Keebler danish wedding cookies near me

The art of jewelry making has been practiced for thousands of years. Sparkling and colorful gems and metals are cut and designed into gorgeous pieces of jewelry to make a statement to your overall attire. Today, you can also opt for jewelry appraisal near me to create magic with the existing jewelry you own. Among the various kinds of jewelry, Judaica jewelry has gained popularity over the years.
Judaica jewelry is a beautiful and meaningful expression of Jewish culture and tradition. It is a testament to the rich history and heritage of the Jewish people, with roots dating back thousands of years. Throughout history, Jews have used jewelry to express their faith and identity.
Today, Judaica jewelry remains a popular way to connect with one's Jewish roots and show pride in one's heritage. From Star of David pendants to Hamsa bracelets, Judaica jewelry offers a wide range of options for you to embrace your Jewish identity through fashion.
Judaica jewelry has a long and rich history that can be traced back to ancient times. In fact, the earliest examples of Jewish jewelry can be found in the Bible, where many apex figures are described as wearing jewelry as a sign of their wealth and status. For example, King David was said to have worn a gold crown, while Queen Esther wore a silver scepter.
Over time, Jewish jewelry became more intricate and meaningful, with each piece often telling a story or conveying a message. So here are the top three Judaica jewelry pieces that you can opt for apart from wedding bands in Charlotte, NC.
Chai Necklace It is one of the most popular Judaica jewelry pieces. The word "chai" means "life" in Hebrew, and this necklace is often worn as a way to celebrate the gift of life. The chai symbol is typically displayed on a pendant or charm and is often combined with other symbols, such as the Star of David or the hamsa hand.
Mezuzah Necklace The mezuzah is a small parchment scroll that is placed on the doorpost of a Jewish home as a reminder of God's presence. The mezuzah necklace typically features a miniature mezuzah pendant and is often worn as a way to bring God's protection and blessings with you wherever you go.
Evil Eye Necklace The evil eye is a popular symbol in many cultures and is said to protect the wearer from harm. The evil eye necklace typically features a small pendant or charm that is designed to ward off negative energy and protect the wearer from the evil eye.
Judaica jewelry is not only a way to celebrate Jewish culture and heritage, but it is also a way to express one's faith and connect with God. Whether you are looking for a traditional piece of Judaica jewelry or a modern and contemporary design, there are many different options available to suit your style and taste. So why not explore the world of Judaica jewelry and find a piece that speaks to you and your connection with Jewish culture and tradition?
Malak Jewelers is one of the best jewelry stores offering a massive range of Judaica jewelry. Apart from that, they can also be the solution to your jewelry repair near me. Visit their website to know more about the products and services offered by them.
Original Source:
https://malakjewelersnc.blogspot.com/2023/05/3-types-of-famous-judaica-jewelry.html

Hello! First post here, and me and my friend had an experience that I've been really confused about. We found an abandoned building near our houses and walked over to it, for context there are 2 real entrances, front and back. Back entrance had the window smashed in, I assume it was used as administration for the building, front entrance led into water regulator stuff. The back window led into administration, which was like a kind of inbetween of the outside and water regulators from the back perspective.
This building has been closed for over 5 years at this point, but we heard weird sounds inside, like someone was talking, and it's a small building so we'd have seen someone in it. We heard someone ask "Is anyone in there!?" from outside the back door. There was noone there, and there was no way someone could have silently exited the area due to broken glass, plywood, et cetera in the way that would either make noise or atleast impede an escape. After that, the door kept opening and closing, even if it was completely closed. There was no wind inside, so it shouldn't have been opening, and wind didn't have any chance to reach it outside due to the door positioning and the fact there was no wind that day.
What has just occurred? I can't think of a normal explanation honestly. Me and my friend both heard a human male voice clearly yell at us, and both saw the door open and close repeatedly with no wind in the area. I didn't get any weird feelings while inside, but it was a weird encounter and I want someone's insight. Thanks!

Hi! I (19) have been experiencing continuous guilt following the unexpected death of a young teacher. Any advice on how to get rid of this guilt is greatly appreciated!
Here is some more information:
At my primary school there was a great PE teacher. I was never a big fan of sports or exercise haha, but she made it fun. I remember when I was graduating primary school, I was sad to leave but that changed when I found out that this teacher would be working in the secondary school too! She also taught hockey classes after school which I participated in for a few years despite my terrible hockey skills haha.
I only knew her for about 7 years, but in that time I saw a lot of cool moments in her life. I still remember how happy she was showing her engagement ring to my classmates and hearing about her wedding. She also rocked a variety of hairstyles over the years and she suited all of them!
Back at the start of 2020, I volunteered at my primary school for a week. When I entered the staff room, I saw that teacher but she just seemed kind of off, kind of down, which was a strange sight. Back then I was a dumb teenager who had some reason become bored of the occasionally monotonous nature of life. Very unusual for me, as I’m normally quite optimistic. This resulted in a low mood where nothing seemed exciting anymore, typical teenager stuff haha.
I remember she asked me a bunch of questions and told me she was pregnant. Thanks to the stupid mindset I was in, I don’t remember being as enthusiastic as I wanted to be. Additionally, as I got older, I became nervous to speak to her fearing I’d say something stupid, not that she would pick up on it, she was too kind for that haha. There was literally no reason for me to be nervous. During our conversation, she asked me about my singing lessons, a hobby which I have always loved especially throughout primary school and I was touched that she still remembered this. However, I still noticed that something slightly off with her.
In the past I used to get intrusive thoughts and that day was no exception. After our conversation, an awful thought appeared in my mind: What if she died? But it was good to have this thought, as it put me back in the moment and I had a great time helping her out with her PE classes. Afterwards, I obviously dismissed the thought due to how bizarre it was, since there are a million other reasons why someone could be feeling down. Following that week, I remember feeling bad about my lack of enthusiasm, but didn’t think much of it since I’d have another conversation with her in the future when I would be in a better mood. Or so I thought.
Little did I know that over a month later, that teacher was diagnosed with cancer.
Then came the Covid-19 lockdown, it wasn’t ideal but hey everyone’s in the same boat! (Now knowing the reality of the situation, turns out that was a lie. I still can’t believe that this teacher was sick the whole time in lockdown.) After lockdown when I got back to school, I obviously didn’t see her. Over the years, more teachers had joined the PE department, so she wasn’t needed as much in the secondary school. So I assumed the whole year that she was working in the primary school, not dying in hospital.
I didn’t find out until my mom told me what had happened a day after she died back in the summer of 2021. Not only that she had cancer but that she had died from it? That came completely out of nowhere and was definitely a shock. One good thing that came from Covid is that the recorded funeral was available online for anyone to watch. It was nice to learn more reasons to like her.
I wish I had known that she was sick. It’s so dumb but I had her school email. if I had known, I would have sent her a message. And I know the chances of her reading that are extremely low with what she was going though, but it would have been something. Just something instead of nothing.
Fortunately, the anger and sadness has subsided. This death has truly shown me how precious life really is. Yet the guilt is surrounding the conversations we had, not knowing they were the last, still remains. I took her for granted. I took it all for granted and I can never get it back. Looking back on it, it makes me so angry at myself: knowing what she could have been thinking health-wise but still having light conversations with me. And all she gets back is unenthusiastic responses? I hope I didn’t offend her. I was such an idiot.
It’s got to the point where any time I do a good deed, it just feels like I’m putting on a facade. This week I visited my primary school to drop off cards and gifts at reception for my old teachers to show my appreciation for them. Ever since that teacher died, it’s become very important that the remaining teachers know they are appreciated. I thought this would make me feel good, but it only brought up feelings of guilt, anger and sadness since I’ll never be able to thank this teacher and make sure she knows that she’s appreciated.
I know nothing good comes of ruminating about this. And I know she’s dead and I’ll never see her again. But for some reason this has stuck in my mind. I’ve thought about her everyday since she has died. Which is strange because I don’t remember thinking about her everyday when she was alive. We weren’t close and I wasn’t sports-obsessed haha. It’s been nearly 2 years since she’s passed, I still don’t know why I’ve cared so much about this. Even if she had been alive when I graduated, we both would have gone our separate ways when I left the school. Obviously she wasn’t meant to be around forever, but I didn’t realise how soon she would go.
There are people you meet that you don’t get a lot of chances to speak to but you just hope that life is kind to them. She was one of them.
I feel like I’m so close to putting this out of my mind forever (I hope), but the guilt is still holding me back. Deep down, I still feel like a terrible person and I’m not sure what to do about it. But I do know that I have to get rid of this guilt. This is the last step to moving on, any advice on how to accomplish this is greatly appreciated.

