Looking glass road glacier national park
Camping and Hiking
2008.12.31 00:29 Camping and Hiking
For Backpackers who Hike with Camping Gear in their Backpack. Tips, trip reports, back-country gear reviews, safety and news.
2009.04.10 01:12 eco_was_taken Utah
A subreddit for Utahns.
2017.09.07 09:29 tiggerclaw Sizz Culture
An art and cultural aesthetic.
2023.04.02 14:00 Peter_Mannion- #GEXIX [Sussex and East Surrey] Peter_Mannion- makes a speech about nature in South Downs national park
What an amazing campaign this has been so far, and what amazing candidates this Conservative and Unionist Party have put forward - aren't we lucky to have so many tories putting themselves forward to represent their local areas? I for one have been blown away by the support that I've got so far in the Sussex and East Surrey constituency, and I am looking forward to getting out and about even more on the doorstep to spread my message of a new revitalised Conservative Party who are fighting for you. Together we can make a difference and begin to plan for tomorrow.
That is why I am please to be speaking to you say from the stunning South Downs National Park, a stunning 1,627 square kilometre national park which we in the Conservatives have fought hard to protect over the years - but not only this, we have worked hard to put the environment and the green economy at the centre of our party's, and our country's, thinking. Look at our manifesto for example in this election - we have put the climate emergency front and centre; we are in a climate emergency right now and everything that we do should be looking to protect our nation from the threats that the emergency presents. There are so many risks posed by it, risks that we must overcome, and that is exactly what a Conservative Party Government will do. We must take steps to further reduce our carbon footprint and push for net-zero - we must go further than this as well, and push for a net-negative result to ensure that we are going above and beyond to make up for our historical emissions. We have a plan for this - a plan for tomorrow.
So vote for a party that takes you and your future seriously in this election - vote for me and for the Conservatives and together we can make a difference.
submitted by Peter_Mannion- to MHoCCampaigning [link] [comments]
That is why I am please to be speaking to you say from the stunning South Downs National Park, a stunning 1,627 square kilometre national park which we in the Conservatives have fought hard to protect over the years - but not only this, we have worked hard to put the environment and the green economy at the centre of our party's, and our country's, thinking. Look at our manifesto for example in this election - we have put the climate emergency front and centre; we are in a climate emergency right now and everything that we do should be looking to protect our nation from the threats that the emergency presents. There are so many risks posed by it, risks that we must overcome, and that is exactly what a Conservative Party Government will do. We must take steps to further reduce our carbon footprint and push for net-zero - we must go further than this as well, and push for a net-negative result to ensure that we are going above and beyond to make up for our historical emissions. We have a plan for this - a plan for tomorrow.
So vote for a party that takes you and your future seriously in this election - vote for me and for the Conservatives and together we can make a difference.
2023.04.02 13:53 Throwaway_4207864 hey my dads work is being robed by inch by inch by tweakers in the night or we are just really high
My dad works at this place don't want to give too much detail but there's a lot of heavy metal there. It's in this small neighborhood. Their are meth heads that live right behind the place he works. My dad and I have kinda had a week long binge. For some reason one of his co workers told him he should stay till midnight but . Then he started wondering why he said that. My dad started to notice that some stuff in the yard at his work everyday this week has been inching their way twords a corner of the gate Ware it gets incredibly dark at night. So my dad starts questioning why that is. So Friday at midnight he goes up there. The moment he heads down the road he sees a shadow of a woman run up to the gate and runs back up to the house. He also sees a shadow on top on the building duck down. Then he sees two people on bikes on the road riding away from his work Wich he thought was sketchy. But he comes back home cause he has to back to work early in the morning.
The next morning it's just him and another coworker who also dose gear and that's the only people who are there. My dad tells him about what happened and my dad said when he said that to him he looked scared. A little bit later my dad began to hear some people talking. So he asks the coworker. Did you hear that and they said must be radio waves mann jokingly. Then a little bit later they both hear someone on the roof sawing something. But they kinda wasn't sure if it was real. The coworker starts telling my dad that he's been seeing shadows dart around in the yard in the morning. My dad tells him he's been seeing the same thing so after my dad gets off work. He starts telling me about all this and I just think he's just really high out there you know cause we both have been up for almost a week. But he decides to go back there Saturday at midnight but this time there's a old dude parked in a truck at the beging of the street with his parking lights on. My dad drives down the street and the old man in the truck starts following him far behind my dad's truck. When he's close to the building he hears a whistle from the house across the street and he sees the same thing shadow on the roof this time he saw the lady who ran up to the gate sitting on her porch she's the one who whistle. This time their are a lot of shadows moving around only the darkest spots but they kept moving to different spots and trying to see if they were spotted. Then my dad thought it would be a better idea to park at the near by store and walk up on them. Cause if they didn't see any headlights coming or a familiar truck the neighbors see park there every day he may have a good chance of catching them. So he starts walking down the nighberhood street and gets this feeling he's being watched and their aren't many street lights on the road so it gets darker. After a few steps in the dark he hears someone loading a gun. So he starts walking backwards acting like he's reaching for a gun in his trenchcoat. And begins walking back to the store his truck is parked at. He says he's gonna go back and I really believe what he's saying I'll try to update if we find out more.
submitted by Throwaway_4207864 to meth [link] [comments]
The next morning it's just him and another coworker who also dose gear and that's the only people who are there. My dad tells him about what happened and my dad said when he said that to him he looked scared. A little bit later my dad began to hear some people talking. So he asks the coworker. Did you hear that and they said must be radio waves mann jokingly. Then a little bit later they both hear someone on the roof sawing something. But they kinda wasn't sure if it was real. The coworker starts telling my dad that he's been seeing shadows dart around in the yard in the morning. My dad tells him he's been seeing the same thing so after my dad gets off work. He starts telling me about all this and I just think he's just really high out there you know cause we both have been up for almost a week. But he decides to go back there Saturday at midnight but this time there's a old dude parked in a truck at the beging of the street with his parking lights on. My dad drives down the street and the old man in the truck starts following him far behind my dad's truck. When he's close to the building he hears a whistle from the house across the street and he sees the same thing shadow on the roof this time he saw the lady who ran up to the gate sitting on her porch she's the one who whistle. This time their are a lot of shadows moving around only the darkest spots but they kept moving to different spots and trying to see if they were spotted. Then my dad thought it would be a better idea to park at the near by store and walk up on them. Cause if they didn't see any headlights coming or a familiar truck the neighbors see park there every day he may have a good chance of catching them. So he starts walking down the nighberhood street and gets this feeling he's being watched and their aren't many street lights on the road so it gets darker. After a few steps in the dark he hears someone loading a gun. So he starts walking backwards acting like he's reaching for a gun in his trenchcoat. And begins walking back to the store his truck is parked at. He says he's gonna go back and I really believe what he's saying I'll try to update if we find out more.
2023.04.02 13:38 AnderLouis_ Hail and Farewell (George Moore) - Chapter 12.1
PODCAST: https://ayearofwarandpeace.podbean.com/e/ep1522-hail-and-farewell-george-moore-ave-chapter-121/
PROMPTS: Today's Reading, via Project Gutenberg:
Today's Reading, via Project Gutenberg:
There is little use in writing when there is no clear vision in the mind; the pen stops of its own accord, and I often rose from my chair and walked about the room, my feet at last finding their way through the hotel, and down the street as far as the Kildare Street Club, to ask Edward if he would tell me. He would tell me nothing. His present to the Irish Literary Theatre was his play, and I was free to alter it as I pleased, putting the last act first and the first act last, but he would not help me to alter it; and it was impossible not to feel that it was reasonable for him to refuse.
What do you think of the title—The Bending of the Bough?
The Tale of a Town is a better title. And after some heated words we left the Club one evening together. You must sign the play, he said, turning suddenly.
I sign the play! I answered, all my literary vanity ablaze. No; but I'll put adapted from.
I'll have no adaptations; I'll have nothing to do with your version; and he wrenched himself free from me, leaving me to go my way, thinking that here was nothing for it but to sign a work that was not mine. I, too, am sacrificing to Cathleen ni Houlihan; one sacrifice brings many. And to escape from the hag whom I could see wrapped in a faded shawl, her legs in grey worsted stockings, her feet in brogues, I packed my trunk and went away by the mail-boat laughing at myself, and at the same time not quite sure that she was not still at my heels. Cathleen follows her sons across the seas; and she did not seem to be very far away in the morning in Victoria Street, while Edward's play was before me. After writing some lines of vituperation quite in the Irish style, I would lay down the pen and cry: Cathleen, art thou satisfied with me? And it seemed an exquisite joke to voice Ireland's woes, until one day I stopped in Ebury Street, abashed; for it was not a victory for our soldiers that I desired to read in the paper just bought from the boy who had rushed past me, yelling News from the Front, but one for the Boers. The war was forgotten, and I walked on slowly, frightened lest this sudden and inexplicable movement of soul should be something more than a merely accidental mental vacillation.
It may be no more, and it may be that I am changing, I whispered under my breath; and then, charging myself with faint-heartedness and superstition, I walked on, trying to believe that I should be myself again next morning.
It was a bad sign to lie awake all night, thinking of what happened in Ebury Street the evening before, and asking if I really did desire that the Boers should win the fight and keep their country; and it was a worse sign to read without interest headlines announcing a forward movement of our troops. On turning over the pages, a rumour (it was given as a rumour) that the Boers were retreating northward caught my eye; the paper was thrown aside, and an hour was spent wondering why the paper had been tossed aside so negligently. Was it because I had become, without knowing it, Pro-Boer? That was it, for next morning, on reading that five hundred of our troops had been taken prisoners, I was swept away by a great joy, and it was a long time before I could recover sufficient calm of mind to ask myself the reason of all this sympathy for illiterate farmers speaking a Dutch dialect in which no book had yet been written; a people without any sentiment of art, without a past, without folklore, and therefore, in some respect, a less reputable people than the Irish. I had seen some finely designed swords in the Dublin Museum, forged, without doubt, in the late Bronze Age, and Coffey had shown me the splendid bits that the ancient Irish put into their horses' jaws. There was the monkish Book of Kells, a beautiful thing in a way; the Cross of Cong was made in Roscommon, and by an Irish artist; it bears the name of its maker, an Irish name, so there can be no doubt as to its nationality. There are some fine legends, the rudiments of a literature that had not been carried into culture, the Irish not being a thinking race ... perhaps.
After that I must have fallen into a deep lethargy. On awakening, I remembered the autumn evening in Edward's park, when Cathleen ni Houlihan rose out of the plain that lies at the foot of the Burran Mountains, and came, foot-sore and weary, up through the beech-grove to me. I had not the heart to repulse her, so hapless did she seem; nor did I remember the danger of listening to her till I had stood before Edward telling him the story of the meeting in the park.
It is dangerous, I had said to him, to listen to Cathleen even for a moment; she has brought no good luck or good health to any one.
The morning paper was picked up from the hearthrug, and the news of the capture of our troops read again and again, the same thrill of joy coming into my heart. The Englishman that was in me (he that wrote Esther Waters) had been overtaken and captured by the Irishman. Strange, for all my life had been lived in England. When I went to Ireland I always experienced a sense of being a stranger in my own country, and, like many another Irishman, had come to think that I was immune from the disease that overtakes all Irishmen sooner or later—that moment in Edward's park was enough for me, and ever since the disease had been multiplying in secret: the incident in Ebury Street was only a symptom.... A moment after I was asking myself if the microbe were sown that evening in Edward's park, or if the introduction of it could be traced back to the afternoon in Victoria Street, when Edward and Yeats had called to ask me to join in their attempt to give a National Literary Theatre to Ireland. It might be traced further back still, to the evening in the Temple when Edward had told me that he would like to write his plays in Irish; and there arose up in me the memory of that midnight when I wandered among the courts and halls, dreaming of Ireland, of the story of wild country life that I might write.
It was then that I caught the disease, I said; a sort of spiritual consumption; it was then that the microbe first got into my soul and ate away most of it without my being aware of its presence, or of the ravages caused by it, until the greater part of me collapsed in Ebury Street.
And what was still more serious was that out of the wreck and rubble of my former self a new self had arisen. It could not be that the old self that had worshipped pride, strength, courage, and egoism should now crave for justice and righteousness, and should pause to consider humility and obedience as virtues, and might be moved to advocate chastity tomorrow. Such a thing could not be. A new self had grown up within me, or had taken possession of me. It is hard to analyse a spiritual transformation; one knows little about oneself; life is mysterious. Only this can I say for certain, that I learnt then that ideas are as necessary to us as our skins; and, like one that has been flayed, I sat wondering whether new ideas would clothe me again, until a piece of burning coal falling from the grate into the fender awoke me from my reverie. When I had put it back among the live embers, I said: My past life crumbles away like that piece of coal; in a few moments it will be all gone from me, and my new self will then be alone in me, and powerful enough to lead me into a new life. Into what life will it lead me? Into what Christianity?
I wandered across the room to consult the looking-glass, curious to know if the great spiritual changes that were happening in me were recognisable upon my face; but the mirror does not give back characteristic expression, and to find out whether the expression of my face had changed I should have to consult my portrait-painters: Steer, Tonks, and Sickert would be able to tell me. And that night at Steer's, after a passionate protest against the wickedness and the stupidity of the Boer War delivered across his dining-table, I got up and walked round the room, feeling myself to be unlike the portraits they had painted of me, every one of which had been done before the war. The external appearance no doubt remained, but the acquisition of a moral conscience must have modified it. As I was about to launch my question on the company, I caught sight of the little black eyes that Steer screws up when he looks at anything; all the other features are insignificant; the eyes are all that one notices, and the full, sleek outlines of the face. His shoulders slope a little, like mine, and the body is long, and the large feet shuffle down the street in goloshes if the weather be wet, and in the studio in carpet slippers. Long white hands droop from his cuffs—hands that I remember carrying canvases from one easel to another. Tonks is lank and long in every limb, and one remembers him as a herring-gutted fellow, with a high bridge on his nose; and one remembers him much more for the true, honest heart that always goes with his appearance. I could see that he sympathised with the Boer women and children dying in concentration camps, and that Steer was thinking of the pictures he had brought home from the country. It was shameful that any one should be able to think of pictures at such a time, but Steer takes no interest in morals; his world is an external world; and I abandoned myself somewhat cowardly to his pictures till the end of the evening, thinking all the while that Tonks would understand my perplexities better, and that the time to speak to him would be when we walked home together.
submitted by AnderLouis_ to thehemingwaylist [link] [comments]
PROMPTS: Today's Reading, via Project Gutenberg:
Today's Reading, via Project Gutenberg:
XII
A room had been hired at the Shelbourne Hotel, and the mornings were spent writing The Bending of the Bough It could be finished in the next three weeks if I fortuned upon somebody who could explain the various sections and parties in Irish politics, all striving for mastery at that time; somebody acquainted enough with the country to unravel the Lord Castletown incident, and expound the Healy problem, the O'Brien problem, the Redmond problem, and the great many other political problems with which the play is beset.There is little use in writing when there is no clear vision in the mind; the pen stops of its own accord, and I often rose from my chair and walked about the room, my feet at last finding their way through the hotel, and down the street as far as the Kildare Street Club, to ask Edward if he would tell me. He would tell me nothing. His present to the Irish Literary Theatre was his play, and I was free to alter it as I pleased, putting the last act first and the first act last, but he would not help me to alter it; and it was impossible not to feel that it was reasonable for him to refuse.
What do you think of the title—The Bending of the Bough?
The Tale of a Town is a better title. And after some heated words we left the Club one evening together. You must sign the play, he said, turning suddenly.
I sign the play! I answered, all my literary vanity ablaze. No; but I'll put adapted from.
I'll have no adaptations; I'll have nothing to do with your version; and he wrenched himself free from me, leaving me to go my way, thinking that here was nothing for it but to sign a work that was not mine. I, too, am sacrificing to Cathleen ni Houlihan; one sacrifice brings many. And to escape from the hag whom I could see wrapped in a faded shawl, her legs in grey worsted stockings, her feet in brogues, I packed my trunk and went away by the mail-boat laughing at myself, and at the same time not quite sure that she was not still at my heels. Cathleen follows her sons across the seas; and she did not seem to be very far away in the morning in Victoria Street, while Edward's play was before me. After writing some lines of vituperation quite in the Irish style, I would lay down the pen and cry: Cathleen, art thou satisfied with me? And it seemed an exquisite joke to voice Ireland's woes, until one day I stopped in Ebury Street, abashed; for it was not a victory for our soldiers that I desired to read in the paper just bought from the boy who had rushed past me, yelling News from the Front, but one for the Boers. The war was forgotten, and I walked on slowly, frightened lest this sudden and inexplicable movement of soul should be something more than a merely accidental mental vacillation.
It may be no more, and it may be that I am changing, I whispered under my breath; and then, charging myself with faint-heartedness and superstition, I walked on, trying to believe that I should be myself again next morning.
It was a bad sign to lie awake all night, thinking of what happened in Ebury Street the evening before, and asking if I really did desire that the Boers should win the fight and keep their country; and it was a worse sign to read without interest headlines announcing a forward movement of our troops. On turning over the pages, a rumour (it was given as a rumour) that the Boers were retreating northward caught my eye; the paper was thrown aside, and an hour was spent wondering why the paper had been tossed aside so negligently. Was it because I had become, without knowing it, Pro-Boer? That was it, for next morning, on reading that five hundred of our troops had been taken prisoners, I was swept away by a great joy, and it was a long time before I could recover sufficient calm of mind to ask myself the reason of all this sympathy for illiterate farmers speaking a Dutch dialect in which no book had yet been written; a people without any sentiment of art, without a past, without folklore, and therefore, in some respect, a less reputable people than the Irish. I had seen some finely designed swords in the Dublin Museum, forged, without doubt, in the late Bronze Age, and Coffey had shown me the splendid bits that the ancient Irish put into their horses' jaws. There was the monkish Book of Kells, a beautiful thing in a way; the Cross of Cong was made in Roscommon, and by an Irish artist; it bears the name of its maker, an Irish name, so there can be no doubt as to its nationality. There are some fine legends, the rudiments of a literature that had not been carried into culture, the Irish not being a thinking race ... perhaps.
After that I must have fallen into a deep lethargy. On awakening, I remembered the autumn evening in Edward's park, when Cathleen ni Houlihan rose out of the plain that lies at the foot of the Burran Mountains, and came, foot-sore and weary, up through the beech-grove to me. I had not the heart to repulse her, so hapless did she seem; nor did I remember the danger of listening to her till I had stood before Edward telling him the story of the meeting in the park.
It is dangerous, I had said to him, to listen to Cathleen even for a moment; she has brought no good luck or good health to any one.
The morning paper was picked up from the hearthrug, and the news of the capture of our troops read again and again, the same thrill of joy coming into my heart. The Englishman that was in me (he that wrote Esther Waters) had been overtaken and captured by the Irishman. Strange, for all my life had been lived in England. When I went to Ireland I always experienced a sense of being a stranger in my own country, and, like many another Irishman, had come to think that I was immune from the disease that overtakes all Irishmen sooner or later—that moment in Edward's park was enough for me, and ever since the disease had been multiplying in secret: the incident in Ebury Street was only a symptom.... A moment after I was asking myself if the microbe were sown that evening in Edward's park, or if the introduction of it could be traced back to the afternoon in Victoria Street, when Edward and Yeats had called to ask me to join in their attempt to give a National Literary Theatre to Ireland. It might be traced further back still, to the evening in the Temple when Edward had told me that he would like to write his plays in Irish; and there arose up in me the memory of that midnight when I wandered among the courts and halls, dreaming of Ireland, of the story of wild country life that I might write.
It was then that I caught the disease, I said; a sort of spiritual consumption; it was then that the microbe first got into my soul and ate away most of it without my being aware of its presence, or of the ravages caused by it, until the greater part of me collapsed in Ebury Street.
And what was still more serious was that out of the wreck and rubble of my former self a new self had arisen. It could not be that the old self that had worshipped pride, strength, courage, and egoism should now crave for justice and righteousness, and should pause to consider humility and obedience as virtues, and might be moved to advocate chastity tomorrow. Such a thing could not be. A new self had grown up within me, or had taken possession of me. It is hard to analyse a spiritual transformation; one knows little about oneself; life is mysterious. Only this can I say for certain, that I learnt then that ideas are as necessary to us as our skins; and, like one that has been flayed, I sat wondering whether new ideas would clothe me again, until a piece of burning coal falling from the grate into the fender awoke me from my reverie. When I had put it back among the live embers, I said: My past life crumbles away like that piece of coal; in a few moments it will be all gone from me, and my new self will then be alone in me, and powerful enough to lead me into a new life. Into what life will it lead me? Into what Christianity?
I wandered across the room to consult the looking-glass, curious to know if the great spiritual changes that were happening in me were recognisable upon my face; but the mirror does not give back characteristic expression, and to find out whether the expression of my face had changed I should have to consult my portrait-painters: Steer, Tonks, and Sickert would be able to tell me. And that night at Steer's, after a passionate protest against the wickedness and the stupidity of the Boer War delivered across his dining-table, I got up and walked round the room, feeling myself to be unlike the portraits they had painted of me, every one of which had been done before the war. The external appearance no doubt remained, but the acquisition of a moral conscience must have modified it. As I was about to launch my question on the company, I caught sight of the little black eyes that Steer screws up when he looks at anything; all the other features are insignificant; the eyes are all that one notices, and the full, sleek outlines of the face. His shoulders slope a little, like mine, and the body is long, and the large feet shuffle down the street in goloshes if the weather be wet, and in the studio in carpet slippers. Long white hands droop from his cuffs—hands that I remember carrying canvases from one easel to another. Tonks is lank and long in every limb, and one remembers him as a herring-gutted fellow, with a high bridge on his nose; and one remembers him much more for the true, honest heart that always goes with his appearance. I could see that he sympathised with the Boer women and children dying in concentration camps, and that Steer was thinking of the pictures he had brought home from the country. It was shameful that any one should be able to think of pictures at such a time, but Steer takes no interest in morals; his world is an external world; and I abandoned myself somewhat cowardly to his pictures till the end of the evening, thinking all the while that Tonks would understand my perplexities better, and that the time to speak to him would be when we walked home together.
2023.04.02 13:13 NuukFartjar 38 [M4F] Scandinavia/anywhere - Keep me company on this long bustrip...and maybe forever!
Howdy!
Thank you for taking a look at my post. Ill try and make it worth your while.
After living in the US for over 10 years, I have now moved back to Scandinavia. A lot of friends have fallen by the wayside in the meantime and I would love to make some new friends. Also looking for a new job, so lots of changes on the horizon. Job searching is one of the most soul crushing experiences!
I'm single, works as an attorney (or to soon be again) and love to travel. Recently spent some time in South America and now has a surplus of penguin photos!
I love talking about travelling. Hearing about great trips and collecting inspiration for future trips. What is your favorite place ever? What's on top of your bucket travel list? During Covid I tried to visit all the US national parks. And the last year I have travelled a lot in South America. I also have a surplus of vacation photos. So you have been warned!
I also love board games. Would love to talk about board games or maybe play some online. What are some of your favorites. I spent way too much time on chess. One of my other favorites is Wingspan. Probably the prettiest game ever.
I love tattoos, and have a bunch now. Just got a new toucan tattoo while in South America that I am really excited about.
I also love theatre. Opera, Broadway musicals and all that jazz (and yeah, you wont find any Oxford commas here!). Some of my time living in the US was spent in NYC, so I got the chance to see many shows. What's your favorite? I think my favorites are Hamilton, Phantom and Hadestown. Also love to talk opera, if there are any others that are so inclined.
That's probably enough about me for now. If you find any of this interesting, send me a little about yourself and a picture. And please include your opinion on high fives!
Picture of me: https://imgur.com/a/tVrhmXY (If you look at my picture, you are legally obligated to also show me a picture of you! ;)
Looking forward to hearing from you!
submitted by NuukFartjar to r4r [link] [comments]
Thank you for taking a look at my post. Ill try and make it worth your while.
After living in the US for over 10 years, I have now moved back to Scandinavia. A lot of friends have fallen by the wayside in the meantime and I would love to make some new friends. Also looking for a new job, so lots of changes on the horizon. Job searching is one of the most soul crushing experiences!
I'm single, works as an attorney (or to soon be again) and love to travel. Recently spent some time in South America and now has a surplus of penguin photos!
I love talking about travelling. Hearing about great trips and collecting inspiration for future trips. What is your favorite place ever? What's on top of your bucket travel list? During Covid I tried to visit all the US national parks. And the last year I have travelled a lot in South America. I also have a surplus of vacation photos. So you have been warned!
I also love board games. Would love to talk about board games or maybe play some online. What are some of your favorites. I spent way too much time on chess. One of my other favorites is Wingspan. Probably the prettiest game ever.
I love tattoos, and have a bunch now. Just got a new toucan tattoo while in South America that I am really excited about.
I also love theatre. Opera, Broadway musicals and all that jazz (and yeah, you wont find any Oxford commas here!). Some of my time living in the US was spent in NYC, so I got the chance to see many shows. What's your favorite? I think my favorites are Hamilton, Phantom and Hadestown. Also love to talk opera, if there are any others that are so inclined.
That's probably enough about me for now. If you find any of this interesting, send me a little about yourself and a picture. And please include your opinion on high fives!
Picture of me: https://imgur.com/a/tVrhmXY (If you look at my picture, you are legally obligated to also show me a picture of you! ;)
Looking forward to hearing from you!
2023.04.02 12:34 mashedpotatofanclub Cat hit by car
Copied from elsewhere.
I was walking home last night (1st April) and I saw a cat get hit by a car in the middle of the road right near the bus stop opposite Panda Hut on Paisley Road West. I heard the noise of the impact but it kept running and honestly it didn't seem that bad. Me and some others began looking for it but couldn't find it, so on one hand I'm hoping it can't have been that bad if it can run away so quickly and so far. I am still trying to raise awareness in case it passes and the owner can't find it. It looked tabby coloured but I only saw it briefly in the light.
Basically if you live in the Rutland Court / Mair Street Sheltered Housing area, there may be an injured cat hiding in the car park in between.
submitted by mashedpotatofanclub to glasgow [link] [comments]
I was walking home last night (1st April) and I saw a cat get hit by a car in the middle of the road right near the bus stop opposite Panda Hut on Paisley Road West. I heard the noise of the impact but it kept running and honestly it didn't seem that bad. Me and some others began looking for it but couldn't find it, so on one hand I'm hoping it can't have been that bad if it can run away so quickly and so far. I am still trying to raise awareness in case it passes and the owner can't find it. It looked tabby coloured but I only saw it briefly in the light.
Basically if you live in the Rutland Court / Mair Street Sheltered Housing area, there may be an injured cat hiding in the car park in between.
2023.04.02 12:31 Thirsha_42 Tight Money
I have thoroughly enjoyed reading SpacePaladin15's the Nature of Predators series and all of the fanfics as well. I finally had enough inspiration to start writing my own. I haven't written anything like this since college so it has been a while. Please message me with any suggestions and constructive criticisms. I have never written in the 1st person so this is particularly new to me but I hope I stayed mostly true to the format set in the universe. This is only part one of I don't know how many but I have a detailed outline with 6 1/2 pages and this only took me to half a page of that.
I want to give a HUGE shout out to BiasMushroom who let me use some of their news reports, their character Talen, and gave me some direction for my story. I also want to thank YakiTapioca and SavingsSyllabub7788 for letting me use elements from their stories as well.
Memory transcription subject: Leena, Capital Spaceport Logistics Coordinator
Date [standardized human time]: August 22, 2136
I opened my eyes to the dimly lit room. Confused, I looked at the blinds, they should be open. My eyes fell onto the cradle. The twins were still sleeping, their tails curled around each other. Glancing at the clock on the bedside table I could see why the blinds hadn’t opened. I still had almost a quarter claw before my usual waking.
My eyes shifted to the photo next to the clock. The day my husband and I celebrated finding out I was pregnant. Conflicting emotions of happiness and melancholy filled my mind. It was a wonderful memory but I couldn’t ignore the empty space next to me. The arxur had killed him before Vissa and Tas were born. With not enough time to go back to sleep and no desire to get up yet either, I reached for my holopad to check Prime News. The Anchor woman was mid-sentence when the feed buffered.
“-minion forces have attacked the research outpost hosting the Venlil-Human Exchange Program. The station defenders were able to defeat the raiding party with no damage to the station at all. We have received reports from the Governors Office that there were no venlil casualties resulting from the battle. However, the humans suffered over a hundred casualties and recovery efforts are ongoing. One fighter with a venlil and human pilots is missing in action. According to a source on the station, this defender was able to heroically lure away two of the arxur raiders and fled towards the Federation border. The whereabouts and well-being of the pilots is unknown. In Governor Tarva’s press release, her office stressed that the lack of venlil casualties was the result of the human copilots telling their venlil pilots to eject or in some cases even forcibly ejecting them in some cases.”
Why would predators save prey? We were nothing in their eyes. I can’t fathom how this played into their schemes. The blinds opened and the alarm went off. The twins stirred and I know it is time to get up and feed them. No more news. Set the holopad down and pick up the twins, check their diapers, nurse them, check their diapers again, play with them, hold them, sleep with them. Things had finally settled into a comfortable routine again.
This last [week] had been so hectic, the invasion sirens, Governor Tarva’s announcement about peaceful predators, and the closed borders. In a single day we became prisoners in our own space and our leader had all but withdrawn us from the federation. We had no protection anymore. Tarva ignored our protests outside her mansion and even encouraged people to talk to the predators. The only sensible thing to happen was the magistrates announcing they would activate all of the current and former extermination officers and increase recruitment. That was only two days. Vissa and Tas were done. I had been playing with them a while when mom called.
“Hi honey, how are you?”
Dad stepped into the frame. “How are the twins?”
I held the holopad over Vissa and Tas on the bed. The two seemed enraptured by the picture.
Dad cooed. “They are so precious.”
“We are doing better each day dad.” I laid on the bed next to Vissa and Tas and held the holopad so that mom and dad could see me and the twins. Tas reached for holopad while Vissa giggled.
Mom spoiled them with attention, wiggling her fingers at the camera, encouraging Tas. “We would love to come visit you and the kids. Oulo has a rest paw coming up soon. We should get their paw prints cast and take them to the park.”
“That sounds like a great idea. I know the twins would love to see you. I still have some extra train rides on my account from my maternity leave. Message me the details and I’ll book you both tickets.”
“You should save those dear, we can manage the tickets.”
I could see the worry in their tails however much they tried to hide it. “Dad, we don’t use the train in the capital. We use the trolley system to get around so I have extra train rides and I would love to have you. You know I could use the extra help with the babies.”
That won them over and it wasn’t a lie. Living in the capital meant we had more options for transportation. Plus, with the predators at their new complex, I haven’t been getting out except to get food or diapers.
“Oh, ok then. We wouldn’t want those to go to waste.” Dad nudged mom with his tail. “Tell her your good news.”
Mom, sat up and smoothed her fur excitedly. “I just got the news that I got the job at Vikki’s Flowers!”
“Mom, that’s wonderful! When do you start?”
“I start in 5 paws. I was honestly surprised they were hiring at all with things how they are.” When Tarva closed the borders, she cut off all trade with the federation and caused an economic crisis like we hadn’t seen in my lifetime.
“That is wonderful news and I hate to cut this short but it is about time to put them down for their nap. Send me the details and I’ll get you the tickets.”
“Rest well sweetie.”
“Goodbye mom, dad. See you soon.”
I ended the call and put the twins in their crib. Vissa was almost asleep already and Tas wasn’t far behind, despite his best efforts.
Memory transcription subject: Leena, Capital Spaceport Logistics Coordinator
Date [standardized human time]: September 1, 2136
The alarm started chiming and the blinds opened, flooding the room with light. Vissa and Tas started crying. Checking their diapers needed to be done first. I wish they would stop crying while I changed them. I turned on the news to watch while I fed them. Talen was back and he sported a bandaged head. Did the humans do that? He had only been at the Exchange Program for a couple days. What happened? Talen started his report.
“Breaking news. The venlil and human that have been missing in action since the arxur attack on the outpost station that was hosting half of the Venlil-Human Exchange Program on [August 21st], have made their way back to us in a stolen Federation craft.” Talen sighed. “The human, known as Marcel, was in critical condition, while his partner Slanek was injured but stable. We will now show you a recording of the incident. If you are prone to feinting or other outbursts, please block this show for the next [minute] as the contents of this video are quite disturbing.”
With the twins in my arms, I could not reach the holopad to do anything about the video. Prime news switched to a camera elevated above the humans, who were crowded around the docking bay, craning their necks to see their pilot as the ship finished the docking procedures. Human paramedics rushed through a hole in the crowd as a venlil who I assumed was Slanek, shouted at them and gestured with his tail inside the ship.
The camera zoomed in on the entrance to the craft as the paramedics reemerged with a human on their stretcher. He was hardly recognizable as a human. His body was splotchy and obviously emaciated. His skin was taught and his face. Sun and starts what had the Federation done to him. The camera panned back out as the paramedics whisked him through the hole in the crowd.
Before the video ended, I noticed that the predators backed away from the paramedics as they drew close. Do they fear being hurt like that? Are they trying to help by making more space? Talen returned to the screen.
“What you have seen here is the after effects of Federation torture of their human prisoner. The story that we have so far is that Marcel made a call to lure the arxur attackers away from the outpost, where their ship became disabled and were rescued by Captain Sovlin. Marcel was fitted with an electric shock collar, beaten, and starved for days before Slanek woke from a coma. Slanek was taken to see Marcel in an attempt to convince him that they are savage beasts. When that failed the Federation Captain attempted to feed Slanek to his human partner. Slanek was later able to convince Captain Sovlin’s first officer, Recel, to betray his captain and save Marcel. The trio stole a federation craft and made their way back to Venlil Republic space where Marcel is still in critical condition but being treated.”
The co-host continued, “For those out of there that still believe humans are simply biding their time, or will slip into predatory behavior if they are stressed out, here is proof that even if they are starving to death, they will not attack and attempt to eat a venlil. We have contacted the UN for an official statement on what they plan to do and have been notified they will give an official statement soon. We will continue to cover this story as it unfolds.”
Prime news finished that segment and transitioned to a panel of experts but the twins were done feeding so back in the crib they go while I cleaned up and got ready for the day. A chime alerted me to a new message on my holopad. After showering and drying off, I put Vissa and Tas in a play pen with some toys and checked the Bleat message. It was from, Niit.
“I hope you are doing well Leena. I am sending you a message to let you know that our claws are being cut again due to the lack of Federation trade. There simply isn’t enough traffic but, and this surprised me let me tell you, we will be retrofitting an old Venlil Cruiser. I heard talk that Tarva is trying to increase the number of combat ready ships.
If you ask me, I think she knows something we don’t. The predators are up to something and she has finally figured that out and is preparing for it at the roots. Hopefully, the Federation will forgive us if we give them Tarva to make an example of and send the exterminators in force to Venlil Prime to wipe them out. Paws open. Your friend, Niit.”
Well speh! Losing claws was a problem. I logged into my credit account to check the balance. I sighed in relief and sadness. The military survivor’s benefits were deposited a paw ago. That helps. Doing the math, I think we’ll be fine. Even if they cut me down to a claw and a quarter, I think I can still make it work with the benefits and an old ship retrofit will mean a lot of work for me searching for parts, so that bodes well. All that is left for today is to register Vissa and Tas in a care center. I started a search for local care facilities while I absently played with the twins. Vissa got her claws caught in my fur again. Guess I’ll look when they are napping.
Memory transcription subject: Leena, Capital Spaceport Logistics Coordinator
Date [standardized human time]: September 10, 2136
My first day back and there had apparently been some changes. Niit had started to leave her holopad on to streams of Rux Limpbut, an infamous streaming personality, while she filled out work orders. I didn’t think he was wrong necessarily but did he have to be so obnoxious?
“This is it people, I told you it would happen. The humans are invading the Cradle. The humans are slaughtering their way across Gojid territory. And, AND! And what is our esteemed Governor doing about it? She is helping them. She has sent our soldiers into harms way to die for the predator’s conquest. The humans have revealed their true intentions.
They said they came in peace but now they are waging a war of extinction against the Gojid and they are using us to do it. WE KNEW there would be slavery but to force peaceful venlil to commit such atrocities…. I could never have predicted the depths of their depravity. These humans are as bad as the arxur, maybe WORSE, at least you know what to expect with the arxur but with humans they lie and steal and deceive… and they have stolen YOUR government. They have stolen….”
I signaled to Niit to mute the video as I made a call to inquire about a cooling unit for the Cruiser docked in the Capital hangers. When the call was over, Niit immediately unmuted the stream.
“-redators are? I’ll tell you how arrogant the predators are. They think they can convince the federation of their benevolent intentions WHILE THEY ARE SLAUGHTERING THEIR WAY ACROSS THE CRADLE! Only a predator would think that was sane. They claim that they needed to protect themselves, what a load of Speh. If we accept that then they would have reason to kill anyone who dared try to protect themselves. Do you, yes you listener, want to be slaughtered or dismembered, or ripped apart because you picked up your favorite gardening shovel?!
But I’ll tell you what I’m grateful for. I’m grateful the predators are so arrogant. I’m grateful they are sending their chief liar to the Federation Council. They will see what the predators are and see Tarva for the traitor slave she is. They will come and rescue us all. We only need to hold on a little longer. Now if you’re exhausted and spent then you need my endurance booster vitamins. These will give you the strength to power through your fears and hold out for the Federation rescue fleet and at only 30 credits for a whole bottle it is available to all venlil….”
“Niit, please turn it off,” I pleaded.
“He is… too much.”
Niit muted the stream and looked at me signaling sympathy with her tail. “I understand Leena, I do. The predators scare all of us.” She put her hand on my shoulder reassuringly.
I learned from Balan, that ever since the predators had arrived and the borders were closed, she had started listening to Rux and was a stalwart fan.
“You need to be vigilant! These predators could strike us at any moment. You should try Rux’s endurance boosters if you are struggling to keep up with the herd.” She reached into her desk and pulled out a bottle of the advertised pills and handed me one.
“I can give you one so you can see how good they are. I recommend buying the bulk pack. You save 5 credits per bottle.” She watched me expectantly.
With no other option, I swallowed the pill. I didn’t feel any different. “Thanks, Niit. I hope it helps.”
She waved her tail satisfied, “It will don’t worry.”
The ride to the care center was a short one. It was a happy coincidence that I had found a care center so close to the space port. The time saved commuting was enough that I did not have to pay for a full two claws of time. Still would have preferred that Governor Tarva had not closed the borders but I would take any blessings I could and Young Pups had a good reputation around the Spaceport. Vissa and Tas were fussy today and it was difficult to keep them awake before we got home. When I finally put them to bed and lay next to them the day finally caught up to me. It is nice that I have a break paw when I wake. I should take the pups to the park down the road. They would like that.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Again, I would love your constructive criticisms. I work full time and it took me a week to write this so I cannot guarantee a set upload schedule but I will try for one per week. Thanks in advance and I hope you enjoyed. And xXSinglePointXx, please don't pee in my shoes. The babies will be fine, I swear.
submitted by Thirsha_42 to NatureofPredators [link] [comments]
I want to give a HUGE shout out to BiasMushroom who let me use some of their news reports, their character Talen, and gave me some direction for my story. I also want to thank YakiTapioca and SavingsSyllabub7788 for letting me use elements from their stories as well.
Memory transcription subject: Leena, Capital Spaceport Logistics Coordinator
Date [standardized human time]: August 22, 2136
I opened my eyes to the dimly lit room. Confused, I looked at the blinds, they should be open. My eyes fell onto the cradle. The twins were still sleeping, their tails curled around each other. Glancing at the clock on the bedside table I could see why the blinds hadn’t opened. I still had almost a quarter claw before my usual waking.
My eyes shifted to the photo next to the clock. The day my husband and I celebrated finding out I was pregnant. Conflicting emotions of happiness and melancholy filled my mind. It was a wonderful memory but I couldn’t ignore the empty space next to me. The arxur had killed him before Vissa and Tas were born. With not enough time to go back to sleep and no desire to get up yet either, I reached for my holopad to check Prime News. The Anchor woman was mid-sentence when the feed buffered.
“-minion forces have attacked the research outpost hosting the Venlil-Human Exchange Program. The station defenders were able to defeat the raiding party with no damage to the station at all. We have received reports from the Governors Office that there were no venlil casualties resulting from the battle. However, the humans suffered over a hundred casualties and recovery efforts are ongoing. One fighter with a venlil and human pilots is missing in action. According to a source on the station, this defender was able to heroically lure away two of the arxur raiders and fled towards the Federation border. The whereabouts and well-being of the pilots is unknown. In Governor Tarva’s press release, her office stressed that the lack of venlil casualties was the result of the human copilots telling their venlil pilots to eject or in some cases even forcibly ejecting them in some cases.”
