absolute monster?”
She tells me that when she met this bastard, Eric Warminster, it was like something out of a movie, and her story begins that way too–like a cheesy rom-com–so corny it sounds fake…I almost tell her how much I hate romantic comedies, I almost tell her to give me some horror flick any day of the week. I think better of it just before I do and don't say the thought aloud. She never went for horror, even when we were girls–and that's what she ended up with despite her aversion to it. That was what her life had become.
She tells me they were both in the produce section of the grocery, neither of them paying too much attention–he on the phone and she looking over her shopping list. They both reached for a pineapple–the last pineapple in the crate. He asks her what she plans to do with it if he lets her have it and she tells him she's just going to cut it up and eat it. He tells her he’s making a pineapple-upsidedown cake with it.
“I've never had that.” She tells him honestly; matter-of-factly and he invites her over to his place later that night to be the judge of whether or not his recipe is any good. Normally, she tells me, she'd never have done something like that. She tells me that she's not the type to just go to a strange man's place on a whim…but he was good looking and had a charming way about him. She fondly describes his smile. It’s out of character and she can't say exactly what makes her drop her guard and give this man her number, but she does…
And the dinner he cooks for her as well as the cake he makes are both excellent.
“That wasn't the only cake he made for me. One day when we were still getting to know each other he asked me a load of questions. What's my favorite color? Favorite flower? That sort of thing. Remember that movie ‘Steel Magnolias?’ I told him that was my favorite movie. He says he's never seen it. Not a week later, he tells me he watched it and asks me to come by after work. Says he's got a surprise for me...” She says.
“No fuckin way.” I said, interrupting her. I told you rom-coms aren't really my thing, but I'd known that was Lily's favorite since we were in middle school. Of course I'd suffered through it and we'd watched it together…her with a tissue pressed against her eyes and me rolling mine.
“He made the Armadillo Cake?” I ask, “you mean to tell me he watched the movie just because you mentioned it and then he made the cake?”
Lily smiles briefly at the recollection and nods.
“He was very romantic…in the beginning.” She tells me.
Eric does all sorts of things to win Lily's heart: he'd make her breakfast in bed, take her on picnics. She tells me he would even sit there calmly while she complained about her co-workers and instead of trying to fix the problem or offer his advice, by the end of the conversation he'd have found a reason to hate the people she said she hated in her story and have his own complaints about them too. According to Lily, he was perfect…and then shortly after she moved in with him, things started to change and they changed fast.
Little things at first…she accidentally buys the wrong type of cereal at the store and is met with: “Frosted Flakes? Really? Not Frosted Flakes! Mini Wheats! Are you stupid or something? Frosted Mini Wheats! How hard is that for your useless, stupid brain to remember?”
She tells me that once she folded the towels the way our mother always had when we were growing up. He didn't fold them that way so he calls her into the bathroom, throws open the linen closet and proceeds to yank each one of them out one by one, unfolding them with a flick of his wrist before smooshing them into balls and leaving them in a heap on the floor.
“Do it the fuckin right away the first time, or do it again, moron.” He shouts at her before storming out of the room.
“He told me all my friends were toxic next. I didn't have any friends except my coworkers so he told me he didn't want me working anymore. Most women would kill to be homemakers. Do the dishes. Spend the afternoon watching soap operas. He put me on an allowance and I couldn't buy anything without telling him I was buying it.” She says. “He told me you were toxic too. Said you didn't love me and the way he said it…how he explained it, it was so convincing. That’s the reason I stopped returning your calls.” After she says this, she begins to cry quietly.
He tells her if she tries to reach me or any other of her so-called “toxic” family, and he finds out, he'll sell the car he bought her and they'd start having everything–all the shopping and groceries–delivered. She becomes afraid if she lets anyone know what’s happening she’ll lose what little freedom he grants her and she'll be trapped in their house for good…trapped there with him for good.
There are a few other anecdotes just like those ones in her story and I find myself getting more and more angry as she recounts all of this to me. Then it hits me: each story is just another small escalation. I'm so mad I could run this man down with my car, then get out and curb-stomp his head before setting him on fire.
I can feel the desire to do that just from what she tells me up to this point…
She still hasn't gotten to the day he begins to put his hands on her and my blood is already boiling.
She gets quiet for a long time and we just walk. I reach out and take her hand, and when I do she puts the thoughts that I was having just a moment earlier into words:
“I can sense how mad you are. I haven't even told you about the first time he hit me.” She says.
“You can keep talking about it, but you don't have to if you don't want to.” I say.
“I don't want to, but I'm going to anyway. I'm ashamed.”
“You shouldn't be. None of this was your fault.” I tell her.
“I know. I am anyway.” She continues, “I feel like I need to tell you. I have to tell someone. I haven't talked about any of this. It's poison and I want it out.”
The first time he hits her, it’s a punch in the face. He doesn't even start off with a slap or something. He'd never hit her before and the first time he does, it's a closed fist. She isn't expecting it to happen. The reason he claims he did it afterward is that she'd overcooked his pork chop. They finish eating and as she collected his plate she askes him how it was. He says it was chewy and then out of nowhere he punches her in the eye.
After he discovers he can get away with something like that, it starts happening all the time…
He throws her against a wall for forgetting to charge his phone for him. She'd forgotten somewhere that she was responsible for every small thing when it came to keeping the household running–even things that she'd never been asked to do. Things as small as putting his phone on the charger for him so he wouldn't have to do it himself.
He didn't want a girlfriend or a partner…he wanted a slave.
If he was leaving for work and she couldn't tell him where his keys were, he'd choke her so roughly and long that her vision would go white–then black–only to stop moments before she was about to pass out.
She’d forget who she was dealing with and speak out of turn and he'd take her by a fist-full of hair and drag her into their guest room where he'd installed a padlock she hadn't noticed before. He'd lock her inside and leave her there for a full day–sometimes two–without anything to eat or drink.
He'd tell her how lucky she was to be so well kept.
He'd tell her that the first time she ever tried to leave him would be the last time she tried that because dead women can't leave anyone–ever.
The awful stories pour out of her. Sometimes slowly like the tears that well in the corner of her eyes, growing like drops at the tip of a leaky tap until big enough to fall… Sometimes in a deluge of rolling sobs as a powerful wave like a wall of water from a burst dam. I don't interrupt her. I don't know what to say so I only listen. I know my sister. She doesn't want me to say anything because nothing I could say would take away the pain of any of this for her.
Eventually the emotions and stories are all spent and she grows silent. When she speaks again, it's to change the subject.
“What’s that out there?” She asks, pointing out at a spot in the water. The sun has nearly set and the only thing we can see is a great dark space on the horizon. The place where I live is old and still has a working lighthouse; it’s more for nostalgia than anything else now. As if on queue, the light sweeps across the darkness revealing a large, not so distant island that mostly exists as an outcropping of rocks.
“The locals call it Mermaid’s Roost,” I tell her, “lots of the old-timers, the superstitious ones, say that’s where the sirens live.”
She smiles at that. I realize it’s the first time I’ve seen her smile all day and it’s an incredible feeling. It’s too soon to call it healing but it’s the beginning of something like it and I can feel it radiating from her. It feels warm. She lifts her phone and opens the camera.
“It’s gonna be my first picture in my new phone,” she says, “I was waiting for something beautiful. I wanted the first one I took to be something beautiful.”
“The Roost is why they put the old lighthouse here in the first place. Supposedly there’s dozens of old ships that sank out there,” I tell her.
“They heard the sirens singing and rammed their ships against the rocks to be closer to them.” Lily says, “The legend is that they’re still out there and you can still hear them if they want you to. If they want you to come out to them…when men hear them from the water it’s because they want to smash the ships. When they hear them from the shore it’s always a trick; a call to swim out to them. Most don’t make it. There's an awful undertow. They drown. If they do make it that far, the sirens just kill them and eat them. They’re not actually mermaids at all but birds with the heads of women. Weird right? They’re from Greek mythology, you know. Surprising anyone believes anything like that out here.”
“That’s right,” I say, struggling to hide my surprise, “but how do you know all that? You just got here.”
“There’s a book about it at the house,” she explains, “I didn't just get here. I’ve been here for about three days. I’ve read the whole thing twice. Didn’t realize it was a local thing. That explains two things…why it was in the house to begin with, but also why it wasn’t written very well. I thought it’s probably self-published or a vanity press sort of thing,” She shrugs and says, “I didn’t realize why it was at the house until now. I like it anyway. It’s just about the only thing there is to read in there.”
I’m flabbergasted, “Three days? You got here and waited three days to text me?” I heard the rest of what she said but that’s the only thing that registers.
“I was scared,” she says, “scared to tell you about any of this stuff.”
“I get it. I’m not mad or anything but Jesus, Lily, you’ve been this close for three days? I’ve been worried sick about you for over a week!”
“I know,” she whispers and grabs my hand, “I’m sorry.”
“We should probably get back before it gets too dark,” I say.
“Stay with me tonight? Say you will? Call Jasmine and tell her you’ll be home in the morning?”
I say I will and that we need to start to head back to her place. We’ve walked about a mile so it will take us a while to get back and this isn’t the kind of beach that’s made of gentle slopes of endless sand. There’s sand of course, but it’s also full of rocks to trip and bust your head open on in the dark.
When we’re halfway there and the sky is a deep, dark purple, like the color of wine when it's still in the bottle, she stops and looks back at Mermaid’s Roost. The shadow of it still looms on the dark violet horizon, like a giant sleeping in the sparkling black blanket of water. Her eyes grow wide and seem to fill with tiny golden diamonds, like flecks of light reflected by the stars. Her face glows with an uncharacteristically innocent wonder.
“Emily,” she whispers, “do you hear them too?”
And I think she’s fucking with me so I say “sure” and tell her to hurry up because I’m starving and I want to order us a pizza and call my wife to let her know I'll be staying with her in her bungalow. Also that my feet hurt. The truth is that I can barely hear her when she asks the question in the first place.
“It’s beautiful,” she says quietly and I agree because I think she’s talking about the town or the beach or the moon or the stars or anything else–anything real–and not some local legend that she can hear over the sound of the waves and wind that I can’t.
When we get back to the little beach house, she pauses in the doorway and stares for a long time back at the island of rocks. It’s distant, but big enough to still see, if only just barely when the light from the lighthouse sweeps across it in the dark.
_____________________________
The house is awash with the chill and the sounds of the sea wind when I wake up. We went to the master bedroom around 11:00pm to watch a movie. The plan was for us to stay in the same bed like we used to do sometimes when we were little girls. The house has a guest room and I could have slept in there, but Lily begged me to stay with her, so I did and the truth is that I wanted to.
It’s 3:00am and the cold is what’s roused me from sleep but it’s panic that pulls me fully awake now. She’s not here with me. I know she’s not in the house. I know this the same way that I know she turned the TV off when she left. She did this so a loud commercial didn’t wake me. I know this because it’s what I would have done if I was trying to sneak away and I didn’t want her to stop me. I know all of this the same way I knew she was in trouble but I didn’t know how or why over a week ago. Twintuition.
I’ve never had a feeling like this one before. It’s strong and clear but also deep and dark like the water outside. I know from the moment I wake up that I won’t see her alive again, but I search the entire house for her anyway. I go from room to room checking every closet, beneath both the beds and even behind the shower curtain in the bathroom. When I get to the living room I see the reason the house is so cold; she didn’t shut the door behind her when she left.
“The Legend of Mermaid’s Roost” is laying open on the counter and she’s used seashells to hold the pages open to where she’s circled a passage in black marker.