Hi! I (19) have been experiencing continuous guilt following the unexpected death of a young teacher. Any advice on how to get rid of this guilt is greatly appreciated!
Here is some more information:
At my primary school there was a great PE teacher. I was never a big fan of sports or exercise haha, but she made it fun. I remember when I was graduating primary school, I was sad to leave but that changed when I found out that this teacher would be working in the secondary school too! She also taught hockey classes after school which I participated in for a few years despite my terrible hockey skills haha.
I only knew her for about 7 years, but in that time I saw a lot of cool moments in her life. I still remember how happy she was showing her engagement ring to my classmates and hearing about her wedding. She also rocked a variety of hairstyles over the years and she suited all of them!
Back at the start of 2020, I volunteered at my primary school for a week. When I entered the staff room, I saw that teacher but she just seemed kind of off, kind of down, which was a strange sight. Back then I was a dumb teenager who had some reason become bored of the occasionally monotonous nature of life. Very unusual for me, as I’m normally quite optimistic. This resulted in a low mood where nothing seemed exciting anymore, typical teenager stuff haha.
I remember she asked me a bunch of questions and told me she was pregnant. Thanks to the stupid mindset I was in, I don’t remember being as enthusiastic as I wanted to be. Additionally, as I got older, I became nervous to speak to her fearing I’d say something stupid, not that she would pick up on it, she was too kind for that haha. There was literally no reason for me to be nervous. During our conversation, she asked me about my singing lessons, a hobby which I have always loved especially throughout primary school and I was touched that she still remembered this. However, I still noticed that something slightly off with her.
In the past I used to get intrusive thoughts and that day was no exception. After our conversation, an awful thought appeared in my mind: What if she died? But it was good to have this thought, as it put me back in the moment and I had a great time helping her out with her PE classes. Afterwards, I obviously dismissed the thought due to how bizarre it was, since there are a million other reasons why someone could be feeling down. Following that week, I remember feeling bad about my lack of enthusiasm, but didn’t think much of it since I’d have another conversation with her in the future when I would be in a better mood. Or so I thought.
Little did I know that over a month later, that teacher was diagnosed with cancer.
Then came the Covid-19 lockdown, it wasn’t ideal but hey everyone’s in the same boat! (Now knowing the reality of the situation, turns out that was a lie. I still can’t believe that this teacher was sick the whole time in lockdown.) After lockdown when I got back to school, I obviously didn’t see her. Over the years, more teachers had joined the PE department, so she wasn’t needed as much in the secondary school. So I assumed the whole year that she was working in the primary school, not dying in hospital.
I didn’t find out until my mom told me what had happened a day after she died back in the summer of 2021. Not only that she had cancer but that she had died from it? That came completely out of nowhere and was definitely a shock. One good thing that came from Covid is that the recorded funeral was available online for anyone to watch. It was nice to learn more reasons to like her.
I wish I had known that she was sick. It’s so dumb but I had her school email. if I had known, I would have sent her a message. And I know the chances of her reading that are extremely low with what she was going though, but it would have been something. Just something instead of nothing.
Fortunately, the anger and sadness has subsided. This death has truly shown me how precious life really is. Yet the guilt is surrounding the conversations we had, not knowing they were the last, still remains. I took her for granted. I took it all for granted and I can never get it back. Looking back on it, it makes me so angry at myself: knowing what she could have been thinking health-wise but still having light conversations with me. And all she gets back is unenthusiastic responses? I hope I didn’t offend her. I was such an idiot.
It’s got to the point where any time I do a good deed, it just feels like I’m putting on a facade. This week I visited my primary school to drop off cards and gifts at reception for my old teachers to show my appreciation for them. Ever since that teacher died, it’s become very important that the remaining teachers know they are appreciated. I thought this would make me feel good, but it only brought up feelings of guilt, anger and sadness since I’ll never be able to thank this teacher and make sure she knows that she’s appreciated.
I know nothing good comes of ruminating about this. And I know she’s dead and I’ll never see her again. But for some reason this has stuck in my mind. I’ve thought about her everyday since she has died. Which is strange because I don’t remember thinking about her everyday when she was alive. We weren’t close and I wasn’t sports-obsessed haha. It’s been nearly 2 years since she’s passed, I still don’t know why I’ve cared so much about this. Even if she had been alive when I graduated, we both would have gone our separate ways when I left the school. Obviously she wasn’t meant to be around forever, but I didn’t realise how soon she would go.
There are people you meet that you don’t get a lot of chances to speak to but you just hope that life is kind to them. She was one of them.
I feel like I’m so close to putting this out of my mind forever (I hope), but the guilt is still holding me back. Deep down, I still feel like a terrible person and I’m not sure what to do about it. But I do know that I have to get rid of this guilt. This is the last step to moving on, any advice on how to accomplish this is greatly appreciated.

Hi! I (19) have been experiencing continuous guilt following the unexpected death of a young teacher. Any advice on how to get rid of this guilt is greatly appreciated!
Here is some more information:
At my primary school there was a great PE teacher. I was never a big fan of sports or exercise haha, but she made it fun. I remember when I was graduating primary school, I was sad to leave but that changed when I found out that this teacher would be working in the secondary school too! She also taught hockey classes after school which I participated in for a few years despite my terrible hockey skills haha.
I only knew her for about 7 years, but in that time I saw a lot of cool moments in her life. I still remember how happy she was showing her engagement ring to my classmates and hearing about her wedding. She also rocked a variety of hairstyles over the years and she suited all of them!
Back at the start of 2020, I volunteered at my primary school for a week. When I entered the staff room, I saw that teacher but she just seemed kind of off, kind of down, which was a strange sight. Back then I was a dumb teenager who had some reason become bored of the occasionally monotonous nature of life. Very unusual for me, as I’m normally quite optimistic. This resulted in a low mood where nothing seemed exciting anymore, typical teenager stuff haha.
I remember she asked me a bunch of questions and told me she was pregnant. Thanks to the stupid mindset I was in, I don’t remember being as enthusiastic as I wanted to be. Additionally, as I got older, I became nervous to speak to her fearing I’d say something stupid, not that she would pick up on it, she was too kind for that haha. There was literally no reason for me to be nervous. During our conversation, she asked me about my singing lessons, a hobby which I have always loved especially throughout primary school and I was touched that she still remembered this. However, I still noticed that something slightly off with her.
In the past I used to get intrusive thoughts and that day was no exception. After our conversation, an awful thought appeared in my mind: What if she died? But it was good to have this thought, as it put me back in the moment and I had a great time helping her out with her PE classes. Afterwards, I obviously dismissed the thought due to how bizarre it was, since there are a million other reasons why someone could be feeling down. Following that week, I remember feeling bad about my lack of enthusiasm, but didn’t think much of it since I’d have another conversation with her in the future when I would be in a better mood. Or so I thought.
Little did I know that over a month later, that teacher was diagnosed with cancer.
Then came the Covid-19 lockdown, it wasn’t ideal but hey everyone’s in the same boat! (Now knowing the reality of the situation, turns out that was a lie. I still can’t believe that this teacher was sick the whole time in lockdown.) After lockdown when I got back to school, I obviously didn’t see her. Over the years, more teachers had joined the PE department, so she wasn’t needed as much in the secondary school. So I assumed the whole year that she was working in the primary school, not dying in hospital.
I didn’t find out until my mom told me what had happened a day after she died back in the summer of 2021. Not only that she had cancer but that she had died from it? That came completely out of nowhere and was definitely a shock. One good thing that came from Covid is that the recorded funeral was available online for anyone to watch. It was nice to learn more reasons to like her.
I wish I had known that she was sick. It’s so dumb but I had her school email. if I had known, I would have sent her a message. And I know the chances of her reading that are extremely low with what she was going though, but it would have been something. Just something instead of nothing.
Fortunately, the anger and sadness has subsided. This death has truly shown me how precious life really is. Yet the guilt is surrounding the conversations we had, not knowing they were the last, still remains. I took her for granted. I took it all for granted and I can never get it back. Looking back on it, it makes me so angry at myself: knowing what she could have been thinking health-wise but still having light conversations with me. And all she gets back is unenthusiastic responses? I hope I didn’t offend her. I was such an idiot.
It’s got to the point where any time I do a good deed, it just feels like I’m putting on a facade. This week I visited my primary school to drop off cards and gifts at reception for my old teachers to show my appreciation for them. Ever since that teacher died, it’s become very important that the remaining teachers know they are appreciated. I thought this would make me feel good, but it only brought up feelings of guilt, anger and sadness since I’ll never be able to thank this teacher and make sure she knows that she’s appreciated.
I know nothing good comes of ruminating about this. And I know she’s dead and I’ll never see her again. But for some reason this has stuck in my mind. I’ve thought about her everyday since she has died. Which is strange because I don’t remember thinking about her everyday when she was alive. We weren’t close and I wasn’t sports-obsessed haha. It’s been nearly 2 years since she’s passed, I still don’t know why I’ve cared so much about this. Even if she had been alive when I graduated, we both would have gone our separate ways when I left the school. Obviously she wasn’t meant to be around forever, but I didn’t realise how soon she would go.
There are people you meet that you don’t get a lot of chances to speak to but you just hope that life is kind to them. She was one of them.
I feel like I’m so close to putting this out of my mind forever (I hope), but the guilt is still holding me back. Deep down, I still feel like a terrible person and I’m not sure what to do about it. But I do know that I have to get rid of this guilt. This is the last step to moving on, any advice on how to accomplish this is greatly appreciated.

