Does anybody else share the sentiment that Chris Pine's character Steve Trevor the moment they got to the mainland came across as sort of annoying always trying to suggest what the course of action should Wonder Woman take everytime like during the alleyway scene the dressing montage scene the office room scene right before WW takes the field of fire during the No Man's Land scene that time when she goes to confront Ludendorff in the ballroom party scene and once again in the scene before she tries to take her enemies at the airfield.
Like the writers were not sure what to do with his character and had to give something for him to do so they had him always endlessly chaperoning Wonder Woman advising what is right or wrong always trying to make the decisions for her at all times.
Granted Gal Gadot's character is meant to be a fish out of water who does not yet know the workings of the world so Steve is always there to help her out giving his own ideas but that itself flawed since at no point she develops her own viewpoint about the war her own perpective about human nature to distinguish between good and evil who is inherently right or wrong and whether that is exemplified in whose side of the equation u are standing.
I wonder if Steve Trevor was a German spy who crash landed in Themyscira in pursuit by the English would she have instinctively sided with the Germans in WWI seeing as he is the first man she has ever interacted with in her whole life.
Also the movie has an abomination of an ending with Wonder Woman instantly falling in love with the first man she has ever met after spending all her life in an all women's island whom she has barely known for even like a week which is only being setup so that she can grieve when he inevitably sacrifices himself at the end of the movies which brings me another very glaring problem with the movie the ending where after the whole movie being hammered by the idea that it is in human instinct in everyone to fight and go to war suddenly we are introduced to Ares who was pulling the strings all the time and corrupting and poisoning their minds with no fault of their own speak about a downer of an ending which retroactively makes the movie worse since the film itself does not consistently adhere and believe in its values and ideas as it has been doling out to its viewers since the beginning.
I probably should not look into this movie too deeply since it a very paint by numbers designed by committee studio movie which would fall apart when analysed too closely as would most other superhero movies or most blockbusters in general see Pitch Meetings and the movie only got praise since it was marketed as the first female led superhero movie ever even before Marvel and it did not suck balls in comparison to other DCEU films.
But god the idea of a gender flipped Captain America: The First Avenger where the male and female leads are swapped does not translate itself as seamlessly as previously thought since the entire Steve comes across more as a nuisance and hindrance who blocks Wonder Woman at every possible occasion who has to navigate her own path and listen to her own self and she has to make him step aside everytime it happens maybe the movie was trying to push the idea that Wonder Woman was breaking the gender norms and patriarchal attitudes which were prevalent in 1910s England of that time but it does get more annoying each Steve does it.
It actually got me to think how would a majority of women feel when the female interest of the male superhero lead in other superhero movies are given no depth and are there to just hang around for the entire movie's runtime with no character arc or purpose except being kidnapped to add to the hero's dilemma or just be there think Blake Lively in Green Lantern think but in a sense we as an audience feel it completes the male superhero character as a person while in a gender flipped scenario from a female perpective it just feels come across as more unnecessary than anything else.

or it really doesnt matter? I was under the impression that the heavier round might be more reliable and be prone for less jams since they guy that is selling to me isnt the most professional reloader. It would be only for training on the range. Federal HST for self defense it is what I will use for other stuff

John Doe
My sister helped me make this guy
Real name: unknown
Alias: Johnathan Doestim
Backstory: John Doe woke up in a hospital bed, without a name he chose the name Johnathan Doestim. Weeks later he began hearing voices. He thought he was going crazy when he saw himself appear as a blue shade in front of him, but it wasn’t him, this John was much better kept, he was wearing a suit. When asked he spoke how if John Doe calms down there might be others that come along. John Doe screamed as a ghost had just spoken to him and the ghost disappeared. A couple of days later at his office job, he heard a voice telling him he had just missed a paper he was supposed to give to his boss in the stack he was carrying. He started to get along with the voices until a villain attacked, he ducked behind a corner and began focussing on a new voice screaming in his head. The man who emerged was not dressed as a doctor or a lawyer, he was dressed in light knight armor. Wielding a sword he fought back the villain attacking, now revealing them to be a ninja. After the battle, John Doe finally gave in and focussed on letting out the voices in his head, there were Doctors, Master swordsmen, Lawyers, but he was just an office worker and everyone else noticed too, they asked why he was the one to be their anchor to the world. With mysteries to uncover and some powers to explore the man with other versions of himself in his head went off to learn from them.
Cards:

• Hero card #1
  • Failure John Doe
  • hp: 6
  • Nemesis symbol: John Doe
  • Power:
    • John Doe cannot be reduced to less than 1 hp during the first vilain turn
    • Meditate: If John Doe is not at or above full health he is set to full health, you may search your deck for a shade card and put it into play, then play the top 1 card of your deck.
  • incapacitated card:
    • When incapacitated remove all of your cards, except for the shade cards currently in play or your trash. Then shuffle all of your shade cards face down under this card.
    • Power: put the top card under this card into play.
    • Whenever John Doe would be allowed to play a card, use an extra power or draw an extra card, that effect can be given to an ally at the start of your turn. Shade cards deal themselves 4 damage at the start and end of your turn, when a shade card is destroyed it is instead removed from the game.
• Hero card #2
  • John Doe, combat serenity
  • hp: 8
  • Nemesis symbol: John Doe
  • power:
    • John Doe cannot be reduced to less than 1 hp during the first villain turn
    • Combat jitters: John Doe deals 1 target, one damage of your choosing, then play the top card of your deck, if it is not a shade you may use this power again.
  • incapacitated card:
    • When incapacitated remove all of your cards, except for the shade cards currently in play or your trash. Then shuffle all of your shade cards face down under this card.
    • Power: Destroy the top card under this card, if you do, play the top 2 cards under this card.
    • Whenever John Doe would be allowed to play a card, use an extra power or draw an extra card, that effect can be given to an ally at the start of your turn. Shade cards deal themselves 4 damage at the start and end of your turn, when a shade card is destroyed it is instead removed from the game.
• Deck:
  • card #1
    • Name: John Doe Master Duelist
    • Amount: 2
    • hp: 8
    • Keywords: Shade
    • Effect: This card cannot be directly targeted by any attack. Redirect any damage that would be dealt to John Doe to this card. When this card is dealt damage, it may deal the source of that damage x*2 Melee Damage, where x is the amount of damage this card took from the attack. At the end of your turn this card deals 1 target 2 melee damage.
    • Quote: “To control a blade, one must first be in control of their emotions.” -John Doe Master Duelist; “Lorem Ipsum vol. 1” #13
  • card #2
    • Name: John Doe Engineer
    • Amount: 2
    • hp: 10
    • Keywords: Shade
    • Effect: This card cannot be directly targeted by any attack. Redirect any damage that would be dealt to John Doe to this card. When this card is dealt damage, it may deal x targets 1 projectile damage, where x is the amount of damage this card took from the attack. You may reduce any damage dealt to shade cards by 1 to a minimum of 1.
    • Quote: “I can understand much, but I cannot understand why you were chosen.” -John Doe Engineer “Lorem Ipsum vol. 1” #14
  • card #3
    • Name: John Doe Chancellor
    • Amount: 2
    • hp: 6
    • Keywords: Shade
    • Effect: This card cannot be directly targeted by any attack. Redirect any damage that would be dealt to John Doe to this card. When this card is dealt damage, you may use x/2 (rounded down) powers, where x is the amount of damage this card took from the attack. You may use an additional power in your power phase.
    • Quote: "Hold on whats a chancellor again" -John Doe; "Lorem Ipsum vol. 1” #2
  • card #4
    • Name: Professor John Doe
    • Amount: 2
    • hp: 7
    • Keywords: Shade
    • Effect: This card cannot be directly targeted by any attack. Redirect any damage that would be dealt to John Doe to this card. When this card is dealt damage, increase the next damage dealt by a Hero character card by x, where x is the amount of damage this card took from the attack. At the end of your turn, increase damage dealt by 1 Hero character card by 1 until the start of your next turn.
    • Quote: "no longer will I stand for this idiocracy" -Professor John Doe; “Lorem Ipsum vol. 1” #14
  • card #5
    • Name: John Doe Doctor
    • Amount: 2
    • hp: 5
    • Keywords: Shade
    • Effect: This card cannot be directly targeted by any attack. Redirect any damage that would be dealt to John Doe to this card. When this card is dealt damage, 1 Hero target regains x hp, where x is the amount of damage this card took from the attack. At the end of your turn each hero target regains 1 hp
    • Quote: "the junk food you're eating right now won't kill you, because if you don't stop right now, I'll strangle you" -John Doe Doctor; “Lorem Ipsum vol. 2” #1
  • card #6
    • Name: John Doe Lawyer
    • Amount: 2
    • hp: 5
    • Keywords: Shade
    • Effect: This card cannot be directly targeted by any attack. Redirect any damage that would be dealt to John Doe to this card. When this card is dealt damage, you may draw x*2 cards, where x is the amount of damage this card took from the attack. Whenever the villain plays a card, you may draw a card.
    • Quote: "i would like to make it very clear right now, that vigilantism is illegal, to avoid any issues later" -John Doe Lawyer; “Lorem Ipsum vol. 1” #6
  • card #7
    • Name: General John Doe
    • Amount: 2
    • hp: 6
    • Keywords: Shade
    • Effect: This card cannot be directly targeted by any attack. Redirect any damage that would be dealt to John Doe to this card. When this card is dealt damage, increase damage dealt by shade cards by x/2 (rounded down) until the start of your next turn, where x is the amount of damage this card took from the attack. Increase damage dealt by Shades by 1.
    • Quote: "If a squad is falling apart, I reasign its members to others" -General John Doe; “Lorem Ipsum vol. 1” #14
  • card #8
    • Name: John Doe Marksman champion
    • Amount: 2
    • hp: 5
    • Keywords: Shade
    • Effect: This card cannot be directly targeted by any attack. Redirect any damage that would be dealt to John Doe to this card. When this card is dealt damage, it may deal 1 target that did not deal damage to it this turn x*2 irreducible projectile damage, where x is the amount of damage this card took from the attack. At the end of your turn you may deal 1 target 3 irreducible projectile damage
    • Quote: "Let me see how good a shot you are - no. NO! that's not how you do it" -John Doe Marksman champion; “Not Worthy - Maybe Worthy” #5
  • card #9
    • Name: PANIKKK!!!
    • Amount: 4
    • Keywords: One-shot
    • Effect: Destroy all shade cards and draw as many cards as you discarded this way. John Doe is immune to damage until the start of your next turn. Immediately end your turn.
    • Quote: “AAAaaaahhhHHHh!!!!!” -John Doe; “Not Worthy - Maybe Worthy” #4
  • card #10
    • Name: Calm down
    • Amount: 2
    • Keywords: Ongoing
    • Effect: You may either move 2 shade cards from your trash to your hand, search your deck for a shade card and put it into your hand or play a shade card
    • Quote: "repeat after me 'i can do it'- no no, don't change it to 'you can do it’” -RJD; “Not Worthy - Maybe Worthy” #3
  • card #11
    • Name: “I’m no failure”
    • Amount: 2
    • Keywords: Ongoing, limited
    • Effect: Whenever a Shade card enters play John Doe may either draw a card or play a non shade card.
    • Quote: "Hey, hey, it's okay, i wouldn't've gotten it first try either" -John Doe; “Not Worthy - Maybe Worthy” #2
  • card #12
    • Name: Cross universal vitality
    • Amount: 2
    • Keywords: Ongoing
    • Effect: John Doe may regain hp over his max.
    • Power: John Doe regains 1 hp for every 2 Shade cards in play (rounded up)
    • Quote: "We can help maintain this body as a team" -General John Doe “Not Worthy - Maybe Worthy” #6
  • card #13
    • Name: coordinated strike
    • Amount: 4
    • Keywords: One-shot
    • Effect: John Doe deals 1 target 1 melee damage, then each Shade in play deals that target x melee damage that cannot be increased or reduced, where x on this card is the amount of damage John Doe has dealt this turn.
    • Quote: "The codeword is 'spaghetti’, understand?" -John Doe; “Not Worthy - Maybe Worthy” #6
  • card #14
    • Name: All sides of the courtroom
    • Amount: 2
    • Keywords: One-shot
    • Effect: John Doe regains x hp and you may draw x cards, where x equals the amount of damage dealt to Hero targets by Hero targets since your last turn.
    • Quote: "I’m not as great as all these heroes, I'm really not, but even i know that's not the whole truth" -John Doe; “Not Worthy - Maybe Worthy” #5
  • card #15
    • Name: crazed assault
    • Amount: 3
    • Keywords: One-shot
    • Effect: Destroy a shade card and deal 1 target 4 melee damage.
    • Quote: "thanks for the help, but i still have to do some things myself"- John Doe; “Lorem Ipsum” #13
  • card #16
    • Name: Paperwork
    • Amount: 4
    • Keywords: One-shot
    • Effect: Draw a card for each card that has been discarded since your last turn.
    • Quote: "Keeping order is important, even for someone with an office job - see, you missed something" -John Doe Lawyer; “Lorem Ipsum” #2
  • card #17
    • Name: Relatable John Doe
    • Amount: 1
    • hp: 8
    • Keywords: Shade
    • Effect: At the end of your turn you may use your main power regardless of whether or not you already did, but replace John Doe with Relatable John Doe and increase all numbers on the card by 1.
    • Quote: "you're not the greatest one here, neither am I, but that's like being upset you're not as tall as a group of giants!" -Relatable John Doe; “Not Worthy - Maybe Worthy” #2

