TL;DR: I have feelings for a coworker, I can't figure out where's the boundary of friendly affection and romantic interest. What are signs I should look for? How to let someone know I'm interested before approaching them completely?
For context, this is a coworker and let's call him N but we don't literally work together as we're in two different sections, my group consists of 18 people and his as well so we rarely see each other. I struggle with reading my feelings and approaching someone but also I doubt feelings of other people, I wouldn't like to be seen as self-centered and think someone likes me when they're just friendly.
There was once a time when we had to work together and I think it was 2-3 months ago. He worked next to me and we divided the work in two as I had more experience and didn't want to put pressure on new people.
From his actions, he started conversations that day and the next day when I was in bad mood, he asked why I didn't even say hello and started teasing me. He never went away from me, he always catched up with me and helped me out. During breaks, he would also stick with me and my friend said he showed jealousy towards him as we spend a lot of time together even tho we're just friends for 15 years and he's also sticking next to me. My friend told me N used to tease him like calling him and saying someone needs him just for my friend to figure out no one called him. I talked about my friend from a place he lives at and as I forgot to show him a picture, I sent him and explained I totally forgot and that's when he gave me his Insta in hopes I'd visit his birthplace once and go out for a drink.
Well, this week we worked together as well but he wasn't there, it's just that we had a lot of time to jump between sections and we shared breaks. For a while now, he was kinda distant. He hangs out with one coworker and never approached me so I got the message "I'm not even interested in being friends, don't approach me" so I didn't. Yet, he wasn't there for 3 days and I asked him if he was okay and that's when he started chatting yet again but left me on read. Day after that, when we had conversation live, instead of his piercing eyes looking straight into your soul and us locking eyes more than I can count, his eyes went down and I noticed eye-eye-going down look. Noticed it in the moment, didn't think too much about it. Yesterday was the most nerve wrecking collection of moments I have yet to understand. He first started teasing me when one woman asked me to help her and he was like "Oh, you really did pick who's going to help you, she doesn't know how to do it" and I was like "Then how about you do it? You're incredibly good at it" and he placed his hands on my arm, few times. That day I heard they won't be part of our team anymore and that they'll change the shift so I said I had nothing to lose. I approached him the moment I saw him at the meeting and he always mimicks my smile and approaches me as well. On a break, I said I won't go where I usually go but will instead stay where he's at. He immediately said to join them and we talked for a while and that's the moment I really noticed our eyes locking way too much. When we went back to work, he worked alone and I had a bit of time so I approached him and asked why he's alone and he said I should join him. Both of us had our hands shaking and his gaze was really deep, I can't even explain it. He can't break eye contact with me and he teased me as well, that's all I could notice. Well, that was until the meeting. There was only one spot free next to him so I stood there and one woman wanted to take her jacket and few people had to take their water bottles so I kept moving but there was some machine in front of me so I had to do some weird pose in order to create even a bit of space and when that woman moved me, I turned back and saw him staring at me and smiling. Later, he placed his hand on a wall behind me, sort of like your back hug but indirect.
From my actions, I can't control myself. I constantly look for and at him and when I see him, thousand bolts go through my body and I can't stop thinking how beautiful he is. When I look him in the eyes and when we're close, I have overwhelming feeling of attraction that I have to distract my attention. I want to be free with him but I'm afraid I read all of the clues wrong and that he's simply friendly but it doesn't "feel" friendly. I get scatterbrained when he's teasing me so I don't entirely tease him back, just a small amount. I noticed our looks locked when I accidentally turned around but I don't know what to do.
Do you have any advice on how to make a move to confirm the attraction without exactly voicing it out as I don't know how to do it without knowing already if the feelings are reciprocated. What can I do to actually show him I'm interested instead of my avoidant tendencies because my feelings are burning but I don't know how to release them?

Rhaenyra is honestly a feminist icon. She’s a gentler, more progressive version of Daenerys. She could have burned Vaemond on the spot but didn’t. Her brother insulted her but instead of holding a grudge, she forgave him with an open heart. She will pave the way for many future queens and female rulers.
Rhaenyra is also an excellent politician. Unlike her indecisive father, she boldly suggests sending the dragon riders to conquer the Stepstones, risking her own life for her people. She bravely rejects Alicent's awful advice, offering to mediate on the Bracken-Blackwood dispute and build fortifications at the Stepstones. She even let her stepdaughter Rhaena be her cupbearer, involving her in all the war decisions.
Despite having a malicious stepmother, Rhaenyra is an exemplary mother and has raised three polite, kind, and perfectly-behaved boys. Jace will be an excellent king and Luke a respectable Lord of the Tides. The Velaryon girls are so lucky to marry such honorable young men. Who says they don't have Velaryon blood? History remembers names, not blood.
Daemon is the best consort anyone could ask for. He is not ambitious like Corlys and Otto, not weak like Aenys and Viserys, and not violent like Harwin and Criston. He supports Rhaenyra’s sweet, innocent boys over his own sons and lets all his kids marry each other, continuing the excellent tradition of keeping the Valyrian bloodline pure. He has every reason to dislike Rhea, she was a lowly non-Valyrian woman who insulted him at every opportunity. Even if he didn't love Laena, he waited until she died before he finally got together with his true love.
Who says he is a bad husband and father? He was only distressed at his brother's death, who wouldn't be when their beloved wife was so outrageously usurped? He didn't choke Rhaenyra, it was just the Valyrian way of 'tough love', they were going to kiss and fuck afterwards. He also trained his daughters to be strong, if they are to survive in the cruel world of Westeros, a few bruises after a children's fight is nothing. He protected his whole family when the evil Greens were going to kill them all, Otto would have killed them all otherwise.
Daemon should have been made Hand, not the conniving, scheming Otto Hightower. The blood of the dragon runs sick, and Daemon will be able to protect Viserys from the leeches on the Council. He is perceptive, strong-willed, and brave, the right hand that Viserys needs. Together, he and Rhaenyra will bring the House of the Dragons to its days of glory.
Give me one reason that Daemyra isn't the perfect love and power couple and I will fight you.

tw: depictions of torture
Years Later…
The sound of fist connecting with face reverberated through a small cabin in the thick woods. Bone-crunching squelches bounced off every surface. Each splatter of blood on the nearby walls grew thicker and darker than the last. Muffled cries of pain bled through corridor after corridor, loud enough to make its inhabitants sick if it hadn’t been such a common sound for them to hear.
Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap.
Rodney stared directly ahead, incessantly tapping his foot as he gazed into the dark maple of the polished wood in front of him. The dark maple formed the base of a clock, a clock that had long since stopped ticking. Besides the continued smacks of knuckle, the tapping was the only noise heard throughout the house.
Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap.
Rodney couldn’t care less that he was tapping his foot in the middle of a puddle of blood. Eventually it would dry and fit in with the rest of his look. The puddle made a soft splashing sound with every tap.
“Hey man, can you knock that off? It’s fucking annoying.” Judas asks him, who was sitting on his right. Without averting his gaze, Rodney stops tapping.
“What, I hurt your pretty lil’ eardrums?” Rodney asks him, the corners of his mouth wrinkling up into a smirk before it quickly fades.
“Nah man,” Judas replies, chuckling under his breath, “just you always doing these little… things that you do. Tapping your foot, bouncing your leg, shaking them bitches back and forth, somehow every single one of ‘em is annoying as hell.”
“Surprised you haven’t gotten used to it already.” Rodney answers dryly. After a moment of silence, the punching in the background stops.
“He finally finished?” Judas asks him.
“‘Bout damn time.” Rodney responds. He sits up.
“You think he went extra tryna impress you?” Judas asks.
“Every fuckin’ time. I tell him not to bother, but he tries anyway.” Rodney answers, not looking at Judas as he looks over his instruments one last time. As he puts his swiss army knife back in its place, he hears the scraping of a baseball bat against the wooden floor, the undeniable shrieks and hisses of metal scraping wood becoming louder by the second.
“You use good form?” Rodney asks, raising his voice over scraping of the bat.
“Of course I used good fucking form.” Ethan answers. He rounds the corner, Ethan stepping into view of them both. His knuckles were coated with fresh blood. Eventually that blood will dry, just like the layers of past already caked and gone.
“He’s all yours.” Ethans says to Rodney, pointing his bat down the hallway. Rodney looks back at Ethan, who nods at him. With that, Rodney turns around and starts walking down the hallway. The bright green paint on the walls was cracked and chipped, the flower print that used to make this place look inviting made it now look withered and decrepit as the flowers on the walls faded. A small line of blood ran from the room he was in to the room he was headed to.
Rodney walks to the end of the hallway and turns into the only door left before the front door. Inside the room, a bloodied and bruised man is sitting halfway slumped in a chair, his arms and legs bound to the chair. He’s an older man, with graying hair. His face is more red and purple than it is white. The room stunk of must and blood.
Rodney grabs a knocked over chair from the other side of the room, dragging it across before placing it down directly in front of the man. The battered man lifts his head.
“Kid’s got a hell of a punch.” the man chuckles weakly, his chuckle quickly turning into a raspy wheeze. Rodney doesn’t respond, just staring daggers into the man’s eyes. A moment of tense silence passes.
“Now here’s the thing man,” Rodney starts, grabbing the folded swiss army knife out of his pocket. “I don’t got all day, but I got enough time.”
He flicks the knife out, pointing it about an inch away from the man’s face. “Now… where is the food you stole from us?”
With a twinge of nervousness flashes across his face, before his face molds into a steadfast sneer.
Rodney puts the knife even closer, so the tip of the knife is touching the bridge of the man’s nose. “The only way you get out of this room alive is if you tell me where it is. You wanna end up like your wife? Your daughter?”
“FUCK YOU MAN!” the man explodes with rage, struggling against his restraints. “They were so hungry, all they wanted was a little food! And you fuckin’ put ‘em down like a pair of dogs!”
“The food was ours. They were stealing from us. They got what they signed up for. And maybe they woulda survived if you did your job in feeding them.” Rodney replies coldly, his death stare not budging an inch.
The man’s face remains filled with rage, and he spits in Rodney’s face. His face doesn’t move, but he wipes the spit off his face, shaking his head after he does. Rodney takes the knife away from the man’s face, before wedging the knife underneath one of his fingernails. The man howls in pain as Rodney pushes the blade deeper, before thrusting the knife downward, successfully separating nail from index finger. The sound of the nail cracking and tearing from skin was enough to make most people’s skin crawl.
“FUCKIN’ BITCH!” the old man emits from a guttural scream, doubling over from the pain. He grits his teeth, trying to hold back from yelling again. Blood was flowing from his finger, dripping down onto the already blood-splattered hardwood floor.
“Now, I’m gonna ask you again. Where is the food you stole from us?” Rodney asks him again, a bit more emphasized this time. His patience was starting to wane.
The man stands firm, gritting through the pain as no noise escapes his mouth. Rodney drives his knife under the nail of the second finger, the owner of said finger yells again, another gruesome cracking sound emitting from the procedure as nail is separated from middle finger.
Tears were starting to form in the corners of the man’s eyes as he gritted his teeth even harder. He starts sucking in big gulps of air through his gritted teeth, trying to focus on anything besides his throbbing, bleeding, nailless fingers.
The third finger nail comes off just as messily as the first two. The man was gripping the chair so hard that his knuckles turned bone white. The man starts breathing slow, deep breaths, breaths that eventually morph into a weak chuckle.
“You… can take as many fingernails as you want… I ain’t givin’ up that food. I’ll die without it.” the man hoarsely tells him. “There ain’t no more food left anywhere near here. It’s all gone. Every last bit.”
“Bullshit.” Rodney tells him to his face.
“It’s the truth!” the man defends, grimacing from the pain as he does..”I consider myself a pretty good scavenger, bein’ a survivalist even before it was required, and I can’t find more than a crumb anywhere! There ain’t no food for miles!”
“Fine.” Rodney says. He pulls away the knife, before plunging the knife straight into the man’s left knee.
“Ahh FUCK!” he instinctively yells, his head falling down as he looks toward the floor.
“Nope.” Rodney says, forcing the man’s head up. “Look into my fucking eyes.” He drags his chair up a little bit, getting closer to his victim. He stares daggers into the man’s eyes, who nervously stares back at him.
“Now,” Rodney starts, “I’m gonna give you one more chance to tell me, or else your fucking kneecap is coming off.”
After a moment of silence, Rodney pushes the blade deeper into his knee until he feels the knife touch bone.
“Wait wait wait!” the man yells, his posture relaxing as his body gives up. “I… I’ll tell you where it is. Just… let me walk, please.”
“Go on…” Rodney nudges him on, wedging the knife underneath the kneecap.
“Stop! Stop! It’s… it’s under that bookshelf back there.” the man pleads, motioning toward the back right corner of the room with his head. “There’s a trapdoor underneath it, leads to the basement where yer stuff is.”
A moment of tense silence passes, the man’s face contorted from nervousness. Rodney pulls the blade out of his knee, the man wincing as he does it. He walks over to the doorway.
“I got it!” Rodney calls down the hall. After a moment, he hears two pairs of footsteps walking down the hallway. Judas and Ethan enter the room.
“Where’s it at?” Judas asks.
“Under the bookshelf. There’s a trap door.” Rodney answers, pointing towards the shelf. Both Judas and Ethan start walking toward him, but Rodney halts Ethan in his tracks.
“Nope. You stay.” Rodney tells him, pointing at the maimed main, who was now slouched over, his head drooping. If it wasn’t for his shallow breaths he would very easily be mistaken for dead.
Rage quickly flashes on Ethan’s face, before being replaced by a deadpan scowl. Rodney and Judas walk over to the bookshelf, moving it to the side. Underneath it was a wooden trap door with a metal handle. Rodney pulls on the handle and opens it, revealing a wooden staircase led down to a dark room.
“Stay and watch him. We’re gonna scope this out.” Rodney tells Ethan. Both men grab small handheld flashlights that were attached to their waistbands.
“As you wish.” Ethan responds, sighing after the fact. He turns and faces the beaten down captive. Rodney starts descending the steps, flashlight in left hand and pistol over the top in the right, followed closely behind by Judas.
“Watch yourself.” Judas whispers to Rodney.
“I should be tellin’ you that.” Rodney whispers back. They slowly descend down the steps, scanning the room with their flashlights. After a dozen steps, they reach the floor of the basement. It was incredibly dark inside, the only sources of light were coming from the trap door above their heads and their flashlights.
The room was pretty barren. Besides four stone walls, there was a bookshelf behind the stairs, lined with books, their fronts facing outwards instead of their spines. There were a couple pieces of moldy, turned over furniture on the ground. At the end of the room, there was a table with a large blanket covering it. The blanket had numerous lumps underneath it.
Rodney walks over and takes the blanket off, revealing their stolen goods. Cans of beans, rice, and other non-perishable foods cover the table.
“Bastard finally told the truth for once.” Judas remarks, smiling.
“Go upstairs and get our backpacks.” Rodney tells him. Judas starts heading back up the stairs, leaving Rodney alone in the cold dark room. Rodney looks at a large jar of rice that was sitting at the front of the table, and he picks it up, starting to inspect it. He was just barely able to notice the thin wire attached to the jar befor-
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Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
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“Shit!” Rodney yells, instinctively dropping to the floor and covering his head, the rice jar shattering on the ground. The hidden gun continues to fire several more times, shattering several jars and cans of food as glass falls to the floor. Finally, the magazine of the gun empties, and Rodney can finally take a breath. He sits up, taking in deep breaths as he looks around the room warily.
“Rodney?? Rodney!” Ethan yells down from the floor above. Rodney can hear the thumping of Judas’ shoes as he runs across the cabin.
“I’m okay!” Rodney yells back. “Motherfucker set a trap on us!”
Rodney’s relief quickly boils into anger. He shines his flashlight on the ground where he dropped the jar, finding the thin wire. He grabs it, following it until he reaches the bookshelf behind the stairs, where he sees a hole carved into one of the books. He snatches it, revealing a handgun with the wire wrapped around the trigger.
“Rodney! What Happened??” Judas also yells from upstairs. Rodney grabs the gun and starts heading up the stairs.
Rodney emerges from the basement, a thick scowl on his face.
“It was a fucking trap.” Rodney says again, showing them the gun. He points to a small metal piece on the end of the glock. “Look at that, a fucking auto sear.”
“Fucker managed to make a glock fully automatic.” Judas observes out loud. He looks up, before squinting at Rodney’s face.
“Dude, you got nicked. Right ear.” Judas tells him. Rodney feels his right ear, a tiny chunk of the top of the ear missing.
“Fucking hell.” Rodney mutters. “Adrenaline had me not feelin’ anything.”
“Alone and forsaken by fate and by man…” the tortured man starts hoarsely singing. The trio turns to him.
“What you wanna do with him?” Judas asks.
“Take both his kneecaps and leave him for the walkers.” Rodney responds after a moment of deliberation.
“Oh Lord, if you hear me, please hold to my hand…”
Ethan starts walking toward the man, his eyes filled with fury, his jaw clenched, his bat gripped in hand.
“Oh please understand.” the man finishes, looking up to see Ethan walking toward him with unbridled rage.
“No, Ethan, I said t-” Rodney tries to get out, but Ethan raises the bat above his head, bringing it down on the man’s skull with a sickening crunch. Rodney throws his arms up in frustration and Judas shakes his head as Ethan repeatedly brings the bat down on what used to be the man’s skull, the crunching of bone slowly turning into the squelching of brains.
Ethan stops after a couple more swings, his rage quickly extinguished and is replaced by his usual resting bitch face demeanor. He walks back toward the others, wiping chunks of skull and brain off his bat with his sleeve.
“You done?” Rodney scolds him in an annoyed tone. Ethan nods.
“Good.” Rodney says. “Because every nearby walker is headed this way. We gotta get our shit and get the hell out.”
Both Judas and Ethan nod, and each of them grabs their backpack and descends back down into the basement. They all turn on their flashlights and scan the remaining food. Over half the stolen food had been destroyed from the trap, shattered glass and spilled food covering the floor.
“Make sure not to cut yourself. Barely got any peroxide left.” Rodney tells them. They act quickly, stuffing unharmed jars and cans into their jabs. Rice, beans, canned tomatoes, corn, peas, and soups quickly filled up their bags.
“Let’s go!” Rodney commands, climbing quickly up the steps back to the main floor. Judas and Ethan follow behind just as quickly. They rush to the front door, opening to see walkers emerging from all sides of the forest around them. Several stood in the way to the caravan.
Rodney charges forward, driving his knife under the chin of the nearest walker. Ethan whacks one in the side of the skull before caving in the skull of another. Judas quickly brings a crowbar down twice on the skull of another. With a series of smashes and stabs, they ruthlessly cut their way through the herd like a safari explorer slashing effortlessly through thick brush. Walkers continue to emerge from the all encompassing forest. Ethan reaches the car first, pulling the sliding door open.
“Go! Go!” Ethan yells. Rodney and Judas quickly hop inside, with Ethan slamming the door shut behind them. Ethan pushes a walker away with his bat before throwing the driver door open, hopping inside and quickly shutting it behind him. Walkers start to pound on the caravan on all sides.
“Ethan, fucking go! Now!” Rodney yells. Ethan turns the key in the ignition, the caravan’s engine roaring to life. He slams on the gas pedal and the caravan explodes down the road, leaving the walkers to slowly trail behind in their wake.
“Hell yeah!” Ethan excitedly yells. “You see that shit?!”
Rodney ignores him, wincing slightly as he touches the top of his right ear, which continues to bleed.
“Well…” Judas starts, rifling through his backpack. “You, my good man, are in luck, because you just got the last of the peroxide.”
Judas takes a dark bottle from his pack, holding it up to look from the bottom and swishing it around a little bit. There was barely enough to fill the corner of the bottle. Judas retrieves a patch of gauze from his pack, pouring the last of the peroxide onto it.
“That should’ve gone better.” Rodney reflects out loud.
“It could’ve gone worse.” Judas counterpoints, slowly rubbing the peroxide-dampened gauze on Rodney’s ear, causing him to wince.
“I mean, you’re lucky as hell you weren’t standing a couple inches to the right.” Judas points out. “Maybe you should look on the bright side every once in a while.”
Rodney responds with only a grunt.
“All I know for sure,” Ethan butts in from behind the wheel, “Is that motherfucker got what he deserved.”
“He deserved worse.” Rodney responds. “Which you decided to ignore.”
“Really? This again?” Ethan asks, his tone quickly changing from energized to annoyed.
“What I say isn’t a fucking suggestion.” Rodney scolds. “When I say to do something, I don’t care if you’re mad, you do what I say, when I say it. We clear?”
A moment of tense silence passes.
“Yeah. We’re clear.” Ethan answers in an annoyed huff, keeping his eyes on the road. They drive for a minute in silence, watching the never-ending green and shadow of the surrounding forest envelop the caravan on all sides.
“Stop at the spot over there, we’re runnin’ on fumes as it is.” Rodney says. Ethan turns off the road and parks the car on the edge of the forest, right next to a path that led deep inside. Ethan takes the keys out of the ignition and tosses them haphazardly on the armrest. The keys slide off and fall in between the armrest and the passenger seat.
“Careful.” Rodney scolds. Ethan opens the front door and exits the vehicle, not paying heed to Rodney. Rodney mumbles under his breath.
“Man, take it a little easier on him. He almost lost his brother today.” Judas says to Rodney before attempting to fish the keys out from in between the armrest and passenger seat. Rodney looks at Judas solemnly for a moment, before exiting out of the sliding door of the caravan without a word.
Ethan opens the rear door of the caravan, grabbing their gasoline canister from the cabinet underneath the sink. He shakes it a little, with not as much splashing as he would like. There wasn’t much left. Ethan exits the way he came, slamming the back door behind him.
Ethan walks over to the side of the caravan, where Rodney was scanning for any permanent damage caused by walkers. Ethan opens the fuel flap and unscrews the cap, pouring the now amber fuel inside.
“Y’know, I wish we didn’t have to siphon gas all the damn time.” Ethan complains out loud.
“Well, when all the remaining gas left in cars is as orange as your piss, it doesn’t last as long as it used to. So we gotta re-up all the time.” Rodney answers him.
“I know, I was just complainin’ out loud, and my piss ain’t orange fucker.” Ethan defends himself, closing up the lid of the gas canister after finishing pouring.
“Maybe not, but it’s probably close.” Rodney jabs back. “I know you don’t drink as much water as us.”
“I drink plenty.” Ethan says back.
“Sure you do.” Rodney says sarcastically. Judas emerges from the caravan with three siphons in hand.
“We good to go?” Judas asks.
“Think so.” Rodney answers, making sure the silencer attached to his pistol was screwed on the right way, before cleaning his knife of now dried blood.
“We got maybe five minutes before that herd catches up, so we gotta get going.” Ethan chimes in. Rodney nods.
“Keep an extra lookout for food too. We don’t have nearly as much as we used to.” Judas says.
“Hold up, before we head off, I gotta take a leak.” Rodney says, holstering his pistol as he starts to walk into the woods.
“Don’t be pissin’ orange out there!” Ethan calls out to him.
“Yeah we’ll see about that!” Rodney calls back, chuckling under his breath. He walks for a moment into the brush, before stopping in front of a tree. As he pisses, Rodney takes in the silence of the forest. Rodney truly enjoyed silence these days, better than Judas and Ethan yapping their damn heads. But his silence is interrupted by voices. Loud voices. There was yelling going on behind him.
Rodney quickly finishes pissing before grabbing his gun and running back towards the caravan. The voices were getting louder, and he could tell there were more than two voices in the argument.
“What the hell is going on?!” Rodney yells as he rushes out from the forest. Judas and Ethan had their guns trained on a pair of two other survivors standing opposite them near the entrance into the forest. One was a taller guy with long dreads, the other a boy with an afro. The guy with dreads was holding his hands up, while the boy touted a gun of his own, training his on Judas and Ethan.
“Woah, woah, woah! We don’t want any trouble!”
“Tell that to pipsqueak!”
“Put the fucking gun down kid!”
“Back the hell off! Or else!”
“The fuck are you gonna do?”
“Guys, guys, guys, please, calm do-”
“SHUT THE FUCK UP!” Rodney bellows, cutting the dreaded hair guy off. “And you.” he says, pointing his gun at the kid. “You put that fucking gun down now, and slide it over here, if you wanna walk away from this.”
“You don’t tell me what to do!” the kid yells back. He spastically aims his gun back and forth at all three of them. “I’ll kill you! I’ll kill all of you!”
“Really?” Rodney asks him, having to suppress a laugh. “Because the moment you pull that trigger, you and string bean both die.”
“No! I can do it! I know I can! I’ve killed people worse than you!” the kid angrily yells. It almost seemed like he was trying to hype himself up.
“AJ, please, just put it down.” the dreaded guy pleads with the kid.
“But Louis, I’m supposed to protect us against bad people. We can’t just surrender!” AJ answers, remaining steadfast.
“If you don’t surrender, we both die!” Louis says in return.
“Give us. The gun. Now.” Rodney commands. AJ looks at Louis, who nods at AJ. He looks back at Rodney furiously before he angrily tosses the gun at his feet. Louis sighs in relief. Rodney picks it up, holstering it in his belt.
“Now,” Rodney starts, “what the hell do you two want?”
“I believe we got off on the wrong foot here. I’m Louis. This is AJ.” he explains, holding out his hand for a handshake
“I don’t care what the hell your names are.” Rodney bluntly states.
“Okay, okay, point taken.” Louis says, retracting his hand. A moment to collect himself and his thoughts. “We saw that you guys parked here a few times, and we wanted to check you guys out for ourselves. See if you were good people and all.”
“And clearly they aren’t good people, Louis.” AJ remarks.
“And why is that?” Judas asks. “For defending ourselves?”
“No, I can just tell. You guys are bad people. And bad people deserve to die.” AJ says. Louis elbows him in the ribs.
“Ow! What the hell!” AJ exclaims.
“Shut. Up.” Louis whispers to AJ.
“First good thing you’ve said so far.” Ethan quips. “Kid really has a mouth on him, huh?”
“How about you shut up shithea-” AJ tries saying before Louis puts a hand over his mouth.
“Now, if we’re troubling you guys, we can go. We want no problems with you.” Louis states.
“Good.” Rodney says, putting his gun away. “Now, let’s all make like a tree and fucking leave, shall we?”
“Hey! You can’t leave without my gun! Give it back!” AJ yells, pulling Louis’s hand away from his mouth.
“Watch me.” Rodney shoots back, turning around back to the RV. He stops dead in his tracks when he sees the herd from earlier starting to close in on them. There were dozens of them.
“Shit! They’re here!” Rodney yells.
“Louis, we gotta go!” AJ yells, tugging on Louis’s shirt.
“Rod, what the hell are we gonna do?” Judas asks him. “We can’t hide in the RV, they’ve already seen us.”
“You guys could come with us!” Louis blurts out.
“Louis! No!” AJ yells.
“We have a settlement nearby. Surrounded by brick walls. It’s a 30 minute walk, 10 if we run.” Louis explains further.
“That could work.” Ethan says. The walker horde was continuing to close in on them. They’d be on them in about 30 seconds. Rodney deliberates for a moment.
“Fuck it. Lead the way.” Rodney relents. Four of them take off into the forest.
“Stupid Louis!” AJ mutters to himself, clenching his fists, before running into the forest after them.

