I(19f) recently got into a long distance relationship with my current bf(39m). We were having rough patches at the beginning of the relationship, but we worked them out. It was going well, until this morning. He was playing his game with some friends and I sat up waiting for him so we can talk. He finally finished at 2am. We were texting at first, then we started talking. We weren’t saying much as I just got off of work also and was a bit tired, but slowly we started talking.
I was laying in bed on my phone. I was watching tiktoks, but then I saw I had unanswered messages. I left this person on seen for days. So I started to text them. He heard the keyboard sound. He asked was I texting. I said yes. Next he asked, who was I texting. I choked up here, because like I said earlier we had rough patches. He would usually leave and block me. Not telling me what I did. So I lied. I told him I was texting him. In reality I was texting someone else. It was nothing romantic or flirty. It was about a game.
After that he started to get silent. I can tell he was there because it was noise. I asked a couple questions like, “what’s wrong?” and “do u want to play a game with me?” He answered the question about the game. We are trying to work on communication, so I also said, “remember you said that you would talk to me when things bother you.” Then he hung up. I been ignored all day today. I still didn’t tell him that I was texting someone else.
I am here asking for help? Because I don’t know if I should let him be right now or try and fix it. All this is new to me. I really love him though and would do anything to make it right. I don’t want to lose him😔
Sorry if it’s all over the place.

Hi everyone,
I'm in the process of setting up another OpenWrt router, this is not for travel but for a home for improved privacy and security, and I'd love to hear your insights and experiences on a couple of aspects. I'm particularly interested in your thoughts on DNS privacy options and DNS filtering solutions.

DNS Privacy Options: a) Stubby b) DNSCrypt c) HTTPS DNS Proxy d) Unbound e) Other (please specify) 

I'd like to know which DNS privacy option you prefer and why. Have you used any of the options mentioned above, or do you have a different favorite? If you've switched to DNS over TLS or DNS over HTTPS, please share your reasons for making the switch and any benefits or challenges you've encountered.

DNS Filtering Solutions on: a) AdGuard Home b) NextDNS c) Pihole (raspberry pi or linux server) d) Other (please specify) 

I'm also interested in hearing about your experiences with DNS filtering solutions. Have you implemented any of the solutions mentioned above, or do you have a different one in place? How effective have they been in blocking ads, malware, and unwanted telemetry? If you have any tips or recommendations for configuring and integrating these solutions with OpenWrt, please share them as well.
I appreciate any insights, tips, or personal anecdotes you can provide based on your experiences.

so i just opened my macbook and it restareted (it didn’t start). this thing popped up for the first time and i’ve been a macbook user for years. sorry for the quality (didn’t have time to take another one and for the dirtiness i swear in reality it doesn’t look like that😭 also it didn’t update

It doesn't currently do that, But is there anyway google assistant can act on commands like "Hey Google, Press OK" "Hey, Google Move Left", I have trouble using TV remote because of my weird mental issues. Basically using the TV completely Hands free.

So our group is still relatively new, but we have a friend who just started playing again after a long time. He ends up winning most of not all the time. He just beat us with a “Wall Deck” (green,white and blue)where they all do damage equal to their toughness. He also has a “Kraken Deck” (blue and black)that beats us a lot and is more aggressive. He seems to really know what he is doing and gets the right cards at the right time. He also plays cards in both decks that either punish attacking players or makes it so creatures can’t attack or block.
Does anyone have any tips or ideas that could help neutralize him or should we all just focus on him at this point?
Thanks in advance!

It doesn't currently do that, But is there anyway google assistant can act on commands like "Hey Google, Press OK" "Hey, Google Move Left", I have trouble using TV remote because of my weird mental issues. Basically using the TV completely Hands free.