Appearances:

• “Lorem Ipsum” Ongoing series (canceled after 14 issues) (starts in November 2020)
  • #13: John Doe accidentally banishes Master Duelist so John Doe Master Duelist Leaves
  • #14: Almost all of the other Shades leave, the last one is the Engineer.
• “Not Worthy - Maybe Worthy” 6 issue limited series
  • #1: John Doe Struggles because almost everyone left him and brings out relatable John Doe (RJD) for the first time at the end.
  • #2: John Doe has a conversation with RJD and ends up training with him.
  • #3: A Ninja of Zhu Long shows up and almost defeats John Doe and RJD.
  • #4: John Doe Master Duelist comes out and blocks a finishing strike, pushing back the Ninja and saving John Doe.
  • #5: John Doe Master Duelist teams up with Professor John Doe and John Doe Marksman champion to Mentor John Doe so he can fight better.
  • #6: The Ninja returns with a couple of friends but is beaten back by John Doe, who just got back his full combat group.
• “Lorem Ipsum vol. 2” Ongoing series

Notes: Our reality didn’t have a person who we would know as John Doe, but this John Doe and his shades were transported here because they were standing at the epicenter of the destruction of Freedom Tower, as there was no Freedom Tower in any of their Universes. Along with that, main John Doe is the only one who was unsuccessful in life in comparison to his shades. If you include his shades, John Doe has been on every seat in the courtroom.
Meta Notes: My sister came to me with the idea to create a character who was a failure, but was the only thing tethering his other much more successful versions to this world. With some work we come to a deck with very situational cards that can be played “accidentally” with a forced top of deck play.
Gameplay vision: This deck relies on 2 things:

• The shades that keep the main John Doe safe and deal damage.
• The main power forces you to play the top card of your deck which can sometimes be detrimental by causing you to destroy your shades.