“When men hear the sirens singing, it is always without a doubt an attempt at temptation. Their beautiful and deadly song is said to be a lure calling sailors ever closer to the rocks of Mermaid’s Roost to smash their ships along the stoney shore, but the sirens don’t stop there. Their singing has not only been heard by men at sea, but by those who walk along the shores after dark. They call out to the men on the mainland trying to convince them to swim out to the Roost; a distance just over half a mile. According to the legends, most of those that attempted to swim the distance to the island would get caught in the undertow and drown. If they managed to make it the entire way, the sirens of Mermaid’s Roost would rip them apart with their talons and eat them alive while they screamed for a mercy that would never come. Death is always the fate of men who hear the song.”
“According to the myths, women almost never hear their enchanting calls from across the bay, but for those that do the call is never a deadly temptation, but rather an invitation to join them. To sing with them and lure men to their untimely ends. Those women that do hear them may choose to join their deadly flock if they wish to do so. According to the local histories this is rare and the women that choose to join them are never seen nor heard from again.”

At the bottom of the page, a note in her handwriting simply reads: “Figured out where I’m supposed to be. Thanks for today. I love you always.”
I rush outside knowing there’s no reason to hurry because I’m already too late. She’s already made her choice and I don’t need my twintuition to tell me that because I can hear her.
She’s singing…Mermaid’s Roost is over a mile away and I know it’s her voice because it sounds so much like my own. It’s quiet from this distance but the preternatural nature of her chorus spans the space between us with ease and clarity…but this song is not my invitation to join her…
It’s her last request.
When I offered to pay for a lawyer so she could make him pay for putting his hands on her, she was afraid she wouldn’t win but that fear is gone now. She’s found a whole flock that’ll be willing–that lives for the sole purpose of picking better men than him apart, and they will, as they’ve done to so many before him…that is if he even survives the swim.
He’s too far from here to hear her song but he’s not too far for me. I don’t know exactly how to reach you, Eric Warminster, but I know where you live and there can’t be more than one man with that name where you are. In the morning I’ll make a few calls until I find you and when I do, I’m pretty sure that Lily was right when she said you’d try to kill her if she ever left. I'm banking on her fear that you'd follow her to the end of the Earth. I’m also pretty sure you won’t know the difference between her voice and mine, especially not over the phone…our own mother can’t most of the time. I don’t even have to face you and I already know what I’ll say to get you out here too. I’ll taunt you and belittle you just like you did to her. I'll be laughing the entire time. You’ll come. It should be easy enough…our laughs sound the same…
…All I have to do is tell you to meet me at the beach after dark. I know by the sound of the song she's singing that she's changed so much already. I wonder if the transformation was instantaneous or if it takes time for her feathers to grow in and fully form. I wonder if that even matters. I wonder if she must complete her change before she can do what she means to do to you and something about her tone tells me, no. She's ready for you now. The words of her melody aren't in English anymore, but in a vernacular that up until now, I would have believed impossible. The sweet song seems to originate from a great creature both mythical and feminine and beautifully deadly. Birdlike, the calls drift out from the newly-formed and massive beak. I see her face has shifted and grown it already with my mind’s eye. The sound reaches out over the water for only me to hear. Lily sings in a language so musical and ancient now that the words themselves have long been forgotten. Yet, despite their foreign nature, I don't have to understand the tongue to understand the meaning of her song. The sound of the music of Mermaid’s Roost fills my mind. Entering my ears, it surges though my head before seeming to flow and tread before my eyes. I can see what she wants me to do in images that hover barely visible like an ethereal painting before me. She wants me to get you to this beach and I will. That’s her last request–her only request. Get you to the shore and she’ll take care of the rest.
ss