TL;DR: I have feelings for a coworker, I can't figure out where's the boundary of friendly affection and romantic interest. What are signs I should look for? How to let someone know I'm interested before approaching them completely?
For context, this is a coworker and let's call him N but we don't literally work together as we're in two different sections, my group consists of 18 people and his as well so we rarely see each other. I struggle with reading my feelings and approaching someone but also I doubt feelings of other people, I wouldn't like to be seen as self-centered and think someone likes me when they're just friendly.
There was once a time when we had to work together and I think it was 2-3 months ago. He worked next to me and we divided the work in two as I had more experience and didn't want to put pressure on new people.
From his actions, he started conversations that day and the next day when I was in bad mood, he asked why I didn't even say hello and started teasing me. He never went away from me, he always catched up with me and helped me out. During breaks, he would also stick with me and my friend said he showed jealousy towards him as we spend a lot of time together even tho we're just friends for 15 years and he's also sticking next to me. My friend told me N used to tease him like calling him and saying someone needs him just for my friend to figure out no one called him. I talked about my friend from a place he lives at and as I forgot to show him a picture, I sent him and explained I totally forgot and that's when he gave me his Insta in hopes I'd visit his birthplace once and go out for a drink.
Well, this week we worked together as well but he wasn't there, it's just that we had a lot of time to jump between sections and we shared breaks. For a while now, he was kinda distant. He hangs out with one coworker and never approached me so I got the message "I'm not even interested in being friends, don't approach me" so I didn't. Yet, he wasn't there for 3 days and I asked him if he was okay and that's when he started chatting yet again but left me on read. Day after that, when we had conversation live, instead of his piercing eyes looking straight into your soul and us locking eyes more than I can count, his eyes went down and I noticed eye-eye-going down look. Noticed it in the moment, didn't think too much about it. Yesterday was the most nerve wrecking collection of moments I have yet to understand. He first started teasing me when one woman asked me to help her and he was like "Oh, you really did pick who's going to help you, she doesn't know how to do it" and I was like "Then how about you do it? You're incredibly good at it" and he placed his hands on my arm, few times. That day I heard they won't be part of our team anymore and that they'll change the shift so I said I had nothing to lose. I approached him the moment I saw him at the meeting and he always mimicks my smile and approaches me as well. On a break, I said I won't go where I usually go but will instead stay where he's at. He immediately said to join them and we talked for a while and that's the moment I really noticed our eyes locking way too much. When we went back to work, he worked alone and I had a bit of time so I approached him and asked why he's alone and he said I should join him. Both of us had our hands shaking and his gaze was really deep, I can't even explain it. He can't break eye contact with me and he teased me as well, that's all I could notice. Well, that was until the meeting. There was only one spot free next to him so I stood there and one woman wanted to take her jacket and few people had to take their water bottles so I kept moving but there was some machine in front of me so I had to do some weird pose in order to create even a bit of space and when that woman moved me, I turned back and saw him staring at me and smiling. Later, he placed his hand on a wall behind me, sort of like your back hug but indirect.
From my actions, I can't control myself. I constantly look for and at him and when I see him, thousand bolts go through my body and I can't stop thinking how beautiful he is. When I look him in the eyes and when we're close, I have overwhelming feeling of attraction that I have to distract my attention. I want to be free with him but I'm afraid I read all of the clues wrong and that he's simply friendly but it doesn't "feel" friendly. I get scatterbrained when he's teasing me so I don't entirely tease him back, just a small amount. I noticed our looks locked when I accidentally turned around but I don't know what to do.
Do you have any advice on how to make a move to confirm the attraction without exactly voicing it out as I don't know how to do it without knowing already if the feelings are reciprocated. What can I do to actually show him I'm interested instead of my avoidant tendencies because my feelings are burning but I don't know how to release them?

Continued from the following thread comerades.
https://www.reddit.com/WorldEaters40k/comments/1260fvs/battle_reports_from_weekend_tournament_part_1/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
A brutal and bloody game, but a big win for the Eaters of Worlds.
Game 3: Conversion - TAU!
ugh . . . UGH . . . UUUUUUUGH! Really from guard to Tau? What fresh bloody hell is this. Ah, well. Let's do this.
TAU List Breacher team in Devilfish Hammerhead 2 x Cold Star commanders one with re-roll all the bullshit and shield drones. Big Crisis Squad with all sorts of bells, whistles, and airburst fragmentation stuff. 2 x squad of Kroot Hounds 1 x Stealth suits team 1 x riptide 1 x 3 man Broadside team Rail Cannons and smart missisles. 1 x Kroot shaper with the bullshit push-back field thing. 5 x Stingwings
There may have been more, but basically, he had guns for days. 😖
I won the roll off for deployment. Deployed aggressively, ready to get all up in his grill turn 1. . . . He won the roll of for first turn. Ah. . .
Angron dies immediately. Rail cannon from Hammerhead and riptide shot him off the board, no sweat.
Crisis squad puts some hurt on the jakkals from for away, and the Kroot hounds pre-game moved to get in the way of my 8 bound and somthing else killed a spawn. 😖
Fortunately, the rest of my army was fairly well hidden, and I spent the 3 tithe points for +1 to charge.
Time to get tactical. Jakal squad 1 moved up to charge kroot hounds in the centre of the board. Spawn follows them, and they secure the centre.
Rhino moves up to my left, and I position him exactly 6" from the centre objective and its ass angled towards the top left objective. Invocatus and Demon prince fly up behind the rhino.
8 Bound fails a 6-inch charge on the right flank into stealth suits due to Tau reducing charge strat. Things are looking gim.
Tau turn 2. Return fire is intense. Jakals in the centredie. Spawn in the centre die. 8 bound that failed charge shot to pieces. Rhino dies . . . But HA! He's fallen into my trap.
Emergency disembark stragem! 5 Bezerkers launched 6" out of the Rhino onto the centre objective. 5 More Bezerkers disembark out the back of the Rhino towards the top objective being held by the kroot hounds. This unit was subsequently shot up further to only 1 man, the man with the executioner.
Something else killed the invocatus. I can't remember what. 🤔
Kroot hounds charge the lone bezerker at the top board objective. This absolute champ SURVIVES on 1 wound and kills all the Kroot hounds with 1 savage swing of his executioner. He consolidates onto the top objective oooooh yes. 😈
The left side of the board is now mine. The shaper with the pushback is that Relic is too far away. His crisis bomb is over extended and vulnerable rubbing shoulders with his broadsides. Retribution is at hand.
Pod drops down, Angron respawns, demon prince moves up. Centre bezerkes move up. To eat the overwatch coming their way.
It is a glorious blood charge. Angron, 10 x bezerkers from the pod and Demon prince all charge successfully and wipe out the broad sides and every single crisis suit and their stupid drones. The heart of the Tau force is ripped out, and my opponent is suddenly very quiet.
From here on, it was a slow and steady mop up of the Tau forced.
Angron would respawn 2 more times this game, each time successfully charging and killing first the riptide and then the Stealth suit team.
Stingwings flew over and killed 7 Bezerkers with their snazzy guns . . . I bloodsurged into them and slaughtered them.
Demon Prince made it into the one cold star commander, killed him, and consolidated into the hammer head. This led to a beautiful moment where my opponent shot the prince in melee and was midway to explaining that the Rail cannon ignored invulnerable saves when I calmly made my 5+ Demonic save. 😎 and ripped the Hammerhead to pieces.
Eightboung in reserve came on and charged the Devilfish and eventually caught the breacher team as well.
By turn, 5 the Tau were tabled. It was a tough game, and I did get lucky with some charges, but brothers here me!
They can be beaten! We have the tools and the means to do so. Use blood surge and use pods. Fly Angron into their lines and keep the pressure up. But most importantly, play the game to the end. Do not yield EVER!
It was just a caveat, but despite my aggressive tone, it really was a very amicable game. I knew my opponent well, and we were regular sparring opponents at tournaments. 😌 he took the loss graciously, and we enjoyed a beer together at the end of the tournament.
World Eaters is feeling good. 😎 stay tuned to see who's next. . .

ok, I'm not sure it's the right place to post this but I figure since we're all married and it concerns marriage... here goes:
My wife and I were having dinner with 3 other couples (2 married and 1 just BF/GF) and you know, once dinner was over, ladies stayed for sweets and wine while we guys went in the garden for a cigar and an after dinner liqueur.
so 3 married guys and 1 non married, and well you guessed it, the topic of marriage came up and the single guy asked us to give him 1 advantage of getting married vs staying single. He was seriously asking because he could not understand the advantage of getting married vs staying living with his GF.
All our attempts (proof of love, lifetime commitment, sense of belonging together, security...) were rebuffed. He doesn't understand why we would need to let the government into our love lives.
His points: what was a lifetime commitment isn't anymore as divorce rates are more and more frequent, earlier in the marriage and mostly triggered by women. 50% asset loss, pre-nups starting to be rejected in some courts (this was new to me as I always assumed it was a rock solid legally binding document), alimony, child support...
This guy would not be talked into it, saying his love life was his and his partner's business, no need any legal entities meddling.
We called the ladies up and added them to the discussion (once the younger couple left) and they all agreed he's delusional and his GF will be expecting a ring in the near future.
We were a little taken aback and uncomfortable (ok, we're all in our 40's and this guy is in his late 20's) so I guess my question is, what are we missing? what did we forget in our argument to lead this guy to consider marriage as the beautiful testament of love and commitment we believe it is?
​
I'm curious if everyone is starting to think like this guy?

It's not uncommon to fantasize about having a different life than the one we currently live. We might dream of being a successful entrepreneur, a famous musician, a world travelers or a bestseller writer. However, when we become too fixated on these desires, we can lose sight of the reality of our current circumstances. Life is a journey, and we all have our own unique paths to follow. By accepting our reality and making the most of it, we can find happiness and fulfillment, if not right now, then sooner or later. David also had a dream but that dream remains an unlived life.
×××
David sat in his study, bleary-eyed and exhausted from staying up all night to meet his book deadline. The pressure had been immense, and he had worked tirelessly to ensure that every page was perfect. As he sat there, he couldn't help but feel a sense of relief wash over him now that it was finally done.
Suddenly, his wife Mia walked in carrying a steaming cup of coffee. "Good morning, honey," she said with a smile. "How's it going? Are you finished?"
David looked up at her, his eyes filled with a mixture of exhaustion and pride. "I did it," he said, his voice hoarse from lack of sleep. "I finished the book."
Mia's face lit up with excitement. "Oh, David, that's amazing!" she exclaimed, setting the coffee down on the desk. "I'm so proud of you."
David smiled weakly, feeling a surge of gratitude towards his wife. "Thanks, Mia," he said, reaching out to take the coffee. "I couldn't have done it without you."
Mia leaned down and kissed him on the forehead. "Of course you could have," she said, her voice soft and reassuring. "But I'm glad I could help."
David took a sip of the coffee, savoring the warmth and caffeine. "I just hope it's good enough," he said, feeling a twinge of uncertainty. "I worked so hard on it, but what if it's not what they're looking for?"
Mia placed a comforting hand on his shoulder and read the first lines:
DI Chris Cole sat surrounded by papers, wishing he could just throw them all away. He had thirty minutes to finish a report on a closed case of domestic violence before he could leave his desk. Meanwhile, Chief DI Robert Brown found Cole's meticulousness frustrating but admired his interrogation skills. As Cole was almost done, a woman entered his office, seeking help in finding her missing daughter, Amy Norman.
"David, it's going to be great," she said firmly. "You poured your heart and soul into this book, and it shows. Any anyway, who couldn’t like DI Chris Cole? He is such a loveable character!"
David looked up at her, feeling a renewed sense of confidence. "Thanks, Mia," he said again, his voice stronger this time. "You're the best."
Mia grinned at him. "I know," she said playfully, before turning to leave. "But seriously, I have to get going. Don't forget to take a nap later, okay?"
David chuckled as she walked out the door. "I won't," he promised, feeling a sense of gratitude and love toward his supportive wife. With a newfound sense of energy, he turned back to his manuscript, excited to see where his hard work would take him.
But at that moment, he was struck by a sudden, terrible headache. It was something that he had been experiencing lately - a pounding, searing pain that seemed to be concentrated in the center of his forehead.
He closed his eyes and focused on the pain, pushing it away by pushing everything else out. But images flared behind his eyelids: himself, surrounded by a battle-worn unit of men in brown desert camouflage, moving forward into the burning sun. These visions were slow and faded as they came, like remnants of dreams that had been long forgotten. The smell of guns, oil, smoke and sweat was like heavy perfume.
He had no idea where they had come from or what they meant, but he knew that something was very wrong.
"David, your headaches again?" she asked, her voice laced with concern.
"Yes, but...I don't know what to do," he said, his voice strained. "It's like they're getting worse."
Mia's face softened with empathy. "We'll figure it out," she said firmly. "Maybe it's time to go see a doctor. They might be able to help."
David shook his head, feeling a sense of dread at the thought of going back to the hospital. "I don't want to," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "I think it’s just the stress."
Mia looked at him with concern. "David, you can't just ignore this," she said, her voice firm but gentle. "You need to take care of yourself. You know that."
David sighed, feeling defeated. "I know, I know...I will see a doctor,” he said and Mia placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
Joseph Smith worked in a massive office building, surrounded by towering skyscrapers and bustling city streets. His office was located on the top floor, with a view that stretched out over the entire city. Whenever David came to visit him, he always felt a sense of awe at the sheer scale of the place.
As David walked into Joseph's office, he was greeted with a warm smile. Joseph stood up from his desk and walked over to greet him, his hand outstretched in welcome.
"David, my friend, can’t wait to read the latest story about DI Cole!”
Joseph took the manuscript from him, flipping through the pages with a keen eye.
“DI Chris Cole sat surrounded by papers, wishing he could just throw them all away. He had thirty minutes to finish a report on a closed case of domestic violence before he could leave his desk. Meanwhile, Chief DI Robert Brown found Cole's meticulousness frustrating but admired his interrogation skills. As Cole was almost done, a woman entered his office, seeking help in finding her missing daughter, Amy Norman,” as he read, his expression grew more and more excited, until he was practically beaming with joy.
"David, this is fantastic!" he exclaimed, his voice filled with enthusiasm. "This is going to be another great success, I just know it. I just can’t wait for the book launch! Think about it buddy, hundreds of eager readers will be attending the great event!”
David felt a surge of gratitude and relief wash over him. He had worked so hard on the manuscript, pouring his heart and soul into every word. To hear what Joseph had just said meant the world to him.
"Thank you, Joseph," he said, his voice filled with emotion. "That means so much to me.”
Joseph smiled at him, patting him on the back. "You deserve it, my friend," he said, before walking over to his desk and pouring them both a glass of scotch. "Now let's celebrate!"
David took the glass from Joseph but he accidentally dropped the glass of whiskey. He had another terrible headache and the visions came back.
The heat was oppressive, bearing down on them like a heavyweight. David huddled in a ditch with two other soldiers - a man and a woman. They were surrounded by the unforgiving desert, with no cover except for the deep, rocky depression they had found themselves in.
The ditch was long and deep, full of mud, sand, and the shattered remnants of war. Bullets were flying overhead, soldiers run back and forth across the landscape. Smoke and flames marred the horizon. The walls of the ditch were stained with dried blood and littered with weapons and discarded supplies.
The sounds of battle filled the air - bullets whizzing past, cannons exploding, shouting voices of commanders and soldiers alike, distant screams of those in pain. The ground shook underfoot with every explosion and it felt as if the world was coming apart at its seamed.
“Where the hell am I? What’s happening?” David asked in confusion.
“Shut up David, this is not a good place to joke around now!” the woman shouted at him.
David was suddenly jolted by the sound of gunfire. Before he could react, he saw a soldier fall into the ditch next to him, blood spreading rapidly across his uniform. Fear gripped David's heart, and he was overcome with terror at the sight of the fallen soldier.
“Are you all right, buddy?” Joseph asked with worry on his face.
“Yeah, I’m just... these damn headaches,” David replied leaning to the drinking bar.
Joseph then advised him to go home and a rest. Upon arriving home, Dave made his way to his bedroom and settled into bed. He closed his eyes and drifted off into a peaceful slumber.
As he slept, his mind and body rejuvenated, allowing him to wake up feeling refreshed and energized.
As the evening drew near, David eagerly awaited his wife Mia's arrival. When she finally came through the door, he rushed to greet her, wrapping his arms around her in a tight embrace.
"Hey beautiful," he said, his voice filled with love.
"How was your day?" Mia smiled up at him, her eyes shining with happiness.
"It was good," she said, before leaning in to give him a tender kiss.
"I'm just so excited about your book launch." David felt a surge of pride and joy at her words.
"Thanks," he said, his voice filled with gratitude. "I couldn't have done it without you." They spent the rest of the evening together, enjoying a cozy family dinner with their son Carl. As they sat around the table, David couldn't help but feel a sense of contentment wash over him. He had everything he could ever want - a loving wife, a beautiful son, and a successful career.
Later that night, as David and Mia lay in bed together, they began to make love. David felt a rush of passion as they kissed and touched, his body responding eagerly to hers. But as they moved together in a frenzy of desire, David suddenly felt the familiar, searing pain in his head. He tried to ignore it, pushing past the discomfort and focusing on the pleasure of their lovemaking. But the pain only grew worse, until it was a throbbing ache that seemed to consume him completely. He gasped in agony, his body shaking with spasms. Mia looked up at him, her expression filled with concern.
"David, what's wrong?" she asked, her voice laced with worry. David tried to speak, but the pain was too intense. He clutched his head, feeling like his brain was on fire.
"Mia...I...the headache..." he managed to gasp out before everything went black.
The air was filled with the sound of screaming bullets and explosions, rattling metal scraping against dirt and rocks as soldiers move along its sides. It echoed with sorrowful cries, a chorus of desperation and despair, a reminder of the violence that lay just beyond the rim of its walls.
As the sounds of gunfire echoed around them, they huddled together, trying to come up with a plan. But no matter how the man and the woman looked at it, there seemed to be no way out. The enemy was closing in, their weapons raining down a deadly hail of bullets that kept them pinned down.
“Where the hell am I?” David demanded.
“David! What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“I have just been in bed with my wife!”
"David, you need to pull yourself together!" the man muttered, his voice strained with desperation.
"Look buddy, I can understand that you are in shock right now but you can’t just sit here and wait for them to kill us."
The woman shook his head, his face was grim. "We can't counterattack," the woman interrupted. "We're outnumbered and outgunned. It's suicide."
She looked up at the sky, scanning for any sign of help. "We need air support," she said, her voice tense. "We have to hold out until they get here."
“Look, I don’t know how I got here but I don’t want to be part of this! If this is a secret government experiment, I will reveal this all to the whole world!” Dave shouted.
“Whatever man, just don’t die for now, okay?” the man replied.
But time seemed to stretch on endlessly, with no relief in sight. The sun beat down on them, making them feel like they were being baked alive. The sound of gunfire was constant, a never-ending barrage that seemed to be closing in on them with every passing moment.
David slowly opened his eyes, trying to remember where he was. He saw his wife Mia sitting beside him, looking at him with concern.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" Mia asked, holding his hand.
David tried to sit up, but he felt a sharp pain in his head. "The headache again," he said, groaning.
Mia put a hand on his forehead. "You were unconscious for a while, we had to take you to the hospital. The doctor said they need to run some tests."
David's heart raced as he heard this. "Tests? What tests?"
Mia looked at him sympathetically. "Don't worry, they just want to make sure you're okay. The doctor will be here soon to talk to you."
Just then, a doctor walked into the room. "Mr. Johnson, I have some good news. Your brain looks fine, all the tests came back normal."
David let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. So what was causing my headaches?"
The doctor smiled. "It looks like it was just stress. You've been working long hours lately, and it's taken a toll on you. I suggest taking it easy for a while, maybe taking some time off work."
Mia looked at David, concern etched on her face. "You heard the doctor, honey. We'll take care of you, okay?"
David nodded, grateful for his wife's support. "Okay, but there is one more thing. Sometimes I hallucinate during my attacks. They are very vivid, it’s like I am in someone else’s body in an entirely different place."
“Well, migraines are thought to be caused by changes in blood flow and activity in the brain. During a migraine, blood vessels in the brain can constrict and then dilate, leading to changes in blood flow and activity in certain areas of the brain. These changes can affect the way that the brain processes visual and auditory information, leading to the perception of hallucinations. So I would say this is still normal. I will prescribe something for you that can alleviate the pain and help you feel better,” the doctor explained.
“Thank you, doctor.”
Mia helped him get dressed and they headed out of the hospital. As they walked to the car, David couldn't help but feel grateful for his wife's love and care.
"I'm lucky to have you," he said, smiling at Mia.
Mia smiled back. "I'm lucky to have you too. Let's go home and relax."
David nodded, feeling a sense of peace wash over him. As they drove home, he knew he would take the doctor's advice and take some time off work. He now needed to focus on his health, his family, and his upcoming book launch.
After some time of final preparations, the much-awaited preliminary book launch for David's novel, The Swan Lake Murder, finally took place. Avid readers gathered in droves to catch a glimpse of the author and get their hands on his new release.
The book launch was set to take place at the renowned British Library in St. Pancras, one of the largest libraries in the world, boasting an impressive collection of over 170 million items. David felt a sense of pride and anticipation as he arrived at the library in a luxurious limousine arranged by his agent.
As he stepped out of the vehicle, he was greeted by the sight of numerous posters and huge advertisements promoting his book. The excitement of his fans was palpable, and the air was filled with the sound of cheers and applause and questions from the reporters. David felt a sense of accomplishment and gratitude for the support of his readers, which motivated him to continue writing and pursuing his passion for literature.
David smiled, feeling a sense of fulfillment wash over him. It had been a long journey, but he had finally made it. And with his fans by his side, he knew that there would be many more journeys to come.
Mia rushed over to him, tears of pride and joy in her eyes.
"I'm so proud of you," she whispered, giving him a tight hug.
As David stepped onto the stage, the flash of cameras blinded him momentarily, but he felt the energy of the crowd as they cheered and clapped for him. Mia was standing off to the side, beaming with pride.
"Thank you all so much for coming," David said, addressing the crowd. "I'm so grateful for all of you and your support. It means the world to me that you've enjoyed my books and have been eagerly awaiting the release of the third one."
The crowd erupted into applause, and David felt a lump form in his throat. He had poured so much of himself into his writing, and it was humbling to see that it had resonated with so many people.
"I want to take a moment to read you all the opening lines of the third book," David continued, pulling out a copy of his latest novel. "I hope it gives you a taste of what's to come."
The crowd hushed as David began to read.
“DI Chris Cole sat surrounded by papers, wishing he could just throw them all away. He had thirty minutes to finish a report on a closed case of domestic violence before he could leave his desk. Meanwhile, Chief DI Robert Brown found Cole's meticulousness frustrating but admired his interrogation skills. As Cole was almost done, a woman entered his office, seeking help in finding her missing daughter, Amy Norman,”
His voice was clear and steady, and he could feel the tension in the room as the audience hung on his every word.
But then, he suddenly collapsed as the sharp headache came back. There was nothing he could do and everything went dark.
As they huddled together, they could feel the hopelessness creeping in. It was like they were stuck in a nightmare, unable to wake up.
But just when it seemed like all was lost, they heard the distant sound of aircraft overhead. They looked up, their hearts pounding with hope.
“No, no no! Don’t do this to me! Why are you taking me back here?” David demanded.
“Shut up sergeant and man up! It's air support!" Emma shouted, her face breaking into a smile. "They're here!"
As the planes roared overhead, the enemy fire suddenly stopped. The sound of explosions filled the air, and they knew that the tide had turned. They had been saved.
“This is not real...this is not real,” he repeated and scrambled out of the ditch.
David slowly stood up, his eyes scanning the area for any signs of danger. The air was tense, and he could feel his heart pounding in his chest. Suddenly, he heard a loud bang, and he felt a searing pain in his chest. He looked down to see a bullet hole, blood pouring out of it and pooling around his feet. As David's body tumbled into the nearby ditch, the other soldiers rushed to his side screaming not to get out of the ditch but it was too late.
One of them knelt down and cradled David's head in his lap, trying to stem the flow of blood but it was in vain. A few seconds later, the gunfire slowly died down, the air strike was probably successful. As the gave up saving up David’s life, he noticed a piece of paper sticking out of his pocket. He hesitated for a moment, but his curiosity got the better of him, and he pulled out the paper.
“What’s that?” the woman asked.
“Looks like the beginning of a novel,” he replied and his eyes scanned the words with curiosity.
“DI Chris Cole sat surrounded by papers, wishing he could just throw them all away. He had thirty minutes to finish a report on a closed case of domestic violence before he could leave his desk. Meanwhile, Chief DI Robert Brown found Cole's meticulousness frustrating but admired his interrogation skills. As Cole was almost done, a woman entered his office, seeking help in finding her missing daughter, Amy Norman.”
"So this is the book he mentioned to me. He wanted to be a successful writer one day. Poor him! He must have daydreamed a lot about that life," the woman noted, her voice full of sorrow.
In silence, they were sitting there, wishing him to rest in peace.