Hi! I (19) have been experiencing continuous guilt following the unexpected death of a young teacher. Any advice on how to get rid of this guilt is greatly appreciated!
Here is some more information:
At my primary school there was a great PE teacher. I was never a big fan of sports or exercise haha, but she made it fun. I remember when I was graduating primary school, I was sad to leave but that changed when I found out that this teacher would be working in the secondary school too! She also taught hockey classes after school which I participated in for a few years despite my terrible hockey skills haha.
I only knew her for about 7 years, but in that time I saw a lot of cool moments in her life. I still remember how happy she was showing her engagement ring to my classmates and hearing about her wedding. She also rocked a variety of hairstyles over the years and she suited all of them!
Back at the start of 2020, I volunteered at my primary school for a week. When I entered the staff room, I saw that teacher but she just seemed kind of off, kind of down, which was a strange sight. Back then I was a dumb teenager who had some reason become bored of the occasionally monotonous nature of life. Very unusual for me, as I’m normally quite optimistic. This resulted in a low mood where nothing seemed exciting anymore, typical teenager stuff haha.
I remember she asked me a bunch of questions and told me she was pregnant. Thanks to the stupid mindset I was in, I don’t remember being as enthusiastic as I wanted to be. Additionally, as I got older, I became nervous to speak to her fearing I’d say something stupid, not that she would pick up on it, she was too kind for that haha. There was literally no reason for me to be nervous. During our conversation, she asked me about my singing lessons, a hobby which I have always loved especially throughout primary school and I was touched that she still remembered this. However, I still noticed that something slightly off with her.
In the past I used to get intrusive thoughts and that day was no exception. After our conversation, an awful thought appeared in my mind: What if she died? But it was good to have this thought, as it put me back in the moment and I had a great time helping her out with her PE classes. Afterwards, I obviously dismissed the thought due to how bizarre it was, since there are a million other reasons why someone could be feeling down. Following that week, I remember feeling bad about my lack of enthusiasm, but didn’t think much of it since I’d have another conversation with her in the future when I would be in a better mood. Or so I thought.
Little did I know that over a month later, that teacher was diagnosed with cancer.
Then came the Covid-19 lockdown, it wasn’t ideal but hey everyone’s in the same boat! (Now knowing the reality of the situation, turns out that was a lie. I still can’t believe that this teacher was sick the whole time in lockdown.) After lockdown when I got back to school, I obviously didn’t see her. Over the years, more teachers had joined the PE department, so she wasn’t needed as much in the secondary school. So I assumed the whole year that she was working in the primary school, not dying in hospital.
I didn’t find out until my mom told me what had happened a day after she died back in the summer of 2021. Not only that she had cancer but that she had died from it? That came completely out of nowhere and was definitely a shock. One good thing that came from Covid is that the recorded funeral was available online for anyone to watch. It was nice to learn more reasons to like her.
I wish I had known that she was sick. It’s so dumb but I had her school email. if I had known, I would have sent her a message. And I know the chances of her reading that are extremely low with what she was going though, but it would have been something. Just something instead of nothing.
Fortunately, the anger and sadness has subsided. This death has truly shown me how precious life really is. Yet the guilt is surrounding the conversations we had, not knowing they were the last, still remains. I took her for granted. I took it all for granted and I can never get it back. Looking back on it, it makes me so angry at myself: knowing what she could have been thinking health-wise but still having light conversations with me. And all she gets back is unenthusiastic responses? I hope I didn’t offend her. I was such an idiot.
It’s got to the point where any time I do a good deed, it just feels like I’m putting on a facade. This week I visited my primary school to drop off cards and gifts at reception for my old teachers to show my appreciation for them. Ever since that teacher died, it’s become very important that the remaining teachers know they are appreciated. I thought this would make me feel good, but it only brought up feelings of guilt, anger and sadness since I’ll never be able to thank this teacher and make sure she knows that she’s appreciated.
I know nothing good comes of ruminating about this. And I know she’s dead and I’ll never see her again. But for some reason this has stuck in my mind. I’ve thought about her everyday since she has died. Which is strange because I don’t remember thinking about her everyday when she was alive. We weren’t close and I wasn’t sports-obsessed haha. It’s been nearly 2 years since she’s passed, I still don’t know why I’ve cared so much about this. Even if she had been alive when I graduated, we both would have gone our separate ways when I left the school. Obviously she wasn’t meant to be around forever, but I didn’t realise how soon she would go.
There are people you meet that you don’t get a lot of chances to speak to but you just hope that life is kind to them. She was one of them.
I feel like I’m so close to putting this out of my mind forever (I hope), but the guilt is still holding me back. Deep down, I still feel like a terrible person and I’m not sure what to do about it. But I do know that I have to get rid of this guilt. This is the last step to moving on, any advice on how to accomplish this is greatly appreciated.

I (F25) got married to my husband (25 M) this year. We got engaged on vacation in Aug. My husband’s grandma died as soon as got to our condo Sunday. She suffered w/ dementia and Alzheimer’s since I met her 5 years ago. My MIL told us that they planned to have the funeral that Friday. Of course, we wouldn’t miss the funeral, but my MIL said they couldn’t have the funeral after we got back (we were supposed to come back Saturday) because she couldn’t take another day with her sister in town (as her sister and her family were in town to say their final goodbyes to their mom). My now husband pre-paid for a bunch of events that we could do which his family did know about.
My husband and I weren’t inviting his dad’s set of parents bc they are very mean. My MIL and FIL tried to guilt trip us into inviting them. My in-laws decided to throw us an “engagement party” so the grandparents who weren’t invited could feel included in wedding festivities. My in-laws wanted us to tell them that it was a small destination wedding with only close friends and family. Also, my MIL wanted us to send out the Save the Dates after their engagement party, so the grandparents wouldn’t find out. My MIL also didn’t want me to post photos on my Facebook as the grandma would see them and it wouldn’t play into the small wedding story. My MIL pushed to only have the guests be 30 guests and under to keep with the whole “small wedding” charade. This is not my ideal engagement party. While at the family engagement party, my FIL dad said to my husband, “you got fat” and the grandma said, “we can’t stay, we have a concert to go to.” Clearly, they’re amazing.
I took her to show my wedding dress, she said “very nice.” At our venue outing she wasn’t very interested until she found out that the place we can stay has cabins that she can rent out, so now she can turn it into a mini vacation. Throughout the whole planning process, she nor my FIL ask if they could help or anything. I told them when we got our marriage license and we had two more months until the wedding and then my MIL stated that she got a new job and has unlimited PTO. She glossed over the news and just talked about herself.
My MIL also said there was no place for reservations for a “rehearsal dinner” since it no place near took a reservation for a large party or it would cost more. She only looked at the lodge we were staying at the the restaurant we got our wedding catered. I ended up booking a reservation for a place 20 minutes away that took a big party. I didn’t invite my husbands side of the family since my MIL reserved a brunch place for the Sunday after and only invited their friends and not my family (even though we were all staying the night at the lodge. I’m just annoyed and frustrated. My husband has talked to them about how they need to give me affirmations, but clearly that did not stick.
I want to go low contact, but then I feel guilty. AITA?