When was Chen born, and when did his spirit leave this world?
P.S Chen Shaokuan is missing that part on his commander bio, which all other commanders have. Date of birth and time of death. I find it annoying that’s all. Have a good day

Hello everyone!
For as long as we've lived in our home, a large portion of our backyard has been covered by the canopy of our nextdoor neighbor's Ficus tree. We tried planting grass when we moved in, laid sod. It looked great for about a month, but got basically no sun due to the combination of the ficus + our block wall. We loved the shade of the ficus though, so we didn't mind too much. It constantly dropped leaves in the yard so we had enough cover.
Well we have a new neighbor, and he just had the Ficus cut back. It no longer covers our backyard, and honestly it looks like absolute trash now. Now our yard is just barren dirt. We have dogs and they like to play outside, but they kick up tons of dust and we've noticed they cough a lot after playing out there now.
Based on my limited landscaping knowledge, I assume it's too late to attempt to plant summer grass and get it to take before it gets too hot. Is that true? If not, what should I do to ensure we get some healthy grass growing back there?
Thanks!

If a phone number is very spammed by texts, is it better just to get a new phone number? Or is there an easy way to block spammers on iphone.
I have a family member with disabilities whose way of reaching out socially is going on websites and entering their information into the newsletter section. My family member has 14,000 unread texts and probably millions of unread email at this point (under more than 10 email addresses). I've explained as best I can, but they are so lonely as well as having a language barrier (asl) that I think I can't get through to them.
Today I had an Ah Ha! moment when I realized it may be easier to just cancel their old number and get them a new one.
I usually clean up their devices by resetting things and unsubscribing, but it's too much. Imagine doom scrolling on TikTok, but every video is a new email subscription. My family member just makes it their hobby. I try to distract them with games and movies and books and activities. It sort of helps, but when they're alone it's back to email.
I wish there was a bigger part of our society that cared about reaching out to the less fortunate, but those helpful people are grossly outnumbered by those in need. And even if more people wanted to help, our culture and economic set up seems to leave us little time or desire to care for others, much less ourselves.
Anyway, thanks for any tips!

I bought something for my daughter. After 3 days I messaged asking if she could ship it soon as it stated 3 days to ship and Mercari had said to check in with the seller.
Took them 3 more days to ship. Mercari even recommended I ask for a refund but I was trying to be understanding and give the seller time as they said it is difficult for them to get to the post office before closing. (They had messaged back on the 4th day shipped by the 6th day after purchase)
I gave them 3 starts for shipping time but left a great review as the product was exactly as described and didn't come broken which makeup pallets often do.
They even left me a 5 star rating saying I communicate well and am patient. Yet they blocked me from purchasing from them again.
This makes zero sense to me. They had a few products I was interested in. And now that I knew shipping could take longer I was prepared for it.
What the heck man guess they don't like money
EDITED FOR TYPO

I am the default “data guy” for my work team. I earned this title by being the only one who knows how to do literally anything in Excel, but my knowledge is limited.
Here’s my problem. I have to make a dashboard showing monthly, quarterly, and yearly stats for our team from a spreadsheet. I need to show an average of a column of numbers, and the amount of times specific words show up in another column within the specific date ranges above. The most obvious answer is “Pivot Table," but they also want it to have a specific color format and I can’t see a way to change the filters on the table without it resetting the colors. They also want it to be “user-friendly,” AKA just see the numbers in the date ranges without messing with any settings they can’t figure out, so Pivot Table isn't a good option.
Obviously the average and count parts I can do, but how do I separate everything by date? The data comes with what date the information was collected but I don’t know how to use it to filter out things outside the date ranges. And since this is a work thing I can’t provide a pic because it has PHI on it, and Reddit is blocked on my computer.
Any help would be appreciated!

Timestamp: https://imgur.com/a/kiWvjxM
Built this upper I never got around to using. Brand new VLTOR MUR upper, 300 blackout 10.5 Ballistic advantage performance barrel with pinned gas block, Blemula Geissele mk8, and solgw nox (not timed, comes with shims). $385 shipped
Would trade for vortex uh1 gen 2 or stripped 16/14.5 inch aero precision upper receiver. Pm if interested (currently not ready to part out at this time but if this does not sell, I will on next post)
Will ship as soon as possible. Comment before pm.