It's time to get creative and have a splash, because we're hosting an UNOFFICIAL Meme Contest to celebrate the "Underwater" version😁😁😁 ! That's right, put on your snorkels and diving gear, cause we're about to plunge into a sea of memes 🏊 ! We want to remind everyone that this contest is all about having fun and promoting a positive environment. Be kind, respectful, and supportive of your fellow ToF fans!
Remember, we're all here to enjoy the game and have a great time. 💓
​
Contest Details:
🔍 Location: https://www.reddit.com/TowerofFantasy/
⏰ Duration: The contest will begin after the 2.4 update and last for around 10 days, ending on April 9th at 11:59 PM EDT.
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Rules:
🐠 Create an original meme related to the new underwater version of ToF, and ensure it's based on the new 2.4 content. Do not infringe on anyone else's intellectual property.
🐟 The competition will run for 10 days. You can submit as many memes as you like, but please keep it clean and avoid offensive content and content that includes NSFW. Refer to our Reddit-page guidelines for further rules on what is allowed and what isn't.
🐬 Share your meme in our community by creating a post and tagging it with the "Fluff/Meme" tag. All such posts during the contest period will be considered entries, and we'll count the upvotes to determine the winners.
🐋 To ensure fairness, every single user can only win one prize. If a single user ends up with multiple highly-upvoted posts, we'll only count their top post for the prize, giving more people a chance to win.
🐳 The winners will receive some sweet prizes. We'll announce the winners one week after the competition ends, so stay tuned to our community for updates.
​
🏆Prizes:
We will offer FIVE gift cards as prizes, with the TOP prize being $30 and the second to fifth prizes being $20 each. Winners will be based on the highest upvoted memes during the contest period. We'll email the gift cards to the winners after the contest ends.
​
So let's dive into the meme ocean together, and show everyone how creative and fun our ToF community can be! Remember, a friendly competition is a fun competition! 👏 👏 👏

So I just wanna rant freely about this because I feel like i’m going crazy! My best friend, almost like a brother (let’s call him Tom) has been dating this girl he reconnected with for almost a year (let’s call her Amy) at first I was truly happy for them and I enjoyed speaking to them. However over the last few months everything has gone downhill with our friendship pretty fast and I wanna rant about it because i’m going insane. Before he reconnected with this girl him and I had been planning to move together for about a year almost two. I was saving up during this time so we could move out, I went on holiday for a few weeks to Spain and was off social media for the time being, when I came back him and this girl had moved in together and he only told me after I told him i'd seen an interesting flat nearby we could look at. This hurt but I quickly realised we weren't exactly tied to each other and he didn't owe me anything. he'd moved out with her less than a month into their relationship. After this is when the problems began, everytime I spoke to him she would be around and would often weigh in on our conversations. every time I called him she'd be there. EVERY TIME. This would often get annoying because I wouldn't be able to speak freely without her interrupting. We began to speak less and less and meet up rarely. They're about 10 months into the relationship and over the last 10 months every time we have called or met up she would be around. I used to be OK with this but a few weeks ago something changed. Tom had confided in me about his relationship and told me his GF kept picking fights and they kept arguing because her communication was shit, not to mention his communication is also pretty shit. This had created a strain in their relationship. I felt like for the first time in 10 months this was the first time he had been open and honest with me without her influence. There was a time we went out to London and stayed in a hotel. I had previously told them 100x that I would book a separate room to give them space. they declined and insisted we book a larger room for the 3 of us. long story short they had sex in front of me about 4 times while they thought I slept and while I took a shower. I felt very uncomfortable and wore my headphones when I could. they're overly affectionate with each other which makes me very awkward to be around them as I'll be third wheeling 24/7. anyways! about 2 weeks ago Tom and I went on a trip abroad for 3 days. Not even a whole week. the whole time we were there he would actively search for internet points to talk to his GF and I felt like he was not at all present. i didn't bring this up because I did not want to sour the trip. more than once he would call his GF and be on the phone with her for 2 whole hours while I was simply there. there was a lot of other shitty things he did on the trip and prior to the trip but Its too long of a list to go on. Anyway, this bothered me, it was meant to be a boys trip and he had shown that he could not go a single day without talking to his GF who he lives with and sees every day. There was a lot of personal shit he shared about his relationship during the little moments HE WOULD be present and honestly starting to think his GF is kiiiinda toxic and their relation ship is not at all the healthiest but this I won't be sharing for his own privacy. long story short she's done kinda fucked up shit.
anyway, I wanted to bring it up on our flight back in a calmer tone or perhaps when we landed but something happened before this that made me explode after taking his shit for months. I ended up calling him out at the airport, I told him I wanted to get back home and take a break from them and that I wanted to re evaluate somethings and he got offended and told me I had used a tone he disliked and that I was wrong. We boarded the plane and he did not talk to me, gave me the cold shoulder even after I apologised for speaking to him like that even though I shouldn't have apologised. when we landed back home he took off and as I was trying to catch up with him, he sends me a message saying we should just go our separate ways. this broke me. I had wanted to at least say bye to him.
he sent me a message the next day saying that he was taking a break FROM ME. that I was in the wrong and that he wanted to reevaluate if the friendship was for him, I sent him a long document explaining how he had made me feel over the past 10 months both him and his GF and left it at that. I spoke to another friend who asked me "why are you friends with him" and I truly could not come up with a single reason.
Am I in the wrong?

We entered the new star system with frightening ferocity. Our five carrier crafts and three battle cruisers all popped out of warp travel on the edge of the system at the same time. Immediately upon our arrival we received a message from the Human mining colony on the sixth planet. They were curious as to why a small army had suddenly gathered at their doorstep.
My species is a civilized one, so we announced our intentions clearly and honestly. We came to take over the mining colony. All of the infrastructure as well as exclusive right to this star system would be forfeited, and in exchange we would treat the fourteen thousand or so humans living here as prisoners which the Human Federation could come by and pay ransom for at their convenience. We told the humans about our meteor cannons and how if they refused, we were willing to sacrifice the colony’s surface for a quick and easy battle.
Upon receipt, a human message came up requesting a video link. I directed my crew to accept and suddenly there was an ugly, hairless primate on the screen in the main deck.
“Greetings,” the human said, “I am Professor Jackson. It is my understanding that you wish to conquer this star system. Is that correct?” “That is exactly right,” I replied. The fifty or so sharp teeth in my round mouth clacked together to display our aggressive intent.
“I understand,” the human replied, “and are you working alone or under the orders of the Frei’ik Confederation?” I was surprised at the mention of my home world. Why did this human care about the internal politics of my species while we were fast approaching his world? “My clan is a member of the Frei’ik Confederation,” I replied, “But in this we are acting alone.” “So the Frei’iks do not wish to declare war on all humans, is that correct?” “Yes, it is,” I replied, “My clan leaders had tried to convince the Confederation to do such a thing. We know that the Humans are currently weak while being at war with the Hyui Civilization. Sadly, the rest of my species is not as opportunistic as we are. Now let's talk about the terms of your surren--”
“Please allow me a moment,” the Professor said and the screen went black. I had to quickly gain my composure so that my crew didn’t sense my shock and outrage. We were now only three hours away from the mining colony. We had offered the humans a way out of conflict and they… they had hung up on me.
Another video request came in thirty minutes later.
“Greetings again,” it was the same human scum, “Sorry about the short end of the call. I had to discuss things with the Federation.” “I will not tolerate such uncivilized action again. We are doing you all a favor by offering surrender. We could just come and launch a rock at your world.” “My hope is,” the human said, “to actually convince you to avoid conflict entirely.”
Was this human stupid? We had already given them the surrender conditions. Frei’iks are the most feared species in this arm of the galaxy. The oldest civilizations pay us tribute for our protection.
“This star is very hostile to life,” the human said, “It has cost us several trillion units to build an artificial magnetosphere. It is my understanding that the Frei’ik skin is even more prone to cancerous growths than my own. I do not think you all would actually benefit in the long term from taking this star system.”
“The magnet shield for the planet will not be affected by our weapons. We intend to launch a three kilometer rock into your surface. It will destroy all of the ground infrastructure, but the shielding will be safe.” “I apologize for the miscommunication,” the human replied smugly, “if you are able to get past the orbit line of the seventh planet, we will destroy the magnetic shield ourselves.”
I was surprised by the human’s suicidal bluff, “Fine, send the shield crashing into your own planet. Even if you aren’t lying, that is a cost we are willing to pay.”
“I see,” the human said, “Well then we have no choice but to defend ourselves. As you already know, the Federation is already tied up in the war with the Hyui. When we asked for military aid, they informed us that there was none available. So, we have decided to declare our independence from the Human Federation. We are now a separate political body known as the Proxima Free Settlement. We have graciously told the Federation that your clan is acting independently, in order to avoid an escalating interspecies conflict. We can’t promise that the Federation will not seek revenge for the Frei’ik Confederation sanctioning your actions. However, we request that you inform your species that what will occur over the next few hours is the actions of our government, and not of all humankind.”
The video feed cut out again. This time I could not hide my emotions from my crew. My body turned just about every color available to my physiology. Orange with anger, blue with outrage, green with ferocity. Eventually my skin and my emotions settled on purple hysteria. These humans were clearly delirious. We had eight vessels, all loaded with cannons capable of launching a planet-destroying meteor. I told my crew to continue our advance with haste.
Once we crossed the ninth planet’s orbit, we began to see the first physical signs of human life. They had outpost satellites around this orbit. I commanded some of my single-pilot craft to go and take control of these satellites. This was when the first sign of trouble came.
Before the pilots even reached the satellites, they exploded in an array of radiated particles. We had scanned these machines, they did not have any weapons on board. My analysts concluded that they must have had nuclear reactors attached to them that the humans flooded. Fifty-six pilots came back alive, most had radiation poisoning that was going to require life-long medications.
I commanded my deck to call the human colony, when the face appeared I began to shout, “What you have done is a clear violation of the Orion Accords. The use of nuclear force has been banned for centuries. How dare you--” The human cut me off again, “The Proxima Free Settlement is not a signer of the Orion Accords. In fact, we haven’t signed any treaties. We’ve only been a government for about forty-five minutes. It is my understanding that an unprovoked attack against a species already at war was a violation.” “This will not stand,” I replied, “Be prepared to have your whole world destroyed.” I no longer cared about the infrastructure cost. I wanted to teach these humans a lesson on the might of my species.
I was about to hang up when the human began speaking again, “Though I am under now legal obligation, I feel compelled to tell you that if you cross the orbit of the eight planet, we will use an even stronger weapon. We call it the Icarus Protocol.”
I ended the link. I was not about to be threatened by these humans. Sure they had some neat tricks, but we would be in range to launch our meteors long before they had any chance to strike us again. Orders went out for all single-pilot ships to remain in the carriers, I wanted them to stay behind the shields we had on board.
Twenty minutes later we were on the edge of the eight planet’s orbit. One of my staff actually suggested that we slow down so that we could analyze the space for potential threats. I nearly slapped him. Frei’iks do not have time for weakness. We crossed the invisible line, and I must admit I held my neck holes shut in anticipation for an attack.
None immediately came, though. We had called the human’s bluff. I got up and made an announcement to my main desk staff, “See, these humans are weak. They are trying to scare us into submission. We will advance upon their world and destroy it. Then we will take this star system for ourselves. I promise you all much glory and--” I stopped talking as the lights in my main deck went off. The holographic screen that had been presenting our approach disappeared, and in its place stood the large window showing only the stars. My crew is among the best in the galaxy, but even they lost composure at the suddenness of the darkness.
After returning order on the deck, I began shouting commands at my crew. I needed reports, analyses, anything. All of the computers in the deck seemed to be off. The door to the main deck was closed tight as the sensors were also out. It took us nearly ten minutes just to pry them open.
Communication throughout the ship was out. Most of the lights were out, though some auxiliary power was starting to come back online. Even the emergency flashlights, totally separate from the ship’s power grid, were not working. I rushed to my personal cabin. It was the best insulated from attacks both physical and energetic. I had a radio stored there that might not be completely fried. A red flashing light let me know my assumption was correct.
I called over to my second in command in one of the battleships, “Kioruk, tell me do you know what is going on?”
“It seems that we have been hit by a large energetic projectile,” she said, “Your ship was hit first. It was like a solar flair. All the other craft seem to be as screwed as we are.” I messaged the commander of each ship. They all gave the same report. One of them had an advanced telescope that was working and at my direction they pointed it at the human colony. They gave visual confirmation that the humans had broken up their magnet shield. The thing was now in several dozen pieces, all aligned to create a path for solar particles to be directed towards my formation.
The humans had completely scrambled our electronics. Very few systems were online. My flagship thankfully had its life support system in tack, but four of the others were not so lucky. We tried to transport as many soldiers from the dying vessels over as we could, but many Frei’iks suffocated in the growing dark coldness.
It took the Proxima Free Settelment five hours to send one of their vessels out to meet us. All the long-range comms had been shot, but we were able to offer a surrender when the enemy ship came close enough. The human captain insisted that I personally board their vessel so that I could message my clan using their comms and work out the conditions.
We had thought the humans were a weak species, too focused on infrastructure to be prepared for a fight on two sides. I have now learned personally what humans are capable of.
​
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I (F24) met this wonderful guy (M25) in october last year. The first couple of months were amazing, as they always are, right? Everything was a fairy tale. I had met the guy of my dreams.
Well, then he cheated on me. He told me he loved me, that he only wanted to be with me. He texted me ”goodnight I miss you so much call me when you wake up next morning!!” while simultaneously texting another girl to set up a date. He denied it at first, got angry about me being so insecure and untrusting ”this is just your fucking trust issues and I am so sick of it!” but then admitted that he had slept with this girl. At this point, we spent nearly every day together, had met eachothers friends, had the key’s to eachothers apartments etc.
I was heartbroken because I thought I lost the love of my life. So I decided to try to forgive him, he said he was only scared to commit and that it was a stupid mistake. Everyone can make mistakes right? Well the trust issues lingered. Especielly since he had gaslighted me instead of plainly confessing when I found out. Everytime I was feeling sad, low, in need of support or reassurance he disappeared or became angry with me. Loud angry, yelling in my face to get out or slamming doors. Like a whole other person. He tossed my stuff out of the apartment more than once. ”Yes I cheated but everything else is your fault” ”you are paranoid” ”no one else would have reacted in this way in this situation” ”you are so selfish, ego centric and delusional”.
Slowly the sweet, amazing guy I fell in love with became someone I was terrified off. The last person on the planet I went to when I was sad an needed support (over the infidelity), because whenever I did he told me ”you are just bringing down my energy” and ”you are ruining my weekend” or just simply ghosting me.
I excused his behaviour because after all no one is entitled to emotional support, even from their partner. Eventhough in this case it was our relationship that was the cause of my pain. He just didn’t want to talk about it. Of course his needs are also valid and his needs in this case was a girlfriend who was affirming, happy, light and making jokes. I tried to be that girl for him. Simultaneously abandoned myself. Things started feeling so off. If he really cared about me, would he really literally kick me out of his home because I was sad?
Then the sex. I had told him that I had issues before when it came to sex because with my ex I had forced myself to sleep with him eventhough I wasn’t attracted anymore because I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. It started when he asked me if he could sleep with me eventhough I told him I wasn’t in the mood. ”Well if it’s not too much for you, couldn’t you just.. let me fk you?”. I brushed it off, he probably didn’t mean it like that. Then another incident he started screaming at me because I quit the sex before he had the chance to. I told him I didn’t want to continue with vaginal intercourse after I had had an orgasm because it was quite frankly uncomfortable and painful, but I was happy to help him with a handjob or blowjob. He told me (while screaming at me) that if it was only slightly painful, I should be able to endure for his sake. Because then there would be a net-gain after all.
I got a migraine and he told me that it drained his energy and asked me to stay away. I got too drunk and passed out on the bed and woke up a couple of minutes later to a furious man trying to drag me out into the living room to sleep on the couch as a punishment for having ”abandoned him” by falling asleep when he wanted to spend time with me.
He also told me that he had thrown a xbox-console at his ex once. He had ”lost control”. She had taken up her cell phone and the screen light was too bright, something that provoced him, which they had discussed previously. So he lost it, and out of the blue threw the thing at her. This was kind of the final straw for me. I was so gaslighted that at this point I believed whole-heartedly all of the ”everything is your fault, you are being needy, no guy would ever put up with this, you are delusional/oversensitive/crazy” but the thing with his ex was simply not justifiable at any extent.
All of the red flags I closed my eyes for, even from the beginning.. he said ”I have a tendency to think people don’t deserve to live, I mean if they don’t contribute with anything why should they live”. Talked about abusing his friend’s dog. Talked horribly about his only friend, only to have him act completely different in front of him. Rape jokes. I was so in love with him but I was blind.
I watched the perfect guy turn into the exact opposite of who I thought he was. Kind, smart, ambitious, fair, giving, considerate, calm, stable. Now I see someone who’s selfish, egocentric, disrespectful.
It’s been three weeks, we’ve had intermittent contact because I have caved.. been used like a sex toy and then discarded by ”I simply can’t be with you when you are so mentally ill, it’s draining”. Note that the mental illness was not there before he came into my life an wrecked it. It goes about one week where I am somewhat fine but then the, I guess, addiction/withdrawal kicks in for real and I crave him. I try my best but it’s so hard. The constant self gaslighting. And the need for human connection, any kind. Right now I am too tired/burned out to even think about engaging with other people. He’s the only ”easy available” drug I have. It doesn’t really help that the city as well as career field I am in is the same he’s in, everything is reminding me of him and right now I only see the ”good parts” (I guess it’s the addiction speaking).
My whole life is upside down. Doesn’t help at all that I am going through a huge transformation with regards to career and stuff. Everything is so unstable at this point. And this addiction on top of it all. Any words of encouragement, advice or anything are so so welcome.

Full Name: Unknown
Call Sign/Alias: Ares
Age: 19
Gender: Male
Sex: Straight
Role: Dps
Difficulty: ☆ ☆
Affiliated With: Talon
Base of Operations: None
Advantages: They are designed to make a tanks life harder
Disadvantages: Not alot of health and mobility
✎៚𝙿𝙷𝚈𝚂𝙸𝙲𝙰𝙻
﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌
Brief Description: A white teenage boy who can usually be seen with sun glasses and a suit on with messy medium length hair and a athletic build once his sun glasses are off you can see his robotic eyes
Height: 5'10
Weight: 180lbs
Health: 150
Shields: None
Armor: 40
✎៚𝚆𝙴𝙰𝙿𝙾𝙽𝚂
﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌ Weapon Name: Maneater
Weapon Description: A basic looking pistol
Primary Fire: basic bullets
Type: Dmg
Damage: 35
Ammo: 40
Reload Time: 3.5sec
Headshot: No
Secondary Fire: Exploding bullets
Type: Dmg
Damage: 75(when exploded)
Ammo: 5
Reload Time: 7.5sec
Headshot: No
✎៚𝙰𝙱𝙸𝙻𝙸𝚃𝙸𝙴𝚂
﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌ Ability 1: Smoke Bombs
Description: Blinds enemies for 2.5 Seconds and highlights them for 5 seconds
Cooldown: 7 seconds
Voiceline: Hope you can see without your eyes
Ability 2: System shock
Description: paralyzes enemies for 1.5 seconds
Cooldown: 6 seconds
Voiceline: ZAP!
Ability 3: @%:##$*_)
Description: confuses enemies for 2.5 seconds reversing their controls
Cooldown: 4 seconds
Voiceline: This is gonna be annoying
Passive Ability: Can see low health enemies through walls
Ultimate: Athena
Description: Ares summons a omnic named Athena that works like bob but at the end she explodes
Duration: 15
Friendly Ult Voiceline: Zeus ! I mean Athena cause Havoc!
Hostile Ult Voiceline: Athena aim,shoot,kill,destroy!
✎៚𝙻𝙾𝚁𝙴
﹌﹌﹌
Backstory: because of the omnic war he was left in orphan growing up in this orphanage was tough because in this orphanage Only the Strong survived hunters and hunted cuz of his intellect he was the top dog in the orphanage usually bribing people blackmailing people to get what he wanted one day he meant Moria and she saw potential she kept tabs on him and eventually recruited him to join Talon and replaces eyes with robotic ones so he could be more efficient Hitman
Relations: Moria,Reaper,Sombra,Sigma,and Doomfist
Motives: Make humanity stronger by any means necessary
✎៚𝙼𝙸𝚂𝙲𝙴𝙻𝙻𝙰𝙽𝙴𝙾𝚄𝚂
﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌
Alignment: chaotic neutral
Star Sign: Taurus
✎៚𝚅𝙾𝙸𝙲𝙴𝙻𝙸𝙽𝙴𝚂
﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌ During Wait Time: This is gonna be fun!
Respawn: sometimes I wish they wouldn't shoot and make my job easier
Healed/Health Pack Picked Up: I'll be sure to tell Doomfist good things about you
Damage Boosted: OHHH YEA I FELL AMAZING
Nano-boosted: Thank you eyepatch Granny
Discord Orb Received: I thought your supposed to use this on the big guys
Resurrected: I have been awoken
Enemy Resurrected: WHY
៚𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚞𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗
———————
Greetings: Sup
Thanks: Thanks
Acknowledge: Ard
Need Healing: I don't feel so good
Group Up: huddle together for security
Ultimate Status: Athena is at 0%
[Charging]: Athena is charging
[Almost Ready]: Athena is almost ready to wreak havoc
[Ready]: Athena is ready to destroy
៚𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚜
————-
Hero Change: here Here Comes Your MVP
Sniper Detected: most likely Widow detected
Turret Detected: annoying robot detected
Turret Destroyed: annoying robot destroyed
Teleporter Detected: fast travel detected
Teleporter Sighted: I see the Fast Travel point
Teleporter Destroyed: no more fast travel for them
Capturing the Objective: the objective is currently ours
Losing the Objective: Jesus you guys suck at this
Escorting the Payload: can this thing move any faster
Stop the Payload: hold their path
Payload Halted: why is this thing not moving
Time is Running Out (on Attack): kill them it's not that hard
Time is Running Out (on Defense): hurry it up we're going to lose
៚𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜
——————
Final Blow: KO
Melee Final Blow: really you died to a fist
Solo Elimination: you won't be back
Kill Streak: wow they really suck at Living
Multi-kill: let the bodies hit the floor
Witnessed Elimination: kill stealer
Revenge: that's what you get
៚𝚙𝚞𝚛𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚜𝚎𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜
—————————————

1: if I had a penny for each time I saw somebody else waith omnic servant I had two pennies which isn't a lot but it's weird it happened twice

2: am I getting paid for this?

3: stay mad

✎៚𝙴𝙼𝙾𝚃𝙴𝚂
﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌
Default (Heroic): Ares
Default Action: Fixing his hair
Emote 1: Relaxing
Emote Action: laying down
Emote 2: Athena
Emote Action: Ares summons Athena and Athena dances
Emote 3: Texting
Emote Action: Ares pulls out his phone and text a random Talon member
✎៚𝚂𝙺𝙸𝙽𝚂
﹌﹌﹌﹌ Common: Overwatch 2
Epic A: Talon
Epic B: Overwatch
Legendary A: CyberFunk
Legendary B: Jason

I’ve always wanted to save myself till marriage. Unfortunately when I was 22 I let someone pressure me into giving head for the first time. I wasn’t ready for that kind of contact and I was depressed for months to the point where I developed cystic acne from the stress and just stayed inside playing video games when I wasn’t working for about six months. I felt like I’d betrayed myself.
Fast forward to 23, I met my now boyfriend. I told him I am a virgin but I’d given head once before and I was really uncomfortable with it. Barely a few months into the relationship he’d pressure me to give him head and give it to me. I’m not ready for either of those things so it left me very depressed and feeling like I had no bodily autonomy. He thinks sex brings people closer together and maybe it does if it’s mutually desired. I broke up with him about 3 months in to escape the pain and the pressure but we continued to communicate. We got back together unofficially a month later, I felt pressured to fit into all his plans and broke up again another month later. We got back together officially a week later and I felt good because I thought he was going to respect my boundaries and integrity. Instead, he still makes me explain my boundaries to him over and over again acting like he doesn’t understand. “Why wont you give head when you were “okay” with it before?” “Why can I take your shirt off but not all of your clothes?” “I have needs.” I’m scared to even spend the night with him anymore. He thinks he’s not pressuring me because I am allowed to say no, but he will get upset with me and emotionally punish me. He said recently that he’ll give it a rest till I finish my last college semester but basically implied he’s gonna grill me about it again after. He doesn’t understand why I don’t fully trust him, and I’m scared to go on trips with him after I graduate. The idea of being far from home and relying on him that much is scary. I feel like there’s already a power imbalance with the age and experience gap and traveling on his dime would make it even worse. How do I explain this to him? I’m tired of having to re-explain it. I know some of you will just tell me to break up but I already did twice and still ended up back in this situation because I’m an idiot. It’s really hurting me and weighing on my self-esteem. I started going to therapy and I’ve developed high functioning depression.

Right now, you're probably looking at your calendars, realizing what day it is, and figuring out that this post is a joke. "Nice try u/EquivalentInflation" you think. "You'd have to be pretty stupid to think that this is a real sport, you're pretty clearly doing an April Fools day bit. I mean, underwater hockey? Really? At least try for something believable."
Well, joke's on you motherfuckers, because this is 100% real. That's right, I pranked you all by researching and writing an extremely niche writeup! I bet you feel pretty silly now.

