Family house bloxburg

I posted this as a reply to another thread, but thought (thot?) I would share here, too. Please to enjoy my recap of S3 Episode 3. Spoilers (obviously).

1. Starting off in LA. Kim's body guard/ stylist puts them both in black coats and camo pants so she can go meet Scott for pizza and pre-planned gossip. They're both single, so they have lots to talk about. Like how it's too hard for Kim to go on first dates with guys and also too hard for Kim to break up with guys. She did go out with a guy in NYC, but wasn't smart enough to not go to the same place where she used to hang out with Pete, so everyone thought she was getting back together with Pete. Scott recommends she go for an older Italian businessman, but only if he's hot. Kim's not into it. So they talk about Cher and her much younger boyfriend AE. It's the best. But also probably the worst because Cher must be too old to bang him with the lights on. Kim only bangs with the lights off now. You know, because she's shy.

Two. Kourtney is doing a photo shoot for Lemme "Fall in Love" with Travis. Their love was not the result of a Potion No.9, but for people without their chemistry, who have $30, these supplements containing the essence of flowers will open your heart. Domineco Dolce and his dudes stop by so Kourtney can remind everyone she knew them way before her wedding. Also, Kourtney is shy and didn't speak as a child. Until she was a teenager. The stylist puts Travis in no shirt and they roll around together taking pictures very similar to all the other pictures they've taken before.

1. Kris stops by to see Khloe and Rob. I mean Tate. I mean Tatum. Khloe and Tristan are doing great because they are never ever getting back together ever again. They have very good boundaries and Khloe does not want to fall into old habits. Khloe feels guilty she isn't connecting with her second baby -- that she had in secret via surrogate while her ex-fiancee was having his fourth baby with his side chick -- the same as True. So we have to talk about the difficulties of surrogacy/ miracle of being a mother again. Tatem is now on goat milk formula. He might, but does not puke on Kris.
   
2. In NYC, Kendall is getting ready to attend a Marni show at Fashion Week. This is much more fun and relaxing than when she used to walk the shows because now she is good and healthy and has good boundaries. Kris calls and tells Kendall she's the favorite daughter. But we all know it's really Kylie. Kris said so yesterday while taking a lie detector test on TV.
   
3. Back in LA, it's 6 days before the D&G show and Kim's glam team is getting her ready for a pre-show photo shoot. Her role as Kreative Director of the show has involved creating looks. Well, looks D&G originally created in the 90s. They are so cool and Kim-esque. Crystals from head to toe. Kim is worried about how Kourtney will feel about this whole thing. She probably wouldn't mind at all if it was just a little bit later. (Because time heals all wounds?)
   
4. It's stormy in NYC. Kourtney is in town for fashion shows and Lemme press. She has anxiety and PTSD and needs drugs. Or maybe Lemme matcha. Kourtney wants to show how passionate she is about vitamins. She used to hate press because of the criticism and pressure from the family to earn her keep. But now she's married and confident, so she was able to decide on flavors for her vitamins. Kris watched the Today Show interview and gave it a thumbs up, because Kourtney looked beautiful. Simon thinks that's amazing. The team thinks Kourtney did a great job of organically talking about Lemme during the interview about Lemme.
   
5. Still in NYC, Kourtney is making rounds of the magazines, handing out Lemme pills like Halloween candy. Kourtney loves Lemme Focus, but can't remember why. Travis wore no shirt to perform at a Tommy Hilfiger fashion show. Kris and Kendall show up. Kris tries out a few tag lines for the next campaign like "Lemme get the hell out of here and get a drink." They talk about Khloe's good test results from her melanoma situation. Which Kendall has diagnosed as a result of Khloe being too tired and stressed. Kourtney is a perfectionist and Kendall is a control freak both because of pressure from Kris. Kris thinks thats hilarious. Kendall suggests if they can channel the baggage of their dysfunctional childhoods into productive work, it's all good. Kris will take the blame for any anxiety she has caused, as long as it results in a successful product release.
   
6. Back to LA. Kim is spending quality time with North by allowing her to do her makeup with special effects makeup while she talks to Scott. Scott pitches an idea for an episode where they pretend to be normies. According to Kim, Kris is sad that she has pushed everyone into being so famous they have no sense of actual reality. But Kim can handle it. She's never been depressed. While her daughter continues to work on turning her into an old lady, Kim talks about being fine when her dad died. North farts. It smelled bad. North walks Kim around the house introducing her to the staff as Anika the Art Teacher. The staff helps Kim make her alone time with North fun by playing along. Kim loves making North happy by playing pranks and hanging out with Scott.
   
7. Kourtney and Trav are walking around NYC. Kourtney's outfit choice -- an oversized Blink-182 shirt and over the knee boots -- can't survive the 12 minute walk because the boots are falling down. Trav thinks she should take them off (And walk around barefoot in the rat feces and period blood covered sidewalk? Khloe would never let her set foot in her house ever again!) They make it to the Matcha shop without Travis needing to carry Kourtney like last time. NYC was a whirlwind, but Kourtney will always put family and husband ahead of work.
   
8. Kim arrives in Milan. However, her stylist does not because she forgot her passport. How is Kim supposed to do her job as Fashion Show Kreative Director without a stylist? How is Kim supposed to know what she likes and doesn't like without Danielle there to tell her? Someone needs to fly to Milan with her passport. There are 3 days left and they have no looks. Kim arrives at the D&G studio where 10 people are there ready to get a room full of D&G pieces into looks. Domineco tells Kim, "Your opinion in this case is very great for us." Kim wants people to think this show of rehashed 90s fashions is "Fresh" and "Cool." But it's going to be problematic for Kreative Director Kim to pull this off without her stylist. She always needs someone to confirm that something looks good. Kim doesn't want to do veils (Because Kourtney?). Kim wants more bedazzles, but also needs to check with Danielle. Domineco isn't crazy about bedazzled glasses with a corset dress, but Kim doesn't know without talking to Danielle. There's that fear people won't like it. (Is Danielle supposed to be the scape goat in case this whole show sucks?) A bad show could hurt Kim's brand. People might say Kim doesn't know how to work on the creative side. (Um... they're sure going to say that now, after she is such a floundering mess without her stylist!). She just doesn't know how she's going to do this without Danielle.
   

Scenes: Kim thinks Danielle not being there happened for a reason. Kendall takes Kylie horseback riding and tries to kill her. Kourtney wants to kill Kim for kopying her wedding. Kim is taken completely off guard by Kourtney's reaction. The producers try to pretend there's going to be a "Kendall is pregnant" story line.

I'm mentally exhausted from talking through options with my husband, and he's really struggling on whether to take a position. He works in HR and unfortunately has made some moves that he regrets up until this point. So we need some unbiased opinions!
Current Role (for almost 3 years): Sr HR Generalist in TN. He recently got a pay bump to $75k/year.
New Role: HR Manager in southern VA. Pay would be $105k/year with $10k relocation reimbursement.
Important notes: 1) He isn't miserable in his current job but has been looking for opportunities due to feeling restless and bored. 2) We have a toddler and a teenager. 3) We would be moving away from said teen's father, but she's actually not that upset...but still... 4) We do not have a lot of family holding us in TN, and VA is closer to my best friend at least. 5) We do own our home and would need to sell. Rent would probably be ~$1k more a month than what we pay in mortgage.
Background: His current job is comfortable. He knows what to expect and likes the people he works with. This new position has a lot of unknowns since they have been doing a complete restructuring of their HR department BUT he did visit and liked the new team. He would have to put in more work, and it could be very challenging/rewarding, but there's always a risk when taking a new position. Now, he thought he was doing the right thing by giving his current job more than a 1 month notice (mistake #1). His boss immediately freaked, posted the job, and verbally offered it to someone else within 2 days - not even joking. Fast forward a week later, and my husband is anxious about whether things will continue without issues/background will cleanew job fears. He voices being scared and the irritation with his job being offered to someone else so quickly to his current boss. She gives him the option to actually stay but says he has to make a decision THAT day. So, I personally told him I would not stay b/c he was looking for a reason, but fully support whatever his decision is. He told her he would stay (possible mistake #2). The new job has countered that they would double relo, now $10k, and really want him to consider taking the job because he would be such a good fit.
Decision Help: He has until end of TODAY to tell the new job if he'll take it. If he does, he will then have to tell his boss, who he has already told he would stay, that he has changed his mind yet again. In doing that, he would have to immediately resign and any reference for this job would go out of the window. He partly doesn't want to deal with the emotional fallout either; he's had multiple people call and voice how excited they are that he's staying after all. We would need to figure out housing and logistics of moving. But he's struggling with the decision of not taking a job with growth since he has the opportunity. What to do?? And are there other things to consider? We've talked about this sooo much for the past 2 weeks; we've looked at every different angle and pros/cons of both. I'm just ready to have the decision made and be done.
Tl;dr Husband wants to take a higher title making more money but is afraid to ruin is reference and lose work/life balance. So, he's at a gridlock of not knowing what to do.
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I just watched the Varoety interview with Scheana, Andy and the producers. Scheana made a comment about Raquel’s dad during the engagement party to Charli’s boyfriend. He told him Raquel and James could play house but would not get married.
How much - and why - do you think her parents are involved? I know her mom is technically her aunt, but what’s the family’s background? Jobs?

Younger siblings sometimes don’t remember the abuse. They don’t remember the screams. They don’t remember the fights or what it feels like to come home from from a good day at school to a house of pain. They don’t know what it feels like to be playing in your room and suddenly hear the sounds of broken glass coming from the living room. They don’t know what it’s like to be forced to pick sides or to realize at such a young age that your parents aren’t they people you thought they were.
Now things have mellowed down and they’ll never understand this family will never be the same for me as it is for them. We may have the same parents but I did not have the same parents they had growing up. I wish I could make them see but they just weren’t there, I have to carry this burden alone.