I'm writing a script on a satire of 70s movies/70s living. Kinda like "Night in the Museum" the movie includes characters that are come-to-live references to 70s movies.
After writing the beginning and ending, I tried to give a structure to the middle part. There were a lot of disconnected scenes, which I somehow tried to connect. However no matter what I do, there is this gut feeling that something is missing. Like a character. Or a special plot point. It's just at the start of the journey too, which makes it difficult for me to continue writing (even the later scenes). However...I have no idea what to do more!
I think, one of the main problems I have is the topic itself. I researched the 70s of my country thoroughly. I watched way too many 70s movies, documentaries and bothered any adult over 50yo about their experiences. And while I'm not saying "nothing happened in the 70s" (a fuckton happened!), the era was still more of an era of transition. Like, you know how everyone talks about the 80s & 90s, and maybe the 60s? Welp because of just that. Lots of stuff took their beginning in the 70s. The entire era of blockbusters and colour TV slowly rolled on there...making them very experimental and hard to catch.
As of now, I got a number of characters, plot points & co. I'm proud of. But there's this block that I just can't curb.
Any advice?

Hoo boy! That was long - I mean, loooooong - but well worth it.
I am kind of stunned more people have not read or even heard of this series. The Solar Cycle has to be one of the greatest works not just of sci-fi, but of all English literature, in scale and scope, the richness of the characters and the settings, the craft, creativity, and cleverness of the storytelling, the density, profundity, and wisdom of its ideas and their exploration. Yet even my most hardcore sci-fi fan friends never heard of this! I myself only discovered it because I had notion to write a story which turned out to be loosely similar in premise to BotNS, and exploring that idea is how I stumbled upon it the Wikipedia page.

What the story is about

To me this story is overall about how man strives to be better than his own nature allows - but always fails without the help of powers greater than himself. Call it divine or supernatural or merely beyond man's limited understanding but that's what the heroes of each story are calling upon to do more for people, and make them more and better than what they are. That's what the hierodules were trying to do in testing the Autarch and looking for the one to become the New Sun. It was what Silk tried to do as Calde but failed, it was what the people of Blue and Green knew they needed when they sought out Silk's semi-divine leadership.
We even saw a lesser, analogous form of it in the inhumi as they try to transcend their parasitic animal nature. They try to emulate us, but always fall short as when Jahlee gets herself killed by succumbing to the temptation to drink Nettle's blood. Its only when they get help from higher beings like Incanto and the Neighbors and psychically project that they can be what they hope to be. The inhumi are to us as we are to the angels, or as we are to the hierodules.
Knowing that Gene Wolfe was a devout Catholic, and I a Christian myself, this had a lot of meaning to me. Silk/Horn sees the inhumi much as God must see us. Inherently flawed who keep using their minds and spirits to do evil, but whom he nevertheless loves as his children, and he hopes by showing to love to them that they can be better and more like him, though it is impossible for them to really do so. Because Silk/Horn himself is only human, that is why he reaches his limit and kills Jahlee when she goes too far, but God's love is infinite, so maybe we will have a better time of it.