Tracked shipping estimates are (depending on weight): EU $6, UK $7.50, US/Canada/Australia $12. 50% off tracked shipping over $60 (so $6 or less), free shipping over $120! Untracked (at your own risk) is $2 cheaper.
I'll ship within a week, usually within 2 days. Let me know if you want photos of fill levels. I have much more samples than listed, let me know if you're looking for anything specific. $12 minimum please. I'll hold for 24 hours. Open to swaps, I'll gladly take a look at your destash list!
Fill levels and notes in my destash list - I'm always adding more
Alkemia:

• Moroccan Tea - 50% - $7
• Ambre Caramélisé - $3
• In a Railway Carriage - $3
• Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure - $4
• Old Books and Fresh Flowers - $3

Alpha Musk:

• Beastress - FS - $13

Arcana Wildcraft:

• Snow Witch: Agaricum - FS - $20
• Chillum - $5
• Witches Befriend Unicorns - $5
• Yurt - $5

Arcana Craves:

• Apples Crave Cake - FS - $15
• Pumpkins Crave Trees - FS - $15
• Blue Amber - $3
• Honey Craves Fairy Rings - $4
• Pumpkins Crave Samhain Fires - $3

BPAL:

• Aziraphale - FS - $24
• Elegy No. 1 S. 196 - 70% - $19
• Gaueko - FS - $15
• Hello, Salzburg! - FS - $18
• High School Orientation Day Glamour - FS - $23
• In Silvery Accents, Whispering Low - FS - $26
• Keichu Nyoetsu Warai Dogu - TOL - $18
• Matthew 25:34-36 - almost half - $10
• October 32 - almost shoulder - $15
• Poor Monkey 2016 - FS - swap
• Prosperous Flowers of the Elegant Twelve Seasons - FS - $20
• Schlafende Baigneuse - FS - $20
• Temple: Daoist - FS - $20
• The Fairy Lovers - almost half - $13
• Theodosius 2015 - sniffie - FWP
• Time's Infliction of Eternity - FS - $26
• Tis Thy Voice from the Kingdom of Souls - FS - $24
• Vampire Princess - FS - $40
• When the Frost is on the Punkin - near TOL - $17
• Winter: My Secret - FS - $20
• Witches Taking Off for the Sabbath - 2ml - $9
• Abalone and Peach Blossoms - $5
• All While Dreaming, Shakes Her Head - $3
• Apple II - $3
• Bedroom - $5
• Blackcurrant Sufganiyot - $15
• Buck Moon 2021 - $3
• Chasing Fireflies - $3
• Conception by the South Wind - $5
• Coral Snake - $4
• Dead Leaves, Blood Orange and Dried Apricot - $3
• Dead Leaves and Molasses Pumpkin Cookies - $3
• Dragon's Bone - $5
• Étienne de Boray Oak - $3
• Geisha in Orange Kimono Admiring a Samurai - $2.50
• Ghost Milk - sniffie FWP
• Hierophantes - $3
• Hot Speckled Gloom - $5
• Humanite - $3
• I Hear America Singing - $3
• Iced Apple Dumplings Plopped into a Sweet Potato Pie - $5
• Kimi Ga Dai Wa - $2.50
• L'essence du Chagrin - $3
• La Danse de la Sorcière - $4
• Margaret Magdalena Muffinhead - $3
• Men Will Fall to her Darkness - $3
• Mystery Powder Fizzy Candy - $3
• Orangeblossom and Driftwood - $3
• Pandemic Vanitas - $4
• Peasants Fleeing - $4
• PGAI17 - $2.50
• Philosopher Reading - $5
• Pine Needles, Frankincense, and Beeswax Absolute - $5
• Pink Silk Peony - $5
• Rosewater and Myrrh - $3
• Saw-Scaled Viper - $4
• Sentence First, Verdict Afterwards - $3
• Snooty Bat - $5
• Still Life with Dooting Skull - $3
• Sugar Cookie - $3
• Sugar Skull - $3
• Tea Leaves, Vanilla Bean, and Incense Smoke - $5
• The Butterfly - $3
• The Houses at the Back - Frosty Morning - $3
• The Magician's Hands - $2.50
• The Morning Star Among the Living - $5
• The Shepherd's Dream - $5
• Three Pairs of Shoes - $4
• Toy-Strewn Attic - $3
• White Oakmoss and Lavender - $3
• Why and What Art Thou Dreaming Here - $3
• Wild Rose and Dandelion Sap - $3
• Wrestlers - $2.50

Plus many GC imps on my destash list!
D&F:

• Blueberry Lemon Cooler - $3
• Merry Christmas, Time Has No Meaning - $3
• Myrrh Scented Roses - $3

NAVA:

• Cross - FS - $20
• Lavender Amber - FS - $18
• Lavender Musk - FS - $30
• Oman - FS - $27
• OP Baba - FS - $23
• OP Sekhmet - almost shoulder - $20
• Orchid Garnet - 2.5ml - $10
• Pomegranate Aurora - 4ml - $15
• Purple Musk - FS - $32
• Vampire Wine: Lilac Blood Wine - FS - $20
• Banana's Flambe Ice Cream - $3
• Blood Rose - $3
• Butterfly Green - $3
• Ederra - $3
• Encens Bois - $6
• Encens Vanille - $6
• Eternal Necropolis - $5
• Gabriel - $8
• Glamour - $4
• Go Halainn - $4
• Koaliday - $3
• Konafa - $8
• Licorne à la Fontaine - $3
• London - $8
• Mina - $9
• Mr. Collins - $4
• Mr. Dandridge - $4
• My Heart Is Filled With Twisted Light - $3
• Neon Skull - $3
• Nibiru - $6
• Nocturnals Lustre of Moonlight - $3.50
• Orchid Crystal - $4
• Pfeffersneuse Chai - $3
• Poison Potion - $3
• Pumpkin #27 - $3
• Purple Claw Potion - $3
• Pyramid Honey Cake - $3
• Ra - $8
• Raguel - $8
• Renewal Elixir - $3
• Santalum - $5
• Satyr - $3
• Sommeil du Printemps - $3.50
• Svadhishthana (orange) Sacral Chakra - $5
• Velociraptor - $3
• Wisteria Musk - $7
• Xavier - $6

Nui Cobalt:

• The Conjure Man's Cabin - 1/3 - $8
• Aphrodite Chrysea - $3.50
• Balefire - $3.50
• Bee Kind To Yourself - $3.50
• Blarney - $3.50
• Bryophilia - $3.50
• Canoodling in a Crypt - $3.50
• Chionophilia - $3.50
• Cloak of Evergreens - $3
• Deus Ex Machina - $3.50
• Entombed - $3.50
• Ghost Cat - $3.50
• Guiding Star - $3
• Hobgoblin - $3.50
• House of the Frontier - $3.50
• Incense & Spidersilk - $3.50
• Kazzate - $3.50
• Li Hing Margarita - $3
• Melophilia - $3.50
• New Moon - $3
• Ominous Orchard - $3.50
• Peace - $3.50
• Scaredy Cat - $3.50
• Skeletal Birch - $3.50
• Sleep Elixir - $3
• Spectral Spidersilk - $3.50
• Sylvan Spidersilk - $3.50
• Tall Tales - $3
• Waipio Valley - $3.50
• Waltz of the Flowers - $3

Poesie:

• Mysterious Fossils - $5
• Rose Without Thorn - $3

Possets:

• Adamus - $3
• Joan of Arc - $3
• Lavender Corset - $3
• Pink Corset - $3
• Ponder - $3
• The Kiss - $3

PULP Fragrance:

• And to All a Good Night - $3
• House on Widows Hill - $3
• Mark of the Moon - $3
• Moon Dust - $3
• New Snow Moon - $3
• Sonnet X - $3

Sixteen92:

• Dryad - $2
• The Princess Di of Reagan High - $2
• You Look Like a Doily - $4

Solstice Scents:

• Farmhouse in Fall - $3

TLDR
I’m autistic and had a crush on a cute girl months ago. After I was over her I took too long to figure out how amazing her best friend was. Made a mistake, got drunk and asked the first one out, texted her best friend to tell her and then impulsively asked her best friend out two weeks later. I ran a marathon, ate shitty pancakes, and have backed myself into a horrible catch 22 through an inability to communicate clearly. I’d really appreciate an out, or failing that general advice. I’m an inconsiderate, judgmental, shallow, asshole. Feel free to tell me so.
For context, I was diagnosed with Aspergers as a kid. I was horribly socially inept through middle school. I’m 25 now and I present superficially as normal. I’d really like to try dating. When social interactions get more complicated there’s some trial and error and I have plenty of support structures, primarily some longtime friends. I kicked a video game addiction, and got really into rock climbing a couple of years ago, and am no longer just cycling through phases of depression. This has been very good for me. I've gotten into outstanding shape. I’ve surpassed competent and have achieved good at some social situations. I’ve made friends and I absolutely love going to the gym or the crag and meeting my friends or running into familiar faces.
Meeting "A":
Unfortunately, one of those familiar faces is a girl we'll call "A" (2?F). I met "A" back in January. Objectively speaking, she's obscenely attractive, cheery, sociable, and talented. Somehow I imagine I'm not the first guy to fall for her. We hung out for a few hours, she asked for my number, texted for a few days. I’d like to make it clear that in recognition of my disability I don’t generally act on hints, as such her wanting to spend time with was A) explicit and B) impossible to misconstrue. We’d text. Plans would fall through. Snowstorm. The flue. Her uncle died.
Sometimes she'd get back to me right away, sometimes it was three days later. Sometimes she'd text me out of the blue saying we should hang out and then not make time. At absolutely no point did I text her a third time, if someone doesn't respond twice they’re not interested. But she kept responding for months. We'd run into each other she'd make noises about still being interested, give me an awkward hug hang out and talk for an hour or two and then I'd run into her again later.
After months of this I finally got it into my skull I had no interest in being with someone so clearly disinterested in making time for me. I stopped texting her after we'd run into each other. She didn't text me. We'd still hang out when we ran into each other.
Meeting "C":
Then, she introduced me to her friend, we'll call "C" (25F). "C" is an objectively attractive young woman, but next to her best friend, "A", it's easy to miss. Especially if you're particularly stupid or shallow. As such, I wasn't immediately attracted to her. "C" made it clear she wanted to hang out with me by saying she’d never been climbing outside, the implication being that I should take her.It was a little obvious and I initially found it a little off putting. She threw her recycle away in the trash on the way out. Did I mention I'm judgmental and shallow?
I met up with her that following Sunday, figuring I didn't have anything better to do, it might be fun, and it was a nice day to take the dog out and go for a hike even if we wouldn't be doing any harder climbs. She did great. She tried really hard. She learned quickly. She made for pleasant conversation and she was witty, although it didn't come naturally to her. Obviously, I can't judge. We met for drinks afterward and it was pleasant, and met up again later that week to climb briefly at the gym.
One long month: The next day I fucked up big time with a deadline for school. Like, puts me a year behind monumental lock the gunsafe fuckup. Queue me being depressed again for the first time in months. The following Saturday I had already signed up for a bouldering competition and figured I might as well go anyways. I got like 2 hours of sleep. I showed up at like 8am. I placed very poorly, and far below my normal level. I probably had like 3 energy drinks over the course of the day, ate only cliff bars, and returned to watch the opens because my day was shot anyways and I wasn't going to get anything done that evening. At this point I'm sleep deprived and emotional. The open with the semi-professional climbers starts, and it turns out the gym makes it into a party. Music, lights, DJ, prizes. The whole spiel. I'm an introvert, and don't enjoy parties. I don't like sports, either unless I'm watching the DotA (video game) finals.
Holy shit it was amazing. I couldn't have felt more passionately about it. I was screaming and cheering, and my friends were there and we were watching some incredible people at the pinnacle of their sport do amazing things right in front of us. Also, there was free beer.
I don’t usually drink a lot, so I’m a lightweight. About once a year since I’ve started drinking I’ll screw up and end up cleaning some puke out of my bathtub, but so far haven’t had any major ramifications. I’d never drive drunk, and usually work hard to maintain decorum in public. Also, in case you didn’t know alcohol’s bad for you and I wanted to be in good shape for climbing. So I have, on average, like one light beer a week after I do yard work or something or if I meet friends at a bar I’ll nurse a stout.
I had like 4 IPAs. They were giving out free beer. I was as drunk as I could get without stumbling or slurring words. Then, I had the absolute misfortune of running into "A" outside after the party. She looked amazing, and any logic about not being interested in a relationship with someone who couldn’t make time for me or communicate regularly, went out the window.
I want to be very clear; the previous day, sober, there’s absolutely no one I would have asked out. No one was on my radar in whom I was mutually interested, including "C" and "A". But I was in such a state where it didn’t matter, there were half a dozen girls I could have ran into and asked out. It just happened to be "C"’s best friend.
I’d briefly said hello, told her how exciting it was, couldn’t wait to try out the new climbs etc. I walked away, got halfway to the parking lot and decided to put myself out there. I turned right around, figuring I’d never do it if I was sober. Ironic right? I asked her out in front of her friends. Said something exceedingly awkward about wanting to share a fermented beverage. She thought for a minute and said “yes”. Then she invited me into the bar with with her friends, and I said thanks but I had to get home. I didn’t, I just knew I was way to drunk to interact. So I walked back to my car and spent the next few hours crying in the parking lot.
I’m not a genius, I’m just smart enough to understand when someone else is, and to feel like a failure for not matching it. John von Neumann was a genius, but I was born with an mild advantage. Math is like breathing for me. I took Calc 3 and linear algebra before I graduated from high school. Learning other languages comes to me incredibly readily. I picked the hardest, useful, European language I could and passed my C1 in German after only 3 months. My first semester of college I took the the hardest classes I could. I concurrently took 2 courses with their prerequisites. I got a 4.0, and scored the highest in at least one of my classes on the final. I dropped out because it was boring. I’m not saying this because I need strangers on the internet to be impressed by me or something - I just want to make a point that most everything I’ve achieved feels meaningless to me because I’m advantaged. But dating’s hard for me.
I cried for an hour or two, and then called two of my closest friends at midnight and told them how absolutely elated I was. Ever since I hit puberty, and became interested in the opposite sex ~10 years ago, I figured dating might end up being beyond me. You see you can emulate other people’s day to day interactions. You can emulate flirting. But dating happens behind closed doors and I’m a REALLY slow learner. Which meant there’d be lots of trial and error. Slowly that’s become less true, but it’s been a lingering doubt in the back of my head eating at me for years. But now, this insanely attractive, fun, girl was inexplicably interested enough in me to go drink *something fermented* and my mind was just a little blown. No one had ever said yes to me before. It could have been any of several girls and I would have felt so sublimely normal, like I could have it all. I was the most emotional I’ve been in a very long time. I’m fairly certain that was the best night of my life because it felt like a real achievement. That’s why I can’t honestly say I regret it, despite it being a massive mistake. I couldn't even tell her I regretted it and I hate lying.
I still thought "C" was nice, and she gets along with my dog really well so I texted her letting her know I asked "A" out because I thought it was the open, honest, thing to do. I told her I’d still be up for meeting this week. I figured that would be the best way to honestly establish our relationship as platonic.
"A", surprise, never texted me a time the next day. Ghosted. I didn’t text her again, because I wanted to be respectful. I kept hoping for the rest of the week, but between her and my unrelated school screwup it absolutely crushed me.
I kept working really hard to fix my school screwup, and I’m arguably in an even better place now in that respect, but that’s not really part of the story. I met up with "C" again, platonically, about a week later on Monday. We had fun, and decided to meet again next week thankfully without really discussing the "A" thing.
We met up again Friday. I’d applied to a different University I liked even better and felt great about it. I had done my best to get over the "A" thing. We’d met another friend of mine Friday and he ended up splitting off from the trio so it was just the two of us. I was a little disappointed I couldn’t work any hard ones with her, but enjoyed talking to her enough that it didn’t matter much. She challenged herself on a really technical climb, and came down and was so infectiously happy about it and I was so proud she’d got it and something in me just clicked and I wanted to see her happy more often and all the sudden she was the most attractive woman on the planet. I had to go tuck in a boner in the bathroom. I’m just being honest, I’m not proud of it.
Up until this point I’d had one bad screw up, got drunk, was unlucky enough to run into the wrong girl at the wrong time, and did something stupid. Of course I went for the threepeat. 10 minutes later, without taking even a moment to consider her feelings - ignoring that I’d asked out her best friend two weeks prior and then texted her to tell her about it - I asked "C" if, when we went out for dinner afterwards she’d want to call it a date. Obviously she said no. But it gets so much better.
We went out to eat anyways, not as a date, and I couldn’t leave it the fuck alone and just respect that she said no. So I asked her as nicely as I could was it because she was angry about me being an inconsiderate asshole, or was it because she thought she was playing second fiddle to "A". She assured me it was the second, and while she understood that a lot of men were interested in her friend, she had no interest in being someone’s second choice. Against overwhelming evidence from her perspective, I was unable to articulate clearly how, at that point, and for a while preceding I had zero romantic interest in her friend and that it was just me being stupid, again.
We got back to the gym so I could drop her off at her car we were talking about nothing I briefly asked if I could see her bow, dry fired it and broke her string. I’ve pulled back dozens, if not hundreds, of bows and never dry fired one. I tried to fix it, told her I’d pay for her replacement string. We left, and I texted her another apology about being so horribly inconsiderate and lauded how kindly and maturely she handled it.
I go home at 1 in the morning and I can not express how shitty I felt. I wanted to just go drink myself into a stupor. Once again, not normal behavior for me. But, the only reason I was in this mess was because I got drunk and did something exceedingly stupid so I figured the second best coping mechanism was to go invest myself in something I really hate. Running. So I just started running in a big loop around the neighborhood. It ended up being ~7 miles when I got home. I’m fairly certain I’ve never run more than a mile or two consecutively in my life, but as I’d mentioned I’d gotten in really good shape for climbing. When I got home I started feeling like shit for ruining her night again and I decided I didn’t want to stop. I live out in the boonies, so I grabbed my phone and just started running towards town and halfway there I decided I wanted some pancakes so I just kept going. I walked through a lot of the hill country, and then I started running again when it was flat with sidewalks. I called my dad when he was up and asked him to meet me for breakfast and drive me home. It ended up being about 27 miles and my hip flexors still aren’t working right. Wouldn’t recommend.
I need some advice:
My dad, with far less context and over some disappointing pancakes, suggested I write her a letter articulating my apology as I was unable to convince her that she was second only in the chronological sense. Firstly, it’s a shitty thing to let someone think, that you’re only interested in them because their friend rejected them. That’s probably true, in the sense that it made me value her character even more, but not in the sense that she’s a backup.
Secondly, however interested in her I was when I asked her out, she was so much more appealing after rejecting me. Not because I want what I can’t have, but because she handled it exquisitely. She stuck to her principles. She was so incredibly kind, empathetic, unnecessarily apologetic, forgiving, and just generally mature. Most of my mistakes, in the social setting, are honest and aren’t nearly as malicious or selfish in nature, but I still screw up plenty. I recognize I’ll need someone that patient with me and I can’t imagine how long it will take me to find someone else like this. If I have a single takeaway from this I hope it’s that I won’t be to shallow and judgmental to recognize it initially.
Here’s where I need advice going forward. She’s meeting me again on Tuesday. Generally I am hyper-respectful of people’s boundaries, to the absolute best of my abilities and she quite clearly said no. However, if she’s telling me the truth about being disinterested because she thinks she’s the backup, and not because she’s (rightfully) pissed about my behavior then technically this all boils down to a misunderstanding. And most misunderstandings can be solved with honesty. I don’t struggle with honesty. Normal people struggle with hearing it. If I told her all of the above she’d never want to talk to me again, even though I think I’ve made my case that I’m genuinely interested in her. It’s part of our social contract, when you’re just getting to know someone you present normally and then branch out showing your individuality to see if they’re interested in who you actually are. This is true for all relationships and not just dating, but there’s a reason you don’t bring STDs or a desire for kids or marriage on the first date. There’s a reason I don’t tell people I just met I collect vintage fountain pens. It’s offputing.
So I feel as if I’m in a catch-22. I could tell her the truth. I assume everyone reading this assumes I’m a nut job even understanding that I’m only being honest because of the anonymity involved. Of course she’d think I’m a nut job too, and I’d have no chance at maintaining a friendship either.
Alternatively, I can do my best to compartmentalize this crush and just treat her as I would any of my other female friends. I can respect her boundaries, but to be entirely honest I’m worried how I’ll handle it when she tells me she’s going on a date next time. I don’t want to risk my mental health further if I can’t handle the jealousy.
I’m also worried I won’t adequately be able to suppress my interest in her, and can’t just treat her like a human. So I’m just wondering if it’d be easier on all involved if I cut it off early instead. But if I’m going to just cut it off early anyways, might as well ruin it by being honest about the context and there’s that minuscule chance that, if she can forgive me for being such an inconsiderate asshole to her, then she can handle me being honest about my disability and my mistakes.
I briefly considered further options. In theory "A" doesn’t want her friend to feel lesser, either. It’s in her best interest, therefore, to convince her of that. Additionally, at this point "A" was casually cruel to me and I have no further interest in getting along with her, much less being her friend. Therefore I don’t care if she thinks poorly of me and I’d have no difficult being radically honest with her, telling her most of this and perhaps there’s a better chance that "A" could convince her I’m actually solely interested in "C" without also conveying how crazy it is to dump all this on a stranger. But to be frank, I don’t think I trust "A"’s character at this point not to just spite me.
I would be eternally grateful if anyone had a fourth, better, option. I’d love to just be friends with this uniquely amazing person if I can handle it. I’d also really like have a second chance, but without violating her boundaries. I hate that I have to let her think she’s second best. I hate that I screwed this up by getting drunk and having the misfortune of running into the wrong girl and doing something stupid. I want to screw this up by spending half an hour explaining the history of type writers, or telling her everything I know about avocados or machine learning or accidentally insulting her, or something else autistic. I want her to be disinterested in me because she thinks I’m ugly or I smell bad or something. Not because of some misunderstanding I don’t know how to clear up.