First off, I just wanted to say good day to all of you descenders on a wonderful Saturday. I know you’ve been patient and waiting for this review to come so I won’t stall any longer, so let’s get to it.
Main Story
Opening with Wonderland, it starts off with a party, well the opposite actually. There in Wonderland, it’s called an un-party which is one of the things that runs in the big land. The Queen of Hearts takes dictatorship to a whole new level in an un-fun way, as in basically she made fun, any colors that isn’t red, black, white and gray and sugars and sweets illegal. You can’t even listen to any type of music except the national anthem “Hail the Queen of All Our Hearts” and a few military hymns. Speaking of hymns, that’s one of the new words I’m learning in this book, you’ll be seeing some words you’ve never heard of before and you’ll think, “huh, interesting”. To make sure that Queen’s laws were enforced, she demonstrated by taking way a boy who was taking some of the strawberry tarts from the dessert table. Why are there even desserts if they’re illegal you ask? To show how corruptible they are along with the presents that no one ever opens. She was so against desserts that she even lost her mind when she saw cupcakes. I honestly think those might be the biggest trigger from the looks of it. We might even learn why from the movie, who knows. Imagine that, you can’t even celebrate Birthdays since they’re illegal. All anyone can really do is standing around doing nothing and sleeping until someone wakes you up when it comes to un-parties, even the games are all about standing around the longest. And Red witnessed it all since she’s a guest of honor, being the princess and all that.
Red knew from the start that did not want to be like her mother who wanted her to be just like her, tyrannical and cold-hearted, unlike Mal who wanted to prove herself to her mother by doing what she tells her to do and to be the evilest of them all. She has heard about the Isle of the Lost and hear about where no rules are applied. Unfortunately for Red, she never knew what it’s like to run around wild and doing whatever she wants since by law, everything has to be perfect, including her. She’s never been outside of Wonderland since the Rabbit Hole was sealed after the War of the Roses , which happened when The Queen refused for Wonderland to conjoined with Auradon and there’s a holiday in honor of it. The Tea Ceremony commemorates that event in history. Every year, the Queen of Hearts uses those Tea Ceremonies to decree new laws like for example, locking away puppies and kittens until they’re properly trained, introducing red-card beheadings in the National Croquet league and banning dancing. This year will be a special one cause this time, The Queen will have Red make a decree, something she’s not found of.
In her school, it was just like any other day. But there’s one teacher she likes and that would be Maddox, the son of the Mad Hatter, whom surprisingly, The Queen has a soft spot for. Shocked? I know, me too. So during class, that’s when a new student comes in named Chester with the biggest smile ever. Anyone know who else had a smile that big? 😏. In case you haven’t figured it out already, he comes from a long line of Cheshires. Doesn’t say if a certain cat is his father, grandfather or even uncle, but he definitely has that family trait. Anyways, at first, Red was intrigued of him as he was different than the other Wonderland Kids. He was homeschooled until his family moved to the capital. They talked for a bit and was even assigned as partners for a project. Then at the end, they went through a whole DRINK ME this and EAT ME that, y’all know what I’m talking about if you’d seen Alice in Wonderland. That was when they became friends, which was also discouraged. I personally liked how despite everything, Red would know what it’s like to finally have someone she can talk to instead of feeling alone. That’s the start of her character growth. I know it was like that for me when I started having friends I can talk to about anything.
Now fast forward, she see The Queen doing royal training for Red, even teaching her “The Look”. Late at night, Red snuck out when Chester and his friend Ace, came to get see her. One of the things I know about Ace is that he has an uncle who is a solider card and don’t he him that often. And another is that his hair is jet-black and curly and that his hazel eyes sparkle in the soft light, at least in Red’s point of view😏. They went into the woods and eventually their conversation landed them to playing a party. While planning, The Queen wanted Red to do training after leaving early from school the next two weeks. She even brought to female graduates, Twee and Dora, who is the daughter of Dormouse. After all that, it came Friday when the Wonderland Party Commission (that’s what Red, Chester and Ace called themselves) host their party. Kids came, but all the party had was pizzas which was the only thing they got going for them. Then Solider Cards came and crash the party. The 3 teens were captured and the boys were brought to their homes. Red wasn’t even grounded cause her mother was too focused on the party. That’s telling Red that she needs to up her game. She then plans to go to Bramble Bay, where Chester’s family lived at since he told her that things were different.
Red cooked up a ruse to convince her mom that she’s going to the headmistress’ place for royal training, which wasn’t that hard to do. She and her friends then took a car Chester’s cousin provided for them, which happened to be the Headmistress’s car and drove off to Bramble Bay. They had disguise to look like the Duchess (Headmistress of Wonderland High) and her butlers to be let in Bramble Bay (travel must be approved). Once there, they explored the town square and found a restaurant that serves different food, even serves root beer. Then a girl was a bit hostile to Red as she knows who she is.
Next day, they drove off from the inn they stayed to find some kids to get ideas for their second party attempt until they collided with a cart full of barnacled gray shells someone was pushing. No one was hurt, but the car took a hit and it shows. Red and the boys still helped clean up the mess for the guy and he was on his way, but it didn’t go unnoticed by the girl they had an encounter with. She then knew Res wasn’t as bad as she thought. She introduced her self as Dee, sister of Twee, one of the two girl that were mentioned that was coaching Red during her training. She was nicer than Twee, even mentioned when she was leaving the capital after she couldn’t take it over there anymore, she couldn’t get her sister to come with. Then she mentioned of a place where the 3 teenagers can get their car fixed up. Once there, they mentioned to the two guys that own the place that Dee sent them, which makes them more friendly to them. You’re never going to guess who they are. It’s the reason why this certain chapter is probably one of my favorites, if not my top favorite. It’s Harry and Jace, the sons of Horace and Jasper, the henchmen of Cruella DeVil! If yall ever read the past books, you’ll know who I’m talking about. Harry and Jace were Carlos’ henchman as his mother commanded it. They even were a part of the Anti-Heroes Club until Dr. Facilier discovered the true purpose of the club and disbanded it. Now somehow, they ended up in Wonderland after the barrier was taken down by Mal and her friends, which raises more questions than answers, like how’d they got here if the Rabbit Hole was sealed after the War of the Roses. They then mentioned there’s another way out and that would be the Pool of Tears. As soon as they got an opportunity, they’ll leave and never come back to Wonderland ever, I mean why would anyone want to come back?
After the car was fixed, the crew went to meet with Dee to a shindig that’s happening at night. After a couple of weird knocks, they went in a things were quiet, but after the ok, the event got started and it was nothing that Red and the others ever experienced. This was giving her ideas, even after talking with Dee before Solider Cards do their monthly or so routine checkups that same night. The 3 friends flee discreetly and made their way out of town, but not before Chester dropped off a note to his aunt at the inn and getting their disguises while leaving the rest of their things behind.
Fast forward again, Red does her training with Twee and Dora then does something that was unacceptable like sitting on the floor and she commands them to do so. She basically asks them what do they really want in life, which probably got them second guessing their careers of being ladies of the court. She then discreetly without actually saying it, invites them to their second party by looking for the opportunity. The invitations were passed out once again, Red made a memo to the staff of the castle to clear out since Red decided that’s where the party is happening, I mean, why wouldn’t the staff clear out for a few hours by order of the princess herself. Why at the castle you wonder? Cause her mom wanted some good quality tea sets for the Tea Ceremony at the Looking Glass Mountain and she’s making the trip and won’t come back until Friday morning, which was the chance that cannot be looked away. Chester even found someone with a boom box. Red took the day off to set up lights, mirrors and decorations. Katy, granddaughter of the Caterpillar, yes the one smoking the Hookah lol, is the one with the boom box which she found in her grandpa’s storage and is ready to play the tapes that Red had gotten from Dee, who got those and other things that washed up from the sea near at Bramble Bay, the place that scared The Queen cause she can’t control it. Another person that is helping with the party is Bill, who was in Chester’s homeschooling group and was even taught how to cook by his aunt as she used to cook for the Duchess, so he was gonna cook for the party.
Before and during the party, you’ll notice some tensions between Red and Ace. That was happening before that night but now, it was more obvious. Like when Ace saw Red in her pale pink dress she put on. He was really captivated at her beauty, just as Red was when she notices his eyes. As the party was happening with every kid coming in colorful clothes that weren’t red, black, white or gray, Red gave a speech, though it didn’t seem to have an impact. Then Katy started playing one of the tapes and the song that first played, you guessed it, ‘Be Our Guest’ sunged by a young Ben and his glee club. Even though that wasn’t my favorite song from the album, I couldn’t help but play the song from my phone and listened to it as I read how Red and Ace danced with never having to dance before. At first, it was a lil challenge but they figured how to move to the beat with some snaps, some claps and some body movements and they were becoming decent dancers. More kids followed suit as some started off robotic like and others were moving smoothly. Katy then switches to a faster song. Honestly, I thought about it and played ‘Set it Off’ since that’s the first one that came to my head when she said a faster beat. Everyone was enjoying themselves to the song, even Red and Ace. They inched closer and closer to each other with one of Ace’s hands on top of Red’s. He said her name and he leaned even closer to her and when I stopped at when the guy on the song said “Three, Two, One, ugh!” The lights switched on, the music cut off and then a loud voice belonging to the Queen of Hearts herself boomed, “WHAT’S GOING ON HERE?!”
That’s when everyone run and panics when Solider Cards came from all sides. Red and the other two went to one of the secret passageways that was hidden underneath the castle. They escaped but then they camped for the night and planned on going to the Pool of Tears to hopefully able to swim their way out of Wonderland. As they went on to Vorpal Mountain to try to get to the Pool of Tears to leave Wonderland, the Armored Guard came out of nowhere hunting them down. While Red was looking on, Chester and Ace whispered something to each other then told Red they should split up and race to the Pool of Tears that way if one get caught, the others go for help. Red was climbing up but then that’s when she heard noises and saw that the Armored Guard got both Ace and Chester. They were more formidable than the regular solider cards. As she saw Ace got a cut from one of the arrows that was shot, she feared for their safety and realized that they planned all along to get caught so that way Red could escape. Now she wasn’t about to let her only friends that she’d known for two weeks get taken away. After running into a group of guys on her way back home and taking, well commanded, a horse from them, she made it back to the castle.
As she was infiltrating her own home, she discovers a general solider card at the entrance and he was alone. Red subdued him from the back and threw him to the ground. She couldn’t get the helmet off and used a bobby pin to unlock it in the keyhole on the back of his helmet. I could believe my eyes when I read that the person under the helmet was the same little boy, maybe 12 or 13, I’m not sure, but he’s younger than Red, that was taken away after he stole and probably eaten those tarts he and everyone was forbidden to eat. The boy was confused, like he doesn’t remember anything. Realizing what happens to people who don’t follow the rules faces punishments that she didn’t think were possible(neither did I), Red told the boy to run as fast as he can.
She puts on the armor that was taken off and the helmet to pass off as one of the guards. She walks in and her mother came asking if Red has been found, she shook her head and was talking about the Tea Ceremony tomorrow which is still happening, shocking Red. When the Queen left, Red went to the dungeons and see her friends behind bars. Sure, she was mad that they planned on being captured, but she was happy to see them again in the inside. Man, why do I like that people are mad but happy to see their loved ones? Lol. So anyways, she planned to have them in chains but not locked to pass off as her transferring them someplace else, but then solider cards came and blocked their way and moved over so that the Queen of Hearts can walk down and looked at Red’s face to tell her that she disappointed her. It was a trap to see if Red would really comes for Chester and Ace to see for herself if they are really her friends. To her, Red is weak for caring for them. She then had all three of them locked in the dungeon together.
Wondering what’s going to happen to them, the next morning solider cards came and lead them to upper floor. Eventually, they separated them, with Red wailing that she wanted to go with them. She was met with other noblewomen who forcibly gave her a makeover. She was dolled up and met with her mother on the terrace on the second floor, overlooking the gardens. As the Queen of Hearts stared hard and icy at her, Red immediately wanted to know what happened to Chester and Ace. The two boys mentioned were chained to a red platform by arms and legs on wheels. The Queen made her speech, mentioning Auradon and Alice and then moves onto Red’s two friends. Just like what happened with that boy, The Queen of Hearts demonstrated the power she has over Wonderland. And when I mean power, I mean POWER! When Ace looked up at Red and gave her what was his last smile to her, she was panicking with a fast heartbeat in her throat.
The Queen of Hearst raised her hands and basically change a spell in a different language. Light came from her palms and that’s when it happened. Red saw a general solider card that was in Ace’s place and he was in red armor, staff in hand and a silver helmet with a badge on his chest that has a scarlet A over a big, terrible heart. Red knew it was Ace and ran to him and touch him. He didn’t even look at her before he went to the Queen, pressed his fist to his chest and knelt before her. He joined with the other solider card and Red can’t tell the difference. Then she noticed a cat with chestnut fur, the same color as Chester’s floppy hair. Knowing it was Chester made her choke and it was then he gave a toothy grin which wasn’t the same as his usual smile and disappeared leaving a floating smile before it rode the breezy wind. Angry at her mother, who promised she wouldn’t hurt them, she did say she didn’t take their heads off.
Tears came out of my eyes when I read that part and everytime I think about it😢. Those poor boys! Their lives were just taken like that, not in death, but it might as well be. Red doesn’t even recognized them and vice versa. She knew that her two male companions, the first and only friends she made over the course of two weeks, are gone. Just like that in a blink of an eye. As much as Red wanted to leave, she knows right now she couldn’t, not after what her mom did. She blames herself for the predicament. She thought that if she never met them, they would still be here. While she was going through the dilemma, The Queen give her the laws she written down for Red to read out. From this point out, she would be indifferent, will have no more friends, was gonna learn more about being a ruler of Wonderland. As she was reading her first royal decree that Every gathering that has more than 2 Wonderlandians must have a pre approved purpose, Red swore that with the flame she has within her, she would light up, burn it down and paint the town red!❤️
And now, for the moment you’re all waiting for, the Special Bonus Exclusive Content!!!!
It starts off with the King and Queen of Auradon, Ben and Mal, as they rode off in a carriage on a rickety road to Camelot Heights as part of their tour around the United States of Auradon. There they met up with Jay, Evie and Doug and gave each other hugs! I know it’s not the same with “him” and it makes me sad to think about it, but he’ll always be in our hearts and we’ll remember for the great person he turned out to be. King Arthur greeted Mal and Ben soon after and mentions his son Artie will join with them later in the evening. Evie and Doug talks about next season’s styles as they found some great fabrics at the markets of Camelot Heights while Jay helped them carried the rugs from those said markets. Then Archimedes came into the scene and let me tell ya, he’s probably my favorite character in the part cause as King Arthur mentions, he tells it like it is 😂! The group began to walk down the hall until they made it to the legendary Round Table! That’s when King Charming and Queen Ella made their appearance and greeted Mal and Ben. And yes, they are Formerly named Prince Chaming and Cinderella! As Ben shushed Mal about how rocky the trip was and instead said it’s been smooth, the couple before them introduces their daughter, Chloe! Doug mentions she’s going to Auradon Prep next year and wants to know what she can expect. Archimedes tells them that the school used to be Merlin Academy and in a petty way, talks about how trouble it was when Merlin was headmaster. With at least Evie curious about what kind of trouble, Archimedes talks of cursed vines, stolen books, dragons and a mysterious disappearance. He was then going to talk about his parents as he knows the tea, Ella(or Cinderella if you prefer, honestly me too) gave him a regal stare that tells him to shut up while King Charming was enjoying himself as he watches his wife😂😂😂. But he did say something about unauthorized use of magic, trespassing in the dungeons, and an epic battle. When Mal, Evie, Jay and Doug talked about their experiences at Auradon Prep, Chloe tells them that she’s really into sport and wants to join tourney as a forward, exciting Jay more than he thought it did and Mal was a lil estatic when Chloe also says that she’s really into history. But that after when she mentioned that she was homeschooled all her life and had only a tutor and governess. And also, this part answers the question that many of you probably have been wondering and asking yourselves when they casted Chloe, Cinderella and King Charming. Yes, Chad is her brother. There is no alternate reality or none of that, just like I always thought and knew. I know Chad is white, but come on. Adoption is a thing and that’s really likely the case. It’s mentioned that he’s her brother after Chloe says that Chad never really talks to her about Auradon Prep to her, making Jay thinking it’s not really that hard to guess but when Chloe’s and Chad’s parents looked at him, he says he’s a busy young man. A quick save by the ex-thief as the couple smiled at him. But Chloe already knew how Jay really felt about her brother and she doesn’t blame him since he lived with him lol😂. As the last statement of the bonus content, Chloe mentioned of how there aren’t any more VKs at the school with Evie saying that they’re a dying breed now that the Villains and the VKs are free from the Isle. But then, Ben and Mal looked at each other knowing that there’s still more not in Auradon Prep, but in Wonderland!
And there you have it! That’s my full review on Beyond the Isle of the Lost Wonderland! It was a rollercoaster I tell ya. Watching Red developing into more of an independent character and learning about all the things she’s missing out on while being forced to be the perfect princess by her mother, The Queen of Hearts. She threw a party after the first failed attempt only to have her friends taken away from her, maybe forever. What’s worse is that she was falling for one of them. That probably hurts more than ever. But from the sounds of it, she’s going to do whatever it takes until she can take down her mother and take down Wonderland along with her. Can’t wait to see how this will play out in the movie! So remember, Descendants The Rise of Red will premiere on Disney+ July 12th! Don’t miss it!