PREVIOUIS
“May I leave?” I asked quietly. With Claire pregnant and sitting in a bathtub of salty water my head was spinning. Everything in me knew then that my life was forfeit. I no longer served any purpose and the moment Markos understood that, I would be destroyed.
Nathaniel excused me and I went to my chambers to arrange my belongings. It would be troublesome to leave them for others to clean up and packing my room was simple. I don’t have all that many belongings, in all technicalities I don’t own anything anymore than a dog owns their toys. If my owner should choose to take them away from me that would be beyond my control.
For the most part my room is simple. The closet is large, and filled with many outfits for servants to dress me in. Of course they are all dresses, I have never worn pants the way Claire does. I wonder if that has anything to do with why I could never fall pregnant for Markos. Perhaps pants were the key.
Regardless, I arranged each dress neatly so they could be removed easily and sorted out the torn ones. They would no longer need to be mended, so I placed them in the trash. I wasn’t entirely sure what to do with the weapons, so returning a majority of them to the armory was all I could think to do.
I cleared my personal bathroom of the belongings I kept there, soaps and various perfumes mostly. The fae are very sensitive to human scent, so it was always important that I should smell fresh, even after training. Then I went to wait for Eric.
He was out on a hunt with Charles, but I hoped he might return soon and so I waited unmoving at the gates. Hours passed and evening set in. I missed dinner entirely, but my patience was rewarded as headlights marked the approach of a vehicle.
Guards opened the gates for them and eventually Eric and Charles stepped out of the car. Both were covered in dirt and blood, I supposed their hunt had been successful yet neither said a word. Charles in particular looked somewhat shaken while Eric was unusually tense. I wondered what could have happened to make them both look so spooked.
When Eric noticed me he hesitated, “Calla, what are you doing out here?”
“I need to speak with you…” I mumbled, perhaps now was not the time.
He took a moment to evaluate then turned to Charles, “Are you alright? I need to speak with Calla.”
“Yeah, yes, I'm fine.” He wasn't convincing, even to me.
“I’ll come speak with you after. Try to get some rest.”
“Sure.”
Charles left us without another word and I felt Eric’s eyes on me, “What did you need to talk about?” he asked, as calm as he ever was.
“Not here…” I murmured, there were too many eyes and ears within the castle. I didn’t need Markos to find out any sooner than he already would.
“Come then.” Eric agreed easily. He had always understood the need we had for secrecy.
We walked together in silence out into the forest. I could hardly see the ground, but he guided me where necessary. This was reminiscent of how we would behave as children, sneaking out into the forest at any opportunity we could. It’s hard to find things in the forest, and so even if we were followed, it was easy to avoid detection.
We had spent countless hours in these woods, training and playing. For as long as I can remember knowing him Eric has always been the person I turned to. Of course I knew there was nothing he could do for me now, but I wanted to tell him, I didn't want it to be a surprise for him.
When at last we stopped we were deep among the trees. There was hardly any moonlight and Eric’s eyes glowed faintly in the darkness. Around us fireflies blinked intermittently among the leaves, illuminating the surroundings dimly. “What is it that you wanted to talk about?” Eric asked gently as he sat on a fallen log and gestured for me to join him.
“Are you okay being back at Dunkel?” I began. Of course this was not all I wished to speak with him about, but I was interested to know, and I didn’t want to talk about only my problems.
“In general I guess so. Nathaniel showed me the below chambers, there’s nothing left down there now. No ‘livestock’, and as far as I can tell everything he’s told me he changed is the truth.”
“Yes, he changed a great many things.”
“He’s changed too…”
“Is that what you wanted?”
“I don’t know.” he admitted, “I didn’t really want anything from him. I didn’t expect to see him again.”
“Are you unhappy that you did?”
“...No.”
“Then why do you challenge him so much?”
“I don’t challenge him.”
“You’re lying to yourself if you believe that.”
“Okay, fine.” he mused, “Maybe I do…”
“So why?” I prompted again.
“I like watching him try. The look of thinly veiled frustration he gets when he knows I’m right is priceless.”
“You shouldn’t torment him the way you do, he cares for you very much.”
Eric sighed, looking up at the sky. “I wish he would just say that then.”
“It’s not in their nature to share such things with words.”
“Whose side are you on exactly?”
“No one’s.” I assured, then asked tentatively. “Have you and he..?”
He smiled bitterly as he understood what I was asking, “I’m sure you didn’t ask me out into the forest to talk about Nathaniel and I. But, no… and not for my lack of trying. If he doesn’t fuck me soon-”
I couldn’t help but smile. It had been some time since Eric and I had spoken quite like this, and I’ll admit it made me feel better to hear his complaints. This is how we had always been, honest and ourselves with each other. He was the only person I could show any emotion with, and I was the only one he would ever speak to in this way.
Moreover, I’d never known Eric not to get what he wanted and I was sure it bothered him greatly. “Perhaps you’re not his type?” I teased lightly.
“He doesn’t kiss me like I'm not his type.” He retorted.