TLDR: Getting the achievement was tragic and an funny emotional roller coaster
The way to create the Archduchy of Austria without wars has been much more interesting than I thought. There have been mistakes along the way, including not noting that the duchy of Austria has "Equal succession", which has led to many unnecessary deaths.
Many marriages, many knives in the dark and a greater understanding of how the Habsburgs had so much trouble with incestuous marriages (married so many cousins...). Getting a strong hook on the Emperor was more difficult than expected, but after two generations I was able to craft one (just after the Emperor became my rival).
But the thing that has remained in my heart the most was the tragic end of two young sisters in the way of the succession. I murdered first the eldest, then the youngest, neither of them over twenty. It was only then that I noticed with horror that the person I predicted would inherit was not the right one, there was a little girl in his place.
I hadn't noticed that the younger woman was pregnant and had had a daughter only a few days before the assassination. Suffocating that sweet creature in the crib was tragic for both me and my character. Of course the classic road to success involved thousands more dead, cities destroyed, armies annihilated, but this was tremendously personal and tragic. This string of murders has led to a feud between my family and that of the three women.
Other points I want to highlight is the still buggy management of the Grand Weddings which led to some unnecessary House Feuds: there is still something wrong with the flags, in a couple of cases the marriage was not possible as "already in an activity.” Neither I nor the bride and groom were busy. In another case, I was punished for "failing to carry out the promised marriage" even though the bride-to-be was still 10 years old.
At one point one of my heirs was married off by his mother to a woman of nearly forty, a Karling too! Again a knife solved the problem.
Finally, one of my last rulers was about to be elected emperor, I was one step away from losing all my progress. Luckily I had enough piety to become a Muslim, this discouraged electors a lot