I've been musing on Halo Season 2 since I finished last night, and one thing is really bugging me. First of all, let me just say that I thought S2 was MASSIVELY improved from S1 and had some cool moments. Also, I'm generally OK with some of the plot differences and SOME new characters (a few are pretty awful). Not all of them work or are for the better (killing Keyes, for example) but it at least keeps fans guessing.
That said, I think they are really blowing it in one regard, and that's maintaining the mystery of the Ring and its purpose. This is a huge plot point of Halo: CE - the big reveal that the Covenant are NOT the main threat, the big Flood reveal, and then the revelation that the Halos will kill EVERYBODY. Legitimately one of the coolest sequences of plot twists in gaming history.
I think the show has already blown all of that by revealing the Flood early (it was perhaps still surprising for new viewers, but the timing wasn't right), referencing Halo as a weapon SEVERAL times, and then having McKee give a speech at the end of Ep. 8 about it 'cleansing everything'. That's too much - and it's robbing new Halo lore viewers of those great twists unnecessarily. It worries me about what twists they're going to try and shoehorn into S3 instead - probably a bunch of Forerunner mumbo jumbo that will likely be convoluted (let's face it, Halo has an iffy history with that part of the lore).
Anybody else feel this way? Curious to get the community's thoughts on this topic.

Update: I am already getting good response from this post. I didn't expected this. If mods think this post is helpful then kindly add it in our wiki or pin it whatever is useful.

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I write essays on such topics. I have started with feminism but india mods removed it for some reason maybe some sigma male's sentiments got hurt lol.
This will be debated heavily by RW and capitalist bootlickers. They'll crosspost this and use "🤡" emojis to falsify and further bootlick the capitalists more. In fact this post will be used to manipulate people with arguments like "this is to manipulate you to stay poor, they don't want to see you become rich"

This post is not just for India but entire world. So read and if you like it, crosspost or copy paste in your country's sub. If you're NRI or foreigner. Socialism movement is focused on entire world not just selected countries.