Why would predators save prey? We were nothing in their eyes. I can’t fathom how this played into their schemes. The blinds opened and the alarm went off. The twins stirred and I know it is time to get up and feed them. No more news. Set the holopad down and pick up the twins, check their diapers, nurse them, check their diapers again, play with them, hold them, sleep with them. Things had finally settled into a comfortable routine again.
This last [week] had been so hectic, the invasion sirens, Governor Tarva’s announcement about peaceful predators, and the closed borders. In a single day we became prisoners in our own space and our leader had all but withdrawn us from the federation. We had no protection anymore. Tarva ignored our protests outside her mansion and even encouraged people to talk to the predators. The only sensible thing to happen was the magistrates announcing they would activate all of the current and former extermination officers and increase recruitment. That was only two days. Vissa and Tas were done. I had been playing with them a while when mom called.
“Hi honey, how are you?”
Dad stepped into the frame. “How are the twins?”
I held the holopad over Vissa and Tas on the bed. The two seemed enraptured by the picture.
Dad cooed. “They are so precious.”
“We are doing better each day dad.” I laid on the bed next to Vissa and Tas and held the holopad so that mom and dad could see me and the twins. Tas reached for holopad while Vissa giggled.
Mom spoiled them with attention, wiggling her fingers at the camera, encouraging Tas. “We would love to come visit you and the kids. Oulo has a rest paw coming up soon. We should get their paw prints cast and take them to the park.”
“That sounds like a great idea. I know the twins would love to see you. I still have some extra train rides on my account from my maternity leave. Message me the details and I’ll book you both tickets.”
“You should save those dear, we can manage the tickets.”
I could see the worry in their tails however much they tried to hide it. “Dad, we don’t use the train in the capital. We use the trolley system to get around so I have extra train rides and I would love to have you. You know I could use the extra help with the babies.”
That won them over and it wasn’t a lie. Living in the capital meant we had more options for transportation. Plus, with the predators at their new complex, I haven’t been getting out except to get food or diapers.
“Oh, ok then. We wouldn’t want those to go to waste.” Dad nudged mom with his tail. “Tell her your good news.”
Mom, sat up and smoothed her fur excitedly. “I just got the news that I got the job at Vikki’s Flowers!”
“Mom, that’s wonderful! When do you start?”
“I start in 5 paws. I was honestly surprised they were hiring at all with things how they are.” When Tarva closed the borders, she cut off all trade with the federation and caused an economic crisis like we hadn’t seen in my lifetime.
“That is wonderful news and I hate to cut this short but it is about time to put them down for their nap. Send me the details and I’ll get you the tickets.”
“Rest well sweetie.”
“Goodbye mom, dad. See you soon.”
I ended the call and put the twins in their crib. Vissa was almost asleep already and Tas wasn’t far behind, despite his best efforts.
Memory transcription subject: Leena, Capital Spaceport Logistics Coordinator
Date [standardized human time]: September 1, 2136
The alarm started chiming and the blinds opened, flooding the room with light. Vissa and Tas started crying. Checking their diapers needed to be done first. I wish they would stop crying while I changed them. I turned on the news to watch while I fed them. Talen was back and he sported a bandaged head. Did the humans do that? He had only been at the Exchange Program for a couple days. What happened? Talen started his report.
“Breaking news. The venlil and human that have been missing in action since the arxur attack on the outpost station that was hosting half of the Venlil-Human Exchange Program on [August 21st], have made their way back to us in a stolen Federation craft.” Talen sighed. “The human, known as Marcel, was in critical condition, while his partner Slanek was injured but stable. We will now show you a recording of the incident. If you are prone to feinting or other outbursts, please block this show for the next [minute] as the contents of this video are quite disturbing.”
With the twins in my arms, I could not reach the holopad to do anything about the video. Prime news switched to a camera elevated above the humans, who were crowded around the docking bay, craning their necks to see their pilot as the ship finished the docking procedures. Human paramedics rushed through a hole in the crowd as a venlil who I assumed was Slanek, shouted at them and gestured with his tail inside the ship.
The camera zoomed in on the entrance to the craft as the paramedics reemerged with a human on their stretcher. He was hardly recognizable as a human. His body was splotchy and obviously emaciated. His skin was taught and his face. Sun and starts what had the Federation done to him. The camera panned back out as the paramedics whisked him through the hole in the crowd.
Before the video ended, I noticed that the predators backed away from the paramedics as they drew close. Do they fear being hurt like that? Are they trying to help by making more space? Talen returned to the screen.
“What you have seen here is the after effects of Federation torture of their human prisoner. The story that we have so far is that Marcel made a call to lure the arxur attackers away from the outpost, where their ship became disabled and were rescued by Captain Sovlin. Marcel was fitted with an electric shock collar, beaten, and starved for days before Slanek woke from a coma. Slanek was taken to see Marcel in an attempt to convince him that they are savage beasts. When that failed the Federation Captain attempted to feed Slanek to his human partner. Slanek was later able to convince Captain Sovlin’s first officer, Recel, to betray his captain and save Marcel. The trio stole a federation craft and made their way back to Venlil Republic space where Marcel is still in critical condition but being treated.”
The co-host continued, “For those out of there that still believe humans are simply biding their time, or will slip into predatory behavior if they are stressed out, here is proof that even if they are starving to death, they will not attack and attempt to eat a venlil. We have contacted the UN for an official statement on what they plan to do and have been notified they will give an official statement soon. We will continue to cover this story as it unfolds.”
Prime news finished that segment and transitioned to a panel of experts but the twins were done feeding so back in the crib they go while I cleaned up and got ready for the day. A chime alerted me to a new message on my holopad. After showering and drying off, I put Vissa and Tas in a play pen with some toys and checked the Bleat message. It was from, Niit.
“I hope you are doing well Leena. I am sending you a message to let you know that our claws are being cut again due to the lack of Federation trade. There simply isn’t enough traffic but, and this surprised me let me tell you, we will be retrofitting an old Venlil Cruiser. I heard talk that Tarva is trying to increase the number of combat ready ships.
If you ask me, I think she knows something we don’t. The predators are up to something and she has finally figured that out and is preparing for it at the roots. Hopefully, the Federation will forgive us if we give them Tarva to make an example of and send the exterminators in force to Venlil Prime to wipe them out. Paws open. Your friend, Niit.”
Well speh! Losing claws was a problem. I logged into my credit account to check the balance. I sighed in relief and sadness. The military survivor’s benefits were deposited a paw ago. That helps. Doing the math, I think we’ll be fine. Even if they cut me down to a claw and a quarter, I think I can still make it work with the benefits and an old ship retrofit will mean a lot of work for me searching for parts, so that bodes well. All that is left for today is to register Vissa and Tas in a care center. I started a search for local care facilities while I absently played with the twins. Vissa got her claws caught in my fur again. Guess I’ll look when they are napping.
Memory transcription subject: Leena, Capital Spaceport Logistics Coordinator
Date [standardized human time]: September 10, 2136
My first day back and there had apparently been some changes. Niit had started to leave her holopad on to streams of Rux Limpbut, an infamous streaming personality, while she filled out work orders. I didn’t think he was wrong necessarily but did he have to be so obnoxious?
“This is it people, I told you it would happen. The humans are invading the Cradle. The humans are slaughtering their way across Gojid territory. And, AND! And what is our esteemed Governor doing about it? She is helping them. She has sent our soldiers into harms way to die for the predator’s conquest. The humans have revealed their true intentions.
They said they came in peace but now they are waging a war of extinction against the Gojid and they are using us to do it. WE KNEW there would be slavery but to force peaceful venlil to commit such atrocities…. I could never have predicted the depths of their depravity. These humans are as bad as the arxur, maybe WORSE, at least you know what to expect with the arxur but with humans they lie and steal and deceive… and they have stolen YOUR government. They have stolen….”
I signaled to Niit to mute the video as I made a call to inquire about a cooling unit for the Cruiser docked in the Capital hangers. When the call was over, Niit immediately unmuted the stream.
“-redators are? I’ll tell you how arrogant the predators are. They think they can convince the federation of their benevolent intentions WHILE THEY ARE SLAUGHTERING THEIR WAY ACROSS THE CRADLE! Only a predator would think that was sane. They claim that they needed to protect themselves, what a load of Speh. If we accept that then they would have reason to kill anyone who dared try to protect themselves. Do you, yes you listener, want to be slaughtered or dismembered, or ripped apart because you picked up your favorite gardening shovel?!
But I’ll tell you what I’m grateful for. I’m grateful the predators are so arrogant. I’m grateful they are sending their chief liar to the Federation Council. They will see what the predators are and see Tarva for the traitor slave she is. They will come and rescue us all. We only need to hold on a little longer. Now if you’re exhausted and spent then you need my endurance booster vitamins. These will give you the strength to power through your fears and hold out for the Federation rescue fleet and at only 30 credits for a whole bottle it is available to all venlil….”
“Niit, please turn it off,” I pleaded.
“He is… too much.”
Niit muted the stream and looked at me signaling sympathy with her tail. “I understand Leena, I do. The predators scare all of us.” She put her hand on my shoulder reassuringly.
I learned from Balan, that ever since the predators had arrived and the borders were closed, she had started listening to Rux and was a stalwart fan.
“You need to be vigilant! These predators could strike us at any moment. You should try Rux’s endurance boosters if you are struggling to keep up with the herd.” She reached into her desk and pulled out a bottle of the advertised pills and handed me one.
“I can give you one so you can see how good they are. I recommend buying the bulk pack. You save 5 credits per bottle.” She watched me expectantly.
With no other option, I swallowed the pill. I didn’t feel any different. “Thanks, Niit. I hope it helps.”
She waved her tail satisfied, “It will don’t worry.”
The ride to the care center was a short one. It was a happy coincidence that I had found a care center so close to the space port. The time saved commuting was enough that I did not have to pay for a full two claws of time. Still would have preferred that Governor Tarva had not closed the borders but I would take any blessings I could and Young Pups had a good reputation around the Spaceport. Vissa and Tas were fussy today and it was difficult to keep them awake before we got home. When I finally put them to bed and lay next to them the day finally caught up to me. It is nice that I have a break paw when I wake. I should take the pups to the park down the road. They would like that.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Again, I would love your constructive criticisms. I work full time and it took me a week to write this so I cannot guarantee a set upload schedule but I will try for one per week. Thanks in advance and I hope you enjoyed. And xXSinglePointXx, please don't pee in my shoes. The babies will be fine, I swear.
2023.04.02 12:24 NuukFartjar 38 [M4F] Scandinavia/anywhere - Wanna keep me company on this long busride.....and maybe forever!?
Howdy!
Thank you for taking a look at my post. Ill try and make it worth your while.
After living in the US for over 10 years, I have now moved back to Scandinavia. A lot of friends have fallen by the wayside in the meantime and I would love to make some new friends. Also looking for a new job, so lots of changes on the horizon. Job searching is one of the most soul crushing experiences!
I'm single, works as an attorney (or hope soon to be again) and love to travel. Recently spent some time in South America and now have a surplus of penguin photos!
I love talking about travelling. Hearing about great trips and collecting inspiration for future trips. What is your favorite place ever? What's on top of your bucket travel list? During Covid I tried to visit all the US national parks. And the last year I have travelled a lot in South America. I also have a surplus of vacation photos. So you have been warned!
I also love board games. Would love to talk about board games or maybe play some online. What are some of your favorites. I spent way too much time on chess. One of my other favorites is Wingspan. Probably the prettiest game ever.
I love tattoos, and have a bunch now. Just got a new toucan tattoo while in South America that I am really excited about.
I also love theatre. Opera, Broadway musicals and all that jazz (and yeah, you wont find any Oxford commas here!). Some of my time living in the US was spent in NYC, so I got the chance to see many shows. What's your favorite? I think my favorites are Hamilton, Phantom and Hadestown. Also love to talk opera, if there are any others that are so inclined.
That's probably enough about me for now. If you find any of this interesting, send me a little about yourself and a picture. And please include your opinion on high fives!
Picture of me: https://imgur.com/a/tVrhmXY (If you look at my picture, you are legally obligated to also show me a picture of you! ;)
Looking forward to hearing from you!
submitted by NuukFartjar to R4R30Plus [link] [comments]
Thank you for taking a look at my post. Ill try and make it worth your while.
After living in the US for over 10 years, I have now moved back to Scandinavia. A lot of friends have fallen by the wayside in the meantime and I would love to make some new friends. Also looking for a new job, so lots of changes on the horizon. Job searching is one of the most soul crushing experiences!
I'm single, works as an attorney (or hope soon to be again) and love to travel. Recently spent some time in South America and now have a surplus of penguin photos!
I love talking about travelling. Hearing about great trips and collecting inspiration for future trips. What is your favorite place ever? What's on top of your bucket travel list? During Covid I tried to visit all the US national parks. And the last year I have travelled a lot in South America. I also have a surplus of vacation photos. So you have been warned!
I also love board games. Would love to talk about board games or maybe play some online. What are some of your favorites. I spent way too much time on chess. One of my other favorites is Wingspan. Probably the prettiest game ever.
I love tattoos, and have a bunch now. Just got a new toucan tattoo while in South America that I am really excited about.
I also love theatre. Opera, Broadway musicals and all that jazz (and yeah, you wont find any Oxford commas here!). Some of my time living in the US was spent in NYC, so I got the chance to see many shows. What's your favorite? I think my favorites are Hamilton, Phantom and Hadestown. Also love to talk opera, if there are any others that are so inclined.
That's probably enough about me for now. If you find any of this interesting, send me a little about yourself and a picture. And please include your opinion on high fives!
Picture of me: https://imgur.com/a/tVrhmXY (If you look at my picture, you are legally obligated to also show me a picture of you! ;)
Looking forward to hearing from you!
2023.04.02 11:53 meowcats734 [PI] You woke up in an entirely fake world. It’s an endless doll-house plastic facsimile powered by miles of clockwork gears and levers that go straight down into darkness. You did not get here yourself, and you have no idea how to leave.
Soulmage
Odin appeared in my soulspace the next time I slept, which I'd expected to happen from the beginning. I'd tricked Odin into trading me invaluable knowledge for what amounted to nothing of use; now all I had to do to to come out ahead was not engage them any further.The first time they appeared, we simply stood in opposite sides of the black-thorned space that represented my soul. I kept waiting for them to say something, but they simply watched me with a vaguely concerned look.
And they just.
Kept.
Waiting.
The first hour was fine. As a child, I'd done nothing but stare at the skies for hours on end. I would have laid down, but I still couldn't figure out how to move my body in soulspace, and besides, I was pretty sure my soul looked the same no matter what angle you approached it from. So I just had to hover there. Existing.
The second hour, I knew that Odin was trying to bait me into speaking. Why else would they be waiting so patiently? The spiteful part of me even cheered in joy. I was wasting Odin's time—time that could be spent planning another invasion or doing... whatever Odin wanted to do... with the students they'd poached.
All I had to do was nothing.
For three hours.
For four hours.
For eight hours.
I swore that the silence was pulling at my ears by the time my soulspace—thankfully, blissfully, finally—dissolved, signaling my return to wakefulness. I sat up, yawned, stretched, and got ready for another day of running experiments on the monkeys in the basement. A couple witches would be coming by later today—both to clean up after them and to harvest the excess emotions they generated—but other than that, the entire day would be a breeze.
The next day, when I fell asleep, it started all over again.
###
I cracked on the second day. Four hours in. There was only so much absolute, unmoving silence that I could handle, and eight hours a day of the stuff was unbearable. I started humming, at first. The wordless tune to every sea shanty to come out of the Crystal Coast. Then I started singing, looping through the verses of the Redlands Anthem that I knew, and making up a dozen more when I ran out. All that time, the Demon of Empathy simply watched me. Nodding in tune with the music.
That passed the fifth hour.
I started growing desperate by the time I ran out of possible rhymes for "dead." I ran through every dirty tavern song I'd heard growing up, then every dirtier tavern song I wasn't supposed to have heard growing up. I sang a song making fun of Witch Aimes, and a song telling Iola to go jump in a rift, and a song about the snowball fight I'd had with Lucet, and a song about how rifts, I wanted out of here, I wanted anything but to be left alone with my thoughts for hours and hours and hours and hours and hours and hours and hours on end.
Odin simply stood there as I sang. Watching. Waiting.
Listening.
###
"Odin keeps showing up in my soulspace," I said to Witch Aimes.
She grinned. "Perfect."
I blinked. "Wait, what?"
"Wasting their time and attention on an academy student who knows nothing of value is the most stunning success the empathic backtrace program could have had," Witch Aimes said, scribbling something on a paper. It looked like some kind of form relating to the city's military. Word was that the Silent Peaks were gearing up for a counterattack.
"But I—" I started to speak, then hesitated. What would Witch Aimes do if she found out that I'd overheard one of the core secrets of the Silent Academy?
What would she do if she knew I'd already let part of that secret slip?
"Hm?" Witch Aimes asked.
"I... it's really unpleasant," I said. "You—you can sever the link, right?"
Witch Aimes gave me a concerned look. "What's Odin doing to you?"
"They..." I swallowed, then said, "Er. Well, uh, they're not really doing anything to me, per se. Just sort of standing there. But—"
"You want me to give up a tactical advantage that's distracting the leader of a nation we're at war with because Odin is standing there," Witch Aimes said, her expression going flat.
"I—"
"Get out of my office," Witch Aimes said, and a spatial rift deposited me back in my home.
###
On the third day, I finally said, "Hey, uh, isn't it weird how I can speak in soulspace, but not move my body?" I justified it as fishing for information, spying on the enemy, taking something from the monster who'd invaded my home and ordered the deaths of my friends.
It would have been more convincing if my voice hadn't cracked halfway through.
To my surprise, however, Odin immediately answered. "Speech is learned, while movement is instinctual."
"I..." I grimaced. "I have no idea what that means."
"Soulspace is where memories are stored," Odin said, bringing up the triple-plane diagram from earlier. "In order to affect a change in soulspace, you must invoke a memory. Speech is learned, and thus consists of invocations to memories; speech comes naturally to most sapient beings who enter soulspace. Bodily motion, on the other hand, is—with some exceptions for extensive physical training—instinctive, and does not naturally draw from memory. In order to move in soulspace, you must remember movement, not instinctively command it."
Remember movement, not instinctively command it. I tried calling up a memory of sitting in class—
—and abruptly, I was sitting in class, motionless fascimiles of my classmates arrayed around me.
Odin—who'd moved themself to replace Lucet at my side—said, "It's as easy as that."
And after that, the dam shattered.
###
"You know you can tell me anything, right?" The Demon of Empathy sat across from me on a stuffed straw couch. Considering that they were an extradimensional entity, the form they chose was surprisingly human: barrel-chested, broad-shouldered, and even wearing a pair of thin-rimmed glasses that weren't there the last time we'd met.
I sat down on my own couch. It was irritating and ill-fitting, but that just meant it reminded me of home. I was pretty sure Odin had done that on purpose. "I can tell you anything," I countered. "Whether I should is another matter entirely."
The Demon of Empathy leaned forwards, steepling their fingers beneath their chin. "Are you afraid of hurting me?"
Of course a damn Demon of Empathy would see right through me. It was an irrational fear—I'd experienced the Demon of Empathy's power and wisdom firsthand, and to nobody's surprise, even the vilest of the dark thoughts that whispered in my ear were nothing compared to what the ancient entity knew. And yet still I shrugged and said, "I'd hurt anyone else if I talked about it." Even myself, I thought, although I tried not to let it show.
The Demon of Empathy raised a hand, and the scenery around us blurred. I'd gotten better at understanding the strange place that lived in my dreams where the demon and I had our talks. One of its rules, apparently, was that the Demon of Empathy could shift the appearance of our surroundings at a whim. We appeared on top of a clock tower, watching my past self moongaze, lying down next to a girl with dark brown hair that flowed in the wind.
"Other people have confided in you," the Demon of Empathy said. "Does it hurt you when they speak of the dark thoughts that hound them?"
I hesitated. "It... doesn't," I finally said.
"How would you describe how it makes you feel, then?"
I bit my lip. For some reason, it had simply... never occurred to me to even ask that question. "When Lucet told me about what... what her 'boyfriend' was doing to her..." I struggled to find the words. "It felt right. It felt like... like she was lancing a boil. Taking that toxicity out of her heart before its infection reached her marrow."
I was pretty sure that wasn't how infected wounds worked, but if the Demon of Empathy noticed, they didn't say a thing. Instead, they simply asked:
"Then if others giving voice to their inner demons doesn't hurt you, why do you think your inner demons would destroy them?"
From anyone else, I would have snapped at them and clammed up. But the Demon of Empathy knew how to sound genuinely curious instead of challenging, how to set up conversation after conversation so that it was okay for me to be wrong because that meant I could become right, and I whispered, "Because it's just me."
My therapist—and as twisted and darkly amusing as it was that a Demon of Empathy was the closest thing I had to a therapist, that was what they were—simply regarded me with a calm, open gaze, wordlessly asking if I wanted to continue.
"With Lucet, it was someone else hurting her. And we could both hate him for what he'd done. But with me..." I held up a shaking hand, trying to see it as it was now, not as it had been. "It's just me," I repeated. "I'm the only one responsible for what I've done to myself. The voices that whisper in my ear? They're all my voice. Nobody else's. Don't you get it? I am the monster. And if I tell Lucet... won't she hate the monster too?" My voice grew pleading, and the Demon of Empathy opened his arms, and rifts forgive me but I embraced the demon, breaking down in sobs.
"I, too, am a monster," the Demon of Empathy murmured. "I have committed atrocities that would make dark gods jealous, and over my many, many years, I have learned one thing."
The Demon of Empathy pulled back, and their gaze was fierce. "I am the monster, yes. But I am also a therapist, and a leader, and a friend. And if I can be all those at once, you can too."
And something in my mind snapped. I saw the Demon of Empathy for what they were—killer, savior, truth and lie, angel, demon, therapist, spy—and I saw myself in every facet of their being.
If I can be all those at once, you can too.
I sniffled and leaned back, the effort strange even after how much time I'd spent getting used to the dream-plane we met in. I felt its edges begin to fray as I started my return to consciousness.
"Same time tomorrow?" the Demon of Empathy asked.
I nodded mutely, too stunned to do anything else.
"I'll see you then," the demon said, just before the world dissolved.
I awoke in my bed, the echoes of tears clinging dry to my face.
A.N.
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Soulmage is a serial written in response to writing prompts. For more, join the discussion at my discord, subscribe to bubblewriters, or support me at my patreon!
2023.04.02 11:34 jayebird111 Good camping spots with a motorbike?
I'm taking a motorbike trip from London to St Ives next week. Can anyone recommend good spots for an overnight wild camp (or spots to avoid)?
My planned route will graze the north edge of the park, but I'm happy to go wherever really.
From the look of the map the "allowed" wild camping spots are all quite far from roads, but I'd prefer to camp with my bike in view.
submitted by jayebird111 to dartmoor [link] [comments]
My planned route will graze the north edge of the park, but I'm happy to go wherever really.
From the look of the map the "allowed" wild camping spots are all quite far from roads, but I'd prefer to camp with my bike in view.
2023.04.02 11:34 gimmecatspls #GEXIX [Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridge] gimmecatspls goes shopping in Buttermarket Centre in Ipswitch
My next stop in my election tour is to the historical town of Ipswitch - one of England's oldest towns, and is claimed to be the oldest still continuing town to have been established and developed by the English, with continuous settlement since early Anglo-Saxon times. I find this fascinating, but what I am here for in this election is something very different indeed.
There are thousands of communities around the United Kingdom just like this - and according to the House of Commons Library there are 6,116 villages and small communities in the UK just like Ipswitch which are desperate for some attention and investment.
But these towns and villages are not just numbers, they are not just buildings and roads and shops - they are so much more than that, they are people too, and each and every one of those people have complicated and beautiful lives which need protecting.
How do we protect those lives? Well the best way to do that, in the Conservative view, is by uplifting those people through aspiration and opportunity. As a Government, we want to provide people with the tools that they need to live their best life bestie - and the way to do that is through a strong economy and employment opportunities.
If we give people prosperity, they will take care of themselves - it’s not the business of the state to baby people and carry them through every stage of life; we can do so much better than that!
A Conservative Party Government is promising to lift people out of poverty, and give them the opportunities that they need to get on in life and succeed. As our economy spokesperson said in our manifesto, “Managing Britain's finances in a responsible and constructive way, looking to the future as a source for prosperity and success, is the most important decision in ensuring Britain's continued growth.” I couldn't agree more.
Our economy is one of the most important assets of our nation - we are sat at the top of the world's most developed economies after centuries of work and investment - but this has all been put at risk by successive far-left governments who have attempted to dismantle our economy piece by piece.
We are promising to reduce the deficit, and reduce debt as a share of our economy too - we will also deliver an exciting brand new British investment bank, unlock the potential economic productivity for SMEs, implement a brand new Regional Development Fund to improve economic activity in specific regions of the UK, implement a new Green Export Finance to fund sustainable economic growth, and overhaul and simplify the tax system to favour economic growth and business development.
These simple but important measures will revitalise our economy - measures which Britain desperately needs. So if you want prosperity, you have only one choice at this election - and that is with me in Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridge and the Conservative Party as the party to go into Government!
submitted by gimmecatspls to MHoCCampaigning [link] [comments]
There are thousands of communities around the United Kingdom just like this - and according to the House of Commons Library there are 6,116 villages and small communities in the UK just like Ipswitch which are desperate for some attention and investment.
But these towns and villages are not just numbers, they are not just buildings and roads and shops - they are so much more than that, they are people too, and each and every one of those people have complicated and beautiful lives which need protecting.
How do we protect those lives? Well the best way to do that, in the Conservative view, is by uplifting those people through aspiration and opportunity. As a Government, we want to provide people with the tools that they need to live their best life bestie - and the way to do that is through a strong economy and employment opportunities.
If we give people prosperity, they will take care of themselves - it’s not the business of the state to baby people and carry them through every stage of life; we can do so much better than that!
A Conservative Party Government is promising to lift people out of poverty, and give them the opportunities that they need to get on in life and succeed. As our economy spokesperson said in our manifesto, “Managing Britain's finances in a responsible and constructive way, looking to the future as a source for prosperity and success, is the most important decision in ensuring Britain's continued growth.” I couldn't agree more.
Our economy is one of the most important assets of our nation - we are sat at the top of the world's most developed economies after centuries of work and investment - but this has all been put at risk by successive far-left governments who have attempted to dismantle our economy piece by piece.
We are promising to reduce the deficit, and reduce debt as a share of our economy too - we will also deliver an exciting brand new British investment bank, unlock the potential economic productivity for SMEs, implement a brand new Regional Development Fund to improve economic activity in specific regions of the UK, implement a new Green Export Finance to fund sustainable economic growth, and overhaul and simplify the tax system to favour economic growth and business development.
These simple but important measures will revitalise our economy - measures which Britain desperately needs. So if you want prosperity, you have only one choice at this election - and that is with me in Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridge and the Conservative Party as the party to go into Government!
2023.04.02 11:18 _Triple_ [STORE] 900+ KNIVES/GLOVES/SKINS, 50.000$+ INVENTORY. M9 Fade, M4 Poseidon, Kara Gamma, BFK Freehand, BFK Bright Water, Spec Gloves Kimono, Nomad Fade, M9 Doppler, Skeleton, BFK B.Steel, AWP Fade, Stiletto Fade, S.Gloves Slingshot, BFK Ultra, Kara Damas, Bayo Lore, Bayo Gamma, Flip Fade & A Lot More
Everything in my inventory is up for trade. The most valuable items are listed here, the rest you can find in My Inventory
Feel free to Add Me or even better send a Trade Offer. Open for any suggestions: upgrades, downgrades / knives, gloves, skins / stickers, patterns, floats.
All Buyouts are listed in cash value.
KNIVES
★ Butterfly Knife Freehand FN #1, B/O: $1867
★ Butterfly Knife Bright Water MW, B/O: $1098
★ Butterfly Knife Blue Steel BS, B/O: $907
★ Butterfly Knife Ultraviolet FT, B/O: $789
★ Butterfly Knife Stained FT, B/O: $695
⎯★ Bayonet Tiger Tooth MW #1, B/O: $888
★ Bayonet Gamma Doppler (Phase 4) FN, B/O: $727
★ Bayonet Doppler (Phase 2) FN, B/O: $608
★ Bayonet Doppler (Phase 1) FN, B/O: $521
★ Bayonet Rust Coat BS, B/O: $253
★ Bayonet Night FT, B/O: $251
★ StatTrak™ Bayonet Lore MW, B/O: $751
⎯★ Karambit Gamma Doppler (Phase 4) FN, B/O: $1343
★ Karambit Damascus Steel FT, B/O: $774
★ Karambit Rust Coat BS, B/O: $537
★ Karambit Boreal Forest FT, B/O: $488
⎯★ M9 Bayonet Fade FN, B/O: $1523
★ M9 Bayonet Fade FN, B/O: $1523
★ M9 Bayonet Doppler (Phase 4) FN, B/O: $1008
★ M9 Bayonet Blue Steel FT, B/O: $534
★ M9 Bayonet Rust Coat BS, B/O: $449
⎯★ Flip Knife Fade FN, B/O: $703
★ Flip Knife Gamma Doppler (Phase 1) MW, B/O: $509
★ Flip Knife Doppler (Phase 1) FN, B/O: $406
★ Flip Knife Freehand FT, B/O: $228
★ StatTrak™ Flip Knife Bright Water FN, B/O: $332
⎯★ Falchion Knife Doppler (Phase 2) FN, B/O: $292
★ Falchion Knife Doppler (Phase 3) FN, B/O: $264
★ Falchion Knife Marble Fade FN, B/O: $258
★ Falchion Knife Bright Water MW, B/O: $133
⎯★ Stiletto Knife Fade FN, B/O: $822
★ Stiletto Knife Slaughter FN, B/O: $569
★ Stiletto Knife Doppler (Phase 1) FN, B/O: $530
★ Stiletto Knife Crimson Web FT, B/O: $396
★ StatTrak™ Stiletto Knife Scorched FT, B/O: $172
⎯★ Gut Knife Doppler (Sapphire) MW #1, B/O: $830
★ Gut Knife Fade FN, B/O: $204
★ Gut Knife Tiger Tooth FN, B/O: $138
★ Gut Knife Bright Water MW, B/O: $104
★ Gut Knife Freehand FT, B/O: $92
★ Gut Knife Urban Masked FT, B/O: $82
★ StatTrak™ Gut Knife Rust Coat BS, B/O: $93
⎯★ Shadow Daggers Fade FN, B/O: $258
★ Shadow Daggers Doppler (Phase 3) FN, B/O: $165
★ Shadow Daggers Blue Steel FT, B/O: $82
★ Shadow Daggers Bright Water FT, B/O: $82
★ Shadow Daggers Blue Steel WW, B/O: $80
★ Shadow Daggers Rust Coat BS, B/O: $74
★ StatTrak™ Shadow Daggers Marble Fade FN, B/O: $186
⎯★ Classic Knife Slaughter MW, B/O: $311
★ StatTrak™ Classic Knife Stained BS, B/O: $163
⎯★ Talon Knife Slaughter MW, B/O: $605
★ Talon Knife Scorched MW, B/O: $290
⎯★ Ursus Knife Marble Fade FN, B/O: $405
★ Ursus Knife Night Stripe MW, B/O: $162
⎯★ Paracord Knife Stained WW, B/O: $125
★ Paracord Knife Forest DDPAT FT, B/O: $97
★ Paracord Knife Safari Mesh FT, B/O: $96
⎯★ Navaja Knife Safari Mesh FT, B/O: $71
★ Navaja Knife Scorched WW, B/O: $71
⎯★ Nomad Knife Fade FN, B/O: $1015
★ Skeleton Knife, B/O: $909
★ Bowie Knife Boreal Forest MW, B/O: $106
★ Survival Knife Forest DDPAT FT, B/O: $97
GLOVES
★ Driver Gloves Crimson Weave FT, B/O: $335
★ Driver Gloves King Snake BS, B/O: $270
★ Driver Gloves Lunar Weave WW, B/O: $113
★ Driver Gloves Overtake WW, B/O: $88
★ Driver Gloves Overtake BS, B/O: $67
⎯★ Moto Gloves Transport MW, B/O: $171
★ Moto Gloves Polygon BS, B/O: $137
★ Moto Gloves Transport WW, B/O: $71
★ Moto Gloves 3rd Commando Company BS, B/O: $62
⎯★ Specialist Gloves Crimson Kimono WW, B/O: $1027
★ Specialist Gloves Tiger Strike FT, B/O: $654
★ Specialist Gloves Mogul FT, B/O: $295
★ Specialist Gloves Lt. Commander FT, B/O: $277
★ Specialist Gloves Crimson Web FT, B/O: $275
⎯★ Sport Gloves Slingshot FT, B/O: $796
★ Sport Gloves Amphibious BS #2, B/O: $699
★ Sport Gloves Omega FT, B/O: $656
⎯★ Broken Fang Gloves Unhinged BS, B/O: $60
WEAPONS
AK-47 Case Hardened BS, B/O: $130
AK-47 Bloodsport MW, B/O: $79
AK-47 Fuel Injector BS, B/O: $76
AK-47 Fuel Injector BS, B/O: $76
AK-47 Bloodsport FT, B/O: $70
AK-47 Neon Rider MW, B/O: $60
⎯AWP Fade FN, B/O: $864
AWP BOOM MW, B/O: $84
AWP Containment Breach FT, B/O: $69
AWP Containment Breach FT, B/O: $69
AWP Wildfire FT, B/O: $59
AWP Chromatic Aberration FN, B/O: $59
StatTrak™ AWP Hyper Beast FT, B/O: $65
StatTrak™ AWP Hyper Beast FT, B/O: $65
⎯Desert Eagle Blaze FN, B/O: $565
Desert Eagle Blaze FN, B/O: $565
Desert Eagle Printstream FN, B/O: $155
Desert Eagle Cobalt Disruption FN, B/O: $58
⎯M4A1-S Icarus Fell FN, B/O: $414
M4A1-S Printstream MW, B/O: $204
M4A1-S Printstream MW, B/O: $204
⎯M4A4 Poseidon FN, B/O: $1402
M4A4 The Emperor FN, B/O: $152
M4A4 Asiimov WW, B/O: $97
⎯USP-S Kill Confirmed MW, B/O: $65
USP-S Printstream FT, B/O: $69
StatTrak™ USP-S Kill Confirmed FT, B/O: $123
StatTrak™ USP-S Neo-Noir FN, B/O: $106
⎯AUG Flame Jörmungandr FN, B/O: $218
P2000 Ocean Foam FN, B/O: $139
Souvenir SSG 08 Death Strike MW, B/O: $81
CZ75-Auto Emerald Quartz MW, B/O: $61
Trade Offer Link - Steam Profile Link - My Inventory
Some items on the list may no longer be available or are still locked, visit My Inventory for more details.
Send a Trade Offer for fastest response. I consider all offers.
Add me for discuss if there is a serious offer that needs to be discussed.
2023.04.02 11:13 KiraraChin A wonderful article about Kazuki Tomono
I translated it using DeepL for a different platform and decided to share it here too, for those who enjoyed his performances at the Worlds Championships. Here's the original link: https://mi-mollet.com/articles/-/41688
Why we are encouraged by Kazuki Tomono's fighting spirit. His "captivating" performance that had the audience on their feet, and his competitive spirit of "believing in himself".
Japan's first back-to-back championships won by Shoma Uno and Kaori Sakamoto. Rikuryu (Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara) became the first Japanese team to win the Grand Slam of the year. Furthermore, they became the first Japanese team to win all three categories. Kanadai (Kana Muramoto/Daisuke Takahashi) tied for Japan's highest ever ranking. The World Figure Skating Championships were full of records.
All the athletes, both domestic and international, shined in their own ways, but it was Kazuki Tomono who left an unforgettable sparkle in the hearts of all who saw his performance.
Despite some falls in both the Short Program (SP) and Free Skating (FS), he showed no signs of breakdowns, and placed 6th with his outstanding performance. Especially in FS, despite some mistakes, he marked 180.73 points, a new personal best. He made the packed Saitama Super Arena stand in awe of his performance.
He has now competed in 3 World Championships, and has recorded personal bests on all 3 occasions. What is the secret of his amazing strength in the competition? In order to tell you about Tomono's strength to live up to expectations, we would like to start by retracing his steps.
Never a promising athlete in his youth
Born in Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture in 1998, Tomono began skating at the age of 4, but he was never a promising skater from the start. One of the proofs of this is the Nobeyama Training Camp. This was a training camp for novice skaters (9 to 12 years old as of July 1 of that year), both boys and girls, to gather promising skaters from all over the country, and the first group of students produced Shizuka Arakawa, a gold medalist at the Torino Olympics. Since then, world champions such as Daisuke Takahashi, Miki Ando, Mao Asada, and Yuzuru Hanyu have gone on to become world champions through this "Nobeyama Training Camp".
Current national team candidates such as Shoma Uno, Sota Yamamoto, Shun Sato, and Kao Miura have also experienced the Nobeyama Training Camp. However, Tomono has never participated in the Nobeyama training camp. In other words, he was not considered a future national team candidate at that time. In fact, as a junior, he was not selected for the Junior Grand Prix Series three years in a row. There was even one year when he went home feeling frustrated that he was the only one who failed out of all the competitors invited to the selection rounds.
Because the competitions are usually broadcast on terrestrial television, we tend to be under the illusion that we are watching figure skating, but the figure skating we are watching is an amateur sport. Most of the skaters are students and retire as soon as they graduate from college.
Tomono is also loved by skating fans for his unique programs such as "Japanese Doll" and "Fate of the Dog Officer," but the road to the top in Japan was difficult, and he revealed that he had planned to leave the competitive world after graduating from university.
However, in 2018, he placed 5th at her first World Championships. What was supposed to be just a student sport turned out to be the world's TOMONO. From here, Tomono's skating life changed at once.
The glory of "world No. 5" and the new conflict that emerged from it
However, as long as our dreams are far away, we do not experience the frustration of missing them. It is precisely because it seems out of reach and out of grasp that we become disenchanted with our own powerlessness and devastated by the two words "talent. After achieving the glory of "5th in the world," Tomono's competitive life was a battle against another kind of pressure.
After that, he trained hard to get back on the world stage, but he was unable to show his ability in the competition and finished outside the podium every year at the All-Japan Championships. The only thing that weighed on him more and more was the fact that he was ranked 5th in the world. In addition, a new generation, including Yuma Kagiyama, who later became a silver medalist at the Beijing Olympics, emerged, and the fierce race for selection became more and more intense. Tomono was always surrounded by first-rate talent.
And that seems to be where Tomono's conflict lay.
Uno, his classmate, has been called a "genius" since he was a Novice skater, and is a treasure of the skating world. Yamamoto, a rinkmate since childhood, was also considered a promising "star of the PyeongChang Olympics. The younger skaters, Kagiyama, Sato, and Miura, are such gems that they have been featured as "Kanto Three Crows" since they were still junior skaters. Of course, all of them have their own struggles and difficulties that cannot be described with superficial expressions, but they are exceptional in terms of the level of expectations. In contrast to these aces, I am just an ordinary skater. I have never experienced being a hopeful with high expectations. I have not come this far because I have special talent.
His openness to everyone is one of Tomono's virtues, but he is also a bit too gentle as a competitor, and is an entertainer at heart who professes that he does not like to fight. His many substitute appearances have paved the way for him, and he finds himself competing side by side with geniuses whom he thought were from a different world when he was a boy, but he is still somewhat unsure of his position in the world. I felt that such a weak heart, one more step, was clinging to Tomono's skating shoes.
This season's NHK Cup broke that spell.
Indeed, the result was not great, coming in 4th place. Uno, Yamamoto, and other rivals of the same generation were standing on the podium, but I could not bring home a medal. I wonder if he is still suffering from the same frustration that he felt at the Junior Grand Prix Series selection round. I felt that I was suffering from the same frustration that I had felt at the Junior Grand Prix Series selection round, and I was heartbroken. However, after the competition, Tomono's expression was clear.
He said, "I had been facing my weaknesses for a long time, and I thought it was time to let that go. After yesterday's match, I had a change in my mind, thinking that it was time for me to face my strength. Today was the first time I fully believed in my own strength and took on the challenge of facing my own strength.