This is concluding thoughts for both WoR and WoK so its going to be a long one.
Epilogue
That is so true, but when something gets popular, how does one balance expectations?
There she is. Jasnah is alive.
Initially I thought that Wit was in Warbreaker as the god kings wit. Then i couldnt find him. Then I thought i must just misremembering Way Of Kings with Warbreaker. Now I’ve found Ch 32, I get why.
Skim-Thoughts.
10 comes up a lot. Pg 475 (Part II) “10 kingdoms, 10 orders, ten people” and i thought Mistborn had 10 powers as well. And isnt there planned to be 10 books? Is that 5 split into 2, or 10 split into 2?
Rereading the prologues and interludes, I still dont understand a word. I’ve completely forgotten them but catching up before Edgedancer
“The ten of them had decided upon it before the battle.” Kalak: “You’re broken too” Syl referred to the Stormfather as broken as well. Hmm Yeah Ten Hearlds. Opening of WoK. One missing. Forgot this entirely.
Moments that stuck out to me (Both Way Of Kings And Words Of Radiance) Kaladin changing tactics only to get everyone killed. When he finally miraculously saves everyone. The way the storm hanging was described. Just epic how he survived it. Hard to pull off wirhout just feeling convinient. I’m probably just listing the the ends of each Act, but I notice that although theres a lot of good character interactions in between, Brando Sando’s biggest strength is his anticipation. His books can be as long as they are because he spends a lot of time baiting, teasing, developing, and ENSURING that the payoffs really really payoff. So when those moments hit, I’ve spent chapters upon chapters that I’ll forget individually looking forward to them and then getting this memorable merge of “oh finally” and “OH thats what he meant!” Surprising yet inevitable, but memorable for how much my brain has built it up in my head and then been thrown off so positively that I really have to pay attention
Shallan honestly didnt grab me at first. Her arc was still fine, but I think her main conflict being ‘eventually steal a thing’ made it a slow burn and although they made it clear she was doing it because her family was poor, I don’t remember any chapters delving into just how bad it was. (Though apparently a lot of them blatantly did.) Book 2 was when they suddenly started revealing in droves a) how abusive it was, b) how Shallan finally resolved it, and c) that her father never actually did the initial thing he was accused of and so she blames herself for that abuse. As interesting as that was to unfold over time, for me that created a distance where until then I didnt fully invest in why she was doing it; she was trying to do something slightly dodgy for a slightly difficult externally Third Party sitauation and once she was out of the passive shadow (she was active in interacting with Jasnah, but being almost poisoned and having to steal the fabrial felt externally forced upon her) in book 2, it was like the story really started going “oh theres more to it, heres what shes Actually wrestling with” as well as “here’s what Shallan can be when she lets loose.” In a way, book 2 implies Veil is the real Shallan and I like the conflict between Shallan and Veil much more than I liked Shallan on the surface. Its not bad, more like, good to great. And yeah she was good when she was dealing with Jasnah, but she was great once she was more directly interacting with the main plot around her.
The moment where Sadeas betrays everyone, and Dalinar charges in or goes back or something that made Kaladin go “oh. I think he’s one of the good ones... alright, time to save a lighteyes I guess.” And Dalinar pays that back by rescuong everyone from Sadeas.
Its possibly also just that I didnt know what was going on and Way Of Kings hits you with a lot where as Words Of Radiance can hit the ground running with people I’m already familiar with, which is telling when I skim over Way Of Kings and cant remember a whole bunch of smaller details, or entire character chunks like the opening prologue, but its also probably that it was info overloard book 1 and book 2 i started taking notes. Either way, Words Of Radiance is my favourite by far, with Way Of Kings being just as good just more setup and confusion whereas by Words Of Radiance I was able to trust the stuff I liked in Way Of Kings to advance what I liked and update me on things I’d forgotten. (I.e. I’d forgotten that Sadeas Shardblade was the one Dalinar gave him, but the book recalls freeing the slaves and Adolin telling Dalinar to give the blade back and I went “oh yeah” so Way Of Kings I get a some great moments of surprise, but in Words Of Radiance, I get surprise development on those surprises, familiarity as I already know what theyre referring to, and I get to relive the initial book all at once, theres just more triple whammy in a sequel that is just as good. In a way I’m worried I’ve got a 1-2 punch where the third will be disappointing just because of the weird threequelitis problem. 1 is good, 2 is great, 3 is unreasonable expectations that can't be met (which the book ends in warning me against, ironically).
Over time they’ll naturally blend together and I’ll forget which was which, but some arcs:
Kaladin: Book 1, he thinks he is purposeless, but accepts that he has the power to save people and even some lighteyes are worth saving. Book 2, he thinks becoming a radiant is repulsive but eventually accepts that protecting everyone, even the people he hates, is the right thing to do and only becoming a radiant can achieve that. (Weirdly I cant see where Kaladins arc goes next, I assume something to do with someone dying and the radient powers not being enough, or Moash coming back and making things difficult, but Kalladin seems to have accepted his core potential and overcome his core wound so ... I dunno, unless Tien comes back to life or something I dunno what his next stage is.)
Shallan: Book 1, Shallan accepts... see I forget, I was a bit confused by it, she ended up in 2D world and it was very abstract and I didnt entirely understand it. I feel like I was just overwhelmed and it wasn't the books fault, I didnt know what to look for and I accidentally skim when I get close to the end. Book 2, she believes she is still the weak girl who lived in an abusive home, but starts to accept what she has done to escape it and what she is capable of when changing her image of herself (though she is yet to fully accept that image or integrate it so I figure thats where its going, she needs to either become Veil entirely, realize she was Veil all along, or realize Veil is a double edged sword and integrate the good while shedding the bad.)
Adolin ... He’s an interesting one. I really really REALLY thought Sadeas would be a big part of book 3, given its named after his blade, but Adolin very abruptly saw book 2's pages running out and put an end to it. So ... I mean, I figure this is exactly what Sando said in his lecture “In RomComs, They’re going to get together, you KNOW they’re going to get together, but they’re going in the wrong direction and oops the other person they’re with has now done something that makes it harder to root for.”
I’m massively paraphrasing but I watched it earlier today and he described the rom com thing verbatim how I see Shallan/Adolin and Kaladin playing out, where Shallan and Adolin work well enough but everything I know about Adolin and everything Sando’s telling us increasingly blatantly about how Kaladin and Shallan see each other, that at some point “Adolin = good enough” is going to break and “person I didnt consider before” is the inevitable direction secretly promised underneath. Adolin hated Sadeas to begin with, so the tradjectory of Dalinar saying he cant convince Adolin he needs to trust Sadeas, Sadeas betraying Dalinar and confirming Adolins worst impulses, Adolin being a womanizer but trying to reign it in for Shallan though Adolin himself insisting "it never lasts", its all there as little red flags and killing Sadeas (although justified in terms of character plot, I don’t blame him one bit, someone had to do it) is the final camel straw. SO illegal and unjustifiable that Adolin knew he had to hide it. So dark that he’ll likely start derailing and pushing Shallan away as a result. Works, meet spanner.
But interestingly it wont necessarily be the thing that breaks them, Secrecy shouldnt necessarily bother Shallan, she functions on lies. And the murder itself; Shallan killed both her parents, and Tyn, she’s actually the most likely to understand his situation. But the deception it will require, the damage it might do to Adolin internally in pulling that off, getting away with it or potentially being caught, and the complications when Kaladin finds out who did it, its more of a question of what will it take for Adolin to confess or go blaze of glory to never get caught, under what state and circumstance, and will Kaladin be towards Adolin how he was towards Moash when the king was threatened?
Theres a lot of factors to keep it unpredictable but Kaladin in Book 1 would have leapt to help Adolin kill Sadeas or Amaram, but how he defended the king, against his own friend, on pure 'golden rule morality' might indicate a refusal to let Adolin do anything of the sort – which will then drive a wedge between both of them and Shallan. Would Adolin try to kill Kaladin if he found out? Would Shallan side with Kaladin if Kaladin had to take Adolin down? What would Dalinar do? Adolins one rash choice is entirely in line with everything I assumed would go wrong with him, but the TIMING of it and the sudden impulse has really, I think, fundamentally sabotaged him in the process. It'll be a really hard thing to come back from.
Comparing him to Moash of all people, Moash at least had it planned out, honestly discussed it with Kaladin before hand, and even seemed regretful when he punched Kaladin “too hard.” Yeah it was out of revenge and he was ultimately willing to kill and betray Kaladin with his own blade – so in a way, Moash was as bad as Amaram, but Adolin was so mad at Sadeas betraying Dalinar, so mad at Sadeas for outsmarting him then dodging their duel, that he had no plan, no discussion, no consideration, just killed him in cold blood and instantly hid the evidence. Like I get Adolin wanting Sadeas dead, but he couldn’t even own it. He’s Moash without the regret (at least within that moment) and it was AFTER it was clear Kaladin was fundamentally against taking life of any kind, not before when Moash still thought it was 50/50.
Its not to say Adolin is corrupt as a person, but that in that moment he showed less restraint, more brutality, and more cowardice than Amaram, Sadeas or Moash, and that decision may begin a spiral that makes him Kaladins... no EVERYONE'S no.1 target, and arc wise to me it seems a narratively natural way to start distancing him from Shallan and Kaladin in a way that pushes them together.
Now, they narratively dont HAVE to get together although I personally feel the story started pushing that pretty blatantly while always having an air of denial about it down to Shall saying “Adolin didnt HAVE to be brilliant...or whatever Kaladin was. So there.” Like shes trying to prove something to us and defend a position Sando knew we would take, ironically protesting in a very wink wink nudge nudge way. But for me the question isnt “Will Shallan and Kaladin get together?” so much as IF thats the plan, then will they survive the journey and how will they develop from triangle to couple? Adolin killing Sadeas really seems to trigger exactly that journey, but for me its now a big question of What Becomes Of Adolin when its all said and done?
Especially if Adolin kept losing to Sadeas then to Szeth and then he watches two radiants go on without him together, he’s really at risk of being left behind and I dont know where he would draw the line Because Of His Choice To Kill Sadeas if he gets desperate enough to prevent that or catch up. Oh hell, even RENARIN is a radiant now, the weakest link, who sat doing nothing during their duel, now has more honour and power than him. Like Adolin is in the WORST narrative place anyone could be, I feel so bad for him. In DBZ terms, he’s kind of Yamcha. Loses the girl, once was a strong fighter but now gets constantly owned. Renarin is I guess Krillin in that sense (odd theres literally already a Tien in the story) but when you’re giving more power and screen time and skill to Krillin over Yamcha... yeesh.
Dalinar is an interesting one. All signs pointed to the king dying; Moash was going to assassinate him, Kaladin was officially out of options for the first time ever, everyone else was gone, and that comment from Sando about a war hero having to be king made me think Dalinar was garunteed kinglyhood just to end up going “oh no wait, im just a soldier, i dont know how to king” in the next book (maybe I misremember the context and he was referencing Game Of Thrones or something) so the king surviving, Sadeas NOT surviving, and Dalinar going “hey god, so... all the main characters got to be radiant. Even Renarin for storms sakes. I’m the leader here, I think I deserve to be one!” “Okay! But im not really god so good luck with that!" was not at all the ending I was expecting. Pretty much all the Kaladin / Moash / Shallan / Adolin feels right on course character wise, but the implications are very hard towards Has To Get Darker Before It Gets Lighter and Adolins one decision is like a house of cards for the rest of them. That blatant flip where they all actually won and then Sadeas just abruptly doesnt get to make any sort of comeback completely threw me. If not for how Oh God Adolin No! It felt, techincally everyone succeeded and nothing went wrong in that final battle. It was a complete victory if not for the slippery slope feeling about it. I was not at all predicting a complete victory, I figured the god would continue to be a threat and Sadeas would come back in a big way to sabotage them and the king would be the cost expense of surviving the rest of it. Like it would be bitter sweet if anything. And its far better for it; this way its like “theyre all radiants now... but at what cost?” For Adolin, he’s left out and now in hiding. For Dalinar, I figure him not being allowed a blade and the god not being a useful god thing is gonna... even the start of Way Of Kings mentions how its strange the parshendi are all acting the way they do. We dont fully understand the real threat, Dalinar still doesnt understand the vision and so I feel like the next dread is ... what did he really sign up to? Whats the cost of having such a storm deity who “wont come when callled” as a spren, especially when Dalinar humiliated Amaram, but he didnt suffer much consequence, and now Dalinar wont be able to defend himself.
Amaram ... dunno what he’s up to, but he was keen to find Urithiru and Dalinar stopped him so ... all I know is where I thought Sadeas was a key threat, I now think Amaram is.
Elhokar... He went from Kaladin wanting him dead to Kaladin defending him in front of Moash. While Drunk. Its weird cause I know they're fictional but also narratively... Elhokar better clean up his act and start being a good king or I may start feeling like Moash was in the right and Moash/Kaladin broke up for nothing. I know morally its more that Moash purely wanted revenge and Kaladin is saving life for life’s sake, so they're fundamentally at conflict no matter what Elhokar is doing, but if Elhokar turns around and imprisons kaladin again or starts being petty and making things difficult, it’ll be hard to respect him as a character: it'll rob his apology, his self-aware weakness, of any sincerity and render him useless and annoying, and useless annoying characters who actively ignore their own useless and annoying traits often create unfun contrived conflict “oh no, Elhokar was an idiot again, whatever shall we do?” "How about not write him that way". So yeah I hope something is paid off with Elhokar at least wanting to TRY being a more useful king.
Lopen developing radiant powers. Looking forward to that.
Rock, just keep being you buddy.
It's another example of how with Way Of Kings I was still taking everything in, so I didnt really keep track of the bridge crew beyond Moash cause I knew the name. But with Words Of Radiance, I was more familiar and so learned who the bridgecrew were a bit more this time around.
Rlain knows far more than he’s letting on. He knew what the song meant, he knows about the rhythms, he noticed a difference in whatshername. I feel like the Parshendi was being foreshadowed as completely innocent and something is controlling them and Rlain has gone from “i wont betray my people” to “well theyre already doomed then, please stop them even if it means murdering them” but really needs to share what he knows so that the Radiants dont just wipe them out assuming they’re all evil – which seems to be what Shallan currently thinks they should do.
God I cant stop thinking about Adolin stabbing Sadeas in the eye, that has really stuck with me. What a horrible thing that I was rooting for plot wise but horrified by as if it actually happened and I wish I hadnt seen it. The way Sanderson described it put a vivid image in my mind and I can't unsee that.
Can't wait to get to Oathbringer, but I'm on to Arcanum, slipped on reading (helps my sleep routine but sleep routine is also priority if i dont get time) and so I think the plan is to read but take a break posting in case theres not much to say, read up to the mistborn section, read Era 2 between arcanum, finish arcanum, and then read Oathbringer.
Also, how did Sanderson go from whatever he was on before, to 50% finished with stormlight 5. I need to write more. And what happened to his hair.

in maybe 2006 i was in a forum for the sims 2 (i was a young teen at the time) and watched two people get into a really intense debate that eventually revealed these two random internet users lived in the same town in Ireland.
four or five years later on livejournal(?) someone told a story about a big house fire in home town. i think the theme was local ghost/urban legend stories. it was like, this house burned down, only the father survived. he said he looked for his family but couldn’t get them out. when the firefighters came, his two young children’s remains were found by the door. so like, he stepped over them? locked them in? idk, it was years ago.
never in a million years could i find either of these threads again, but they’ve stuck with me. i miss the old internet. what about y’all

I feel like everything around me, hurts me. And that in turn leads me to indirectly hurt others. I have 2 close female friends. I've had feelings for both in the past. One of them just said she's going to start dating someone soon and... I realised there's still something lingering in me. Some feelings that I still have for her. She's my best friend and had helped me so much, and yet I can't help but keep having feelings for her. Not only does it hurt me, but it would also hurt her if she found out I still have some feelings. It would show that I can't be friends with her without feelings getting in the way. And with that other close friend, I realised I also still have something lingering for her too. I hate it about me. How I can't be close with a girl without feelings coming in the way. We also share pretty much all our friends.
And then there's family. My family is struggling a lot and does everything they can to make me able to study in college. But after a complete loss of interest and me slacking, I want to do something else and stop. But I know how disappointed they'd all be after supporting me so long in something I don't even really want. I just want to drop everything. I hate the absolute garbage dump of a house I live in. I hate my seeming inability to make friends without something coming in the way. I hate how I got myself stuck with college. I just really want to press the reset button, live somewhere far from here, start a new life. I won't do it. I know I literally can't, and it'd hurt the people I love too much. But I really, really want to.