The Two Commandments

And so I better understand why when Severian becomes Autarch, he abolishes the torturer's guild, which I didn't really get at the time I read it. In Sword of the Lictor, he gives a long and unexpectedly defensive justification of the guild and its role in society, all of which made sense to me as I read it. And yet as one of his first acts Autarch, he abolishes it. Why? Because as the New Sun - a Christ-like figure - he knows that people will continue to do evil to each other forever if someone does not break the cycle and decide to show love and mercy, even and especially when it is not deserved. That is what Jesus taught! Not to mention, it was showing mercy at risk to his own life that began Severian on his journey!
And it is what Silk/Horn tried to do with the inhumi, what he tried to teach others. Ie, Love thy neighbor as thyself, and do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Or as Silk/Horn says: "Do you imagine you can be cruel without teaching others to be cruel to you? You glory in your cruelty, because you believe it shows you are master of your victim. You are not even your own."
Profoundly enough, the inhumi show us a rather literal exemplification of these rules. The Neighbors (get it? love thy neighbor!) as much as tells Silk/Horn these things when they say to him that if humans knew the truth about the inhumi, there would be no need to fear them. Which turns out to be, if humans loved their neighbors as themselves and followed the Golden Rule, the inhumi would be no threat to them. It would literally destroy the inherent evil within them, if humans could destroy the evil within themselves. But we have seen time and again that humans can't do this without divine help.
For this reason, this must have motivated the Neighbors to leave their planets, and now I think not just leave but in some way achieve a higher form, and become something like the Heirodules of New Sun. Clearly they are on the lookout for extraordinary beings like Silk/Horn (or Taal?) who might guide their people to transcend their own nature. The Neighbors are probably not merely projecting themselves to their old planets from somewhere else but no longer have a permanent corporeal form at all, I'd guess.

Random Thoughts

I also thought it was brilliant to have Hoof be the final narrator to give the matter of fact, no nonsense wrapping up of loose ends. After all the mystery and puzzle and obscurity of the preceding 12 volumes it was nice to have somebody just give it to us straight.
If I had to criticize, I would say the following. Sometimes Wolfe is a little too coy and too obscure with things, in New Sun it felt a bit self-indulgent at times. Much of the New Sun series I simply had no idea what was going on or what Wolfe was trying to get at. It was interesting to see his evolution as an author from New Sun to Long Sun, where the story is much more accessible and, frankly, human. Wolfe also has a tendency to have characters engage in extended conversations describing things we didn’t see directly, or teasing reveals endlessly. Just spit it out already! He also has a tendency to have characters wandering around not doing much for too many chapters (Auk and Chenille in the tunnels, omg).
After thinking about it overnight I'm not convinced that Blue and Green are Urth and some other planet in our system. The gravity differences would be impossible to ignore, it doesn't explain as much as I'd thought, and also the "It was Earth all along" trope is just less satisfying. The story is more interesting and profound if we are exploring beyond Earth?

Random Questions/Thoughts

1. I still don't quite understand how Quetzal got onto the Whorl years before the Exodus. I understand the Neighbors put some inhumi there on the ship to see what these humans were all about - but how exactly did that happen? It seems to me that landers must have left for Blue and Green long before Long Sun begins. Is there anything we see on Blue or Green that suggests human settlements older than those founded by those leaving during Long Sun?
   
2. Why is there an undine, Mother, on Blue? Did they stow away somehow on the Whorl, or are their devotees of Abaia and Erebus and Scylla on many planets? Is it just a sign that the evils of humanity have followed them to new worlds? And I still don't get what the deal is with Seawrack. Who is she supposed to be?
   
3. Are the witches of the witches guild inhuma who are somehow projecting to Urth? One of the Red Sun Whorl episodes suggests that Merryn of the witches guild has some qualities similar to inhumi. ("Merryn had trouble with animals too") Or at least that the witches are in some way not entirely human. We also know that the Cumaean was a cacogen.
   
4. I don't get the deal with the godlings or why they appeared - are they working for the Whorl gods trying to get people to worship them again? Are they something the Crew is creating to keep the population stable for their next move to another system? So maybe the Whorl was always intended to roam the universe and not just stop at the Blue/Green system?
   
5. Is there any sign/foreshadowing that Severian encounters Silk/Horn in the New Sun books, or that some inhumi are permanently projected there? Jehangu makes a sword similar to Terminus Est when infiltrating the guild - is he maybe still there? Or perhaps any other foreshadowing that some Short Sun Whorls beings appear in Severian’s time on Urth?
   