Despite missing the podium, which had been his goal, Tomono never let out a negative or weak voice. Rather, he only looked forward. I felt a strength in him that I had never seen in Tomono before.
He faced his own strength, not his own weakness.
He won the representative battle, which was never in an advantageous position, and won the representative seat on his own. And then, he placed 6th in the World Championships in a magnificent performance, amidst the world's top skaters performing at their best. He himself commented on his "mysterious confidence," but I could no longer sense any sense of defeat or lack of confidence in Tomono, standing on the main rink of Saitama Super Arena. He believed in himself there, more than anyone else.
That is why, even if he fell down, he never lost his heart, never lost his passion, and skated what he could call his best. Unfortunately, he did not reach the medal, but without a doubt, he was the strongest Kazuki Tomono ever at that moment.
Behind those words was a break with himself, who had never been raised by the elite. It is true that my skating life may not have been what the adults expected of me. There may be many stars who are more talented than me. I believe that those who are in the world of competitions have to suffer in ways that we cannot even imagine.
But I am standing in this place right now. Let me believe in that, first of all. Let's expect more from ourselves than anyone else. That is how Tomono was able to change his mind. In this way, he was able to overcome his weakness.
Believing in Yourself" Makes Tomorrow a Little Better
Figure skating is famous for its short life span. Although not as long as women's figure skaters, most men's skaters also say goodbye to their competitive careers in their 20s. Tomono, now 24 years old, may not have much time left in his competitive career.
I am sure that teenage athletes will be gaining strength from now on. No one can guarantee that they will be able to compete in the World Championships again next year.
But strangely, when I look at Tomono, such pessimistic feeling disappears somewhere. Rather, my heart gets excited that Kazuki Tomono's prime period starts now. This is surely because we are also inspired by the "strength to believe in oneself" that Tomono has acquired.
People are not strong creatures. We make excuses, and we also make weak noises. We are tormented by a sense of inferiority, thinking we are not good enough compared to others, or we raise the white flag before we even begin to fight for fear of getting hurt. The more we grow up, the better we get at finding reasons not to do things.
It is easy to run away from our weaknesses. But that doesn't open the door to the future.
Even if you were not blessed with talent or the right environment from the start, if you have worked hard, you must first properly believe in yourself. Stop belittling yourself and give yourself more credit than anyone else for the person you are right now.
Seeing Tomono, who was defeated by his rivals that day, but still determined to "face his own strength, not his own weakness," gives me such courage. You don't have to have any evidence. It doesn't matter if it is bullshit or a bluff.
The highlight of Tomono's performance was the choreo sequence at the end of the competition. Failures, hesitations, worries, complexes, all are blown away as Tomono runs across the ice with such speed. The sense of speed and the exhilaration of his performance make the audience feel happy.
Even if I can't make someone smile like that, there must be something I can do. I too shall face not my weakness but my strength.
I was moved by Tomono's performance because it contained an important message for living life.
submitted by KiraraChin to FigureSkating [link] [comments]
Why we are encouraged by Kazuki Tomono's fighting spirit. His "captivating" performance that had the audience on their feet, and his competitive spirit of "believing in himself".
Japan's first back-to-back championships won by Shoma Uno and Kaori Sakamoto. Rikuryu (Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara) became the first Japanese team to win the Grand Slam of the year. Furthermore, they became the first Japanese team to win all three categories. Kanadai (Kana Muramoto/Daisuke Takahashi) tied for Japan's highest ever ranking. The World Figure Skating Championships were full of records.
All the athletes, both domestic and international, shined in their own ways, but it was Kazuki Tomono who left an unforgettable sparkle in the hearts of all who saw his performance.
Despite some falls in both the Short Program (SP) and Free Skating (FS), he showed no signs of breakdowns, and placed 6th with his outstanding performance. Especially in FS, despite some mistakes, he marked 180.73 points, a new personal best. He made the packed Saitama Super Arena stand in awe of his performance.
He has now competed in 3 World Championships, and has recorded personal bests on all 3 occasions. What is the secret of his amazing strength in the competition? In order to tell you about Tomono's strength to live up to expectations, we would like to start by retracing his steps.
Never a promising athlete in his youth
Born in Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture in 1998, Tomono began skating at the age of 4, but he was never a promising skater from the start. One of the proofs of this is the Nobeyama Training Camp. This was a training camp for novice skaters (9 to 12 years old as of July 1 of that year), both boys and girls, to gather promising skaters from all over the country, and the first group of students produced Shizuka Arakawa, a gold medalist at the Torino Olympics. Since then, world champions such as Daisuke Takahashi, Miki Ando, Mao Asada, and Yuzuru Hanyu have gone on to become world champions through this "Nobeyama Training Camp".
Current national team candidates such as Shoma Uno, Sota Yamamoto, Shun Sato, and Kao Miura have also experienced the Nobeyama Training Camp. However, Tomono has never participated in the Nobeyama training camp. In other words, he was not considered a future national team candidate at that time. In fact, as a junior, he was not selected for the Junior Grand Prix Series three years in a row. There was even one year when he went home feeling frustrated that he was the only one who failed out of all the competitors invited to the selection rounds.
Because the competitions are usually broadcast on terrestrial television, we tend to be under the illusion that we are watching figure skating, but the figure skating we are watching is an amateur sport. Most of the skaters are students and retire as soon as they graduate from college.
Tomono is also loved by skating fans for his unique programs such as "Japanese Doll" and "Fate of the Dog Officer," but the road to the top in Japan was difficult, and he revealed that he had planned to leave the competitive world after graduating from university.
However, in 2018, he placed 5th at her first World Championships. What was supposed to be just a student sport turned out to be the world's TOMONO. From here, Tomono's skating life changed at once.
The glory of "world No. 5" and the new conflict that emerged from it
However, as long as our dreams are far away, we do not experience the frustration of missing them. It is precisely because it seems out of reach and out of grasp that we become disenchanted with our own powerlessness and devastated by the two words "talent. After achieving the glory of "5th in the world," Tomono's competitive life was a battle against another kind of pressure.
After that, he trained hard to get back on the world stage, but he was unable to show his ability in the competition and finished outside the podium every year at the All-Japan Championships. The only thing that weighed on him more and more was the fact that he was ranked 5th in the world. In addition, a new generation, including Yuma Kagiyama, who later became a silver medalist at the Beijing Olympics, emerged, and the fierce race for selection became more and more intense. Tomono was always surrounded by first-rate talent.
And that seems to be where Tomono's conflict lay.
Uno, his classmate, has been called a "genius" since he was a Novice skater, and is a treasure of the skating world. Yamamoto, a rinkmate since childhood, was also considered a promising "star of the PyeongChang Olympics. The younger skaters, Kagiyama, Sato, and Miura, are such gems that they have been featured as "Kanto Three Crows" since they were still junior skaters. Of course, all of them have their own struggles and difficulties that cannot be described with superficial expressions, but they are exceptional in terms of the level of expectations. In contrast to these aces, I am just an ordinary skater. I have never experienced being a hopeful with high expectations. I have not come this far because I have special talent.
His openness to everyone is one of Tomono's virtues, but he is also a bit too gentle as a competitor, and is an entertainer at heart who professes that he does not like to fight. His many substitute appearances have paved the way for him, and he finds himself competing side by side with geniuses whom he thought were from a different world when he was a boy, but he is still somewhat unsure of his position in the world. I felt that such a weak heart, one more step, was clinging to Tomono's skating shoes.
This season's NHK Cup broke that spell.
Indeed, the result was not great, coming in 4th place. Uno, Yamamoto, and other rivals of the same generation were standing on the podium, but I could not bring home a medal. I wonder if he is still suffering from the same frustration that he felt at the Junior Grand Prix Series selection round. I felt that I was suffering from the same frustration that I had felt at the Junior Grand Prix Series selection round, and I was heartbroken. However, after the competition, Tomono's expression was clear.
He said, "I had been facing my weaknesses for a long time, and I thought it was time to let that go. After yesterday's match, I had a change in my mind, thinking that it was time for me to face my strength. Today was the first time I fully believed in my own strength and took on the challenge of facing my own strength.
Despite missing the podium, which had been his goal, Tomono never let out a negative or weak voice. Rather, he only looked forward. I felt a strength in him that I had never seen in Tomono before.
He faced his own strength, not his own weakness.
He won the representative battle, which was never in an advantageous position, and won the representative seat on his own. And then, he placed 6th in the World Championships in a magnificent performance, amidst the world's top skaters performing at their best. He himself commented on his "mysterious confidence," but I could no longer sense any sense of defeat or lack of confidence in Tomono, standing on the main rink of Saitama Super Arena. He believed in himself there, more than anyone else.
That is why, even if he fell down, he never lost his heart, never lost his passion, and skated what he could call his best. Unfortunately, he did not reach the medal, but without a doubt, he was the strongest Kazuki Tomono ever at that moment.
Behind those words was a break with himself, who had never been raised by the elite. It is true that my skating life may not have been what the adults expected of me. There may be many stars who are more talented than me. I believe that those who are in the world of competitions have to suffer in ways that we cannot even imagine.
But I am standing in this place right now. Let me believe in that, first of all. Let's expect more from ourselves than anyone else. That is how Tomono was able to change his mind. In this way, he was able to overcome his weakness.
Believing in Yourself" Makes Tomorrow a Little Better
Figure skating is famous for its short life span. Although not as long as women's figure skaters, most men's skaters also say goodbye to their competitive careers in their 20s. Tomono, now 24 years old, may not have much time left in his competitive career.
I am sure that teenage athletes will be gaining strength from now on. No one can guarantee that they will be able to compete in the World Championships again next year.
But strangely, when I look at Tomono, such pessimistic feeling disappears somewhere. Rather, my heart gets excited that Kazuki Tomono's prime period starts now. This is surely because we are also inspired by the "strength to believe in oneself" that Tomono has acquired.
People are not strong creatures. We make excuses, and we also make weak noises. We are tormented by a sense of inferiority, thinking we are not good enough compared to others, or we raise the white flag before we even begin to fight for fear of getting hurt. The more we grow up, the better we get at finding reasons not to do things.
It is easy to run away from our weaknesses. But that doesn't open the door to the future.
Even if you were not blessed with talent or the right environment from the start, if you have worked hard, you must first properly believe in yourself. Stop belittling yourself and give yourself more credit than anyone else for the person you are right now.
Seeing Tomono, who was defeated by his rivals that day, but still determined to "face his own strength, not his own weakness," gives me such courage. You don't have to have any evidence. It doesn't matter if it is bullshit or a bluff.
The highlight of Tomono's performance was the choreo sequence at the end of the competition. Failures, hesitations, worries, complexes, all are blown away as Tomono runs across the ice with such speed. The sense of speed and the exhilaration of his performance make the audience feel happy.
Even if I can't make someone smile like that, there must be something I can do. I too shall face not my weakness but my strength.
I was moved by Tomono's performance because it contained an important message for living life.
2023.04.02 11:13 yowzers11 Thrombosed - Hemorrhoidectomy or Natural Course - Hiking Trip in 6 weeks time! Eek!
Hey crew, I have a 'to surgery or not to surgery' dilemma and was wondering if this community can help provide some insight or experience to share?
TLDR Version: I have a hiking-holiday lined up in 6 weeks and not sure on what path is best. I've recently visited a Proctologist who has given me these options - both really seem like a gamble!
1) Hope hemmohroid/hematoma absorbs and heals on its own in time.
2) Hemorrhoidectomy surgery and hope recovery goes smoothly.
According to my specialist I have an Perianal Hematoma / Thrombosed External Haemorrhoid.
What would you do? Has anyone had a thrombosed clot/roid heal completely in a couple of weeks? Cos I kinda don't believe it. And if you've had the surgery would you be day-hiking 6 weeks later?
Detailed Version: I'm about 5 weeks into my haemorrhoid journey, I've currently just had a Proctologist visit who has told me I really have 2 options in front of me, either hope it resolves naturally "within a couple of weeks" (timing I doubt), or resolve asap with a hemorrhoidectomy.
Unfortunately for me the real kicker is I have a hiking/road trip (15 hour flight, USA road trip, Yosemite National park etc) lined up in about 6 weeks time so I'm really concerned that either option I choose might not work out well for me.
After a short airplane flight about 5 days ago my pain went from mild discomfort and 3/10 to 10/10 with sharp stabbing pains, aching etc and 3.5 days in was my Proctologist app. He said it looks like it had Thrombosed but I was too late to drain the clot (which I was devastated about) and I can can either soldier-on and see it through naturally and he thinks the pain will reduce in the next week or so.. Or consider the surgery which he said should be done ASAP considering my timeline - but was optimistic that a 3-4 week recovery should have me ready for hiking.. (provided all goes well I guess, the timing im honestly bit uneasy about).
Natural Option - He said to me the if I can make it past the Thombosis stage and let it reabsorb naturally then the worst of the entire thing should be behind me, and likely the haemorrhoid will continue on to heal on its on own and likely become a skin tag. He seemed optimistic this would happen rather than a reflare up on symptoms in a couple of weeks. But honestly I don't really believe in optimism at this stage and had already been following similar advice from my GP who said the same thing 3 weeks ago.
Surgery Option - Considering the timing for my trip his advice was IF I commit to surgery then it should happen asap. Honestly I was really hoping in my consultation he would offer a Thombectomy to simply drain it, but he only offered the full surgery and told me 2-4 weeks is a usual recovery time - so it would just fit into my range.. just but I don't know if its a gamble I want to take before or during my trip.
Timeline History: Thought I'd share my timeline below for anyone interested;
Week 1 - Noticed the bump on the loo, didn't think too much about it. Put some paw-paw ointment on it etc cos why not? No Pain just squishy lump size of pea/grape that I noticed when wiping.
Week 2 - Still present but started paying attention to it - Hemmy would inflate/swell or become visible after any BM, then would disappear shortly after. Unsure if it went 'back inside' or 'deflated' at the time. If I tried to push in it felt attached to front external end. No pain really, maybe mild discomfort and pressure.
Went to chemist and got off the shelf products Procotsedyl ointment w/ cortizone as well as some nice to have's like probiotics, vitamin C etc. Self Treatment.
Week 3 - No visual changes with mild pain and pressure. Eg random dull-shooting paints a few random mild aches etc and a lot of pressure down there that made me unsure if I needed to go to the loo or not pressure also seemed to affect the areas around including coccyx area. Lump would often be small or almost invisible before a BM, but would appear within seconds sitting on loo and then hang around a while afterwards - this also started to feel quite uncomfortable.
Went to the Doctor - GP told me I had an 'little baby' internal hemmorhoid and added Proctosedyl suppositories and fibre capsules into the mix as well as keeping up with the ointment etc. And was confident it should heal within 2 weeks or so. It didn't.
Week 4.5 - Thrombosis Day - 1.5 weeks into the GP's treatment plan and nothing had improved. Feeling more constant pain and discomfort overall but still mostly in the mild range, was getting frustrated. I then took a 3 hour airplane flight for work and by the time I got to my hotel I was in a lot of pain. Upon inspection the lump felt firmer, was enlarged and since then has refused to disappear its not permanently out and on display. Looking at a blurry photo I took to try and see what was going on - there was a blue spot on the lump. On the bright side - since this change the majority of the 'pressure' sensations stopped which was good, but sadly just replaced with sharp pain.
Week 5 - Proctologist Day - Soon as I landed back home - visited my GP who then referred me to a Proctologist and I was lucky enough for a same day appointment. By this time I'd been all over google, this reddit page and everywhere else and was hoping for a quick drainage treatment (thrombectomy). But nope he declined and said I had missed the timeframe window but he confirmed he could see a black dot on it suggesting the thrombosis had occurred and that it was starting to be absorbed.
He told me I had a Perianal Hematoma which sounds pretty much like an External hemmy (but he said they're sorta different?) and said I have 2 options - I can either do nothing (do the at home treatments) or have a hemmorhoidectomy as surgical option.
And this is pretty much where I am currently, but 2.5 days later currently umming and ahhing over what path to choose! So far the pain has not reduced and I've spent half my weekend in the bath tub it feels like!
Currently I am thinking of getting a second opinion from another Proctologist and giving myself one more week of dedicated at-home treatment (baths, diet etc) and hope there is improvement naturally, otherwise I might have consider the surgical option but the consequence is that timeframe will be cut shorter. Argh!
So yeah - what would you do?
If you made it through all of this then congrats you must be suffering just as badly! Hopefully we all get better soon!
I will aim to provide an update on how it goes.
submitted by yowzers11 to hemorrhoid [link] [comments]
TLDR Version: I have a hiking-holiday lined up in 6 weeks and not sure on what path is best. I've recently visited a Proctologist who has given me these options - both really seem like a gamble!
1) Hope hemmohroid/hematoma absorbs and heals on its own in time.
2) Hemorrhoidectomy surgery and hope recovery goes smoothly.
According to my specialist I have an Perianal Hematoma / Thrombosed External Haemorrhoid.
What would you do? Has anyone had a thrombosed clot/roid heal completely in a couple of weeks? Cos I kinda don't believe it. And if you've had the surgery would you be day-hiking 6 weeks later?
Detailed Version: I'm about 5 weeks into my haemorrhoid journey, I've currently just had a Proctologist visit who has told me I really have 2 options in front of me, either hope it resolves naturally "within a couple of weeks" (timing I doubt), or resolve asap with a hemorrhoidectomy.
Unfortunately for me the real kicker is I have a hiking/road trip (15 hour flight, USA road trip, Yosemite National park etc) lined up in about 6 weeks time so I'm really concerned that either option I choose might not work out well for me.
After a short airplane flight about 5 days ago my pain went from mild discomfort and 3/10 to 10/10 with sharp stabbing pains, aching etc and 3.5 days in was my Proctologist app. He said it looks like it had Thrombosed but I was too late to drain the clot (which I was devastated about) and I can can either soldier-on and see it through naturally and he thinks the pain will reduce in the next week or so.. Or consider the surgery which he said should be done ASAP considering my timeline - but was optimistic that a 3-4 week recovery should have me ready for hiking.. (provided all goes well I guess, the timing im honestly bit uneasy about).
Natural Option - He said to me the if I can make it past the Thombosis stage and let it reabsorb naturally then the worst of the entire thing should be behind me, and likely the haemorrhoid will continue on to heal on its on own and likely become a skin tag. He seemed optimistic this would happen rather than a reflare up on symptoms in a couple of weeks. But honestly I don't really believe in optimism at this stage and had already been following similar advice from my GP who said the same thing 3 weeks ago.
Surgery Option - Considering the timing for my trip his advice was IF I commit to surgery then it should happen asap. Honestly I was really hoping in my consultation he would offer a Thombectomy to simply drain it, but he only offered the full surgery and told me 2-4 weeks is a usual recovery time - so it would just fit into my range.. just but I don't know if its a gamble I want to take before or during my trip.
Timeline History: Thought I'd share my timeline below for anyone interested;
Week 1 - Noticed the bump on the loo, didn't think too much about it. Put some paw-paw ointment on it etc cos why not? No Pain just squishy lump size of pea/grape that I noticed when wiping.
Week 2 - Still present but started paying attention to it - Hemmy would inflate/swell or become visible after any BM, then would disappear shortly after. Unsure if it went 'back inside' or 'deflated' at the time. If I tried to push in it felt attached to front external end. No pain really, maybe mild discomfort and pressure.
Went to chemist and got off the shelf products Procotsedyl ointment w/ cortizone as well as some nice to have's like probiotics, vitamin C etc. Self Treatment.
Week 3 - No visual changes with mild pain and pressure. Eg random dull-shooting paints a few random mild aches etc and a lot of pressure down there that made me unsure if I needed to go to the loo or not pressure also seemed to affect the areas around including coccyx area. Lump would often be small or almost invisible before a BM, but would appear within seconds sitting on loo and then hang around a while afterwards - this also started to feel quite uncomfortable.
Went to the Doctor - GP told me I had an 'little baby' internal hemmorhoid and added Proctosedyl suppositories and fibre capsules into the mix as well as keeping up with the ointment etc. And was confident it should heal within 2 weeks or so. It didn't.
Week 4.5 - Thrombosis Day - 1.5 weeks into the GP's treatment plan and nothing had improved. Feeling more constant pain and discomfort overall but still mostly in the mild range, was getting frustrated. I then took a 3 hour airplane flight for work and by the time I got to my hotel I was in a lot of pain. Upon inspection the lump felt firmer, was enlarged and since then has refused to disappear its not permanently out and on display. Looking at a blurry photo I took to try and see what was going on - there was a blue spot on the lump. On the bright side - since this change the majority of the 'pressure' sensations stopped which was good, but sadly just replaced with sharp pain.
Week 5 - Proctologist Day - Soon as I landed back home - visited my GP who then referred me to a Proctologist and I was lucky enough for a same day appointment. By this time I'd been all over google, this reddit page and everywhere else and was hoping for a quick drainage treatment (thrombectomy). But nope he declined and said I had missed the timeframe window but he confirmed he could see a black dot on it suggesting the thrombosis had occurred and that it was starting to be absorbed.
He told me I had a Perianal Hematoma which sounds pretty much like an External hemmy (but he said they're sorta different?) and said I have 2 options - I can either do nothing (do the at home treatments) or have a hemmorhoidectomy as surgical option.
And this is pretty much where I am currently, but 2.5 days later currently umming and ahhing over what path to choose! So far the pain has not reduced and I've spent half my weekend in the bath tub it feels like!
Currently I am thinking of getting a second opinion from another Proctologist and giving myself one more week of dedicated at-home treatment (baths, diet etc) and hope there is improvement naturally, otherwise I might have consider the surgical option but the consequence is that timeframe will be cut shorter. Argh!
So yeah - what would you do?
If you made it through all of this then congrats you must be suffering just as badly! Hopefully we all get better soon!
I will aim to provide an update on how it goes.
2023.04.02 11:01 heyuiuitsme i told ya, it's a food blog
So. like, one time the ex suggested a place for me to work. Like, you know. A company that only just hires … anyway, i guess that was around the time he paid for and ran a background check on me.
#trust
It said i wanted on suspension of murder. That’s all. That’s it. You know, that’s what would pop on my background check. But, there’s no hold for pickup or anything. Just like, suspect in murder. From like, idk, three-ish decades ago. Like, found that out via a background check that he ran on me
After we done been living together for years. I mean, lol. Idk, wanted to know who i was but didn’t want to ask me. No one else would tell him, so, only just bits and pieces is what all he knew.
Plus, you know. The standard warnings that both my mother and my sister will give to potential suitors of mine once they meet them. Like, once it looks likes he’s sticking around, better warn him about her. Omg, can you even imagine.
Like, dating someone and then both their mom and sister come at you to warn you about her. They say i’m manipulative and that i’ll make you do things you didn’t know you wanted to do until after you’ve already done them. Like, with the ex.
I totally did manipulate him into starting a business and then buying a house. Yep. i did do that.
In 2020 it went away and i was able to pass a deep employment background. So, there’s different levels of background checks that a company will and can do. I couldn’t pass one of those deep kinds, only just the convictions kind. Like, the one that lists convictions is what most companies do and i don’t have no felonies or any convictions or arrests involving theft or fraud or nothing like that.
So, nothing on my background check would really preclude me from employment from most places. I mean, you know, it ain’t that bad. But, it ain’t great. And, there’s a lot of oddities that would make it appear like i’m some kind of criminal.
A wants search. You know. But, it’s just wanted for but there’s no pickup directions. Flagged by a sheriff’s dept that i was wanted for questioning in these crimes, but no arrest warrant or anything like that.
Wanted in connection to and then some bullshit like: MURDER. And, then, like, nothing. No further instructions like what usually goes along with that. Like, if seen call: this fucking number. You know. Just nothing, but some kinda bullshit attached to my name if you did a certain kind of background check.
And, then, you know, arrested for things and then the charges being dropped. But, you still have to get booked. That sort of stuff. Which makes HR flag me as not eligible for hire at large corporations. For the most part.
Oh, that. Criminal record. Yeah, it’s not that bad. But, it looks bad. I think one of those, like, when they got my dna. Like, i got arrested for kiting a check. Like, to the daycare. I paid each week and she held those checks and didn’t cash them. Then there was a .. idk, an incident at home and that guy was in the hospital
And, i was stuck over there and just checked my balance at the atm and thought i had money, idk, didn’t balance my checkbook. Anyway, it was at that time that the daycare put those checks through. And, one went thru and two of them bounced.
Yeah, cause i spent the money while i was at the hospital. Yeah. idk. I guess i figured it was that money, but what happened was when i took out all the money i at the atm that was NOT that money, like, you know. I knew they’d be a fee, but i didn’t expect it to be, idk, i want to say it was $15.
Ten to the atm company and five to my bank, so, it told me ten, but i didn’t expect the five. So, when i did the math i didn’t account for that extra fee that my bank put on so it caused that check to bounce. Idk, she cashed the most recent one first, on like wednesday at her bank,
Cause i went through my account and tried to figure out how it happened. Cause i didn’t do that on purpose or like, meaning to. And, i was like, wtf. Where’d that other five dollars go. I added that up.
But, anyway, the bank bounced the other two. But, one of those would have covered but they charged the fees on both checks two times, which actually by bank math left some money in the bank. Which i then made a conscience decision to take out the rest of the money at an atm which, i mean, is that not usury.
That’s what i called atms for a long time after, usury machines.
At the fucking hospital. I had to pay for parking, and that was like $10 every time you came and went. So, it wasn’t affordable to leave and i had a limited budget. And, dumb fuck was in icu. Idk, like it’s my job to fucking stay there. But, i did.
Cause the social pressure of that. And, also i was broke. So, you know. I had to budget and the hospital was more than 45 minutes away, and that was if i missed all the high traffic times and took back roads. It wasn’t even close in.
You know. So, like, still gotta eat for those three days and the only thing that’s readily available is vending machines or cafeteria food. Which is all expensive as fuck, and ain’t nobody willingly at the fucking hospital.
Oh, i take that back. There are those that quite willingly check themselves into hospitals.
Anyway, i like to treat myself at minor inconveniences. It just makes me feel better. If i find myself in a situation in which i become inconvenience, well, i just treat myself. Why, yes. You do deserve ice cream after any minor inconvenience that doesn’t set you the fuck off.
I reward myself for good behavior. With ice cream or candy. Or, whatever. Banking apps didn’t exist in those days. So, you know …
And, then, like right after that happen, i got fired from my job. It was all kinds of craziness at once. Then, she pressed charges. It all happened pretty quick. Really. I mean, like, we only been back from the hospital not even a day when that cop showed up with a warrant.
Over those checks and it had only just happened. Like, happened two days earlier while i was still over at the hospital. When they bounced. The day we got home or the day after is when that cop showed up.
Told me to just show up at the sheriff's dept between the hours of whatever and whenever to get my picture taken. Do the prints and all of that. “All of that” that’s what he said, and i was like, ok.
And, i got down down there and they took my dna to run through nsa. Told me it was policy and law now. That if i get arrested for bouncing a check you run my dna through the nsa. Well, that don’t sound right.
And, i was just like, you fuckers tricked me. I would have never just shown up for this.
Took a cheek swab for my dna. Over a bounced check. I was losing my damn mind the whole damn time. Like, wtf. No. what. This can’t be legal. If you try to use this in court for something, i’m disputing how you got it.
Just saying. To the guy. You know. The booking officer. Cause you know, wtf.
It’s my 1st amendment right to shit talk. I accused him of being the government. All kinds of crazy shit. I just said all kinds of craziness while i was there. But, i was laughing and it was all just jokes, but i was mad as hell over them taking my dna.
Idk, 2004ish. 03 maybe. I guess. Somewhere in there. It’s that really good mugshot of me. I looked great. It’s like the best picture i’ve ever taken, i told that guy, hey, if this don’t work they could really use you at the dmv.
I mean, the pictures they take down there. Jesus fucking christ. Why.
So, i know there’s no dna evidence tying me to any damn murder of you’d have arrested me then. Also, i’m not even quite sure what you’re talking about. I told you it wasn’t me.
Told you so. First of all, i don’t have the details of what even you’re talking about and, also, additionally, as well. I don’t know what you’re talking about.
There’s been other people who’s run background checks and couldn’t resist telling me what they found out. I mean, you can imagine. So, ugh. Heather. Yeah. so, yeah, ran a background check on you and it says you’re wanted for murder. And, i’d be like there’s like 12 fucking people in this town, if i was so wanted they’d come and fucking get me.
Idk, it just says that. Idk why. Probably some other psycho girl named heather. There’s probably a lot of us. You know. All the heathers are crazy. It was a really popular name for one fucking year, so most of us are the same age.
But, that .. you know, those background check issues, idk, it made it hard for me to get jobs at certain companies and certain kinds of jobs. Kept me underemployed, not able to get better employment due to that.
So, it wasn’t just that i had a terrible reputation amongst the pillars of the community, but also, you know. My background check comes back patchy. And, like, none of those charges are fucking real. Like, just bullshit.
It’s all literally just bullshit. Personal vendettas from opposing counsel. That’s one of them. Ok. didn’t know you could catch charges for that, but o fucking k
I didn’t even know or remember or care who the fuck she was. Like, when she told me, you know. Who she was. And, then she was kinda pissy that i didn’t remember her. Anyway, like, it’s not something people are normally charged with. That way.
I did the booking for that one at the 911 office. They didn’t do anything, just handed me a yellow slip of when i was to show up for court. Didn’t get my picture taken. Nope. Not for that. I just went to the window and they handed me a yellow court slip.
That was it, no picture or nothing. Which is a shame cause i just got my hair done. I talked to that woman at the window a little bit, it wasn’t busy when i went down there and i knew her.
She handed it to me and said what even is this bullshit. They all read it, it wasn’t in an envelope or nothing. You know. It’s a small fucking town. Those old hens, they all read and passed it around and talked about where they knew me from.
That’s just how it is in a small town. But, i don’t think they took my picture. Cause, like, i got dressed the fuck up for it. Practiced my smirk.
Did my hair, makeup. All of it. She just handed it to me, and i was like, you ain’t gonna take my picture. I dressed up for this. She took a selfie with me on her phone over the pay counter.
Idk, i don’t even think that’s real. Stupid shit. You know. It’s always nothing but stupid shit
But, it’s always a big fucking hassle for me. Like, gotta take time out of my day for your fucking bullshit. Oh, cause you’re fucking offended. I don’t care. Omg. such a fucking cunt.
I think we probably just about fill up all the private prisons with people like you that need to be fucking arrested. Like no fucking joke corrupt. And, you know. It’s always just for bullshit hurt your fucking feelings reasons.
So very fucking petty. You’re just so fucking petty.
She said they had one on file. And, i was like, oh. Alrighty then. That’s totally how this all supposed to work, but i’m just going to fucking go with it. You know. See where this road goes.
During the time hueser was in prison. He mitigates a lot of that shit, you know, by pointing out how they’re going to get caught, then they don’t do it. But, without him around to point out how stupid they were being they got real fucking stupid.
It wasn’t like i could do anything about it, you know. Just endure. I mean, you know. That’s just what it’s like when “they” don’t like you. Purely personal reasons and also it’s not in their financial best interest to do so.
So, there’s always that. You know. How you’ve legally bound yourself to me.
That’s dumb, you know. To do that. Use the courts to commit the fraud, cause you know, that creates records. It’s like you’re just creating more and more and more records of your own wrongdoings. And, like, you - you work there, i know you know better.
You can’t claim ignorance of the law. I mean ….
People are so stupid. Up to an including me. Another big reason i needed to go was, you know, all those dead bodies keep coming up in town. It’s ok. They’re totally solved. I guess. Idk, i didn’t know none of those people.
Never met any of them or if i did, idk, my memory, as you know, not so good. Idk. idk if i know any of those people, but one of those people used to hang out with snitch ass and ponzi scheme.
And, i don’t know anything about any of that. Like, i found it best, most especially since i ain’t being paid, you know. If crime pays, then, you know, where’s my fucking check.
But, no. i just don’t get involved or you know, if people start talking about stuff i don’t want to hear about i just do my little snit thing and walk away. You know. When i pst-pst-pst at people like they’re cats when they talk about things i don’t wish to discuss with them
Or, to disengage myself from a .. dumb shit. I just pst-pst-pst and jazz hands, then walk away. It’s a good way to put a stop to that bullshit.
But, sometimes i just nod yes and tell myself what i will be doing instead of the thing they’re trying to tell me to do. You know. Like, idk. People who mean well but give bad advice, i just nod in agreement and then do whatever the fuck i want to do.
Man, i should read that and maybe not post that … ick. Idgaf
So, like, dude did you just say it proves how “smart” you are that you were so success at defrauding a child. A literal fucking child. Like, a 2nd grader.
Wow. you did it. You outsmarted a 2nd grader. Gold star for you. Congratulations. It seems to have paid off for you quite well.
Oh, are people going on about my duis. I don’t have any. Yeah, i have driven drunk, every drunk has. I mean, you know. Idk, i’ve never had an accident or gotten pulled over while being intoxicated.
Idk, maybe i’ve never drank and drove. There’s no evidence of that happening.
Eyewitness reports of such. Well, ok. Yeah. so. What do you want me to say. Sorry, i quit drinking. Or, you know. Just do it at home or when i have someone else to drive. Drinking and driving is bad.
How many duis you got.
So, anyway, lots of things to be done. I have a four year plan, then i’m going to retire to something else. At that point i’ll be able to buy a small farm and you know. Then, after that … idk.
Then my time will be my own. When i do it, it’ll be fucking quick and you ain’t going to have a chance to get cameras up before i do. I have a plan. Certain restaurants which i’m not going to name, they don’t seem to want to let you use them for meal prep either.
Fast food chicken fingers. Omg. reheated, fucking great. And, cost wise around about the same as those tyson ones. You know. Like, like at the grocery store vrs a large from a fast food place, about the same. And, the fast food ones are just ever so slightly better.
Then, if you get the really big meal, you can eat part of it now and then put the rest in a toaster oven or air fryer. Follow me for more cost friendly diet tips. Lol
It’s cheaper than going to the grocery store and it’s already made. So, you know. Like, i can’t help that it’s cheaper, but fast food is also at an all time high, cost wise.
I’m cheap as fuck, everyone knows. I brag about how frugal i am. Like, the deals, you know. I love saying i just paid $3 for that. It’s my favorite thing.
I mean, jesus, everything costs so much right now. Like, so fucking expensive. But, what was strangely cheap was consumer goods and electronics. Crazy fucking online sales, and if a brick and mortar is having a clearance sale and it’s online, they are over fucking loaded with mechandise.
Dumb shit you can just buy, air fryers and such, so. Yeah, i’m totally just buying an air fryer. Finally convinced that i need it. I have a plan for .. meal prep.
Idk, i’ll have to see how you can use it.
A couple of years ago when the instapot craze hit, i didn’t get one. I mean, that’s just a pressure cooker, first of all, and i got plenty of problems already without getting on the makes meth watchlist. You know.
I don’t make meth. That’s a joke. I took some adderall that, wtf even. Who gives a shit. Please read the proceeding pages for an explanation of events.
The value of things is all topsy tervy. When my kids were little i could get two large chicken finger meals and feed all four of us. It’s a cheaper option and i like to feel like chicken fingers are healthier than fast food burgers. So.
Please don’t spoil my delusion about that. Like, either of those is good. I know that’s not a good way to eat, but god damn it’s cheap and convenient. However, my cooking is better.
I think what i’m going to do, is idk, buy an air fryer. It’s literally cheaper than two combos from a fast food place. Then, i have a plan for meal prep that involves me doing zero dishes. I’m going to try it out.
Well, i guess a little more than zero. I still have to wash knives and silverware. But, i’m not willing to give those up. In my quest to never do dishes again.
It was a childhood dream of mine, you know, to never have to do dishes again.
Laundry, too. Hate that shit. I’ve got everything down to just one load that i wash all together without separating a damn thing. I just throw all of it in all together, be damned how it turns out.
Ahh, well, if i can’t wash it guess it ain’t meant for me. My period claimed another pair of pants today. A good pair that i really liked. Sad, sad, very sad times.
submitted by heyuiuitsme to LackOfModeration [link] [comments]
#trust
It said i wanted on suspension of murder. That’s all. That’s it. You know, that’s what would pop on my background check. But, there’s no hold for pickup or anything. Just like, suspect in murder. From like, idk, three-ish decades ago. Like, found that out via a background check that he ran on me
After we done been living together for years. I mean, lol. Idk, wanted to know who i was but didn’t want to ask me. No one else would tell him, so, only just bits and pieces is what all he knew.
Plus, you know. The standard warnings that both my mother and my sister will give to potential suitors of mine once they meet them. Like, once it looks likes he’s sticking around, better warn him about her. Omg, can you even imagine.
Like, dating someone and then both their mom and sister come at you to warn you about her. They say i’m manipulative and that i’ll make you do things you didn’t know you wanted to do until after you’ve already done them. Like, with the ex.
I totally did manipulate him into starting a business and then buying a house. Yep. i did do that.
In 2020 it went away and i was able to pass a deep employment background. So, there’s different levels of background checks that a company will and can do. I couldn’t pass one of those deep kinds, only just the convictions kind. Like, the one that lists convictions is what most companies do and i don’t have no felonies or any convictions or arrests involving theft or fraud or nothing like that.
So, nothing on my background check would really preclude me from employment from most places. I mean, you know, it ain’t that bad. But, it ain’t great. And, there’s a lot of oddities that would make it appear like i’m some kind of criminal.
A wants search. You know. But, it’s just wanted for but there’s no pickup directions. Flagged by a sheriff’s dept that i was wanted for questioning in these crimes, but no arrest warrant or anything like that.
Wanted in connection to and then some bullshit like: MURDER. And, then, like, nothing. No further instructions like what usually goes along with that. Like, if seen call: this fucking number. You know. Just nothing, but some kinda bullshit attached to my name if you did a certain kind of background check.
And, then, you know, arrested for things and then the charges being dropped. But, you still have to get booked. That sort of stuff. Which makes HR flag me as not eligible for hire at large corporations. For the most part.
Oh, that. Criminal record. Yeah, it’s not that bad. But, it looks bad. I think one of those, like, when they got my dna. Like, i got arrested for kiting a check. Like, to the daycare. I paid each week and she held those checks and didn’t cash them. Then there was a .. idk, an incident at home and that guy was in the hospital
And, i was stuck over there and just checked my balance at the atm and thought i had money, idk, didn’t balance my checkbook. Anyway, it was at that time that the daycare put those checks through. And, one went thru and two of them bounced.
Yeah, cause i spent the money while i was at the hospital. Yeah. idk. I guess i figured it was that money, but what happened was when i took out all the money i at the atm that was NOT that money, like, you know. I knew they’d be a fee, but i didn’t expect it to be, idk, i want to say it was $15.
Ten to the atm company and five to my bank, so, it told me ten, but i didn’t expect the five. So, when i did the math i didn’t account for that extra fee that my bank put on so it caused that check to bounce. Idk, she cashed the most recent one first, on like wednesday at her bank,
Cause i went through my account and tried to figure out how it happened. Cause i didn’t do that on purpose or like, meaning to. And, i was like, wtf. Where’d that other five dollars go. I added that up.
But, anyway, the bank bounced the other two. But, one of those would have covered but they charged the fees on both checks two times, which actually by bank math left some money in the bank. Which i then made a conscience decision to take out the rest of the money at an atm which, i mean, is that not usury.
That’s what i called atms for a long time after, usury machines.
At the fucking hospital. I had to pay for parking, and that was like $10 every time you came and went. So, it wasn’t affordable to leave and i had a limited budget. And, dumb fuck was in icu. Idk, like it’s my job to fucking stay there. But, i did.
Cause the social pressure of that. And, also i was broke. So, you know. I had to budget and the hospital was more than 45 minutes away, and that was if i missed all the high traffic times and took back roads. It wasn’t even close in.
You know. So, like, still gotta eat for those three days and the only thing that’s readily available is vending machines or cafeteria food. Which is all expensive as fuck, and ain’t nobody willingly at the fucking hospital.
Oh, i take that back. There are those that quite willingly check themselves into hospitals.
Anyway, i like to treat myself at minor inconveniences. It just makes me feel better. If i find myself in a situation in which i become inconvenience, well, i just treat myself. Why, yes. You do deserve ice cream after any minor inconvenience that doesn’t set you the fuck off.
I reward myself for good behavior. With ice cream or candy. Or, whatever. Banking apps didn’t exist in those days. So, you know …
And, then, like right after that happen, i got fired from my job. It was all kinds of craziness at once. Then, she pressed charges. It all happened pretty quick. Really. I mean, like, we only been back from the hospital not even a day when that cop showed up with a warrant.