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PS: This is not just about books. This is about books, courses basically whole "get rich" "improve your life" movement.
This is particularly about the books of self improvements which are teaching people to become rich. Best and only example I'm going to use here is *Rich dad poor dad by Robert Kiyosaki** because it's famous and had become one of the core books in "get rich" "self improvement" category.*
This is not about the books like "You can't break me" (by David Goggins) which are based on improving physical health and discipline. This is real self improvement. I'm only talking about books which are based on "helping people to get rich".
The book of Robert Kiyosaki has become core book and it in one way manipulates the people by making points like "capitalism isn't bad" and the way he defends it is by saying "Your mindset makes you poor" and so the person starts thinking about capitalism and economy/GDP more.
Whenever you see poor people after reading this book your mind says "They are poor because of their mindset. They don't support or take part in govt scemes which are based on capitalism and grow economy. The more economy grows the more they can become rich but they don't want to."
You start supporting capitalist ideologies and schemes by govt only made for people who are already richest. In hope that you will become like them too. Supporters of Elon Musk are exactly like that. And this virus got spread in India too. Because such books hit hard in countries where gap between rich and middle class is big. If you earn more than Rs.25,000 in India you become top 10% this is why.
Robert argues that poor mindset makes you poor and keeps you in middle class. He himself failed in his business and his business partner looted him and ran away. He himself confessed that. Idk if he told the name of his business partner. I think he himself was responsible and is blaming on someone else.
Let's believe if he had a partner who cheated on him. If he has the so called "rich mindset" why didn't he invested in other assets to save himself from fraud? Why didn't he started more businesses or so called "passive income streams" like dividend stocks.
He further goes ahead and even invited Donald Duck Trump on his show which made audience support capitalism more and idiolise rich people. No one "likes" likes rich people. They like rich people because they want to have the same lifestyle like them. So they start supporting such ideologies in hope that they'll be like this too.
Donald Duck said in one speech that the last thing america needs is socialism. And few of other capitalists coined the term "commies" for such socialist ideologies. Most people don't know the difference between socialism and communism. Communism is far from impossible in today's society. Socialism is the only way to save the whole world from becoming a capitalist society. Because of it's improved arguments and justice for everyone. Indians like always follow everything american and the right wing guys use same terms from US for arguing with me. One of my old classmate said to me "Stop arguing such bs from your parents basement" 😭😭 bruh Indian homes don't have a basement. Other Indian rw clown on internet said that leftist also indulges on pseudoscience when I asked him what is it he said "Witchcraft" 😭😭 which was in Europe. How atmanirbhar bharat is so atmanirbhar that they can't come up with own arguments? Atleast use the arguments based in India.
Leftists at that time didn't supported pseudoscience of witchcraft but they stood for human rights as persecution of witchcraft practitioners was on rise in 18th 19th century. Read it yourself.
Coming to point. Same bootlicking is seen by Indians of Ambani Adani. The common arguments are "These policies are also supporting commin citizens but since they don't know how to use it and only Ambani and Adani are brilliant enough to use it they became more rich stop crying and improve your mindset 🤡"
The massive population turns to capitalists and now they support layoffs, increasing work hours (Narayan babu bhaiya Murthy), lower pay.
The capitalists have more power than socialists because every billionaire is capitalist and few of themost crooked own the media houses. This article by business insider cited Sundar Pichai (saar our Indian google ceo saar don't say anything to him saar) saying that why is google doing layoffs more. The article is so beautifully crafted that if Marx read this he would have turned a capitalist and write a book "Rich dictator poor democracy" and called in Putin for a podcast.
https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/google-ceo-sundar-pichai-explains-why-hes-not-doing-layoffs-in-one-fell-swoop-but-in-stages/amp_articleshow/109988979.cms
Narayan Murthy wants people to work for 70 hours while the salaries of his employees haven't grown parallel with inflation rate. Whereas our ministers salaries have increased with parallel or even 1%-3% to the interest rate.
My uncle (mama, mother's brother) worships the book "Rich dad poor dad" and he blames grandfather (nanaji, mother's father) for being poor and teaching him poor mindset. Today my mama because of this rich mindset is a successful Platinum level seller of Herbalife products (for those who don't know it's a MLM company). He is so invested in that because all the herbalife does is show the conferences of rich people in their meetings. And later dance on "Kar har maidan fateh" song from Sanju [translation, conquer the battle fields]. He reads other books too which made him more invested. He owned 2 shops in city which were bringing him the actual passive income of 1-2 lakhs every month but since he had to frequently travel and manage it daily he sold them to earn "passive income" according to Herbalife. He is now making loss and his argument is that "all startups make losses in first few years".
The media houses in US play special programs targetting socialists terming them as capitalists again as they don't know the difference. The programs are like "How commies are destroying economy" "How commies policies don't let you become rich".
See my argument with Socialist and Capitalist schemes/policies is that:
"Capitalist policies will definitely help you beocme rich but your winning chances are 0.001% and if you lose you're screwed forever, you'll be paying loans emi entire life by working as employee in some company with lower wage since you supported such schemes."
"Socialist policies don't discuss about if you will becomes rich or not. But if you fail they'll definitely help you live a peaceful life with minimum wage so that even if you fail you'll be able to survive by working as employee in other companies."
Best example is recent video on Instagram from New Zealand influencer who said that MacDonald employee in New Zealand can afford a big mac meal at same if they work for 1 hour (idk the exact number so someone please cite the resource) but for Indian McDonald's employee you'll have work 8 hours at McDonald's to afford one big mac (also maharaja mac).
The arguments in comments were frustrating and hilarious. Someone said it's necessary and someone argued with inflation and PPP ratio and currency rate. Most common argument comments were "In India MacDonalds is considered as luxury while in other countries it's not. If you want to make conparison in India then conpare it with vada pav or udupi restaurant rates." First of all for such people the my main point is that IT SHOULDN'T BE A LUXURY IN INDIA. That's the point, McDonald's is considered cheap food in other countries and here it should be cheap too. Second argument was for big mac meal not for vada paav and Udupi. We can't conpare western food with Indian food. It's totally bs.
Robert's book gave rise to many influencers who started their own courses on how to become rhch but they never disclosed their business. There is new guy on youtube in India only. Ishan Gupta or Sharma something. He literally picks up the twitter threads and makes videos on it no orginal content. I observed it myself. When chatgpt 4 was released the guy on twitter asked gpt to be ceo of business and asked it to start a business, which he did and made money from it. This ishan guy picked it up made a video and didn't mention guy with original idea and said that he himself tried this to make money by asking gpt to start business. About 1-3 years ago he was invited to my cousin's college. There are many more examples but this guys annoy me as my relatives put these guys status on whastapp. My mama puts Robert Kiyosaki status and my cousin puts that fake rich youtuber guy's status.
Robert Kiyosaki mentions his so called "rich dad" but never revealed his name or he did idk. But he had a rich dad to support him to start a business. Or maybe he never had anyone in his life and he's also such capitalist manipulated american whi write book on how to become rich to make money with that book. Our Robert Kiyosaki is Ankur Warikoo. He sells the courses but his startup "Nearbuy" app has 2.5 or 3 star ratings on play store and is basically non working now or has decreased in customer base. The only people who can become richer are already rich people (or upper middle class who make 3L+ per month) or super gifted people who later become rich crooks.
All the "mindset" debate manipulates the people to become staunch supporters of capitalism which literally controls RW. "Your mindset is making you poor". I was an intern in a manufacturing company in summer in my college. I was paid 5000 stipend which was fair for an intern. I was working in engineering dept. my main work was with the engg team who sit in office above the factory production area. I used to visit production lines for analysing and making reports. In that time I became friends with many people there. I used to travel with them in same bus to my home. I found out that most of them are from bpl. The rent of their room which is 300sq ft is 700 per month per person. 5 people in 1 room. Most of them were living away from their homes but few ones had families and used to live with them and some were sole earners of family.
These workers' salaries were in range of 10,000 to 20,000 per month. No increment. One guy told me that they were given only 1 holiday on diwali. The alternate shifts were made. One team came on first day and other team came on 2nd day during diwali. Me and my team had holidays on Saturdays and Sundays. Flexible timings 3 to 5 in evening, you can leave at anytime. The salary of CEO was 2crore pa. He used 2 different cars for traveling provided by company itself not his own car. One is toyota camry (60L+) and other is mercedes suv (75L+). His increment in salary (as account dept told me) in last 10 years is 110% along with bonuses if company gets another project and owners are happy with progress. Meanwhile workers have same salaries since many years. The company is MNC and they shifted their focus on maximising production in India since China is also becoming too much "woke" for them. Yeah "woke" is another term from US capitalism society which our low life Indian bootlickers also use to define the movements of social justice for them.
Rakesh Jhunjhunwala is known as legendary investor but he made his most money during bear money shorting the market. And he already got money from his some relative or acquaintance about 25L at that time to trade stocks. He was working with other market guys making money on cycles with insider tips. Everyone knows this. Later he made smart investments of course. I am not saying his entire wealth is fraud but I'm saying that he had tons of money to start with. 1% return every month on trade is achievable in market, 1% of 25L is still 25k and in that time 25k was more than enough to survive.
Socialism isn't going to make you rich. But you'll definitely have the luxury of leaving a peaceful life and chances of this is 100%.
Capitalism "allows" you to become rich but chances are 0.001% and if you fail you become another prey for it.
If you think this is a "woke" post I'll use same argument as bhakts. "Go to paxtan and see how capitalism and dictatorship ruined their country."
While there are few good thing about these get rich movements. They say that education system is flawed and makes us work for other people. Yes it's true. My entire engg syllabus was designed on how I can become a good workeemployee for a company. How I can maximise the profits and make rich share holders more rich.
If this post gets traction and rw reads this. I can already sense the comments like "This guy already failed in business. Or failed to start a business. People like them will keep you poor this mindset has to go."

So, a week ago this person expressed kindness to me. A fast track to them being my FP.
I will now recount how this fucked me up for a whole week.

The Dysregulation

That night I cried for hours as if someone had died, because I knew I'd never really talk to them again. I did not sleep. I was awake all night. I couldn't stop thinking about them. I wrote them a letter. I edited the letter. I thought about the letter. I put the phone down to go sleep. My heart kept racing. I wrote a second letter because the first letter would've come off crazy. Thankfully, I had the foresight to know that the second letter was also crazy, although less so.
What do I mean by "crazy"? I mean that, the fact that I wrote such a letter demonstrates how invested I am in making contact with them. Which is really off-putting and would feel imposing to that person, because they would feel a very tangible feeling in their body of being put-upon to then make contact in the way that I want them to. I noticed as well how suddenly manipulative my mind had become, to try and establish and maintain contact with them.
Imagine a postal worker calls you about a package and how to safely leave it at your house, and later that day you send them 8 paragraphs about how you'd like to know them. While this example makes it obvious, somehow this self-awareness is lacking in this state. I'd been in that state many times in my life so far, and I knew that I was lacking insight like that. I knew that I was basically fully delusional and that I needed to NOT actuate the actions I desired to. I had to put off contacting them.
So, I then got out of bed after having written these two letters and I went for a walk to try to get my mind off things. I did so many miscellaneous 'chill' things like that to try and calm down and stop thinking about them. I tried journaling many times, I tried meditating, I tried calling help lines, I tried eating, I tried masturbating, I tried sleeping, I tried dissociating...
I could go on. Just know, the whole week I've been fucked up and dysregulated.

The Right Action

A few things I think were key to restraining myself from being a crazy person.

• Reality-checking. I used call lines. I wrote down facts. I wrote down social conventions. Not projecting an idealized fantasy onto the situation and ignoring the reality of it.
• Self-awareness. I had to be honest about what I was trying to get out of the situation. Observing the mind and what it is aiming to accomplish. How it schemes to get what it wants.
• Mentalization. Thinking about how they would respond to the letter in a non-idealized way, keeping in mind the way that they might think about their own needs.
• Acceptance. Accepting that what I wanted wouldn't happen. Letting go of clinging to them. Accepting that I am traumatized and this stuff does trigger me, and I can still choose to do the right/ best thing.
• Reparenting. The need I want this person to meet, which is maternal love and safety, I need to meet for myself. I use mindfulness and self-empathy to get the sense that this person isn't the ONLY way to make the bad feeling go away. I try to practice self-care.

A Reifying Moment

I wrote on a piece of paper:

I choose to live in a reality where leaves, and I never hear from again.

I then challenged myself to read it out loud. And I just broke down crying, sobbing, hyperventilating, bawling for a good while.
I felt how I felt about it, I couldn't just ignore it. The reaction had already happened.
Even now I wonder if I could have avoided letting it out and expressing it like that. As a man, it also feels pretty unmanly to do this which adds to that.
Well, I did let it out and express it. I'm self-helped enough to not judge it at this point. And after I had stopped blubbering, I felt like I had in large part accepted the reality of the situation.

It's All Trauma

Here's an insight for you: I wasn't sad about this person leaving, about not being able to contact them. It had nothing to do with them. This is the CPTSD (many people with BPD have CPTSD as a causal factor) part of things. I was projecting a mother-role onto this person. I wanted them to be my mother. And the traumatized part of me experienced the reality of them not being a mother to me, and leaving, as a re-experiencing of what had happened in the past.
I'm still pretty fucked up about it, but after a while of successfully not acting on what I wanted to do, which would have been socially unacceptable and had bad outcomes for me, I viewed these urges as an opportunity to practice strengthening this skill. And I feel more confident in future situations to be able to connect more because if I do get triggered by that connection, it seems like I will have the opportunity to not ruin it. I had been avoiding connection for a long time because I felt it was hopeless.
The hopeless feeling that I often have is that this disorder ruins literally everything. I still correctly evaluate myself as fragile in these situations. And I correctly evaluate that people don't have a lot of patience for it. But, hey, this is a win. And for a week of my time, I'd say it was worth it still. Maybe next time I can get it down to 5 days.
This person being kind to me has caused me to grow as a person.