I don't remember how many of these had I posted, I think it was 3 or somewhere near that. All of these including this one is now leading into an end.
In case you don't know, I am part of a top ensemble known as DSA Singers in DSA, Las Vegas. Throughout the whole school year, we've been trying to complete our goal, which is to perform in Carnegie Hall in New York City. It is a fantastic thing that we actually made it. Besides, we were invited to perform there because of our choir teacher's relations with someone who is involve in that one concert in NYC.
We'd already covered the cost of the trip and now we are rehearsing the songs for the concert. The theme is Asian and Pacific Islander. Some of them are easy to memorize, at least for me. My class is set to rehearse this week before we head to the airport and then the city.
I will be completely honest, the 22-23 school year has hit me in the stomach mentally. I don't know why, but in truth, literally the classmates and the teacher I've been with has inspired me to do something. I haven't told them yet, but I'm planning to. Since the beginning of 2023, I asked myself "Should I write a story about us?" I was very hesitant to answer that because of many things. One of which, is a very big deal: It will break my heart if I start to type the first letter. Seriously, I'm believing to think that the whole class, DSA Singers, are some of the best people I've ever met. Really, I've met and befriended wonderful people that somehow changed my viewpoints on certain categories and I will surely miss them. Right now, I'm one of a few who will become a senior while others are becoming either juniors or sophomores and others have already graduated yet they can come to NYC because they're part of it too. I wish I can go over more details on how I feel and how am I going lay it out, but let's just save that for the upcoming story (if I ever do it, anyway I know I'm the only one in the class that can do this, I'm a story writer after all.)
So yeah, exactly 8 days from now, the whole DSA Singers and me are going to New York City, to make history for our program, our school, and a time that we'll probably remember for the rest of our lives. I will say that I'm glad I got to spend awesome time with those people, even though it won't last forever obviously, I will still find ways to honor it, even if it means to write a 200-page book. In fact, if I could, maybe I can write an entire journal, bit by bit in here, about my upcoming senior year, with my personal goal already in place. I won't tell what it is yet, but later I will (I think). We did it.

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i have a group of friends, we were classmates on the first year at my college (i just named them A, B, C, D, E). We get along pretty well even though C, D, E were transferred to different class on the second year but we still remain close and im still the same class as A and B. We've been to a trip together and hang out like frequently outside of college even though we didnt live in the same city. So i've just finished college like 3-4 days ago and to be parted from them is so hard for me. Friends are like everything to me, i would die for them. This happens yesterday, my friend A rent a car to go to one of my acquaintance's (J) sister wedding at a city like 30 minutes away from me. A is from different state (about 2 hour drive from me), and bring along my other 2 friends who also lives in the same state as him (i'm quite close to them too). But apparently they didn't invited me? im like okay maybe because i wasn't invited to the wedding since im not really close to J. But then they picked up C which lives like 30 minutes away from me and C doesn't even knows J that much. So im just like kept my cool and think maybe they will call me and asked to hang out after they wedding. I waited till the evening but no, then i saw Whatsapp status from them hanging out together at a Book Fair. Not just that, B and E were there too and im only lives 5 minutes away from E!. D is out of state so I'd understand why he didn't come along but they are literally hanging out in some place near to me but why wasn't i invited? Maybe the car is full, ok. Maybe E went there by train, i could do that too if they invited me. It hurted me since we didn't live close to each other so i will take any opportunity just to hang out with them. We been planning for a trip which still isn't finalized but now im not so sure.
also p/s: I was there whey they invited C, i think i do said that i want to come along too but they didn't say anything.

For as good as the movie and cast are there are some aspects I would have love to seen or wish would have been changed.

1. Removing ‘Daughters of Triton’. Considering the well diverse casting for the sisters it would have been a perfect opportunity to alter the song and give each sister a line or two.
   
2. Atlantica felt empty and lackluster. I understand they wanted a more ‘natural’ appearance but the golden castle is beyond iconic.
   
3. Giving the Coral Moon a purpose and not just to be the scape goat for not wanting to animate Triton’s celebration. What’s the point of creating a new plot device if it’s not offering anything to the greater story.
   
4. Firmly state that Ursula is responsible for the hurricanes and storms. It seems pretty evident by the subtext that Ursula’s meddling with humans and merfolk is related to the storms and shipwrecks both sides mention. All she needed a line or two stating that fact.
   
5. Ariel’s lack of costumes. In the 1989 film Ariel has several outfits/design changes. Each look is iconic from her shipwrecked garb to her sparkling transformation dress when emerging from the waters and in to Eric’s arms. You can’t tell me that Disney didn’t have the budget for various costumes.
   
6. Changing the lyrics of ‘Kiss the Girl’ and the ending from Ariel and Eric getting married. I don’t think either change was necessarily bad. Today’s social climate emphasizes ideas surrounding consent and that’s great. The lyrical changes don’t alter the song any. However, if the point of the change was to emphasize consent then why is Eric 21 and Ariel only 15? Regarding the wedding, and age gap aside, I think an epilogue of ‘A few years later’ or something would have sufficed. It’s a princess fairy tale and Ariel’s 80’s inspired look is iconic.
   
7. The lack of background vocals. During ‘Under the Sea’ there are no additional voices to Sebastian besides Ariel. This not only makes the scene and song feel empty but negates the lyrics. Where is the large band? Why aren’t any of the fish singing? During ‘Kiss the Girl’ the lack of a chorus also makes the song dull and nearly lifeless. Sure, at least Flounder and Scuttle are there but… why? Why couldn’t they take the time and effort to properly animate and cast the scene?
   
8. Not opening with ‘Fathoms Below.’ It’s iconic. The placement in the 2023 film isn’t bad but I don’t think it’s better.
   
9. The mermaid figure subplot. What did it add to the film? Nothing. Pointless.
   
10. Ursula’s safety clause. I feel like Disney covered up their first plot hole (why couldn’t Ariel just write her name?) with another one. Why does it matter if she does or doesn’t remember she only has 3 days to have Eric kiss her? Ariel needed the kiss, yeah, but she wasn’t hustling for it?
    
11. Lastly, some of the lighting effects really threw off my ability to enjoy what was happening. At the end when Ariel and Eric are fighting Ursula I would have loved to see more of her facial details and body alterations.
    

Determine your Guest list including RSVPs
Firstly, determine the number of guests you are expecting to have at your pizza party. Whatever number you have assembled. Make sure to increase it by 5-10 because some guests may surprise you and join you at the last minute.
​
mobile wood fired pizza truck, pizza van hire wedding, home party catering near me, pizza oven food truck

Demographics:
Male, Hispanic and white, FL, Large public (3-4k), URM
Middle class, EFC around 20k-30k for many top schools on my list
Intended Major(s):

• finance/ economics, philosophy

Standardized test scores:

• 1450 SAT (760 english, 690 math) on first attempt, very confident I can get above 1500, esp. with a superscore

UW/W GPA and Rank:

• 3.97 uw (only 1 b), 5.3w (on a 6.0 scale)
• Rank 3/875 (top 0.3%)

Coursework: AP/IB/Dual Enrollment classes, AP/IB scores, etc

• will take 20 AP's by senior year, a few DE classes

Awards:
In no particular order:

• 1st in state for Beta science academic competition (10th)
• Best in position award for my sport (team thing given by coaches, 10th and 11th grade)
• National Hispanic Recognition award (College Board)
• Lots of local debate awards, and some national level stuff (TOC Bid, NSDA Nationals qualifier, State quarterfinalist and top speaker award, top 25 at a lesser known national championship)
• Award for studying chinese for nearly a decade at local buddhist temple (not really sure if its worth putting, but I think it might show some sort of uniqueness)
• Academic all american in Debate (next year)

Extracurriculars:

• Debate - President of team (25 regular competitors, but over 100 total who are on NSDA roster), in charge of a lot (ex. running meetings, fundraising, planning tournaments to attend etc.) except the actual tournament logistics 10-12th grade, President 11-12
  • Got team competing on the national circuit, helped coach myself and 2 others to a TOC Bid
  • Fundraised close to 10 thousand dollars, allowed the program to be cost free for most tournaments, really helped with promoting accessibility in the event
• Varsity sport 9-12th grade, team captain from 11th grade on, started most of my hs career
• Beta club, merit based club where I did community service and competed in the yearly convention
• Mu Alpha theta member, volunteered by tutoring peers afterschool
• Studied mandarin and chinese culture at my local buddhist temple weekly for several years
• Made a few thousand through side hustles like reselling sneakers/ memorabilia and sports photography
• Gonna apply for the morgan stanley jumpstart finance 5 month long program next year, admit rates for that are low from what I heard.

Essays/LORs/Other: Optionally, guess how strong these are and include any other relevant information or circumstances.
I expect LOR's to be good, I am pretty close to a few of my teachers, who have a good understanding of me as a person and my achievements. My guidance counselor one will be cookie cutter, since I don't know them that well.
I have basically the whole summer to work on essays, I plan on investing a lot of time in it to put out quality work as I think it could make a huge difference considering I don't have any mindblowing achievements.
​
Schools: List of colleges, ED/EA/RD, etc
All the ivy leagues, UChicago, Duke, Emory, NYU, Notre Dame, Northwestern, StanfordState schools: UF , UCF (top 10% class rank auto admit; basically my safety), FSU
Not sure whether I should ed to Dartmouth, Duke, UPenn Wharton, or if I should REA to Yale. Want to apply early to one of those to maximize my shot at getting in, and those four are my top choices.
Any advice at all and chances are much appreciated.