Over those checks and it had only just happened. Like, happened two days earlier while i was still over at the hospital. When they bounced. The day we got home or the day after is when that cop showed up.
Told me to just show up at the sheriff's dept between the hours of whatever and whenever to get my picture taken. Do the prints and all of that. “All of that” that’s what he said, and i was like, ok.
And, i got down down there and they took my dna to run through nsa. Told me it was policy and law now. That if i get arrested for bouncing a check you run my dna through the nsa. Well, that don’t sound right.
And, i was just like, you fuckers tricked me. I would have never just shown up for this.
Took a cheek swab for my dna. Over a bounced check. I was losing my damn mind the whole damn time. Like, wtf. No. what. This can’t be legal. If you try to use this in court for something, i’m disputing how you got it.
Just saying. To the guy. You know. The booking officer. Cause you know, wtf.
It’s my 1st amendment right to shit talk. I accused him of being the government. All kinds of crazy shit. I just said all kinds of craziness while i was there. But, i was laughing and it was all just jokes, but i was mad as hell over them taking my dna.
Idk, 2004ish. 03 maybe. I guess. Somewhere in there. It’s that really good mugshot of me. I looked great. It’s like the best picture i’ve ever taken, i told that guy, hey, if this don’t work they could really use you at the dmv.
I mean, the pictures they take down there. Jesus fucking christ. Why.
So, i know there’s no dna evidence tying me to any damn murder of you’d have arrested me then. Also, i’m not even quite sure what you’re talking about. I told you it wasn’t me.
Told you so. First of all, i don’t have the details of what even you’re talking about and, also, additionally, as well. I don’t know what you’re talking about.
There’s been other people who’s run background checks and couldn’t resist telling me what they found out. I mean, you can imagine. So, ugh. Heather. Yeah. so, yeah, ran a background check on you and it says you’re wanted for murder. And, i’d be like there’s like 12 fucking people in this town, if i was so wanted they’d come and fucking get me.
Idk, it just says that. Idk why. Probably some other psycho girl named heather. There’s probably a lot of us. You know. All the heathers are crazy. It was a really popular name for one fucking year, so most of us are the same age.
But, that .. you know, those background check issues, idk, it made it hard for me to get jobs at certain companies and certain kinds of jobs. Kept me underemployed, not able to get better employment due to that.
So, it wasn’t just that i had a terrible reputation amongst the pillars of the community, but also, you know. My background check comes back patchy. And, like, none of those charges are fucking real. Like, just bullshit.
It’s all literally just bullshit. Personal vendettas from opposing counsel. That’s one of them. Ok. didn’t know you could catch charges for that, but o fucking k
I didn’t even know or remember or care who the fuck she was. Like, when she told me, you know. Who she was. And, then she was kinda pissy that i didn’t remember her. Anyway, like, it’s not something people are normally charged with. That way.
I did the booking for that one at the 911 office. They didn’t do anything, just handed me a yellow slip of when i was to show up for court. Didn’t get my picture taken. Nope. Not for that. I just went to the window and they handed me a yellow court slip.
That was it, no picture or nothing. Which is a shame cause i just got my hair done. I talked to that woman at the window a little bit, it wasn’t busy when i went down there and i knew her.
She handed it to me and said what even is this bullshit. They all read it, it wasn’t in an envelope or nothing. You know. It’s a small fucking town. Those old hens, they all read and passed it around and talked about where they knew me from.
That’s just how it is in a small town. But, i don’t think they took my picture. Cause, like, i got dressed the fuck up for it. Practiced my smirk.
Did my hair, makeup. All of it. She just handed it to me, and i was like, you ain’t gonna take my picture. I dressed up for this. She took a selfie with me on her phone over the pay counter.
Idk, i don’t even think that’s real. Stupid shit. You know. It’s always nothing but stupid shit
But, it’s always a big fucking hassle for me. Like, gotta take time out of my day for your fucking bullshit. Oh, cause you’re fucking offended. I don’t care. Omg. such a fucking cunt.
I think we probably just about fill up all the private prisons with people like you that need to be fucking arrested. Like no fucking joke corrupt. And, you know. It’s always just for bullshit hurt your fucking feelings reasons.
So very fucking petty. You’re just so fucking petty.
She said they had one on file. And, i was like, oh. Alrighty then. That’s totally how this all supposed to work, but i’m just going to fucking go with it. You know. See where this road goes.
During the time hueser was in prison. He mitigates a lot of that shit, you know, by pointing out how they’re going to get caught, then they don’t do it. But, without him around to point out how stupid they were being they got real fucking stupid.
It wasn’t like i could do anything about it, you know. Just endure. I mean, you know. That’s just what it’s like when “they” don’t like you. Purely personal reasons and also it’s not in their financial best interest to do so.
So, there’s always that. You know. How you’ve legally bound yourself to me.
That’s dumb, you know. To do that. Use the courts to commit the fraud, cause you know, that creates records. It’s like you’re just creating more and more and more records of your own wrongdoings. And, like, you - you work there, i know you know better.
You can’t claim ignorance of the law. I mean ….
People are so stupid. Up to an including me. Another big reason i needed to go was, you know, all those dead bodies keep coming up in town. It’s ok. They’re totally solved. I guess. Idk, i didn’t know none of those people.
Never met any of them or if i did, idk, my memory, as you know, not so good. Idk. idk if i know any of those people, but one of those people used to hang out with snitch ass and ponzi scheme.
And, i don’t know anything about any of that. Like, i found it best, most especially since i ain’t being paid, you know. If crime pays, then, you know, where’s my fucking check.
But, no. i just don’t get involved or you know, if people start talking about stuff i don’t want to hear about i just do my little snit thing and walk away. You know. When i pst-pst-pst at people like they’re cats when they talk about things i don’t wish to discuss with them
Or, to disengage myself from a .. dumb shit. I just pst-pst-pst and jazz hands, then walk away. It’s a good way to put a stop to that bullshit.
But, sometimes i just nod yes and tell myself what i will be doing instead of the thing they’re trying to tell me to do. You know. Like, idk. People who mean well but give bad advice, i just nod in agreement and then do whatever the fuck i want to do.
Man, i should read that and maybe not post that … ick. Idgaf
So, like, dude did you just say it proves how “smart” you are that you were so success at defrauding a child. A literal fucking child. Like, a 2nd grader.
Wow. you did it. You outsmarted a 2nd grader. Gold star for you. Congratulations. It seems to have paid off for you quite well.
Oh, are people going on about my duis. I don’t have any. Yeah, i have driven drunk, every drunk has. I mean, you know. Idk, i’ve never had an accident or gotten pulled over while being intoxicated.
Idk, maybe i’ve never drank and drove. There’s no evidence of that happening.
Eyewitness reports of such. Well, ok. Yeah. so. What do you want me to say. Sorry, i quit drinking. Or, you know. Just do it at home or when i have someone else to drive. Drinking and driving is bad.
How many duis you got.
So, anyway, lots of things to be done. I have a four year plan, then i’m going to retire to something else. At that point i’ll be able to buy a small farm and you know. Then, after that … idk.
Then my time will be my own. When i do it, it’ll be fucking quick and you ain’t going to have a chance to get cameras up before i do. I have a plan. Certain restaurants which i’m not going to name, they don’t seem to want to let you use them for meal prep either.
Fast food chicken fingers. Omg. reheated, fucking great. And, cost wise around about the same as those tyson ones. You know. Like, like at the grocery store vrs a large from a fast food place, about the same. And, the fast food ones are just ever so slightly better.
Then, if you get the really big meal, you can eat part of it now and then put the rest in a toaster oven or air fryer. Follow me for more cost friendly diet tips. Lol
It’s cheaper than going to the grocery store and it’s already made. So, you know. Like, i can’t help that it’s cheaper, but fast food is also at an all time high, cost wise.
I’m cheap as fuck, everyone knows. I brag about how frugal i am. Like, the deals, you know. I love saying i just paid $3 for that. It’s my favorite thing.
I mean, jesus, everything costs so much right now. Like, so fucking expensive. But, what was strangely cheap was consumer goods and electronics. Crazy fucking online sales, and if a brick and mortar is having a clearance sale and it’s online, they are over fucking loaded with mechandise.
Dumb shit you can just buy, air fryers and such, so. Yeah, i’m totally just buying an air fryer. Finally convinced that i need it. I have a plan for .. meal prep.
Idk, i’ll have to see how you can use it.
A couple of years ago when the instapot craze hit, i didn’t get one. I mean, that’s just a pressure cooker, first of all, and i got plenty of problems already without getting on the makes meth watchlist. You know.
I don’t make meth. That’s a joke. I took some adderall that, wtf even. Who gives a shit. Please read the proceeding pages for an explanation of events.
The value of things is all topsy tervy. When my kids were little i could get two large chicken finger meals and feed all four of us. It’s a cheaper option and i like to feel like chicken fingers are healthier than fast food burgers. So.
Please don’t spoil my delusion about that. Like, either of those is good. I know that’s not a good way to eat, but god damn it’s cheap and convenient. However, my cooking is better.
I think what i’m going to do, is idk, buy an air fryer. It’s literally cheaper than two combos from a fast food place. Then, i have a plan for meal prep that involves me doing zero dishes. I’m going to try it out.
Well, i guess a little more than zero. I still have to wash knives and silverware. But, i’m not willing to give those up. In my quest to never do dishes again.
It was a childhood dream of mine, you know, to never have to do dishes again.
Laundry, too. Hate that shit. I’ve got everything down to just one load that i wash all together without separating a damn thing. I just throw all of it in all together, be damned how it turns out.
Ahh, well, if i can’t wash it guess it ain’t meant for me. My period claimed another pair of pants today. A good pair that i really liked. Sad, sad, very sad times.
2023.04.02 10:50 JoelTheBloonsMonkey Brainstorm: Enough new towers in each Tower category to match Military
Having the Beast Handler will really make the categories feel more equal. We went from 3 Support towers at launch, feeling like a very small category, to now 5, the same amount as Magic! Which is one less than Primary and TWO less than Military... But what if they were all equal?
I'll use this as an opportunity to share whatever Tower concepts I can think of: One Primary, Two Magic, Two Support, so we can have 7 of each!
Primary: Gamer Monkey/Arcade Monkey
This DEFINITELY seems like a weird pick, but it is with reason. Primary towers seem to be some sort of category for the original forces that the Monkeys used to pop Bloons. Every tower from BTD1 except for the Super Monkey is based off of a Bloon from Bloons (The Dart Monkey is more-so based off of the Monkey throwing Darts but there ARE Dart Bloons) and based off of other elements in the Bloons series it can be assumed that the reason that the Bloons take on these volatile forms is because they are masters of mimicry who have mimicked the towers that were present during the Bloons 1 generation, meaning that the Super Monkey was new to the Bloons Tower Defense 1-3 generation. But there is ONE Bloon that doesn't have a Monkey counterpart... The Pac-Man Bloon!... Which, like, I can imagine why, but still. It's either this or an Exploding Pineapple Monkey and that feels more geared towards Support, similar to the Spike Factory whose attacks are based off of the Road Spikes.
So how does the Gamer Monkey work? Well, naturally, their base attack is Pac-Man; well, Pac-Monkey, so that it's a proper parody. You have to micro Pac-Monkey within the fairly short range of the Gamer Monkey using the arrow keys (Or when on Mobile, by tapping arrows that surround the Gamer Monkey themself, which is also an option for clicking on PC but like why would you do that? I don't know the control scheme for when you have a controller with Bloons like with the upcoming console ports so I won't handle that). Pac-Monkey does an astounding 2 damage per chomp for a base tower but has only 1 or 2 pierce without Primary Training+. There would probably be an upgrade that allows Pac-Monkey to seek Bloons, though I imagine it'll be like Pursuit or Wingmonkey where manually targeting the tower is sometimes better. After that, the sky's the limit, really. Middle path would probably have some sort of power pellet gimmick since that's the ability path but ultimately Pac-Monkey is probably not the only tower that the Gamer Monkey could control. Though Minecraft Monkey might be a bit redundant with one of the later ideas here.
The main attack may have to be reworked for Battles 2 in some way, though.
Primary Honourable Mentions:
Aforementioned Exploding Pineapple tower, since the Exploding Pineapple originated early-on in the series. Guess this also sort of counts as a Support Honourable Mention since the reason it doesn't work as Primary is because it feels more Support-y.
Monkey Beacon tower, would have to be revamped into basically a completely different tower than it was before since it was basically just the Monkey Village but with the ability to call a Super Monkey Storm, and plus none of that is very Primary-y anyway (Since Primary is the lowest priority categorization and if a tower fits well enough into any other category, which Glue and Ice apparently don't somehow?)
Military Honourable Mention:
While we don't really NEED another Military tower out of all tower categories unless we're going 8 towers in each Category, the Bloonsday Device would be a fun and unique one. Most Special Agents from BTD5 are animals and Ninjakiwi has mentioned moving away from non-Monkey towers, but they still include Monkey-operated machines such as the Spike Factory and Tack Shooter so why not the Bloonsday Device? For those not familiar, the gimmick of the Bloonsday Device is that it's a really powerful overhead laser that leaves acid pools in its wake and it's controlled by the mouse. However, it only attacks while its ability is active. Sort of like a Super Monkey Fanclub but it would probably cost less than a Super Monkey but still over $2,000, instead of costing about $8,000. Less powerful off-cooldown than a Super Monkey Fanclub though, admittedly. I guess you could make an argument for this tower or an echo of it being in a different category but I dunno, it feels very Military-y to me imo.
Magic #1: Vampire Monkey
You know how like, Marceline was in Bloons Adventure Time TD? Do you... Do you think they'd mind if we just... Borrowed some of that? Basically, this Monkey would fly around like a Heli Pilot while biting Bloons. Way less pierce than a Heli Pilot but a lot more single-target damage. Their base, instead of a boombox, would be a coffin. Among other great powers, they also can harness power from Red Bloons and BFBs, plus partially from Rainbow Bloons (I don't think Marceline can get power from Rainbow Bloons for whatever reason, which is pretty ironic considering the character.) They'd probably have some skills that heal Monkeys but also potentially some powerful skills that cost lives, some stuff to set them apart from other Magic Monkeys as well as the Heli Pilot, y'know? Also, Vampires are traditionally sapphic. This doesn't relate to the tower. Anyway, just make sure you turn OFF the Vampire Hunter cosmetics on the Monkey Engineer if you have them while using Engineer Vampire strategies lol.
Magic #2: Cartoon Monkey
I struggled a lot on this one TBH but an old-timey cartoon character for a monkey can be interesting, especially since they can start with gloved punch attacks that are longer range than the melee heroes or the Beast Handlers but are still shorter ranged than something like a Dart Monkey shot, I guess sort of like Jake's spear hand attack. In fact, they'd probably just get a bunch of different cartoon gag attacks, stuff you'd see in Toontown Online or Who Framed Roger Rabbit for example, that would all serve different purposes, making them really similar to Jake. I mean, hey, all the Monkey Characters from Bloons Adventure Time TD were based on towers from Bloons but while some of the Adventure Time characters took on the role of Bloons towers like default Princess Bubblegum and Ice King being the Glue Gunner and Ice Monkey some of them were original, so it's not that weird to get some overlap with them right? Especially with the CARTOON Monkey, and even more especially with the MAGIC Category considering the nature of Adventure Time. Oh, and in case you're wondering how this fits the category outside of how abused the label of "Magic" gets considering superheroes, ninjas, and science are somehow all considered magic, it's the magic of animation! Plus they'd probably be some sort of drawing brought to life or maybe just actually made out of ink, and their cartoony mishaps would certainly be very much like magic (I mean think about it, a lot of the nonsense cartoons get up to would be considered magic in a realistic setting, such as when the Roadrunner runs through a drawing as if it's a real road!)
Magic Honourable Mentions:
Pixie Monkey, I was thinking it'd be nice to juxtapose the horror-y and Halloween-y Vampire with a more light-hearted fairy tale creature and first thought of a Pixie or something but ultimately they'd be surprisingly similar to the Vampire or Alchemist with the way I thought of how they'd work.
Dart Chimera, this is a concept that I had thought of as a Fauna counterpart to the Druid's mostly Flora theming (even if bottom path is very wolf-y) but ultimately that theme is now covered by the Beast Handler. The Dart Chimera was also going to have a lot of attacks based off of Special Agents, though, since I miss their inclusions and they're not getting in if they're not at least part Monkey since Ninjakiwi is leaning away from non-Monkey towers. They'd also be amphibious with a slightly different design that's easy to make just by briefly editing the base art, because having an amphibious tower would be cool.
Leprechaun Monkey, the idea of a tower who you can put more cash into not to upgrade them but to fuel their attacks in some way is cool but Leprechauns are very stereotypically Irish which makes them feel a bit wonky identity-wise imo.
Ghoul Monkey, some sort of spooky scary tower who freezes Bloons in place and knocks them back, maybe possessing them or other towers for some sort of power bonus or something, but since I already suggested the Vampire Monkey I didn't want both of the new Magic Monkeys to be heavily Halloween-based.
Yeti Monkey, could be similar to the Ice Monkey but with more brute strength early-on so that we get another tower who does Freezing since that's a really underused gimmick as time has gone on but ultimately not sure where all they go with that.
Sea Monkey, a basic and good idea but I think Ninjakiwi has mentioned being against the idea of having more water towers due to water being a limited resource (I guess the compromise was Beast Handler having one upgrade path limited to water)
Grim Reaper, I don't want to blatantly steal ideas from mods but the Grim Reaper Monkey IS a cool and unique concept, even if they might be hard to balance.
Gravity Monkey, I like taking stuff from other Bloons games and putting them in the Tower Defense series but the only way I can imagine a Gravity Monkey would be even more support-based than the Alchemist is, increasing damage/other functionality from track hazards, increasing projectile lifespan, and slowing down Bloons. I guess if the Ice Monkey and Glue Gunner can be Primary Towers then it'd be TECHNICALLY allowed, but like, nah I'm not gonna do that. In that right I guess this also counts as an honourable mention for the upcoming Support section!
The ideas have been a bit off-the-wall up to this point, but my concepts for Support Towers are actually very pre-mediated and solidified, relatively speaking anyway.
Support #1: Bloon Inflation Factory
From Bloons Monkey City, this tower is now used on the battlefield! If we get Bloons Monkey City 2 it'd probably be handled in the same way that Banana Farms are handled, where the resource building is ALSO a building that provides a tower. Now, the idea of a Bloon factory isn't exactly unique, but I feel like people's ideas for this sort of tower vary, with a big thing being that the Bloons would just... attack other Bloons somehow? Not in this concept, though. You're literally just summoning more Bloons that WILL take lives. But what's the point of this outside of bottom path Druid? Well, we don't really have a CHEAP eco tower, and for good reason! It's way too easy to save up for OP stuff if you just get to invest into money generation even earlier than a Banana Farm or Merchantman with no drawback. But Bloons give money, right? If only you could have a round be a little bit longer to get more money... Aha! There it is. The Bloon Inflation Factory is relatively cheap, but it makes it even harder to defend in exchange for more money. At the base level, anyway. And no, they won't give money in CHIMPS, so a base level Bloon Inflation Factory in CHIMPS is either there just for the challenge or so that you can take advantage of something like Bottom Path Druid. To stop this from scaling too poorly or too well into lategame however, the RBE and individual Bloon count that it can send out is based off of the actual Bloons in the round and is limited to something like 30 RBE and 20 Bloons or something. One path will be dedicated to money-making and decreasing that limit, one path will be for popping power using player-rotatable Power Pops from the Bloons series, Bloons Pop!, and perhaps even the Bloons Super Monkey series and Bloons Supermonkey 2, (That'd be the Middle Path so that there can be especially powerful Power Pops locked to a cooldown), that way we don't have 2 towers that are 100% useless in CHIMPS, and also a path where the tier 1 and 2 upgrades make the Bloons it sends easier to deal with (Making them take less lives and making it so that, while still giving the normal amount of cash, they take an extra point of damage from each attack) before transitioning into a debuff tower who uses the similarities between the Bloons it's sending out to fool the nearby natural Bloons into becoming weaker (since the Bloons being sent out from the Bloon Inflation Factory already have those two upgrades that make them easier to handle) in various ways themselves, based off of the heavily adaptive nature of the Bloons (For example, Bloons 1 where all except 1 type of Bloon are heavily based off of towers from the first few Bloons games, and the Bloons Super Monkey series + Bloons Supermonkey 2 where the Bloons make formations of other existing things such as arrows and even Sentry Turrets. I mean c'mon even the Power Pops are based off of things that Monkeys do such as Magic Bloons and Tack Bloons). Believe it or not, despite me being big on Bloons lore, that's the one path that I didn't think of until this post. Oh, speaking of lore, this actually benefits it. Like, anyone else remember that one meme where it's said that Monkeys would never harm each other with Bloons or something and yet MVM still exists in Bloons Monkey City? Clearly it's supposed to be hush hush, but that's sort of weird considering the MVM buildings being built. So clearly this tower's existence is, in part, a cover-up for MVM by the Bloonminati! Anyway, it can't hurt to have another debuff tower, especially one that's actually in the SUPPORT category. Though I'm sort of torn on whether or not this would also cause the Bloons to adapt to not having certain properties such as Regrow because that just puts it really close to Embrittlement. Also the fifth tier should probably be something more interesting than just Super Brittle with a potential slow or a diet Bloon Master Alchemist, maybe the Bloons start adapting target patterns from the Bloon Inflation Factory that cause projectiles within a certain range to home in on them? That'd be cool! Oh, and for those wondering, this wouldn't adapt well to Bloons TD Battles 2 since you don't get cash from pops, but that's fine because the COBRA would probably be a Support Monkey anyway. Alternatively the Bloon Inflation Factory can be fully transformed into a tower that, instead of soley buffing the eco from your Bloon sends (since that's locked to a very expensive Monkey Village upgrade for good reason, though it'd probably be fine for a specific expensive path for a Battles 2 Bloon Inflation Factory) it would actually strengthen your rushes, such as giving an extra Bloon per Bloon Send or increasing their speed or something, maybe with a defensive path for the Power Pops which infects your opponent's Bloons. Though outright allowing you to send certain Bloons early would probably be going too far into COBRA's territory lol.
Support #2: Barricade Creator (Monkey Architect is a cool name for them too but feels too similar to Engineer lol)
The obstacle system is a very unique BTD6 mechanic, but it's not really in your hands outside of paying for it. I don't think I'm the only one who's thought of an idea like this, either. Their basic skill is holding back Bloons for a certain amount of time (Probably a similar system to the Wall Nut from Plants vs. Zombies where the wall is degraded by a Bloon pushing against it and is degraded more by more Bloons and of higher strengths). They're pretty cheap, but their wall is also an obstacle. Though you might want this for certain things such as 2 Megapops challenges, to be fair. The wall can be placed off-track (Both for specifically blocking projectiles and also for if you don't want normal Bloons to put stress on the wall, so that it can hold specifically MOABs, though at a base level due to how cheap the tower is they'd probably just have to not be able to wall off MOABs without upgrading a bit, though probably no specific upgrade but instead a tier minimum such as 2 or 3 so that there isn't a crosspath that just doesn't hold MOABs lol). If it's not placed right on a track then it'll have a default rotation that you can change by clicking on it and holding down while moving your mouse in the direction it should be rotated in. The wall will be repaired slowly over time if no Bloons are attacking it. Low tier upgrades will have various utility upgrades such as better handling of higher tiers and quantities of Bloons, the rate at which it is repaired, possibly having more than one wall up at a time, and perhaps an after-effect of the wall collapsing, such as being made out of volatile bricks popping a few Bloon layers. Oh, and the ability to make hazard removal cheaper, I think someone else already did that idea with something similar but I mean it just kinda feels natural. It might be tempting to just give a high-pierce explosion but I feel like that's too similar to Spiked Mines, being a track hazard that expires then explodes, especially if you want to give the wall the ability to pop Bloons that are pushing against it. One path can have a third-tier upgrade called "Special Materials" which is an especially big part of this tower concept. So, a lot of things from the original Bloons series are represented, even including the Ceramic and Lead blocks, however I think that part of the obstacle system in BTD6 was to reference how the Ceramic and Lead blocks actually functioned in comparison to the Ceramic and Lead Bloons. But there's something missing. The rubber obstacle! Basically the only bouncing projectile is when you have a Spike-O-Pult+. So the Special Materials upgrade gives targeting options. Brick can be a default or something, but then you have Rubber, which blocks energy-based projectiles (Not soley based off of damage type since "Normal" includes both energy-esque projectiles AND solid projectiles) but bounces solid projectiles, increasing their lifespan and buffing the power of Spike-O-Pult+ (So that they still have their speciality.) Then there's Mirror, which does the same but it blocks solid projectiles while reflecting energy projectiles. There can also be Glass which would just block solid projectiles but let energy projectiles go right through. Worth noting that Rubber would have fairly high durability against Bloons since it bounces them away so that they aren't constantly attacking but, while leaving behind volatile glass shards, the Mirror and Glass would be very frail to Bloons. After that upgrade would be a target upgrade which has a button that looks similar to re-target buttons that are being introduced in the upcoming update except it's instead a toggle that changes between no image, to an image with a Bloon on it for negative priority attacking, (So you can, for example, have a Juggernaut attack it constantly when no Bloons are in their range and their projectiles will hit Bloons far outside of their range after bouncing), to an image with a Bloon with a target on them for top priority attacking, (So you can, for example, have Quincy attack a Rubber wall, buffing the next hit of his projectile[s] while also activating the very accurate part of his attack where it bounces from Bloon to Bloon, instead of having him try to attack a Pink Bloon only to miss). Then the fifth tier would probably be some sort of cool portal upgrade where a portal will take any projectile to another placed portal at an angle you decide the same way that wall angles are decided. Would also probably be able to transport Ceramics and below, maybe with some sort of limitation so that you can't just perma-loop Ceramics (While Spirit of the Forest handles infinite Ceramics that's not accounting for freeplay scaling of Super Ceramics so that's different). The portals would strengthen projectiles maybe a bit stronger than reflections and bounces but the main benefit is just the ability to teleport projectiles to anywhere you want while greatly increasing their lifespan, probably losing the specific synergy with Spike-O-Pult+. Middle Path would probably just be a basic "Wall even more Bloons more strongly!" path with a fortification ability, just an extremified form of the base concept, cool stuff. Then the final path can, regardless of if that brick idea is on the same path as the "More Materials" concept, focus more on handling the Bloons AFTER the wall is defeated. I'm personally a fan of there being snow on top of the wall so that all the Bloons get frozen after the wall is destroyed because WE NEED MORE FREEZING. Maybe the fifth tier can be a mountain that has an avalanche, allowing it to do massive damage and freeze MOAB- Nah that's too similar to Icicle Impale isn't it... Well, if we get rid of the cool ice gimmick then it can just be some sort of volatile wall. Maybe it does more damage based off of the quantity of Bloons? Some sort of... Recoil upgrade? That could be neat. Anyway I don't know how well this tower translates to Battles 2 but if they wouldn't translate well then that's why I gave an alternate function of the Bloon Inflation Factory, in case the COBRA would take this tower's spot instead lol
Support Honourable Mentions:
Reworked Monkey Academy, in case you don't know there lies in the code a tower that had paths that would buff Magic towers, Support Towers, and Military Towers/Heroes, but it was ultimately scrapped for one reason or another (Some of the buffs were wild like decreasing Military Monkey footprint lol)
Terraforming Tower, could have some things from Barricade Creator while also helping with placement in places that wouldn't normally be allowed such as water on land, land on water, and and tower on aipath, but that admittedly sounds a little bit too strong unless you make them overpriced, kinda hard to balance like the Bloonchipper though maybe it's not that bad lol.
Bloon Delayer, something that, by your command, moves Bloons to later rounds so you deal with them later. I dunno seems neat.
Feel free to KINDLY share constructive criticism and also your own ideas! I'll try to not be too critical of you as long as you're not overly critical of me ;)
submitted by JoelTheBloonsMonkey to btd6 [link] [comments]
I'll use this as an opportunity to share whatever Tower concepts I can think of: One Primary, Two Magic, Two Support, so we can have 7 of each!
Primary: Gamer Monkey/Arcade Monkey
This DEFINITELY seems like a weird pick, but it is with reason. Primary towers seem to be some sort of category for the original forces that the Monkeys used to pop Bloons. Every tower from BTD1 except for the Super Monkey is based off of a Bloon from Bloons (The Dart Monkey is more-so based off of the Monkey throwing Darts but there ARE Dart Bloons) and based off of other elements in the Bloons series it can be assumed that the reason that the Bloons take on these volatile forms is because they are masters of mimicry who have mimicked the towers that were present during the Bloons 1 generation, meaning that the Super Monkey was new to the Bloons Tower Defense 1-3 generation. But there is ONE Bloon that doesn't have a Monkey counterpart... The Pac-Man Bloon!... Which, like, I can imagine why, but still. It's either this or an Exploding Pineapple Monkey and that feels more geared towards Support, similar to the Spike Factory whose attacks are based off of the Road Spikes.
So how does the Gamer Monkey work? Well, naturally, their base attack is Pac-Man; well, Pac-Monkey, so that it's a proper parody. You have to micro Pac-Monkey within the fairly short range of the Gamer Monkey using the arrow keys (Or when on Mobile, by tapping arrows that surround the Gamer Monkey themself, which is also an option for clicking on PC but like why would you do that? I don't know the control scheme for when you have a controller with Bloons like with the upcoming console ports so I won't handle that). Pac-Monkey does an astounding 2 damage per chomp for a base tower but has only 1 or 2 pierce without Primary Training+. There would probably be an upgrade that allows Pac-Monkey to seek Bloons, though I imagine it'll be like Pursuit or Wingmonkey where manually targeting the tower is sometimes better. After that, the sky's the limit, really. Middle path would probably have some sort of power pellet gimmick since that's the ability path but ultimately Pac-Monkey is probably not the only tower that the Gamer Monkey could control. Though Minecraft Monkey might be a bit redundant with one of the later ideas here.
The main attack may have to be reworked for Battles 2 in some way, though.
Primary Honourable Mentions:
Aforementioned Exploding Pineapple tower, since the Exploding Pineapple originated early-on in the series. Guess this also sort of counts as a Support Honourable Mention since the reason it doesn't work as Primary is because it feels more Support-y.
Monkey Beacon tower, would have to be revamped into basically a completely different tower than it was before since it was basically just the Monkey Village but with the ability to call a Super Monkey Storm, and plus none of that is very Primary-y anyway (Since Primary is the lowest priority categorization and if a tower fits well enough into any other category, which Glue and Ice apparently don't somehow?)
Military Honourable Mention:
While we don't really NEED another Military tower out of all tower categories unless we're going 8 towers in each Category, the Bloonsday Device would be a fun and unique one. Most Special Agents from BTD5 are animals and Ninjakiwi has mentioned moving away from non-Monkey towers, but they still include Monkey-operated machines such as the Spike Factory and Tack Shooter so why not the Bloonsday Device? For those not familiar, the gimmick of the Bloonsday Device is that it's a really powerful overhead laser that leaves acid pools in its wake and it's controlled by the mouse. However, it only attacks while its ability is active. Sort of like a Super Monkey Fanclub but it would probably cost less than a Super Monkey but still over $2,000, instead of costing about $8,000. Less powerful off-cooldown than a Super Monkey Fanclub though, admittedly. I guess you could make an argument for this tower or an echo of it being in a different category but I dunno, it feels very Military-y to me imo.
Magic #1: Vampire Monkey
You know how like, Marceline was in Bloons Adventure Time TD? Do you... Do you think they'd mind if we just... Borrowed some of that? Basically, this Monkey would fly around like a Heli Pilot while biting Bloons. Way less pierce than a Heli Pilot but a lot more single-target damage. Their base, instead of a boombox, would be a coffin. Among other great powers, they also can harness power from Red Bloons and BFBs, plus partially from Rainbow Bloons (I don't think Marceline can get power from Rainbow Bloons for whatever reason, which is pretty ironic considering the character.) They'd probably have some skills that heal Monkeys but also potentially some powerful skills that cost lives, some stuff to set them apart from other Magic Monkeys as well as the Heli Pilot, y'know? Also, Vampires are traditionally sapphic. This doesn't relate to the tower. Anyway, just make sure you turn OFF the Vampire Hunter cosmetics on the Monkey Engineer if you have them while using Engineer Vampire strategies lol.
Magic #2: Cartoon Monkey
I struggled a lot on this one TBH but an old-timey cartoon character for a monkey can be interesting, especially since they can start with gloved punch attacks that are longer range than the melee heroes or the Beast Handlers but are still shorter ranged than something like a Dart Monkey shot, I guess sort of like Jake's spear hand attack. In fact, they'd probably just get a bunch of different cartoon gag attacks, stuff you'd see in Toontown Online or Who Framed Roger Rabbit for example, that would all serve different purposes, making them really similar to Jake. I mean, hey, all the Monkey Characters from Bloons Adventure Time TD were based on towers from Bloons but while some of the Adventure Time characters took on the role of Bloons towers like default Princess Bubblegum and Ice King being the Glue Gunner and Ice Monkey some of them were original, so it's not that weird to get some overlap with them right? Especially with the CARTOON Monkey, and even more especially with the MAGIC Category considering the nature of Adventure Time. Oh, and in case you're wondering how this fits the category outside of how abused the label of "Magic" gets considering superheroes, ninjas, and science are somehow all considered magic, it's the magic of animation! Plus they'd probably be some sort of drawing brought to life or maybe just actually made out of ink, and their cartoony mishaps would certainly be very much like magic (I mean think about it, a lot of the nonsense cartoons get up to would be considered magic in a realistic setting, such as when the Roadrunner runs through a drawing as if it's a real road!)
Magic Honourable Mentions:
Pixie Monkey, I was thinking it'd be nice to juxtapose the horror-y and Halloween-y Vampire with a more light-hearted fairy tale creature and first thought of a Pixie or something but ultimately they'd be surprisingly similar to the Vampire or Alchemist with the way I thought of how they'd work.
Dart Chimera, this is a concept that I had thought of as a Fauna counterpart to the Druid's mostly Flora theming (even if bottom path is very wolf-y) but ultimately that theme is now covered by the Beast Handler. The Dart Chimera was also going to have a lot of attacks based off of Special Agents, though, since I miss their inclusions and they're not getting in if they're not at least part Monkey since Ninjakiwi is leaning away from non-Monkey towers. They'd also be amphibious with a slightly different design that's easy to make just by briefly editing the base art, because having an amphibious tower would be cool.
Leprechaun Monkey, the idea of a tower who you can put more cash into not to upgrade them but to fuel their attacks in some way is cool but Leprechauns are very stereotypically Irish which makes them feel a bit wonky identity-wise imo.
Ghoul Monkey, some sort of spooky scary tower who freezes Bloons in place and knocks them back, maybe possessing them or other towers for some sort of power bonus or something, but since I already suggested the Vampire Monkey I didn't want both of the new Magic Monkeys to be heavily Halloween-based.
Yeti Monkey, could be similar to the Ice Monkey but with more brute strength early-on so that we get another tower who does Freezing since that's a really underused gimmick as time has gone on but ultimately not sure where all they go with that.
Sea Monkey, a basic and good idea but I think Ninjakiwi has mentioned being against the idea of having more water towers due to water being a limited resource (I guess the compromise was Beast Handler having one upgrade path limited to water)
Grim Reaper, I don't want to blatantly steal ideas from mods but the Grim Reaper Monkey IS a cool and unique concept, even if they might be hard to balance.
Gravity Monkey, I like taking stuff from other Bloons games and putting them in the Tower Defense series but the only way I can imagine a Gravity Monkey would be even more support-based than the Alchemist is, increasing damage/other functionality from track hazards, increasing projectile lifespan, and slowing down Bloons. I guess if the Ice Monkey and Glue Gunner can be Primary Towers then it'd be TECHNICALLY allowed, but like, nah I'm not gonna do that. In that right I guess this also counts as an honourable mention for the upcoming Support section!
The ideas have been a bit off-the-wall up to this point, but my concepts for Support Towers are actually very pre-mediated and solidified, relatively speaking anyway.
Support #1: Bloon Inflation Factory
From Bloons Monkey City, this tower is now used on the battlefield! If we get Bloons Monkey City 2 it'd probably be handled in the same way that Banana Farms are handled, where the resource building is ALSO a building that provides a tower. Now, the idea of a Bloon factory isn't exactly unique, but I feel like people's ideas for this sort of tower vary, with a big thing being that the Bloons would just... attack other Bloons somehow? Not in this concept, though. You're literally just summoning more Bloons that WILL take lives. But what's the point of this outside of bottom path Druid? Well, we don't really have a CHEAP eco tower, and for good reason! It's way too easy to save up for OP stuff if you just get to invest into money generation even earlier than a Banana Farm or Merchantman with no drawback. But Bloons give money, right? If only you could have a round be a little bit longer to get more money... Aha! There it is. The Bloon Inflation Factory is relatively cheap, but it makes it even harder to defend in exchange for more money. At the base level, anyway. And no, they won't give money in CHIMPS, so a base level Bloon Inflation Factory in CHIMPS is either there just for the challenge or so that you can take advantage of something like Bottom Path Druid. To stop this from scaling too poorly or too well into lategame however, the RBE and individual Bloon count that it can send out is based off of the actual Bloons in the round and is limited to something like 30 RBE and 20 Bloons or something. One path will be dedicated to money-making and decreasing that limit, one path will be for popping power using player-rotatable Power Pops from the Bloons series, Bloons Pop!, and perhaps even the Bloons Super Monkey series and Bloons Supermonkey 2, (That'd be the Middle Path so that there can be especially powerful Power Pops locked to a cooldown), that way we don't have 2 towers that are 100% useless in CHIMPS, and also a path where the tier 1 and 2 upgrades make the Bloons it sends easier to deal with (Making them take less lives and making it so that, while still giving the normal amount of cash, they take an extra point of damage from each attack) before transitioning into a debuff tower who uses the similarities between the Bloons it's sending out to fool the nearby natural Bloons into becoming weaker (since the Bloons being sent out from the Bloon Inflation Factory already have those two upgrades that make them easier to handle) in various ways themselves, based off of the heavily adaptive nature of the Bloons (For example, Bloons 1 where all except 1 type of Bloon are heavily based off of towers from the first few Bloons games, and the Bloons Super Monkey series + Bloons Supermonkey 2 where the Bloons make formations of other existing things such as arrows and even Sentry Turrets. I mean c'mon even the Power Pops are based off of things that Monkeys do such as Magic Bloons and Tack Bloons). Believe it or not, despite me being big on Bloons lore, that's the one path that I didn't think of until this post. Oh, speaking of lore, this actually benefits it. Like, anyone else remember that one meme where it's said that Monkeys would never harm each other with Bloons or something and yet MVM still exists in Bloons Monkey City? Clearly it's supposed to be hush hush, but that's sort of weird considering the MVM buildings being built. So clearly this tower's existence is, in part, a cover-up for MVM by the Bloonminati! Anyway, it can't hurt to have another debuff tower, especially one that's actually in the SUPPORT category. Though I'm sort of torn on whether or not this would also cause the Bloons to adapt to not having certain properties such as Regrow because that just puts it really close to Embrittlement. Also the fifth tier should probably be something more interesting than just Super Brittle with a potential slow or a diet Bloon Master Alchemist, maybe the Bloons start adapting target patterns from the Bloon Inflation Factory that cause projectiles within a certain range to home in on them? That'd be cool! Oh, and for those wondering, this wouldn't adapt well to Bloons TD Battles 2 since you don't get cash from pops, but that's fine because the COBRA would probably be a Support Monkey anyway. Alternatively the Bloon Inflation Factory can be fully transformed into a tower that, instead of soley buffing the eco from your Bloon sends (since that's locked to a very expensive Monkey Village upgrade for good reason, though it'd probably be fine for a specific expensive path for a Battles 2 Bloon Inflation Factory) it would actually strengthen your rushes, such as giving an extra Bloon per Bloon Send or increasing their speed or something, maybe with a defensive path for the Power Pops which infects your opponent's Bloons. Though outright allowing you to send certain Bloons early would probably be going too far into COBRA's territory lol.