This is very long even after summarizing my experience.
I bounced the idea of making a throwaway account back and forth, but I settled posting on my main because I want to look back on this post in the future. Like a diary of sorts on my experience with all of this grief. Due to this, I have to be somewhat vague to avoid accidentally doxxing myself to family/friends.
Quick background: My dad has not been physically healthy for a long time. He smoked a lot while I was growing up. Had an unhealthy diet and stopped being active when he got older. He had a huge list of different health problems and has had many prescriptions (that he didn't take). He also had a cynical and negative attitude most of the time. I found some prescriptions for depression so he probably had that as well.
 
A few years ago, my dad suffered a stroke so my mother became his primary caretaker. He recovered after rehabilitation... for the most part. His mobility and fine motor skills were drastically reduced. His speech was alright, but I could tell it was different. His mind, from what I could tell, was still there. I remember him expressing frustration at one of the Dark Souls games because he couldn't beat some boss. I never said this out loud to anyone, but I worried that there would be a time that he won't ever get to. I pushed the thought out of my mind. I didn't want to think about it.
Since the stroke, he stopped playing video games and doing many things he used to enjoy. When I visited every week or so, he was either asleep, shuffling up and down the hallway to 'stay fit', or at the table getting his shots or being fed. This was the 'new normal', and it was this way for a while.
Over time, he became distressingly thin and it was hard to see my once strong dad wither away before my eyes. For the past few weeks, he was sleeping so much. My mom told me that he couldn't go out and check the mail anymore as he was too much of a fall risk.
I... I regret pushing the uncomfortable and stressful feelings out of my head for so long... as if ignoring it and pretending that everything was fine was going to make it fine. It was only when I noticed that he was mostly in bed asleep that I started to become very stressed. Reality was getting harder to ignore as other things in my life at the time were going wrong all at once. The stress made me act in a way that I am not proud of. I had to get emergency therapy and medication. Both things seemed to help get me away from the crisis.
 
I got a text from my mother a day later from my therapy session. She discovered that my dad was 'acting weird', so she called emergency services and he was rushed to the hospital. They found a blood clot in his brain, they operated on him, and now he was in the ICU. I went to go see him.
He looked worse than I've ever seen him, but he was alive and he was talking even though he had difficulty saying certain words, phrases, his birth year... ect. . My mother asked him who I was, and he said my name confidently. I'm guessing he might have had some memory loss if she asked him that.
My mother told me to ask him how he was doing, and I curtly responded to her along the lines of, 'I can see that he's not doing well'. My dad turned his head to the side away from me and I immediately felt deep regret. I asked how he was feeling instead of how he was doing, as if the word change made things different. He said that he was fine. Don't worry about it.
When my mother left the ICU to do... something, I squeezed his hand, told him I love him. I'm not sure if he heard me... because he started to say how loud the hospital was. ...I couldn't bring myself to say it again for some God awful reason... probably because my mother walked back in. I always had issues talking about my feelings out loud. My immediate family always has. Another regret I now have. I stuck around for about an hour.
That night I went to work and spoke to a coworker about how worried I was, but at the time... I felt fairly confident that he was going to recover, go back home soon, and find a 'new normal'. After work, I thought about visiting... but the emotional toll and poor sleep made me exhausted and I slightly struggled to drive home, so I went to bed early which I now... very deeply regret.
 
A few hours later while I slept, my mother texted that he suffered a seizure and now wouldn't open his eyes and he wasn't being responsive. There was a large... event (keeping it vague) happening at work that I was assigned for, so I told her that I wasn't sure that I would be able to come right away since I might not be replaceable. I let my supervisors know, and they said they could cover for me... telling me that 'that's what they're for'.
When I arrived at the hospital... shit. I thought he couldn't look any worse than what he did yesterday. Now, his eyes were closed, mouth agape... snoring, and occasionally making hiccup like noises a few times every hour or so. It didn't feel real and it looked wrong. It was then that my poor decision to get some sleep really hit me. If I had gone right after work, that would have been the last time I saw him alive and talking. ...Of course, I didn't know that at the time, but I should have known better.
My mother, who was very tired, asked me to stay in the hospital. To be honest, I kind of wanted to bail. I didn't want to see him like this... but I was already guilty about not visiting after work and me leaving would devastate my mom... so I stayed around ten or so hours so my mom could get some sleep. While I was there, I sat in a chair nearby, watched some YouTube, Discord'd my partner, and watched some graphs I couldn't understand. By then, the hospital had all these different leads attached to my father's head that was measuring all sorts of different things. The graph looked almost flat with some bumps. I looked online and saw that these bumps should be more like hills.
... I also regret not asking my partner if they wanted to be in the hospital with me, as my father was also their father-figure after their own dad died around a decade ago. I feel like ass and that I am an ass.
...Even when I had the room to myself and my dad, I still couldn't get myself to talk to him. I know it was a stupid thing to think now (given the timeline of events), but at the time it felt like I would be talking to myself... that he wouldn't be able to hear me anyways. That I was just going to cause myself more unnecessary stress on top of actual stress. At least I did at times hold his hand. Squeezed it. Wishing he would open his eyes.
Of course, in hindsight, I read that sometimes patients in comas do sometimes hear their loved ones talking to them. ...I very much regret not doing so. I was in denial. I should have done what some of the stories I read did. Talk to him. Reminisce about all the good times we had. That I loved him. Now I worry he left this world not knowing how much I love him... or left him wondering if I ever did.
When my mom got back, the hospital staff began the difficult discussion of either moving him to hospice care and focus on comfort since his labs were getting worse and he was showing no signs of improvement... or, if it was alright... move him to more advanced life-support... such as inserting a tube down his neck or something. My mind was checking out. My mother asked me what I thought, and I instantly thought of how my dad just... slept all the time now. Didn't express any future goals. No longer had any hobbies. If this was me, I wouldn't want them to work on me anymore just for me to go back to do... seemingly nothing.
Though, to be fair, I did try to talk about these things (wishes, funeral, ect.) to my dad a long time ago, but he didn't want to approach the subject at all and kept dismissing both my mother and I. Guess I'm more like my dad than I thought. My partner thinks he felt too scared to talk about such things.
My mother told me that it was now my turn to go home to sleep. ...Yet another thing that I now regret, as a few hours later... he died. She later told me that before he died, he opened his eyes and looked at her, but didn't say anything. I read that hearing and touch were some of the last things to go... of course... after the bloody fact. I had all this time over the years and didn't prepare myself at all. I wish I knew what he was thinking, if he was really seeing my mother, or saw something else... or was wondering where I went.
I'm conflicted. I want to be there to see him go, but I know if he looked at me and then died, I would be seriously fucked up. ...Now I think it would be better to have just... been there when it was time. Again, in hindsight... I should have suggested my mother to tell hospital staff to give him at least one more day. To give him at least more of a chance. More reget... what's one more regret on top of a pile of regrets?
My life partner tells me that they absolutely knew that I would eventually beat myself up over all of this, and says that with the information I had at the time, I did the best I could. I wish I could believe them.
 
I spent some time clearing his room (mostly clothes) while my mom worked on the paperwork part of everything to make room for some of the junk. Before all this, she was preparing my old room for a guest who was going to be there for a while, so there was a lot of junk in my old room that had been building over the years since I moved out. While digging around in his drawers, I found a metal container that had miscellaneous documents in it... and an envelope dated in 1994 that said 'open in case of my death', signed dad... it had a lock of his hair. I ugly cried. I showed my mom... who seemed to not be very interested in what I found. I got very annoyed and later hid the container. I will find a solution on how to display this hair safely later.
Much later on sometime around the viewing on a different day, she told me that on the way to the ICU when staff was rolling him on the stretcher, he kept 'reaching behind him' to make sure my mom was there and following. ...This both distressed and angered me, as if I had known this story before... I would have said to give him life support. This made me and still makes me bitter. It will probably make me bitter for a really long time.
Me and my mother's coping mechanisms are not the same. She uses hard work, religion, and her very wide network of friends and family to help her through. I want to take things slow, mostly confide in strangers online, and I'm not particularly religious. ...I want to believe in an afterlife and that my father, despite all of his flaws, is in a 'good place' now. I really do... but I can't without some sort of proof. I want so badly the comfort to believe that once my own time comes, I will see my family again... but I can't. I don't even know if his ghost is floating around watching us cry. I just know that he's gone and not coming back.
I admit, while nice to have... I don't care about the assets or money. If I was told I would get my dad back if I said no to these things, I would.
The viewing. ...Well, I knew it was my dad in the coffin and the mortuary guy did a good job of making him look 'like he was sleeping', I kept hearing people say. ...I didn't take his hand this time, as I rather remember the feel of his living hand than his dead one. The coffin I picked out for him was perfect. No regrets there, at least. My mom used an early picture of him when I was young, then a much older picture of my dad when he was a young man. It deadass looked like three different men there. My dad didn't age gracefully.
The funeral itself was wonderful. I don't usually record things, but I recorded as much as I could as I know my memory of it is going to fade. This got me thinking into VHS to digital preservation, something that I wanted to do years ago but didn't because of time, money, and then I forgot about it. Well, VHS is degrading and I fear I don't have much time left. My father is in some of those tapes. I have to preserve them before it's too late.
Ah, I deviated a bit. Sorry.
After the service, well, I can't get into too much detail but for the burial itself, it was just me and my partner watching the coffin get lowered into the ground. I recorded that too. My mother; however, had... other priorities and thus wasn't at the burial, which made me really mad and I was venting to my partner. We weren't allowed to get close as the burial dudes were using heavy machinery. There was a strange sense of 'final' once I saw his coffin disappear.
...His loss very much hurts, I assure you... but I'm glad his body is finally resting in a good place. At first, he didn't want to go to the hospital. Then when he got stable, staff was discussing bringing him downstairs out of ICU. Seizure. ...Then before he was moved upstairs to hospice, he died. He seemingly didn't want to go anywhere anymore. I wish I knew what he wanted, if he wanted to stay as long as he could or to... let him go. I know he said to 'not worry about it', but that's all I can do. For weeks I've been stressed. My heart hurts sometimes. I'm depressed, though honestly I think unsubscribing isn't an option for me anymore... my dad didn't go out that way, and if some of these legends are correct... if I do, I might not be able to... 'see him again', or my mother... or my partner once they all go. Or something like that.
If anyone wants to give advice, it's welcomed. I mostly made this post to get my thoughts out onto... something. Then, one day, I'll go back in my post history and read this. Future me, I hope you're in a better place... because right now it sucks. I keep crying on and off and would rather eat and sleep. I nearly gained all my weight back. I haven't played any video games. I don't want to go anywhere, but I have to go make money. ...Life can't wait for me. My partner depends on me.
I'm starting to rant, and I could go on, but I better cut this short and get some sleep. Thank you for reading this far.
Daddy, I don't know if there's an afterlife or what and I know you weren't really religious either, but I hope... hell, I pray that you know that I love you. If you remember me by the time I die, I'll come find you. If that's how all this works, anyways, because I have no idea.