“Then maybe you’re losing your charm.” Perhaps it was just my imagination, but he almost looked like he wasn’t sure if I was joking or not.
“Why don’t you tell me what’s really going on?” he asked instead of answering.
I hesitated, truthfully I didn’t know how to tell him… How do you tell your best friend that you’re going to die? I took a deep breath in. It didn’t matter anymore whether or not I upheld the fae standard, I would be disposed of regardless. However, concealing my emotion wasn’t the problem, it was showing it that I found difficult in this case.
In his presence I had felt genuine happiness and shared sadness. But now that I wanted to speak to him with importance I worried that I wouldn’t be able to show the correct emotion and that he would never understand how much he meant to me.
“I love you, Eric.” I began quietly. It was stressful simply to say it; what if I wasn’t giving the words enough and he didn’t believe me? or didn't understand how important he was? I must have paused for too long thinking because he spoke uncertainly.
“...Something’s really wrong isn’t it?”
“No… I.. I just need you to understand. That I care for you and I’m glad we met. I’m sorry I can’t say it well enough. But you’re the only reason I survived at all, and I’m grateful for you.”
“Calla. Whatever is wrong, I’ll fix it.”
“You can’t fix it…”
“I can.”
The subtle undertone of worry in his voice made it difficult to breathe and my eyes stung, “You can’t fix it because the problem is me. I’m useless.” I whispered carefully trying to control myself.
“That’s not-”
“It is. …I had one purpose, one use: to serve my master and bear him an heir. But I’ve failed.”
“Calla-” he tried but I cut him off again.
“I lost at Leùchtend when Mathéo defeated me in combat, and I was unable to protect Markos. That is a failure of service and unforgivable in its own right. But it is not the only way I’ve failed him. I’ve never given him an heir. It doesn't matter what I do, or how hard I try, I can't make him want me. I disgust him, he never wants to try with me.”
I took a breath and Eric waited for me to continue, I think he understood there was nothing he could say, everything I was telling him was undeniably the truth. “It’s supposed to be easy, all of our training said we would fall pregnant right away, likely on the first try. But I didn’t. And I still didn’t on any of the other times we tried. I did everything I was supposed to; I tracked my cycles, I ate balanced and I took the correct vitamins every day. I dressed exactly how he preferred so he would want me but I still-”
It was so difficult to say, the words caught in my throat, “I still failed to give him an heir, which means there must be something wrong with me…”
“There’s nothing wrong with you, they test for infertility, you know that.”
“Then they must have tested me wrong because it’s not just Markos.”
He paused then, “...What do you mean..?”
“I thought if the problem was Markos, then someone else could get me pregnant and I could pretend it was his… I don't know how many I've been with…”
“If Markos knew that…”
I laughed humorlessly, “He found out a while back Eric, and he didn’t even care. Not only does he not want me, he doesn’t care if anyone else has me. The only thing he said was that he wasn’t surprised, that I was just like my mother was - a whore.”
“That doesn’t make you a whore…”
“No?”
“...You’re more like a concubine,” he joked gently and to my surprise I laughed. I’m not sure where it came from, it must have been the stress for as I laughed I cried.
“Thanks.” I mumbled weakly as I wiped the tears off my cheeks with the sleeve of my dress. He vaguely gestured for me to come to him and so I did, curling up close to his chest in his arms as he continued.
“Besides… There’s nothing wrong with you. You’re beautiful and deadly, there’s nothing fae like more than that. Falling pregnant is not your only value and it never could be. You’re not an incubator, I know that’s what we were taught but it’s not true. You’re smart, and diligent. There’s nothing you’ve failed at. Mathéo only even stood a chance at all because you had just defeated a dragon, and you did protect Markos. I wish I could show you the human world, then you would understand how wonderful you are. You don’t need to be useful to the fae, they don’t deserve you, Markos especially doesn’t.”
“The human world doesn’t matter to me. This is my home. I could only ever belong here, and if I’m not useful then I have no place. I’m not like you, you never had any use but they kept you regardless, while they only kept me because I had use.. there’s something wrong with me now so I no longer belong here.”
“Why do you keep saying that? It’s not true, Calla… please listen to me-”
“I keep saying it because it’s true! You’re just not listening. I know it’s me because Claire is pregnant to Markos. If the problem was him, how could that be?”
“How did you find out…?”
I frowned slightly, “...You already knew?” I realized when he looked somewhat guilty.
“...Does Markos know?”
“I don’t know…” Why hadn’t he told me what he knew?
“Whatever, it doesn’t matter. I won’t let anything happen to you. I’ll take care of it. She won’t have that child.”
“There’s nothing you can do, Nathaniel knows, he will tell Markos.”
“I’ll talk to Nathaniel first, he won’t say anything.”
“Even if he listened to you, that still doesn’t stop her being pregnant.”
“...Accidents can happen to pregnant women and sometimes they lose the child…” he murmured quietly.
I looked up at him surprised while he looked away into the forest, his expression was chillingly calm.
“Charles would never forgive you…”
“If you ask me to… I'll do it. No one but you and I would ever know… ”