Support #2: Barricade Creator (Monkey Architect is a cool name for them too but feels too similar to Engineer lol)
The obstacle system is a very unique BTD6 mechanic, but it's not really in your hands outside of paying for it. I don't think I'm the only one who's thought of an idea like this, either. Their basic skill is holding back Bloons for a certain amount of time (Probably a similar system to the Wall Nut from Plants vs. Zombies where the wall is degraded by a Bloon pushing against it and is degraded more by more Bloons and of higher strengths). They're pretty cheap, but their wall is also an obstacle. Though you might want this for certain things such as 2 Megapops challenges, to be fair. The wall can be placed off-track (Both for specifically blocking projectiles and also for if you don't want normal Bloons to put stress on the wall, so that it can hold specifically MOABs, though at a base level due to how cheap the tower is they'd probably just have to not be able to wall off MOABs without upgrading a bit, though probably no specific upgrade but instead a tier minimum such as 2 or 3 so that there isn't a crosspath that just doesn't hold MOABs lol). If it's not placed right on a track then it'll have a default rotation that you can change by clicking on it and holding down while moving your mouse in the direction it should be rotated in. The wall will be repaired slowly over time if no Bloons are attacking it. Low tier upgrades will have various utility upgrades such as better handling of higher tiers and quantities of Bloons, the rate at which it is repaired, possibly having more than one wall up at a time, and perhaps an after-effect of the wall collapsing, such as being made out of volatile bricks popping a few Bloon layers. Oh, and the ability to make hazard removal cheaper, I think someone else already did that idea with something similar but I mean it just kinda feels natural. It might be tempting to just give a high-pierce explosion but I feel like that's too similar to Spiked Mines, being a track hazard that expires then explodes, especially if you want to give the wall the ability to pop Bloons that are pushing against it. One path can have a third-tier upgrade called "Special Materials" which is an especially big part of this tower concept. So, a lot of things from the original Bloons series are represented, even including the Ceramic and Lead blocks, however I think that part of the obstacle system in BTD6 was to reference how the Ceramic and Lead blocks actually functioned in comparison to the Ceramic and Lead Bloons. But there's something missing. The rubber obstacle! Basically the only bouncing projectile is when you have a Spike-O-Pult+. So the Special Materials upgrade gives targeting options. Brick can be a default or something, but then you have Rubber, which blocks energy-based projectiles (Not soley based off of damage type since "Normal" includes both energy-esque projectiles AND solid projectiles) but bounces solid projectiles, increasing their lifespan and buffing the power of Spike-O-Pult+ (So that they still have their speciality.) Then there's Mirror, which does the same but it blocks solid projectiles while reflecting energy projectiles. There can also be Glass which would just block solid projectiles but let energy projectiles go right through. Worth noting that Rubber would have fairly high durability against Bloons since it bounces them away so that they aren't constantly attacking but, while leaving behind volatile glass shards, the Mirror and Glass would be very frail to Bloons. After that upgrade would be a target upgrade which has a button that looks similar to re-target buttons that are being introduced in the upcoming update except it's instead a toggle that changes between no image, to an image with a Bloon on it for negative priority attacking, (So you can, for example, have a Juggernaut attack it constantly when no Bloons are in their range and their projectiles will hit Bloons far outside of their range after bouncing), to an image with a Bloon with a target on them for top priority attacking, (So you can, for example, have Quincy attack a Rubber wall, buffing the next hit of his projectile[s] while also activating the very accurate part of his attack where it bounces from Bloon to Bloon, instead of having him try to attack a Pink Bloon only to miss). Then the fifth tier would probably be some sort of cool portal upgrade where a portal will take any projectile to another placed portal at an angle you decide the same way that wall angles are decided. Would also probably be able to transport Ceramics and below, maybe with some sort of limitation so that you can't just perma-loop Ceramics (While Spirit of the Forest handles infinite Ceramics that's not accounting for freeplay scaling of Super Ceramics so that's different). The portals would strengthen projectiles maybe a bit stronger than reflections and bounces but the main benefit is just the ability to teleport projectiles to anywhere you want while greatly increasing their lifespan, probably losing the specific synergy with Spike-O-Pult+. Middle Path would probably just be a basic "Wall even more Bloons more strongly!" path with a fortification ability, just an extremified form of the base concept, cool stuff. Then the final path can, regardless of if that brick idea is on the same path as the "More Materials" concept, focus more on handling the Bloons AFTER the wall is defeated. I'm personally a fan of there being snow on top of the wall so that all the Bloons get frozen after the wall is destroyed because WE NEED MORE FREEZING. Maybe the fifth tier can be a mountain that has an avalanche, allowing it to do massive damage and freeze MOAB- Nah that's too similar to Icicle Impale isn't it... Well, if we get rid of the cool ice gimmick then it can just be some sort of volatile wall. Maybe it does more damage based off of the quantity of Bloons? Some sort of... Recoil upgrade? That could be neat. Anyway I don't know how well this tower translates to Battles 2 but if they wouldn't translate well then that's why I gave an alternate function of the Bloon Inflation Factory, in case the COBRA would take this tower's spot instead lol
Support Honourable Mentions:
Reworked Monkey Academy, in case you don't know there lies in the code a tower that had paths that would buff Magic towers, Support Towers, and Military Towers/Heroes, but it was ultimately scrapped for one reason or another (Some of the buffs were wild like decreasing Military Monkey footprint lol)
Terraforming Tower, could have some things from Barricade Creator while also helping with placement in places that wouldn't normally be allowed such as water on land, land on water, and and tower on aipath, but that admittedly sounds a little bit too strong unless you make them overpriced, kinda hard to balance like the Bloonchipper though maybe it's not that bad lol.
Bloon Delayer, something that, by your command, moves Bloons to later rounds so you deal with them later. I dunno seems neat.
Feel free to KINDLY share constructive criticism and also your own ideas! I'll try to not be too critical of you as long as you're not overly critical of me ;)
2023.04.02 10:48 Sinpleton025 [Rifts of War] - Chapter 10
Expedition report from Rift Group 4
Report carried out by Lieutenant Marvin Bailey
Report states: Peaceful contact with the local town of Una has ended in failure. Upon nearing the gates, the elves demanded RG-4 to identify themselves and after identification, they opened fire on with bows, crossbows, and scorpions. RG4 retaliated by opening fire with its 50mm chain gun, destroying parts of the wall, killing an unknown number of defenders, and destroying their heavy defenses. The initial shock from the chain gun froze the defenders, allowing RG-4 to vacate the area with minimum damage and no losses taken. This was the first unsuccessful interaction with the local populace since the beginning of the expedition and the Rift Group program and it shows that not all natives will be pleased with REC's arrival.
Other news: The enemy force on the other side of the North Alston river has not shown any signs of movement. Moreover, drone footage shows a number of the local populace leaving the Meilume capital and Una across the river, further suggesting that the Imperial army wishes to fortify and wall off the area between the two Alston rivers with the intention of boxing the REC before attacking. CIA sources can confirm this is the case. As far as the Rosian vassal kingdoms are concerned, RG-1, upon making successful contact with the border town of Afa, has sent a platoon, led by lieutenant James Wilson, to the Alston capital of Olinor where they made contact with the king of Alston, Thavok Zorgen. After a number of debates, king Thavok has agreed to accompany the platoon to the duchies of Zirith, Dothen, and Elarith, as well as the kingdom of Opherin to convince the dukes and kind Ostontul to attend a meeting with ambassador Eugene Anderson. Additional transportation will be provided should it be necessary.
30th day of late yellow season
Elyana, Empire of Light
"So.", said the chained human, "Is it my turn to pick the nail or yours?". The torturer responded by punching him in the face. The prisoner spat out a piece of his tooth before answering, "C'mon, you're supposed to be consistent. It's nail, nail, cut, punch. The teeth come later when all the nails are gone. Everyone knows that.". The torturer punched him again. "There you go again, messing up the consistency. I think I know why you work in this shit hole now."
The torturer wanted to hit him again, but a voice stopped him, "Enough!". A moment later, two elves walked into the room.
"Great General Laeroth.", the torturer said as he bowed.
"How is the questioning, Maul?", Laeroth asked.
"Not well, my lord. This human is proving to be a greater challenge than I had anticipated. All I got was a name. Jack Mitchell."
Laeroth sighed as he approached the chained-up human. His body was cut in several places and half of his fingernails have been removed. In addition, he was missing two teeth and bleeding from his mouth and nose. Yet he still denies Maul. As much as it pained Laeroth to admit it, he was impressed. Any Rosian or even elf would have broken by now. What made this human different?
"Jack Mitchell.", Laeroth said, making Jack lift his head and smile.
"What's up?", Jack asked.
"The ceiling.", Laeroth answered, making Jack laugh. "What is humorous?"
"Maul over there said the same thing.", Jack replied as he wheezed, "You sure you're not related? You got the same shade."
This made Maul mad as he grabbed his hammer, "You insolent savage!"
"Calm yourself.", Laeroth said, "I still need this human alive. High mage Gunru, you have my permission.".
"Yes, general.", said Gunru. He was one of the seven high mages of the empire in North Altia, second only to the grand mage Ishton. Each high mage is able to use more than one type of magical ability. Usually, a mage is only able to use one ability from a single spirit. The mages of Vita can be healers or they can use their power to give life to made objects. This way they can create their own army, however, the mage has to remain alive in order for the creature to remain alive, and if the creature is destroyed the life will return back to its source. The mages of Elendi can use one of the various elements, such as wind, fire, water, and so on. One other ability the high mages possess is 'Mind read'. By focusing their spiritual energy on the mind of the target, they can visualize their knowledge.
"What the hell are you doing?", Jack asked as Gunru grabbed his head with both hands, "I mean I'm flattered but I'm into women, just so you know."
Gunru closed his eyes and white energy started appearing from his hands. That energy went into Jack's head, which remained perfectly still as this occurred. Gunru entered his mind and began to project Jack's memories, thoughts, and knowledge around him. Laeroth just watched. He himself couldn't see unless Gunru gave the knowledge to him. But he did see something that disturbed him. Gunru began to twitch. A twitching that turned to shake as his eyes opened and quickly pulled back while panting and holding his head as though he had a headache.
"Gunru.", Laeroth called, "Tell me, what have you seen?"
Gunru shook and could barely grasp the words to speak, "T-T-Terrible things. A mistake. All of this was a mistake."
"Show me."
"No!", Gunru yelled immediately, "You must not. I could not get all the details myself. You will go insane."
"I must know our enemy. Even if it is a little, I must know. Gunru, you must show me."
Gunru greatly hesitated and opposed this. But at the same time, he knew if anyone was able to take the strain, it was Laeroth, the most loyal servant of the empire. "Very well. I shall show you as much as I can. Forgive me."
As Gunru placed his hands on Laeroth's head, the same energy went into it. Laeroth opened his eyes and found himself on a field of battle. Two sides were fighting, humans. One side had blue clothing and the other was red, both fighting with cannons and boomsticks, but nothing else. The blue-clothed soldiers appeared to be winning and they charged the red ones, all while carrying a flag. Red and white stripes with stars. It was brutal. What could it mean?
Night turned to day over and over again, until another battle occurred. Same thing, broomsticks, and cannons, but they fought each other. Once again, there was a flag with stars and stripes but now there were two. A civil war? Hundreds of thousands of men died all for what?
Fast forward, Laeroth appeared in another field, but considerably more terrifying. It was a field of black mud, ash, and blood as far as the eye could see. Thousands upon thousands of bodies piled up around giant cannons that fired and destroyed castles. He could see waves of soldiers running forward at their dug-in enemies. They fell by the dozen until a few lucky ones reached the line and engaged in a brutal brawl. The fighting kept escalating until a massive white cloud filled the battlefield and everyone caught in started choking and dying.
Once the smoke cleared, Laeroth could see hundreds of thousands, no, millions of soldiers and armored beasts marching across a field. They fought another gigantic army, one Laeroth thought could never exist. Millions of troops met on the battlefield and slaughtered one another as the metal monsters spat fire and thousands of iron wyverns fought in the air. Massive ships of steel fired enormous cannons of steel at one another as hundreds of iron rods fell from the sky and flattened the cities below.
Closing and opening his eyes one more time he saw a city. A large city with towers of stone and glass that pierced the clouds. But then he saw it get destroyed as it was engulfed in a literal sea of flames. All of those people were dead in an instant, and in place of the city was a gigantic cloud in the shape of a mushroom.
The day turned to night again as Laeroth was lifted into the air and observed the world change. The nations fought one another while also existing in peace. Cities became massive and their armies even more powerful. But then, the fires came. The great cities turned to a smoldering pile of ash as they turned on one another in the name of 'salvation'. War, disease, poverty, entire civilizations were whipped out and empires started to fall. But in this chaos, something was born. The petty rivalry of the great powers vanished and united they led their armies and pulled the corruption by its roots. It took them decades but they did it. And now united, they rebuilt their homes. The world was not at peace but they made the most of it. At least until they showed up. The rift opened, the invasion failed and now an angered giant prepares to take its vengeance and punish them for their crimes.
Gunru stopped sending energy into Laeroth's mind and let go of his head. Laeroth bent over and panted. His heart was racing and his nose bleeding. He could not believe what he saw. Was there really no hope? Was this war lost before it even began? How was he to win? He wasn't, but he knew he couldn't just give up. His pride as a warrior and a soldier wouldn't let him. But more than that, it was Canus. His maniacal nature coupled with fear will only make things worse if he were to find out. Furthermore, the Inquisition will most likely pull strings and keep the war going for their sick and twisted games. Laeroth knew he had to come up with something, otherwise, the empire will crumble.
"General, are you alright.", Maul asked.
"I am fine Maul.", Laeroth answered, "Take the human back to the cell and treat his wounds. I will let you know what I want with him next later."
"Yes, my lord.", Maul said as he gestured to the guards to help him.
"Gunru."
"Yes, general?", Gunru answered.
"You must not speak of this to anyone. Not even the emperor. This stays between us. Do you understand me?"
"Yes, general."
"Good. Now excuse me, I must clean myself and prepare for the future.". Laeroth left the torture chamber and climbed up the steps to the halls. On his way to his personal chamber, he could feel a strange sensation run down his spine. The effects of the mind read? No, this was something else. He made a random turn and walked down a narrow hallway. After taking a few steps, he prepared a knife and waited. Soon, a cloaked individual suddenly appeared from behind the corner and started running away. Laeroth immediately gave chase, signaling the guards in front to stop him. Two guards formed up with shields, which made him stop for a moment. After a moment Laeroth threw his knife at his back. He yelled in pain as he fell over and the guards moved in.
"Leave him!", Laeroth shouted as he grabbed the man and pulled the cloak down. It turned out to be a woman. "Who sent you!? Talk!". His words fell on deaf ears as the woman's head twitched and a thick purple foam-like substance oozed from her mouth. Laeroth groaned and let her go, "Burn the body. Speak nothing of this.". The guards nodded and carried the body outside.
'Gilshor.', Laeroth thought, 'I will not let you turn this war into your own personal puppet show. The darkness will not rule the light.'
---
(Meanwhile)
Upper level of the Imperial palace
Lilyth Camilla Agorix was always a strange girl. While the other girls took care of their hair, she took care of the armor forged specifically for her. While the other girls practiced knitting and read poetry, she expressed an interest in politics and philosophy. This behavior wasn't particularly accepted by her father. Her mother, on the other hand, empress Alruna Flavia Agorix, greatly supported her. It was thanks to her effort that women were allowed to join the army, and at the moment, a tenth of the army is female. Alruna wasn't named the Lioness for anything, and Lilyth tries to live up to her expectations.
But some members of the family aren't as hard-working as her. Her brother Armas is the biggest and most disgusting slob. She could hear him and his hooligans laugh in his chamber. Trying her best to ignore them, she walked past, but as Armas exited the room he called her over, "Hey sister! Come on in. We have room."
Lilyth groaned, "I have more important matters to attend to than entertain a room full of children."
Armas laughed, "Oh come on, loosen up. The slaves taught me that."
"Armas, if mother finds out-"
"What? What will she do? These slaves were given to me and I can do whatever I want with them."
"Is that so?", spoke a mature womanly voice, "Tell me, Armas, what exactly have you been doing?"
"M-Mother?", Armas uttered. Next to her was the second youngest daughter, Khelsa, along with the captive human girl, Amy. The two became friends after Amy arrived and while Alruna didn't support it at first, she learned that a child is a child, and her being from a supposedly savage land is irrelevant. "Nothing. Just questioning these captives with my soldiers."
"You mean raping women with your hooligans.", Alruna said as she walked into his room. The stench and sight made her sick. "Guards! Take these women to my chambers and bring along some maids. Clean them, feed them, and dress them properly." Guards did just that, pushing away the thugs who grunted in response.
"Khelsa?", Amy asked, "Is that your brother?"
Khelsa sighed in response, "Yes. I'm sorry you had to see this."
As the guards took the women out, Armas protested, "Mother, this is unfair. These women are my slaves. Furthermore, they are savages from a barbaric land. They should consider themselves lucky to even be in my presence. Father says-"
Alruna slapped him, stopping his sentence, "Your father may be the emperor, but I know him better than anyone else. He is narrow-minded and frightened, only seeing what is right in front of him, and never bothering to properly assess anything. We may be the chosen bringers of light, but if we act as barbaric as our adversaries then we are no better than them. Now, get this room cleaned and then yourself. You are royalty, act like it." With that Alruna and Lilyth left, leaving Armas to bicker and throw tantrums.
"Thank you, mother.", Lilyth said, "I must go now."
"Go, my daughter.", said Alruna. Lilyth bowed and entered her chamber.
"Fenris.", she spoke, "Is everything ready?"
"Yes, princess.", Fenris said, "The savage stands before you in chains and the scribe has prepared the parchment."
"Excellent. Scribe, you are to document any and all findings. Listen carefully. Do you understand?"
"Yes, princess.", answered the scribe.
"Let us begin.", Lilyth said as she walked to the captive, "What is your name?"
"You know that.", he answered and received a back-handed slap. After moving his head back, he answered, "Brian O'Neil."
"Where are you from?"
"My mom.", to which he received a punch in the stomach. It didn't hurt a lot, considering he was a large man. "The United States of America."
"Tell me more about it."
"It's a unity of fifty-two states with three hundred and fifty million people."
This shocked Lilyth but she didn't show it, "Are there more countries?"
"Many more. My country isn't even the biggest one."
"So there are more empires in your world."
"No, there aren't any."
Lilyth paused for a moment, "Then what?"
"We are a republic. We elect our leader and that leader represents us. He doesn't have all the power and all of his decisions are put to a vote. Empires and kings are a thing of the past."
"You expect me to believe that? A nation cannot function without a centralized figure controlling it."
Brad chuckled, "We use to think that, too. But we found out that the opposite is true. One person can control a city, or maybe a small nation. But the bigger a nation gets and the more powerful it gets, the more strain appears on a single person. This is why our nations are governed by dozens of people and we have careful systems for governance. A single person is not enough. He would only bring ruin."
This shocked Lilyth more. A system like this was always theorized by politicians and philosophers, but nothing was ever tested because the emperors abolished it, saying that it goes against the path of light. "You say that. But our empire has grown powerful and spread across the world. We have become its rulers and spreaders of wisdom, knowledge, and civilization."
"There used to be an empire in my world that thought just like you. They wanted to conquer the entire world and make it so that only their ways exist. Do you want to know what happened?"
"What?"
"They became too big. There was too much ground. Their forces were spread thin and could be picked off by united barbarians who didn't like their ways. War stopped and since their economy depended on it, it crumbled. Their politicians became corrupt and power-hungry. They stole from and even killed each other. Eventually, they fell beneath the force of the united kingdoms they called savages and were wiped out. This is why no one can truly conquer the world. No matter how hard you fight, the world always wins."
Lilyth clenched her fists and stared at Brad with an angered look, "You say that we will end up the same?"
"If you refuse to change, then yes.".
After staring at him for a few moments, she spoke, "Fenris! Take him back to his cell. We will continue this tomorrow."
"At once, princess.", Fenris said and grabbed Brad by the arm.
As they were walking out the door, Brad turned his head to Fenris, "You know she likes you, right?".
Fenris looked at him for a bit before pushing him forward. Lilyth was left to ponder Brad's words. There is still much for her to learn.
---
(That night)
Somewhere between Meilume capital and Una
Being a prisoner is never good. Your rights are taken away and the ones who captured you can do anything they want to you. They could kill you, sell you or worse. This was the predicament the Belus family found itself in. Out of the two hundred soldiers that accompanied them, only one soldier remained, the others were killed and fed to the welfen and leanoids. The Belus family was in a cage with the last soldier, Klaus, and a servant, Lia. The five of them were all sitting with their hands tied behind their backs, wondering what will happen next. Taria was still grieving over the death of Aego, not even lifting her head.
"Bellon.", Nimriel whispered, "What will happen to us?"
"Do not worry.", Bellon said, "We will alright."
"Stop lying, father.", Taria said, still with head lowered, "These people will first rape us, torture us and then demand ransom from the empire."
"Hush, my lady.", Lia said, "Don't say such things."
"What? The truth?"
"You should listen to the little girl.", said a rogue elf as he crouched in front of the cage. Behind him was the fire in the center of the camp with four more rogues, two leanoids, and one welfen. Most of the bandits were asleep, only over a dozen stayed awake. "The money we'll get from you will make us set for life. Sure, we might have lost more than half our men, but that just means more for the living."
Taria spat, "Open this cage and I'll show you a little girl."
The rogue chuckled, "Quite a fighter. I saw you kill that leanoid. You're good. Why don't you come with us?"
"Why would I join a bunch of good-for-nothing traitors? You know nothing of honor, duty or the light."
The rogue laughed, "They still teach that shit? The light is nothing but a made-up excuse the first emperor made so we can take these lands. People like us? We see the truth. And all of you are being manipulated."
"You dare mock the path of light?", asked Bellon.
"Shouldn't a bad joke be mocked?"
Taria and Bellon gritted their teeth. This is why rogues are killed on sight. They know nothing but greed. As Taria stared at the rogue, something appeared in the corner of her vision. A man in green armor held a black boomstick and aimed it at the bandits by the fire. She looked around and saw six more. Are they insane? If they fire it, it will alert everyone. But when they fired them, only a slight sound was heard. Enough for the rogue in front of her to turn around. He saw his mates dead, but couldn't call for help as his neck was ripped out by a welfen. The Belus family was in shock as the welfen opened the cage.
"Don't be afraid.", he spoke, "I'm with the Americans."
This confused the family. "Who?", Taria asked.
Soon after, a soldier in green got to them, "My name is Lieutenant Caden Roberts of RG-3. We're here to rescue you.". He cut their ropes and waved his hand to signal the rest of his men. As they moved, Taria saw the dead bodies of the bandits and when they got out of the camp she could see that only fifteen soldiers, including two tribals, came to rescue them.
"Who are you people?", Taria asked.
"We're the Rift Expeditionary Force from the United States of America.", said the lieutenant as he pressed a small metallic box which caused the entire bandit camp to get engulfed in flames. The bandits burned and screamed, some ran out of the camp but got shot by the green soldiers. Their camouflaged armor, repeating broomsticks, and fire magic puzzled Taria greatly. She couldn't even see their faces from their masks and eyewear. Who are they? Her questions had to wait a little longer, as iron carriages moved from behind them and opened.
"Lieutenant, is it go time?", spoke the man from one of the carriages.
"Yeah.", said the lieutenant, "Let's go, I'll get them to the MRAP. Come on.". He led the five of them to the middle carriages through its back door. It looked like it was completely made of metal and that it could take a cannon shot. This just further confused them. As the carriages started moving, they noticed that it was going at high speeds, even faster than horses.
"Who are you?", Bellon asked, "What do you want from us?"
The soldiers in front of them looked at each other before taking their masks and helmets off, revealing their pale faces. It wasn't anything sinister and they didn't look like they intended to harm them.
"I am sergeant Jeff Parker.", spoke one of them.
"I am staff sergeant Liam Cook.", spoke the other one, "Over here is Lioba, our feelian, and Olaf, our friendly welfen."
"It's welfen that attacked us.", Klaus spoke.
"Do not speak as if they are of my kind.", said Olaf in an angered tone, "Those beasts lost their meaning in life."
"What do you mean?", Jeff asked.
"Each wolf lives for the pack. For the tribe. He fights for it, provides for it, and dies for it. These wolves, they've abandoned their blood and chosen the life of a wild animal. They're no better than the ferals."
"I see. We have those too. We call them deserters. They flee the army and abandon their brothers. And so we hunt them down and punish them."
"As you should."
After some silence, Klaus spoke, "Forgive me. I meant no disrespect.". Olaf nodded.
"Are you taking us home?", Nimriel asked.
"No.", Liam said, "We're taking you to Galdush. Our lieutenant-general wishes to speak with you. Well, lord Bellon more specifically." The five went silent. This was the enemy from the rift, and now they're taking them to their leader.
"Are we to become your slaves then?", Taria asked.
Jeff and Liam chuckled a bit. "No no, of course not. That kind of thing is in the past for us. Our lieutenant-general only wants to speak with you. After a nice conversation, we will personally bring you back to the Meilume capital."
"How do you know its name?", Bellon asked.
"We have our ways. Now sit back and enjoy the ride.", Liam said as he pulled some blocks out of his pocket. When he opened it, it was gray and seemed to be food. After offering it to Lia, he spoke, "Hungry?". After some hesitation, Lia took it and tasted it. It was quite delicious. As she ate the whole thing, Liam chuckled as he opened a bag, "Don't strain yourself, I have enough for everyone."
---
(Several hours later)
Fort Galdush
"My lady.", said Lia as she shook Taria, "My lady, wake up, we've arrived."
Taria woke up, "What? How long have I been asleep?"
"A few hours, my lady."
This was surprising, to say the least, "We're already here?". She looked out the window and saw their fort as well as their machines. The M2 battle tanks rolled over the hills and fired at the targets, blasting through them. She saw soldiers shooting their guns and groups running in a circle. At the gate, the lieutenant introduced himself and the convoy continued. Inside, they could see soldiers clad in thick, metal armor carrying large boxes and as they got out of the MRAP they saw the Invictus ACs flying in the air. All of this overwhelmed them. To them, these were otherworldly monsters. To the rangers, it was a normal everyday occurrence.
Lieutenant Roberts stood in front of his men, "Alright. I will take lord Bellon Belus to lieutenant-general Coleman. Parker, Cook, you take the rest to their temporary residents."
"Yes sir.", both of them said as they saluted, "Okay, let's go. I promise it's nothing bad."
Taria, Lia, Nimriel, and Klaus went with Jeff and Liam to their residence while Caden took Bellon to the lieutenant-general. The two of them went into the central command building.
"Lieutenant Caden Roberts of Rift Group 3 here to see colonel Andrew Marshal and lieutenant-general Patrick Coleman.", he said to a woman who worked as a secretary.
After some delay, the woman nodded, "Go down the hall to meeting room two."
"Thank you. Come on.". Bellon followed Caden through the hall. He admired how it was crystal clear and pearl white like they were made of pure marble. As they walked they reached the meeting room and entered. Inside were two men who stood up immediately.
"Good morning.", said the first man, "I am lieutenant-general Patrick Coleman of the Rift Expeditionary Corp. And this is our logistics officer, colonel Andrew Marshal."
"Nice to meet you.", Andrew said, "You are the lord of Meilume, Bellon Belus, correct?"
Bellon stuttered, "Y-Yes I am. Great general, you have my eternal gratitude for saving my life, and my family.", he said as he bowed.
"Please.", Patrick spoke, "No need to bow. And please call me Patrick. Sit down."
"Thank you, Patrick.", Bellon said as he sat down, Caden next to him.
"While I accept your gratitude, I'm going to need to ask something else of you?"
'Of course. What was I expecting?', Bellon thought, "And what would that be? If it is gold I assure you the emperor will pay a decent sum for my family and me."
"Oh no, god no. I'm not asking for money. I need something from you that only someone of your status within the empire can provide."
'Someone of my status'. "What exactly?"
"As you know, your empire opened a rift in our country and attacked without warning and unprovoked. We beat the invasion force and the force than came after it. You lost two armies in less than a month, or, a moon cycle as you call them."
"Yes, I am aware of this. What does that have to do with me? I didn't send those armies."
"We know. But you have a connection with the person who did. And we want you to send a message to him for us."
'A message?' "And what kind of message?"
"We would like an audience with a representative to negotiate peace."
This stunned Bellon. 'Peace?'
---
(Meanwhile)
Jeff and Liam brought the four to an empty army barracks, reserved for these situations. "Okay.", Liam spoke, "You'll be staying here until the lieutenant-general orders otherwise. Don't worry, you'll be comfortable." They entered the barracks and it was clean, with several beds, a fridge, desks, and lights, which Jeff turned on, surprising the 'guests'.
"Make yourselves at home.", Jeff said, "I'll bring you some breakfast soon.". He left and closed the door, leaving the four to talk.
"What do you think will happen, Klaus?", Nimriel asked.
"I don't know, my lady.", he answered, "But we shouldn't do anything to anger them. I think we should wait and see what is to come."
Taria looked out the window and saw the tanks and LAVs driving past as well as soldiers marching in unison. "Incredible. All this power. They could have destroyed Meilume before we even had the chance to escape. And yet here we are. In their fortress, waiting for them to bring us food. They want something."
"Well.", Lia said, "That man who offered me the sweet food was nice. I think they're not that bad."
"They are the enemy, Lia. Enemies should never be trusted. It might seem like they are good, but they are using us. They want us here so we can witness their power and use us to spread fear through the rest of the empire. Clever."
"I think you are thinking too much about it, my lady. Perhaps you need to sit down, and rest."
Taria sighed. She walked to a nearby desk and observed the notebooks, pens, and pencils. She sat down and opened a notebook, immediately noticing how the paper is milk-white with lines to help her writing. Picking up one of the pens, she observed how smooth it was and made of spotless, thin metal, but also how it didn't have a tip. Then she noticed the round top and remembered how the lieutenant pressed his metal box. Pressing down the top, the pen clicked and the tip appeared. Amazed, she clicked it several more times before starting to write.
"Taria?", Nimriel asked, "What are you doing?"
"I'm writing down what I saw."
At that moment, Jeff opened the door and brought several white cardboard boxes, "I brought breakfast. I hope it's to your liking."
Each of them took one and Jeff put the last one on Taria's desk. She looked at him and asked, "Can you show me more of your fortress?"
Jeff hesitated a bit, "Why?"
"I'm curious. I wish to learn."
"So you can write it down and give the information to the army?". Taria sat silently. This wasn't untrue. "Look, we're not your enemy. Our commanding officer is talking to your father about peace. Truth is, we don't want war.". Taria paused to think about that. "But if I get permission, I'll show you around."
"I would appreciate it. Thank you."
End of chapter 10
---
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Report carried out by Lieutenant Marvin Bailey
Report states: Peaceful contact with the local town of Una has ended in failure. Upon nearing the gates, the elves demanded RG-4 to identify themselves and after identification, they opened fire on with bows, crossbows, and scorpions. RG4 retaliated by opening fire with its 50mm chain gun, destroying parts of the wall, killing an unknown number of defenders, and destroying their heavy defenses. The initial shock from the chain gun froze the defenders, allowing RG-4 to vacate the area with minimum damage and no losses taken. This was the first unsuccessful interaction with the local populace since the beginning of the expedition and the Rift Group program and it shows that not all natives will be pleased with REC's arrival.
Other news: The enemy force on the other side of the North Alston river has not shown any signs of movement. Moreover, drone footage shows a number of the local populace leaving the Meilume capital and Una across the river, further suggesting that the Imperial army wishes to fortify and wall off the area between the two Alston rivers with the intention of boxing the REC before attacking. CIA sources can confirm this is the case. As far as the Rosian vassal kingdoms are concerned, RG-1, upon making successful contact with the border town of Afa, has sent a platoon, led by lieutenant James Wilson, to the Alston capital of Olinor where they made contact with the king of Alston, Thavok Zorgen. After a number of debates, king Thavok has agreed to accompany the platoon to the duchies of Zirith, Dothen, and Elarith, as well as the kingdom of Opherin to convince the dukes and kind Ostontul to attend a meeting with ambassador Eugene Anderson. Additional transportation will be provided should it be necessary.
30th day of late yellow season
Elyana, Empire of Light
"So.", said the chained human, "Is it my turn to pick the nail or yours?". The torturer responded by punching him in the face. The prisoner spat out a piece of his tooth before answering, "C'mon, you're supposed to be consistent. It's nail, nail, cut, punch. The teeth come later when all the nails are gone. Everyone knows that.". The torturer punched him again. "There you go again, messing up the consistency. I think I know why you work in this shit hole now."
The torturer wanted to hit him again, but a voice stopped him, "Enough!". A moment later, two elves walked into the room.
"Great General Laeroth.", the torturer said as he bowed.
"How is the questioning, Maul?", Laeroth asked.
"Not well, my lord. This human is proving to be a greater challenge than I had anticipated. All I got was a name. Jack Mitchell."
Laeroth sighed as he approached the chained-up human. His body was cut in several places and half of his fingernails have been removed. In addition, he was missing two teeth and bleeding from his mouth and nose. Yet he still denies Maul. As much as it pained Laeroth to admit it, he was impressed. Any Rosian or even elf would have broken by now. What made this human different?
"Jack Mitchell.", Laeroth said, making Jack lift his head and smile.
"What's up?", Jack asked.
"The ceiling.", Laeroth answered, making Jack laugh. "What is humorous?"
"Maul over there said the same thing.", Jack replied as he wheezed, "You sure you're not related? You got the same shade."
This made Maul mad as he grabbed his hammer, "You insolent savage!"
"Calm yourself.", Laeroth said, "I still need this human alive. High mage Gunru, you have my permission.".
"Yes, general.", said Gunru. He was one of the seven high mages of the empire in North Altia, second only to the grand mage Ishton. Each high mage is able to use more than one type of magical ability. Usually, a mage is only able to use one ability from a single spirit. The mages of Vita can be healers or they can use their power to give life to made objects. This way they can create their own army, however, the mage has to remain alive in order for the creature to remain alive, and if the creature is destroyed the life will return back to its source. The mages of Elendi can use one of the various elements, such as wind, fire, water, and so on. One other ability the high mages possess is 'Mind read'. By focusing their spiritual energy on the mind of the target, they can visualize their knowledge.
"What the hell are you doing?", Jack asked as Gunru grabbed his head with both hands, "I mean I'm flattered but I'm into women, just so you know."
Gunru closed his eyes and white energy started appearing from his hands. That energy went into Jack's head, which remained perfectly still as this occurred. Gunru entered his mind and began to project Jack's memories, thoughts, and knowledge around him. Laeroth just watched. He himself couldn't see unless Gunru gave the knowledge to him. But he did see something that disturbed him. Gunru began to twitch. A twitching that turned to shake as his eyes opened and quickly pulled back while panting and holding his head as though he had a headache.
"Gunru.", Laeroth called, "Tell me, what have you seen?"
Gunru shook and could barely grasp the words to speak, "T-T-Terrible things. A mistake. All of this was a mistake."
"Show me."
"No!", Gunru yelled immediately, "You must not. I could not get all the details myself. You will go insane."
"I must know our enemy. Even if it is a little, I must know. Gunru, you must show me."
Gunru greatly hesitated and opposed this. But at the same time, he knew if anyone was able to take the strain, it was Laeroth, the most loyal servant of the empire. "Very well. I shall show you as much as I can. Forgive me."
As Gunru placed his hands on Laeroth's head, the same energy went into it. Laeroth opened his eyes and found himself on a field of battle. Two sides were fighting, humans. One side had blue clothing and the other was red, both fighting with cannons and boomsticks, but nothing else. The blue-clothed soldiers appeared to be winning and they charged the red ones, all while carrying a flag. Red and white stripes with stars. It was brutal. What could it mean?
Night turned to day over and over again, until another battle occurred. Same thing, broomsticks, and cannons, but they fought each other. Once again, there was a flag with stars and stripes but now there were two. A civil war? Hundreds of thousands of men died all for what?
Fast forward, Laeroth appeared in another field, but considerably more terrifying. It was a field of black mud, ash, and blood as far as the eye could see. Thousands upon thousands of bodies piled up around giant cannons that fired and destroyed castles. He could see waves of soldiers running forward at their dug-in enemies. They fell by the dozen until a few lucky ones reached the line and engaged in a brutal brawl. The fighting kept escalating until a massive white cloud filled the battlefield and everyone caught in started choking and dying.
Once the smoke cleared, Laeroth could see hundreds of thousands, no, millions of soldiers and armored beasts marching across a field. They fought another gigantic army, one Laeroth thought could never exist. Millions of troops met on the battlefield and slaughtered one another as the metal monsters spat fire and thousands of iron wyverns fought in the air. Massive ships of steel fired enormous cannons of steel at one another as hundreds of iron rods fell from the sky and flattened the cities below.
Closing and opening his eyes one more time he saw a city. A large city with towers of stone and glass that pierced the clouds. But then he saw it get destroyed as it was engulfed in a literal sea of flames. All of those people were dead in an instant, and in place of the city was a gigantic cloud in the shape of a mushroom.
The day turned to night again as Laeroth was lifted into the air and observed the world change. The nations fought one another while also existing in peace. Cities became massive and their armies even more powerful. But then, the fires came. The great cities turned to a smoldering pile of ash as they turned on one another in the name of 'salvation'. War, disease, poverty, entire civilizations were whipped out and empires started to fall. But in this chaos, something was born. The petty rivalry of the great powers vanished and united they led their armies and pulled the corruption by its roots. It took them decades but they did it. And now united, they rebuilt their homes. The world was not at peace but they made the most of it. At least until they showed up. The rift opened, the invasion failed and now an angered giant prepares to take its vengeance and punish them for their crimes.
Gunru stopped sending energy into Laeroth's mind and let go of his head. Laeroth bent over and panted. His heart was racing and his nose bleeding. He could not believe what he saw. Was there really no hope? Was this war lost before it even began? How was he to win? He wasn't, but he knew he couldn't just give up. His pride as a warrior and a soldier wouldn't let him. But more than that, it was Canus. His maniacal nature coupled with fear will only make things worse if he were to find out. Furthermore, the Inquisition will most likely pull strings and keep the war going for their sick and twisted games. Laeroth knew he had to come up with something, otherwise, the empire will crumble.
"General, are you alright.", Maul asked.
"I am fine Maul.", Laeroth answered, "Take the human back to the cell and treat his wounds. I will let you know what I want with him next later."
"Yes, my lord.", Maul said as he gestured to the guards to help him.
"Gunru."
"Yes, general?", Gunru answered.
"You must not speak of this to anyone. Not even the emperor. This stays between us. Do you understand me?"
"Yes, general."
"Good. Now excuse me, I must clean myself and prepare for the future.". Laeroth left the torture chamber and climbed up the steps to the halls. On his way to his personal chamber, he could feel a strange sensation run down his spine. The effects of the mind read? No, this was something else. He made a random turn and walked down a narrow hallway. After taking a few steps, he prepared a knife and waited. Soon, a cloaked individual suddenly appeared from behind the corner and started running away. Laeroth immediately gave chase, signaling the guards in front to stop him. Two guards formed up with shields, which made him stop for a moment. After a moment Laeroth threw his knife at his back. He yelled in pain as he fell over and the guards moved in.
"Leave him!", Laeroth shouted as he grabbed the man and pulled the cloak down. It turned out to be a woman. "Who sent you!? Talk!". His words fell on deaf ears as the woman's head twitched and a thick purple foam-like substance oozed from her mouth. Laeroth groaned and let her go, "Burn the body. Speak nothing of this.". The guards nodded and carried the body outside.
'Gilshor.', Laeroth thought, 'I will not let you turn this war into your own personal puppet show. The darkness will not rule the light.'
---
(Meanwhile)
Upper level of the Imperial palace
Lilyth Camilla Agorix was always a strange girl. While the other girls took care of their hair, she took care of the armor forged specifically for her. While the other girls practiced knitting and read poetry, she expressed an interest in politics and philosophy. This behavior wasn't particularly accepted by her father. Her mother, on the other hand, empress Alruna Flavia Agorix, greatly supported her. It was thanks to her effort that women were allowed to join the army, and at the moment, a tenth of the army is female. Alruna wasn't named the Lioness for anything, and Lilyth tries to live up to her expectations.
But some members of the family aren't as hard-working as her. Her brother Armas is the biggest and most disgusting slob. She could hear him and his hooligans laugh in his chamber. Trying her best to ignore them, she walked past, but as Armas exited the room he called her over, "Hey sister! Come on in. We have room."
Lilyth groaned, "I have more important matters to attend to than entertain a room full of children."
Armas laughed, "Oh come on, loosen up. The slaves taught me that."
"Armas, if mother finds out-"
"What? What will she do? These slaves were given to me and I can do whatever I want with them."
"Is that so?", spoke a mature womanly voice, "Tell me, Armas, what exactly have you been doing?"