6. Why did Sinew and Horn fight against each other on Green? Was it because Sinew learned who Krait really was?
   
7. Why did Silk/Horn say he felt sorry for Beroep after discussing with Hoof his dream about Scylla?
   
8. Oreb was possessed by Scylla before Silk/Horn returned to Blue. Was Oreb possessed by any other being in the beginning of Long Sun, when Silk first attempted to sacrifice him? Does this explain why he is so intelligent and his psychic projection appears semi-human? Did we actually see what tipped off Silk/Horn that Scylla possessed Oreb?
   

I'm sure I'll have to read through again to answer many of these questions, which I usually never do but I am certain I will with these.

I love playing minecraft survival and building in survival but at the same time I don't always like sitting on the computer. I really love just sitting on my couch and playing some games and thinking of starting playing minecraft suvival on it. But how is the buidling experince and everything on it? Especially like in survival is it still easy or managable to get around and build nice buildings?

I couldn't reinstall the bottom rack with my Noctua nf-a14s, my Bequiet 140mm pure wings, or my Fractal silent series r2 140s installed, they block off all of the headers on my ATX board, specifically the asus x670e-e, was only able to install a single 140 mounted all the way to the front on the rack. don't really see any builds or people talking about putting 140s on the bottom but it says it supports it. maybe I need something slimmer?