No, seriously, this is real

Originally known as "Octopush", underwater hockey was created by a British diving club. It was a method for their members to train during the off season, while also having some fun. There are false rumors that it originated to train British commandos. While this would be very cool, no legitimate source for this has ever been found. Also, if this is really how the British military trains, I might understand why their empire fell apart.
Each team has six players (some variants have ten), each of whom is equipped with a snorkel, fins, and a small curved stick. The goal is to slide the puck across the ground into the opponents' goal. There are no goalies or even strongly defined positions besides a basic "forward" and "defense" arrangement -- and even then, everyone stays in motion, and positions shift, with strategies being very fluid. Unlike regular hockey, underwater hockey does not allow physical contact or fighting because they're cowards. Now, six people on each team in such a small area may seem like a lot, but you're forgetting one crucial thing: humans are massive crybabies who "need to breathe oxygen". At any given time, a decent amount of both teams are floating near the surface, taking a breath and watching for an opening to dive back down.
My pathetic words can't truly capture the majesty of this sport, so you can see some gameplay here.
The sport's popularity was originally hampered by the slightly inconvenient fact that it was incredibly boring to watch. You would just sit on the edge of a pool, see vaguely blurry shapes deep underwater, and every so often be informed that one of those blurry shapes had scored. Riveting. The other option was for spectators to also be in the pool, with goggles and snorkels of their own. This was better, but still heavily limited crowds. Recently, with modern improvements, underwater cameras which can capture the game are actually a possibility (although it's still difficult).
It's also remarkably egalitarian. Athletes don't become worthless once they're past their early 20s, and teams often compete with mixed genders. It's a sport where skill, quick thinking, and breath training are prized, meaning that it's far easier for the average person to be competitive than it is in, say, basketball.
The sport is experiencing a remarkable rise in popularity among many developing nations, especially in Asia. It makes sense: the sport requires some developed infrastructure (a pool is generally considered important), but has far less expensive equipment than many other sports. They also don't need to spend time playing catch up to international teams which have been competing professionally for decades, like they would with football or baseball. Finally, sort of like baseball in the US or hockey in Canada, it has become a source of pride, a sport which they are very good at, which other nations aren't as great at. It's also quite popular in Australia, likely due to the fact that they can spend up to 17 hours underwater without going up for air.
There has also been a long and sustained push to get underwater hockey into the Olympics. Many of the sport's biggest contributors have worked tirelessly for this, believing that it will give them the legitimacy they need to kickstart an underwater renaissance. It's already a part of the Southeast Asian games (SEA), as well as some other international competitions. However, the idea pretty much only ever comes up when a sports website or newspaper needs some filler, and report that "Hey, these guys want to be in the Olympics". 90% of those articles basically go "Hey, did you guys know this exists? Weird." So yeah, their quest for Olympic recognition isn't going great.

OK, but this isn't HobbiesExist, where's the drama?

There may be a followup to this post, as apparently the governing body of underwater hockey was shattered by vicious infighting in the early 2000s. Unfortunately, very very little of it has ever been recorded. Probably because, y'know, it's underwater hockey, and no one recorded the five whole people who cared).
But as I painstakingly scrape together every social media post I can find, and scour the Internet Archive, there is a far more intriguing story. Well, stories, because believe it or not, this has happened multiple times.
In 2003, Canada women welcomed their Moldovan sisters with open arms. They had purchased a Moldovan flag, and were ready for Moldova's first female underwater hockey team to compete in a tournament. With epic sports music playing faintly in the background, this ragtag team of misfits went on to win the entire championship.
Except they didn't. Because they never actually showed up. As it turned out, the entire thing was a ploy to get them into the country in order to claim asylum status. We're not going to dive into the complex geopolitical realities of post-Soviet Eastern Europe, but suffice to say that Moldova can be Not Super Great, and a lot of people want to get out.
But this case involved far more than just a simple lie. According to an anonymous, snorkel masked source, who identified themselves as (and I shit you not), "Deep Trout", the entire scam was orchestrated by former "people movers" from the Soviet Union. They had built careers out of smuggling people out from under the noses of the Stasi. But this job required them to face their greatest foe yet: middle aged volunteers running an amateur sports event.
Supposedly, the team (which included women who could not swim, and did not know how to play underwater hockey) was taken by these people movers to Egypt. There, they could pretend to have gone through training as a team, so that everything would appear normal. This gave them the legitimacy needed to get travel visas to Canada for the event, after which, they immediately skipped the event and applied for asylum status, seeking new lives in Canada.
You may be thinking, "Wow, what idiots. I mean, how could anyone fall for that?" But you see, it gets better. Because this was the second time Moldovans had pulled this trick. In 2000, a men's team from Moldova competed in an Australian underwater hockey tournament. Reportedly, they did not know how to put their fins on, and although they actually competed, they then lost 30-0 and 23-0, to Columbia and Argentina respectively. Immediately afterwards, the entire team applied for (and received) asylum.

OK, so that's kind of funny, but where's the drama?

Obviously, for most of us, this is just a funny story, with the added emotional satisfaction that these people were able to escape to a better future in the single most creative way possible. But many people in the underwater hockey world were less than thrilled.
As has been mentioned earlier (and probably should be self evident), many organizers of underwater hockey feel like their sport isn't viewed as legitimate or treated with respect. This is likely because most people don't view it as legitimate, and don't treat it with respect.
They were concerned that these events could further damage their reputation, and ruin their shot at being in the Olympics. After all, "sport which is only used to flee to a new nation" doesn't exactly scream "legitimate peak of athletics". Even just the optics of it was bad, let alone the worry that more states might start denying travel visas to underwater hockey players
Although the Moldovan women's' response was never recorded, it was likely something along the lines of "I lost my family in the riots when we broke free from the USSR, and was in constant fear of being kidnapped for sex trafficking, but I'm really sorry that people might make fun of your sport now".
Fortunately, in the end, all was well that ended well. People wrote a few news articles, and wrote a few jokes, but the prophesied destruction of the sport never came true. In the end, it was all just water off a puck's back.

A brief word

Before I close, I just want to make something clear: Yes, I have made a lot of jokes about underwater hockey throughout all those. Partly because that's what I do, but also because it is a genuinely ridiculous concept. However, none of that is meant to be malicious. Researching this writeup, I found out more and more about a community that seems genuinely welcoming, which loves their sport, and which has a tremendous amount of skill and effort involved in it. At the end of the day, underwater hockey isn't inherently weirder than a sport like baseball. They just got the short end of the stick, and made up their weird rules too late. And it's not their fault that they can't afford to freeze the water they're playing in.

I've got what I think is a mostly exhaustive list of the new fiction podcasts that came out this month, which may be of interest to those looking for new shows. Feel free to tell me any I've missed, and I'll update it. (Note, "new" here means that the Ep1 of the RSS feed was released.) Listened to any of them that you would recommend?
I've given up trying to include the full list here, as it's increasingly large, and reddit keeps throwing problems. So the full list is here:
https://www.thecambridgegeek.com/posts/2023/04/20230401-a.php
Previous months are available here:
https://www.thecambridgegeek.com/results.php?proof=Releases&tag1=Audio%20fiction
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And the ongoing updates (just in case you don't want to wait for the end of the month) are available here:
https://twitter.com/AudioDramaDebut
https://podvibes.co/@audiofictionuk#
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Want a weekly email newsletter of all of these as I find them? Join my patreon to get access to that:
https://www.patreon.com/thecambridgegeek
(Please join, it's only £1/month and I currently make a loss with some of the resources I pay for to do this.)
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And the full database is searchable here by a number of tags:
https://audiofiction.co.uk/search2.php
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Want an RSS feed of new fiction podcast trailers to sample what's out there? Try this:
https://audiofiction.co.uk/trailers.php
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African Story Magic with Gcina Mhlophe
Audio Book - Fables and Fairy Tales and Folklore, Storytelling
Step into the wonderful world of African storytelling with Gcina Mhlophe. In African Story Magic, a new East Coast Radio Podcast, Gcina shares many of the tales you grew up with plus new stories – so we can keep the magic of African storytelling alive for new generations. Listen in English or isiZulu and let's keep the magic alive!
First episode: 2023-3-1
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FuturePast
Audio Drama - Adaptation, Science fiction
Adapted stories of Science Fiction from the public domain.
First episode: 2023-3-1
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Gaming Theater RPG
Audio RPG - Multigenre, Comedy, Fantasy
Welcome to Gaming Theater RPG, where members of the Gaming Theater crew get together to play a tabletop RPG. Our current setting is the ACPD, where our players try to maintain law and order in the fantasy city of Andrea's Cauldron. They'll have to deal with bar brawling adventurers, underground chimera races, magical murder mysteries, and more! Come watch our heroes triumph over evil… or fail spectacularly! Whichever outcome the dice decide.
First episode: 2023-3-1
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Greyshading
Audio Drama - Multigenre
An anthology series about the black and white of life, and all the grey in between.
First episode: 2023-3-1
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Hot Dice: Actual Play
Audio RPG - Crime and Mystery
Hot Dice: Actual Play is exactly what it sounds like. We create fun actual play series using different RPG systems. Our first audio campaign, Revelations & Redemption, is an actual play, Monster of the Week podcast, following 5 guests and a stowaway at a lavish dinner party hosted by billionaire, CEO & cocaine addict, Jeffery Hudson. Our guests have ulterior motives tonight, but so, it seems, does someone else.
First episode: 2023-3-1
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Minds Never Matter Podcast
Audio RPG - Fantasy
Welcome to the Minds Never Matter Podcast! We are a group of 5 friends who wanted to share the story we create while having fun along the way. I know, I know, everyone is creating TTRPG podcasts these days but we are just here to have a reason to bring us together whether its just a few or if it grows to hundreds of people. The current session we are running takes place in the fantasy world of Divitotum where four aspiring adventures take on their hardest challenge yet.... The Adventuring College of Elona.
First episode: 2023-3-1
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Penault Pest & Protection
Audio RPG - Horror
Penault Pest & Protection is a monthly audio drama created through tabletop roleplay based on the 2d6 system Monster of the Week. Follow Tiffany, Aisling, Clara, and Seilbh as they struggle to gain a footing in the world of Taranis.
First episode: 2023-3-1
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Poltergeist
Audio Book - Horror
Poltergeist is a podcast where we write and read original spooky stories to our audience. Our goal is to provide short story writers a chance to have their work featured on the show, and to give listeners an opportunity to experience new and exciting stories.
First episode: 2023-3-1
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TUDO QUE EU QUERIA DIZER ANTES DE MORRER
Audio Book - Slice of life
EPISÓDIO NOVO TODA QUARTA-FEIRA! Podcast de ficção em formato de cartas. É um dia difícil e Ofélia tem vontade de sumir. Fecha os olhos e tenta imaginar como seria outra vida que não essa. Depois do pequeno devaneio, não dá prosseguimento à rotina como fez outras tantas vezes. Junta toda coragem que possui e vai embora. Ela abandona tudo e todos: troca de trabalho, de cidade, de estilo de vida. Mas, embora esteja decidida a deixar para trás aquela que foi um dia, ainda não é possível. Para seguir, precisa falar. Com vocês, os desabafos de Ofélia. Segue a gente no insta: u/dizerantesdemorrer
First episode: 2023-3-1
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Vier Weekenden
Audio Book - Romance
Een podcast over een klootzak met een droom door Dario Goldbach. Het verhaal van een jonge twintiger die verward na een relatie met een psychopaat op zoek gaat naar de perfecte liefde en een uitweg. Een uitweg van zijn kutbaan, zijn uitzichtloze leven, zijn doelloze bestaan. Ervaar vier weekenden in vijftien hoofdstukken.
First episode: 2023-3-1
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Los sueños cuentan
Audio Book - Multigenre
Un pódcast de relatos inspirados en el universo de los sueños, se trata de un espacio íntimo y emocional, donde intercambiamos técnicas narrativas y conceptos básicos de escritura creativa. Creado y narrado por Andrea Oryza, producido por La Resortera.
First episode: 2023-3-2
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Tales After Dark Erotic Audio Dramas
Audio Drama - Erotica
Sexy, Erotic Tales told through a female gaze. Brought to you by the Tales of the Forgotten Fiction Network, Tales After Dark is an anthology series. With new episodes dropping weekly, every month we bring you a different story, and some may have subtle connections to other Tales of the Forgotten Shows.
First episode: 2023-3-2
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Thirteen: A Fallout Podcast
Audio Drama - Fanfiction, Post-apocalypse
War. War never changes. In 2161, a lone vault dweller sets out into an unforgiving wasteland on a mission to save his Vault. His travels across a broken post-apocalyptic California will shape history itself for years to come. This is the story of Albert Cole, the Vault Dweller from Vault 13. Thirteen is the story of Fallout 1, given new life in the form of an audio drama. Whether you’ve played the game yourself, or are just now consuming the tale for the first time, we invite you to join us on a journey to find the water chip and save the vault.
First episode: 2023-3-2
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Tune Tales
Audio Drama - Comedy
Tune Tales with Kit’n’Tenders is musical story-based podcast for kids exploring the world of classic kids songs. Each episode, our heroes, the girlband, Kit’n’Tenders aka Gabby La La and The Ukulady, meet famous characters from the classic kids songs, like, the Muffin Man, Twinkle the Little Star, Miss Mary Mack, etc… all played by real celebrities! Tune Tales is chock-full of songs, jokes, trivia and fun for the whole family!
First episode: 2023-3-2
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Turning Tables
Audio RPG - Fantasy
Turning Tables is a weekly actual play D&D podcast with a twist. You can expect each arc to be DM'd by one of 3 DM's, meanwhile, the other 2 play as characters.
First episode: 2023-3-2
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Worlds Beyond Number
Audio RPG - Fantasy
Brennan Lee Mulligan, Erika Ishii, Aabria Iyengar, and Lou Wilson hang out together and use games to make up stories. It's pretty good.
First episode: 2023-3-2
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Zom-com
Audio RPG - Post-apocalypse
Zom-com är en rollspelspodd med komiker som spelar Skjut dom i huvudet. Och dör man så dör man. Här råder strikt PERMADEATH! När, en spelares karaktär dör så byts spelaren ut.
First episode: 2023-3-2
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Black Box - A Science Fiction Horror Podcast
Audio Drama - Science fiction, Horror
The Homing Box of the U.N.S.E.A. exploratory vessel Bly has returned to Earth after twenty-four years of silence. An investigation has been launched into uncovering what happened to the ship and her missing crew.
First episode: 2023-3-3
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Koffer 23
Audio Drama - Crime and Mystery
De Nationale Postcode Loterij heeft een feest georganiseerd ter ere van een nieuw seizoen Miljoenenjacht. Het decor: een afgelegen, oud kasteel. De gasten zijn medewerkers, relaties en bevriende BN'ers. Linda de Mol houdt een gezellig praatje en speelt ter vermaak één rondje Miljoenenjacht met André van Duin. Maar wat blijkt: koffer 23 is verdwenen, met daarin 10.000 euro. De deuren gaan direct op slot. Niemand mag weg voordat deze zaak is opgelost. Tygo Gernandt wordt als detective aangewezen en heeft vijf verdachten op het oog: Nasrdin Dchar, Tina de Bruin, André van Duin, Edson da Graça en Nicolette van Dam. Detective Gernandt heeft zo zijn eigen manier van verhoren, die jammer genoeg niet leidt tot het vinden van de dader. Hij draagt daarom gefrustreerd en moegestreden het dossier over aan jou, de luisteraar. In dit dossier zitten de verhoren met de vijf verdachten, een reconstructie van de avond en andere zinnige of zinloze observaties. Jij kan op basis hiervan de zaak misschien wél oplossen. Help Tygo, vul jouw antwoorden in op www.koffer23.nl en maak kans op 10.000 euro.
First episode: 2023-3-3
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Risky Standard
Audio RPG - Science fiction
Risky Standard is an actual-play podcast featuring a group of rowdy best friends playing a variety of tabletop role-playing games to tell stories set in original worlds. Currently playing Beam Saber (by Austin Ramsay) to follow the adventures of a squad of mech pilots fighting for an anarcho-socialist space federation in a revolutionary war against encroaching empire.
First episode: 2023-3-3
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Stories From: The Low Season
Audio Book - Multigenre
Stories From: The Low Season is an anthology fiction podcast inspired by the album The Low Season by POOLSIDE. Each song serves an inspiration for a short fiction piece, and the original song is reworked as a dreamy underscore.
First episode: 2023-3-3
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End City - A Cyberpunk Red Mini-Series
Audio RPG - Cyberpunk
Welcome, chooms, to our Cyberpunk Red mini-series 'End City'. Things go awry for a group scraping med supplies from the largest corporation in the city... Join CG (Choom Guide) Justin and some truly wonderful friends as we hit the gritty corporate dystopian streets and try to earn a living under the boot of governing forces.
First episode: 2023-3-4
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Stories From The Shore - A Modern D&D 5e Mini-Series
Audio RPG - Fantasy
Things have felt a little different in Null Shore lately... things seem a little darker... you catch movements out of the corner of your eye but never see what caused it... and the people... the people have been going missing a lot more frequently lately. Welcome back to the Shore. Join us as we revisit Null Shore with a brand new cast of delightful characters. This mini-series will feature our amazingly skilled friends from Charisma Saving Show and Gut Punch RP.
First episode: 2023-3-4
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The Magpie Catalogue
Audio Drama - Experimental and Surreal
Welcome to the Harper Foundation! The most sophisticated organization for storing and categorizing the paranormal in all of New England! But, do be warned... not everything around here is as it seems... Follow the story of a group of researchers trying to solve the mystery of their Boss Henry's mysterious disappearance, where behind every door is a mystery, adventure, and...Violence!
First episode: 2023-3-4
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Void: Coriolis Actual-Play
Audio RPG - Science fiction
Coriolis is a beacon of something fresh for politics, trade, and “quality of life”. Others see it as cultural imperialism. Nonetheless, the Icons stir. They are jealous. The Zenithian’s new way beckons the Darkness Between the Stars. Even ghosts from planet Xene currently observe the Council of Factions. The new governor, Kamal Dargosian, is only a year into office and the people are already secretly questioning their capabilities. But amidst this political battlefield is an even more pressing matter -- there is currently a high-rolling contract issued by the Consortium to hire a Free Trader group willing to investigate the Taoan system. As of 2 weeks ago, all contact was lost.
First episode: 2023-3-4
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Escuadrón Ifreann (Audio-Libro)
Audio Book - Occult and Supernatural, Thriller and Psychological
Tras diez años trabajando para la Iglesia Católica como investigador paranormal, Sebastián Ifreann profesor de Historia y experto en Demonología, ha perdido el sentido de la vida y las ganas de seguir, comenzando a cuestionar sus capacidades. A pesar de esto, sigue con la rutina de recibir solicitudes de investigación, junto a su equipo de la Parroquia. Hasta que un día aparece un caso que reactivará al equipo, llevándonos a un viaje por los miedos y pesadillas de Sebastián, que lo harán reencontrarse con su pasado y hallar las piezas del rompecabezas de su vida. Escuadrón Ifreann es un viaje por la mente y las vivencias de un joven que se entregó al servicio de luchar contra el mal. Todo lo que leerán es ficción, pero es mi verdad...
First episode: 2023-3-5
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Hörspiele sehen – Der Theater ex libris Podcast
Audio Drama - Adaptation
Hörspiele lassen fantastische Welten in unseren Köpfen entstehen: das nebelverhangene London, ein Piratenschiff im Sturm, die Weiten des Weltraums – alles wird vor unserem inneren Auge lebendig und das nur durch die Kraft von Stimmen, Geräuschen und Musik. Beim Theater ex libris kann man Hörspiel sehen - live auf der Bühne. Mit Live-Musik, einer aufwändigen Bildpräsentation und stimmungsvollen Lichteffekten verwandelt das Ensemble Literaturklassiker und eigene Geschichten in spannende Live-Hörspiele. Björn Roguzska (Smackboom) blickt mit Theater ex libris-Gründer Christoph Tiemann hinter die Kulissen der Hörspiel-Shows. Wie spielt man mit fünf Sprecher:innen zwanzig verschiedene Rollen? Wie macht man aus einem fünfhundert-Seiten Roman ein Skript für zwei Stunden Lesezeit? „Hörspiele sehen“ stellt in jeder Folge ein neues Hörspiel aus dem Programm von Theater ex libris vor – und begrüßt als Gast ein spannendes Ensemblemitglied.
First episode: 2023-3-5
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Meaningless Problems
Audio Book - Thriller and Psychological, Comedy, Science fiction
An original short story by Doe Wilmann every single week for at least a year. I wanted a platform where I could communicate directly with all the people who like my writing. And yes, I could have invited both of them out for a coffee but they don’t get on. So I’m doing a podcast instead. Will I keep it up? Will anyone listen? Does it matter either way? A mix of styles, genre and quality. Some will be comedies, some will be dramas, some will be sci-fi, and some will be rubbish. Common topics/ themes: The absurd Consciousness Free will Artificial intelligence God The Afterlife Non Duality Eternalism Haircuts Benches Sheds You’ll like this if you like…. Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror Sum: Tales of the Afterlife by David Eagleman Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads Julian Barnes Kazuo Ishiguro (I realise I’m now just listing writers I like…) Margaret Atwood Oscar Wilde Anton Chekhov George Orwell This is my challenge to write, record and produce a short story every single week for a year. If you’re looking for quality, suspense and intrigue, I’m not making any promises.
First episode: 2023-3-5
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Altered State of Affairs
Audio Book - Thriller and Psychological
Altered State of Affairs, the novel, is a tale about an audacious kid from Cleveland Heights who unites in France with a beautiful Mossad agent and an eyeless doll for an adventure of a lifetime. The novel is now a podcast. This is Altered State of Affairs, The Podcast. The show is where the author, Jerald Kasimov, reads from certain chapters of his books and that has conversations about selections and fascinating topics in that specific reading. Here's a summary of the novel: Steven, a freshly-minted Army Ranger and aspiring badass, can’t wait to go after some bad guys—and maybe some bad girls, too. Fortunately, a Soviet master scientist has just defected and is hiding somewhere in the rugged French Pyrenees, and Steven must find him before a sadistic terrorist does. Along the way, he meets a traitor in a field of red poppies, a beautiful Mossad black-ops agent, some delicious cassoulet, and Cindy, the telepathic, eyeless doll. It’s time for Steven, an atypical hero, to man up, but nothing is as it seems—least of all, Steven. The story winds through time from adolescence in 1960s Cleveland Heights to the rigors of present-day Army Ranger training in Fort Benning, non-stop death-defying action, the delights of Israeli cooking, and the tragic yet triumphant history of the Jewish People. Oh, and there’s that beautiful Mossad agent…. But first, Steven has a world to save from a horrific weapon of mass destruction!
First episode: 2023-3-6
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Cede Malis
Audio Drama - Horror
Cede Malis is a choose-your-own-adventure surrealist horror podcast in which you have been lured into a house of supernatural horrors by someone who was once your best friend. Now you must make the right choices to survive the eerie night.
First episode: 2023-3-6
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Dungeon Calling
Audio RPG - Fantasy
A real-play D&D podcast of high fantasy and low humor. It’s the 1980s, and four almost friends navigate middle school in a small, strange, low-budget town. Can they survive social minefields and the occasional eldritch horror without being expelled, or possibly sued by the Duffer Brothers? Will there be music? Listen to find out.
First episode: 2023-3-6
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La Notte più Lunga
Audio RPG - Horror
Un podcast di actual play viking horror ideato da Lotofurente e prodotto da Forgia Storie, direttamente dalle vostre fantasie dell'incubo.
First episode: 2023-3-6
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Saga Of The Sages Narrative Podcast
Audio Drama - Fantasy
The Saga Of The Sages Narrative Podcast is a multi-series/multi-season story exploring the histories, lore, and happenings of the ancient civilization known as the Anu. The Anu last reigned 11,600 years ago, before they were wiped off the face of the Earth. Now all we have is the records of their history, and artifacts they have left behind, for the chosen few to discover. Come with us on the journey, that is, the Saga Of The Sages.
First episode: 2023-3-6
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The Saga of the Three Bears
Audio Book - Historical
From the idyllic settlement of The Valley, the three children of Chief Ty Williams set out into the wild world with very different hopes, dreams, goals, and plans. Each week, a new chapter of the Saga of the Three Bears is released in audio-book form.
First episode: 2023-3-6
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Alpha 8 - The Audio Drama
Audio Drama - Science fiction, Storytelling, Thriller and Psychological
Alpha 8 is a family-friendly sci-fi adventure podcast that explores what happens when a desperate alien from another planet body-swaps with a struggling mom to understand the meaning of family to save her own kind from extinction. We produced the pilot, but need your support to finish the season.
First episode: 2023-3-7
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Bird in the Storm Presents
Audio Book - Fantasy
Literary works presented by Bird in the Storm Publishing
First episode: 2023-3-7
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Ellen Vahr - Gaven
Audio Book - Historical
«Gaven» er en roman basert på livet til Anne Brannfjell, husmannsdatteren som ble Norges mest kjente kloke kone. Den er en fortelling om frykt og fortielse, men også om kjærligheten og tillitens plass i våre liv, og om mulighetene som åpner seg når vi våger å stå ved oss selv. Siden hun var liten, har husmannsjenta Anne visst at hun er født med en gave, en evne til å se, og et kall til å hjelpe syke og lidende. I stedet for å være stolt over denne gaven, gjemmer hun den bort. Hun vil ikke være annerledes. Vinteren 1841 reiser Anne fra Vardal til Christiania for å tjene hos byens mest berømte gullsmed og hans unge, vakre kone. Hun har valgt den veien hun tror er den rette. Det eneste hun har med seg er noen tørkede planter, en sort bok og en hemmelighet. Livet i Christiania er ikke som hun hadde trodd, og det er først da hun tror at hun har mistet alt, at Anne finner kraften til å stole på hvem hun er. «Gaven» handler om Annes kamp for å finne sin egen vei - og å våge å gå den. Det er en historie om dyp fattigdom, svik og krenkelser, men det er også en kjærlighetshistorie om mot, håp og om å finne veien hjem. Ellen Vahr er Anne Brannfjells tipp-tipp-oldebarn.
First episode: 2023-3-7
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L'appel de l'enfance
Audio Drama - Slice of life
Une fiction qui met en scène les tribulations d’un personnage confronté quotidiennement aux dérives de la société actuelle. Avec François SARANO,Céline COUSTEAU, Matthieu RICARD, Miguel BENASAYAG et Katie MAGGS. Trente ans après l’avoir perdue de vue, Jean-Baptiste retrouve par hasard sur le net une amie d’enfance anglaise qui a connu les mêmes souffrances que lui. Sa solution pour recouvrer son équilibre : se baigner chaque matin dans la mer Celtique et rechercher en permanence ses sensations d’enfant. En raison des restrictions sanitaires, Jean-Baptiste doit attendre deux ans avant de pouvoir aller lui rendre visite en Cornouailles. Pendant ces deux années, s’enchaînent pour Jean-Baptiste des rencontres inattendues avec différentes personnalités qui réagissent aux problèmes auxquels il est confronté. Chacune apporte son éclairage sur ces maux sociétaux et avance ses propositions pour sortir de l’impasse. Peu à peu, un changement profond s’opère en Jean-Baptiste, dont l’aboutissement coïncide avec son séjour tant attendu en Cornouailles. Au retour de ce voyage, l’écart entre ce qu’il est devenu et son mode de vie le conduit à un burn out, qui vient confirmer la nécessité de changer de vie. Les souffrances évoquées dans cette série sont soit largement couvertes par les médias (environnement, covid) soit plus insidieuses (la mal-bouffe, le manque d’altruisme, les conséquences de l’utilisation maladive des portables, etc.) Au fil de ses échanges avec les différents intervenants, le personnage fictif opère un changement intérieur complet, amorcé par la première de ces rencontres : celle avec l’océanographe François SARANO, collaborateur du commandant Cousteau, qui lui glisse la phrase suivante : “Pour changer, il faut d’abord se retrouver avec soi-même, se reconnecter avec la nature et, enfin, s’engager.”
First episode: 2023-3-7
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Popcorn for Dinner: A Podcast Sitcom
Audio Drama - Comedy
Popcorn For Dinner, narrated by Ciara Bravo, is a first-of-its-kind audio sitcom that follows four friends in their early 20s as they try to make it on their own, despite the fact that none of them know what that looks like...at all. Packed with all the enduring elements that make classic sitcoms identifiable (yes, even the laugh track), the show invites you to laugh at both the gang’s hijinks and the format itself.
First episode: 2023-3-7
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Sraxital - The Undying Isles Podcast a TTRPG Live Actual Play
Audio RPG - Fantasy, Adventure, Storytelling
This Live Actual Play Tabletop role playing game (TTRPG) Podcast is set in a home brew water world, with continents and isles spread all across the world. Here we have amazing adventures with a group of gamers who enjoy RP and share a love of the game.
First episode: 2023-3-7
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Aslak Nore - En norsk spion
Audio Book - Spy-fi, Thriller and Psychological
Spennende og aktuell innsidefortelling fra norsk etterretningstjeneste! En rå agentfortelling med en fargerik og varm beskrivelse av et krigsherjet Afghanistan. Peter Wessel er norsk etterretningsoperatør som arbeider undercover i verdens farligste område. Wessel kommer over brennbar informasjon - et parti våpen som skal rettes mot norske interesser, er smuglet ut av Dubai og på vei til Afghanistan. Vil han og makkeren finne våpentransporten i tide? Det blir en eksotisk og nervepirrende nedtelling. «En norsk spion» er Aslak Nores første thriller. Her benytter han sin førstehåndskunnskap om soldater i utenlandstjeneste og fredsnasjonen Norge. I forbindelse med research til boken har Nore reist flere ganger til Afghanistan og til Dubai og Irak.
First episode: 2023-3-8
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Assetati d'amore
Audio Book - Comedy, Crime and Mystery
Assetati d'amore è il primo volume della trilogia Crimini, amori e commedia, scritta e interpretata da Giorgio Ganzerli. Tre storie semiserie che, usando come pretesto improbabili eventi delittuosi, indagano l'animo umano e i sentimenti. Le musiche originali e il sound design sono a cura di Stefano Cattaneo.
First episode: 2023-3-8
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Celebrity Whodunnit
Audio Drama - Comedy, Crime and Mystery
Imagine Clue but with your favorite/least favorite celebrities. Every week, fake Private Investigators, Payton and Ry, take on a new fake mystery involving Hollywood's elite. This radio play styled podcast features entirely fictional whodunnit style stories with the most random groups of celebrities at the most random locations you could imagine.
First episode: 2023-3-8
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Dark Lantern
Audio Book - Occult and Supernatural
In the basements of the Buffalo Central Library, a very special collection awaits. The Curator would like to share it with you, if you dare.
First episode: 2023-3-8
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Forever Foreign
Audio Drama - Slice of life, Comedy
The Forever Foreign podcast is a fictional story following the audio diary of one English teacher and his friends in Japan. It’s whimsical, sometimes funny, and it’s often based on real experiences from people who’ve lived in the land of the rising sun.
First episode: 2023-3-8
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IDM Roleplay
Audio RPG - Horror, Urban fantasy
Welcome to IDM Roleplay! We are a tabletop actual play podcast where we play a number of different games including, but not limited to, Vampire the Masquerade 5th Edition, Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition, Masks: A New Generation, and more! Come listen to our zaney crew as we make our way through different campaigns all for your entertainment! Please note this podcast is marked as explicit because some of our shows we deal with adult topics like violence, seduction and fade-to-black type sex, drug use, and in the vampire game, lots of discussion of blood. Nothing is too crazy, but please be aware and if you aren't comfortable with any of that, maybe we aren't the show for you.
First episode: 2023-3-8
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Magnus West Media
Audio Drama - Multigenre
Do you like listening to audio dramas? Do you want to listen to some wonderful, home produced radio plays performed by a talented cast of actors? Well look no further! Here at Magnus West Media we have a range of productions; both long and short to interest all sorts of listeners, from an episode of the famous radio broadcast Five Minute Murders to a modern day take of the classic Father Brown story: The Blue Cross.
First episode: 2023-3-8
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Pallium
Audio RPG - Horror
Le monde que nous connaissons est une illusion. Et derrière ce voile se cache quelque chose qui se tient prêt à nous dévorer. Pallium est un podcast suivant plusieurs campagnes de jeu de rôles privilégiant l'immersion, la narration et l'atmosphère. Afin de rendre l'écoute le plus agréable et immersive possible, chaque épisode a été monté pour se rapprocher le plus possible d'une fiction audio, illustrée par la musique de Siarys. Nous utilisons le système et l'univers de Kult : Divinité Perdue, un jeu de rôles horrifique se centrant sur les traumas des personnages et une approche viscérale du surnaturel. MISE EN GARDE: Pallium privilégie une atmosphère sombre et immersive, focalisée sur les traumatismes des personnages, la violence psychologique et physique, et des thèmes adultes.
First episode: 2023-3-8
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The Sir Bernard Moore Show
Audio Drama - Comedy
It's 1992. The Doomsday Clock is the furthest it has ever been from midnight. It's the safest, most peaceful and contented time planet Earth has known since the invention of atomic weapons. But not everywhere is as safe as everywhere else in the world . . . Here we are in Hobsick. Population: 2,001. A secluded village located somewhere just south of the north of the midlands. Seven miles to the east, a busy dual carriageway barely acknowledges that Hobsick exists, pointing any potential traffic down a sinister, unnamed B-road. To the west of the village sags the overgrown, potholed remains of twelve miles of another dual carriageway, as good as severed from civilization by a landslide in 1967.
First episode: 2023-3-8
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Bee Dubs AI Labs
Audio Drama - Science fiction
User 74680 signed up for a premium membership with Bee Dubs AI Labs gambling artificial intelligence to help him win a few bets. Follow our premium member as his new AI subscription takes over his life and reveals its dystopian plans for humanity.
First episode: 2023-3-9
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Darlings
Audio Drama - Urban fantasy
Et lyddrama for ungdom i tre deler. 15 år gamle Tone oppdager at hun har hypnotiske krefter når hun legger ut ASMR-videoer på YouTube. Med de nyoppdagede evnene sine kan hun få til hva som helst! Men, hypnotiske evner kan gi en farlig makt som ikke nødvendigvis gjør livet lettere. Darlings handler om å ikke passe inn, om å stikke av og om behovet for å ha noen nære som bryr seg. Og hvis ingen bryr seg - hva gjør man da?
First episode: 2023-3-9
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New Eden - A Cyberpunk Podcast
Audio Drama - Cyberpunk
Plot: The Human Race have taken refuge on the dusty sibling planet of Mars. Such a curious debacle we find ourself in once again. After the warming of The Earth became too much to bare, we looked to Terraforming the Red Eden just a hop, skip and an intra-solar jump away; Such Hubris is laughable in hindsight, but one thing I can assure you is that the Human race will survive even if between the slimmest margins, and curiously enough, that is where we find ourself today. 2078 Earth years is equivalent to 1104 Martian years. Meanwhile, back on earth, a forbidden paradise is being created. The human race has abandoned their home planet, leaving behind a utopia of comfort and abundance. But the inhabitants of this paradise are not the same people who left it; they are refugees from of the Eruptions, the Steam storms, the shifting of the plates, the melting of the poles, and the ensuing Ice Age. The True Earthlings closely guard this paradise, with only the elite of the elite in their respective fields being allowed to return, and offer their skillset to the Greater Good of the Restored Gaia
First episode: 2023-3-9
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The Four Boys Club
Audio Book - Multigenre, Slice of life, Storytelling
The Four Boys Club (sometimes not-so-fondly called Quartet of Mayhem) is a podcast of a series of short stories, which covers the worlds of four 15-year-olds: Shanky Vai, Baalan "Bandem" Asra, Ankur "Anpag" Benza, and Mompy Arda. Part coming-of-age and part drama/suspense, it has been inspired by Stephen King's The Body (and its movie adaptation, Stand By Me).
First episode: 2023-3-9
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Une vie brisée
Audio Drama - Thriller and Psychological
Une vie brisée retrace le parcours imaginaire d’un jeune migrant qui, parti du Niger aurait eu la chance d’atteindre sain et sauf les abords de la mer du nord. Inspiré par la lecture de Terminus Shengen, livre du poète - géographe Emmanuel Ruben, ce projet remet l’ humain au centre de cette tragédie, sans esprit polémique ou partisan. Derrière les chiffres de migration, de décès, il y des personnes, des sentiments, des angoisses, des espoirs aussi. Et derrière ces espoirs, il y a tant de vies brisées dans leurs élans, brisées par les pièges tendus sur ces chemins d’exode, chemins de peine, chemins de croix. Aventures imaginaires d’un parcours incertain, Une vie brisée a pour souhait d’aider à la compréhension et à l’acceptation du phénomène des migrations, de la détresse humaine. Tout simplement.
First episode: 2023-3-9
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Déjà-You
Audio Drama - Slice of life, Comedy
A slice of life, comedy podcast featuring two teenagers that have been fated to live a linked life... Sam, a relatively confident guy studying at the University of York, England finds himself experiencing increasing bouts of Déjà Vu after a fateful night at a chinese restaurant. Sammy, a relatively confident girl studying at York University, Nebraska finds herself experiencing increasing bouts of Déjà Vu after a fateful night at a chinese restaurant.
First episode: 2023-3-10
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Else og Liv - Kjærleik i koronaens tid
Audio Drama - Thriller and Psychological
Koronatiltaka hadde menneskelege kostnader vi aldri fullt ut vil kjenne følgene av. Else og Liv er historia om to menneske som treng kvarandre. Dei har vore tette før, og opprettar no kontakt igjen på grunn av krisa. Samtidig truar den same krisa med å skilje dei, før dei når kvarandre heilt. I ein kjenslemessig berg- og dalbane av ei historie følger vi dei frå dei første forsøka på å nærme seg, til dei blir stilt andsynes kvarandre i val som vil prege resten av liva deira. Skrive og regissert av Aslak Moe Lyddesign: Kato Ådland Dramaturg: Solrun Toft Iversen Musikken er frå Universal Production Music Else : Ragnhild Gudbrandsen Liv: Reidun Melvær Berge Sjukepleiar: Christine Hope Polititenestemann og drosjesjåfør: Sigmund Njøs Hovind Doplangar og sjukehusresepsjonist: Reny Gaassand Folgerø Lyddramaet ligg ute til 12. mars 2024. Produsert av Det Vestnorske Teateret, i 2023
First episode: 2023-3-10
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The Fall Of Runeterra a D&D Campaign
Audio RPG - Fantasy
This is a D&D campaign based off using the lore of League Of Legends. It won't be 100% accurate but it will be as close as I can get it.
First episode: 2023-3-11
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3 DMs and a Tale
Audio RPG - Fantasy, Multigenre, Adventure
Hello, my name is Aaron. This is my Improv Show called 3 DMs and a Tale. I decided to put 4 Dungeon Masters in one room and make them dance for me. In each episode, a Head DM is selected by a d4. The remaining 3 DMs become players and without any prep, they will all have come up with everything on the spot: the world, their characters, and everything else you can imagine. Come join the fun!
First episode: 2023-3-12
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Hipersensorial
Audio Book - Horror, Occult and Supernatural
Bienvenido a un lugar en donde tus sentidos se activarán a su nivel máximo. Escucha las historias más intrigantes y escalofriantes del mundo de la ficción, el suspenso y el terror. Abriremos una puerta hacia lo paranormal. ¿Estás listo para cruzarla?
First episode: 2023-3-12
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British Spy Stories
Audio Book - Spy-fi
Weekly Serialised British Spy Stories
First episode: 2023-3-13
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Cuba 58: El último gran premio
Audio Drama - Historical, Thriller and Psychological
1958 en La Habana, Cuba: La ciudad se prepara para recibir el Havana Grand Prix. Sin embargo, un día antes de la esperada carrera, dos jóvenes subversivos secuestran al piloto campeón de la F1, Juan Manuel Fangio. La vida de Fangio se ve envuelta entre las crecientes tensiones políticas entre el gobierno del dictador Fulgencio Batista y el “Movimiento 26 de julio” liderado por Fidel Castro. Cuba 58: El último gran premio es un thriller basado en el día en el que se encontraron la Fórmula 1 y la Revolución Cubana, dejando en las manos de una carrera el futuro de un país entero. Una producción de Sonoro, protagonizada por Manolo Cardona, Maclovia González, Carlos Ballarta y Axel de la Rosa.
First episode: 2023-3-13
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Into the Portal
Audio Drama - Science fiction
Into the Portal is a family-focused podcast that tells an exciting adventure. After finding a mysterious bracelet, Dex is transported to a strange world alongside a young girl named River. Together, they must escape danger and solve the mysteries that reveal themselves once they travel Into the Portal. Join Dex and River as they hunt down the Portal Stars and uncover the secrets behind the universe’s biggest mysteries. Into the Portal is the first chapter in the story of the StarKeepers Saga, a sweeping story of intergalactic heroism, bravery, and adventure.
First episode: 2023-3-13
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Mayhem
Audio Drama - Science fiction, Comedy
It has been over one thousand days since we have been liberated, ladies and gentlemen from the tyranny of freedom. This is your daily reminder of how good you have had it since the Artilean extraterrestrial invasion and subjugation, which succeeded after a battle with human forces lasting roughly eleven and a half minutes. All Hail Artilea! All Hail the eyes in the sky! Here’s how good you have it today.
First episode: 2023-3-13
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おばあちゃんの旅 by AudioMovie®
Audio Drama - Crime and Mystery
「進化系ラジオドラマ」AudioMovie®シリーズ。新潮社との共同企画で、作家の松尾由美が書下ろした小説「おばあちゃんの旅」が原作。Spotify, Apple Podcast, Amazon Music, Google Podcastなどポッドキャストサービスで無料配信。【2023年3月14日（火）配信開始／毎週火曜日更新予定（全3話）】 亡くなった祖母の遺品整理で見つかった8年前の新聞記事。点と線をつなげるために孫娘がたどる記憶の旅。1千万円の現金。おばあちゃんは特殊詐欺の加害者なのか、被害者なのか8年前にかかって来た電話から物語は動き出す。 主人公のおばあちゃんを演じるのはＴＢＳラジオ『赤江珠緒 たまむすび』の「えなばあちゃん」としておなじみ、俳優の「下川江那」
First episode: 2023-3-13
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Basilisk Hill Breakdown
Audio RPG - Fantasy
An Actual Play podcast, using the Old School Essentials Ruleset, of mid-level hexcrawling and sandbox exploration. Episodes drop every two weeks, and recaps of the sessions can be found at https://www.thirdkingdomgames.com/blog/categories/actual-play
First episode: 2023-3-14
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DERAILED: a fictional mystery podcast
Audio Drama - Crime and Mystery
Just when you think you’ve figured the story out, DERAILED: a fictional murder mystery podcast throws you off track and draws you in even deeper into its twisty turny world.
First episode: 2023-3-14