"M-Mother?", Armas uttered. Next to her was the second youngest daughter, Khelsa, along with the captive human girl, Amy. The two became friends after Amy arrived and while Alruna didn't support it at first, she learned that a child is a child, and her being from a supposedly savage land is irrelevant. "Nothing. Just questioning these captives with my soldiers."
"You mean raping women with your hooligans.", Alruna said as she walked into his room. The stench and sight made her sick. "Guards! Take these women to my chambers and bring along some maids. Clean them, feed them, and dress them properly." Guards did just that, pushing away the thugs who grunted in response.
"Khelsa?", Amy asked, "Is that your brother?"
Khelsa sighed in response, "Yes. I'm sorry you had to see this."
As the guards took the women out, Armas protested, "Mother, this is unfair. These women are my slaves. Furthermore, they are savages from a barbaric land. They should consider themselves lucky to even be in my presence. Father says-"
Alruna slapped him, stopping his sentence, "Your father may be the emperor, but I know him better than anyone else. He is narrow-minded and frightened, only seeing what is right in front of him, and never bothering to properly assess anything. We may be the chosen bringers of light, but if we act as barbaric as our adversaries then we are no better than them. Now, get this room cleaned and then yourself. You are royalty, act like it." With that Alruna and Lilyth left, leaving Armas to bicker and throw tantrums.
"Thank you, mother.", Lilyth said, "I must go now."
"Go, my daughter.", said Alruna. Lilyth bowed and entered her chamber.
"Fenris.", she spoke, "Is everything ready?"
"Yes, princess.", Fenris said, "The savage stands before you in chains and the scribe has prepared the parchment."
"Excellent. Scribe, you are to document any and all findings. Listen carefully. Do you understand?"
"Yes, princess.", answered the scribe.
"Let us begin.", Lilyth said as she walked to the captive, "What is your name?"
"You know that.", he answered and received a back-handed slap. After moving his head back, he answered, "Brian O'Neil."
"Where are you from?"
"My mom.", to which he received a punch in the stomach. It didn't hurt a lot, considering he was a large man. "The United States of America."
"Tell me more about it."
"It's a unity of fifty-two states with three hundred and fifty million people."
This shocked Lilyth but she didn't show it, "Are there more countries?"
"Many more. My country isn't even the biggest one."
"So there are more empires in your world."
"No, there aren't any."
Lilyth paused for a moment, "Then what?"
"We are a republic. We elect our leader and that leader represents us. He doesn't have all the power and all of his decisions are put to a vote. Empires and kings are a thing of the past."
"You expect me to believe that? A nation cannot function without a centralized figure controlling it."
Brad chuckled, "We use to think that, too. But we found out that the opposite is true. One person can control a city, or maybe a small nation. But the bigger a nation gets and the more powerful it gets, the more strain appears on a single person. This is why our nations are governed by dozens of people and we have careful systems for governance. A single person is not enough. He would only bring ruin."
This shocked Lilyth more. A system like this was always theorized by politicians and philosophers, but nothing was ever tested because the emperors abolished it, saying that it goes against the path of light. "You say that. But our empire has grown powerful and spread across the world. We have become its rulers and spreaders of wisdom, knowledge, and civilization."
"There used to be an empire in my world that thought just like you. They wanted to conquer the entire world and make it so that only their ways exist. Do you want to know what happened?"
"What?"
"They became too big. There was too much ground. Their forces were spread thin and could be picked off by united barbarians who didn't like their ways. War stopped and since their economy depended on it, it crumbled. Their politicians became corrupt and power-hungry. They stole from and even killed each other. Eventually, they fell beneath the force of the united kingdoms they called savages and were wiped out. This is why no one can truly conquer the world. No matter how hard you fight, the world always wins."
Lilyth clenched her fists and stared at Brad with an angered look, "You say that we will end up the same?"
"If you refuse to change, then yes.".
After staring at him for a few moments, she spoke, "Fenris! Take him back to his cell. We will continue this tomorrow."
"At once, princess.", Fenris said and grabbed Brad by the arm.
As they were walking out the door, Brad turned his head to Fenris, "You know she likes you, right?".
Fenris looked at him for a bit before pushing him forward. Lilyth was left to ponder Brad's words. There is still much for her to learn.
---
(That night)
Somewhere between Meilume capital and Una
Being a prisoner is never good. Your rights are taken away and the ones who captured you can do anything they want to you. They could kill you, sell you or worse. This was the predicament the Belus family found itself in. Out of the two hundred soldiers that accompanied them, only one soldier remained, the others were killed and fed to the welfen and leanoids. The Belus family was in a cage with the last soldier, Klaus, and a servant, Lia. The five of them were all sitting with their hands tied behind their backs, wondering what will happen next. Taria was still grieving over the death of Aego, not even lifting her head.
"Bellon.", Nimriel whispered, "What will happen to us?"
"Do not worry.", Bellon said, "We will alright."
"Stop lying, father.", Taria said, still with head lowered, "These people will first rape us, torture us and then demand ransom from the empire."
"Hush, my lady.", Lia said, "Don't say such things."
"What? The truth?"
"You should listen to the little girl.", said a rogue elf as he crouched in front of the cage. Behind him was the fire in the center of the camp with four more rogues, two leanoids, and one welfen. Most of the bandits were asleep, only over a dozen stayed awake. "The money we'll get from you will make us set for life. Sure, we might have lost more than half our men, but that just means more for the living."
Taria spat, "Open this cage and I'll show you a little girl."
The rogue chuckled, "Quite a fighter. I saw you kill that leanoid. You're good. Why don't you come with us?"
"Why would I join a bunch of good-for-nothing traitors? You know nothing of honor, duty or the light."
The rogue laughed, "They still teach that shit? The light is nothing but a made-up excuse the first emperor made so we can take these lands. People like us? We see the truth. And all of you are being manipulated."
"You dare mock the path of light?", asked Bellon.
"Shouldn't a bad joke be mocked?"
Taria and Bellon gritted their teeth. This is why rogues are killed on sight. They know nothing but greed. As Taria stared at the rogue, something appeared in the corner of her vision. A man in green armor held a black boomstick and aimed it at the bandits by the fire. She looked around and saw six more. Are they insane? If they fire it, it will alert everyone. But when they fired them, only a slight sound was heard. Enough for the rogue in front of her to turn around. He saw his mates dead, but couldn't call for help as his neck was ripped out by a welfen. The Belus family was in shock as the welfen opened the cage.
"Don't be afraid.", he spoke, "I'm with the Americans."
This confused the family. "Who?", Taria asked.
Soon after, a soldier in green got to them, "My name is Lieutenant Caden Roberts of RG-3. We're here to rescue you.". He cut their ropes and waved his hand to signal the rest of his men. As they moved, Taria saw the dead bodies of the bandits and when they got out of the camp she could see that only fifteen soldiers, including two tribals, came to rescue them.
"Who are you people?", Taria asked.
"We're the Rift Expeditionary Force from the United States of America.", said the lieutenant as he pressed a small metallic box which caused the entire bandit camp to get engulfed in flames. The bandits burned and screamed, some ran out of the camp but got shot by the green soldiers. Their camouflaged armor, repeating broomsticks, and fire magic puzzled Taria greatly. She couldn't even see their faces from their masks and eyewear. Who are they? Her questions had to wait a little longer, as iron carriages moved from behind them and opened.
"Lieutenant, is it go time?", spoke the man from one of the carriages.
"Yeah.", said the lieutenant, "Let's go, I'll get them to the MRAP. Come on.". He led the five of them to the middle carriages through its back door. It looked like it was completely made of metal and that it could take a cannon shot. This just further confused them. As the carriages started moving, they noticed that it was going at high speeds, even faster than horses.
"Who are you?", Bellon asked, "What do you want from us?"
The soldiers in front of them looked at each other before taking their masks and helmets off, revealing their pale faces. It wasn't anything sinister and they didn't look like they intended to harm them.
"I am sergeant Jeff Parker.", spoke one of them.
"I am staff sergeant Liam Cook.", spoke the other one, "Over here is Lioba, our feelian, and Olaf, our friendly welfen."
"It's welfen that attacked us.", Klaus spoke.
"Do not speak as if they are of my kind.", said Olaf in an angered tone, "Those beasts lost their meaning in life."
"What do you mean?", Jeff asked.
"Each wolf lives for the pack. For the tribe. He fights for it, provides for it, and dies for it. These wolves, they've abandoned their blood and chosen the life of a wild animal. They're no better than the ferals."
"I see. We have those too. We call them deserters. They flee the army and abandon their brothers. And so we hunt them down and punish them."
"As you should."
After some silence, Klaus spoke, "Forgive me. I meant no disrespect.". Olaf nodded.
"Are you taking us home?", Nimriel asked.
"No.", Liam said, "We're taking you to Galdush. Our lieutenant-general wishes to speak with you. Well, lord Bellon more specifically." The five went silent. This was the enemy from the rift, and now they're taking them to their leader.
"Are we to become your slaves then?", Taria asked.
Jeff and Liam chuckled a bit. "No no, of course not. That kind of thing is in the past for us. Our lieutenant-general only wants to speak with you. After a nice conversation, we will personally bring you back to the Meilume capital."
"How do you know its name?", Bellon asked.
"We have our ways. Now sit back and enjoy the ride.", Liam said as he pulled some blocks out of his pocket. When he opened it, it was gray and seemed to be food. After offering it to Lia, he spoke, "Hungry?". After some hesitation, Lia took it and tasted it. It was quite delicious. As she ate the whole thing, Liam chuckled as he opened a bag, "Don't strain yourself, I have enough for everyone."
---
(Several hours later)
Fort Galdush
"My lady.", said Lia as she shook Taria, "My lady, wake up, we've arrived."
Taria woke up, "What? How long have I been asleep?"
"A few hours, my lady."
This was surprising, to say the least, "We're already here?". She looked out the window and saw their fort as well as their machines. The M2 battle tanks rolled over the hills and fired at the targets, blasting through them. She saw soldiers shooting their guns and groups running in a circle. At the gate, the lieutenant introduced himself and the convoy continued. Inside, they could see soldiers clad in thick, metal armor carrying large boxes and as they got out of the MRAP they saw the Invictus ACs flying in the air. All of this overwhelmed them. To them, these were otherworldly monsters. To the rangers, it was a normal everyday occurrence.
Lieutenant Roberts stood in front of his men, "Alright. I will take lord Bellon Belus to lieutenant-general Coleman. Parker, Cook, you take the rest to their temporary residents."
"Yes sir.", both of them said as they saluted, "Okay, let's go. I promise it's nothing bad."
Taria, Lia, Nimriel, and Klaus went with Jeff and Liam to their residence while Caden took Bellon to the lieutenant-general. The two of them went into the central command building.
"Lieutenant Caden Roberts of Rift Group 3 here to see colonel Andrew Marshal and lieutenant-general Patrick Coleman.", he said to a woman who worked as a secretary.
After some delay, the woman nodded, "Go down the hall to meeting room two."
"Thank you. Come on.". Bellon followed Caden through the hall. He admired how it was crystal clear and pearl white like they were made of pure marble. As they walked they reached the meeting room and entered. Inside were two men who stood up immediately.
"Good morning.", said the first man, "I am lieutenant-general Patrick Coleman of the Rift Expeditionary Corp. And this is our logistics officer, colonel Andrew Marshal."
"Nice to meet you.", Andrew said, "You are the lord of Meilume, Bellon Belus, correct?"
Bellon stuttered, "Y-Yes I am. Great general, you have my eternal gratitude for saving my life, and my family.", he said as he bowed.
"Please.", Patrick spoke, "No need to bow. And please call me Patrick. Sit down."
"Thank you, Patrick.", Bellon said as he sat down, Caden next to him.
"While I accept your gratitude, I'm going to need to ask something else of you?"
'Of course. What was I expecting?', Bellon thought, "And what would that be? If it is gold I assure you the emperor will pay a decent sum for my family and me."
"Oh no, god no. I'm not asking for money. I need something from you that only someone of your status within the empire can provide."
'Someone of my status'. "What exactly?"
"As you know, your empire opened a rift in our country and attacked without warning and unprovoked. We beat the invasion force and the force than came after it. You lost two armies in less than a month, or, a moon cycle as you call them."
"Yes, I am aware of this. What does that have to do with me? I didn't send those armies."
"We know. But you have a connection with the person who did. And we want you to send a message to him for us."
'A message?' "And what kind of message?"
"We would like an audience with a representative to negotiate peace."
This stunned Bellon. 'Peace?'
---
(Meanwhile)
Jeff and Liam brought the four to an empty army barracks, reserved for these situations. "Okay.", Liam spoke, "You'll be staying here until the lieutenant-general orders otherwise. Don't worry, you'll be comfortable." They entered the barracks and it was clean, with several beds, a fridge, desks, and lights, which Jeff turned on, surprising the 'guests'.
"Make yourselves at home.", Jeff said, "I'll bring you some breakfast soon.". He left and closed the door, leaving the four to talk.
"What do you think will happen, Klaus?", Nimriel asked.
"I don't know, my lady.", he answered, "But we shouldn't do anything to anger them. I think we should wait and see what is to come."
Taria looked out the window and saw the tanks and LAVs driving past as well as soldiers marching in unison. "Incredible. All this power. They could have destroyed Meilume before we even had the chance to escape. And yet here we are. In their fortress, waiting for them to bring us food. They want something."
"Well.", Lia said, "That man who offered me the sweet food was nice. I think they're not that bad."
"They are the enemy, Lia. Enemies should never be trusted. It might seem like they are good, but they are using us. They want us here so we can witness their power and use us to spread fear through the rest of the empire. Clever."
"I think you are thinking too much about it, my lady. Perhaps you need to sit down, and rest."
Taria sighed. She walked to a nearby desk and observed the notebooks, pens, and pencils. She sat down and opened a notebook, immediately noticing how the paper is milk-white with lines to help her writing. Picking up one of the pens, she observed how smooth it was and made of spotless, thin metal, but also how it didn't have a tip. Then she noticed the round top and remembered how the lieutenant pressed his metal box. Pressing down the top, the pen clicked and the tip appeared. Amazed, she clicked it several more times before starting to write.
"Taria?", Nimriel asked, "What are you doing?"
"I'm writing down what I saw."
At that moment, Jeff opened the door and brought several white cardboard boxes, "I brought breakfast. I hope it's to your liking."
Each of them took one and Jeff put the last one on Taria's desk. She looked at him and asked, "Can you show me more of your fortress?"
Jeff hesitated a bit, "Why?"
"I'm curious. I wish to learn."
"So you can write it down and give the information to the army?". Taria sat silently. This wasn't untrue. "Look, we're not your enemy. Our commanding officer is talking to your father about peace. Truth is, we don't want war.". Taria paused to think about that. "But if I get permission, I'll show you around."
"I would appreciate it. Thank you."
End of chapter 10
---
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2023.04.02 10:44 Sinpleton025 Rifts of War - Chapter 10
Expedition report from Rift Group 4
Report carried out by Lieutenant Marvin Bailey
Report states: Peaceful contact with the local town of Una has ended in failure. Upon nearing the gates, the elves demanded RG-4 to identify themselves and after identification, they opened fire on with bows, crossbows, and scorpions. RG4 retaliated by opening fire with its 50mm chain gun, destroying parts of the wall, killing an unknown number of defenders, and destroying their heavy defenses. The initial shock from the chain gun froze the defenders, allowing RG-4 to vacate the area with minimum damage and no losses taken. This was the first unsuccessful interaction with the local populace since the beginning of the expedition and the Rift Group program and it shows that not all natives will be pleased with REC's arrival.
Other news: The enemy force on the other side of the North Alston river has not shown any signs of movement. Moreover, drone footage shows a number of the local populace leaving the Meilume capital and Una across the river, further suggesting that the Imperial army wishes to fortify and wall off the area between the two Alston rivers with the intention of boxing the REC before attacking. CIA sources can confirm this is the case. As far as the Rosian vassal kingdoms are concerned, RG-1, upon making successful contact with the border town of Afa, has sent a platoon, led by lieutenant James Wilson, to the Alston capital of Olinor where they made contact with the king of Alston, Thavok Zorgen. After a number of debates, king Thavok has agreed to accompany the platoon to the duchies of Zirith, Dothen, and Elarith, as well as the kingdom of Opherin to convince the dukes and kind Ostontul to attend a meeting with ambassador Eugene Anderson. Additional transportation will be provided should it be necessary.
30th day of late yellow season
Elyana, Empire of Light
"So.", said the chained human, "Is it my turn to pick the nail or yours?". The torturer responded by punching him in the face. The prisoner spat out a piece of his tooth before answering, "C'mon, you're supposed to be consistent. It's nail, nail, cut, punch. The teeth come later when all the nails are gone. Everyone knows that.". The torturer punched him again. "There you go again, messing up the consistency. I think I know why you work in this shit hole now."
The torturer wanted to hit him again, but a voice stopped him, "Enough!". A moment later, two elves walked into the room.
"Great General Laeroth.", the torturer said as he bowed.
"How is the questioning, Maul?", Laeroth asked.
"Not well, my lord. This human is proving to be a greater challenge than I had anticipated. All I got was a name. Jack Mitchell."
Laeroth sighed as he approached the chained-up human. His body was cut in several places and half of his fingernails have been removed. In addition, he was missing two teeth and bleeding from his mouth and nose. Yet he still denies Maul. As much as it pained Laeroth to admit it, he was impressed. Any Rosian or even elf would have broken by now. What made this human different?
"Jack Mitchell.", Laeroth said, making Jack lift his head and smile.
"What's up?", Jack asked.
"The ceiling.", Laeroth answered, making Jack laugh. "What is humorous?"
"Maul over there said the same thing.", Jack replied as he wheezed, "You sure you're not related? You got the same shade."
This made Maul mad as he grabbed his hammer, "You insolent savage!"
"Calm yourself.", Laeroth said, "I still need this human alive. High mage Gunru, you have my permission.".
"Yes, general.", said Gunru. He was one of the seven high mages of the empire in North Altia, second only to the grand mage Ishton. Each high mage is able to use more than one type of magical ability. Usually, a mage is only able to use one ability from a single spirit. The mages of Vita can be healers or they can use their power to give life to made objects. This way they can create their own army, however, the mage has to remain alive in order for the creature to remain alive, and if the creature is destroyed the life will return back to its source. The mages of Elendi can use one of the various elements, such as wind, fire, water, and so on. One other ability the high mages possess is 'Mind read'. By focusing their spiritual energy on the mind of the target, they can visualize their knowledge.
"What the hell are you doing?", Jack asked as Gunru grabbed his head with both hands, "I mean I'm flattered but I'm into women, just so you know."
Gunru closed his eyes and white energy started appearing from his hands. That energy went into Jack's head, which remained perfectly still as this occurred. Gunru entered his mind and began to project Jack's memories, thoughts, and knowledge around him. Laeroth just watched. He himself couldn't see unless Gunru gave the knowledge to him. But he did see something that disturbed him. Gunru began to twitch. A twitching that turned to shake as his eyes opened and quickly pulled back while panting and holding his head as though he had a headache.
"Gunru.", Laeroth called, "Tell me, what have you seen?"
Gunru shook and could barely grasp the words to speak, "T-T-Terrible things. A mistake. All of this was a mistake."
"Show me."
"No!", Gunru yelled immediately, "You must not. I could not get all the details myself. You will go insane."
"I must know our enemy. Even if it is a little, I must know. Gunru, you must show me."
Gunru greatly hesitated and opposed this. But at the same time, he knew if anyone was able to take the strain, it was Laeroth, the most loyal servant of the empire. "Very well. I shall show you as much as I can. Forgive me."
As Gunru placed his hands on Laeroth's head, the same energy went into it. Laeroth opened his eyes and found himself on a field of battle. Two sides were fighting, humans. One side had blue clothing and the other was red, both fighting with cannons and boomsticks, but nothing else. The blue-clothed soldiers appeared to be winning and they charged the red ones, all while carrying a flag. Red and white stripes with stars. It was brutal. What could it mean?
Night turned to day over and over again, until another battle occurred. Same thing, broomsticks, and cannons, but they fought each other. Once again, there was a flag with stars and stripes but now there were two. A civil war? Hundreds of thousands of men died all for what?
Fast forward, Laeroth appeared in another field, but considerably more terrifying. It was a field of black mud, ash, and blood as far as the eye could see. Thousands upon thousands of bodies piled up around giant cannons that fired and destroyed castles. He could see waves of soldiers running forward at their dug-in enemies. They fell by the dozen until a few lucky ones reached the line and engaged in a brutal brawl. The fighting kept escalating until a massive white cloud filled the battlefield and everyone caught in started choking and dying.
Once the smoke cleared, Laeroth could see hundreds of thousands, no, millions of soldiers and armored beasts marching across a field. They fought another gigantic army, one Laeroth thought could never exist. Millions of troops met on the battlefield and slaughtered one another as the metal monsters spat fire and thousands of iron wyverns fought in the air. Massive ships of steel fired enormous cannons of steel at one another as hundreds of iron rods fell from the sky and flattened the cities below.
Closing and opening his eyes one more time he saw a city. A large city with towers of stone and glass that pierced the clouds. But then he saw it get destroyed as it was engulfed in a literal sea of flames. All of those people were dead in an instant, and in place of the city was a gigantic cloud in the shape of a mushroom.
The day turned to night again as Laeroth was lifted into the air and observed the world change. The nations fought one another while also existing in peace. Cities became massive and their armies even more powerful. But then, the fires came. The great cities turned to a smoldering pile of ash as they turned on one another in the name of 'salvation'. War, disease, poverty, entire civilizations were whipped out and empires started to fall. But in this chaos, something was born. The petty rivalry of the great powers vanished and united they led their armies and pulled the corruption by its roots. It took them decades but they did it. And now united, they rebuilt their homes. The world was not at peace but they made the most of it. At least until they showed up. The rift opened, the invasion failed and now an angered giant prepares to take its vengeance and punish them for their crimes.
Gunru stopped sending energy into Laeroth's mind and let go of his head. Laeroth bent over and panted. His heart was racing and his nose bleeding. He could not believe what he saw. Was there really no hope? Was this war lost before it even began? How was he to win? He wasn't, but he knew he couldn't just give up. His pride as a warrior and a soldier wouldn't let him. But more than that, it was Canus. His maniacal nature coupled with fear will only make things worse if he were to find out. Furthermore, the Inquisition will most likely pull strings and keep the war going for their sick and twisted games. Laeroth knew he had to come up with something, otherwise, the empire will crumble.
"General, are you alright.", Maul asked.
"I am fine Maul.", Laeroth answered, "Take the human back to the cell and treat his wounds. I will let you know what I want with him next later."
"Yes, my lord.", Maul said as he gestured to the guards to help him.
"Gunru."
"Yes, general?", Gunru answered.
"You must not speak of this to anyone. Not even the emperor. This stays between us. Do you understand me?"
"Yes, general."
"Good. Now excuse me, I must clean myself and prepare for the future.". Laeroth left the torture chamber and climbed up the steps to the halls. On his way to his personal chamber, he could feel a strange sensation run down his spine. The effects of the mind read? No, this was something else. He made a random turn and walked down a narrow hallway. After taking a few steps, he prepared a knife and waited. Soon, a cloaked individual suddenly appeared from behind the corner and started running away. Laeroth immediately gave chase, signaling the guards in front to stop him. Two guards formed up with shields, which made him stop for a moment. After a moment Laeroth threw his knife at his back. He yelled in pain as he fell over and the guards moved in.
"Leave him!", Laeroth shouted as he grabbed the man and pulled the cloak down. It turned out to be a woman. "Who sent you!? Talk!". His words fell on deaf ears as the woman's head twitched and a thick purple foam-like substance oozed from her mouth. Laeroth groaned and let her go, "Burn the body. Speak nothing of this.". The guards nodded and carried the body outside.
'Gilshor.', Laeroth thought, 'I will not let you turn this war into your own personal puppet show. The darkness will not rule the light.'
---
(Meanwhile)
Upper level of the Imperial palace
Lilyth Camilla Agorix was always a strange girl. While the other girls took care of their hair, she took care of the armor forged specifically for her. While the other girls practiced knitting and read poetry, she expressed an interest in politics and philosophy. This behavior wasn't particularly accepted by her father. Her mother, on the other hand, empress Alruna Flavia Agorix, greatly supported her. It was thanks to her effort that women were allowed to join the army, and at the moment, a tenth of the army is female. Alruna wasn't named the Lioness for anything, and Lilyth tries to live up to her expectations.
But some members of the family aren't as hard-working as her. Her brother Armas is the biggest and most disgusting slob. She could hear him and his hooligans laugh in his chamber. Trying her best to ignore them, she walked past, but as Armas exited the room he called her over, "Hey sister! Come on in. We have room."
Lilyth groaned, "I have more important matters to attend to than entertain a room full of children."
Armas laughed, "Oh come on, loosen up. The slaves taught me that."
"Armas, if mother finds out-"
"What? What will she do? These slaves were given to me and I can do whatever I want with them."
"Is that so?", spoke a mature womanly voice, "Tell me, Armas, what exactly have you been doing?"
"M-Mother?", Armas uttered. Next to her was the second youngest daughter, Khelsa, along with the captive human girl, Amy. The two became friends after Amy arrived and while Alruna didn't support it at first, she learned that a child is a child, and her being from a supposedly savage land is irrelevant. "Nothing. Just questioning these captives with my soldiers."
"You mean raping women with your hooligans.", Alruna said as she walked into his room. The stench and sight made her sick. "Guards! Take these women to my chambers and bring along some maids. Clean them, feed them, and dress them properly." Guards did just that, pushing away the thugs who grunted in response.
"Khelsa?", Amy asked, "Is that your brother?"
Khelsa sighed in response, "Yes. I'm sorry you had to see this."
As the guards took the women out, Armas protested, "Mother, this is unfair. These women are my slaves. Furthermore, they are savages from a barbaric land. They should consider themselves lucky to even be in my presence. Father says-"
Alruna slapped him, stopping his sentence, "Your father may be the emperor, but I know him better than anyone else. He is narrow-minded and frightened, only seeing what is right in front of him, and never bothering to properly assess anything. We may be the chosen bringers of light, but if we act as barbaric as our adversaries then we are no better than them. Now, get this room cleaned and then yourself. You are royalty, act like it." With that Alruna and Lilyth left, leaving Armas to bicker and throw tantrums.
"Thank you, mother.", Lilyth said, "I must go now."
"Go, my daughter.", said Alruna. Lilyth bowed and entered her chamber.
"Fenris.", she spoke, "Is everything ready?"
"Yes, princess.", Fenris said, "The savage stands before you in chains and the scribe has prepared the parchment."
"Excellent. Scribe, you are to document any and all findings. Listen carefully. Do you understand?"
"Yes, princess.", answered the scribe.
"Let us begin.", Lilyth said as she walked to the captive, "What is your name?"
"You know that.", he answered and received a back-handed slap. After moving his head back, he answered, "Brian O'Neil."
"Where are you from?"
"My mom.", to which he received a punch in the stomach. It didn't hurt a lot, considering he was a large man. "The United States of America."
"Tell me more about it."
"It's a unity of fifty-two states with three hundred and fifty million people."
This shocked Lilyth but she didn't show it, "Are there more countries?"
"Many more. My country isn't even the biggest one."
"So there are more empires in your world."
"No, there aren't any."
Lilyth paused for a moment, "Then what?"
"We are a republic. We elect our leader and that leader represents us. He doesn't have all the power and all of his decisions are put to a vote. Empires and kings are a thing of the past."
"You expect me to believe that? A nation cannot function without a centralized figure controlling it."
Brad chuckled, "We use to think that, too. But we found out that the opposite is true. One person can control a city, or maybe a small nation. But the bigger a nation gets and the more powerful it gets, the more strain appears on a single person. This is why our nations are governed by dozens of people and we have careful systems for governance. A single person is not enough. He would only bring ruin."
This shocked Lilyth more. A system like this was always theorized by politicians and philosophers, but nothing was ever tested because the emperors abolished it, saying that it goes against the path of light. "You say that. But our empire has grown powerful and spread across the world. We have become its rulers and spreaders of wisdom, knowledge, and civilization."
"There used to be an empire in my world that thought just like you. They wanted to conquer the entire world and make it so that only their ways exist. Do you want to know what happened?"
"What?"
"They became too big. There was too much ground. Their forces were spread thin and could be picked off by united barbarians who didn't like their ways. War stopped and since their economy depended on it, it crumbled. Their politicians became corrupt and power-hungry. They stole from and even killed each other. Eventually, they fell beneath the force of the united kingdoms they called savages and were wiped out. This is why no one can truly conquer the world. No matter how hard you fight, the world always wins."
Lilyth clenched her fists and stared at Brad with an angered look, "You say that we will end up the same?"
"If you refuse to change, then yes.".
After staring at him for a few moments, she spoke, "Fenris! Take him back to his cell. We will continue this tomorrow."
"At once, princess.", Fenris said and grabbed Brad by the arm.
As they were walking out the door, Brad turned his head to Fenris, "You know she likes you, right?".
Fenris looked at him for a bit before pushing him forward. Lilyth was left to ponder Brad's words. There is still much for her to learn.
---
(That night)
Somewhere between Meilume capital and Una
Being a prisoner is never good. Your rights are taken away and the ones who captured you can do anything they want to you. They could kill you, sell you or worse. This was the predicament the Belus family found itself in. Out of the two hundred soldiers that accompanied them, only one soldier remained, the others were killed and fed to the welfen and leanoids. The Belus family was in a cage with the last soldier, Klaus, and a servant, Lia. The five of them were all sitting with their hands tied behind their backs, wondering what will happen next. Taria was still grieving over the death of Aego, not even lifting her head.
"Bellon.", Nimriel whispered, "What will happen to us?"
"Do not worry.", Bellon said, "We will alright."
"Stop lying, father.", Taria said, still with head lowered, "These people will first rape us, torture us and then demand ransom from the empire."
"Hush, my lady.", Lia said, "Don't say such things."
"What? The truth?"
"You should listen to the little girl.", said a rogue elf as he crouched in front of the cage. Behind him was the fire in the center of the camp with four more rogues, two leanoids, and one welfen. Most of the bandits were asleep, only over a dozen stayed awake. "The money we'll get from you will make us set for life. Sure, we might have lost more than half our men, but that just means more for the living."
Taria spat, "Open this cage and I'll show you a little girl."
The rogue chuckled, "Quite a fighter. I saw you kill that leanoid. You're good. Why don't you come with us?"
"Why would I join a bunch of good-for-nothing traitors? You know nothing of honor, duty or the light."
The rogue laughed, "They still teach that shit? The light is nothing but a made-up excuse the first emperor made so we can take these lands. People like us? We see the truth. And all of you are being manipulated."
"You dare mock the path of light?", asked Bellon.
"Shouldn't a bad joke be mocked?"
Taria and Bellon gritted their teeth. This is why rogues are killed on sight. They know nothing but greed. As Taria stared at the rogue, something appeared in the corner of her vision. A man in green armor held a black boomstick and aimed it at the bandits by the fire. She looked around and saw six more. Are they insane? If they fire it, it will alert everyone. But when they fired them, only a slight sound was heard. Enough for the rogue in front of her to turn around. He saw his mates dead, but couldn't call for help as his neck was ripped out by a welfen. The Belus family was in shock as the welfen opened the cage.
"Don't be afraid.", he spoke, "I'm with the Americans."
This confused the family. "Who?", Taria asked.
Soon after, a soldier in green got to them, "My name is Lieutenant Caden Roberts of RG-3. We're here to rescue you.". He cut their ropes and waved his hand to signal the rest of his men. As they moved, Taria saw the dead bodies of the bandits and when they got out of the camp she could see that only fifteen soldiers, including two tribals, came to rescue them.
"Who are you people?", Taria asked.
"We're the Rift Expeditionary Force from the United States of America.", said the lieutenant as he pressed a small metallic box which caused the entire bandit camp to get engulfed in flames. The bandits burned and screamed, some ran out of the camp but got shot by the green soldiers. Their camouflaged armor, repeating broomsticks, and fire magic puzzled Taria greatly. She couldn't even see their faces from their masks and eyewear. Who are they? Her questions had to wait a little longer, as iron carriages moved from behind them and opened.
"Lieutenant, is it go time?", spoke the man from one of the carriages.
"Yeah.", said the lieutenant, "Let's go, I'll get them to the MRAP. Come on.". He led the five of them to the middle carriages through its back door. It looked like it was completely made of metal and that it could take a cannon shot. This just further confused them. As the carriages started moving, they noticed that it was going at high speeds, even faster than horses.
"Who are you?", Bellon asked, "What do you want from us?"
The soldiers in front of them looked at each other before taking their masks and helmets off, revealing their pale faces. It wasn't anything sinister and they didn't look like they intended to harm them.
"I am sergeant Jeff Parker.", spoke one of them.
"I am staff sergeant Liam Cook.", spoke the other one, "Over here is Lioba, our feelian, and Olaf, our friendly welfen."
"It's welfen that attacked us.", Klaus spoke.
"Do not speak as if they are of my kind.", said Olaf in an angered tone, "Those beasts lost their meaning in life."
"What do you mean?", Jeff asked.
"Each wolf lives for the pack. For the tribe. He fights for it, provides for it, and dies for it. These wolves, they've abandoned their blood and chosen the life of a wild animal. They're no better than the ferals."
"I see. We have those too. We call them deserters. They flee the army and abandon their brothers. And so we hunt them down and punish them."
"As you should."
After some silence, Klaus spoke, "Forgive me. I meant no disrespect.". Olaf nodded.
"Are you taking us home?", Nimriel asked.
"No.", Liam said, "We're taking you to Galdush. Our lieutenant-general wishes to speak with you. Well, lord Bellon more specifically." The five went silent. This was the enemy from the rift, and now they're taking them to their leader.
"Are we to become your slaves then?", Taria asked.
Jeff and Liam chuckled a bit. "No no, of course not. That kind of thing is in the past for us. Our lieutenant-general only wants to speak with you. After a nice conversation, we will personally bring you back to the Meilume capital."
"How do you know its name?", Bellon asked.
"We have our ways. Now sit back and enjoy the ride.", Liam said as he pulled some blocks out of his pocket. When he opened it, it was gray and seemed to be food. After offering it to Lia, he spoke, "Hungry?". After some hesitation, Lia took it and tasted it. It was quite delicious. As she ate the whole thing, Liam chuckled as he opened a bag, "Don't strain yourself, I have enough for everyone."
---
(Several hours later)
Fort Galdush
"My lady.", said Lia as she shook Taria, "My lady, wake up, we've arrived."
Taria woke up, "What? How long have I been asleep?"
"A few hours, my lady."
This was surprising, to say the least, "We're already here?". She looked out the window and saw their fort as well as their machines. The M2 battle tanks rolled over the hills and fired at the targets, blasting through them. She saw soldiers shooting their guns and groups running in a circle. At the gate, the lieutenant introduced himself and the convoy continued. Inside, they could see soldiers clad in thick, metal armor carrying large boxes and as they got out of the MRAP they saw the Invictus ACs flying in the air. All of this overwhelmed them. To them, these were otherworldly monsters. To the rangers, it was a normal everyday occurrence.
Lieutenant Roberts stood in front of his men, "Alright. I will take lord Bellon Belus to lieutenant-general Coleman. Parker, Cook, you take the rest to their temporary residents."
"Yes sir.", both of them said as they saluted, "Okay, let's go. I promise it's nothing bad."
Taria, Lia, Nimriel, and Klaus went with Jeff and Liam to their residence while Caden took Bellon to the lieutenant-general. The two of them went into the central command building.
"Lieutenant Caden Roberts of Rift Group 3 here to see colonel Andrew Marshal and lieutenant-general Patrick Coleman.", he said to a woman who worked as a secretary.
After some delay, the woman nodded, "Go down the hall to meeting room two."
"Thank you. Come on.". Bellon followed Caden through the hall. He admired how it was crystal clear and pearl white like they were made of pure marble. As they walked they reached the meeting room and entered. Inside were two men who stood up immediately.
"Good morning.", said the first man, "I am lieutenant-general Patrick Coleman of the Rift Expeditionary Corp. And this is our logistics officer, colonel Andrew Marshal."
"Nice to meet you.", Andrew said, "You are the lord of Meilume, Bellon Belus, correct?"
Bellon stuttered, "Y-Yes I am. Great general, you have my eternal gratitude for saving my life, and my family.", he said as he bowed.
"Please.", Patrick spoke, "No need to bow. And please call me Patrick. Sit down."
"Thank you, Patrick.", Bellon said as he sat down, Caden next to him.
"While I accept your gratitude, I'm going to need to ask something else of you?"
'Of course. What was I expecting?', Bellon thought, "And what would that be? If it is gold I assure you the emperor will pay a decent sum for my family and me."
"Oh no, god no. I'm not asking for money. I need something from you that only someone of your status within the empire can provide."
'Someone of my status'. "What exactly?"
"As you know, your empire opened a rift in our country and attacked without warning and unprovoked. We beat the invasion force and the force than came after it. You lost two armies in less than a month, or, a moon cycle as you call them."
"Yes, I am aware of this. What does that have to do with me? I didn't send those armies."
"We know. But you have a connection with the person who did. And we want you to send a message to him for us."
'A message?' "And what kind of message?"
"We would like an audience with a representative to negotiate peace."
This stunned Bellon. 'Peace?'
---
(Meanwhile)
Jeff and Liam brought the four to an empty army barracks, reserved for these situations. "Okay.", Liam spoke, "You'll be staying here until the lieutenant-general orders otherwise. Don't worry, you'll be comfortable." They entered the barracks and it was clean, with several beds, a fridge, desks, and lights, which Jeff turned on, surprising the 'guests'.
"Make yourselves at home.", Jeff said, "I'll bring you some breakfast soon.". He left and closed the door, leaving the four to talk.
"What do you think will happen, Klaus?", Nimriel asked.
"I don't know, my lady.", he answered, "But we shouldn't do anything to anger them. I think we should wait and see what is to come."
Taria looked out the window and saw the tanks and LAVs driving past as well as soldiers marching in unison. "Incredible. All this power. They could have destroyed Meilume before we even had the chance to escape. And yet here we are. In their fortress, waiting for them to bring us food. They want something."
"Well.", Lia said, "That man who offered me the sweet food was nice. I think they're not that bad."
"They are the enemy, Lia. Enemies should never be trusted. It might seem like they are good, but they are using us. They want us here so we can witness their power and use us to spread fear through the rest of the empire. Clever."
"I think you are thinking too much about it, my lady. Perhaps you need to sit down, and rest."
Taria sighed. She walked to a nearby desk and observed the notebooks, pens, and pencils. She sat down and opened a notebook, immediately noticing how the paper is milk-white with lines to help her writing. Picking up one of the pens, she observed how smooth it was and made of spotless, thin metal, but also how it didn't have a tip. Then she noticed the round top and remembered how the lieutenant pressed his metal box. Pressing down the top, the pen clicked and the tip appeared. Amazed, she clicked it several more times before starting to write.
"Taria?", Nimriel asked, "What are you doing?"
"I'm writing down what I saw."
At that moment, Jeff opened the door and brought several white cardboard boxes, "I brought breakfast. I hope it's to your liking."
Each of them took one and Jeff put the last one on Taria's desk. She looked at him and asked, "Can you show me more of your fortress?"
Jeff hesitated a bit, "Why?"
"I'm curious. I wish to learn."
"So you can write it down and give the information to the army?". Taria sat silently. This wasn't untrue. "Look, we're not your enemy. Our commanding officer is talking to your father about peace. Truth is, we don't want war.". Taria paused to think about that. "But if I get permission, I'll show you around."
"I would appreciate it. Thank you."
End of chapter 10
---
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Report carried out by Lieutenant Marvin Bailey
Report states: Peaceful contact with the local town of Una has ended in failure. Upon nearing the gates, the elves demanded RG-4 to identify themselves and after identification, they opened fire on with bows, crossbows, and scorpions. RG4 retaliated by opening fire with its 50mm chain gun, destroying parts of the wall, killing an unknown number of defenders, and destroying their heavy defenses. The initial shock from the chain gun froze the defenders, allowing RG-4 to vacate the area with minimum damage and no losses taken. This was the first unsuccessful interaction with the local populace since the beginning of the expedition and the Rift Group program and it shows that not all natives will be pleased with REC's arrival.