Hello everyone!! This theory has two parts as said in the title. The first one about what the D. means and the second one is about how I think Luffy and Imu are each others counterparts, simbolizing dreams vs nightmares, and how Imu´s surname "Nerona" takes inspiration on emperor Nero and what lies behind that inspiration with Imu´s possible fruit, hope you guys like it!!!
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FIRST THEORY: The clan of the "Dreamers"
Following chapter 1085, Oda has given us some information about the possible meaning of the "D.", after showing us the conversation between King Cobra and Imu sama. While these dialogues have not directly revealed what it means, he does seem to have specified with certainty that the "D." is not a family name of a particular family or dynasty, but is actually a moniker according to TCB's translation.
If we take this premise of the moniker I believe that the meaning of the "D." could be an adjective that was given to those who fit within that moniker.
An important fact I should mention to try to give substance to the theory is to recall Oda's use of anglicisms in One Piece, the most well known to all being the revelation that Raftel (Rafuteru) was really "Laugh Tale". To mention some of the most significant anglicisms within the very many that exist, we can name the Levely, which we all knew as Reverie (the change is confirmed in chapter 905, it is seen in the flag of a man in the background) or the case of Joy Boy's title.
I make a disclaimer here that, despite using the romanization of Japanese, I know nothing about Japanese; but it is true that as simple readers many of us, with or without knowledge of Japanese, have seen a certain tendency of Oda to play with words and their possible meanings. Thanks to people like Artur - Library of Ohara, fans who do not understand Japanese can be informed of these nuances that enrich One Piece.
From the beginning of One Piece we see how dreams are very important in the story, with each of the Mugiwaras having a dream to fulfill, in addition to the famous and mysterious dream of Luffy and Roger that Oda keeps up his sleeve. Let us also remember one of the most famous quotes said by Kurohige himself "A man's dream will never die". It is well known that dreams are one of the pivots of the story.
Therefore, joining the knowledge about the "D." as a moniker, the use of English words directly used by Oda to "mislead", and the great importance that dreams have in the story of One Piece and its characters, I believe that the meaning of the "D." could well hide the adjective "Dreamers". The famous clan of "D." could actually be the clan of the Dreamers, not as a genealogical lineage, but as a distinctive in the form of a moniker given to the people who came from the Great Kingdom/Ancient Kingdom (Kyodai na Ōkoku) that perished during the void century. It could also directly mean "Dream" but I opt more for the "Dreamers" option.
To explain why I think the "D." has this meaning, I will first comment facts that we know 100%, for having already appeared in One Piece, and then the part of my own imagination.
As we know so far the "D." that have appeared and have been important in the story, have great and ambitious dreams for which they fight. As an example of this we have the dream of Xebec, who wanted to be the King of the world; or that of Kurohige who aspires to be the king of pirates and found a pirate nation recognized as such by the World Government; and well, as I mentioned, earlier the dreams of Roger and Luffy, which although unknown, it is clear that they must be big and imaginative dreams by the reactions they have provoked to those to whom they have been revealed.
Why Dreamers? To answer this question I will first quote what Vega Punk said in chapter 1069, which although it is the character's own theory and not a definitive explanation, I am of the opinion that it can serve as a basis:
“- We owe all ther is to desire (dreams)!! For instance the devil fruits!!
Each devil fruit embodies a different wish (dreamt) someone had for our evolution.
“If only I could do X… It´d be great if Y were possible”.
The powers actulize these sentiments, showcasing potential futures for humanity.
Of course, since they cause unnatural aberrations they earn the ire of mother nature… the sea itself. Such blasphemy cannot go unchecked.
Those who have eaten a fruit face a totally alien reality born from boundless imaginatiom!!
That´s my theory at least, whether you believe there´s a god out there or not… (i will explain the idea of maybe Nika isn´t a god but a man from the Great Kingdom) … one thing´s for sure, we live in a wondrous world!!
And as he finishes by saying, that is his theory but it is not something fully proven.
It could be that in the Old Kingdom they reached such advanced technology in general, and specifically in genetic scientific research, that from the dream or the thought of desiring they could make fire (mera mera no mi) or become x animal (zoan), they experimented until imbuing those abilities into fruits (like Vegapunk does, but perfecting the process), which they could then eat and alter their base DNA, mixing it with the chosen ability. This idea of creating fruits that genetically modify people by eating them to achieve x or y ability would come from imagination, from dreams.
The people of the Old Kingdom perhaps traveled throughout the world and visited different islands, both inside and outside the Grand Line, and those who came from the Old Kingdom, being users of "Akuma no mi" and having abilities that would seem impossible, fantastic or divine to the people of these primitive people (when I say primitive I mean that they were less technologically advanced, as may be a stage similar to the middle ages, for example), were at first deified. The case of the Sun God Nika, who could have been a normal human being but with the abilities of the gomu gomu no mi or hito hito no mi, could be a perfect example of that possibility. In the eyes of people who were not from the Ancient Kingdom he would appear to be a God, provoking smiles and happiness in the places he visited and carrying the hopes and dreams of the people. If we think about it, it also makes sense in our context. In One Piece we already have internalized the idea that supernatural powers exist, that there is a reason for them, but if someone appeared today with the power to create earthquakes, fire or light out of nothing, without knowing where those abilities come from, he would be a supernatural being in our eyes; in the eyes of ancient civilizations, a God.
It is worth making reference here also to the theory of evemerism, either because of the possibility that Oda was inspired by it for his representation of religious cultures in One Piece, or simply as a tool to understand the vision of the gods that is being proposed. Evemerus of Messene was a 4th century B.C. thinker who proposed in his work the possibility that what classical culture considered gods were nothing more than mortals who gained great prominence in their society. He argues that figures such as Zeus or Cronus could thus be ancient rulers of another civilization, and that their divinity would be an idealized memory by society of them, exaggerating their attributes and greatness. Thus, Zeus would have been only a revered king. In essence, evemerism is the search for a "rational" explanation of the divine.
In One Piece we see several cases where a certain character is shown for a particular culture at first, as one who possesses divine powers when in reality this conception is only given due to a lack of knowledge about the origin of his powers. The most obvious case is that of Enel, who in the eyes of the Shandians is a God, but only because of ignorance and low presence of the akuma no mi in Skypea.
An example of this deification in reality would be the first impression that the pre-Columbian people had with the arrival of the Spanish armies, thinking at first, (although this thought did not last long) when they saw them mounted on horses with shining armor and guns that shot fire, that they must have been gods. And we already know how much Oda likes to take real historical references for inspiration.
This relationship between the people of the Old Kingdom and the "primitive" kingdoms could be maintained over the centuries allowing the "primitives" to become familiar with the unknown of those who came from the Old Kingdom, perhaps they even came to mix and have joint offspring, but the first writings deifying them would have already been captured in the history of One Piece, passing from legend to myth. The reality would have been distorted by the different versions of the different civilizations that would have been told from generation to generation, undergoing the modifications of each culture, as it happens in reality with the historical evolution and being in the end the person of Nika considered the God of the Sun.
So, if we accept that the members of the Old Kingdom may have been seen as gods, perhaps they taught them their knowledge as a gift and showed the reason why devil fruits were created. It may be that at that time the akuma no mi were called by another, less derogatory name, instead of "devil fruits". The name "clan of the Dreamers" could then be because they were people who believed in the improvement of human evolution and with the power to materialize what they dreamt and desired into a fruit that would provide the desired abilities. For example, the dream of wanting to cure and save people's lives would have been the origin of the ope ope no mi. It is also possible that people from kingdoms with a more backdated technologi, transmitted their dreams to members of the ancient kingdom and the Dreamers, as a gift, created the appropriate fruit to achieve such dream, thus forging a reputation that motivated them to be assigned a nickname, the Dreamers, for being able to materialize dreams.
Therefore, I think it is a possibility that "the clan of the Dreamers" was the moniker that less advanced kingdoms gave to the people coming from the Old Kingdom. Perhaps the "D.reamers" first introduced them to the akuma no mi and told them that they came from their imagination, ideas and dreams.
Likewise I also believe it would make sense of another mystery of the story, "the inherited will of the D." Will is something that only people possess, and the idea of inheriting implies that something is also necessarily received from a person. This interpretation would be in contrast to the possibility that the "D." stands for "Dawn" (which is also an interesting theory, and one that I would equally like if it were the final meaning), since a concept or natural phenomenon such as dawn, which has no will and cannot be inherited, fits less in my opinion, than the idea that inheritance could be that of ideals or principles passed from one civilization to another.
Regarding the reason why the word Dreamers stayed in the initial D. I think it was the way they chose for those who defied the 20 kingdoms, to recognize each other but also so that the enemy did not, it would be the same thing that happens with the tattoo on the ankle of the people faithful to the kozuki clan in Wano.
In short, I think the clan of the Dreamers would be formed by the people of the Old Kingdom, and the inherited will of the Dreamers would be the will of the people who pursue and fight to make the world a better place, people whose ideals include the pursuit of freedom and happiness of all people throughout the world of One Piece, and thus bringing the eventual dawn of the world, as said in Lili´s card.
Pd: this is a part that I don't quite know how to substantiate, but going back to Oda's puns, the word "dream" in Japanese would be pronounced "dorIMU" (meaning "Mu" emptiness in Japanese), and it could be a kind of very vague interpretation that "Imu" or "Mu" (as he/she calls him/herself), was the one who betrayed the Dreamers' clan. He/she would then be "the void" that absorbed all the dreams and hopes of humanity by ending the said Clan.
​
SECOND THEORY: Luffy vs Imu, and Imu´s devil fruit
Connecting with my theory that the D. stands for Dreamers, I see a clear antithesis between Luffy and Imu that I will try to explain below.
Luffy being the Sun God Nika, personifies happiness, freedom, hopes and dreams while Imu symbolizes the opposite, terror, oppression and in my opinion also nightmares. It is very interesting to highlight how while Luffy is free and travels around the world living adventures and being happy, on the other hand, Imu despite being the king of the world and having all the power, is someone who is hidden from the world, imprisoned in his own room without anyone knowing of his existence.
From here I will give my opinion on what Imu's fruit may be after seeing chapters 1085 and 1086.
The first option is that Im's fruit is the "akumu no mi", the fruit of nightmares. I believe in this idea because of the design Oda has drawn for the manifestation of Imu's powers, a formless being, full of darkness that engulfs the whole empty throne room. In addition akumu contains the same kanji as Mu (as Imu calls himself), whose meaning besides nothingness or emptiness, can be translated as dream, And what would be the antithesis of dreams? Nightmares, which would be what could symbolize Imu, in front of Luffy as symbol of the dreams, and this fits very well with the idea that the clan of the Dreamers would be the natural enemy of the nightmare (Imu or Mu). Therefore the first option would be the nightmare against the dreams.
The second option is that Imu would directly have the akuma no mi, the devil fruit as such. While in chapter 1085 there are times when Imu's power is blurred and formless, in other panels we have been able to see the shape of an arrow-tipped tail and sharp teeth. It is mainly because of the arrow-tipped tail that I think it could be the akuma no mi. To substantiate this theory I have to refer to the possible full name of Im revealed in this last chapter 1086.
Saint Imu of the house Nerona. The surname Nerona could be inspired by the Roman emperor Nero, whose reign is associated with tyranny and extravagance, being the architect of a series of systematic executions and a relentless persecution of Christians. It is for this last reason, that in a book of the Bible, the number of the beast (666) is associated to the emperor Nero being considered the devil. Therefore, if the surname Nerona comes from this emperor, the idea that Imu has the akuma no mi is quite feasible. Below in brackets, I leave the long explanation of this, but if you don't want to read it you don't need to. Then follow it up with a third possibility about Imu's power.
[In the Apocalypse of St. John, Rome is criticized in a veiled way for its persecution of the Christian population, and in this book the Beast (which had 7 heads, like the 7 hills on which Rome was settled) is mentioned, represented by the number 666 (or 616 as well). The specific quote is "He that hath understanding, let him calculate the number of the Beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is 666". The Greeks and Hebrews at that time used gematria, that is, the assignment of a numerical value to each letter of the alphabet. So, the sum of the Hebrew letters of "Caesar Nero" adds up to exactly 666. And therefore, Nero is the Beast/the devil who wants to destroy the world].
The third possibility is that Imu, like Kurohige, has more than one devil fruit and perhaps has both akuma no mi, akumu no mi, devil and nightmare fruits, again being the complete antithesis of Luffy, having on the one hand the God of Dreams and the Devil of Nightmares Imu.