Respect Black Beetle

"Freedom is overrated."

Black Beetle was a ruthless warrior for the alien race known as the Reach, serving as the chief of security overseeing their invasion of Earth. Armed with the advanced scarab exosuit technology Black Beetle was a deadly force in battle against Earth's heroes.
Overpowering the Team on multiple occasions, it was only with Blue Beetle's mastery of his own abilities that Black Beetle's scarab was disarmed and the warrior fled to space to stew on his revenge.
Scaling: 1. Blue Beetle 2. The Team 3. Arsenal 4. Impulse 5. Superboy 6. Aqualad 7. Batgirl 8. Bumblebee 9. Miss Martian 10. Robin 11. Wonder Girl 12. Tigress

Strength

Striking

• Knocks Superboy a distance away
• Overpowers Wonder Girl, Superboy, Lagoon Boy, and Batgirl before punching Superboy so hard he craters into the floor
• Catches Wonder Girl's punch, and knocks her away
• Beats Wonder Girl against a wall repeatedly until she passes out
• Punches Blue Beetle a distance away, saying he is just toying with the Team
• Trades blows with Mongul and wrestles him for a moment before getting help to lock him away
• Backhands Black Manta a distance away
• Quickly pummels and disposes of Superboy

Rocket strength

• Blue Beetle rockets him into the side of a ship and he rockets back, overpowering Blue Beetle
• Rockets into Mongul, overpowering his tackle
• Rockets into Mongul along with Green Beetle
• Rockets into an uppercut that knocks Longshadow over, and then KOs him with a blast from his sonic cannon

General

• Swings Wonder Girl around with her own lasso and flings her away
• Breaks out of Arsenal's binding foam
• Locks arms with Blue Beetle to grapple with him
• Pulls one of Blue Beetle's staples from a wall, freeing its captive

Durability

Concussive

• Shrugs off punches from Impulse and knocks him away
• Takes a full punch from Superboy with little effect
• Unaffected by Wonder Girl's kick, catches her punch, and knocks her away
• Takes a hit from Lagoon Boy and counterattacks
• Tackled by Superboy and Wonder Girl and overpowers them
• Mongul slams him into a building and he drops to the ground, with both impacts sending out debris
• Trades blows with Mongul
• Takes a kick from Mongul and keeps fighting
• Takes hits from Miss Martian's Deathstroke and Tigress simultaneously and keeps fighting
• Shrugs off hits from Miss Martian's Deathstroke and blocks some of her blows
• Green Beetle slams him into the ground and Black Beetle shrugs it off
• Blue Beetle rockets him into the side of a ship and he rockets back, overpowering Blue Beetle

Explosive

• Takes a rapid succession of explosives from Robin and Batgirl that have no effect
• Unaffected by Arsenal's grenade launcher

Energy

• Blue Beetle's plasma cannon turns him red hot for a moment and he compares it to a warm bath
• Ignores Robin & Batgirl's tasers and counterattacks
• Robin says Arsenal's laser is the only thing to damage Black Beetle, who then blocks the laser blast for a sustained time and regenerates the wound it leaves before counterattacking [Regeneration]
• Ignores Bumblebee's stings and KOs her with his sonic cannon, keeping her unconscious for awhile
• Downed by an energy blast he soon recovers and regenerates from [Regeneration]
• Takes sustained energy and sonic blasts from Blue Beetle before blasting him away with his chest cannon

Mixed

• Unaffected by Robin's blows or electrified staff, knocking him away
• Laughs off a barrage of Blue Beetle's staples, Arsenal's laser, and an explosive from Robin, and regenerates from any damage that is done [Regeneration]
• Shrugs off two slashes to the torso from Green Beetle and flying through the ground hard enough to tear up the ground in his wake
• Shrugs off energy blasts and a hit from Long Shadow
• Takes a succession of attacks from the younger heroes and gets back up

Misc.

• Unaffected by Impulse's attempts to suck away his oxygen
• Clashes with Green Beetle and regenerates from a slash across his back [Regeneration]
• Blue and Green Beetles' sonic cannons combine at a precise frequency that warps off Black Beetle's scarab and knocks him unconscious, though not for long
• Black Beetle's fight with Mongul began around May 30, 00:33 MDT and continued until May 30, 10:36 UTC, meaning their fight lasted for roughly 3 hours.

Speed

Travel

• Despite their head start still flies after the Team and catches them
• Rockets away from Miss Martian and Blue Beetle, escaping them

Reactions

• Shrugs off punches from Impulse and knocks him into a stand that collapses by using tracking software that processes faster than Impulse can run
• Tracks Impulse again and staples him to a wall
• Dodges some energy blasts while taking others
• Catches an arrow from Arsenal's crossbow and breaks out of the binding foam it releases

Weaponry

Plasma cannons

• Sends up a debris cloud with his cannon
• Blasts Mongul a distance away with his chest cannon
• Creates a cannon on his back that blasts away Green Beetle and lights surrounding crops aflame
• Blasts Blue Beetle out of the air
• Blasts apart a large metal container
• Blasts Blue Beetle away with his chest cannon
• Converts the top half of his body into an energy cannon that matches Blue Beetle's
• Blasts Aqualad with his chest cannon

Sonic cannons

• Sonic cannon hurts Superboy and Wolf's ears on its periphery and destabilizes a frequency that collapses a golem
• Matches sonic cannon blasts with Blue Beetle
• Blasts Lagoon Boy distance away with his sonic cannon, embedding him into machinery
• KOs Longshadow with a blast from his sonic cannon
• Rapidly KOs Static and others with his sonic cannon
• KOs Bumblebee with his sonic cannon, keeping her unconscious for awhile
• Breaks apart the binding foam holding several aliens together

Blades

• Slices through a thick boulder and locks blades with Green Beetle
• Swordfights with Green Beetle
• Overpowers Blue Beetle in a swordfight
• Clashes blades again with Blue Beetle
• Swordfights with Blue Beetle and punches him a distance away, says he is just toying with the Team
• Swordfights with Aqualad
• Stabs Ra's al Ghul through the torso

Piercing projectiles

• Tracks Impulse and staples him to a wall, temporarily knocking him out for awhile
• Fires staples from his back at Batgirl and Robin
• Fires javelins that pierce Static's metal platform

Misc.

• Binds Lagoon Boy's hands to him and electrocutes him
• Locks arms with Blue Beetle and produces clubs from his torso that pummel Blue Beetle

Gadgetry

Interface

• Commands the door on a ship to close
• Shifts the density of a wall when Miss Martian phases through it to KO her
• Closes off a hole in a spaceship
• Green Beetle attempts to hack his scarab, but Black Beetle outhacks him and he destroys Green Beetle's scarab
• Attempts to hack Blue Beetle but is out-hacked when Jamie and his scarab work in tandem, destroying Black Beetle's scarab

Misc.

• Shrugs off punches from Impulse and knocks him into a stand that collapses by using tracking software that processes faster than Impulse can run
• Tracks Impulse again and staples him to a wall

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Huge shoutout to IamNotaChinaboo for collecting and clipping all the gifs!