It felt as though all the air had left me and I couldn’t breathe. What kind of person was I to consider this? What kind of monster would I be if I asked this of him? And what would it do to him to go through with it…? The blood rushing in my ears was almost deafening and it seemed to only grow louder with every heartbeat.
“I- I don’t want you to do anything…” I whispered meekly. Part of me already regretted saying that. Whatever Eric might have thought I couldn’t tell as I continued. “I’m defective, I hold no value and serve no purpose. I want to be put down… There’s no reason to hurt Claire or her child… I’ve accepted my fate.”
He clenched his jaw tensely and I wondered if I had upset him. Perhaps that wasn’t the choice he wanted me to make. “Calla. Don’t throw yourself away for nothing. Having his child is Not your only purpose, and there is nothing wrong with you. Just let me do this for you. You don’t even have to ask, just say nothing and I’ll understand.”
I understood then, it hurt him to do nothing. He didn’t want to lose me anymore than I wanted to lose him. What he didn’t understand was that it would bring me peace to die. “No… It’s okay, I want to go… I never told you this because I thought it was stupid, and maybe you’ll still think it is… But I wanted to be a mother. Even if not with Markos, they must have tested me wrong for it to have never happened in all these years.”
“They didn’t test you wrong, you can have a child if you want… Just not to a fae…”
“...What?” He was making no sense.
The silence between us hung thick in the atmosphere before he at last took a deep breath in, “No fae can get you pregnant…” he reiterated without emotion.
I frowned, confused, “Why would you say that..?”
“Because it’s true.”
“That doesn’t make any sense, and could you know?” I didn’t think he would lie to me, but I was sure I must have been misunderstanding him.
“I know because I made it so… The day you graduated I wrote a protection spell so that you would never bear any fae a child…”
I slowly pushed away from him and he made no move to stop me. “You-.. You hexed me?”
He nodded ever so slightly and I sat back away from him, slipping off the log to sit on the ground beside it instead. It made no sense. To begin, although we can write spells, and Eric was particularly good at it, he still lacked the magic to activate them just as I did. So even if he had written such a curse, he could not place it. Could he?
“The fae never taught us spells like that.” I murmured at last as I realized he must be lying.
“I didn’t learn it from the fae..”
“So how did you know how to do it?”
“I just did…”
“Fine. Then who helped you?”
“No one…”
“Someone must have helped you. Nathaniel must have helped you activate it.” That was the only thing that made sense.
“He would never have helped me back then…”
“Then, you’re lying. You’re only saying this to make me reconsider.”
“I’m not… I swear it’s the truth.”
I didn’t want to believe him, but part of me was beginning to understand. It didn’t matter how he had done it, perhaps someone helped him, or maybe the magic in his arm allowed it, either way, he had found a way to do it. Which meant that he was the reason any of this had happened. It was his design that I would never carry Markos’s heir, I would never fulfill my purpose - I would never have any use to the fae because of him. There weren’t any words for it. I felt nauseous even thinking about it, how long has he been lying to me?
“Calla.. please say something..”
“…You- you ruined my life..”
“It was to protect you..”
“Protect me? Protect me!? Claire is pregnant and I am not! I will be put to death while she lives among the fae!”
“I won’t let anything happen to you. Let me help you…” He moved to sit with me again but I recoiled.
“You want to help me? Reverse it! Undo the spell.”
“I can’t…”
“Why not!?”
“Because I left no margin of error! It’s perfect, complete… Irreversible…”
“You always did like to make every spell flawless.” I muttered bitterly.
Anger burned away the tears, I had no words left for him. How could he do this to me? We had been friends for so long I trusted him so completely.
“It wasn’t to hurt you…”
“No? Then what was it for, Eric.”
“I told you… To protect you… If you’d have fallen pregnant then you would have been-”
“I would have been what I was supposed to be!”
“You would have aged and your children would have been monsters!”
“The only monster here now is you. You’re worse than the fae-” I stopped. A familiar slight tugging sensation at the edge of my mind alerted me to Markos’s request. He was recalling me to him from wherever I was in a somewhat urgent manner. Perhaps he had found out about Claire. “-I have to go.”
Eric seemed to understand immediately, “Don’t go. If he knows he’ll kill you. Let me talk to Nathaniel before you see Markos.”
“I don’t care.”
“Calla please-”
“No. Even if he doesn’t know yet, I never want to see or speak to you again.”
“This is ridiculous you can’t just-”
“Goodbye Eric.” I cut him off bluntly as I turned to leave. I didn’t bother to look back to see if he followed or not. It was no longer my concern and I wouldn’t think about him. That was the promise I made myself.
***
Markos had summoned me from the gardens, and that is exactly where I found him. I wondered what he could be doing to be out so late.
“You called for me?” I announced myself and knelt.
“Yes. It took you some time to get here, were you far?”
“I was in the forest.”
“At this hour?”
“...Yes.”
I thought he might question me further, however he did not and I supposed he didn’t care. He was sitting with one arm resting on his leg and the other propping him up. The embellishments of his clothes glinted faintly and he ran a hand back through his hair. He seemed tired.
“That’s fine. It’s fortunate you’re still awake. We need to talk.”
[NEXT]()
Chapters List