There was little food in the house when they checked. Of course, since Paul's parents were away, it made sense. No point leaving a lot of comestibles in an empty house.
"We have two cans of beans, a little flour, and a half-loaf of weird diet bread in the refrigerator," Paul said.
"Guess we might have to go for supplies," Nick nodded.
"Or we could beg from Old Trefont."
At that moment, a knock at the kitchen window drew their attention. There was the caretaker himself, as if Paul's mention had made him appear.
"Hullo," Paul grinned, and hurried to open the window.
"Made some calls," Trefont grunted. "You'll need some food and things. Should all be delivered by tonight."
"Ta, man."
The old man rolled his eyes.
"Well, I supposed you young people wouldn't'a thought to arrange that. He eat real things yet?"
Trefont pointed a crooked old finger toward Danny, and Paul nodded.
"Mostly, yeah."
"Good. Didn't order any o' that pre-made baby stuff. Your mother always made yours herself, though I s'pose no one does that now."
Spinning on his heels, Old Trefont wandered back off to his cottage, grumbling as always. Paul laughed softly and closed the window.
"Your mum made your baby food?" Nick asked.
"Sure. Did yours?"
"Most of the time, unless there was a deal on the tinned stuff. I just figured, with a place like this..."
"Figure I grew up with servants or something?"
"Yeah," Nick said, and lifted Danny up to stand on the kitchen table.
"We had a cleaning woman that came 'round. When my sister and I were really young, there was a lady who helped look after us, and my dad had a live-in secretary..."
"Oooh, do tell."
"Not much to tell," Paul laughed. "Ken was like an uncle. My dad... I know what people think when they hear secretary, but Ken was most a general assistant, I guess. Helped Dad with correspondence, taking messages, packing Dad's work to be shipped for exhibitions..."
"I think I get it," Nick said. "I was just bein' funny an' all."
"I know. I... Well, I'm just sort of protective of my parents. They're both... They never fit in a lot, from what I gather. Always people gossiping, presuming things 'cos they did art stuff. But they're good folks, really. They were the best parents."
For a while there in the kitchen, silence reigned. At last, Nick spoke up again.
"How come, if your parents are artists, they have so much money?"
"Hmm? Oh, it's old family stuff. Mum comes from a long line of financiers and successful architects."
"An' your dad?"
"Descended from an acknowledged by-blow of the penultimate Viscount Ellys of Ellysmoor, Eglosbray, Cornwall."
The usage made Nick grin.
"Ya say it that way every time?"
"Mm-hmm. As does Dad, as has every ancestor probably going all the way back to said by-blow."
"So. You're kinda nobility, in a way."
Paul shrugged.
"Not legally, of course. We have no real claims. But the Viscount who fathered my ancestor did leave money for the bastard in his will, and then the last Viscount Ellys did the same."
"The last viscount being..."
"Half-brother to the bastard. The last viscount died young, without issue, and there went the title and all. Extinct."
"STINKED!" Danny cried, apparently deciding he needed a place in the conversation.
"Exactly," Paul agreed, "all very stinked."
Previous Chapter Table of Contents

Hello all, so (22F) I am in a tough situation. I got accepted to a university 800 miles away from home 2 years ago during covid and moved down here with some good friends from home. Well, when I moved it was during covid and i was locked in the house for a couple years before they allowed classes to go back in person. During that time, a lot of my friends including the ones I moved down with went back home. I was extremely depressed because I was lonely and literally knew no one. I ended up getting accepted into a nursing school separate from my university I moved down here for and have been going for a few months. There are 8 modules until graduation from the program and I am going into module 3.
I met my BF down here and his family and unfortunately, his mother is super mentally ill and has been very abusive to the both of us mentally and emotionally out of nowhere. Because of this I will probably be leaving my bf after a year (there’s a lot to it) of us being together. I’m afraid to do this because if we break up, I literally have nobody at all. All my friends moved, etc.. where i am is a very small town and i’m just afraid. If an emergency happens I have nobody. I’ve been extremely depressed because of the abuse i’ve suffered from my bfs family and the stress of being in nursing school with no support.. i just feel so alone. I’ve put on 100 pounds because i’m constantly stressed and just so depressed… I went and visited my hometown and family for two weeks and my family members were sick to see how i looked and just how depressed i am and my sister talked to me and told me to think about maybe moving back home and finishing in my hometown with all my family and friends. My mom is afraid I’ll have regrets but is also worried too since they’re so far away. Covid just really ruined my college experience.
I’ve looked at programs at home and there is an LVN program I can apply to and start next January at home. It is cheaper, and being at home I wouldn’t have to pay rent and save lots of money. I would get my rn while working as an lvn and in the future come back and get my bsn at the university i would be leaving. Id hate to leave my nursing program but I miss my family, Im lonely and depressed and being home for the two weeks was the best i've felt in a very very long time and I even lost some weight because i wasn't stress eating. My mother isn’t exactly on board with me moving home because she said everything i’ve done up to this point including moving here would be in vain even though i feel that it wouldn’t. I’ve been here for almost 3 years completely on my own, paying rent, bought my first car, got into nursing school. etc.. i’ve persevered my struggles the whole time i’ve been here. i’m just tired now and really need my family..
Thoughts?

Hello fellow stepparents. Summer is in full swing and with that (for some) comes summer schedule time with your step kiddos. My kids are now a preteen and teenage. My DH very much loves and looks forward to his time but since we are not the preferred house hold it can be tricky. While we have certain court ordered dates the kids are more and more starting to cut that time short. Asking him if they could go back to BM’s earlier, sometimes by days. My fear is that they may just not want to come over ever when they become 16 and 14.
I guess my question to y’all is when they start getting into the teenage years what has been your experience? If you were also a step child did you find that you did this as well? (Please note I’m not trying to shaming anyone I just want to learn and get different points of views since I was never a step child)
My kids also have a little brother (5) from BM’s new marriage so I get they miss him and vice versa. Also my teenage goes to many sleepovers which is a normal thing. I did the same. The thing is BM lives right next door to her sister and her parents. And when I say next door I mean in a line within hundreds of feet from each other. So the kids live next to their cousins and grandparents. DH parents live in a different state but we have my side of the family close by with our friends as well.
I think DH just feels defeated and sad because we always have to have something fun planned or else the kids go “I’m bored can we go back to Moms?” It just sucks cause I can see it in his eyes when they ask him.

Hello, I am a 22 years old female. I have four siblings, 1 brother who is 1 year older than me and he has cerebral palsy(he is the blessing in our lives) and 3 elder sisters of which 2 middle ones are twins and the eldest one is married. So we sisters are in the field of medicine and all my elder sisters are graduated but I am the only one not graduated yet and we all are preparing for exams to pursue medicine in foreign countries and none of us is working at the moment. We all sisters live together in a house far away from our parents because of education and my parents can’t move with us because my father built his business in that small city 20 years ago so that he can support us for our future as we all are planning to move out of our country due to bad situation of our country in general and it’s overall very expensive as we are 4 and foreign medical exams are super expensive hence moving will totally ruin our financial status. So the problem here with us that we sisters fight a lot. Specially my middle twin sisters. Both of them are 26. My eldest sister is married but she is currently living with us because her husband is in another country so she is staying with us till she gets done with her exams and stuff. I basically study in a medical school which is in another city than my sisters or parents live in but I have summer vacations going on that is why I chose to live with my sisters for my vacations. The problem with us is that we are happy in general with our studies and stuff but there happen to be a lot of fights between my sisters. Like I Just moved a few weeks back with them but the fights has been going on since we were kids. There are times that we are happy together but when the fights that happen are so big that they come to physical abuse. Mostly the fight includes one of my middle sisters. Let’s say she’s twin A. Now since we are growing up she has always been jealous of people like people who she used to study with because they get higher grades and she always all the time says that people compare her with her twin sister Twin B. Twin A is average looking and average in grades and she generally fights with people and has no friends at all. While Twin B is pretty, slim, well mannered and have really good friends. Now all of my siblings I have been always told that I am the smartest one and I have good confidence and I have even travelled outside of the country few times alone hence I have good contacts and I am generally friendly with everyone but I am average looking. Now the comparison Twin A talks about is mostly with Twin B. It is with me as well but with Twin B is even with small things. Now for example if we have few people coming to our house and me and Twin B are usually talkative so if any person talks to me or talks to Twin B then Twin A throws tantrums that people always do that they talk to you and not to me they always do comparison. Twin A always says to Twin B that people talk to you because you are pretty. Now in general we belong to a good, decent family and we try to make things up. We always(specially me because she listens to me) to calm down the situation whenever we or they fight but the situation goes so much out of hand that Twin A starts verbal and physical abuse. Twin A beats Twin B. Twin B comes back with replies too but she never tries to defend herself. Twin A out of aggression would through phones or laptops or anything around her. I always say to Twin A that you are better in a lot of things in which Twin B and I are not and much more things like not everyone will talk to us but one time she would agree to me and then the other time she would start fighting again. Now let me go to little back story of Twin A. Twin A was good student in general when she was young. As twins they have always been with each other and even after all these years they are together because they are in the same profession and now preparing for the exams of the same country. Now Twin B was average in school back then but Twin A was very good but when the time of MCAT came, Twin B got selected and Twin A did not. Then Twin B got into a medical school in which she got selected because of good scores while Twin A did not get selected into the merit one due to very low scores in MCAT but there is system of self selection in my country where you would have to pay 4x extra money to get into a med school. As Twin A did not get selected she asked my father to get her into self selection one and then my father agreed she went into a 5 year medical school but the school was different from the one Twin B was into. Now when Twin A got into med school she faced a lot. She got diagnosed with religious OCD and we all sisters helped her through that we used to go with her to the doctor help her with stuff but the terms between Twin A and Twin B did not get any better. When Twin B got into med school on her own and she got separated from Twin A she saw a different perspective of life. She always said that she is glad she got out of Twin B’s negativity, comparison, jealousy and abusive environment. Twin A when she was in med school used to get into a lot of fights with people, she used to trust other people and give them money and she had a lot of issues with her roommates and people in the University as well. After 5 years both of them came out of their med school and started to live together because both are going for the same future path and they were living in the same city and it is generally not really safe for girls to live alone in my country and being from small city and being girls my parents are generally very much concerned about us. Now it has been 1.5 years since they have moved together there has been never a single day on which they had not fought. Twin B took her one foreign medical exam and passed although she started late then Twin A but she has to take 3 more however twin A has not taken any exam yet because she has not been prepared and she has very low confidence. But as I have 2 months off from my med school I have decided that I will be taking the exam as well so that I could get done it soon. Now Twin A and I have our exams in 1 month and Twin A is still not getting off of these fights and comparison and I am sick of it. My parents are not helping a lot because if they do anything Twin A then blocks them or goes out of the house without telling anyone or stuff like that. However we other three sisters are in good terms but Twin A always starts tantrums about comparisons when we never do comparison. If there is anything that I have then the same exact thing my other sister has. If I have been allowed to study for foreign exams then my other sisters are also given the same. But all this negativity and comparison is just killing my peace I mean I am already like dead and I have my exam in 1 month. We can not tell anything to my father because Twin A never listens to him and my father is already very stressed because we lost our grandfather a few months back. I don’t know where I should seek for help but it has been really hard for all of us. I just want to get done with my exams and move into another country and start earning but it will probably take me another 1.5 years. I don’t know what to do.