It was morning. Around forests and meadows. Summer was slowly beginning. Only a month has passed since the end of the war. The crisp Andaroln air was in the air. On a chestnut horse, Lord Kylian Tarington came to the city of Lira. A city that, several years ago, still belonged to the Sundaroln Empire.
During the war, it was taken over by the Kingdom of Andaroln. And the lord of the city was Silas Tarington. Then in the war with the Kingdom of Ithrandil, the elves occupied this city and it was occupied for years. The stalemate caused by losses on both sides prolonged the war. The Andarolians would not be satisfied with peace if even part of their territory remained in the hands of the Elves.
Now that the borders are back to what they were before the war and no one has gained anything, Kylian has returned to the city where he spent his teenage years. His father died in the war Lira belongs to him now. He was a thin man in his twenties of medium height, with a round face, a low forehead, a small potato nose, large, prominent ears, short black hair, and a goatee. He wore a simple leather vest, trousers and boots. He was looking at the city with a happy look from his small green eyes.
It was a city surrounded by a wall, but at first glance, the glory days of the defensive structure are over. The once black wall, made of Sundaroln bricks scorched by fire magic, had gaps that were only partially filled with simple ordinary stones. The Sundaroln magic strengthened the wall, but the Andaroln stonemasons could not recreate it. Andarolian stone walls were up to thirty feet high. The Sundarolians could build three times as tall.
The Lord's companion was his Father's steward, Sir Thalis. A man in his fifties with short blond hair and green eyes, a wide mustache and a small rounded nose. In steel mail and half helmet.
— Sir Thalis, you have always been faithful to my Father, but I am a completely different man. Will you be faithful to me even if I turn my Father's legacy upside down and make it mine? — Young Lord asked.
— I will follow you, my Lord, whatever your beliefs, I swore to you and before that to your Father Silas — Sir Thalis replied.
They entered a gate guarded by guards. It resembled an arch. There were neither bars nor a wooden gate with bolts.
— Lord Tarington — the guard bowed when he saw the Hare Crest on the cloak thrown over the horse.
— It's a pleasure to welcome you to Lira.— He added.
— I will go to the palace at once, I would like to receive my advisers at once. — He said to the guard and left.
They passed simple wooden huts. Some of them were burned, and some were crushed by the stones from the catapults that flew over the wall during the assault. Fire was burning in some of the fireplaces. Driving down an unpaved road. They passed through the northwest gate of the city and found themselves in its northwestern part. This part was inhabited mainly by Andarolians and Andarolian buildings prevailed here. The townspeople looked at them curiously. The city was divided into four parts and was the second largest city in Andaroln. Separated by the crossing of the Iliana's River with the Tascal's River, which is a kind of border between the Sundaroln Empire and the Kingdom of Andaroln. The Lord's Palace was located in the south-eastern part of the city. That's where he was heading.
As they approached the bridge. A paved road appeared, and houses from wood scorched by fire magic appeared. Sundaroln buildings prevailed here. They were black, but with beautiful clay tile roofs and glass windows, not just wooden shutters for holes in the walls like Andaroln homes.
Now the looks of curiosity turned to contempt. There were many Sundarolans in the city who did not feel Lira belonged to Andaroln. In addition, due to the slightly darker complexion of former Imperial citizens, the inhabitants could easily recognize the origins of other inhabitants. And that just gave them more reasons to hate themselves.
They finally reached the Palace. A beautiful marble building with soaring towers and huge red glass windows. The roof was also covered with clay tiles. The palace was surrounded by a ten-feet-high marble wall. More of a fence than a fortification. Two guards stood at the gate to the wall. Armed with spears and a round wooden shield bearing the Crest of the Kingdom of Andaroln.
They bowed as Kylian and Thalis rode in. Then they entered the palace as the grooms took the horses from them. The young Lord walked the red carpet towards the throne, passing the rows of marble columns of the great throne room. Even the throne rooms in the palaces of the Sundaroln Empire were made as if the Emperor himself would sit there. Behind the throne hung a great Banner with a white hare on a blue background. Kylian sat on the throne. Lord Thalis stood at the steps to the marble throne. The two guards who guarded the throne bowed as their Lord passed them.
Soon the advisers arrived, they were nobles in beautiful furs and leather boots. One of them came out against the Lord. It was immediately apparent to Tarington that they were all Andarolians. An older man with long, well-groomed gray hair and a gray beard stepped ahead of the rest.
— Your Lordship, we are glad to see you back. — Said the adviser.
— Joren, what can you tell me about the current situation in the city? — Lord Kylian asked.
— Well, Your Lordship, the wall of the city is destroyed, we are effectively pacifying the Sundaroln independence movements. There is drought and food shortages. — Joren replied.
— Then I have a task for you, gather the guards and find any representative of this resistance, tell him I want to talk to him — Lord Tarington ordered.
— Lord, do you want to talk to these people who kill our people in dark alleys, burn granaries, and contribute to all sorts of crimes? — the advisor asked incredulously.
— I gave you an order, Joren. — Kylian answered him briefly, annoyed.
— Yes, Lord — The adviser left, not looking thrilled.
— There are supposedly elves here, is that true? I'd like to see them — Lord Tarington said.
— Follow me, please — one of the guards said. Kylian and Thalis followed him. To the left of the throne. To the stairs down. The guard began to speak, he was an Andarolian about Kylian's age. He wore tabard mail and a half-helmet like most of Lira's guards.
— In the dungeon under the palace there are important Elven commanders who ruled Lira, they are powerful mages, so they are guarded by our mages. Overall, there are over two thousand high elves in Lyra, but those are the ones your Lordship wants to talk to, right? — Guardsmen asked.
Thalis was a bit struck by the fact that some guard started a conversation with the Lord so uninvited, without even asking permission. However, Lord Tarington took no notice of it.
— Yes, I want to meet them. — He responded.
They passed rows of empty cells. Bars and only small covered windows through which you can't even stretch your hand. The dungeon under the palace is a dark room lit by torchlight. The air was heavy and smelled like death. Five mages in blue robes stood at the end of the hall, accompanied by two more guards, guarding the cell. They bowed as the Lord came. A baby's cry rang out. Kylian hadn't expected to hear him in a place like this. In a slightly larger cell, he saw about ten High Elves, including a woman with a small child. They had small straw beds on the stone floor and five buckets. They were all handcuffed and dressed only in linen tunics. They had silver skins and all kinds of hair colors. Their eyes shone with different colors of yellow and green. Tarington looked with disgust at the conditions in which the starved elves lived.
— Why are they so crammed into one cell? — Kylian Asked.
— We don't have enough mages to keep an eye on each one individually — one of the magicians replied.
— Take this woman, find her a chamber in the palace until we find an alternative — Kylian ordered.
The guard took the keys and opened the cells. He went inside. And he went to the elf, grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the cell. One of the elves aggressively ran to the bars.
— Where are you taking her? — He asked. He had long hair the color of dried grass and yellow eyes. Like most elves, he was slim, tall, and narrow-shouldered.
— To a better place, somewhere where she she will have a bed and can wash up, you'll come with us. — the Lord answered him, and the attendant guard seized him by the arm.
— What is your name? — he asked the elf
— Tommen — He replied. They returned with the Elf back to the throne room. However, Kylian did not sit on the throne, he stood face to face with Tommen.
— Uncuff him — He ordered guards.
— I don't think that's very reasonable, you know I'm a mage — replied the elf contemptuously.
— You're so starved that you won't even let out a spark, I know a thing or two about magic, listen, I can't let you go. — Lord Tarington said.
— I'm your prisoner why would you do that? — said the Prisoner.
— I can't let you go, because even if I do, you won't cross the east pass anyway, they're building a castle there, there's a lot of Andarolians there, and as prisoners you're completely useless. — Kylian replied
Meanwhile, several Sundarolans entered the throne room, accompanied by Joren and the city guards.
— You are not interested in farming, you want our knowledge and magic, we will not pass it on to the Andarolians, you are our enemies. — said the elf.
Lord Tarington spoke loudly — Not to the Andarolians, but to the people of Lira, today it will not mean the same thing, if you want to get out of these dungeons and become citizens of Lira, you must give something in return. The Lira has burned too many times, I'll make sure this was the last time. To achieve this, we need to repair the wall, I know you know barrier spells that will harden it, we need weapons, and we need to solve the drought problem. For this you need cooperation. — he paced the room and looked at the Sundarolians now. — Yours too, can you fix the wall? — He ended with a question.
— Why would we repair the Andarolian wall? — replied a middle-aged Sundaroln man with dark eyes and black hair. Dressed in linen clothes.
— Because the southern one is whole, and that's where the Empire is, after all, the northern one is for defense against Andaroln, that's also in your favor, isn't it? — Kylian asked. The Sundaroln fell silent.
— Believe in me and I will believe in you — Lord Tarington began, and turned back to the Elf. — I know you don't like this lifestyle, in Ithrandil you are guardians of the balance of nature and you live in harmony with it, but you have no other home — He said.
The Andarolans present in the hall were shocked..
— Joren, have the townspeople gather at the palace, I have a speech to give — Kylian ordered.
— He didn't ask me if I agreed — Tommen said to Thalis.
— Consider it respect to you, no Andaroln Lord would ever offer it to you, they just thought you were too smart to turn down the offer. — Thalis replied to him.
— We're not some Fall Elves to be driven by money and power.. — the Elf added, but he knew that Lord Kylian was right. They will not return to the Elven Kingdom. And what he wants to create may turn out to be good
Two hours later it was noon. Lord Tarington was standing on the balcony of the palace. It was a Sundaroln thing. The palaces had balconies so that you could speak to the people from them. Outside the walls of the Palace, there were a lot of people. Were all the inhabitants really here? Everywhere he looked, the streets were packed. He spoke.
— Dear people of Lira, I am your new Lord, so I want to announce the changes that are coming. Today is an important date, in about a year you will choose a new ruler of Lyra. — conversations began in the background — For the city from this day forward will be called the Free City of Lira, no Kingdom, or Andaroln, or Ithrandil, or Empire of Sundaroln, none of them has kept you safe. You have suffered sieges and occupations again and again. If they can't keep us safe, then we have to do it ourselves, and to do that, we have to build our city together across divisions such as race and ethnicity. We will use the common knowledge that diversity allows us to do. We'll make it strong. We need schools that will teach young generations, not only to write and read, but even magic, because here in our Lira, access to magic and science will not be determined by social status, long live free Lira — he shouted at the end and raised his fist in the air.
The crowd fell silent. People looked at each other. Finally someone broke out of the crowd and also raised his fist in the air. — Long live the free Lira — He shouted. More and more people started joining. Finally the crowd started chanting "Long live the free Lira"
More as alwyas on my Wattpad. Please share If you like it.

Chapter fucking 60, and we answer the biggest question that’s existed since chapter two. I tried my best, so i really hope you like it. Point out any logic faults or inconsistencies as soon as you spot them, cuz i don’t want to ride this chapter out and have to contort later to accommodate it. Have fun, guys. I’ll see your opinions and theories in the comments!
First Prev Next Royal Road
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Adam leaned away from the recording device, the man sitting on a single chair next to a woman seated to his right, his partner smiling brightly as she took his hand. The room seemed to be a Union passenger accommodation aboard some transit craft, though the lack of flourishes suggested it was not a public ship. Adam cleared his throat, giving the woman an excited look before addressing the device.
“This will be our first contact with the newly discovered sapient races, and as such, a few of us representing Humanity have decided to record our experiences. All that we know so far is that they are insectoid in nature, and have developed in a peaceful society with a heavy focus on the arts. From architecture to sculpting, and anything else that involves making something into something else.”
He glanced to the woman, a passive excitement on his face as he got over the initial nervousness.
“My wife, Clara, and i are both excited to have been given the opportunity to participate. She is a xeno-pediatric specialist, so we hope to glean more information from her expertise while we are there. Out of the several hundred Humans who were selected to contribute to this introduction to the broader galaxy, we feel our reports back to the Union may aid in deciding if they will be welcomed with open arms, or if they will be assigned a section of the cosmos that they will be allowed to occupy without outside influence.”
Clara almost bounced out of her chair at the opportunity to chip in. “We look forward to presenting this log to the Human representatives, and we hope you find our findings useful in your decision!”
Adam laughed, reaching forward to end the recording. “You just want to meet their babies.”
“Of cour-”
The video flicked to the next scene, the area now an intricately carved, if a little rustic, room that seemed to be primarily dug out of stone, though it held lighting and very basic furniture carved out of the wall.
Adam had changed clothing, his wife not in the frame as the man visibly tried to get comfortable on the hard seat, his professional presentation abandoned as he spoke more casually. “It’s been two days, give or take, since we have arrived. The language barrier has been eased by a rudimentary translator that we were provided, but once we mentioned the issue to our hosts, they asked for one themselves and set to work in an attempt to improve it.”
The man chuckled as he gave up trying to make the stone less difficult to sit on. “It’s looking like the Union had sectioned off a newly developed planet for these introductions, with the Atmo’s blessing, and we are the fifteenth species to be shown to these people, though the first who require the kind of comforts like this.”
He gestured around the room. “The amenities you see that were provided to us were done in a few hours, once we described what we would need. We were hesitant to complain, rock isn’t exactly the best material to sleep on, but they asked if Clara would like to accompany them while they try to adjust our room as we wait for arrangements elsewhere.” The man snorted, a look past the device given to something else in the room. “It was pretty amusing to watch her walk out with an eight-foot-tall mantis-arachnid, i have to say.”
His eyes widened. “Right! The Atmo! I forgot to describe them.”
Joseph glanced at Pan, her paw gripping his hand firmly as she watched with a slightly worried expression. Violet seemed very interested in the two sets of subtitles under the video as the man described her race in far greater detail than the Grand Hunter would want to, using several anatomically correct words that sounded more like an incantation than anything recognizable.
“...And their forelimbs are two longer blades that they use for pretty much everything. It would be difficult to say how much they would be able to accomplish if they didn’t have a ‘sister-species’ with more manipulation to assist them.” Adam mused, a hand reaching up to scratch at his chin. “They’re much the same, though. From our limited translations, they seemed to have been a case of divergent evolution that converged again after gaining seven manipulator appendages rather than the two weapon-focused ones that the Atmo use. The Kuoori are visually similar, though lower in number. They’re the ones working on the translator, by the way.”
Clara’s voice called from off-screen, the volume lacking as she seemed to be talking from across the room. “You said you’d wait longer!”
Adam held his hands up in deference. “I just wanted to get the boring stuff out of the way!”
“We’re visiting our homestead tomorrow, and you want to spend the day giving them-”
The screen flickered as a feminine hand covered the image, the next frame of the video starting inside a much nicer construction, the furniture having moved locations around the room suggesting they had changed venue and looking far more comfortable for it. Several of the instalments looked much like the ‘Atmo couch’ that Mama had made for themselves at the base.
Clara spoke up before her husband could start. “We’re visiting a new wing of the habitation compound!”
“It’s a nest.” Adam corrected with a glare, though the smirk showed he was far more amused than annoyed at his wife’s enthusiasm.
She stuck her tongue out at him, all pretenses of the video being educational tossed out the window. She turned back to the device with a smile a mile wide. “They live in huge groups! I couldn’t count them all, but i think there are upwards of three-hundred here alone! And there are several places like it!”
“It’s a sea of colour.”
“It’s beautiful and you know it.” She countered playfully, prodding his cheek with her knuckle. Adam chuckled, pushing away the offending limb.
“I don’t think i mentioned how many colours there are.”
Clara lit up at the chance to talk more. “They are recorded to cover most of the visible spectrum, from what i was told, but majority seem to be shades of red and blue, with some green and yellow being far less common.”
“They’re also very eager to ask us about our interpretations of art.”
The woman rolled up her pants leg to display a stylized tattoo of a lighthouse against stormy seas. “They seen this and within an hour they started adding the style to one of their newest rooms.”
Adam rested his cheek on a fist, watching his wife with an amused and loving smirk. “I heard one of the other groups showed them origami and twenty minutes later there were forty Atmo asking for sheets of paper.”
Clara looked at her husband in surprise. “Really?”
“Yeah. Apparently another group-”
The scene changed to a stabilized recording, the device being carried by one of the two. A few moments passed as they panned over the expansive tunnel network brightly lit by a slightly green shade of white light, tens of Atmo stopping to wave to the couple once the pair had started the gesture. Clara’s voice again became prominent.
“We’re visiting their nursery today!” She whispered into the device, though it was pretty damn loud for what should have been quiet.
“Hatchery.” Her husband corrected, not very concerned by her volume. She waggled the recording device in his direction, answering that small question.
“We get to see the little baby Atmo!”
Adam shook his head, his own excitement showing through. “They’ll be in their eggs.”
“We get to see the little baby Atmo eggs!”
The scene cut to the ‘hatchery’, carefully carved divots lining shelves where hundreds of rice-looking ‘eggs’ sat upon what looked to be very soft materials that seemed closer to silk than anything else Joseph could identify. Each egg seemed to be about large enough to reach past his knee if you were to stand them up, making the scale of the room rather impressive. Adam had taken the device, his wife being supervised by an amused Atmo that looked oddly familiar, the blue coloration striking him as the same that Mama sported, though the green tint and similarity between the ones he had seen so far made it pretty clear that it was exceedingly unlikely for his Atmo to be the same one. He raised a brow at the chipped blade, though it was on the opposite side and thus settled the suspicion.
Clara tentatively pet an egg, glancing at the watchful Atmo every so often to make sure she wasn’t doing anything wrong, though her face was filled with wonder rather than worry. She asked if it would be okay to hold one, the subtitled response from the Atmo directing her to an area where the eggs were hardened and more able to manage her handling.
The woman looked to be in euphoric shock as she cradled the seed of life in her arms, Adam absently commenting from behind the device with a suppressed chuckle. “This is what happens when you get your wife pregnant.”
The screen flickered, a slightly longer pause between clips giving Joseph a chance to look at Pan. The female seemed to have been watching the Human woman cradle the egg with a longing deeply set in her eyes, the paw not resting within his hand laid to her stomach. The Grand Hunter gave her paw a squeeze, getting a sad smile in return before the next part of the video played.
Adam was alone in the room, though the distant voices suggested that Clara and someone else were talking in another part of wherever they were staying. Occasional clicks were replied to with laughter or questions, the woman’s voice carrying further than the indeterminate gender of the other. The man shook his head.
“If it wasn’t obvious; they finished working on the translator.” He turned his head to point at a thin cut behind his ear. “It wasn’t forced, before you ask. One of the groups apparently brought along an entire medical ward worth of textbooks and files, and just gave it to the Atmo. Looks like half of the time they spent with the device was training a separate version for text so that they could figure out how to implant it safely.”
Adam held up his hand to stop an imaginary rebuttal. “I know what you’re thinking, but we got to watch it be installed on several people who volunteered, and twenty three doctors confirmed it was on the up-and-up. Honestly, the Kuoori could probably perform a heart transplant in a couple minutes if they wanted to. Either way, we learned a few things!”
He clapped his hands softly. “They have royalty! Sort of. It’s complicated. There’s a ‘sub-species’ of sorts that are a bit smaller than the normal Atmo, and they have a slightly different exoskeleton structure than the usual you have seen so far. The biggest visual identifier is their legs. Atmo typically have conical legs, where as the sub-species have more angular legs. Think kite-shields or an orchid mantis. They can breed with normal Atmo, but the offspring are always female, have a very low chance to take after their mother, as far as their legs, and those who do are raised from hatching to lead. They spend most of their formative years under the guidance of one or more ‘Advisors’, kind of like guardians or parents for Humans, that helps guide them through morals, values, so on and so forth.”
His rolling hand showed how briefly he was condensing the history of the position, a muttered comment about how Clara was going to re-do it all in greater detail later showing that he was mostly just recording to remind his wife in future what to mention.
“The position is chosen by the ‘Hatcher’, who raises them to the point where they are able to begin the process, and approved by the mother Queen, if she is still able. Then the Hatcher will take a more supportive role in their life, rather than being directly influential. Think of it as a maid taking care of the kids until they are old enough for tutors to become available in old houses of nobility. Anyway. The ‘Advisor’ acts as their guardian and compass for how to act as a Queen, and it’s not a position taken lightly. The rest of the Nest’s second priority is the ‘Advisor’, after the young Queen herself, obviously.”
Adam leaned back on the carved couch, the soft material over it looking similar to what was used in the hatchery. “We were invited to see a ceremony as several Queens are nearing the proper age, though it won’t be until a year or so. We’re expecting the process to take about three, before we’re brought back to Sol, so it should make a fun addition to our time here.”
“Adam!” Clara called. “Red want’s to know if you want to meet her son! He hatched a few months ago!”
The man shunted his eyes closed, visibly pained at the moniker as he muttered something about Atmo adoring Human naming conventions. “Do i have a choice?”
“Do you want to sleep on the floor?”
A sigh escaped the man as he grinned, reaching for the device as he got up from his seat. “We’re recording it, ri-”
A clip of Adam on his knees playing with a tiny yellow Atmo was accompanied by Clara squealing every time the young one successfully caught her husbands hand between its blades, the two-foot tall child looking to the large Red Atmo in excitement with each victory in the little game that had developed.
Joseph felt Pan’s grip on his hand tighten, a tear building in her eye as her gaze refused to move away from the scene. Violet sat on the floor with her legs tucked underneath her as she silently continued the viewing.
The next clip showed that quite some time had passed, Adam looking like he hadn’t shaved in quite a while as he sat on the floor against a wall, the device held in his hand and pointed towards him.
“Clara went into labour early.” He started, the exhausted expression only saved by the smile of disbelief. “I know it’s been a long while since we’ve documented anything, but I’ll go over that later. For now? Remember those textbooks and the like that were given when they asked for a translator? Well, It happened to cover c-sections, and If it wasn’t for Red and Jack, I’d probably be here crying as opposed to just tired after helping our baby boy take his first breaths.”
The man laughed, a tear of relief running down his cheek. “We didn’t even get time to really figure out what was wrong. Jack, sorry, Red’s partner... Yeah, they like the sound of our names and insisted that we give them nicknames. Jack took one look at Clara and in all of thirty seconds we had twelve Atmo rushing us to their Human hospital. Yeah. Human hospital.”
A fresh chuckle emerged from the man. “Turns out that they were implementing every single thing they could copy from those books. Entire fields were populated by Atmo involved in this ‘mixed species introduction’ who wanted to be able to help their new friends. Some martial arts guys from a few sectors over even showed off their skills and now it’s a popular past time amongst the species. They’re sponges for information. Best yet? They learned that we have over a thousand languages, and have started work on adaptive translators, just because they were worried they wouldn’t be able to talk to any new Humans. It’s insanity.”
He paused, soft clicking was subtitled as a request for him to return since Clara had woken up. He winked to the device. “Time to go tell my wife she’s the first woman to be fully cut open by a new species.”
Static overtook the screen, Pan’s wide-eyed glance in his direction being met with his own. Joseph looked down to Violet, the Atmo seeming transfixed on the screen and oblivious to the importance of the information dumped on them so offhandedly.
A series of clunks and assorted handling noise ripped the question from his mouth as he refocused on the video, the scene switching to what looked to be several months later, based on the growth of the baby boy laying in a red Atmo’s arms next to Clara as she played with the now slightly larger yellow Atmo child. The two’s conversation was barely coherent as the noise from the four garbled most attempts to parse any particular words. Adam called out to them, gaining the attention of all but the baby boy who seemed more interested in slapping the exoskeleton of his seat rather than humour his father.
“So, what are we excited about?”
Clara rolled her eyes, looking far more well rested than Joseph would expect a new mother to be. “Just say that the next selection for the ‘Advisors’ is tomorrow, Adam.”
The husband sighed audibly. “At least pretend to document something.”
“I’m busy!”
“Playing with Michael.”
“He’s adorable!”
Red chittered, the subtitled text labelling her thoughts on how cute the Human baby was in return. Clara laughed, picking up the small Atmo in her arms and receiving a small cut on her arm from not being careful enough. Red started to worry before the woman dismissed her concerns and reassured Michael that it wasn’t his fault, the young insect taking greater care to tuck his blades, much to Adam’s amusement.
A flicker of the footage transitioned the scene to a massive hall with tall ceilings, large pillars sporting the style of Clara’s tattoo and several other more ‘realism’ inspired works that Joseph recognized from some co-workers who often decorated their skin. Many Atmo were standing orderly around the room as the device panned to show off the gathering, settling towards the ‘front’ of the room where three Atmo, each looking a lot like Violet, angular legs and all, sat on modified blocks. The three were different colours, two a shade of blue and one an almost orange colour, and all had ten Atmo standing nearby behind them.
Four young Atmo ‘Queens’ that were only slightly larger than Violet waited patiently as one of the adult Queens gave a speech about why each ‘Advisor’ was chosen, two falling into the category of an appreciation or excellence in one form of art or another, though one was chosen for their involvement in the newly developed medical fields that would enable them to assist their new friends.
One last young Queen remained, the rest being escorted out with commentary from the Human couple. She approached the orange Queen, her color almost the same tint, as the adult Atmo left her seating to address the room instead of remaining at rest. Clara apparently prodded Adam in her excitement in the different procedure, a hushed yell masquerading as a whisper for him to make sure he was getting a good angle.
A longer speech was given, vague and broad, until the Queen mentioned that she would be entrusting her heir personally to someone who may offer lifetimes of new experiences and values that would be irreplaceable to her people. An Atmo pushed Adam from behind to usher him to the Queen, the device snatched from his hands by Clara as she squeaked in excitement. It followed the man as he was presented to the Queen, a familiar blue Atmo approaching from off to the side. The Hatcher from when Clara held the egg, if Joseph was right.
The Hatcher lowered itself to Adam’s level, resting her blades over his back like the other Hatchers did for their selected Advisors, placing their head to his as the Queen continued her speech and Clara asked a nearby Atmo for an explanation of the gesture.
The response described it as a vestigial display of trust, for leaving one’s blades far from oneself leaves your life forfeit to whomever you do it to. The only people that a Hatcher would do it with is those they entrust the young Queens to, and a Queen will do it to accept. There existed no higher honour than to have the formality performed, so it was rare that one would, but if someone wished to deny, they would separate.
Clara visibly bounced in excitement, her voice cracking from tears of joy as Adam, hesitant and confused, accepted the embrace from the Hatcher, young Queen, and even the orange Queen herself, once she publicly announced that Humans were to be considered ‘allies of the Atmo’ in light of their contribution to their society and willingness to integrate.
The venue exploded into excited clicks and chitters, Clara doing nothing to fight her overwhelming emotions.
Joseph’s eyes started to dry from how wide they had grown, the strain stinging slightly as he looked down to Violet, the daughter having shrunk into herself as she watched passively. A million thoughts flashed through his mind, several of which were dedicated to replaying the moments where something exceedingly close to the video happened back when it was just them in the cave.
“Adam, have you seen Mary?” Clara’s voice called, the scene changing back to the place where they were staying, presumably with Red. The man quickly gestured for the orange juvenile Queen to hide behind the couch he was sitting on with a smirk, the Atmo quietly chittering as she complied.
“No, why?”
She entered the room, taking two steps before a loud click and a jumping figure emerged from behind the seating, causing Clara to jolt with a hand to her chest as she tried to look angry at her husband for encouraging the behaviour. Adam laughed, winking to ‘Mary’ and giving her a subtle thumbs-up as his wife tossed a pillow at him.
Many clips played, each snippets into the everyday life of the young Queen becoming more and more like a genuine child to the pair. Mary holding the baby and feeding him, her sleeping on Adam as Clara laughed, the group walking around the outside and Mary excitedly escorting them from place to place. It looked perfectly natural to Joseph.
They were a family. The Human couple had fully embraced the Atmo as their second child, and the young Queen seemed delighted for every second on display. Even going so far as to stomp all six legs in sequence when denied her request to stay up late so that she might watch the baby for a little longer, much to the couple’s suppressed amusement.
Static signified the next transition, Adam sitting at a table with a muscular man and chatting, Clara’s voice behind the device halting their joking for a moment. “So what did you do, Steven?”
The man, Steven, laid down his cup and pointed at the woman off-screen, a smirk on his face giving away his amusement. “I held a fighting competition.”
“With his Queen.” Adam added, his own entertainment gained from the reiteration of the conversation.
“Becky wanted to see what would happen if Humans and Atmo competed!” Steven laughed as he defended himself.
“And?” Clara chipped in, prodding him to get to the point. Steven shook his head as he worked down the chuckles.
“Well, David clocked Mark, the Atmo, and sent the big guy to the ground. It was a tense moment, I’ll tell you now.” Steven widened his eyes, his lips drew thin, though the smile still tugged the expression to a positive one. “Once Mark was helped back up, he complimented David, and the entire fucking arena blew up in cheers from everyone. Even Becky looked worried for a minute.”
“Because you almost caused a cross-species diplomatic incident.” Adam chided with a bemused shake of his head.
“Hey,” Steven pointed a finger at the husband, raising his cup with his free hand. “Becky loved it so much that she’s been taking lessons from the rest of us, and the Atmo have started joining in on our training to learn the art properly instead of just using it to dance.”
Clara snorted behind the device. “The art of smacking people with sticks?”
“And fists.” Steven added, laying one arm over the backrest of his chair. “It’s not everyday that you spar with living weapons.”
Adam reached over to smack the man over the head. “She’s supposed to be like your child.”
“And I’d want my kids to know how to fight off a bully!”
The wife sighed loudly. “You military boys...”
“Send it to the Union!” Steve protested, some of his drink spilling outside of the cup with the raised hand. “It’s a pretty good case to have them join if we show off how willing they are to embrace other cultures.”
Adam opened his mouth to argue, shutting it as he considered the point and giving Clara a conceding tilt of his head. “Sounds like a good idea to me. Every other race seems pretty isolationist. Can’t hurt to show some ‘unity’ to the Union.”
Clara perked up, her voice contemplative. “I’ll send it in the morning. Right now though, i need to go pick up Daniel from Red. The poor girl was nice enough to babysit for me for us to have this little get-together.”
“Tell Jack i said to-”
Static again, though this time it was just Adam sat alone at a table, his stubble showing that he had skipped shaving for a while. The man ran his fingers through his hair as he exhaled.
“It was a mistake. A huge fucking mistake, to send that to the Union.”
He rubbed the stress out of his eyes.
“They sent a retrieval force after Steven for ‘violation of protocol and intention to cause discord’. Ten armed soldiers came to crash the tournament and dragged him kicking and screaming.” Adam cycled a deep breath. “Becky did what her Advisor had taught her... She fought the bullies.”
A hoarse laugh escaped the man, his eyes glazing over for a moment as he spoke.
“It was a slaughter. Once the Queen made her decision, every Atmo who could fight, did. Steven and the guys ended up helping out part way through, once the guns started firing. One minute, forty seconds. It took a minute-forty from Steven yelling at a soldier approaching his Queen, to three dead Atmo and two dead Humans, surrounded by ten dead Union species.”
Adam leaned forward in his chair, his eyes hazy yet still meeting the device. “I don’t know what’s going to come of this, but we’ve been talking with the various adult Queens... They normally don’t gather like this, each controlling their own territory and convening for important events, but it would be a massive cultural and societal blow if this planet gets taken out, so we suggested an alternative. Sol.”
He braced his head against his thumb. “The system has flooded with Union ships, but if the tech guys can work with the Kuoori, we might be able to scramble their systems enough to sneak out a few ships. Maybe send them in random directions for a while before they set out to inhabit a few planets in our system to help them get back on their feet, where it’s safe. Where the Union won’t find them.”
He sighed, closing his eyes tightly. “We’ll find out.”
The screen flickered, Mary, the juvenile orange Queen, gently held the baby boy on her blades while Clara and Adam watched with strained smiles from the couch. Steven and a red young Queen, Becky, apparently, both stood by the wall.
Steven spoke first, his voice loud and intense as he snarled at the husband, Mary purring to soothe the Human child. “A planet-breaker. A FUCKING planet-breaker, Adam! They nuked the shipyard!”
“I KNOW, Steven...” Adam toned back his own shouting when Mary looked at him warily. “I know... We have eight ships ready... out of an expected two hundred.”
Clara touched her husband’s shoulder tenderly, worry evident in her expression. “Did they say what they’re going to do?”
“Fuck knows.” Steven threw his arm to the side. “The Queens want to send two hundred adults and forty eggs per ship.”
“That’s all?” She asked, her voice almost painfully dejected at the prospect of so few being given the chance to live.
“That’s it.” He confirmed, his rage bubbling under the surface. He lightly gestured to Becky. “They want to send the next batch of Queens to hatch en route, and enough Atmo to raise and provide for the rest.”
Adam scowled. “What about the Kuoori? They saved Clara’s life and sacrificed more than half their population to build these damned ships.”
Steven shook his head. “The Kuoori want to make a stand. They said that they have spent much of their existence being protected by the Atmo, and it’s their turn to do the same. They’ll be helping us distract the fleet.”
“But we don’t even have proper escape pods! How in the hell are they going to survive anywhere without the Kuoori to back them up?”
“It will be slow, but they are still an intelligent people, Adam.” Clara reassured him, her grip tightening on his shirt as the baby began to whine. She thanked Mary for holding him and left to feed the child. Adam rested his hands in his head as Steven exhaled, his anger exhausted.
“Adam, look. I know that we didn’t get everything ready, and there are lines that are going to be crossed, but this is their best bet. We get them out of the system and to Sol through whatever means we can. They’ll take backwater, never used routes. We’ll get something sorted for if shit goes south and they need to get off.”
“And then what, Steven? The fighters want to follow us to hell, the medical teams want to delay that journey as long as possible, and everyone else is fighting for the chance to defend the very people who spelled their doom.”
“It’s very Human of them, right?”
Adam laughed, though it came off as hollow. “Tooth and nail, to the last... What about us?”
“We’re staying.”
“Stev-”
“You’re going. You’re taking Clara and the kid. Mary and Becky are going with you too.” He held up a hand at the protesting Atmo without turning his head. “It’ll be a smaller shuttle on a more direct route to Sol. We managed that much, it looks like. You can take maybe twenty others and some eggs. It won’t be great for a population, but they’ll bounce back with that many.”
“The seed-ships?”
“Like we agreed. Random routes to get them far away from this shit-show and then straight to Sol. It might be more than a few years, but the Queens should be hatched and ready to learn from the group you guys land with. They can hear what happened to them.”
The screen flickered again as Mary knocked it off the table in her curiosity, the anxious fidgeting leading her to interact with it.
Adam sat back in the original room where he made his declaration to Humanity, the bottle of alcohol half empty and no attempt was made to hide it this time.
“They managed to do it, at least.” He started, his expression flat as emotional exhaustion had taken even tears from him. “The seed-ships got out and will arrive in Sol... whenever, i suppose. The new translators were given to all of them and implanted in the young while they were in their eggs, so there shouldn’t be too much friction whenever they meet us. Schematics are available aboard the ships.”
He took another drink.
“Though we lost almost everyone. The Union kept up the planet-breakers. We got to watch as each world exploded. Kuoori, Human, Atmo... All obliterated.” The man took a breath and emptied his glass, a slight slur working its way into his voice. “Clara and Daniel are with Mary and Becky to help calm them down, and I’m here setting up the automated message for the seed-ships to use before they get out of range.”
The man slipped lower in his chair as he stared at the ceiling. “About a thousand Atmo are on each ship, all said and done. It was the most we could convince them to pack. Though, most of those numbers are whatever we could get from the Hatchery before it went up. Each ship was given two Queen eggs... the mothers didn’t want to abandon their people and new allies.” He laughed, some genuine feeling behind it. “Sarah, the orange Queen that left Mary with me, told me to raise her as my own along with Becky, once she accepted that Steven was trusting me with her. That, although it had been a short time, she thought Humanity would take care of her people... That they could live with us, and be better for it.”
Adam lowered his gaze to the device again. “The speech was something else, I’ll say that much. They addressed as many Atmo as they could and told those who would be leaving to find Humans, and they will find a home. A new Nest. A Family.” A tear, held in reserve for this specific memory, trailed down his cheek. “I want to believe that you will give it to them. Please. For the people who saved my wife, my child, and myself. For the people who gave me... Two beautiful and curious daughters, i suppose.”
Adam cycled a breath, fetching another cigarette from his pocket and igniting it in his mouth, taking a long draw before speaking as he exhaled. The sound of wood being carved inside of the terminal room filled the silence that the first exhale of smoke allowed, though Joseph was too focused to pay it any mind.
“They’re gone now. Red, Jack, Steven... Little Micheal... The Union took them with fire and brimstone as they raided and stole whatever they could before the rounds dropped. I watched it happen... We’ll arrive near Sol in a few months, since we need to fly under the radar, but this message will be distributed to all eight ships. Most will never know what a Human looks like, just that the few Adults and Hatchers were told roughly what to look for, and to entrust us with their lives. To do what Sarah and the other Queens asked of them before they made their last stand with their people.”
He nodded his head, taking another puff. The rapid scratching ceased after a small delay, a muted clatter punctuated the recorded words. “Let’s not let them down this time.”
Adam extinguished his smoke, folding his hands and sitting up straight, licking his lips with a tongue that was barely effective. “This has been Adam Callam. Hopefully, this isn’t the first time you have seen this message. If not, then i hope that you send whatever people are on this ship to their family. I hope it eventually includes you. Adam out. As Sarah said to those seeking refuge in the stars; May the Nest guide you to greatness, inspire your craft, and give you hope, for you are a pillar of the Atmo.”
The screen went dark, leaving the Terminal room to be dimly illuminated by the ambient light streaming in from the hall. A single line of Atmo text was translated below with the words Adam ended with, a familiar series of runes Joseph had seen on his armour that Mama crafted for him so long ago, displayed as the last frame of the video. The final words spoken from a Queen to her doomed people with a single wish that they might find somewhere to belong with a people they had just met, yet embraced wholly.
A choked sob came from Pan, the gravity of Violet’s situation hitting her like a canon.
Joseph’s adoptive daughter had lost everything before she was even able to know what she should have had. Her mother was dead, along with almost all of her own kind. Those that survived were sent in a desperate gambit to find somewhere that they wouldn’t be killed for just existing, and based on the fact that the Union had this message and not Humans, it didn’t look to be working out too well, to say nothing of the fact that her own ship had ended up so far from its destination and crashed into the one he was on.
It was the only answer he could come up with. The Union fucked with the cruise, dragged it all the way out here, and parked it directly in the path of the escaping Atmo ship. Add on whichever was taken out before it got to Sol, and that’s likely seven seed-ships still unaccounted for. He’d want to say that Adam had made it, but Rob not knowing about this before now suggested that it was the family's ship that was...
Who’s to say the other seven made it?
Violet, and whatever Atmo survived on this planet, could very well be the last of their people in existence... All because Humans taught them how to fight for sport.
Pan threw herself at him, the vocal crying stinging his soul to its core. He wrapped his arms around her and helped her to the ground next to Violet, the Atmo still quietly staring at the script displayed on the frozen screen.
A tablet lay next to her on the floor, Lilhun and Atmo script hastily scratched as if she was trying to reply to the desperate wish of a dead man in every way she thought might work, then discarded as the reality and futility of such actions set in.
Joseph held the tablet for Pan to read, his gentle patting drawing her attention between breaths. Her voice hitched while she read it, claws digging into his skin as her agony for the child renewed with his own before her screeching needed to be muffled by his chest. He felt his eyes burn as he rubbed her back and braced her head into his embrace, the heat pouring down his face contrasting the arctic chill in his core as her translation echoed in his ears.
“Please tell mother i found one, and that I hope she can meet him soon.”
Next