So he has a Powakaddy FX5, and he was under the impression that the screen on that could support a GPS program that linked to it and showed distance to pin etc., but it seems that isn't the case. I've looked at apps for his phone (android) and they all seem to need subscriptions. He wants something that has GPS and will show course/hole info etc. (I'm not a golfer so I'm not 100% sure what these apps/devices do!)
I wanted to know if you'd recommend one of these apps, or a dedicated device? And any specific recommendations? I'm in Ireland if that makes a difference. Thanks.

Hello INAT!
I am developing an exciting Single Player offline FPS Game in Unity 3D specifically designed for mobile platforms. While the market for FPS genre games may seem saturated, I strongly believe that the demand for offline single-player experiences remains high. My vision for this game is to deliver a Modern Warfare-style tactical FPS experience on mobile devices.
Currently, I have been working on this project for two years, but progress has been slow due to the limited resources. My partner and I, both programmers, have been the sole contributors so far. However, I am now at a stage where I am ready to release an alpha version of the game. This version will feature some basic mechanics, allowing players to try it out and provide valuable feedback.
In developing this game, I draw inspiration from fantastic titles like Modern Combat 3 and 4, as well as Bullet Force (although the latter is an online game). However, I must clarify that, at the moment, there is no payment involved as I am unable to allocate a budget. Developing games can be quite expensive, as you may know.
If you are an aspiring UI designer looking to build an impressive portfolio, I would love to have you on board. Your responsibilities would include designing the UI elements for the loadout, settings, main menu, pause menu, and control interfaces, among others. This opportunity would provide you with hands-on experience in a real game development project and allow you to showcase your skills to potential employers or clients.
If you have skills and experience in level design, game design, or weapon animation/modeling, your contribution to the project would be more than welcome.
I am specifically looking for someone between the ages of 18 and 24 who shares my passion for creating an exceptional gaming experience. If you are interested, please feel free to DM me. Let's work together to bring this ambitious project to life!
Thank you for your time, and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Here are some links: https://youtu.be/6laKFC9JaQs

If you're looking to optimize your LinkedIn profile for professional branding and make a lasting impression on potential connections and employers, consider enlisting the help of specialized services that offer LinkedIn profile makeovers. These services have the expertise and experience to transform your profile into a powerful personal brand statement. Here are some top services to consider:

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Ever since this person (My high school sweetheart who I had a child with and loved for my whole life even though we were on and off) passed, I've been getting strong impressions of emotions that aren't mine. I also feel like he is (this is going to sound crazy) in my mind some times. It feels like I get thoughts or messages from him but I don't know if its just grief (its only been 2 years and it was very traumatic) making me crazy or if its really something.....else. I also have his ashes in my home, not sure if that makes a difference. But this was happening before I had them as well. If it is him, how do I know it its because of our bond or if I am more open to things like that. It's hard for me to know because I am in recovery from drug addiction and my mind, body and soul were numb for a long time. I have moon in the 12th house in my natal chart. I've read that it can cause strong intuitive and sometimes psychic abilities that maybe haven't been harnessed. But its all causing me a lot of stress. Other things have happened since I've been sober as well. The reason I decided to finally ask for help is because on the way home today I pulled into my neighborhood, I had a very strong response to a vehicle that shook me up. I felt an instant sense of dread when I saw it. The moment before I had been singing with the radio. Nothing was wrong. But the instant I saw this van I was terrified. It was so intense and it started to fade when they pulled away but I still felt so freaked out and confused. I feel like I'm going crazy.