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Guide available! Go here.
Series beginning is here.
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I took a deep breath and let it out. Looking up at Elizabet, I said, “Kilik-ma was curious as to the entertainment on my world. Liss-ran was apparently telling him about the breakfast we shared before we left on the hunt. The music we played through my phone. He wanted to hear some, but I’d left it here with you.
“Well, I was feeling better than I had any right to, and well, I decided to…sing a song,”
“You’ve never sang for me before. What gives?” Elizabet asked, sounding hurt.
“You never asked, and I’ve always been rather self-conscious about my voice. I don’t think it’s very good, and I don’t like to advertise that I actually can sing. Maybe four people back on Earth knew that I could sing and actually carry a tune. Now? Now, all of Haruma will know.
“Getting back to the matter at hand, I decided to sing a song about the winter and its beauty. I slipped into something of a trance, lost in the music apparently. Just singing and well, watching the song come alive in a field. I didn’t even realize that I was singing in the Ancient Tongue until the song was over, and I nearly passed out and fell off of Lola.” I took her hands in mine, and looked her in the eye, worry plastered across my face. “Elizabet, I made it snow. And not just a little bit, either. If you travel two or three hours back in the direction we came, the snow is up to my knees,” I said.
“You made it snow?” Blainaut asked, bewildered.
“Yeah. And… and that’s not all,” I said.
“What else did you do, Ivor?” Elizabet asked in exasperation.
“I might have let loose a new species of bird. A line in the song speaks of a bluebird, a specific, small bird from my planet, and a whole flock of them burst from a tree where there were no birds before. They flew off to the south,” I said, my head hung low.
Elizabet and Blainaut just stared at me. As Blainaut opened his mouth to say something, a voice piped up from the entrance to the city.
“Hey! We have visitors! Four of them. They’re small,” he said.
A crow swooped in from….somewhere and landed on my shoulder. This was going to be interesting.
I whipped around to face the possible threat. What I saw instead, were four canine pups. Realization washed over me as I realized what these were.
“The Dire Wolf,” I said softly.
“What? Dire Wolf? What do you mean, Dire Wolf?” Blainaut asked.
“I killed a female at the beginning of the hunt. She’d been in my Pack the entire time. Until this morning, anyway. I laid her in the cart to make more room for other prey we had taken. She was nursing pups at the time. I was worried they’d die, but it seems they didn’t and have followed her scent,” I explained quietly. “Back away from the cart! Don’t run. Move deliberately, and you should be okay,” I called out.
The Haarthuu slowly backed away from the cart, and the four pups approached in his stead. They pawed at the corpse of their mother, whining. Though large, they couldn’t have been more than two or three months of age. An idea struck me.
I shrugged off my Pack, and reached in for a parcel of meat from the sentry. I quickly cut some chunks from it, and slowly approached the pups, sliding the Pack back onto my shoulders. They began to growl at me, but I tossed some meat their way, and they snatched it up, obviously starving. One was especially quick about it, snapping up two to the others’ one. I continued, Duplicating and tossing meat at them until they seemed full. They began to walk off, so I halted their movement with a Wall of Stone, causing a large semicircle to appear around them. I walked in behind them and closed it off, trapping us all together.
“Ivor, no!” Elizabet yelled after me.
They immediately turned on me, growling and snarling. I tossed more meat at them, causing them to back away and spread out. One took a piece of meat and trotted off, away from the rest. The other three stood away, their hackles raised.
I took a chance and sat on the ground. As a precaution, I raised a Dome of Force over me, to ward off any attack that may come. The crow fluttered off before I finished, perching on the stone wall. One of the pups took hesitant steps towards me, sniffing the air.
“That’s right,” I said in a soft, low tone. “Come on. I’m safe. I may have killed your mother, and I’m sorry for that, but it was either her or my friends. I’ll help take care of your four, if you’ll let me,” I continued.
I could see the fear in their movements, in the way they paced and whined looking up at the wall. I racked my brain, trying desperately to recall some spell I could use to help these four pups calm down.
The one that had taken the meat and left raised its head and howled a low, keening wail. It was joined in by the others, and tears flowed down my cheeks. I knew they were mourning their mother.
As I sat there, the necessary spell flowed into my mind like water. “Call of the Wild, words of the woods, let them Hear me, let me Hear them.” I murmured, willing the five of us to understand the other.
“I’m sorry, kids. I didn’t know she was your mother,” I said softly.
The four of them snapped to attention and regarded me with suspicion.
“The two-legged pink ones lie. Always,” came a voice from my left.
“The green ones are little better,” this time, from my right.
“Strides-in-shadows is gone, and we are Nameless. Your fault!” directly in front of me, this time. The pup there was growling fiercely, slowly advancing.
“I will keep you fed. I will help you form a new pack. I will keep you safe. I will atone for the death of Strides-in-shadows,” I said solemnly.
“Fed? A new pack? Safe?” the pup that began the howl snorted and rose. It slowly padded over to me, its head cocked to the side. “How can a pink two-leg care for Wolf-kind? We hunt. We kill. We are strong,” it said.
“You will likely die without a new pack. I can offer definite survival,” I said softly.