Other news: The enemy force on the other side of the North Alston river has not shown any signs of movement. Moreover, drone footage shows a number of the local populace leaving the Meilume capital and Una across the river, further suggesting that the Imperial army wishes to fortify and wall off the area between the two Alston rivers with the intention of boxing the REC before attacking. CIA sources can confirm this is the case. As far as the Rosian vassal kingdoms are concerned, RG-1, upon making successful contact with the border town of Afa, has sent a platoon, led by lieutenant James Wilson, to the Alston capital of Olinor where they made contact with the king of Alston, Thavok Zorgen. After a number of debates, king Thavok has agreed to accompany the platoon to the duchies of Zirith, Dothen, and Elarith, as well as the kingdom of Opherin to convince the dukes and kind Ostontul to attend a meeting with ambassador Eugene Anderson. Additional transportation will be provided should it be necessary.
30th day of late yellow season
Elyana, Empire of Light
"So.", said the chained human, "Is it my turn to pick the nail or yours?". The torturer responded by punching him in the face. The prisoner spat out a piece of his tooth before answering, "C'mon, you're supposed to be consistent. It's nail, nail, cut, punch. The teeth come later when all the nails are gone. Everyone knows that.". The torturer punched him again. "There you go again, messing up the consistency. I think I know why you work in this shit hole now."
The torturer wanted to hit him again, but a voice stopped him, "Enough!". A moment later, two elves walked into the room.
"Great General Laeroth.", the torturer said as he bowed.
"How is the questioning, Maul?", Laeroth asked.
"Not well, my lord. This human is proving to be a greater challenge than I had anticipated. All I got was a name. Jack Mitchell."
Laeroth sighed as he approached the chained-up human. His body was cut in several places and half of his fingernails have been removed. In addition, he was missing two teeth and bleeding from his mouth and nose. Yet he still denies Maul. As much as it pained Laeroth to admit it, he was impressed. Any Rosian or even elf would have broken by now. What made this human different?
"Jack Mitchell.", Laeroth said, making Jack lift his head and smile.
"What's up?", Jack asked.
"The ceiling.", Laeroth answered, making Jack laugh. "What is humorous?"
"Maul over there said the same thing.", Jack replied as he wheezed, "You sure you're not related? You got the same shade."
This made Maul mad as he grabbed his hammer, "You insolent savage!"
"Calm yourself.", Laeroth said, "I still need this human alive. High mage Gunru, you have my permission.".
"Yes, general.", said Gunru. He was one of the seven high mages of the empire in North Altia, second only to the grand mage Ishton. Each high mage is able to use more than one type of magical ability. Usually, a mage is only able to use one ability from a single spirit. The mages of Vita can be healers or they can use their power to give life to made objects. This way they can create their own army, however, the mage has to remain alive in order for the creature to remain alive, and if the creature is destroyed the life will return back to its source. The mages of Elendi can use one of the various elements, such as wind, fire, water, and so on. One other ability the high mages possess is 'Mind read'. By focusing their spiritual energy on the mind of the target, they can visualize their knowledge.
"What the hell are you doing?", Jack asked as Gunru grabbed his head with both hands, "I mean I'm flattered but I'm into women, just so you know."
Gunru closed his eyes and white energy started appearing from his hands. That energy went into Jack's head, which remained perfectly still as this occurred. Gunru entered his mind and began to project Jack's memories, thoughts, and knowledge around him. Laeroth just watched. He himself couldn't see unless Gunru gave the knowledge to him. But he did see something that disturbed him. Gunru began to twitch. A twitching that turned to shake as his eyes opened and quickly pulled back while panting and holding his head as though he had a headache.
"Gunru.", Laeroth called, "Tell me, what have you seen?"
Gunru shook and could barely grasp the words to speak, "T-T-Terrible things. A mistake. All of this was a mistake."
"Show me."
"No!", Gunru yelled immediately, "You must not. I could not get all the details myself. You will go insane."
"I must know our enemy. Even if it is a little, I must know. Gunru, you must show me."
Gunru greatly hesitated and opposed this. But at the same time, he knew if anyone was able to take the strain, it was Laeroth, the most loyal servant of the empire. "Very well. I shall show you as much as I can. Forgive me."
As Gunru placed his hands on Laeroth's head, the same energy went into it. Laeroth opened his eyes and found himself on a field of battle. Two sides were fighting, humans. One side had blue clothing and the other was red, both fighting with cannons and boomsticks, but nothing else. The blue-clothed soldiers appeared to be winning and they charged the red ones, all while carrying a flag. Red and white stripes with stars. It was brutal. What could it mean?
Night turned to day over and over again, until another battle occurred. Same thing, broomsticks, and cannons, but they fought each other. Once again, there was a flag with stars and stripes but now there were two. A civil war? Hundreds of thousands of men died all for what?
Fast forward, Laeroth appeared in another field, but considerably more terrifying. It was a field of black mud, ash, and blood as far as the eye could see. Thousands upon thousands of bodies piled up around giant cannons that fired and destroyed castles. He could see waves of soldiers running forward at their dug-in enemies. They fell by the dozen until a few lucky ones reached the line and engaged in a brutal brawl. The fighting kept escalating until a massive white cloud filled the battlefield and everyone caught in started choking and dying.
Once the smoke cleared, Laeroth could see hundreds of thousands, no, millions of soldiers and armored beasts marching across a field. They fought another gigantic army, one Laeroth thought could never exist. Millions of troops met on the battlefield and slaughtered one another as the metal monsters spat fire and thousands of iron wyverns fought in the air. Massive ships of steel fired enormous cannons of steel at one another as hundreds of iron rods fell from the sky and flattened the cities below.
Closing and opening his eyes one more time he saw a city. A large city with towers of stone and glass that pierced the clouds. But then he saw it get destroyed as it was engulfed in a literal sea of flames. All of those people were dead in an instant, and in place of the city was a gigantic cloud in the shape of a mushroom.
The day turned to night again as Laeroth was lifted into the air and observed the world change. The nations fought one another while also existing in peace. Cities became massive and their armies even more powerful. But then, the fires came. The great cities turned to a smoldering pile of ash as they turned on one another in the name of 'salvation'. War, disease, poverty, entire civilizations were whipped out and empires started to fall. But in this chaos, something was born. The petty rivalry of the great powers vanished and united they led their armies and pulled the corruption by its roots. It took them decades but they did it. And now united, they rebuilt their homes. The world was not at peace but they made the most of it. At least until they showed up. The rift opened, the invasion failed and now an angered giant prepares to take its vengeance and punish them for their crimes.
Gunru stopped sending energy into Laeroth's mind and let go of his head. Laeroth bent over and panted. His heart was racing and his nose bleeding. He could not believe what he saw. Was there really no hope? Was this war lost before it even began? How was he to win? He wasn't, but he knew he couldn't just give up. His pride as a warrior and a soldier wouldn't let him. But more than that, it was Canus. His maniacal nature coupled with fear will only make things worse if he were to find out. Furthermore, the Inquisition will most likely pull strings and keep the war going for their sick and twisted games. Laeroth knew he had to come up with something, otherwise, the empire will crumble.
"General, are you alright.", Maul asked.
"I am fine Maul.", Laeroth answered, "Take the human back to the cell and treat his wounds. I will let you know what I want with him next later."
"Yes, my lord.", Maul said as he gestured to the guards to help him.
"Gunru."
"Yes, general?", Gunru answered.
"You must not speak of this to anyone. Not even the emperor. This stays between us. Do you understand me?"
"Yes, general."
"Good. Now excuse me, I must clean myself and prepare for the future.". Laeroth left the torture chamber and climbed up the steps to the halls. On his way to his personal chamber, he could feel a strange sensation run down his spine. The effects of the mind read? No, this was something else. He made a random turn and walked down a narrow hallway. After taking a few steps, he prepared a knife and waited. Soon, a cloaked individual suddenly appeared from behind the corner and started running away. Laeroth immediately gave chase, signaling the guards in front to stop him. Two guards formed up with shields, which made him stop for a moment. After a moment Laeroth threw his knife at his back. He yelled in pain as he fell over and the guards moved in.
"Leave him!", Laeroth shouted as he grabbed the man and pulled the cloak down. It turned out to be a woman. "Who sent you!? Talk!". His words fell on deaf ears as the woman's head twitched and a thick purple foam-like substance oozed from her mouth. Laeroth groaned and let her go, "Burn the body. Speak nothing of this.". The guards nodded and carried the body outside.
'Gilshor.', Laeroth thought, 'I will not let you turn this war into your own personal puppet show. The darkness will not rule the light.'
---
(Meanwhile)
Upper level of the Imperial palace
Lilyth Camilla Agorix was always a strange girl. While the other girls took care of their hair, she took care of the armor forged specifically for her. While the other girls practiced knitting and read poetry, she expressed an interest in politics and philosophy. This behavior wasn't particularly accepted by her father. Her mother, on the other hand, empress Alruna Flavia Agorix, greatly supported her. It was thanks to her effort that women were allowed to join the army, and at the moment, a tenth of the army is female. Alruna wasn't named the Lioness for anything, and Lilyth tries to live up to her expectations.
But some members of the family aren't as hard-working as her. Her brother Armas is the biggest and most disgusting slob. She could hear him and his hooligans laugh in his chamber. Trying her best to ignore them, she walked past, but as Armas exited the room he called her over, "Hey sister! Come on in. We have room."
Lilyth groaned, "I have more important matters to attend to than entertain a room full of children."
Armas laughed, "Oh come on, loosen up. The slaves taught me that."
"Armas, if mother finds out-"
"What? What will she do? These slaves were given to me and I can do whatever I want with them."
"Is that so?", spoke a mature womanly voice, "Tell me, Armas, what exactly have you been doing?"
"M-Mother?", Armas uttered. Next to her was the second youngest daughter, Khelsa, along with the captive human girl, Amy. The two became friends after Amy arrived and while Alruna didn't support it at first, she learned that a child is a child, and her being from a supposedly savage land is irrelevant. "Nothing. Just questioning these captives with my soldiers."
"You mean raping women with your hooligans.", Alruna said as she walked into his room. The stench and sight made her sick. "Guards! Take these women to my chambers and bring along some maids. Clean them, feed them, and dress them properly." Guards did just that, pushing away the thugs who grunted in response.
"Khelsa?", Amy asked, "Is that your brother?"
Khelsa sighed in response, "Yes. I'm sorry you had to see this."
As the guards took the women out, Armas protested, "Mother, this is unfair. These women are my slaves. Furthermore, they are savages from a barbaric land. They should consider themselves lucky to even be in my presence. Father says-"
Alruna slapped him, stopping his sentence, "Your father may be the emperor, but I know him better than anyone else. He is narrow-minded and frightened, only seeing what is right in front of him, and never bothering to properly assess anything. We may be the chosen bringers of light, but if we act as barbaric as our adversaries then we are no better than them. Now, get this room cleaned and then yourself. You are royalty, act like it." With that Alruna and Lilyth left, leaving Armas to bicker and throw tantrums.
"Thank you, mother.", Lilyth said, "I must go now."
"Go, my daughter.", said Alruna. Lilyth bowed and entered her chamber.
"Fenris.", she spoke, "Is everything ready?"
"Yes, princess.", Fenris said, "The savage stands before you in chains and the scribe has prepared the parchment."
"Excellent. Scribe, you are to document any and all findings. Listen carefully. Do you understand?"
"Yes, princess.", answered the scribe.
"Let us begin.", Lilyth said as she walked to the captive, "What is your name?"
"You know that.", he answered and received a back-handed slap. After moving his head back, he answered, "Brian O'Neil."
"Where are you from?"
"My mom.", to which he received a punch in the stomach. It didn't hurt a lot, considering he was a large man. "The United States of America."
"Tell me more about it."
"It's a unity of fifty-two states with three hundred and fifty million people."
This shocked Lilyth but she didn't show it, "Are there more countries?"
"Many more. My country isn't even the biggest one."
"So there are more empires in your world."
"No, there aren't any."
Lilyth paused for a moment, "Then what?"
"We are a republic. We elect our leader and that leader represents us. He doesn't have all the power and all of his decisions are put to a vote. Empires and kings are a thing of the past."
"You expect me to believe that? A nation cannot function without a centralized figure controlling it."
Brad chuckled, "We use to think that, too. But we found out that the opposite is true. One person can control a city, or maybe a small nation. But the bigger a nation gets and the more powerful it gets, the more strain appears on a single person. This is why our nations are governed by dozens of people and we have careful systems for governance. A single person is not enough. He would only bring ruin."
This shocked Lilyth more. A system like this was always theorized by politicians and philosophers, but nothing was ever tested because the emperors abolished it, saying that it goes against the path of light. "You say that. But our empire has grown powerful and spread across the world. We have become its rulers and spreaders of wisdom, knowledge, and civilization."
"There used to be an empire in my world that thought just like you. They wanted to conquer the entire world and make it so that only their ways exist. Do you want to know what happened?"
"What?"
"They became too big. There was too much ground. Their forces were spread thin and could be picked off by united barbarians who didn't like their ways. War stopped and since their economy depended on it, it crumbled. Their politicians became corrupt and power-hungry. They stole from and even killed each other. Eventually, they fell beneath the force of the united kingdoms they called savages and were wiped out. This is why no one can truly conquer the world. No matter how hard you fight, the world always wins."
Lilyth clenched her fists and stared at Brad with an angered look, "You say that we will end up the same?"
"If you refuse to change, then yes.".
After staring at him for a few moments, she spoke, "Fenris! Take him back to his cell. We will continue this tomorrow."
"At once, princess.", Fenris said and grabbed Brad by the arm.
As they were walking out the door, Brad turned his head to Fenris, "You know she likes you, right?".
Fenris looked at him for a bit before pushing him forward. Lilyth was left to ponder Brad's words. There is still much for her to learn.
---
(That night)
Somewhere between Meilume capital and Una
Being a prisoner is never good. Your rights are taken away and the ones who captured you can do anything they want to you. They could kill you, sell you or worse. This was the predicament the Belus family found itself in. Out of the two hundred soldiers that accompanied them, only one soldier remained, the others were killed and fed to the welfen and leanoids. The Belus family was in a cage with the last soldier, Klaus, and a servant, Lia. The five of them were all sitting with their hands tied behind their backs, wondering what will happen next. Taria was still grieving over the death of Aego, not even lifting her head.
"Bellon.", Nimriel whispered, "What will happen to us?"
"Do not worry.", Bellon said, "We will alright."
"Stop lying, father.", Taria said, still with head lowered, "These people will first rape us, torture us and then demand ransom from the empire."
"Hush, my lady.", Lia said, "Don't say such things."
"What? The truth?"
"You should listen to the little girl.", said a rogue elf as he crouched in front of the cage. Behind him was the fire in the center of the camp with four more rogues, two leanoids, and one welfen. Most of the bandits were asleep, only over a dozen stayed awake. "The money we'll get from you will make us set for life. Sure, we might have lost more than half our men, but that just means more for the living."
Taria spat, "Open this cage and I'll show you a little girl."
The rogue chuckled, "Quite a fighter. I saw you kill that leanoid. You're good. Why don't you come with us?"
"Why would I join a bunch of good-for-nothing traitors? You know nothing of honor, duty or the light."
The rogue laughed, "They still teach that shit? The light is nothing but a made-up excuse the first emperor made so we can take these lands. People like us? We see the truth. And all of you are being manipulated."
"You dare mock the path of light?", asked Bellon.
"Shouldn't a bad joke be mocked?"
Taria and Bellon gritted their teeth. This is why rogues are killed on sight. They know nothing but greed. As Taria stared at the rogue, something appeared in the corner of her vision. A man in green armor held a black boomstick and aimed it at the bandits by the fire. She looked around and saw six more. Are they insane? If they fire it, it will alert everyone. But when they fired them, only a slight sound was heard. Enough for the rogue in front of her to turn around. He saw his mates dead, but couldn't call for help as his neck was ripped out by a welfen. The Belus family was in shock as the welfen opened the cage.
"Don't be afraid.", he spoke, "I'm with the Americans."
This confused the family. "Who?", Taria asked.
Soon after, a soldier in green got to them, "My name is Lieutenant Caden Roberts of RG-3. We're here to rescue you.". He cut their ropes and waved his hand to signal the rest of his men. As they moved, Taria saw the dead bodies of the bandits and when they got out of the camp she could see that only fifteen soldiers, including two tribals, came to rescue them.
"Who are you people?", Taria asked.
"We're the Rift Expeditionary Force from the United States of America.", said the lieutenant as he pressed a small metallic box which caused the entire bandit camp to get engulfed in flames. The bandits burned and screamed, some ran out of the camp but got shot by the green soldiers. Their camouflaged armor, repeating broomsticks, and fire magic puzzled Taria greatly. She couldn't even see their faces from their masks and eyewear. Who are they? Her questions had to wait a little longer, as iron carriages moved from behind them and opened.
"Lieutenant, is it go time?", spoke the man from one of the carriages.
"Yeah.", said the lieutenant, "Let's go, I'll get them to the MRAP. Come on.". He led the five of them to the middle carriages through its back door. It looked like it was completely made of metal and that it could take a cannon shot. This just further confused them. As the carriages started moving, they noticed that it was going at high speeds, even faster than horses.
"Who are you?", Bellon asked, "What do you want from us?"
The soldiers in front of them looked at each other before taking their masks and helmets off, revealing their pale faces. It wasn't anything sinister and they didn't look like they intended to harm them.
"I am sergeant Jeff Parker.", spoke one of them.
"I am staff sergeant Liam Cook.", spoke the other one, "Over here is Lioba, our feelian, and Olaf, our friendly welfen."
"It's welfen that attacked us.", Klaus spoke.
"Do not speak as if they are of my kind.", said Olaf in an angered tone, "Those beasts lost their meaning in life."
"What do you mean?", Jeff asked.
"Each wolf lives for the pack. For the tribe. He fights for it, provides for it, and dies for it. These wolves, they've abandoned their blood and chosen the life of a wild animal. They're no better than the ferals."
"I see. We have those too. We call them deserters. They flee the army and abandon their brothers. And so we hunt them down and punish them."
"As you should."
After some silence, Klaus spoke, "Forgive me. I meant no disrespect.". Olaf nodded.
"Are you taking us home?", Nimriel asked.
"No.", Liam said, "We're taking you to Galdush. Our lieutenant-general wishes to speak with you. Well, lord Bellon more specifically." The five went silent. This was the enemy from the rift, and now they're taking them to their leader.
"Are we to become your slaves then?", Taria asked.
Jeff and Liam chuckled a bit. "No no, of course not. That kind of thing is in the past for us. Our lieutenant-general only wants to speak with you. After a nice conversation, we will personally bring you back to the Meilume capital."
"How do you know its name?", Bellon asked.
"We have our ways. Now sit back and enjoy the ride.", Liam said as he pulled some blocks out of his pocket. When he opened it, it was gray and seemed to be food. After offering it to Lia, he spoke, "Hungry?". After some hesitation, Lia took it and tasted it. It was quite delicious. As she ate the whole thing, Liam chuckled as he opened a bag, "Don't strain yourself, I have enough for everyone."
---
(Several hours later)
Fort Galdush
"My lady.", said Lia as she shook Taria, "My lady, wake up, we've arrived."
Taria woke up, "What? How long have I been asleep?"
"A few hours, my lady."
This was surprising, to say the least, "We're already here?". She looked out the window and saw their fort as well as their machines. The M2 battle tanks rolled over the hills and fired at the targets, blasting through them. She saw soldiers shooting their guns and groups running in a circle. At the gate, the lieutenant introduced himself and the convoy continued. Inside, they could see soldiers clad in thick, metal armor carrying large boxes and as they got out of the MRAP they saw the Invictus ACs flying in the air. All of this overwhelmed them. To them, these were otherworldly monsters. To the rangers, it was a normal everyday occurrence.
Lieutenant Roberts stood in front of his men, "Alright. I will take lord Bellon Belus to lieutenant-general Coleman. Parker, Cook, you take the rest to their temporary residents."
"Yes sir.", both of them said as they saluted, "Okay, let's go. I promise it's nothing bad."
Taria, Lia, Nimriel, and Klaus went with Jeff and Liam to their residence while Caden took Bellon to the lieutenant-general. The two of them went into the central command building.
"Lieutenant Caden Roberts of Rift Group 3 here to see colonel Andrew Marshal and lieutenant-general Patrick Coleman.", he said to a woman who worked as a secretary.
After some delay, the woman nodded, "Go down the hall to meeting room two."
"Thank you. Come on.". Bellon followed Caden through the hall. He admired how it was crystal clear and pearl white like they were made of pure marble. As they walked they reached the meeting room and entered. Inside were two men who stood up immediately.
"Good morning.", said the first man, "I am lieutenant-general Patrick Coleman of the Rift Expeditionary Corp. And this is our logistics officer, colonel Andrew Marshal."
"Nice to meet you.", Andrew said, "You are the lord of Meilume, Bellon Belus, correct?"
Bellon stuttered, "Y-Yes I am. Great general, you have my eternal gratitude for saving my life, and my family.", he said as he bowed.
"Please.", Patrick spoke, "No need to bow. And please call me Patrick. Sit down."
"Thank you, Patrick.", Bellon said as he sat down, Caden next to him.
"While I accept your gratitude, I'm going to need to ask something else of you?"
'Of course. What was I expecting?', Bellon thought, "And what would that be? If it is gold I assure you the emperor will pay a decent sum for my family and me."
"Oh no, god no. I'm not asking for money. I need something from you that only someone of your status within the empire can provide."
'Someone of my status'. "What exactly?"
"As you know, your empire opened a rift in our country and attacked without warning and unprovoked. We beat the invasion force and the force than came after it. You lost two armies in less than a month, or, a moon cycle as you call them."
"Yes, I am aware of this. What does that have to do with me? I didn't send those armies."
"We know. But you have a connection with the person who did. And we want you to send a message to him for us."
'A message?' "And what kind of message?"
"We would like an audience with a representative to negotiate peace."
This stunned Bellon. 'Peace?'
---
(Meanwhile)
Jeff and Liam brought the four to an empty army barracks, reserved for these situations. "Okay.", Liam spoke, "You'll be staying here until the lieutenant-general orders otherwise. Don't worry, you'll be comfortable." They entered the barracks and it was clean, with several beds, a fridge, desks, and lights, which Jeff turned on, surprising the 'guests'.
"Make yourselves at home.", Jeff said, "I'll bring you some breakfast soon.". He left and closed the door, leaving the four to talk.
"What do you think will happen, Klaus?", Nimriel asked.
"I don't know, my lady.", he answered, "But we shouldn't do anything to anger them. I think we should wait and see what is to come."
Taria looked out the window and saw the tanks and LAVs driving past as well as soldiers marching in unison. "Incredible. All this power. They could have destroyed Meilume before we even had the chance to escape. And yet here we are. In their fortress, waiting for them to bring us food. They want something."
"Well.", Lia said, "That man who offered me the sweet food was nice. I think they're not that bad."
"They are the enemy, Lia. Enemies should never be trusted. It might seem like they are good, but they are using us. They want us here so we can witness their power and use us to spread fear through the rest of the empire. Clever."
"I think you are thinking too much about it, my lady. Perhaps you need to sit down, and rest."
Taria sighed. She walked to a nearby desk and observed the notebooks, pens, and pencils. She sat down and opened a notebook, immediately noticing how the paper is milk-white with lines to help her writing. Picking up one of the pens, she observed how smooth it was and made of spotless, thin metal, but also how it didn't have a tip. Then she noticed the round top and remembered how the lieutenant pressed his metal box. Pressing down the top, the pen clicked and the tip appeared. Amazed, she clicked it several more times before starting to write.
"Taria?", Nimriel asked, "What are you doing?"
"I'm writing down what I saw."
At that moment, Jeff opened the door and brought several white cardboard boxes, "I brought breakfast. I hope it's to your liking."
Each of them took one and Jeff put the last one on Taria's desk. She looked at him and asked, "Can you show me more of your fortress?"
Jeff hesitated a bit, "Why?"
"I'm curious. I wish to learn."
"So you can write it down and give the information to the army?". Taria sat silently. This wasn't untrue. "Look, we're not your enemy. Our commanding officer is talking to your father about peace. Truth is, we don't want war.". Taria paused to think about that. "But if I get permission, I'll show you around."
"I would appreciate it. Thank you."
End of chapter 10
---
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2023.04.02 10:31 NerdayTurday #GEXIX [North and West London] NerdayTurday attends a lecture at Middlesex University London in Barnet
Here we go! I am really excited to be back out on the campaign road once again, and my first stop is to a really exciting place in the North and West London constituency where I am really glad to be running! I ran last election in a different London constituency, but with the redrawing of the boundaries I sadly had to find another one to run in - and it was a simple choice really, I chose my home constituency of North and West London - the most amazing constituency in the whole of the United Kingdom!
So with that being said, I am on my way to my very first campaign stop in this election - to the really amazing local campus of Middlesex University London in the Barnet part of this constituency, an amazing institution which has over 274,000 alumni worldwide and is one of the great universities in the world, definitely at least top 800! Isn't that great! Well with numbers like that, it is no wonder why more and more people are coming to North and West London!
I have been asked to give a talk at Middlesex University London to inspire students and tell them about the Conservative and Unionist plan for Education in this country, so how could I say no! I immediately ran to Barnet to get on the Middlesex hype and get down with the kids!
As I got to the campus, I was ushered into a pretty busy lecture theatre where I gave a short speech:
"Good morning everyone! Thank you so much for having me today. I am SO excited to be here with you all, I was glad to be invited to speak here today because I have a real passion for our education policy that we have announced in our manifesto and I just couldn't wait to share it with you all!
In this election you have a choice between some really dull socialists who have messed around all term, or you can vote for me in North and West London and the Conservatives in Government and begin to change things! Look at our education policy for example.
We are promising to link together the departments of Business Education and Skills so that kids can start thinking with their heads and how to get into business a bit more so that they feed into the business nice and early and they have the job offers there and ready to go!
We are also pledging to create a brand new national learning library so that kids have everything they need to progress their education and move forward in life, so that their learning experience is real and special.
And we are promising to do something really radical and abolish GCSEs, so that kids can enjoy their early years of learning by actually learning and not just cramming in information to pass exams - I would actually go even further than that and ensure that kids have more options so that they don't need to do exams at all, but this is a great step forward for our country. Kids learn in different ways and we need to think about other ways to learn then just memorising things - you can stuff things into your brain but how is that any way to show off your thinking and in real life?
So in general our policy is amazing, and we have amazing people too - like me! - running in constituencies around the country on the back of that plan, I hope that you'll consider voting for me!"
I then took some questions from the audience before leaving the University to go to my next campaign event! It was so nice to talk to them all though.
submitted by NerdayTurday to MHoCCampaigning [link] [comments]
So with that being said, I am on my way to my very first campaign stop in this election - to the really amazing local campus of Middlesex University London in the Barnet part of this constituency, an amazing institution which has over 274,000 alumni worldwide and is one of the great universities in the world, definitely at least top 800! Isn't that great! Well with numbers like that, it is no wonder why more and more people are coming to North and West London!
I have been asked to give a talk at Middlesex University London to inspire students and tell them about the Conservative and Unionist plan for Education in this country, so how could I say no! I immediately ran to Barnet to get on the Middlesex hype and get down with the kids!
As I got to the campus, I was ushered into a pretty busy lecture theatre where I gave a short speech:
"Good morning everyone! Thank you so much for having me today. I am SO excited to be here with you all, I was glad to be invited to speak here today because I have a real passion for our education policy that we have announced in our manifesto and I just couldn't wait to share it with you all!
In this election you have a choice between some really dull socialists who have messed around all term, or you can vote for me in North and West London and the Conservatives in Government and begin to change things! Look at our education policy for example.
We are promising to link together the departments of Business Education and Skills so that kids can start thinking with their heads and how to get into business a bit more so that they feed into the business nice and early and they have the job offers there and ready to go!
We are also pledging to create a brand new national learning library so that kids have everything they need to progress their education and move forward in life, so that their learning experience is real and special.
And we are promising to do something really radical and abolish GCSEs, so that kids can enjoy their early years of learning by actually learning and not just cramming in information to pass exams - I would actually go even further than that and ensure that kids have more options so that they don't need to do exams at all, but this is a great step forward for our country. Kids learn in different ways and we need to think about other ways to learn then just memorising things - you can stuff things into your brain but how is that any way to show off your thinking and in real life?
So in general our policy is amazing, and we have amazing people too - like me! - running in constituencies around the country on the back of that plan, I hope that you'll consider voting for me!"
I then took some questions from the audience before leaving the University to go to my next campaign event! It was so nice to talk to them all though.
2023.04.02 10:18 WebCommissar Y'all need to lay off DeSantis, he's our best hope
I've been seeing a lot of comrades attacking Ron, and it seems that they're being serious. So, let me educate the ones not in the loop.
Ron DeSantis is our guy.
Dead fucking serious. He's our man on the inside. Now, his exact politics are ambiguous. It's hard to tell just where he lands on a scale of lib to leftist. However, the important thing is that he is not really conservative. He's successfully infiltrated the GOP via a carefully constructed persona and cunning theatrics. Let me explain.
The point is, Ron was not born or groomed into conservatism like most Republicans are. Even after graduating Dunedin High School, he pursued a liberal education at both Yale and Harvard. It wasn't even until 2012 that Ron got involved with politics at all, running as a Republican in an overwhelmingly Republican district (6th congressional district), one that hasn't elected a Democrat since the party switch. He won, and proceeded to have a very uneventful, middle-of-the-road congressional career. He also married Casey Black, an openly feminist journalist and Charleston alumni with a major in Economics and a minor in French.
So, up until his bid for governor, Ron DeSantis has been anything but the typical Republican. In fact, he's been battling RINO accusations since as far back as Michael Cohen's political relevancy (if any of you even remember him). His actions are less consistent with a Republican ideologue and more consistent with someone who secretly loathes the party they're in but is trying to keep up appearances. A bit like an anti-Krysten Sinema, if you will. But, as the heading indicated, that's only the background. Let's get to the interesting part.
The Martha's Vineyard Stunt: Everyone knows about this act of cruelty: Ron kidnapped a bunch of undocumented latinx immigrants and stranded them in frozen weather. The left was outraged, the right was cheering and Ron became a hero to the conservative cause. But let's take a closer look. It's common knowledge in lefty circles that the undocumented immigrants were shipped from Texas to Florida, and then to Massachusetts. At first glance it's the actions of an extreme hypocrite: a xenophobe who complains of "illegals" swarming his home, but can't even find any within his own state. This wasn't by accident. Florida has 772,000 undocumented immigrants (source). Ron could have just much more easily found immigrants in Palm Beach or Broward, but he deliberately chose to 1) Subtly undermine his own stunt and give an optical victory to the left 2) Relocate dozens of undocumented immigrants out of Texas, one of the cruelest states to immigrants in general (particularly of a latinx background). Martha's Vineyard is one of the richest parts of one of the most migrant-friendly states in the country. No matter how you slice it, their lives are vastly improved and it was all done on Florida's payroll.
LibsOfTikTok: Here's a much shorter breakdown. When infamous TikTok Nazi and serial doxxer, LibsOfTikTok, got doxxed herself, Ron DeSantis publicly announced that he would offer refuge in his governor's mansion. He got a lot of praise from the right and scorn from the left. Then he didn't do it.
The War on Woke: Here's another long breakdown, although not as long as I had expected. Ron's made constant news coverage with his supposed "war on woke", a series of proposed laws and regulations that would criminalize leftist thought and persecute minorities. This is absolutely a terrifying force to be playing with. However, this is the point that I need to remind y'all: Ron went to Harvard. He graduated with a JD. These laws haven't just failed, they were designed to fail. You've heard of failproof? These were successproof, and intentionally so. The Reedy Creek board has no control over Disney, yet Ron gets credit for "taking down woke Disney". The "stop-woke" law targeting colleges couldn't even make it past a conservative judge. The supposed book bannings have even had the comical side effect of removing the bible from many Florida public schools, a matter which he had curiously not anticipated despite being the architect of their machinations. I'm sure many here assume that these outcomes are all the product of stupidity, but that's not the case. "But why make laws that aren't supposed to succeed?" Well, that's where things get really interesting.
It's easy to forget, but Trump is still the defacto leader of Republican Party. There's no sign of a mass exodus from him anytime soon. He is their strongman, he is the new Reagan. Forget Biden, Trump is Ron's final boss. It's also easy to forget that Trump gets billions worth of publicity for free. Nobody can afford to compete with that, not conventionally. Ron is trying to beat Trump at his own game. But there's a clear difference between the two: Trump is a true Republican and has been his whole life. Behind every zany university scam is a trail of ruined lives and stepped on people. Trump has left behind a verifiable trail of destruction. But DeSantis? His big ploys for attention have been victimless. He gave a better life to undocumented immigrants. He wooed right wing voters with authoritarian laws that had no chance of coming to fruition. He's boasted about making the GOP stronger while undermining it every step of the way.
Even John Oliver's Ron DeSantis segment had trouble making substantial criticisms of him. I think this is perhaps because the Last Week Tonight staff are more thorough in their investigations than most legitimate journalists. For example: in the entire 30 minute segment, not once did John ever mention Martha's Vineyard or LibsOfTikTok. In fact, one has to wonder if John is in on it when he spent most of the time playing up Ron's "conservative strongman" persona in a way that would actually make him appealing to the Republican voterbase. In fact, if you watch that segment with the idea of it being pro-DeSantis propaganda, it's actually more effective than it was as a liberal hitpiece. John even felt the need to mention that Trump is the worse between the two.
Which brings me to my final point, and possibly the most important:
So, that means Ron likes Trump, right?
Dead wrong. Dead fucking wrong. The biggest piece of evidence that Ron does not like Trump is the fact that he's gearing up to run in 2024 at all. He's only 44 years old. There's no urgency for him to run in 2024. The only reason he would have to dedicate himself to such a clusterfuck of a year is that it's likely his only chance to usurp Trump. Does anyone really expect such a decrepit, out of shape piece of shit to run in 2028? 2028 would likely be easier for Ron, who will only be 48 (an actual child compared to most presidential candidates). Plus he wouldn't be running against a Dem with the incumbent advantage.
No matter how you slice it, the only way Ron's 2024 bid makes any sense is if you view it as pure spite against Trump.
But that circumstantial evidence isn't enough. Instead, I'd like to allow Ron to speak for himself. On the topic of Trump's indictment, Republicans (even supposed "never Trumpers" like Romney) have been outspoken in defense of Trump. Well, with one notable exception. When asked about his thoughts on Trump possibly being the victim of political persecution, DeSantis (who is not one to pass up an opportunity to speak out about Democrats) only had this to say:
I rest my post.
submitted by WebCommissar to VaushV [link] [comments]
Ron DeSantis is our guy.
Dead fucking serious. He's our man on the inside. Now, his exact politics are ambiguous. It's hard to tell just where he lands on a scale of lib to leftist. However, the important thing is that he is not really conservative. He's successfully infiltrated the GOP via a carefully constructed persona and cunning theatrics. Let me explain.
A little background
First off, Ron was born and raised in Jacksonville, one of the largest enclaves of BIPOC culture in all of Florida. Ron's mother was a hippie and his father was a left-wing atheist, they even met at Youngstown State University (which was one of the most liberal colleges in the country at that point). There's a lot of information about Ron's upbringing, most notably his fascination with baseball (the national sport of Cuba) yet, curiously, there's very little on his Churchgoing life, or if he even attended Church at all. Nowadays he's quick to cite his attendance to the OLL Catholic High School, although it's ambiguous how much time he actually spent there. It's possible he wasn't there longer than a semester, if even that.The point is, Ron was not born or groomed into conservatism like most Republicans are. Even after graduating Dunedin High School, he pursued a liberal education at both Yale and Harvard. It wasn't even until 2012 that Ron got involved with politics at all, running as a Republican in an overwhelmingly Republican district (6th congressional district), one that hasn't elected a Democrat since the party switch. He won, and proceeded to have a very uneventful, middle-of-the-road congressional career. He also married Casey Black, an openly feminist journalist and Charleston alumni with a major in Economics and a minor in French.
So, up until his bid for governor, Ron DeSantis has been anything but the typical Republican. In fact, he's been battling RINO accusations since as far back as Michael Cohen's political relevancy (if any of you even remember him). His actions are less consistent with a Republican ideologue and more consistent with someone who secretly loathes the party they're in but is trying to keep up appearances. A bit like an anti-Krysten Sinema, if you will. But, as the heading indicated, that's only the background. Let's get to the interesting part.
A series of Saul Goodman gambits
I know you've read about Ron in the news, or at least in posts here. I'm sure everyone here knows about Martha's Vineyard, LibsOfTikTok, the "war on woke". These would all be very fashy things if they were meant to succeed. But, that's just it: they weren't. Let's go down the list.The Martha's Vineyard Stunt: Everyone knows about this act of cruelty: Ron kidnapped a bunch of undocumented latinx immigrants and stranded them in frozen weather. The left was outraged, the right was cheering and Ron became a hero to the conservative cause. But let's take a closer look. It's common knowledge in lefty circles that the undocumented immigrants were shipped from Texas to Florida, and then to Massachusetts. At first glance it's the actions of an extreme hypocrite: a xenophobe who complains of "illegals" swarming his home, but can't even find any within his own state. This wasn't by accident. Florida has 772,000 undocumented immigrants (source). Ron could have just much more easily found immigrants in Palm Beach or Broward, but he deliberately chose to 1) Subtly undermine his own stunt and give an optical victory to the left 2) Relocate dozens of undocumented immigrants out of Texas, one of the cruelest states to immigrants in general (particularly of a latinx background). Martha's Vineyard is one of the richest parts of one of the most migrant-friendly states in the country. No matter how you slice it, their lives are vastly improved and it was all done on Florida's payroll.
LibsOfTikTok: Here's a much shorter breakdown. When infamous TikTok Nazi and serial doxxer, LibsOfTikTok, got doxxed herself, Ron DeSantis publicly announced that he would offer refuge in his governor's mansion. He got a lot of praise from the right and scorn from the left. Then he didn't do it.
The War on Woke: Here's another long breakdown, although not as long as I had expected. Ron's made constant news coverage with his supposed "war on woke", a series of proposed laws and regulations that would criminalize leftist thought and persecute minorities. This is absolutely a terrifying force to be playing with. However, this is the point that I need to remind y'all: Ron went to Harvard. He graduated with a JD. These laws haven't just failed, they were designed to fail. You've heard of failproof? These were successproof, and intentionally so. The Reedy Creek board has no control over Disney, yet Ron gets credit for "taking down woke Disney". The "stop-woke" law targeting colleges couldn't even make it past a conservative judge. The supposed book bannings have even had the comical side effect of removing the bible from many Florida public schools, a matter which he had curiously not anticipated despite being the architect of their machinations. I'm sure many here assume that these outcomes are all the product of stupidity, but that's not the case. "But why make laws that aren't supposed to succeed?" Well, that's where things get really interesting.
Why would Ron do all this?
Isn't it obvious? Publicity.It's easy to forget, but Trump is still the defacto leader of Republican Party. There's no sign of a mass exodus from him anytime soon. He is their strongman, he is the new Reagan. Forget Biden, Trump is Ron's final boss. It's also easy to forget that Trump gets billions worth of publicity for free. Nobody can afford to compete with that, not conventionally. Ron is trying to beat Trump at his own game. But there's a clear difference between the two: Trump is a true Republican and has been his whole life. Behind every zany university scam is a trail of ruined lives and stepped on people. Trump has left behind a verifiable trail of destruction. But DeSantis? His big ploys for attention have been victimless. He gave a better life to undocumented immigrants. He wooed right wing voters with authoritarian laws that had no chance of coming to fruition. He's boasted about making the GOP stronger while undermining it every step of the way.
Even John Oliver's Ron DeSantis segment had trouble making substantial criticisms of him. I think this is perhaps because the Last Week Tonight staff are more thorough in their investigations than most legitimate journalists. For example: in the entire 30 minute segment, not once did John ever mention Martha's Vineyard or LibsOfTikTok. In fact, one has to wonder if John is in on it when he spent most of the time playing up Ron's "conservative strongman" persona in a way that would actually make him appealing to the Republican voterbase. In fact, if you watch that segment with the idea of it being pro-DeSantis propaganda, it's actually more effective than it was as a liberal hitpiece. John even felt the need to mention that Trump is the worse between the two.
Which brings me to my final point, and possibly the most important:
What is Ron's relationship with Trump?
That's a topic that the media has been musing over for the last year, but it's really not that hard to figure out. Early on, everyone talked about the "rivalry" between the two. This rhetoric heated up as Trump's jabs at him became meaner and even borderline slanderous. Yet Ron has been careful not to fight back, even attempting to be cordial with Trump.So, that means Ron likes Trump, right?