I'd like to start by letting everyone know that the genre is Fantasy Epic, and that this is a long prologue at 6,414 words. This prologue serves a purpose as it takes care of a lot of my setting and plot setup. It also gives the reader a fair bit of worldbuilding without making it too much of an info dump (talking to you Robert Jordan ;P).
I've had several people beta read this for me and gotten a lot of positive feedback. The prolbem for me is that these were all people I know very well on a personal level. Several have made comparisons to Chronicles of Narnia or Lord of the Rings as far as how well the full book is written. The problem is, friends and family can often have a bias and make things seem better than they really are. So, now I want to do a test run in the real world and see what people who don't know me think. Is it as engaging and compelling as they have made me hope that it is?
I'm basically wanting to take a page from a couple authors I admire and follow the ABC rule for critiquing. Please let me know of any point where you thought it was Awesome, Boring or Confusing. I know prologues aren't everyone's favorite thing, but this has basically been written like a novella for the main story as it foreshadows a lot of things leading all the way into book four.
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PROLOGUE
ARCHIVE INFINITUM
October 14, 844 (Alt-Future)
"Welcome back to the Archive, Master Jonathan."
"Thank you, Charles. It's good to be back. Have you noticed anything interesting in the Physical Realm?"
"I have not, sir. Do you require any assistance today?"
"Thank you, but no. I'm only here to revisit a passage within the history of the Order. Shortly after, I'll depart for the reunion at the Tower."
"Excellent, sir. I'll leave you to it."
Jonathan emerged from the ether and walked through the Archive doors. Inhaling deeply, he breathed in the familiar scents of dusty cleanliness that can only truly be found in a place of learning. The lights reflected off the floor's white marble surface, casting a glow that evenly lit every corner of the large chamber. Even so, the room still felt cavernous to him, as if he were a galleon amidst the vastness of the ocean.
Jonathan appeared to be in his early to mid forties. Though, with the way he carried himself and the spring in his step, he seemed closer to his late twenties. His hair was shoulder length and dark gray. He wore bifocals though he hadn't needed them since his ascension, and dressed with a refined sense of style.
His gray eyes were by far his most interesting feature, though. They were the only hint of how old he truly was and the many adventures and travesties he'd witnessed. Regardless, how old he was didn't matter as age had long since lost its meaning for him. After all, being an immortal tended to give a man new priorities in life.
As he strolled across the room, a lift descended from the tower's heights. The square platform had waist high rails around its perimeter. It floated through the air showing no sign of a suspension system to raise or lower it. This was accomplished by a magical enchantment that allowed it to levitate and dart about the room at mind numbing speeds. As he stepped up onto the platform's dais, it landed on the floor in front of him. He took a position at its center, then, after folding his arms behind his back, mentally willed it to take him to floor eight hundred forty four.
It rose off the ground, gradually gaining speed until it was a hundred or so feet in the air. At that point, the platform took off like a rocket. The thought of what these speeds would do to him if this were outside the Realm of Intellect crossed his mind, making him chuckle nervously. He knew he had to be moving close to six hundred miles per hour.
Now, let me tell you a bit about Jonathan's pet project, The Archive Infinitum. The Archive is a magical structure he'd designed shortly after the cataclysm that nearly wiped out the human race. An event most of you now refer to as the Night of Burning Skies. That same event is also what gave us the powers we now refer to as magic.
Shortly after obtaining his ascension, he learned that science's multiverse theories were close to how reality really worked. There are an infinite number of parallel universes, or branching timelines, that coexist simultaneously. What was different is that each universe shared a common six realm structure. The Physical Realm, the Realm of Intellect, the Dominion of Shadows, the Plane of Enlightenment, the Land of the Forgotten, and the Ether.
He built the Archive within the Realm of Intellect so it wouldn't be bound by the laws of physics or time as we know them. Once the structure was anchored in place, he could set most of those parameters himself. What he didn't realize was that making it here would have an unintended, though not unwelcome, side effect. The structure's size, shape, and architectural style could change by anyone who entered it.
When someone enters the Archive, it ascertains their strength of mind and will. Suppose the individual's mental fortitude is deemed stronger than that of the other occupants. In that case, the appearance will adjust to one that best serves and appeals to that individual. This could become unsettling for the occupants already inside the first few times it happened. That being said, it has no effect on the contents atop the shelves or where you're located within the structure. For Jonathan, it shared an uncanny resemblance to the George Peabody Library, though on a much grander scale.
The lift stopped after a brief ride, and Jonathan stepped off. He resumed his stride, passing row after row of the cherry wood bookcases. There were hundreds of rows and thousands of tomes and scrolls in each. As a scholar, he'd spent most of his existence here. But, even so, he knew there would always be something more to be gleaned from their pages.
Today was a day of remembrance. Of celebration. Of mourning. It was the anniversary of the end of a war that had lasted ten thousand years. With the death of one individual, a light of hope was given to many. For others, it was a bittersweet victory that left a void in their hearts. He'd come here today to revisit a passage that would return him to that fateful day. Reliving the event which granted them this peace, and once again, paying his respects to a dear friend.
"Ah, yes, yes, yes. Here we go."
The plaque on the side of the bookcase read, Row DD, Column 15. Now that he'd found the right one, he began scanning the shelves. It wasn't long before his hand landed on the tome he sought.
"Here it is." He pulled it down from the shelf. "My word. Has it truly been fifteen hundred years since I glanced through these pages?"
Looking at the cover, he chuckled. The combined magic of the Archive and the Realm had created a thin layer of dust. Giving it the feeling of something ancient and lost to time. Raising it to his lips, he blew the dust away, causing the magic to dissipate as it fell to the floor. He pulled open the cover and rifled through the pages. The section he stopped at contained the account of Rexinon the Prophet's final words.
Summoning his divine magics, he channeled a spell into the tome. The words that once filled the passages began to fade away, leaving only the blank pages, which now bled a blueish gray smoke. The soft glow of the lights against the floor diminished as the smoke spread. As the darkness grew more substantial, luminescent spheres and arcs of brilliant blues and crimson could be seen dancing about its surface like lightning.
The ground trembled beneath his feet, and the smokey haze took on a more stormlike appearance. All around him, the air started to feel heavy, and the taste of dust and sea salt filled his mouth. A gentle rain began to fall, and the room's remaining lights winked out. If not for the increasing flashes of lightning, he would've been left in total darkness. But even this was not a comfort, as those flashes cast shadows against the storm's ever swirling walls. Many of which appeared to be dark things that should never be seen in the light.
The storm's intensity grew, bringing disorienting cracks of thunder and wind whipping around him. It assaulted his senses and seemed to have an almost vengeful purpose. That meant he had to constantly focus on the spell, bracing himself against the onslaught. If he failed, it would kill him without question.
Some of the shadows began to take on a physical form with details beyond what the walls could offer them. He watched as an hourglass tumbled end over end, circling him before it returned to the storm. A moment later, a blazing fireplace and mantle emerged but produced neither light nor heat. Finally, a door engraved with the crest of the Order appeared. These images were ones he'd expected to see for this particular passage, and so came as no surprise. However, when a fourth image appeared, he was caught off guard.
Although it was normal for three images to accompany this spell, an occasional fourth spoke of prophecy. He focused intently on this final image. It showed twelve people standing in a circle; one of them was coated in blood. Two others were bound by chains. One a man, the other a woman.
He looked closer at the man and realized it was Godric. His eyes opened wide as he tried to decipher the meaning behind the image. Only a few moments passed while he speculated, but it was a few moments too many. Disaster struck, and too late, he realized his mistake. He'd lost focus, and now the storm would surely take him.
Hurricane force winds and debris tore at his clothes, quickly turning them into rags. One powerful gust slammed into his side as if he'd been struck by a car, knocking him off his feet. The storm swelled with even greater ferocity. It threatened to consume him this time, and he wondered if it would finally cost him.
Rain and hail pelted his face and body, while dust and sand stung his eyes. As he wiped away the grit, a bolt of lightning struck before him, temporarily blinding him. He got to his hands and knees, gasping for breath as the storm continued to beat him relentlessly.
Steeling himself against the pain, he rose to his feet. As fast as he could manage, he began casting mental defenses and barriers to protect his mind from the horrific assault. He bellowed in defiance of the storm, "I will not let it end this way! I refuse!" One defense after another was laid upon his person, until finally, he succeeded. The winds died to a breeze as the rain became little more than a summer misting.
He heard the sound of a quill scratching against paper over the storm's remnants, and the air behind his back grew hot as a crackling fire joined the room's ambiance. The sickly sweet smell of incense filled his nostrils, reminding him of days spent in his master's study. Another fond memory.
The storm wall vanished as the tremors subsided, making the room visible through a misty haze. The light of the fireplace cast his shadow across the now rough cut gray stone floor. Half a dozen tapestries hung around the room, and a liquor cabinet stood at the room's far corner. The main entry door remained closed to his left, and the doorway to the study's balcony lay to his right. At the room's center sat Rexinon at his desk, writing furiously on a piece of parchment.
Wiping the sweat from his brow, he breathed a sigh of relief. Although he'd done this countless times, the journey into the pages of history was always filled with peril. But, blessedly, the most intense part of the spell was complete. And while he could now relax in that fact, that fourth image still concerned him.
He stood in the familiar square room, clothing restored to its original state. The evening's air flowed through the open windows, making the ambient temperature quite cozy. Crossing the room, he paused at the desk and listened as Rexinon started muttering. "What I wouldn't give for a typewriter, much less a computer. Would make this so much faster."
Jonathan couldn't help but crack a smile. "Oh, but how many times have I thought the same thing, old friend?" He remarked, though he knew Rexinon couldn't hear him.
He stepped up to the desk and leaned over it. Looking down at the paper Rexinon was writing on, he frowned. Like so many times before, it appeared as little more than black scribbles on a page. Those words had to be important, but there was no way to know.
This was one of the spell's critical weaknesses. The details within the vision were only as precise as what was written in the tome. Most of the books in the Archive were magically transcribed. The benefits of this were completed histories free of victor and writer biases. Although, it wasn't flawless.
Throughout history, there have been individuals or events that the spell couldn't see. The most well known examples of these blips in time were the United States presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1933 to 1945 and the United Kingdom's Prime Minister, Michael Durham, from 2063 to 2065. All that is known about them was their lives before office and the accounts written by those around them. These gaps in history were generally the result of one of two things. In these two cases, a place or individual with a strong connection to the Dominion of Shadows.
Sighing, he pushed off the desk and crossed the room to the liquor cabinet. He opened the glass doors, pulling several bottles and a glass from the shelves. He made a drink consisting of three parts Red Adders Bite and one part Dry Amorian Blood Wine, then added a lime wedge to the rim of the glass. The others wouldn't arrive for another half hour, leaving him time to kill.
He walked around the room with his drink in hand and studied the various tapestries, several of which he'd been a part of. Each one depicted an accomplishment or tragedy facilitated by the Order. All save one, which showed a scene from the event that started it all.
The one to the left of the cabinet showed the Order's founding. In the background stood a grand tower of black and white marble. Its four sides were engraved with the Mark of Hellyrr, which glowed with a magical light. In front of it stood a man facing a gathered crowd, his arms swept wide in triumph. They looked up at him and the structure with reverence and awe.
He continued to move in a counterclockwise manner around the room. Above the main entry door hung another tapestry. One he was even depicted in. It showed the aftermath of a massacre. Six figures stood amidst the bodies of hundreds. The earth around them was scorched by flame, and the blood of the fallen had stained it red. The cloud covered sky glowed a deep crimson with gold outlines from the fires below. It had come to be known as the Cleansing of Elysian, in which the entirety of the planet's second continent had been annihilated to preserve the world.
"I wish it had never come to this. Why can't we all just get along? Instead of thriving in the prosperity of our two lands, they plotted and began planning to bring war to our own people. To rape, pillage, and enslave them. Even with all my vast knowledge and wisdom, I can't understand why they felt the need to dominate and control the world." He looked back up at the tapestry. "Even now, most of the land is still uninhabitable."
He turned around and looked at the tapestry above the balcony door. This one would appear out of place with the others to all but a few handfuls of people. Even for those who learned the truth behind it, it looked like little more than an artist's vision of what a beautiful landscape at sunset should look like. The sky is dotted with hundreds of stars as shades of red, orange, and yellow dance across the land's horizon. The artist's point of view appears to be looking down from a hillside. Down the hill's slope, you can see a pond teaming with wildlife along its edge. The remaining landscape is filled with miles of forest stretching toward the horizon.
For the few who survived this event and still remained, they knew it depicted the final moments of their world before all of humanity was nearly lost.
Jonathan fixated on this tapestry more than he had on the others. The longer he stared, the more distant his expression grew. Over time, his breathing quickened, and his grip on the glass slipped. It shattered as it hit the floor, causing the rug to stain from the liquid. The sound jerked him out of the trance like state, making him feel ill.
He could still recall the memory of that long ago day like it were yesterday. The thought of how close humanity had come to extinction made his legs weak, and he stumbled back against the wall behind him. He slid down the stones' cool surface and noticed his hands were now trembling. Through shuddering breaths, he uttered the words of a broken man. "So much death. So many lives were lost that day. So many. Oh, Sonia. Even after all this time, I still miss you."
The main entry door slammed open, crashing against the wall with a loud bang. Jonathan jerked as one of them collided mere inches from where he sat. The startling sound had been enough to pull him from his stupor, but it still took a moment for him to gather himself. A man in the doorway lowered his foot from where he'd obviously kicked the unlocked door in.
"Knock, knock, Rex. Seems you've done it now."
"Seth. I'll never understand the animosity you held for Rexinon," Jonathan said wearily as he got to his feet.
Seth stood just shy of five foot eight inches and had slick black hair that he kept combed back. He wore black jeans and a beige dress shirt with mother of pearl buttons, which had seen far too much polish in recent days. A malevolent grin displayed his perfect teeth and careless eyes. He strode into the room, dragging a chair behind him, and placed it on the rug by the fireplace.
"Was kicking the door in really necessary, Seth?"
A second man stepped into the room, obviously annoyed by the unnecessary use of force. He wore a navy blue business suit and towered over everyone else in the room, and that was saying something considering Jonathan was six foot. As he still held to the standards of a marine, he kept his hair high and tight and his face clean shaven. He stood at the rug's edge out of respect for the Order so as not to mar the embroidered Mark of Hellyrr. A respect Seth clearly lacked.
"Godric Gibbs. This day changed you. Hell, it changed all of us, but few as much as you," Jonathan said. He looked back at the door as the third and final man entered. "Assassin."
This man was of a height with Jonathan and wore all black from head to toe. His outfit looked like something out of a TV show. Almost like a cross between Gi Joe's Snake Eyes, and CW Arrow's League of Assassins. After ten thousand years, all they knew about him was his previous occupation as a contract killer. It wasn't long before they'd taken to calling him Assassin, as they had no other name to go by. Any time he was asked a question regarding his past, he either remained silent or dodged it outright. He took a position to Godric's left and, like Godric, took care of where he stood on the rug.
The three men stood in silence and watched as Rexinon continued to write. Godric and Assassin seemed content to wait until he addressed them. On the other hand, Seth seemed to grow more agitated as the minutes passed. Jonathan chuckled in spite of himself.
About twenty minutes later, Rexinon spoke, "Reverend Seth Jones, Colonel Godric Gibbs, and Assassin. To what do I owe the pleasure?" His tone plainly indicated that he already knew.
Seth spoke first. "Oh, cut the crap, Rex. You already know why we're here. This cult thing of yours has gone on long enough."
"Well, there's the pot calling the kettle black," Jonathan muttered sarcastically.
Godric rolled his eyes. Everyone in the room knew about Seth's past as a cult leader. They also knew his anger was more at being forced to wait in silence than anything to do with Rexinon or the Order.
"Calm yourself, Seth. There's no need for such hostilities." Godric looked at Rexinon apologetically. "I'm sorry to have to do this, old friend, but my hands are tied. Rexinon the Prophet, Headmaster of the Hellyrrian Order, you've been charged with conspiracy to overthrow the governments of Aurelia and seize control for the Order.
"As we speak, the leaders of the Hellyrrian Order are being gathered for execution. Furthermore, your towers and all their artifacts will be destroyed, and any remnants of the Order's existence is to be wiped from the face of history. As of 0813 this morning, you have been sentenced to death. How do you plead?"
Rexinon continued to write at an incredible rate. He knew why they'd come. He'd known this was coming for months. After all, his gift was the gift of prophecy. The evidence for the charges against him was both substantial and ethereal, depending on what light was shown on it.
Two centuries ago, the Order had tracked the activities of an unknown number of individuals who'd been subtly manipulating several of the Aurelian governing bodies. They'd spread like a poison, corrupting them and turning once prosperous kingdoms which knew few hardships, into lands where the people had to fight just to survive. The problem was that whoever that force had been, always seemed to be just one step ahead of them. Now, not only was it check, but checkmate. The Order had lost.
"I believe the Righteous Twelve to be ill advised. I believe you've been manipulated by the same corrupted governing body which we've spent so long trying to purify—." Seth grunted. "—But," he said at length, "I accept all charges against me, save one. Neither myself nor anyone else of the Order has ever sought to rule Aurelia, as the charges would imply. The Cleansing of Elysian should've been proof enough to show that to be true."
Rexinon penned the final words of his letter and placed the pen back in its stand. Pulling the top off a jar, he dusted the page with a thin layer of sand to soak up any excess ink. After dumping the sand back into another jar to be cleaned, he pushed away from his desk and stood to look at his guests for the first time. After nudging his stool back under, he addressed Godric directly.
"Will you join me on the balcony one last time?"
Godric nodded his head and gestured towards the balcony doorway. As they stepped outside, Jonathan followed.
Rexinon leaned against the railing and looked out over the city, his gaze fixed on the setting sun. Godric joined him and looked down to the tower's base, some five hundred feet below. Although he was not afraid of heights, it gave him respect for the sturdily mounted railing at the balcony's edge.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Rexinon said. Godric looked at him, confused. "The way the world has turned out since that day? Ten thousand years of watching as civilization was rebuilt and destroyed time and time again by a senseless war. Watching them evolve into something more as they learned how to use these gifts we were given. In some ways, we're greater than we ever were. In other ways, we're inferior. If I have any regrets, it's that I couldn't do more to leave the people better prepared for this new age."
"Well spoken. If it's any consolation, I believe this is wrong. I even spoke out against the council for a different outcome. For my efforts, though, I was threatened with execution if I didn't cease my objections."
Rexinon's tone grew heated after hearing of the council's reaction. "You should know better than anyone why I fought so hard against them, then. I'm not against governance. I'm against corrupt governance. We had far too many corrupt politicians and warlords in our own time for me to ever want to allow it again."
Godric nodded his head. "Yes. The problem is you played too heavy a hand too quickly. Instead of accepting that they'd been beaten, they cheated by playing with an ace they had hidden up their collective sleeves."
Rexinon sighed, knowing his words were true. "Indeed. I've accepted my fate. I won't run. Won't even make it difficult for y'all. I have no need to. I would like to make one final request to ease your conscience, though."
Rexinon leaned toward Godric conspiratorially. As he did this, the world around them began to shimmer and distort. Almost like the motion blurring you'd see on a TV. Likewise, their conversation was masked by the sound of white noise and the sound of hushed incoherent whispers.
This was the second hurdle the scrying spells had to deal with. Individuals with divine magic could conceal their conversations or even the events they were a part of. Rexinon had concealed this conversation, and to this day, Godric has never spoken of what was said.
Jonathan returned to the study with a resigned sigh. There was nothing more he could learn from their conversation. Assassin stood in the same spot he'd been when he first entered the room and looked as if he hadn't so much as twitched. Seth, however, was rummaging through the desk's drawers. He'd tried to figure out what he was looking for in the past, but nothing seemed obvious.
The shards of glass from when he'd dropped his cup earlier had vanished, along with the stain on the rug from the liquor. As expected, the glass had returned to the cabinet, and the bottles had refilled to where they were before he'd arrived. This was yet another reminder that this was a magically induced vision of an event that had long since passed. It could be too easy to forget that this wasn't real and that if he spent too much time here, it would have consequences in the real world for him.
He knew they'd be out there a while. In previous visits, he'd occasionally spent this time combing through the room, similar to what Seth was doing. Having cataloged everything centuries ago, there was nothing left to do but wait. So, he walked around the desk and sat squarely within the Mark of Hellyrr embroidered on the rug. There, for the next hour or so, he would remain, arms folded, legs crossed, and eyes shut. Freeing his mind of all unnecessary thoughts and emotions. At least, that was the plan.
About forty minutes in, Seth started to grumble and complain, forcing Jonathan to give up on his meditation. "… I know he's one of the humblest among our kind, but lord, does he have to be so dull? I can't find anything interesting anywhere. Even his liquor cabinet is dull." Seth walked from behind the desk to the liquor cabinet, pulled a few bottles out at random, and read the labels aloud. "Red Adders Bite, Amorian Blood Wine. Christ, he's even got Athester's Sweet Malt. This crap might as well be water." He pulled another bottle down and said, "At least he's got the taste to have at least one bottle of Nordic Berserker."
"Some of us prefer the simpler things in life. You might find life more enjoyable when you aren't always looking for the rare and exotic," Assassin said with a disinterested, almost dismissive tone.
Seth clicked his tongue. "Hell, even this letter he was so focused on when we arrived makes no sense." Seth thrust the letter towards Assassin, who took it nonchalantly. "Look at this."
Jonathan studied Assassin intently, hoping for any sign that would reveal the letter's contents. It was no use, though; for all the emotion he showed, Jonathan would've thought it no more important than a grocery list. But, if that were the case, why obscure it from the eyes of the scrying spell? The frustration caused by such a simple sheet of paper was baffling.
Jonathan got to his feet as Rexinon and Godric returned. As Rexinon walked to stand at the center of the rug, Jonathan moved behind the desk. Godric walked toward Assassin and conversed with him for a few minutes. Once again, the sound of white noise shrouded what was said. This time, it was Godric who masked his words from the spell. When Assassin nodded, Godric moved beside him and faced Rexinon.
Rexinon looked at each tapestry and seemed to relive each as he did so. They all knew those accomplishments and tragedies would stand the test of time. Any efforts to change that would fall flat. The Order had played too significant a role in shaping this new world. Finally, he turned to Godric, kneeling as he met his regret filled eyes.
Assassin pulled an infamous rod from his side, dubbed the Executioner's Handle. Forged in the Dominion of Shadow by Assassin some three thousand years ago. It was one and a half feet long of shadow infused steel and bound with his own divine essence. Ominous black tendrils crawled along Assassin's hand like something alive and flowed into the handle. The shaft elongated, and an axe head formed at its end.
Though he had accepted his fate, seeing that axe form made Rexinon's heart stop momentarily. He looked at Godric questioningly. Godric knew what that look meant and nodded his head in assent. Agreeing to this had allowed them both to right several wrongs this night by asking one simple question. "Do you have any final words or requests?"
"I have two, if you'll grant them. The first, allow me to disband the Order formally as my final act as headmaster."
Seth started to protest, but Assassin lowered the axehead in his direction as a silent threat. Seth glared at Assassin with seething hatred. Godric nodded to Rexinon. "Proceed."
As the headmaster of the Hellyrrian Order, he had a mental connection with every member. Without hesitation, Rexinon's eyes began to glow with a brilliant purple hue. This would be Rexinon's final order, and Godric knew it would save thousands.
"My brothers and sisters, hear me now and heed my words. Abandon the Order and save yourselves. Flee to the hills and never look back to what we once were. With my dying breath, the Hellyrrian Order is no more. The governments of Aurelia have played a hand we can't stand against. Anyone who disregards this command will be hunted down and executed without mercy. To the leaders and guild masters of the Order, I charge you with dismantling everything relating to the Order and turning over every artifact and document you can to Godric the Just, Jonathan the Wise, or Assassin the Watcher. I also ask that you help calm those who feel outraged and betrayed by this night. Do not blame the Twelve, as they were little more than pawns in this corrupt game of politics. Farewell, my friends. My family. May the peace we have fought for be found in the coming days."
The glow faded, and he slumped forward onto his hands, his breathing labored. A few moments passed, and he managed to catch his breath but still looked towards the ground.
"The second request I have is that anyone who would heed that warning be spared. The ruling factions wanted me. As long as no one else causes trouble, we know they won't cause too much fuss over it."
His voice took on a much sharper edge as he looked back up. "You call us a cult, though you know we are nothing of the sort. On the contrary, our Order has stood for nearly five thousand years for the betterment of the entire world. How they treated you should tell you that what I said and what we were doing was justified."
"Shut your mouth, Rex!" Seth spat venomously.
Godric glared at Seth. His own anger with this situation was at the point of breaking free. "Be silent! I don't know what kind of grudge you have, but I, for one, don't give a damn what the council said. Rexinon doesn't deserve death for the crimes he's being accused of. Unfortunately, the ruling factions in almost every nation are corrupted and working towards being as corrupt as they were back in our day." Godric sighed. "Regrettably, my hands are tied, though. The law is the law, and I have been overruled on this matter. Regardless of what my conscience thinks, I will abide by the rules of the land."
Rexinon nodded, understanding Godric's situation perfectly. Godric had become the divine embodiment of law and justice at his ascension. While those two things work hand in hand, they are far from the same, and one must often walk a fine line to serve them both. In this case, the choices were clear. In the end, it didn't matter what he chose; he would inevitably betray one virtue or the other. Unfortunately, there was no good way for him to handle this, and Rexinon could see how this was affecting him.
"The majority of the Order will heed my warning. As for the leaders, if any are still alive, they will follow that command to the letter. They'll even aid you in handling any hotheads who resist," Rexinon said.
"The good news is that no one has yet been executed this evening. I'll personally see to it that those who abide by that order are given a chance to live long, productive lives within society. If all goes well, you will be the only casualty of this idiocy."
Rexinon gave the faintest sign of a smile with a halfhearted chuckle as he said, "Godric, one thing I'll not allow is any of the Order's work ending up in the hands of one of those tyrants. Therefore, I demand that Jonathan be given every document, scroll, and tome held within our strongholds for safekeeping." Rexinon felt exhausted. The spell to warn his Order took more out of him than anticipated.
"You're in no position to be making demands of us," Seth said. Godric finally snapped and struck him so hard that he slammed back into the wall beside the fireplace, cracking it. He got back to his feet a moment later, fixed his shirt, and looked down at the blood he'd wiped from his lip. Godric looked back at Rexinon.
"As you were saying."
"Assassin, I'd ask that you secure all our relics and artifacts, regardless of their magical significance. I don't need to tell you what all we have housed around Aurelia."
"No, you don't. The nukes of our time were nothing compared to some of those items," Assassin replied.
"We'll see to it that it's done. There are things within these walls that were never meant for untrained mortal hands," Godric added.
"Thank you."
"As for the texts, Jonathan will have a field day going through everything. There is far too much the council doesn't understand within these walls that we can't afford to lose."
"Godric was right, Rex. I still have everything. Much of which has been quite useful over the centuries,"
Godric turned his head away, no longer able to look Rexinon in the eye. "I no longer deserve the right to call you a friend, but is there anything else you would ask of me?"
Rexinon looked at Godric for a long time and couldn't help but smile. Not at his pain or suffering in following the orders given to him, but knowing that if anyone here had ever been a friend to him, Godric certainly was. With his final words, he left Godric with a warning.
"No, but I'll leave you with this. Be wary of those among you, for one will betray you all. My friend."
Godric nodded, accepting these as Rexinon's final words as a tear ran down his cheek. Rexinon lowered his head, and Assassin enveloped his axe's blade in a purple aura.
"Woah, Assassin, what's with the new color? Never seen that before," Seth asked.
Ignoring the question, Assassin swung the axe, severing Rexinon's head cleanly.
That night, the cries of the Order were heard in every city across Aurelia. All mourning the death of the Order's first, and last, headmaster.
Jonathan fought back tears of his own as he watched the axe's head vanish. Assassin secured the handle on his belt as he walked towards the desk. Godric looked as though he was going to be sick.
"Did you do as I asked?" Godric asked shakily.
"Of course. I may be a trained killer, but even I know this was bullshit, mate."
Seth walked over and picked up Rexinon's severed head by the hair. He held it up before him, a mischievous grin on his face. Then he whispered something into Rexinon's ear.
Assassin's eyes locked on Seth. As he let go of the head, he used one of his abilities, known as shadow step, to cross the distance to where Seth stood. Before Rexinon's head hit the ground, Assassin snatched it out of the air and punched Seth so hard that it sent him flying into the same section of the wall he'd hit earlier. He bounced off it, but the force of the impact sent several of the stones flying into the next room. Seth crumpled to the floor, where he lay unmoving for several seconds. After a while, his head snapped upright, and he began to laugh. He stood up as if nothing had happened and headed out the door. Godric, now seething with anger, watched as Assassin started to go after him. "Leave him. He's not worth your time."
Jonathan paced around the room, waiting for the spell to wear off. His heart ached, and his own anger toward Seth at that moment made him wish he could destroy the man. But that was Seth's way, and they'd all learned to let it go in time. The world began to blur and vanish, reverting to the Archive once again.
He closed the cover, placing the tome back on the shelf with a heavy sigh. His fingers lingered on the binding as he read the inscription, A Complete History of the Hellyrrian Order, Volume 666. Finally, Jonathan let his hand fall to the side as he walked away with his shoulders slumped.
As if speaking to an old friend, he lamented, "Damn you, Rex. Why couldn't you have just left well enough alone?"
As Jonathan walked away, he shed a tear at the loss of one of his closest friends.