The pup was standing at the very edge of the Dome. “Can you truly? We have our doubts,” it said softly.
I took a deep breath, my heart hammering in my ears. Slowly, I began to stand. Reaching the limit of my Dome, I dispelled it, and stood there in front of four pups. I held my hands out to my sides, open wide.
“I stand here before you. Believe me, or don’t. The Haarthuu will treat you as their own people, and I can promise you will have the attention of my three sons, should you wish it. You” - I knelt in front of the one I took to be the leader- “will never want for companionship and family for as long as you live, if you take my offer,” I said, slowly extending my hand out to him.
“Brothers? Sister? Do we take the pink one at his word? Do we kill him and feast? Do we leave?” he asked.
Three growls were heard as they advanced on me. I lowered my head, expecting the worst. I knew I would likely survive an attack, but I wanted to show trust. I head a snuffling to my right, feeling a cold nose press against my hand. I opened my eyes and slowly raised my head, only to find a yellow eye glaring into my face.
“We will trust for now. The moment we are harmed, we will tear through your people, rending life from flesh,” the leader said.
“Very well. I shall name you four,” I said. The pups sat before me in a line. “You, I shall call Speaks-with-honor. You can expect to be called ‘Speaker’ more often than not,” I said to the apparent leader, the one who had taken the meat and wandered away from his siblings, and he perked up. Turning to the fast one, I said, “You are Stings-with-wind. ‘Stinger’ will be your short name.” She, too, perked up, sitting a bit taller. I faced the calmer, quieter of the three and said, “You are Autumn Breeze. Autumn will be your short name.” He perked up, leaving the angriest of the bunch, who was pacing back and forth, a low growl coming from him. I faced him and intoned, “You are Heart-of-fire. Fireheart will be your short name.” I took in the entirety of the pups, and spread my arms wide. “It is time to meet your new pack! Come,” I said.
I turned to where I was pretty sure the crowd was, and slowly lowered the walls. The crow flapped back to my shoulder and rubbed her beak against my beard. Elizabet, Thaddeus and Blainaut were the first faces I saw. I smiled.
“People of Haruma! There are four Dire Wolf pups behind me. Please don’t be afraid, as I think I’ve made a deal with them,” I said loudly. “Speaks-with-honor is the eldest of the four. After him is his sister, Stings-with-wind. Their brother Autumn Breeze is next, followed by the fierce Heart-of-fire.” Each pup stepped forward with the announcement of their name. “They will hopefully stay with us for the rest of their lives, and we will cherish and love them as family. As long as they are not harmed, we will all prosper,” I said, the walls finally receding into the ground.
The pups sat behind me, watching impassively as the Haarthuu looked worriedly between each other. My boys slowly walked up to me.
“Mr. Ivor? What are we going to do with them?” asked Ahte-tan.
The crow, that I was now certain had to be The Great Mother, hopped off my shoulder and revealed Herself to the crowd of Haarthuu, who all knelt in reverence. Even the Dire Wolf pups showed their belly and neck to her. It seemed all life on Chaia knew her as their Mother.
She knelt in front of the boy. “You are going to love them, cherish them, and treat them like family, My Child. That’s what you’re going to do with them. I hope you will bond with them. They aren’t pets. They are family members. Remember that,” She said, seeing his serious face nod.
“Heart-of-fire? This is Ivor’s oldest, Ahte-tan. I hope the two of you will get along. He will take care of you, Fireheart. Treat each other well,” She said to the wolf pup.
Fireheart walked over to Ahte-tan, and sat before him, staring him in the eye. “Now, remember, Child. Fireheart is proud, strong, and lives up to his name. Help him focus that flame, and I am certain he will be a stalwart companion,” She said.
“Ahte-naah? This is Stings-with-wind. She is fast; faster than you, even. Help each other direct yourselves in your journeys, and I’m certain you will find no better friend than Stinger,” The Great Mother said gently.
Stinger padded over and sniffed and snuffled Ahte-naah’s face, then pounced on him, licking him all over. Ahte-naah giggled and laughed, burying his face in the wolf’s soft fur.
Speaks-with-honor padded over to my youngest, and cocked his head. “Speaker, this is Ivor’s youngest, Ahte-ukum. He is kind, soft-spoken, and rather timid. Help him find his inner warrior; his inner dragon, and you will have a partner to rely on for the rest of your life,” The Great Mother told the eldest pup.
Speaker walked over and lay down at my youngest’s feet, and Ahte-ukum sat, gently petting the gray fur.
Autumn Breeze trotted up to the goddess, butting her gently with his head. “Liss-ran?” The young woman gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. “This is Autumn. He is quiet, calm and attentive. Of all the Haarthuu, only you are able to properly understand him, I think. As you spend time with him, I think you may come to know yourself even better. Care for him as you would your own flesh and blood, and he will never leave you,” The Mother of All commanded. Once she had finished she turned to me.
“I certainly didn’t expect this, Ivor. You may have just begun to turn the tide for this city of My Children. As long as they survive, those pups will be a fierce deterrent to any seeking to gain entry. I am glad to see that you continue to exceed my expectations, dearest. However, I must take my leave. Stay safe, Ivor,” She said, then planted a soft kiss on my cheek before fading.
The pups, now sitting beside their respective Person, began a new howl. This was not one of sorrow, but of the joy of finding a pack.
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