Just a rant, and bearing in mind that we are all over 30, I believe that there will be someone out there that has faced or is facing the same situation as me. My wedding is in 3 months time.. And after 12 years of anorexia and bulimia and exercise addiction, I decided out of the blue to start a serious recovery journey under the supervision of a dietician and a psychotherapist , specialised in EDs..
So here I am recovering for the last month, and slowly but surely gaining weight (which was of course needed as I was and still am underweight and have no period).
BUT I am struggling and I am sure I will not fit in my wedding dress that I have booked over four months ago.
Most brides exercise more, lose weight etc etc and here I am gaining weight and feeling bloated all the time. Should I just pause my recovery for after Septembe my wedding?

"When Muffin can't stop sucking her thumb, she has to start wearing a cone of shame. But the cone gets in her way and can no longer play 'sandwich shop' with Bluey and Bingo." ***
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So we’re all going to accept the fact that Frank & Chuck had three WHOLE days & didn’t once get tired or fatigued from lack of sleep? After 200+ hours in OTR, 3 play throughs of the og DR2, as well as beating DR1 twice; All I can say is… impressive levels of insomnia from Frank & Chuck. I’m just curious on how others feel about this question.

So I just left Paris for the millionth time in my life but I hadn't been here for more then a day or so for work in awhile because of covid and general work stuff.
But I came for pleasure for a few days and as someone who has been coming to Paris almost every year and has a satellite office here I can not believe how much english is used now. My work colleagues have always been able to speak english so no surprise. But all around the city I would go into shops and when people would hear my broken french. They would just switch to english not even think about it and not like a few words but everyone I encountered had very good conversational english. Bakery workers, cafe barista, waiters it was everywhere. What happened? I assume social media, globalization and brexit/global industry.
I was at dinner and this family was next to me and the kids spoke such good english and I asked them how and they said tiktok and gaming which made me giggle. Gen-z is hilarious. But it was so good and those kids were like 10. It definitely was not like this 10/15 years ago........ I mean obviously I didn't mind but it was certainly a noticeable change. Especially because people would just switch immediately into english comfortably. Anyways not sure if french people love or hate this change but just wanted to let you guys know I was very impressed with everyone's english.

A couple of weeks ago, I posted about finally expanding my primary game and adding expansion packs. I took all your suggestions, as well as recommendations from a couple of youtube videos out there, into account and narrowed down my choice to seven expansion packs. Everyone has their own opinions on what items and features they need in the game, and these are the expansion packs that make sense to me.
Ambitions, Generations, Seasons, Pets, Master Suit Stuff, Outdoor Living Stuff, and Town Life Stuff.
These selections make sense for the way I play. I set up a town with all its conditions in place and then play the longest marathon game I can. I stick to one town; I have no interest in traveling to other areas, islands, or cities that some of the expansion packs offer, so I didn't choose any of those for this update.
And now that I have them all installed and ready to go, the next step is to prime my playing field. Before ever creating by sim, I want to make everything else first. And I welcome any of your suggestions for the following categories:
1: The town - I could stick to the default sunset valley since I already know that map pretty well, but knowing what towns might be included in those expansion packs, can you recommend a city similar to sunset valley but better? I do like the country feel of the village, where there are wooded areas and waterfalls, and getaway spots. Nothing high traffic city based.
2: The Premade Structures - some buildings I'm going to build myself, but for the most part, ill pick a lot of the previously made structures waiting to be placed. I know where I want my sim to live. So every open plot of land other than that location should be filled. What kind of buildings do you suggest I add to my city? This is one of the reasons I got the town life stuff expansion pack. Other than the grocery stores, restaurants, and art galleries already existing in sunset valley, what else should my town have? I want every empty lot filled with something that adds to the game.
3: Townies - If I'm going to fill every lot with a house, then I should create families to fill those houses to make my city a lot more interesting. So suggest to me a character or a family I should start. For example, in a run-down house, I plan to create a crime family. Every family member would be in the crime profession and be modeled after all the stereotypical no-good hooligans you might picture being in such a family. Maybe I'll make a posh family filled with we'll dressed, exceptionally beautiful, but exceptionally dumb people you could think of. I'm playing around with the character traits here. Pick a personality trait or two (Grumpy and Insane) and create a character around it. Grumpy Carl can always be seen walking around the neighborhood muttering to himself; stay away from him cause he could go off on you if you're not careful. See—compelling characters to fill my town with. So have fun and suggest a character and what traits and professions you feel would mix well to create such a character.
I welcome all your suggestions.