An actor everybody is pretty much somewhat familiar with, Rowan Atkinson that plays Mr Bean recently made an about 10 minute press release speech and statement. It was directly concerning the freedom of the people of the United Kingdom to merely express themselves, to perform the very human act of communicating and sharing. https://youtu.be/xUezfuy8Qpc
The fact that the U.K is unfortunately by law a tyrannical state that dishes out criminal punishment to anyone who says anything anyone finds offensive, no literally they actually have laws that get you arrested for posting normal song lyrics and other mundane normal usage posts. It's from a recent yet slightly older law from 25 years ago, and it enables anyone to be charged with hate speech for saying or since the advent of social media posting anything anyone ever finds offensive.
I wish it were otherwise but unfortunately these authoritarian tyrannical laws are also present... in Australia and you have probably forgotten but they were on full display in Australia in 2019... when the Pharmaceutical companies became the wealthiest and most profitable companies on Earth... the same companies that sponsor Political Parties,... and Television advertisements,... Social Media companies (like the one your on now) and literally run the tests and produce all medical scientific papers (studies, theories, hospitals, physicians on payroll, fund entire hospitals and livelihoods... etc. etc.) The best example I can remember of the absolute tyranny Australia was under is a case whereby a pregnant women in Victoria was arrested for writing on a Facebook post that she was against lockdowns and supported the protests against them... the Police came and arrested her... for 'Hate Speech'... it luckily enough got picked up media companies (TV stories and articles). Luckily. So the police, after dragging this pregnant woman kicking and screaming out of her apartment (not exactly literally) let her go without charge. She was lucky. Very very lucky. And there is no way she should have had to have been 'lucky' for merely making a post on Facebook.
America simply does not have this problem as written into the very constitution as the 1st Amendment to their constitution by the founding fathers in all of their wisdom, intelligence, good faith and if your religious like they where, filled with divine enlightenment wrote it such that the Government in America has no ability to write any law to restrict people's rights to express themselves (Freedom of Speech), restrict the press (because back then they lacked smart phones, social media and all modern technology, which should be obvious but perhaps it is not and is difficult for people today to even begin to imagine life back then despite it being very loosely similar to today's world) and finallu restrict people's religious freedoms (written in reverse order to this because they were all wise God loving, humble, noble and brave men.
America's 1st Amendment is the only Freedom of Speech law written into its very constitution in the entire world, it is the reason that America is referred to as 'Land of the Free' and the second part of that phrase, 'Home of the Brave.'. As for protests, peaceful assembly had always been constitutionally protected, not violent assembly so riots and revolution is still very much illegal and is met with lethal counter force every time. [As a side note, if peaceful assembly fails to prevent America becoming a Tryrannical State, then the 2nd Amendment is the fail-safe. As the wisdom of the founding fathers literally argued and intendeded]
Australia does not have that phrase and frankly I feel that every Australian that knows that, feels a deep unspoken, subconscious shame over that fact and far more importantly that all Australians simply do not have the constitutional right to even speak their minds freely, as every human being alive desires.
As Rowan Atkinson stated 'Hate Speech' is not real. It is a term used to silence, censor and remove power from whomever those in power disagree and dislike or are offended by. There are seemingly endless examples from history of the evil deeds of enactment of those disliked by existing powers for example, Galileo (ostracised and persecuted by the church and all religious folk for merely stating he believed that the sun was the center of the Galaxy and not the Earth), Nikola Tesla (defamed by the work of Tomas Edison and countless people trying to claim his inventions as their own by way of patent theft and lies for the purpose of advertising like don't by an American organisation NPR over the discovery of radio), (Jesus Christ himself by his crucifixion by my Ancestors, the Romans) and as the last example, the NAZI's by locking up any intellectuals that disagreed or dared critisize any of their doctrine and propoganda, their torture of anyone condemned for death by way of countless sadistic and grotesque torture methods, and some though quite few, for scientific discovery purposes, their burning of the books followed in time by bodies, and lastly their brutal slaughter of the Jews, no evidence of wrongs but only stirring words and speeches from their beloved demagogue, Adolf Hitler and gigantic amounts of absolute propoganda distributed to the masses, orchestrated by NAZI Propoganda Chief Joseph Goebbels and his team. (Which every highschool student should have, though potentially didn't, have already learned from Highschool History class, at least in every Public School, Private Schools may be permitted a different curriculum.) Offensive caused by speech has only 1 solution. More Free speech, Rowan Atkinson a famous actor that has probably more wealth than this entire subreddit conveyed this message, and it would seem as an absolute truth as far as I can tell.
I have written this in hopes of sparking and pasing wisdom and knowledge into whoever needs to have read this. And hopefully you will pass this type of message on yourself from now on. Australia needs the Right of Freedom of Speech written into its very constitution. As demonstrated during COVID19 it needed it years ago but now even more than ever.
And to those that would say it will do nothing but allow mass disinformation, manipulation and mislead people, I would say this, history has proven you absolutely dead wrong on that statement and sentiment, the only solution to offense from speech is more Free Speech and if you silence, censor or try more modern trends of the same kind known as deplatforming or cancelling, then all you do, all you achieve, everything you are trying to stop will only be made stronger, more resilient and more popular then ever before. As examples, take Jesus Christ, he has the Roman equivalent of being hung drawn and quartered, he was crucified, publicly executed like a lamb to the slaughter to send a message of absolute obedience being required to the rest of the herd. Yet because of that Christianity exploded and has been far more viral than COVID19 or any viral video has ever been to date. And for modern times look at Tucker Carlson, deplatformed by pressure from Pharmaceutical companies, lawsuits from shitty voting machine companies and pathologically idealogically fanatic ex employees in lawsuits. Tucker Carlsons show on Fox was the most popular show on Fox News and it drew in about 2 million people every night to watch it... after he was fired... is now getting 35+ million on the regular after he started up on Twitter. I do so imagine that actuall that will be an understatement in the coming future as currently he's on his 2nd episode ever. The 'Streisand Effect' in full unbridled, unstoppable force.
Every Australian deserves the right to express themselves freely, meaning free of all Government persecution and all possible Government and legal persecution. This is and has always been a left wing idea, as the rule of Tyrants; Dictators, kings Pharaohs, Caesar's, Shoguns, Kahns, Lords, Nobles Knights and Emperors have always, always been majority perpetuated by people with conservative temperaments, whereas free thinkers, creative and imaginative people are the minority of people perpetuating the rule of Tyrants.
We here in Australia critisize China for authoritarianism and tyranny when there is weakness in our own ranks. 'Those in glass houses should not throw stones' - some famous person', 'never lay cannonfire on your enemy with a glass cannon' -me. Western countries, especially our home Australians true colours, true laws and beliefs of of people were broadcaster for the world to see during covid. And they paint a very dark authoritarian picture of our nation to the world, something China is more than smart enough to take advantage of... and much to our chagrin they are and have been since Covid ended for us. Chinese propoganda, their Television Channels, all Chinese State OWNED... all of them constantly bring up how Australia, England and America all were even worse if not just as bad as China was during Covid19, and as the best and most convincing propoganda always is... its harrowingly mostly true. (Only, partly mostly thankfully) but domestic Chinese TV isn't the most important propoganda outlet taking the easy win by using our sins in their propoganda... no, that would be the Confucius Institute in Australian Universities. China's unelected ruling communist party (communist in name only these days, just a full bull authoritarian tyranny is their ideology nowadays) main propoganda outlet in Australia is a Chinese University group called the Confucius Institute (I could be wrong about the name and I've spent too long writing this to be bothered to look it up). They target young, impressionable Chinese men and women when they are studying abroad in Australia's universities, our most popular young adult Chinese attraction, I dare say, maybe even 'Global young adult Asian attraction' as I once met a man from Tibet who said exactly that in a course I had to take for my construction job (white card). The Confucius Institute goal is promote CCP propoganda via demonising the way Australia and all Western countries are so that as few young people ever believe in the ideals of Democracy and want to return to China, such that the CCP can perpetuate its tyrannical rule over China forever. Idealogically brainwash 'loose ends' - Mafia Terminology if you understand. They thanks to what happened to Australia under the Lib/Nats Coalition 2019 to late 2022 they distribute and spread half truths about Australia and countless other lies about every part and aspect of life in Australia as well as pay members of their organisation to organise pro China protests, (sign holders and chanters) in Australian Universities, footage of this circulated sparsely in Australian media and articles during 2014-2018 roughly though probably a bit before too. They actively seek out and target specifically ethnically Chinese and often try to emotionally blackmail them, incite fear into them, speak exclusively their propoganda to then and rarely but almost certainly literally blackmail them using the threat of violence, torture and death of their families back in China. Naturally there's no direct evidence of that claim except for Chinese Father and Husband in England that was blackmailed (husband of high ranking shipping Port official wife) they abducted his wife and child and forced the wife read a script to the husband over the phone (utilised emotional and physical blackmail and just directly veiled and unveiled threats, I recommend you look up interviews from the husband) and if you look up the articles of the Confucius Institute from IDK 2011-2018 and have the ability to interpret from what the articles found you can tell the Confucius Institute, only has 1 purpose, to try and perpetuate the CCP's rule of China and stop and protest against their rule, specifically stopping Tiananmen Square type protests from ever happening again. The Tianamen Square Massacre was a global well known proverbial black eye to China that severely hampered every nation's diplomatic relations with China for close to half a century, and the CCP didn't like that as even Tyrants love swimming in money, also the CCP loves stealing technology through trade espionage, China's MAG Lev trains and their entire car industry is built off stolen technology from Western companies dumb enough to deal with companies owned by the CCP. Naturally the Chinese who have been or are being 'convinced' by the Confucius Institute are always the biggest promoters of Anti Freedom ideas, especially the death of Freedom of Speech via hate speech crime laws such as: incitement of violence laws (Victoria mainly), offensive Tweets, Facebook Posts, Instagram Posts,,, Goddamn Reddit posts all hopefully being made illegal and the Liberals God awful rich persons almost exclusive digital world referee, The new E-Safety Commisioner. And like all the God awful Tyrant Commissioner's from TV shows and books if the E-Safety commisoner ever... EVER gets in the hands of the Liberals again it will be used against the normal people of Australia to beat the collective will of normal free thinking Australian's to the ground if not to death. Only complete dumbass Liberal Supporters usually dumb beer drinking sky news watchers (usually fossils) and Young Adult Chinese University Students support ANY of the laws and speech referees I just mentioned.
Again please war h the video I linked at the tiop and if the Politcal State of the U.K interests you for whatever reason then I recommend: Count Dankular (his second channel) the first person in Scottish History tried and found guilty of 'Hate Speech'... from a freakin comedy video. Where he's mocking the very thing they charged him for supporting [funny pug salute video as a direct hint]), Jonathan Pie (excellent wit, fantastic satirist and insult wordsmith wizard, also very yelly, I like him) and lastly Jordan Shanks himself, the namesake of this subreddit, FriendlyJordies. Whenever he actually gets round to covering the U.K his analysis is excellent.
Also a guy from YouTube channel Sargon of Akkad though... fair warning, his videos are really boring but he is quite very articulate.
All Australians deserve the Right of Freedom of Speech. And unfortunately, on Reddit in particular I see far too many Tyrannical Speech Law sympathisers which I personally find truly disgusting and as much as I hate the authoritarian ideas you spout, I will defend your right to say and spread them. If your a real FriendlyJordies fan or agree with his ideas and rhetoric than I already know you support all Australians Right of 'Free Speech'.