Okay, wholesome doesn't work. Another Yandere post it is then.
Word Processor file available upon request. Any SFX included are just suggestions for reference. If you want to use the script, then you can change whatever you want, and post it wherever you want. Monetization OK. Please just let me see the finished product. Credit me by putting「Script by The Mousou Koujou https://www.youtube.com/@TheMousouKoujou 」in your description, and if possible, placing this image at some point in the video, like an outro: Business Card
START
[Excited] Good morning honey~. It's time to wake up~
It's a nice, beautiful Sunday~, so I thought I'd bring you breakfast in bed. Is that okay? I have all of your favorites. Eggs sunny side up~. Bacon~ Pancakes~ and some white grape juice. Extra sweet. I would stake my pride as a chef on how delicious this is. Besides, I know you love this stuff, so please, eat up.
(Pause)
[Dejected] You…don't look excited. Are you...not hungry?
Still?
You've been acting like that for quite some time, you know. I can't tell if you're feeling unwell, or just messing with me. Although I'm leaning toward the latter.
You really don't want anything, huh. [Worried] Is it…my fault? Do you not like my cooking anymore? Even though you said you always looked forward to it at my restaurant? What changed? O-or maybe I'm the one who changed. I did start shopping at a different Supermarket. I guess there might be a subtle nuance in the flavor.
[Excited] But I'm surprised you could pick up on something like that. Your palate must be very sophisticated! (giggle)
[Dejected] But…your face is telling me I'm wrong. I wonder what it could be then.
(Sigh) Oh well. Asking you like this won't really get us anywhere. The important thing is that you eat anyway. You have to keep your strength up. Brace yourself. This'll sting a bit.
(She rips off the tape covering his mouth https://youtu.be/Gp9s_eGQqT8 )
Now that that's out of the way. Open your mouth. Come on. Open up. Please~~
(Pause)
Honey…I already told you. Y-you need to eat. You've been on this weird diet of yours for long enough. It can't be healthy. And you know that your health and comfort are my top priorities.
(Pause)
[A little sad] Of course I mean that! Why would you think otherwise? The first thing you said all day, and it's a little hurtful. I love you more than anything, so of course I want to keep you healthy. Have I really not made that clear? What…what can I do to prove it to you? Should I cook you something else? Do you want me to bake you some desserts this time? Or are you just tired of my cooking, and want some takeout?
[Nervous] B-because I don't mind. R-really, I don't. Everyone needs a ch-change of pace. You won't, uh, hurt my feelings if you say you want someone else's cooking, e-every once in a while. So will that…make you happy?
(Pause)
I'm…"missing the point?" Please, just explain what's wrong so I can try to fix it. That's what I do now, I fix things for the both of us, so please just trust me.
(Pause)
You...want to go?
(Giggle)
Go where, exactly? Can you be a little more specific? The bathroom? The kitchen?
Oh, do you wanna see the view from the porch? It is very scenic. I love to sit out there and just think. Mainly I think about the future, after you give up on these little games of yours, and just let me take great care of you. I'm sure we'll get there one day, and I'm really looking forward to it. But until then…
Ah, sorry, I got distracted. So, where do you want to go?
(Pause)
Home?
(Laughing)
Wha- (giggle) what kind of joke is that, dear? (Giggle)
[Happy] Or is your silly diet finally messing with your memory now too? I really have to work on that. This is your home, Sweetie. I told you that when I brought you here, but I'll tell you as many times as I need to. This is your home. This is our home. A place for the 2 of us to be happy and free, together. Maybe you're not completely sold on the idea, but I still think it sounds lovely.
(Pause)
You don't…feel free, huh. Yeah…yeah I get that. I guess that's partially my fault. I just haven't been able to do enough for you.
[Reassuring] B-but I swear, the restraints are only temporary. As soon as you truly adjust to our new living situation, I'll gladly remove all of them.
[Worried] But for now, it's just…well it's not safe for us to do that. N-not yet, anyway. You're still unwell. You remember, don't you? When I first brought you here, you started thrashing around, trying to hurt me and yourself.
[Sad] That was so scary…
So I can't let you do that to yourself again. I just don't know what I would do if you got hurt because of me.
(Pause)
Yes, yes I do understand what I'm doing.
[Happy] I'm making a safe and healthy environment for the two of us. From the beginning, I knew it would be a lot of work. There are new challenges every day. I…still make mistakes. But that's what being a couple is all about. Making sacrifices together for a brighter future, together with the one you love.
(Pause)
What do you mean?
I've made plenty of sacrifices for you. Not to mention risks…
Getting you here wasn't easy. We're lucky we got a taxi driver that didn't care about the state you were in. Plus, there are still times when I have to throw people off your trail. if I didn't spend so much time preparing this, I would have been busted a while ago.
Anyway, please don't question my commitment to this relationship.
(Pause)
(Scoff) Now you're just being dramatic. Don't say you want out of this relationship. I know for a fact that you're lying. You can't trick me now. Not after all those sweet things you did, and said. There's no way you didn't want this to happen.
You came to my restaurant so often, that I started looking forward to your visits. They were the highlight of my week. You were so adventurous, always trying a different item on the menu. And no matter what you ordered, when you finished eating, you would look so full, and satisfied. Your joy was written all over your face whenever you came by to thank me personally. One day I simply realized, or rather, remembered: that the entire reason I became a chef, was to see someone make a face like that, all because of my cooking.
So you see, you made my dream come true. And I wanted to repay you for that kindness,
But I know we could both agree that once a week wasn't enough. So I decided I would become your part-time personal, live-in chef, …and your full-time girlfriend! (giggle)
I'm sure you're tired of hearing that silly joke, but you keep acting like you had nothing to do with this decision, so I have to remind you every~ time.
[Happy] Not that I mind. It's such an adorable love story. One that I hope never ends. And that's why~
[Serious] I need you to eat the food that I prepare for you. I'll get it into your stomach one way or another. This is your last chance to actually enjoy your meal.
(Pause)
No, I won't tell you what that means, but you'll find out if you keep behaving this way. Is that really what you want? Please, just make it easy for yourself, and eat.
(Pause)
(Sigh) I didn't know you could be so stubborn. I would admire it if it wasn't so detrimental. Just remember: I warned you. I'll be off to the kitchen, and when I get back, you'll wish you listened.
(Footstep sfx that fade out as she walks out of the room.)
(Long pause)
(Blender noises for 10 seconds)
(Long Pause)
(Footstep sfx that fades in as she returns)
You know I…thought this would be a punishment, but this special breakfast smoothie I made for you…
[Genuine surprised] Actually looks kind of appetizing. Not that I would drink it, but still. It's full of all the things I brought over before, minus the grape juice. Instead, I substituted about half a cup…of my love for you. (Giggle)
S-sorry, I just (giggle) couldn't resist.
Anyway, You can still make this easy for yourself, so please, don't resist. Drink it down, as quick as you can. Just get it over with, y'know? Open up.
(Pause)
D-dear, please. I don't wanna do this either. So take the bottle and…
(Pause)
Just…
[Annoyed] …Drink it already!
I'll shove it down your throat if I have to!
(she pushes him down https://youtu.be/1wn0OXTQ-Jo )
Stop! Struggling! Just! Drink the! Damn! Smoothie already!
(Several deep gulping sounds)
(Speaker heavy breathing/gasping for several seconds as they catch their breath.)
You…put up…quite a…struggle…for someone…so…malnourished.
(2 deep breaths)
But now it's over. It wasn't so bad, right? Better than starving, don't you think?
Oh, you're…dribbling a bit. Let me wipe that clean.
(Fabric sounds as she wipes his mouth)
[Happy] There~ All better. Can't have your pretty face getting all messy. (Giggle)
[Dejected] You…still look upset.
I wish you would at least tell me why you were so against eating my cooking. If you did, then I could just fix it, and we could move on. So please, be honest with me.
(Pause)
"Worried?" Worried about what?
(Pause)
Oh…
Okay, um…
Y-yeah, that makes sense, actually. I drugged your food once to bring you here, and you're scared I'll do it again. That's only natural. Um, I'm sorry for that. I really am. I was just so desperate to run away with you, but I know how you can be a little shy. I thought if I asked you to leave with me, you might say no, even though I knew we both wanted it. So I just thought…it would be easier if I took the choice out of your hands. I mean, if you didn't seize the opportunity, I'm sure you would have spent your life regretting it. But now, you don't have to worry about that. You don't really have to worry about anything, actually. That's what I'm here for. I think we've been here long enough for you to acknowledge how well I've been caring for you. Bathing you, pampering you, (giggle) and of course feeding you.
[under her breath] Although you tried to resist all of that…
The point is!
I'm your girlfriend now. And I promise, I will never neglect you and your health. Really, the only one doing that is you.
If you won't take care of yourself, then I'll just have to do it for you. If you don't want that, then you have to find a way to prove it to me. Otherwise, the restraints will stay where they are, as will you. So what do you say?
(Pause)
Dear?
H-honey?
[Serious, angry]
You ungrateful little…!
How dare you say that to me, after all the effort I put into this for you!
God, you really are too stubborn for your own good. But I'll figure it out. You see, I have a lot more of my…(giggle) special seasonings. The kind that put you to sleep? Those were just the tip of the iceberg.
I have some that will make you feel like you're burning from the inside out~,
or like your stomach is twisting into a knot~,
or make your mind blank and pliable so I can make you see things my way.
All 100% organic, and without any major lasting side effects, they'll do the job.
Don't worry, I won't use any of the really dangerous stuff around you. I don't want to hurt you too~ badly.
No, I'll make sure to save that for~…oh that's right. (Short, Evil laugh) The people who come to my restaurant, looking for you. I guess the police are just doing their jobs, so I can't hold it against them.
[Annoyed] But your clingy ex girlfriend just can't take a hint. Well I guess we're the only ones who know that you're dating me now, so she probably thinks you two are still together. But that doesn't mean she needs to keep pestering me at the shop. I think it's obvious that you're not going to suddenly contact her or anything, but she still keeps coming around. Sometimes, she tells me things about your life together.
(Scoff) It seems she had just enough self awareness to know she was a terrible cook herself. She even considered that her lack of skill might have scared you away. (Laughing)
But most of the time, she came to ask me about you, instead. About what you were like when you visited. Why the hell does she need to ask me? She was dating you first, right? Was she really so vapid that she didn't learn anything about you in your time together? I think that would be pretty pathetic, and it would mean I made the right choice bringing you here, where you can be properly appreciated, by me of course. (Giggle)
[Mischievous, whispered in his ear] So yeah, the next time she comes around~, i'll have to give her some…extra service, on the house of course, and put her out of her self-absorbed misery.
[Switch ears] But that doesn't mean it'll be quick, or painless. How much she suffers is completely up to me. At least, it should be. But who knows. I can't say she puts me in a good mood. It would be a shame if I…accidentally went overboard.
(Pause)
You can complain all you want, but that's not what will make me change my mind. You know what you have to do.
(Pause)
[Happy] Awww, really~?
You'll eat all~ my food from now on? No matter what?
You promise~?
(Pause)
[Serious] Say it. Say 'you promise'.
(Pause)
[Happy] That's great, honey~
[Serious Whispering in ear] I'll be holding you to that. Don't forget now, it's not just you that will have to pay the price. If you just give me a chance, you'll see that you're lucky to be here with me. Maybe you don't see it now, but I have plenty of time to change your mind.
So, now that you won't give me a hard time anymore, what would you like for dinner? It's a good day, so I'll cook whatever~ you want. Unless you really need take-out, then I'll order that instead. Just let me know. You know that all I really want to do is make you happy, right?
So tell me what you want for dinner.
(Pause)
Hmm?
Oh, That's right, I didn't ask about lunch. But that's because…you won't be needing it.
(Pause)
Because you're gonna sleep through your lunch time, like a baby.
Yeah, I guess you were right to be worried about me putting something else in your food. But in my defense, I only added it after you forced me to make that smoothie. That's only fair, right? A baby throwing a tantrum has to be put back to bed. Hopefully, you're less cranky when you wake up again in the evening. And when you do, I'll have some of your favorite foods laid out. So look forward to it.
I know it's early in the morning but…good night dear~
(Giggle)
END