Dead wrong. Dead fucking wrong. The biggest piece of evidence that Ron does not like Trump is the fact that he's gearing up to run in 2024 at all. He's only 44 years old. There's no urgency for him to run in 2024. The only reason he would have to dedicate himself to such a clusterfuck of a year is that it's likely his only chance to usurp Trump. Does anyone really expect such a decrepit, out of shape piece of shit to run in 2028? 2028 would likely be easier for Ron, who will only be 48 (an actual child compared to most presidential candidates). Plus he wouldn't be running against a Dem with the incumbent advantage.
No matter how you slice it, the only way Ron's 2024 bid makes any sense is if you view it as pure spite against Trump.
But that circumstantial evidence isn't enough. Instead, I'd like to allow Ron to speak for himself. On the topic of Trump's indictment, Republicans (even supposed "never Trumpers" like Romney) have been outspoken in defense of Trump. Well, with one notable exception. When asked about his thoughts on Trump possibly being the victim of political persecution, DeSantis (who is not one to pass up an opportunity to speak out about Democrats) only had this to say:
He's trying to do a political spectacle … I've got real issues I've got to deal with here in the state of Florida (source)Ron DeSantis was practically given the chance to woo the Trump voterbase. And yet, a man known for being thunderous and commanding instead responded with... silence. It's perhaps the loudest silence of all: the silence of endorsement.
I rest my post.
TL;DR Ron DeSantis' inexplicable and sometimes illogical political career is a carefully crafted, carefully acted ploy to undermine Trump and possibly the GOP as a whole.
2023.04.02 10:14 Tasty_Persimmon_397 One Draycott
 | submitted by Tasty_Persimmon_397 to u/Tasty_Persimmon_397 [link] [comments] https://preview.redd.it/4z72a0ymjfra1.png?width=1341&format=png&auto=webp&s=5a4dacfe9ad0b3218ae13b101acba1dc222658eb One Draycott: A Luxurious Living Experience in the Heart of Singapore One Draycott is a prestigious residential development located in the heart of Singapore. Situated in the prestigious Ardmore Park neighbourhood, One Draycott offers residents a luxurious living experience with a prime location and a host of amenities. This exclusive development consists of 64 high-end units, ranging from 2 to 4 bedrooms, each designed to meet the highest standards of luxury and comfort One Draycott. The units are thoughtfully designed to maximize natural light, ventilation and offer stunning views of the surrounding neighbourhood. One Draycott boasts a range of amenities, including a 24-hour concierge, swimming pool, BBQ area, and gymnasium, providing residents with a comfortable and convenient living experience. The development is also in close proximity to Orchard Road, one of Singapore's premier shopping destinations, and a range of high-end restaurants, cafes and bars. One Draycott's prime location, luxurious amenities One Draycott, and high-end units make it an excellent choice for those looking for a premium living experience in the heart of Singapore. https://preview.redd.it/00zebfwojfra1.png?width=1334&format=png&auto=webp&s=f504fe39fdaf899411d0d2112016abd78b3b116a |
2023.04.02 10:13 Sephronar #GEXIX [Cornwall and Devon] There’s something fishy going on, as Sephronar closes his campaign on the North Pier of Newlyn Harbour
![#GEXIX [Cornwall and Devon] There’s something fishy going on, as Sephronar closes his campaign on the North Pier of Newlyn Harbour](https://b.thumbs.redditmedia.com/f7-TTZddK9pOd_e8e0LVuxthLI7668NLwjbRkFytAhs.jpg "#GEXIX [Cornwall and Devon] There’s something fishy going on, as Sephronar closes his campaign on the North Pier of Newlyn Harbour") | https://preview.redd.it/5wwcs3f29fra1.png?width=3000&format=png&auto=webp&s=c9feb04946c9004d3e5be4f39c0230778440ed11 submitted by Sephronar to MHoCCampaigning [link] [comments] After an admittedly overly energetic campaign event at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital in Exeter, Sephronar awoke somehow back down in the Duchy of Cornwall - far south of the Duchy on the south west coast path down on Newlyn green, next to famous and creatively named art gallery, "Newlyn Art Gallery", where thousands of residents were crowded around him curious if he was dead or not. It seems that the people of Devon thought, after being knocked out by Exeter Chiefs rugby team player Gabby Cantorna, that the Conservative and Unionist Party candidate for Cornwall and Devon would appreciate being returned to the close vicinity of their next campaign event. How convenient for the plot - but to be fair, the candidate did swim all the way up from Truro to Exeter so he was probably tired and a quick transition from Exeter to Newlyn would have been appreciated. Coming-to, there were seagulls circling around the candidate like vultures, and there were many thousands of local residents - perhaps almost the whole population of West Cornwall - who were doing the same thing down on the ground, probably wondering what was going to happen next. Their guess was as good as anyone's! The candidate got up, and began by shaking hands and introducing himself individually to each and every member of the crowd - passing them on a signed copy of the Conservative and Unionist Party manifesto 'The Plan for Tomorrow' - that was bound to get him a few votes. After getting to the last person, the candidate's campaign manager Danny DeVito hobbled out of the crowd and ushered him away, walking along New Road towards the upcoming campaign event. Sephronar was booked to speak to the fishermen at Newlyn Harbour about what the Conservative Party plans to do for them if they are elected into Government at this election, and they were already running late. With news helicopters circling overhead, and what felt like all the press photographers in the South West trailing behind him, Sephronar continued to pass on through the crowd of constituents, handing out 'Sephronar 4 Cornwall and Devon' stickers to them all as well - more votes guaranteed! As they passed Lewis Fish and Chips on the corner of Chywoone Hill, they took a left down the Stand - passing the Fishermen's Mission where they finally saw a number of impatient looking fishermen begrudgingly applauding as the candidate passed by; he probably shouldn't keep them waiting any longer. They made another left into the Newlyn Pier and Harbour Commissioners' building, where a meet and greet had been arranged with the commissioners and harbour master. Arriving into the building, Sephronar introduced himself to the board, and thanked them for their patience and their time. "Thank you all so much for having me here today, I am really excited to be here to talk to you about what I can offer to this area - it's pretty clear that there is any election on isn't it, I've just spoken with thousands of people about our manifesto 'The Plan for Tomorrow', and it's clear that there is a real appetite for change, I honestly believe that a tide is turning in British politics - after months of sheltering from the storm, the boats are finally ready to go back out again and brave the seas. But of course I'm not the only candidate out selling myself to this constituency, you've undoubtedly been hassled already by the ruffians in Solidarity for example - but I am here today to tell you more about what sets me apart from those plebs. Let's have a proper look around first though!" The fishy party exited the commissioners building and into the fish market - England's largest fish market and where over 50 species are regularly landed from handline, trawl, net, ring net and pot vessels - 100 fishermen and 600 vessels land in Newlyn every day, it is a hub of activity and the local economy is thriving, with millions of pounds coming from the market every year. After this, the group made their way out onto the North Pier of the harbour - there are plans within the harbour board to expand the operation here, and create brand new infrastructure through a breakwater and new availability for deep water trawlers, as well as new processing buildings which would exponentially expand the capacity here and amount of trade done each year; is it that kind of project which is what politics is all about, and the Conservative Party candidate for Cornwall and Devon knew it. Walking along the pier, the crowds from the green had begun to amass in the harbour car park, and grew restless to hear Sephronar speak - their wish was his command - he climbed on top of the roof of the famous fish market, eager to address the followers: "Good morning Newlyn! Wasson! It is a pleasure to be here today, and how amazing it is to see so many fishy faces amongst the crowd such as John Dory, and Finn Current - it's great to have you here, thank you for your time and your very visual and astounding support. I know that this comes from a place of desperately wanting to see change, and I am not going to let you down on that; I have heard you, and I am ready to take action for you. I want to give this constituency the best possible prospects - but they are sadly not getting that from this current communist government, and the lacklustre Member of Parliament who you elected at the last election, who quickly abandoned you to sit in the House of Lords! No other candidate in this election has a connection to this constituency, they have all been parachuted in by their parties, what an utter farce - none of them have taken action this term to support you and your needs, but I have as I am sure that you know and I want to talk a bit more about that firstly." "This term I presented The Cornwall Bill to the House, in the hope that the House of Commons would accept Cornwall's rightful claim to more self-determination - sadly that first attempt did not pass, and it was rejected by a mere three votes, sadly a victim of circumstance and personalities; but I am determined to keep trying, and I am confident that this coming term Cornwall will be given the tools to govern itself because I have made a central promise in our manifesto to do exactly that. The Conservative and Unionist Party recognise that local people know best how to govern themselves, and that is why we are promising to introduce - if we are elected into Government - tools to give local communities the right to self-governance that they have been crying out for; and that includes Cornwall. A Conservative and Unionist Party led by me will introduce legislation to finally create the Cornish Assembly!" [Crowd cheers] "But I'm conscious that is not why we are all here today at Newlyn Harbour - we are here to talk about fish! More specifically, we are here to talk about trade, and what we can do to increase trade in our country. We have a plan for this in our manifesto 'The Plan for Tomorrow', and as our spokesperson rightly said in the introduction to the section on trade, "there is one thing which is going to guarantee our security and prosperity as a people and as a nation - and that is economic security, economic prosperity, delivered through stronger partnerships with nations around the world; strong trading arrangements" - I could not agree with Peter_Mannion- more on this, and we are fortunate to have them on our team, he has been central to our strategy on increasing trade around the world." "Firstly, and it is partly why I am here today in Newlyn, our party has a bold plan to boost our trade outputs - and we will do that by implementing a brand new 'Green Shipping and Marine Opportunities' strategy, which will establish a large number of new Freeports around the country which will service development and investment; these freeport opportunities will bring millions to local communities in terms of infrastructure investments and development, and I am very pleased to announce that we have plans to create a Freeport right here in Newlyn! Newlyn has been exploring opportunities for expanding their capacity for some time - and recently there has been a real push for it, so we want to take advantage of that and make their plans a reality through our Freeport strategy - it will make a huge difference to what you all do here, so if that is what you want to see for our community then there is only one party that you should vote for; and that is for me in the Cornwall and Devon constituency as the Conservative and Unionist Party candidate! Together we can make a real difference with 'The Plan for Tomorrow'!" "We are also taking other bold steps to boost our International Trade, and one which I am very pleased of is our plan to merge the two departments of International Development and International Trade - meaning that Trade becomes a central tenant to our strategy to develop nations around the globe. By doing this, we will create a new central hub to focus on investment and trade deals whilst simultaneously boosting other nations around the world and their prosperity. We will finally get people talking to one another - whether that is by our own civil servants in these respective departments as part of one team, or other nations talking with us. Let me be clear - everyone is a possibility, nothing is off of the table. We will bring billions of new investment into our nation, and invest around the world as well for the good of the whole planet." "We will however take steps to ensure that those nations who are unkind and unjust towards their people do not see these benefits, and take a bold moral stand against the countries which violate peoples' sacred human rights - countries such as North Korea will not be welcome in Britain's International Trade strategy, unless they urgently change their ways." "Finally, I want to be clear that I have no confidence in the way in which our current Government have conducted themselves this term - and indeed how Governments for the last couple of years have behaved - so we will take action to immediately open talks and renegotiate all of our Trade deals with nations around the world. Britain can do much better, and we in the Conservative Party believe that we have been getting a bad deal - we will change this, and we will multilaterally reach better trading terms with our partners and potential partners, we believe that Britain can do much better than this, and the Conservatives will make that happen." "Overall, I think that it is pretty clear who is watching out for Britain's best interests at the end of the day - it certainly is not the communist cabal who have just run rampant with Britain's finances for six months and done nothing for our nation - it is us in the Conservatives who have a plan to finally turn things around in your interests. We have five priorities for Britain; Whether that be building a strong economy, reintroducing law and order onto our streets, reinforcing stronger public services, investing in our education system, or building a new approach to our Union - the Conservative and Unionist Party, and our manifesto 'The Plan for Tomorrow' have a strong strategy and are ready for Government, and we want to dedicate ourselves towards serving you, and supporting communities such as this one to thrive. With us in Government, and me as your Member of Parliament in Westminster, you can be assured that your interests will be safe and we will stand up for you." "Thank you all so much for your time, it is a pleasure to be standing here in this constituency - the constituency that I am proud to call my home - I hope that you will see that I am the right person to represent you after my track record of service to the constituency. You need a strong local representative, and that person is clearly and overwhelmingly me. I will stand guard over your interests, and protect you from the communists who want to tear this Country apart. Thank you so much! Don't forget to vote!" With that all said, the Conservative and Unionist Party candidate backflipped off of the roof straight into Newlyn Harbour, where he disappeared - never to be seen again... (Until polling day when he was seen desperately carrying pensioners to the polling station.) |
2023.04.02 09:26 Elfrino QiGong Master Talks About Aliens
(note: thought this subreddit may find this info of interest)
Hi All,
I have some lecture excerpts that you might be interested in. It's from a Buddha Master from the Falun Dafa school of QiGong. A very high level cultivation technique that is very righteous and powerful.
www.falundafa.org
In these following lecture excerpts, the founder of Falun Dafa, Mr Li Hongzhi spells out the Alien Agenda that is upon this earth and it's implications to humanity as a whole.
Quote:
“Let me first explain what alien beings are all about. You know that this Earth isn’t the only planet with life in this universe, and Earth hasn’t existed just this once. I’m saying that at Earth’s position there were Earths that existed before. Those previous Earths were discarded. Some exploded. It happened many times—the number has been quite large. The final stage of an Earth has always been a time when its lives were the most corrupt and its matter was the most impure, so the Earth could no longer be kept. It would be eliminated since the whole sphere had turned into a ball of karma.
The reason is, lives reincarnate . They reincarnate into soil, rocks, plants or matter, and regardless of what they are reborn as, they carry karma with them . Earth would become a ball of karma when karma was all over the place, so at that point it would be eliminated. There would still be some people on Earth who were relatively good, and those exceptionally few or extremely few ones were taken and placed onto another planet within the Three Realms.
Yet through the ages this Earth has been replaced innumerable times and each time there were people who remained. So over time those remaining lives increased in number. The gods in each time period created humans with a different appearance, so the differences are quite substantial, and there are some who were created on other planets. These are alien beings. They’ve become like a record of history , placed there like a page of history left behind . That’s the function they serve, a minor one. They were left behind from the final stage of Earth during those times, and took with them the technology they had in those times over to other planets, so their starting point was more advanced.
Over this long period of time, the knowledge of the universe they came to grasp far exceeds that of the inhabitants of today’s Earth. Their bodies can enter other dimensions and adjust to the mode of those dimensions they are in; they’ve developed to this stage. Those things they ride in that fly back and forth—those aircraft that human beings call flying saucers—can enter other dimensions and fly into other space-times. If they travel in a fast space-time, after being there for just a short while they traverse a long distance. So that speed is inconceivable to human beings. The types of fuel they use aren’t in the least the kinds of substances conceivable by the technology, theories, or concepts of modern science.
Over the ages, these alien beings have continually been developing and metamorphosing. So in this universe there have really appeared the abnormal social relations that these kinds of lives have. Greed and lust have caused something like star wars to actually happen over where they live. They haven’t yet threatened humankind because humankind doesn’t have the ability to pose a threat to them . So they haven’t attacked humankind.
They would attack humankind if you were to threaten them. Although alien beings haven’t attacked humankind, they know that a human body is the most perfect. They’ve thus taken a fancy to the human body and want to steal it. They saturate all domains of humankind with science to make human beings firmly believe in science and rely on it. When human beings ’ thoughts and way of existence are completely assimilated to theirs, they just have to replace people’s souls and humans will become them, and they will eventually replace the human race.
It’s a long story. They have been coming here full-scale since the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution in the West. They had come prior to that time, but they didn’t control people then. Their full-scale arrival began when Caucasian society entered the industrial age. They made full preparations and systematic arrangements for occupying this earth. It was they who created science for human beings . So this science was set up by aliens. Their purpose was to unify human beings and simplify their thoughts to the point of being as uniform as machines. And they unified knowledge to make it easy for them to later on control and replace human beings. Furthermore, they’ve chosen a few nationalities as the vanguards of their future, total control of humankind. Japan is the vanguard that drives technology.
The United States is the vanguard in breaking away from all ancient cultures on earth. The cultures of even the most ancient and closed-off nations haven’t been able to escape. The whole world is being impacted by America’s modern culture. England was the vanguard in the manufacture of machinery during the early stages , and Spain was the vanguard for mixing the human races. The way alien beings get human beings to shake free of the gods is to mix the races, causing human beings to become rootless people, just like the plant hybrids people make nowadays. South Americans, Central Americans, Mexicans and some people in South East Asia— all of these races have been mixed. None of this can evade the gods’ eyes. Alien beings have made rather extensive preparations for overtaking human beings.
Everyone who knows how to operate a computer has been registered. Of course, our students don’t have this problem. Once you obtain the Fa, I clean up that layer of your body that’s been occupied by them. They have formed a layer of their body within the human body. It’s incredibly frightening! Everything people learn from elementary school right up through college is the science they brought , and everything that human beings use nowadays is the product of this omnipresent science. Why do the inspirations people get make computers and technology develop with such tremendous speed? It’s done by that layer of the body that alien beings formed so as to control the human race. It’s exactly because that system of their technology and science that has formed in the human body is making people’s minds do so.
Today it’s incredible how developed computers are. But it is not a human technology. Man will be replaced by alien beings if it continues like this for long. But think about it, everyone: Alien beings are, after all, beings within the Three Realms, where ordinary humans are. There are other reasons why they dare to do this sort of thing. It has happened because the Fa (Law) of the universe has deviated and gods no longer look after things.
So it has to do with high-level beings as well. If this situation is to be turned around, it has to begin from high levels. That’s because they have this idea that human beings are no longer any good, their morality has degenerated, and everything is perverted. So they think it’s all right to just replace them , given that they are going to be eliminated all the same. They have to pay for all of the bad things they’ve done, for sure. The principles of this universe are absolutely reasonable toward any life.
So they have to answer for everything they’ve done. As for how their lives will eventually be dealt with, alien beings definitely won’t exist in the future. If there are truly good ones among the alien beings, then their lives can reincarnate as other lives. Bad lives will be eliminated. So everything that every being does positions himself for the future . And that includes all human beings. Whatever a human being does positions him.
That’s the situation as far as alien beings go. They are being swept out up there, and they found out about the cleaning, so they scurried over here, and in particularly large numbers in recent years.
As of right now, most of the alien beings who have come here did so fleeing for their lives. They knew that in the end it would be hard for them to escape, so some alien beings have married Earth dwellers. But it’s not that they marry legitimately, because no one would marry them. They catch a village woman to leave behind their offspring. And there are those who are hiding among ordinary people. They can’t stay under cover no matter how they hide. Immense gong is coming up from the microscopic level.
Whether it be steel, iron, wood, the human body, water, rocks, air, plants, animals, substances, etc., from the microscopic level of everything gong is coming up toward the surface. Tell me, where could they escape to? The gong is omnipresent and rushing up to the surface . So they’ve seen that there is no way to dodge it or to hide from it. How do they exist? They aren’t actually possessing spirits. But some of them have assumed man’s appearance and walk the streets . You have no idea who they are.
Some have hidden and don’t come out. But the number is now small, very small. In the past they could hide , and their flying saucers could fly up and go to another dimension. But the other dimensions have all been cleaned up. Immense gong is rushing here and they can no longer hide. They can only hide in a cave or at the bottom of the sea in this dimension. Even so, they can’t stay concealed. Anyway, that’s the problem they face . All lives are positioning themselves in this affair. You should know that although alien beings brought their science to human beings to achieve their goals, gods are in charge of everything and are in turn using them.”
Li Hongzhi
September 4–5, 1998 ~ Geneva, Switzerland - https://falundafa.org/eng/eng/lectures/19980904L.html
Quote:
“Having seen many movies, having read many imaginative stories, and having been influenced by a lot of things in society, people have developed a warped mindset that indulges in fantasy. You asked how to communicate with intelligent beings. Let me tell you all that an ordinary person can’t do that sort of thing, and he lacks the ability. If you could indeed communicate with intelligent beings but weren’t a cultivator yourself and were without energy, you would be in danger. You might lose your life any moment. Besides, you would see gruesome spirits but no high-level beings, for your level would be too low and limited to only that of humans. So it would be a terrifying situation. It’s even more terrifying if you want to communicate with living beings beyond Earth.
Lives beyond Earth are just lives on other planets within this physical dimension that our human eyes can perceive. Yet those lives don’t regard people as human beings. They think people are beasts, a kind of animal. They slaughter people at will and experiment on you at will. They kidnap people to their planets, lock them in cages, and put them on display as animals. Many of Earth’s people who have gone missing were taken by them. I can also tell you that today’s human science was created by them. Why have those aliens created for humans something like the current science? It’s because what they have on their planet is akin to it.
They want to bring it to this planet and eventually replace humans. They found that the human body is really perfect, flawless. So they covet the human body and want to eventually replace humans. They have added their things into one layer of human beings’ molecular cells. That’s already been done now and it has formed on a large scale. So for me to save you today, I not only have to remove all the attachments and karma that you need to eliminate, but I also have to clean up this stuff for you. The road humankind is travelling down is dreadful. Computers would have commanded people one day. Ongoing developments have conformed to this trajectory. Humans were to become the slaves of computers and machinery, and eventually be replaced by aliens.
Why have computers developed so quickly, and why has the human brain suddenly become so “sharp”? All of this has been carried out by aliens controlling the human mind. Aliens have registered everyone who knows how to operate a computer. For real. As to our students, I’ve cleaned all of that up for them, so that they won’t be interfered with by aliens when they use computers. Why are there aliens? Some aliens originate from their planets. Why do some aliens always come to Earth? It’s because they were once humans on Earth. But it wasn’t the Earth of our time. It was the previous Earth that existed at the same location as this Earth. Earth has been replaced many times.
Each time it was replaced, there was a portion of lives—living beings created by gods with different appearances, some of whom were similar to today’s humans, some of whom had different forms who were relatively good at the time and were thus preserved. They weren’t destroyed, yet they weren’t allowed to enter the period of human development on the next Earth, either. So they were sent to another planet. That’s how it was done every time. Also, it has left a record of this universe, for they were humans on Earth in different time periods. It serves that purpose. But due to a slackening in overseeing them, they have developed, and they have created all kinds of scientific methods according to their schemes; some are like the kind on our earth, some assume other forms, and there are a variety of modes of development. Of course, they don’t use the term “science.”
The names they use belong to their languages and concepts. These things have deteriorated further and further. And with the deviation of the cosmos’ Great Fa, the aliens have become worse and worse too. That’s why all aliens are in the process of being completely eliminated. They are being eliminated throughout the entire universe. At present, those up there have been eliminated. What’s left are only those who have escaped to Earth, who are mingling among people or who have attached to human bodies. And there are other types too.”
Li Hongzhi
May 30–31, 1998 ~ Frankfurt, Germany - https://falundafa.org/eng/eng/lectures/19980530L.html
Quote:
“As you know, modern science was brought to mankind by aliens. They came when the Industrial Revolution began in the West. They started with mathematics and chemistry—started from the shallow, simple knowledge of the earliest days—and penetrated on through to modern machinery, and eventually they developed up to today’s computers. As development continues further their ultimate goal will be to replace human beings.
How is the replacement to take place? As I mentioned, in the body of today’s human beings almost everyone has a layer of the body that was created by aliens. Why do I say that? It’s because all of the science that they instilled in you has created a warped human mindset in your mind. There have never been humans like this in any of mankind’s previous civilizations.
When the mind is like that, so is the body. As you know, every cell in your body is you, and your brain is connected to the brain in every cell. In that case, the thought processes inside the countless cells in your body are all the thoughts of warped human beings, and the entire body has become like that. This ties into why gods no longer regard man as human. When mankind is no longer human, what is the point of gods’ saving it?
You know that when a person dies, he doesn’t really die. The shell of the layer of the largest molecular particles sloughs off, whereas the part of the body composed of microcosmic particles below molecules hasn’t died. It is separated, as if a person takes off a piece of clothing. It isn’t really dead. Yet the person in this dimension has vanished, since the body needs to be cremated or buried and it will eventually decompose and dissolve. It has departed from this dimension; that is, this layer of particles has disappeared.
Then, as to the alien culture that I was just talking about, it is precisely using man’s own thinking to create the bodily layer that it needs, and it is doing so without man being aware of it. How will they ultimately replace human beings, then? You know that they still have to find a way to replace the shell of the outermost surface of human beings. This is the method of “cloning” that man now wants to use. Gods look after people, and when they don’t look after someone, they won’t instill the elements of life into that person.
This is to say, the reason you are alive in this world is not that you have this flesh body, nor is it because your mother gave you this body that you are alive. It is because you have your main spirit (yuanshen) and the existence of all of your other spirits (shen) that you can live. Why doesn’t a person keep living after he dies and the body is laid down there, since it’s the same body after all? It’s because all of his main spirits have left. That is, if a person isn’t given a spirit and isn’t allowed to reincarnate at the time of birth, he will still be dead after he is born. So what will happen? Aliens will enter.
This is the ultimate means that aliens will use to replace man— that is, cloning humans. Man is being used by aliens to destroy himself, yet he is not aware of it and is still protecting this science, destroying the human race. If humans are cloned en masse in the future, those beings will all be aliens that have reincarnated in human bodies, and there will be no more human race.”
Li Hongzhi
Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. Fa Conference (February 21 and 22, 1999, Los Angeles)
https://www.falundafa.org/book/eng/us_west1999.htm
Quote:
I’ve told you before that because of alien science and technology, one layer of the human body, one of the human body’s layers of particles, has been placed fully under the control of aliens. It consists entirely of alien planets’ elements, including numbers, mechanical structures, electronic components, and so on. It consists of that stuff. And those things are continually creating a warped effect. The large-scale modern industries brought about by science have impacted many low-level dimensions in the cosmos. In my Fa-rectification I’ve found that quite a large layer of the cosmos has been contaminated by those things. And those warped things have had a considerably large resisting effect in the Fa-rectification.
Li Hongzhi
Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Atlanta Fa Conference (Li Hongzhi, November 29, 2003)
https://falundafa.org/eng/eng/lectures/20031129L.html
- - - - - - - - -
Also, Mr Li Hongzhi has been interviewed by Time Asia where he mentions the Alien Phenomena, another fascinating read:
http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2053761,00.html
Lastly, I recommend checking this book out entitled Zhuan Falun:
https://falundafa.org/eng/eng/pdf/ZFL2014.pdf
It covers so many things, from the mysteries of the microcosm to the macrocosm, other dimensions, the soul, ancient prehistory, supernatural latent abilities, chi, gong energy and so many other insightful things.
submitted by Elfrino to MantisEncounters [link] [comments]
Hi All,
I have some lecture excerpts that you might be interested in. It's from a Buddha Master from the Falun Dafa school of QiGong. A very high level cultivation technique that is very righteous and powerful.
www.falundafa.org
In these following lecture excerpts, the founder of Falun Dafa, Mr Li Hongzhi spells out the Alien Agenda that is upon this earth and it's implications to humanity as a whole.
Quote:
“Let me first explain what alien beings are all about. You know that this Earth isn’t the only planet with life in this universe, and Earth hasn’t existed just this once. I’m saying that at Earth’s position there were Earths that existed before. Those previous Earths were discarded. Some exploded. It happened many times—the number has been quite large. The final stage of an Earth has always been a time when its lives were the most corrupt and its matter was the most impure, so the Earth could no longer be kept. It would be eliminated since the whole sphere had turned into a ball of karma.
The reason is, lives reincarnate . They reincarnate into soil, rocks, plants or matter, and regardless of what they are reborn as, they carry karma with them . Earth would become a ball of karma when karma was all over the place, so at that point it would be eliminated. There would still be some people on Earth who were relatively good, and those exceptionally few or extremely few ones were taken and placed onto another planet within the Three Realms.
Yet through the ages this Earth has been replaced innumerable times and each time there were people who remained. So over time those remaining lives increased in number. The gods in each time period created humans with a different appearance, so the differences are quite substantial, and there are some who were created on other planets. These are alien beings. They’ve become like a record of history , placed there like a page of history left behind . That’s the function they serve, a minor one. They were left behind from the final stage of Earth during those times, and took with them the technology they had in those times over to other planets, so their starting point was more advanced.
Over this long period of time, the knowledge of the universe they came to grasp far exceeds that of the inhabitants of today’s Earth. Their bodies can enter other dimensions and adjust to the mode of those dimensions they are in; they’ve developed to this stage. Those things they ride in that fly back and forth—those aircraft that human beings call flying saucers—can enter other dimensions and fly into other space-times. If they travel in a fast space-time, after being there for just a short while they traverse a long distance. So that speed is inconceivable to human beings. The types of fuel they use aren’t in the least the kinds of substances conceivable by the technology, theories, or concepts of modern science.
Over the ages, these alien beings have continually been developing and metamorphosing. So in this universe there have really appeared the abnormal social relations that these kinds of lives have. Greed and lust have caused something like star wars to actually happen over where they live. They haven’t yet threatened humankind because humankind doesn’t have the ability to pose a threat to them . So they haven’t attacked humankind.
They would attack humankind if you were to threaten them. Although alien beings haven’t attacked humankind, they know that a human body is the most perfect. They’ve thus taken a fancy to the human body and want to steal it. They saturate all domains of humankind with science to make human beings firmly believe in science and rely on it. When human beings ’ thoughts and way of existence are completely assimilated to theirs, they just have to replace people’s souls and humans will become them, and they will eventually replace the human race.
It’s a long story. They have been coming here full-scale since the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution in the West. They had come prior to that time, but they didn’t control people then. Their full-scale arrival began when Caucasian society entered the industrial age. They made full preparations and systematic arrangements for occupying this earth. It was they who created science for human beings . So this science was set up by aliens. Their purpose was to unify human beings and simplify their thoughts to the point of being as uniform as machines. And they unified knowledge to make it easy for them to later on control and replace human beings. Furthermore, they’ve chosen a few nationalities as the vanguards of their future, total control of humankind. Japan is the vanguard that drives technology.
The United States is the vanguard in breaking away from all ancient cultures on earth. The cultures of even the most ancient and closed-off nations haven’t been able to escape. The whole world is being impacted by America’s modern culture. England was the vanguard in the manufacture of machinery during the early stages , and Spain was the vanguard for mixing the human races. The way alien beings get human beings to shake free of the gods is to mix the races, causing human beings to become rootless people, just like the plant hybrids people make nowadays. South Americans, Central Americans, Mexicans and some people in South East Asia— all of these races have been mixed. None of this can evade the gods’ eyes. Alien beings have made rather extensive preparations for overtaking human beings.
Everyone who knows how to operate a computer has been registered. Of course, our students don’t have this problem. Once you obtain the Fa, I clean up that layer of your body that’s been occupied by them. They have formed a layer of their body within the human body. It’s incredibly frightening! Everything people learn from elementary school right up through college is the science they brought , and everything that human beings use nowadays is the product of this omnipresent science. Why do the inspirations people get make computers and technology develop with such tremendous speed? It’s done by that layer of the body that alien beings formed so as to control the human race. It’s exactly because that system of their technology and science that has formed in the human body is making people’s minds do so.
Today it’s incredible how developed computers are. But it is not a human technology. Man will be replaced by alien beings if it continues like this for long. But think about it, everyone: Alien beings are, after all, beings within the Three Realms, where ordinary humans are. There are other reasons why they dare to do this sort of thing. It has happened because the Fa (Law) of the universe has deviated and gods no longer look after things.
So it has to do with high-level beings as well. If this situation is to be turned around, it has to begin from high levels. That’s because they have this idea that human beings are no longer any good, their morality has degenerated, and everything is perverted. So they think it’s all right to just replace them , given that they are going to be eliminated all the same. They have to pay for all of the bad things they’ve done, for sure. The principles of this universe are absolutely reasonable toward any life.
So they have to answer for everything they’ve done. As for how their lives will eventually be dealt with, alien beings definitely won’t exist in the future. If there are truly good ones among the alien beings, then their lives can reincarnate as other lives. Bad lives will be eliminated. So everything that every being does positions himself for the future . And that includes all human beings. Whatever a human being does positions him.
That’s the situation as far as alien beings go. They are being swept out up there, and they found out about the cleaning, so they scurried over here, and in particularly large numbers in recent years.
As of right now, most of the alien beings who have come here did so fleeing for their lives. They knew that in the end it would be hard for them to escape, so some alien beings have married Earth dwellers. But it’s not that they marry legitimately, because no one would marry them. They catch a village woman to leave behind their offspring. And there are those who are hiding among ordinary people. They can’t stay under cover no matter how they hide. Immense gong is coming up from the microscopic level.
Whether it be steel, iron, wood, the human body, water, rocks, air, plants, animals, substances, etc., from the microscopic level of everything gong is coming up toward the surface. Tell me, where could they escape to? The gong is omnipresent and rushing up to the surface . So they’ve seen that there is no way to dodge it or to hide from it. How do they exist? They aren’t actually possessing spirits. But some of them have assumed man’s appearance and walk the streets . You have no idea who they are.
Some have hidden and don’t come out. But the number is now small, very small. In the past they could hide , and their flying saucers could fly up and go to another dimension. But the other dimensions have all been cleaned up. Immense gong is rushing here and they can no longer hide. They can only hide in a cave or at the bottom of the sea in this dimension. Even so, they can’t stay concealed. Anyway, that’s the problem they face . All lives are positioning themselves in this affair. You should know that although alien beings brought their science to human beings to achieve their goals, gods are in charge of everything and are in turn using them.”
Li Hongzhi
September 4–5, 1998 ~ Geneva, Switzerland - https://falundafa.org/eng/eng/lectures/19980904L.html
Quote:
“Having seen many movies, having read many imaginative stories, and having been influenced by a lot of things in society, people have developed a warped mindset that indulges in fantasy. You asked how to communicate with intelligent beings. Let me tell you all that an ordinary person can’t do that sort of thing, and he lacks the ability. If you could indeed communicate with intelligent beings but weren’t a cultivator yourself and were without energy, you would be in danger. You might lose your life any moment. Besides, you would see gruesome spirits but no high-level beings, for your level would be too low and limited to only that of humans. So it would be a terrifying situation. It’s even more terrifying if you want to communicate with living beings beyond Earth.
Lives beyond Earth are just lives on other planets within this physical dimension that our human eyes can perceive. Yet those lives don’t regard people as human beings. They think people are beasts, a kind of animal. They slaughter people at will and experiment on you at will. They kidnap people to their planets, lock them in cages, and put them on display as animals. Many of Earth’s people who have gone missing were taken by them. I can also tell you that today’s human science was created by them. Why have those aliens created for humans something like the current science? It’s because what they have on their planet is akin to it.
They want to bring it to this planet and eventually replace humans. They found that the human body is really perfect, flawless. So they covet the human body and want to eventually replace humans. They have added their things into one layer of human beings’ molecular cells. That’s already been done now and it has formed on a large scale. So for me to save you today, I not only have to remove all the attachments and karma that you need to eliminate, but I also have to clean up this stuff for you. The road humankind is travelling down is dreadful. Computers would have commanded people one day. Ongoing developments have conformed to this trajectory. Humans were to become the slaves of computers and machinery, and eventually be replaced by aliens.
Why have computers developed so quickly, and why has the human brain suddenly become so “sharp”? All of this has been carried out by aliens controlling the human mind. Aliens have registered everyone who knows how to operate a computer. For real. As to our students, I’ve cleaned all of that up for them, so that they won’t be interfered with by aliens when they use computers. Why are there aliens? Some aliens originate from their planets. Why do some aliens always come to Earth? It’s because they were once humans on Earth. But it wasn’t the Earth of our time. It was the previous Earth that existed at the same location as this Earth. Earth has been replaced many times.
Each time it was replaced, there was a portion of lives—living beings created by gods with different appearances, some of whom were similar to today’s humans, some of whom had different forms who were relatively good at the time and were thus preserved. They weren’t destroyed, yet they weren’t allowed to enter the period of human development on the next Earth, either. So they were sent to another planet. That’s how it was done every time. Also, it has left a record of this universe, for they were humans on Earth in different time periods. It serves that purpose. But due to a slackening in overseeing them, they have developed, and they have created all kinds of scientific methods according to their schemes; some are like the kind on our earth, some assume other forms, and there are a variety of modes of development. Of course, they don’t use the term “science.”
The names they use belong to their languages and concepts. These things have deteriorated further and further. And with the deviation of the cosmos’ Great Fa, the aliens have become worse and worse too. That’s why all aliens are in the process of being completely eliminated. They are being eliminated throughout the entire universe. At present, those up there have been eliminated. What’s left are only those who have escaped to Earth, who are mingling among people or who have attached to human bodies. And there are other types too.”
Li Hongzhi
May 30–31, 1998 ~ Frankfurt, Germany - https://falundafa.org/eng/eng/lectures/19980530L.html
Quote:
“As you know, modern science was brought to mankind by aliens. They came when the Industrial Revolution began in the West. They started with mathematics and chemistry—started from the shallow, simple knowledge of the earliest days—and penetrated on through to modern machinery, and eventually they developed up to today’s computers. As development continues further their ultimate goal will be to replace human beings.
How is the replacement to take place? As I mentioned, in the body of today’s human beings almost everyone has a layer of the body that was created by aliens. Why do I say that? It’s because all of the science that they instilled in you has created a warped human mindset in your mind. There have never been humans like this in any of mankind’s previous civilizations.
When the mind is like that, so is the body. As you know, every cell in your body is you, and your brain is connected to the brain in every cell. In that case, the thought processes inside the countless cells in your body are all the thoughts of warped human beings, and the entire body has become like that. This ties into why gods no longer regard man as human. When mankind is no longer human, what is the point of gods’ saving it?
You know that when a person dies, he doesn’t really die. The shell of the layer of the largest molecular particles sloughs off, whereas the part of the body composed of microcosmic particles below molecules hasn’t died. It is separated, as if a person takes off a piece of clothing. It isn’t really dead. Yet the person in this dimension has vanished, since the body needs to be cremated or buried and it will eventually decompose and dissolve. It has departed from this dimension; that is, this layer of particles has disappeared.
Then, as to the alien culture that I was just talking about, it is precisely using man’s own thinking to create the bodily layer that it needs, and it is doing so without man being aware of it. How will they ultimately replace human beings, then? You know that they still have to find a way to replace the shell of the outermost surface of human beings. This is the method of “cloning” that man now wants to use. Gods look after people, and when they don’t look after someone, they won’t instill the elements of life into that person.
This is to say, the reason you are alive in this world is not that you have this flesh body, nor is it because your mother gave you this body that you are alive. It is because you have your main spirit (yuanshen) and the existence of all of your other spirits (shen) that you can live. Why doesn’t a person keep living after he dies and the body is laid down there, since it’s the same body after all? It’s because all of his main spirits have left. That is, if a person isn’t given a spirit and isn’t allowed to reincarnate at the time of birth, he will still be dead after he is born. So what will happen? Aliens will enter.
This is the ultimate means that aliens will use to replace man— that is, cloning humans. Man is being used by aliens to destroy himself, yet he is not aware of it and is still protecting this science, destroying the human race. If humans are cloned en masse in the future, those beings will all be aliens that have reincarnated in human bodies, and there will be no more human race.”
Li Hongzhi
Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. Fa Conference (February 21 and 22, 1999, Los Angeles)
https://www.falundafa.org/book/eng/us_west1999.htm
Quote:
I’ve told you before that because of alien science and technology, one layer of the human body, one of the human body’s layers of particles, has been placed fully under the control of aliens. It consists entirely of alien planets’ elements, including numbers, mechanical structures, electronic components, and so on. It consists of that stuff. And those things are continually creating a warped effect. The large-scale modern industries brought about by science have impacted many low-level dimensions in the cosmos. In my Fa-rectification I’ve found that quite a large layer of the cosmos has been contaminated by those things. And those warped things have had a considerably large resisting effect in the Fa-rectification.
Li Hongzhi
Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Atlanta Fa Conference (Li Hongzhi, November 29, 2003)
https://falundafa.org/eng/eng/lectures/20031129L.html
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Also, Mr Li Hongzhi has been interviewed by Time Asia where he mentions the Alien Phenomena, another fascinating read:
http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2053761,00.html
Lastly, I recommend checking this book out entitled Zhuan Falun:
https://falundafa.org/eng/eng/pdf/ZFL2014.pdf
It covers so many things, from the mysteries of the microcosm to the macrocosm, other dimensions, the soul, ancient prehistory, supernatural latent abilities, chi, gong energy and so many other insightful things.