Are you sure my boy that technology had made things faster? Because I don't think so. Technology hasn't made anything faster and this argument of our is making me feel tiresome. I suggest a race, I will send a letter which will have our address on it, and you should send an email to your friend. We will see which is faster by seeing whether the letters gets delivered first or your friend replying to your email. I do not think technology has made things faster, and it is only an illusion that technology gives that it has made things faster.
My second boy troy, have you aborted your child? Because like I have said before your child will become an evil dicator. Troy gives me excuses like he can't find the pregnant woman that is holding his child, but he is close to finding her. He has gone to place where she was last seen and his child must be aborted or the whole world will be in trouble. Troy must do it and he does get second thoughts about it but I crush them and set him right, in the right direction. Troy must do it or else all is lost.
Then my eldest son who sent the email to his friend to see which is faster, hasn't had a reply yet and I have had the letter posted to my house. I had won and I had proven to him that technology hasn't made anything faster but rather it has given the illusion that things are faster. My eldest son is in disbelief and doesn't seem to understand how this was even possible, I keep on laughing and he sends out more emails to his friend but here I am waving the letter that i had sent out and has come back, beating the email my son had sent.
Troy my second eldest son comes back to me and tells me that his son, that should have been aborted, has been born. So now in each place that he goes to, he ordered every baby boy to be slaughtered in the chance that it is his baby boy that should be aborted, to prevent evil. I advise him how unwise that is and babies that he ordered to die, in trying to find his son, will not be able to enter the other world, until his child is killed.
My eldest son, goes to his friends house and sees the front door open and observes that his friend and his family have been killed. He quickly realises I had done this is a lesson about technology, technology is only fast as the other person controlling it. My son tells me that i cheated by killing his friend and family, and that's why I made that challenge. He is right.