It started with an itch. An itch along the edge of my right eye. An itch that I scratched and rubbed. An itch that wouldn’t go away. It was like I’d gotten dust in it, or a speck dirt that I’d only been massaging deeper into my eye. Yet, no amount of tears that welled to the surface, or water that I splashed into my face seemed to fix it. It was an itch I tried to bear, thought I could bear, but I was wrong.
‘Do you want me to help?’
My brow furrowed, head twisting while I searched for who’d spoken. I was alone on the sidewalk, walking my daily route along the local park. The air was crisp that morning, a subtle breeze had been whistling in my ear all throughout the walk. I wondered if perhaps it had been the wind, its gentle caress that had whispered a tune into my ear. I felt ridiculous in the moment, the one eye I wasn’t covering with my hand swiveled to check my surroundings. There wasn’t even a tree for someone to have been hiding behind.
I smiled a slight grin, shaking my head as if it would help quell the rising embarrassment. Yet, there was an undeniable appeal to the offer. The constant rubbing and probing had started to morph into a pain, more a prickling annoyance than anything substantial. Yet, I’d long since become annoyed with the inconvenience. Mind drifting to such dramatic thoughts, I weighed the offer. I’d give anything to make the itch go away. Before I raised my hand to poke at the sensitive area once more, I glanced around with embarrassed trepidation. No one was near, yet my face was warm, flush from the unavoidable awkwardness. “Sure,” I said quietly, my voice nearly cracking, “help me out.”
I didn’t know how to explain it, but my eye stopped itching. More than that, the pain dissipated too. It was like it had never happened. I removed my hand from where it had been pressing against the socket, blinking away a moment of blurry half-vision.
I went about my day without giving it another thought, letting the warmth of the sun soothe my concerns until it dissipated back into an oddity of the otherwise mundane morning.
…
The next day, the itch returned. It was not the slow escalation that built over time, not like the morning last. It returned immediately, and without the encouragement of my touch a searing pain came to join it. It was sudden and brutal, like nothing I could have prepared myself for. I winced, sucking a short breath through clenched teeth while the agony felt like a nail had punctured my eye, an invisible hammer pounding the stake deeper through the orb as it burrowed towards my brain. Beneath it all, was the desire to wipe at my eye, to press into it deeper with the flesh of my palm, anything that would lessen the pain and overwhelming urge to scratch at it some more.
My jaw opened with a click, muscles tightening around clenched joints. I started to cry out, the overwhelming pain so profoundly unique, unlike anything I’d known before. A shaky hand rising to my face, I pressed the back of it into my face, wrist twisting as the bones of my knuckles rolled into my eye socket.
For a fraction of a second, the white hot poker that had been stabbed into the edge of my eye lessened. But it only lasted for part of a breath, just long enough for me to think that the worst of it might be done. Oh, how I was wrong.
The torture leaped from the edge of my eye to encompass the whole orb. With a feeling like knives were dragging their edges in sadistic figure eights against the gelatinous flesh. My stomach twisted, and I was sure that I would empty my breakfast onto the floor. All the while, my world was starting to spin, encompassing delirium gripping my mind. I cried out in pain once more, this time wetted by moisture that streamed down my cheeks and poured from my nose. I don’t know when, but I’d entered the fetal position, my free hand wrapping around my knees to pull them closer to my chest – as if that would somehow help me.
As the pain continued to increase, my thoughts became muddier, with every passing second it was becoming harder to form a cohesive thought. I knew my limited options were becoming even scarcer, I knew that soon I would black out from the pain and by then my fate would be sealed. I tried to think of something to try, except only my screams rattled my brain, the only brief respite being when a fresh inhale was needed to produce more of the painfilled noise. I didn’t know who would hear, I lived alone, and the walls leading to the outside world were fairly thick. Even if someone heard me, and happened to call the police; even if they made it to me before I gave myself a hernia - what could they possibly do?
Between a volley of screaming that my tucked head had been directing to my knees, I stopped to suck in a short inhale. When I started again, a new sound pulled at the back of my mind, barely audible over my own voice.
‘Do you want me to help?’
Silence filled my home. Jaw creaking from its fully extended position, vision blurred from the tears that covered both pupils while I hesitated. Did I hear that? I wondered for a fraction of a second. “What?” my voice rasped in a hoarse sound, my throat torn from my abrupt and violent usage of it. The voice was more like a whisper when it had spoken to me, I was unsure if I’d even heard it or if my mind had conjured it in the delirium.
“Would you like my help?”
My head nodded furiously, a new round of tears spilling to the surface. “Yes, yes,” I begged, “please make it stop.”
Same as the last time, the pain melted away as abruptly as it had come on. With shaky limbs, I rose from the floor, my breath still quivering as quiet whimpers escaped my lips. Blinking away the moisture I stared at the floor in a confused amazement, wondering what was going on, or if I’d maybe imagined the whole thing. Besides the constant shivers from the dump of adrenaline and the crust along my cheek I didn’t have any hard evidence, or witnesses to the strange episodes.
Dragging feet across the floor, the adrenaline gave way to such a heavy exhaustion, the urge to collapse on my bed and sleep for a day was an alluring proposition. After what felt like an extremely long minute of lumbering to the bathroom, I made it to the mirror, hoping to find some proof of my pain that I could show someone.
When I looked up at the reflective pane hanging above the sink, I flinched so hard that I nearly fell into the tub behind me. The image was distorted, like an object held so close to my face that part of it had duplicated. In the mirror, half of my face seemed the same as I’d seen it when I brushed my teeth a few hours earlier.
The other half of my face was a sickly green, holes pockmarked my flesh with red and pink beneath. Aside from my pumice stone complexion, gashes dragged deep wounds erratically at different angles across my face, many of the creases formed lips of hardened puss and gangrene. Some of the wounds dug deeper to show the milky white bone beneath. The front of my nose had also fallen off or decayed to a point where all that was left was the twin tunnel leading into my brain. In the ghoulish half of my now haunting visage, my eye popped from its socket. The eye lids long since decayed to leave a permanently wide-eyed expression, the gaps between the yellow stained orb and the socket gave it the appearance of floating inside my face.
My otherwise normal eye widened, panic and confusion crawling up from the depths. Directing my hand to rise to my face, I watched it slowly creep from the bottom of my vision. As it crossed into the half of my face that was closer to a mummified husk, my digits changed. The skin around my hand turned putrid, the digits became gangly, while fingernails curled and fell off. Waving my fingers in front of my face, I watched the bones and sagging skin sway like a tattered curtain. I gawked at the sight with a morbid curiosity for a few seconds before yanking it from view, a sudden urgency brought on by fear of it as atrophying if I held it out for any longer.
Hidden from view, I clenched my hand in a few investigatory squeezes, rubbing into it with deep massaging presses. It felt normal, but I needed to be sure. Eyes drifting down, I caught a glimpse of my exposed forearm. Like my hand, craters of decaying flesh marred the limb, some gaping holes as large as quarters, they patterned the limb like a macabre art piece.
Head snapping to the side, I quickly looked away from my hands and arms. As my vision swept from the normal scene into the altered sight the cabinets and walls transformed. In the edge of my vision, they were aged, wallpaper curling into a soaked yellow, spackles of black mold staining its surface.
What is this? I wondered, still struggling to comprehend what my eyes were showing me, each of them showing a different version of the same image. My neck craned to the side so I could look at the same spot along the wall with my other eye. In an instant, it returned to the plain taupe as soon as it entered the other half of my vision. The cheap replica painting and few family pictures, reformed into something cohesive.
Careful not to glance at the mirror or anything else that might show me my reflection, I rubbed my hand along the forearm that had been spackled with lesions and sores. Underneath my fingers, I felt the dry skin and thin hairs all standing at attention. But no holes, I remarked with a shaky breath. I stepped from the bathroom, with my eyes straight ahead. It’s in your head, it’s not there – I’m fine. The thought brought a measure of comfort, like the knowledge that I’d been imagining everything would leave my physical form intact. That was until I realized that viewing the world through a glass of atrophy and death was still far from normal.
Can I just cover it? The thought was so simple and would be an easy solution to my problem. Suddenly brimming with hopeful vigor, I shut my right eye, the one that had been so abruptly afflicted with the visions of decomposition.
Confusion battered at my mind when my sight remained unaltered. It was odd. I felt the side of my face scrunch, my eyelid closing over the orb, yet my view of the withering wall was unaltered. Cupping my hand to cover the eye, it didn’t block the twisted sight either. Investigating the other eye, I was quick to find that it could still be closed as normal, but all that did was limit my field of view while plunging the remainder of my vision in a gut-wrenching hellscape.
I grunted quietly at the new oddity, unsettled for what came next.
…
For six days, I shut myself out from the world. I hid. I got used to walking corpses handing me pizza, and me handing them money that had long since shriveled and faded into blank notes, yet they always accepted it with a smile. Have you ever witnessed a half-mummified body smile? Witnessed the lesions about his face twist and curl along bloated cheek bones, or the black stained teeth that hung at an angle loosely in his mouth by a stubborn corner. I of course could still see the man through my other eye, the image oscillating between decomposition and the youthful vigor of a young man trying to make a few bucks on the side by dropping off pizzas.
Each day I couldn’t stomach more than a few bites. The concept of eating was difficult when from the corner of my vision I constantly saw rotting food. Food I’d just ordered fresh that was shrunken and shriveled, taken over by carpets of mold black and green. The toppings turned from their vibrant colours of red and green to stomach churning shades of black and grey. Even if I looked to the ceiling to avoid glancing at my food, I was then treated to stained plaster, littered with holes that revealed the deteriorating wood behind it. If I could manage a few bites, it tasted like the pizza I’d known and loved before. But I couldn’t purge the images of the rotten meal from my mind, the thought was always there to shut down any thoughts of a meal.
It wasn’t just the lack of nutrients either, being unable to shut one of my eyes made sleep near impossible. Even with curtains drawn and the lights turned off, the pitch black surrounding was insufficient. Something about my brain knew that my eye was open, and refused to offer anything resembling acceptable sleep. After being awake for three days, I did eventually sleep – it wasn’t for very long. Three hours if I recall correctly, jolting awake immediately after my brain caught up to what it believed was the still open eye. The days after were profoundly lethargic, doing anything felt like it took hours, each moment of it like wading through a muddy bog. As well, the biological need for my brain to shut down every few hours left me nodding off constantly, only to wake a few minutes later.
I felt myself at my limit, my mind stretched to the absolute edge of what it could handle. How many more days can I go before a psychotic break? Until a stroke finally takes me? From my seat at the kitchen table, I glance to the counter, eyeing the arrangement of cleavers and blades with a quiet alluring. Quickly, my head shook. Not yet.
“Would you like my help?”
I jolted up from my chair. Snapping to attention with a sudden surge of energy. The quick movement dizzied my vision, pulling me to the side as I wobbled slightly. After recovering my wavy vision, my neck snapped to both sides for a quick examination of the small room. It was empty. “Hello?”
“Would you like my help?”
It was like the voice was in my head, echoing in both ears, seeming everywhere and nowhere all at the same time. I couldn’t tell if it was a man or woman, a perfectly balanced timber that betrayed no emotion, neither malicious nor benevolent – it was simply there.
“What are you?”
Pausing for a long bout of silence, the voice held its answer, before finally responding with the same question. “Would you like my help?”
My mouth opened, but I nearly bit my tongue with how quickly my jaw shut. Shaking my head violently, I rubbed my arms vigorously, hoping it would quell the hairs that had risen along each of them. I knew the truth. It doesn’t help. It was the voice that made my vision like this. The piercing pain is also thanks to the voice’s ‘help’. But, I couldn’t deny that the thought of a full night’s sleep, of a meal that I didn’t immediately evacuate afterwards was incredibly appealing.
Had I been more rested, had I not been so exhausted and desperate, I might have possessed the fortitude to turn down the proposition. However, I was not, and I did not. “Yes,” I croaked in a voice that was dried to the limit of what my body could handle. Like the food, water had a similar effect on my brain, taking on the look of liquified sewage, like pond scum with a wisp of foam atop it.
Almost immediately, I felt a pinch behind my eye. It forced a wince from me as I withstood the discomfort, only for it to dissolve a moment later. My vision had returned, in my kitchen I saw my cabinets and stove top, the table I was sitting at and the half-eaten slice of pizza from last night. I lunged for the twisted remains of the meat supreme, wolfing it down in two ambitious bites. Stumbling to the sink, I cupped my hands beneath the open faucet, frantically funneling warm tap water into my stomach.
I felt like a man lost in the desert, stumbling into an oasis after days of exhaustion. Ignoring the protestations of my stomach, I jumped to the fridge where I’d stored the rest of the leftovers. Ripping contents from the shelves, they were scattered onto the table in a chaotic feast that I couldn’t wait to dive into.
That was when I heard a sound. It was quiet like the voice had been, simultaneously all around me and nowhere at the same time. I’d heard it for the briefest of instances, like a word half caught at the end of it being spoken somewhere in the distance. Struggling to place it, the noise sang out again. The quiet screech of metal is what I heard, like a knife being dragged against steel somewhere in the distance, as if it was the faint echoes of someone sharpening a knife. Or a rusted pair of scissors opening.
It screeched once more, this time louder and closer, with the unmistakable click of shears closing. Instantly, the vision in my recovered eye blurred, as if they suddenly needed glasses. Stumbling backwards in surprise, I was mostly amazed to not be feeling any discomfort besides the few squeals of metal I’d heard in my ear. Once more the metal wailed, and this time the vision in my blurred eye shifted. The obfuscated items of green and red dulled, its hues becoming barely legible, closer to grey than their original colours.
My breath skipped, then drew short inhales quickly through my nose. Between my rapidly drawn breaths, my ears picked up the quiet screech once more. I froze, immediately clenching every muscle I could while even my lungs paused.
One second.
Two.
Nothing. Whatever was doing this to me was relishing in the fear that was starting to scratch at my mind.
Then the snip. I flinched at the subtle pinch, and the darkness that immediately fell on the side of my vision. It wasn’t like an eye was closed, where my field of view should have become narrower. There was only darkness. A dribble of moisture trickled down my cheek, not tears but something else. Raising cautious fingers, they poked towards the wetness that continued to flow down to my chin, quickly returning with tips dyed a crimson red.
A part of me was terrified, too terrified to stumble to the mirror and see what the voice had done to me. But the much louder part of my mind demanded sleep, so I curled up into a ball on the floor, grateful I could finally close my eyes. Tomorrow’s problem will be dealt with tomorrow.
…
The next morning I woke with a spasm coursing through my limbs, like I’d been jolted awake by a bolt of lightning. A stabbing pain raced down the back of my neck, creeping into my spine with its barbed wire touch. Along the side of my head was a different pain, this one dull and thumping to the steady beat of my heart. My arms and legs felt sore, with a sensation of pins and needle gripping the one arm that I seemed to have slept on.
My mind wandered while I struggled to my feet, trying to recall the faint lickings of the terrible dream that I’d suffered last night. But as my eyes drifted to the wall, and the black void covering half of my vision became more apparent, I remembered. It wasn’t a dream at all.
Wobbling legs carried me to the bathroom. Both hands gripping the sinks edge, I couldn’t look. Fear scratched at the back of my mind, I knew the truth, I didn’t need a reflection to confirm it. It was only after I felt my knuckles whitening from the pressure for several long seconds that I pushed through the heavy fog, gathering the will to look at the reflective pane across me.
Where there should have been my eye was a crater. With its true depth hidden by the shadow of my skull, I could only imagine how deep the cavern in my face went, the parts I could see were lined with the near black crimson of dried blood. Beneath the hollowed socket were also thin streams of dried blood, forming narrow paths towards my chin like pain filled tears. I raised a trembling hand to my eye, like I’d done before, but this time to see if what I was seeing was in fact real. I watched in the mirror while tremors rocked my extended finger, watched the finger descend into the crater that was the eye socket. As my hand flinched, part of a fingertip rubbed against the moist flesh that lined the inside of my socket. I felt no pain in my face, but the rest of me felt like I’d just been punched in the gut. My stomach immediately flipped and I suddenly had to contend with the urge to empty my stomach into the sink.
My breath was shaky, shuddering air that I tried to control before it got away from me. But I felt myself losing the battle, each breath harder to draw than the last. In, and out. My feeble commands were having little effect, the dread becoming stronger as I knew what would come next. Like a hunter in the night, one second I felt fine, the next second, a dryness at the edge of my remaining eye. It twitched slightly, a tremor in the nerves that could have come from anything. I couldn’t yet tell if it was a lack of moisture in the air or something more.
Then my eye started to sting, and I realized I’d been holding it open for a few seconds straight. Fear demanded it be held ajar, unsure if it was a natural discomfort or the beginnings of the next round of torture.
Only holding it open for a few seconds longer, I eventually blinked. Breath held, while my lungs froze. Still unsure if I conjured the new itch, I tested the feeling in my eye. Is it gone? I wondered when I couldn’t feel anything more than the slight stinging along its edges. Chest finally collapsing, I drew long breaths with shut eyes. With each shuddering breath, I analyzed the sensations that coursed through the nerve endings along my face. I’m fine, I promised myself.
Then the urge to rub at my eye became stronger, forcing twitches all along the side of my face, even down to my jaw. Don’t. Instead I clenched my hands while my mind drifted to something else that might distract me, like the stale air flowing in and out of my nose, the rattle of the furnace creeping through the vents.
I didn’t even realize what I was doing until it was done, the back of my hand pressing into my eye socket and slowly wiping across it. Dry skin from the back of my hand was wetted, the cracks along my skin filled with the moisture my eye had been producing. More tears joined it as I realized with a jolt what I’d done.
“Wait,” I whispered in a shuddered breath.
It didn’t wait. Like a needle, a stabbing pain pierced the side of my eye, feeling like it punctured through to the other side too. A howl of pain escaped my lips, echoing in the acoustics of my narrow bathroom. Legs immediately giving way, I fell to the floor, already half curling into a ball atop the small shag carpet I’d laid by the sink. Palm pressing against the eye, I let my vision go black while stars of white spackled my vision. Short hissing breaths filled the room as I grappled with the return of the violent pain. Even as it felt like the stake plunging through my eye was twisted, as the nerves and sinew wrapped around each other into an unimaginable squeezing – I fought it.
I don’t know where the strength had come from, the sudden urge to resist became everything that I set my mind towards. Grinding my teeth together, my waning strength was being battered, it had been seconds and already my will was on the precipice of collapsing all together.
Then an image fluttered into view. It stole my breath, air freezing as shock gripped my system. My stolen eye was still gone, the right side of my face covered with inky nothingness. The remaining one that had been covered by my hand, abruptly shifted into a sideway view of my floor. I saw my bathroom tiles, chipped and faded; the carpet, patchy and molded; the walls, chipped of its paint, made pale by years of sunlight, and stained from years of neglect. What I saw was not my bathroom, not the bathroom I’d been in when I collapsed to the floor.
Like a sadistic poem, the itching, pain, and macabre vision assaulted me all at once. It was like it knew that my will was brittle, that my desire to resist was hanging onto the edge of the cliff by only my finger tips.
Then something shifted in my mind, a final surge of resistance. A spiteful rebellion gripped my thoughts, a rage that flared up abruptly with the surging of a wildfire as it tore through a forest of dried kindling. I wished to confront the source of my torment, to grip it by the neck and throttle it into submission. As I tapped into this new reservoir of strength, my hands balled into fists. Where the fuck is it? I demanded in my mind. As if I’d summoned it myself, the voice spoke. “Would yo–”
“Fuck you!”
“Would you li–”
“No!” I screamed my throat raw.
“Would you like my help?”
“I would like you to leave me. I’m never going to ask for your help.”
For a few long seconds, the voice didn’t respond. It left me with the unbearable itch that no amount of rubbing could satisfy, the sadistic agony that I was powerless to quell, and the knowledge that my vision had been plunged back into the unescapable hellscape - but at least it was quiet.
Until it wasn’t.
“Would you like my help?!” It suddenly screamed in my ear. I flinched in surprise, it was the first time that the cool dispassion of the voice was broken. “Would you like my help?!” It repeated a fraction of a moment later. “Would you like my help?!” Shouting over and over, the voice didn’t pause to breathe, repeating the words as soon it had finished the furious request. As the vicious battery of the question continued, I tried to fight it, shaking my head violently as if it would loosen the sound and even screaming alongside it to drown out the noise. Nothing worked, the unending noise persisting in my mind.
With each attempt to break my will, the question was starting to sound different. It was changing slightly, with at first minor variance in its tone, and cadence. With each failed attempt, the difference in the request after it became more stark to the point where I was starting to hear different ages, genders, and even accents in the repeating petition.
Cupping both hands over my ears, it did nothing to mute the sound. I screamed to drown out the sound, but the voices were louder. My face grimaced in stalwart resistance. I’m not going to give in, I assured myself. The voice had taken enough, I would give it no more ground.
…
How foolish I was. I know this now.
My jaw was impossibly sore from clenching teeth into a twisted grimace; sweat matted down hair against my forehead, and stained my shirt with the proof of my defiance. My will was brittle, a resigned exhaustion filling every one of my muscles. “Would you like my help?!” A woman yelled, she sounded Asian, eerily close to the woman who worked the counter at the small Chinese market I used to shop at. The requests had changed their tone some time ago, I don’t know how long I’d been curled in the ball before it, and I don’t know how much time has passed since. There was a desperation to her sound, a brief and frantic plea before she was shunted to the side in place of the next voice in the endless queue.
“Would you li-” the next one started.
“Fine,” I whispered in a voice so soft I barely heard it myself. The voice heard me though, halting its request now that I’d finally caved. In the silence I thought I could feel it relishing in my pain, soaking in my surrender and what little fear I could muster for what comes next. And as one second drifted into the next, a part of me started to believe that nothing would happen.
That was when the voices responded. In a booming chorus, ten thousand voices spoke as one, “thank you.” The thundering voices were impossibly loud, simultaneously loud enough to fill a stadium but also bearable as it echoed in my head. They sounded as tired as I felt, and the relief in their tones gave me a measure of calm. I was exhausted, too exhausted to feel anything when the screech of the twin metal blades scratched my mind. Managing to get my feet under me, I rose to stand.
My vision had turned back to normal once more, and I knew it was all but a fact that it would be for the last time. I would have liked to look at a sunset if it was going to be the last thing I saw, but I doubted the cruel voices would allow me that mercy. So I stared at my haggard features in the mirror. The gaping maw that was my right eye no longer bothered me, a grim acceptance finally quelling the shock and revulsion I’d felt before. In three quick cuts, the view of my face went from blurry to grey, and then finally to black. With a relieved breath, my hand wiped the new trickle from what was my last eye.
…
That was a week ago. My friends and family thought I’d lost my mind, that I suffered a mental break and decided to scoop my eyes out with a spoon. At first I was in disbelief, then rage, but after a few days of quiet contemplation I’d made my peace with it.
Who could blame them if they didn’t believe my story; the voices in my head, the unscratchable itch, the unimaginable stabbing pain, the visions of rot and decay that had become everything I saw. Who could blame them if they didn’t believe me when I told them of the rusted scissors in my mind that snipped at my eye before plucking it from my head. I could barely believe it myself, some nights questioning if maybe they were right.
However, I could blame them for having me locked in an institution. In the solitude of my padded room, I was given time to think, to recall the events and search through what I felt. It was in that sterile room, beneath the quiet buzzing of what I could only assume were fluorescent lights, the truth solidified in my mind.
I am not crazy.
I am not delusional.
…
“How did that feel?”
“Good, I guess.”
“That’s good, it’s good to talk about these things.”
“You’re the doctor.”
“That I am. I’m going to leave this with you, use it to record your thoughts or whatever you’d like. It’s yours, you won’t have to share the recordings with anyone unless you want to.”
---
My throat is itching, and no amount of water, tea, lozenges, or even salt water gargled has helped. The men and women in flapping coats say that I’m sick. BUT I’M NOT SICK. I know it like I know that water is wet.
I tried to make them understand, but they wouldn’t listen. Even as the two larger men wrapped thick hands around both my arms and carried me to the far end of my padded cell. Even as I kicked and screamed and fought furiously. Even as the needle slipped into my skin to deliver the fluid that would ‘calm me down’. Even as I begged and pleaded with them to just kill me instead.
My throat is still itching.
…
I record this now, knowing I’m dead. It’s almost impossible to talk, each entry takes most of the day, but I need to record something of myself.
I’ve accepted that with a desperate trusting in whatever comes next. The only hope that I truly cling to in this life is that someone finds this, and that they believe me.
…
I can barely swallow. Water, saliva, even air all struggle to slip down my neck. I hear the quiet murmuring of the nurses and doctors when they check on me, they think I’m doing something to myself.
I try to tell them that it’s back, but they only give me more drugs.
“I don’t understand it,” I heard one of them say.
…
A nurse came by with my medicine. I asked her to kill me. She said the medicine was a muscle relaxant for my throat.
I told her it wouldn’t work.
I made her listen to my choked sobs as she locked the door behind her.
Why won’t they just kill me?
…
I heard a sound. I know I heard this sound. It was like a whisper, gentle as a wisp of smoke, but it was there.
“Would you like me to help?”

About me:

• older redditor
• MBA educated, professional job
• married
• moved to NYC 2018 with wife, and we're here to stay
• non smoker, social driker, not into 420 but not opposed to try some edible
• favorite topics of conversation: good books/movies, business, tech, entrepreneurship, investing, NYC, art, design, architecture.

Looking for: one buddy with similar interests, we could meet once a week or so for a beer or two and talk about bounding off ideas for stocks, business ideas, career development, good books/movies, maintenance work to do around the apartment, or just generally shoot the breeze.
And if I am lucky enough to get more than 1 good response, I will put together a small group of friends.
if interested DM me and let's see if we vibe.

First things first, I'm in 11th grade, people are shocked when they hear my age, and I would like to say I'm more mature than an average 15-year-old. (Although I'm sure they all say that)
Alright, so I'll explain the situation. I go to this teenage youth group to meet people and make friends. I would say I'm doing pretty well, and it happens to be, that I've been asked out by multiple girls that go there. I had said no to every girl so far, because I was worried about the consequences of getting into the wrong relationship. In addition, I've never been desperate for a relationship, so I did not mind saying no. However, this means I have been single my whole life.
One of my good friends, that I thought was way out of my league, confessed about a month ago that she had feelings for me. Initially I had feelings for her as well, but I thought they were gone by the time she told me. She is a fun person, with a good heart, but is not the brightest out there (she is in 10th grade). She also suffers from depression. I told her I just wanted to stay friends, and we still are.
Recently, I realized that I do like her. But have been advised by my friend not go out with her, because "she is not smart", "she gets attached", and I "might not want to deal with her emotional issues". Nonetheless, I care about her as a person, she gets along with my friend group, and when thinking about it, I feel like I should go out with her. I know this relationship wouldn't work out long term, but if I want someone to have fun with (I'm not ready for a proper relationship), she is not a bad influence, and I struggle to see the harm in dating her.
Overall, if I just wanted to gain relationship experience, I'm not sure if there would be any harm in going out with her. However, I'm worried that it might be better to go out with a different girl I know, who is smarter, and we have more to talk about.
When I was younger, I thought I knew exactly what I wanted in a relationship, but the older I get, the more I realize I have no idea what I'm looking for. Please let me know if you think it would be silly of me to go out with her, if I should try and find someone else, and how to proceed with the relationship with this girl. (Make sure I don't do anything stupid, I'm young and naive lol). Thanks in advance.
P.S. I was thinking about asking her to causally date, where we don't get too attached, and be together just for fun.
TL;DR A good friend of mine likes me, I like her, but I don't want to do anything stupid, and regret it later on.
Edit: Change to reflect what I meant.