[\sigh** STRIP them, not TRIP them. It's Saturday morning and I stayed up late to go see the Aurora Borealis. Apologies.]
With the Nigeria trip, the discussion of Harry's titles and why hasn't Charles stripped them has come up again. So we can't link back to other posts or users, but two other members of this sub have posted this article in recent months, and it is worth your time:

• Sunday, December 3, 2023, User WorthSpecialist1066, "Interesting article by British Lawyer: Should Prince Harry Be Stripped of His Titles?"
• Tuesday, February 13, 2024, User Upbeat_Cat1182, "Outstanding MUST READ Article Concerning the Legalities of Removing Harry’s Titles and Styles"

The article in question is here:

• December, 2023, The Honourable Society of The Middle Temple, "To Strip or Not to Strip Prince Harry’s Titles" [ Archive Original ]

I do encourage users to search out the two previous SMM posts for an overview, and to sit down and read the article itself. (And, you know, give them the upvotes because they already posted on the topic!) While it is written by a legal professional, it is very well written and clearly assembled as a solid overview for non-legal professionals. So it does answer the questions, "Why hasn't Harry had his titles stripped?" for each of his titles.
Also, what is "The Honourable Society of The Middle Temple" and why should we care about their opinion? While it sounds like it's from a Dan Brown novel, it is, in fact, a professional association for barristers in the UK. It is one of four "Inns of Court", and you can read a nice overview from Wikipedia here about what that means. Basically these people are serious practitioners and scholars of law, so the article is a thoughtful overview that covers what is legally permitted...but also the realities of Harry's litigious tendencies and the way this ties up with Andrew and his titles as well.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inns_of_Court
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Temple

So, therefore, it will be in the restoration of all things when Christ Jesus, the true physician, shall come to heal 'the body' of the whole Church which is now scattered and torn apart. Each one, according to the 'measure' of his 'faith and recognition of the Son of God' (whom he is said to recognize because he had known him earlier and afterwards had ceased to know him) will receive his place and will begin to be that which he was, yet not so that, as another heresy has it all are placed in one age, that is all are transformed into angels, but each individual member is perfected in accordance with its 'measure' and duty so that, for example, the rebellious angel begins to be that which it was created and human beings, who were cast out of paradise, are again restored to the cultivation of paradise. But all these things will happen in such a way that they are mutually joined among themselves in love. And while member rejoices with member and is delighted in the advancement of another, the body of Christ, the Church of the first-born, will dwell in the heavenly Jerusalem which the apostle calls the mother of the saints in another passage. ~ The Commentaries of Origen and Jerome on St. Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians (Oxford Early Christian Studies), Page 181

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But he will destroy not by ruination but by correction, so that they cease fighting against Jerusalem and begin to be from Jerusalem. For if he created all things from nothing, then he did not make it in order to destroy what he created, but in order that what was created might be saved by his “compassion.” And this is why, in Wisdom, which is inscribed with Solomon’s name—but only if one is pleased to receive the book—we find it written: “He created in order that all things might have their being, and the generations of the world [might be] well; and there will be no deadly poison in them." ~ Commentaries on the Twelve Prophets – Volume 2 (Ancient Christian Texts), Page 89/90 (Commenting on Zechariah 12:9)

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And all his enemies will be destroyed, not that the enemies perish and cease to exist but the respect in which they are enemies perishes. As it is written to the Thessalonians: “Whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the spirit of his mouth.” This killing does not signify annihilation but the cessation of wicked life, by which before they were living evilly. After all, he adds: “And he will destroy by brightness of his coming.” But he would never destroy if the killing meant annihilation, since he would have already ceased to exist. In this way also is understood this destruction of enemies according to the Proverbs of Solomon, in which it is written: “Ruin will be visited upon the wicked.” It will not be visited forever, it will not reduce them to nothingness, but it will be visited among them as long as the impiety that is among them needs to be devoured. For God did not create man to perish; and he did not make death. ~ Commentaries on the Twelve Prophets – Volume 1 (Ancient Christian Texts), Commentary on Micah 5:8 (under the section Micah 5:7-14)

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Finally, after the torments and punishments, the soul is led out from the outer “darkness,” and when the last penny has been paid, he says, “I shall behold his justice,” and I shall say: God, your judgments are justified. But if Christ “was made, for us by God wisdom and justice and sanctification, and redemption,” the one who says that he “sees justice” after God’s wrath is promising himself a glance at Christ. And these things at least are about penitents. ~ Commentaries on the Twelve Prophets – Volume 1 (Ancient Christian Texts), Commentary on Micah 7:8

Note: Jerome exhibited themes of infernalism after his repudiation of Origen.

I’m a sub teacher for just a week and i’ve seen these : - Mathys (should be Mathis, poor little guy told me his name is Mathis why a Y) - Christynna (why?! Kristina, Christina or Cristina is not enough already) - Alycia (also have Alicia and Alissia) - Keven (francophone, here we write Kevin) - Ludovick and Ludovic… - A few Adam… some wants me to pronounce AdaM and others Adan but write it the same way… - Daven and Davon, pronounce the same way. Not french name my parents want to be cool so they pick names they don’t know how to write. - King. Just not a real name. I tough the kid was joking. - Maeli, Maely, Maelys (s is muted) - Allyson - Leila, Laila (daid the same) - Erika and Erica
All of them are used to « my name is this written like that ». Meaning they repeat this all the time. Why would you want your kid the spell is name so oftem… pfff

Type in "pop culture is dead" on google and look at the date the articles are written. Not saying the monoculture died the same year the articles were written but that is when a lot of people started to realise it. Funny enough, the earliest year an article about how the monoculture/pop culture dead is written on the front page is 2019.
Also take a look at mainsteam music youtube videos in 2018 and you'll notice they often range from 500m to 3billion views.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzD_yyEcp0M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDo0H8Fm7d0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Il-an3K9pjg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJOTlE1K90k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYOjWnS4cMY
Now let's take a look at the most popular music videos from 2022 which range from 100M to 400m:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5v3kku4y6Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TO-_3tck2tg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uq9gPaIzbe8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaFd8ucHLuo
Even the most popular song in 2023 has seemingly capped out at just barely above 100M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oftolPu9qp4&ab_channel=Pinkpantheress
And before anyone says "But, songs in the Late 10s had more time to gain views".
Youtube views stagnate after the first couple months, maybe a year at most.
https://youtu.be/6-DxWM_-YfM?t=110
As you can see in this video, in 2018 these songs which released either in 2018 or in the previous year or two like "Shape of You" and "Despacito" were already past the 3B mark and all the other songs in the list were past the 2B mark.
To keep things simple, let's just use "Despacito" as the primary example.
5.2B views in 2018. A year after it released.
Now let's take a look at the most popular song of last year, "As it was". And if you object to me calling that "the most popular song", by all means show me a song more popular to compare my first example to.
Anyway, let's take a look at those viewing numbers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5v3kku4y6Q&ab_channel=HarryStylesVEVO
515M views. The example song from 2017 has literally over TEN times as many views in the same time span of a single year 2022's "As it was" had to gain views.
So yes, music has become much less popular over time. This isn't a matter of "having more time to gain views". Both had a year to gain those amount of views.
Now lets take a look at the most STREAMED songs:
https://kworb.net/spotify/songs.html
All of the top 10 on Spotify are from the Late 10s with the exception of one("Stay").
https://www.reddit.com/decadeology/comments/12x4k4proof_the_monoculture_died_recently/
https://www.reddit.com/decadeology/comments/176t8l8/proof_monoculture_died_recently_2022_vs_2017/
https://www.adolescent.net/a/tiktok-and-the-death-of-pop-culture-as-we-know-it
All I’ll be left with is a general feeling of incessant motion, as pop culture has become distorted beyond control, fashion trends cycle in and out within weeks, and moments leave cultural memory as quick as they entered. A harbinger of this change is TikTok, which, for better or worse, has led to a deluge of content and narrowed internet niches. In twenty years’ time, I don’t think a singular cultural juncture will strike us when we reflect on the 2020s. Rather, it will be a gestalt of briefly-lived moments painting a portrait of this era. This is, after all, the age of the cultural stream.
https://www.dazeddigital.com/life-culture/article/56571/1/pop-culture-is-dead-dime-square-microtrends-tiktok-web3
The last few years have seen culture disperse even further. While social media platforms still have a firm grasp over the content we consume, there has been a post-pandemic shift away from the algorithmic model and towards indie media. Platforms such as Netflix and Instagram are on the decline,
I think it's safe to say the monoculture has died very recently. 2019 to be exact. And TikTok is probably the reason why.