Are you sure my boy that technology had made things faster? Because I don't think so. Technology hasn't made anything faster and this argument of our is making me feel tiresome. I suggest a race, I will send a letter which will have our address on it, and you should send an email to your friend. We will see which is faster by seeing whether the letters gets delivered first or your friend replying to your email. I do not think technology has made things faster, and it is only an illusion that technology gives that it has made things faster.
My second boy troy, have you aborted your child? Because like I have said before your child will become an evil dicator. Troy gives me excuses like he can't find the pregnant woman that is holding his child, but he is close to finding her. He has gone to place where she was last seen and his child must be aborted or the whole world will be in trouble. Troy must do it and he does get second thoughts about it but I crush them and set him right, in the right direction. Troy must do it or else all is lost.
Then my eldest son who sent the email to his friend to see which is faster, hasn't had a reply yet and I have had the letter posted to my house. I had won and I had proven to him that technology hasn't made anything faster but rather it has given the illusion that things are faster. My eldest son is in disbelief and doesn't seem to understand how this was even possible, I keep on laughing and he sends out more emails to his friend but here I am waving the letter that i had sent out and has come back, beating the email my son had sent.
Troy my second eldest son comes back to me and tells me that his son, that should have been aborted, has been born. So now in each place that he goes to, he ordered every baby boy to be slaughtered in the chance that it is his baby boy that should be aborted, to prevent evil. I advise him how unwise that is and babies that he ordered to die, in trying to find his son, will not be able to enter the other world, until his child is killed.
My eldest son, goes to his friends house and sees the front door open and observes that his friend and his family have been killed. He quickly realises I had done this is a lesson about technology, technology is only fast as the other person controlling it. My son tells me that i cheated by killing his friend and family, and that's why I made that challenge. He is right.

Are you sure my boy that technology had made things faster? Because I don't think so. Technology hasn't made anything faster and this argument of our is making me feel tiresome. I suggest a race, I will send a letter which will have our address on it, and you should send an email to your friend. We will see which is faster by seeing whether the letters gets delivered first or your friend replying to your email. I do not think technology has made things faster, and it is only an illusion that technology gives that it has made things faster.
My second boy troy, have you aborted your child? Because like I have said before your child will become an evil dicator. Troy gives me excuses like he can't find the pregnant woman that is holding his child, but he is close to finding her. He has gone to place where she was last seen and his child must be aborted or the whole world will be in trouble. Troy must do it and he does get second thoughts about it but I crush them and set him right, in the right direction. Troy must do it or else all is lost.
Then my eldest son who sent the email to his friend to see which is faster, hasn't had a reply yet and I have had the letter posted to my house. I had won and I had proven to him that technology hasn't made anything faster but rather it has given the illusion that things are faster. My eldest son is in disbelief and doesn't seem to understand how this was even possible, I keep on laughing and he sends out more emails to his friend but here I am waving the letter that i had sent out and has come back, beating the email my son had sent.
Troy my second eldest son comes back to me and tells me that his son, that should have been aborted, has been born. So now in each place that he goes to, he ordered every baby boy to be slaughtered in the chance that it is his baby boy that should be aborted, to prevent evil. I advise him how unwise that is and babies that he ordered to die, in trying to find his son, will not be able to enter the other world, until his child is killed.
My eldest son, goes to his friends house and sees the front door open and observes that his friend and his family have been killed. He quickly realises I had done this is a lesson about technology, technology is only fast as the other person controlling it. My son tells me that i cheated by killing his friend and family, and that's why I made that challenge. He is right.

Are you sure my boy that technology had made things faster? Because I don't think so. Technology hasn't made anything faster and this argument of our is making me feel tiresome. I suggest a race, I will send a letter which will have our address on it, and you should send an email to your friend. We will see which is faster by seeing whether the letters gets delivered first or your friend replying to your email. I do not think technology has made things faster, and it is only an illusion that technology gives that it has made things faster.
My second boy troy, have you aborted your child? Because like I have said before your child will become an evil dicator. Troy gives me excuses like he can't find the pregnant woman that is holding his child, but he is close to finding her. He has gone to place where she was last seen and his child must be aborted or the whole world will be in trouble. Troy must do it and he does get second thoughts about it but I crush them and set him right, in the right direction. Troy must do it or else all is lost.
Then my eldest son who sent the email to his friend to see which is faster, hasn't had a reply yet and I have had the letter posted to my house. I had won and I had proven to him that technology hasn't made anything faster but rather it has given the illusion that things are faster. My eldest son is in disbelief and doesn't seem to understand how this was even possible, I keep on laughing and he sends out more emails to his friend but here I am waving the letter that i had sent out and has come back, beating the email my son had sent.
Troy my second eldest son comes back to me and tells me that his son, that should have been aborted, has been born. So now in each place that he goes to, he ordered every baby boy to be slaughtered in the chance that it is his baby boy that should be aborted, to prevent evil. I advise him how unwise that is and babies that he ordered to die, in trying to find his son, will not be able to enter the other world, until his child is killed.
My eldest son, goes to his friends house and sees the front door open and observes that his friend and his family have been killed. He quickly realises I had done this is a lesson about technology, technology is only fast as the other person controlling it. My son tells me that i cheated by killing his friend and family, and that's why I made that challenge. He is right.

Maybe I have OCD, maybe others just don’t care enough. My family members are not as tidy and organized as I am. I live alone due to work and still manage to keep my whole apartment clean. Of course it’s easier when you are alone but i still vacuum every second day and i mop once a week at least, clean my bathroom a couple of times in the week, do my laundry etc.
I get that a house full of people looks untidy at times but still. It makes me sick. Nobody listens to me. My younger siblings are like „whatever“ and my mum cannot keep up with them anymore which is understandable.
What can i do to improve the situation? Any tips or am I overreacting?

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