Sorry if this has been discussed before, I'm a bit newer to the community.
So I keep seeing that JB has said that Mirror Mirror's alternate Harry will hinge on a choice he made in Grave Peril. I've seen a lot of people say it's his decision to save Susan but I actually think it's earlier than that.
At the party, when Bianca gives Mavra the sword and Mavra is about to kill Lydia with it, Harry has this big speech about how all he has to do is choose to do nothing. If he does nothing, Michael will attack (and die) and he and Susan can walk out under guest right like nothing has happened. Him stepping in is couched as the "right thing". This could be the first step in Harry not doing the right thing. Following this train of thought:

• Michael dies and the sword is (probably) unmade, getting rid of one of the holy swords.

-Harry is presumably no longer close with the Carpenter's (no way is Charity staying friends with him after he lets her husband die). This means he might not step in to protect Molly (why put his life on the line for a girl he doesn't really know). Molly probably still ends up the Winter Lady but with no tempering influence from Harry teaching her magic, only Lea (we know Lea is already interested in her as she offers to return Michael's sword for her).
-Susan does not become a Red Court vampire but also likely leaves him as she cannot condone Harry not saving an innocent. She continues as a reporter for the Arcane and putting herself in dangerous situations (or gets better) but she and Harry part ways. This bitters Harry. This also means no Maggie.

• Murphy will hear about Michael's death and him not saving Lydia and likely distance herself as well.
  
• There is one less knight of the cross to stand against the Denarians. Harry doesn't have someone to warn him of their power and the power of the coins. Could Harry take up a coin willingly? Give into Lasciel? If he is slowly taking small steps into the darkness, he could rationalize it.
  
• Harry and Thomas likely still become close (Thomas didn't want to save Lydia) but their relationship is different.
  

I'm still working on my reread so these are just the consequences I can think of off the top of my head. Again, apologies if this is a massive retread.

I apologise if the question doesn't make a lot of sense. My writing, especially for longer works and projects, is stiff and politely formal in a way that is very reminiscent of "non-human ways of writing". I am studying literature and want to write someething of my own. But I have already been dragged twice before an Academic Affairs Committee because their programs detect my work as not being human written I have tried showing proof from alternate detectors and my other work, but it doesn't always work. This has led to me becoming very disheartened and I have started disliking my own way of writing. So, I want to ask, how do I completely change my writing style?
Edit: Dammit, my post got removed last time cause I used the word for "non-human" intelligence. So, I had to resort to this. I apologise for this.

Obviously never going to go anywhere or something like that, but I found it a fun thought exercise. I mainly based it on the U.S constitution, let me know what you think, what you would like see added, altered or excluded.

1. This constitution outlining the rights and laws of the people and the state shall be written in stone, it shall not be expanded, abridged nor altered for any reason under any circumstance.
2. The state shall not prohibit the free exercise of religion (as long as it does not break any laws); or abridging the freedom of speech (which includes all forms of speech including hate speech), or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
3. A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people, be that foreign or domestic in the land, to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. (This includes all forms of armaments, and shall not be abridged by barrel length, rate of fire or any other factor.)
4. All drugs, be those natural or synthetic, shall be allowed to be grown, manufactured, stored, traded and consumed by the people of the land, this includes foreigners of the land as well.
5. Any individual or collective of individuals shall be allowed to secede from the state and society. They shall have the property right for legitimately purchased or precured land. This secession allows them not to pay any taxes but does not allow them to break the laws of the land even on their own property, though they create new laws on their private property but they are not covered by the public court system.
6. No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war.
7. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
8. No person shall be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb, nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.
9. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favour, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defence.
10. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
11. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
12. Children are under the guardianship of their guardians, this entails that they must provide them with food or allow them to procure their own food, and shall not be allowed to torture or kill them or fair legal action can be taken, up to and including the removal of the child.
13. Animals are under the guardianship of their guardians, this entails that they must provide them with food, or allow them to procure their own food, and guardians shall not be allowed to torture them. Culling and slaughter is allowed but should be done as humanly as possible or fair legal action can be taken, up to and including the removal of the animal.
14. There shall be two court systems, one public and one private, and they shall both agree on the sentencing for it to proceed. The public court system shall be enforced by the police but not the military. The private court system shall be enforced by militias, private military contractors and armed civilians. If the two court systems can not agree on a sentencing, it shall fall upon a reputable, unbiased private third party to arbitrate. The two court systems shall agree upon an arbiter. If the two courts are unable to agree upon an arbiter, then citizens shall have the right to appoint an arbitrator, enforced by the arms of the citizen.
15. Any citizen has the right to citizen arrest of both other civilians and of government agents in the case where laws are being broken and urgent action is needed. Citizens have the right to self-defence of themselves and others against other civilians infringing on their rights, this right includes self-defence from state agents who are acting outside of their legally allowed authority.
16. The military of the state shall primarily be used for the protection of the nation, expansion of the nation through military invasion or for the protection of allies shall first and foremost be up to a popular vote and must be passed by law of the correct authorities.
17. Ignorance of the law does not preclude you from criminal persecution, as state agents shall have a better knowledge of the laws they are held to a higher standard than civilians, which includes harsher punishments.
18. Companies and business owners shall have the right to discriminate against people from employment and trading based on race, gender, sexuality or based on religious views.
19. The people shall have the right to form unions but shall not have any extra legal protections, rights or subsidies.
20. Borders of the country shall remain open for both travel and trade.
21. Taxation is theft and shall be minimized, there shall be no property tax, sales tax, capital or unrealized gains tax nor income tax. The only tax allowed shall be tariffs, this tax code shall not be abridged nor expanded for any reason. All other contributions to for example welfare and healthcare shall be made on a voluntary basis.
22. Children shall be allowed to take on employment and earn their own money, but shall not be forced by their guardians to do so against the will of the child.
23. The state does not have the right to eminent domain, all acquisition of property shall be made on a voluntary basis.
24. The state currency shall be backed by gold. Individuals or companies are free to create and use their own competing currencies.
25. Rape, theft, fraud, property destruction, assault (sexual or other) and murder shall be illegal.
26. State misconduct or corruption can be investigated internally, but sentencing shall be done by the private courts to prevent misuse of power.
27. Private police, military and security shall be allowed, and people or business owners should have the right to expand upon laws on their property, but not abridge any laws of the country.
28. Insider trading shall be illegal.
29. Only citizens shall have the right to vote.
30. The country shall have a leader, this leader has the right to command the military, but only within the bounds of the law. This leader shall also be responsible for public relations with both foreign and domestic entities.
31. Voting shall be done in person or online via blockchain, ID verification is needed to vote. Citizens shall submit three ballots, one shall be counted by a public institution, the other shall be counted by a private institution and the third shall be open to the public citizens to verify.
32. Food or drug regulations shall be done by the free market, but a public institution that researches the food or drug for safety shall be allowed, it shall be counterbalanced by the research of an unbiased private institution, both shall make their findings public.
33. Whistleblowing or leaking of confidential information shall not be allowed and shall be considered treason, except in the case where the state has acted outside the bounds of the law.

I’m sure people have pointed this out, but I haven’t seen many posts about it.
Drake and his camp are claiming that all the allegations Kendrick had made against Drake came from this “mole” that, according to Drake, has actually been working for him the entire time, feeding Kendrick “false info.”
The contents in the picture (with the pill bottles, t-shirt, etc.) and the significance of that stuff isn’t what I’m really focused on here, although more evidence has come out regarding that stuff that is not in Drakes favor either.
But hear me out: Why in the WORLD, would Drake send a fake mole to give Kendrick information on the level of his allegations?
Why would Drake send someone to give “false” information about him having a second child, when he already has a bad track record with hiding kids?
Why would Drake send someone to give “false” information about pdfilia when Drake has already been clowned on for being really close with several young teenagers?
If I was sending someone to deliver “bad intel” to the opposing side, I would not tell them to make allegations of things I am already suspicious/guilty of doing in the past. That is what’s absolutely crazy to me.
Nobody in their right might would tell someone to go spread false allegations ABOUT PDFILIA, especially when you’re already suspected by some of being involved in stuff like that.
This whole “planted mole” shit is so ridiculous.
Because if Drake did plant the evidence and the mole, why didn’t that come out on his “kill shot” Family Matters? Some might say “That wasn’t his kill shot,” but THP6 DEFINITELY was not the killshot. Regardless of that — if he had planted the evidence, why wouldn’t he have posted receipts as soon as Kendrick posted the song with that picture? Or as soon as Kendrick made those allegations? He had a chance to show receipts of the planted evidence on THP6, but all he did was deflect, defend himself, and CLAIM the evidence was planted.
I don’t know about you guys, but if I planted evidence and planted a mole, I would’ve already had a song written and finished that proved all of that, with receipts. Then when needed, I would’ve dropped it. Drake could have won this beef, had he done that. But he didn’t. And it’s because he did not plan the evidence, nor the mole.
THP6 should’ve been where he posted receipts, if he wasn’t going to do it in his “kill shot.”