(You can also find this story, along with the previous parts here and here.)
A couple of months had passed since Halloween. The cool air of October gave way to the chill of November and December.
Before they knew it, Christmas had come. Enterprise and Irving were excited. It was Olin’s first Christmas, and their first Christmas as husband and wife.
Irving was busy helping Enterprise cook the Christmas feast. Yorktown II and Hornet II were already at their house, helping take care of Olin.
Hornet II smiled as she held Olin in her arms. “I can tell someone’s excited for their first Christmas.”
Olin giggled and cooed. Hornet II smiled.
The group heard a doorbell chime. Irving’s eyes went wide.
“I’ll get it.”
He opened the door to see Marsala, Vittorio Veneto, Littorio, and Fabio all at the door. Vittorio Veneto was holding Lucio’s carrier.
Irving smiled. “Merry Christmas, you guys.”
The group nodded and entered the house. Irving noticed Littorio and Vittorio Veneto placed the carriers next to Olin’s.
Irving smiled as he looked at Lucio. ”He’s so cute. He has his mother’s eyes.”
Vittorio Veneto giggled. “Yeah, but he got his father’s nose and dishwasher blonde hair.”
Enterprise leaned her head from the kitchen.
“Honey, I still need your help.”
Irving nodded and came back to the kitchen to help his wife. Vittorio Veneto was in the kitchen, helping Enterprise out, while Littorio was with Fabio and Marsala in the living room.
Enterprise smiled at Vittorio Veneto. “So, Vittorio, how did everything go with Lucio?”
Vittorio Veneto giggled. “It went well. All the walking I did on Halloween must have had a delayed effect, as I went into labor in afternoon on November 2nd. I first felt contractions during dinner, and I thought it was just bad gas or indigestion. My water broke while Marsala was taking a nap. ”
Vittorio Veneto looked at her husband and giggled.
“Oddly, Marsala was calm, as were Littorio, Fabio, Impero, Roma, and even little Maria. They drove me to the hospital. I thought Lucio was going to be quick, but he decided he wanted to take his time. Lucio Giancarlo Fasetti was born on November 3rd, at 12:01 AM. He took 9 hours and 27 minutes.”
Enterprise nodded as she listened to Vittorio Veneto’s story. “So you got a rule fallower like Joachim is to Bismarck?”
Vittorio Veneto nodded. “Yes. I have a feeling he, Louis, and Olin will get along well in the future.”
Enterprise looked at Irving and grinned. “Yeah, especially Louis and Lucio, as they have very similar-sounding names.”
Vittorio Veneto closed her eyes as she smiled and nodded. “I’ll be in the living room with my sister and the children if you need me.”
Soon, the doorbell chimed again. Littorio smiled as she got off the couch.
“I’ll get it!”
She smiled as she opened the door. “Ah, glad to see you could make it!”
Irving left the kitchen and walked to the front door. He smiled.
It was Fritz and Tirpitz. Bismarck and Heinz were behind them. All of their children had come with them.
Fritz smiled at Irving. He noticed Fritz was wearing his formal uniform, as was Heinz. Irving smiled.
“Glad to see you guys could make it!”
Fritz nodded as he sat on the couch. Soon, the doorbell chimed again. Fritz giggled as he got off the couch.
“I got it”
Fritz laughed and smiled.
“Ah, Herr Hall and Herr Jones! Glad to see you could make it!”
Malcolm and Oklahoma came inside, with Oklahoma holding Louis’s carrier. Samuel and New Jersey were with them.
Soon, everyone was at the party. Irving was busy slicing up the ham while Enterprise was getting the present wrapped up.
Suddenly, Irving heard a baby cry. He stopped what he was doing and checked on the children.
Both Louis and Olin were crying. Irving and Malcolm both looked at each other and sighed.
Irving held Olin in his arms. Malcolm was doing the same thing for Louis. Irving rocked him from side to side.
“It’s all right, little guy. Daddy’s here.”
Fritz smiled as he got up.
“Herr Reese, Let me try something.”
Irving nodded has he handed Olin to Fritz.
Fritz sat next to Tirpitz and held Olin. He smiled.
“Edelweiss, Edelweiss, every morning you greet me.”
“Strong and white, clean and bright. You look happy to meet me”
Olin stopped crying upon listening to Fritz’s soft singing. Soon, he giggled.
Tirpitz smiled. Irving's mouth was open. She looked at Irving with a slight smile.
“Heh. That song always calmed down Moritz and the others when they were babies.”
Fritz smiled as Tirpitz kissed him on the cheek. Fritz placed Olin back in his carrier. Bismarck giggled.
“Yeah. I remember you teaching me that song, sister. It was a great help with both Helga and Joachim.”
The group nodded. Littorio giggled.
“Mine was always Ave Maria. That always seemed to calm Maria down, and I told Vittorio Veneto about it as well.”
Enterprise smiled as she leaned her head from the kitchen.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but the food is done.”
“I hope I’m not too late!”
The group turned to see Nevada at the front door, her jacket covered in snow. Oklahoma smiled.
“Your right on time, sis.”
“Can you do me a favor?”
Nevada nodded. “Sure. What do you need?”
“I need someone to set up the watch over the kids' table.”
Nevada nodded. “Sure. I got that covered.”
Nevada got to work, helping set up the small table. She smiled as she looked at the children.
“Hey, kiddos! Come get a seat!”
Moritz smiled as he gestured to his siblings and cousins to follow him. With the children seated, Irving got the food out on the dining room table.
Irving and Enterprise served the food. After a while, everyone got some food.
Fritz smiled as he ate some ham. “This ham is amazing, Irving. It tastes like something Gert would make.”
Irving was confused. “Who’s Gert?”
Fritz smiled. “Gert was our cook on a U-boat I served on back in the day. That son-of-a-”
A glare from Tirpitz stopped Fritz. She pointed at the nearby kids' table.
“Gun. Could cook the best food with nothing but some hot plates, an electric oven, and a dream. I wish you got to meet him.”
Irving nodded. “I know what you mean by that last part. I wish you got to meet my old squad leader, Robert. It sounds like you guys would’ve gotten along.”
Fritz nodded.
“It’s alright. Let’s not lament the past and try to look towards the future.”
Tirpitz placed her hand on Fritz’s lap. He smiled. Bismarck smirked.
“Spoken like a poet.”
Samuel giggled. “Ay, to our futures!”
Irving smirked at Samuel. “I didn’t think you would be the one to lead the toast. Guess there’s a first time for everything.”
The group laughed as they raised their glasses in the air.
“To our futures.”
The group clinked their glasses and ate. Nevada was hard at work watching over the children, making sure they were alright.
After they finished eating, the group made their way to the living room for presents.
However, before they could begin, the doorbell rang.
Irving got up to answer it. He opened the door.
It was the Commander. He smiled.
“I hope I’m not too late!”
Irving smiled. “Well, you missed dinner, but you came just in time for presents.”
The Commander nodded as he entered the door.
“Sorry, I’m late guys. I was at the Royal Navy’s Christmas party.”
The group nodded.
The Commander smiled. “Oh, I got these for some couples here.”
He reached into a tote bag.
The Commander handed a small cardboard box to Littorio and Fabio.
The couple opened it and gasped.
It was a Christmas ornament with Maria on it, saying “Maria’s first Christmas.”
Littorio gasped. “Thank you, Commander.”
The Commander nodded as he handed both Vittorio Veneto and Marsala and Enterprise and Irving a small cardboard box.
The two couples gasped as they opened it.
Inside were Christmas ornaments, similar to the ones Littorio and Fabio had received, but they were different.
Vittorio Veneto and Marsala got one that was Lucio, and it said, “Lucio’s first Christmas.” While Enterprise and Irving got one of Olin, that said “Olin’s first Christmas.”
The couple smiled at the Commander.
"Thank you, Commander."
Irving got up to place the ornament on the tree.
The Commander’s eyes went wide as he reached into his tote bag. “Okie, Malcolm, I nearly forgot. This is for you.”
The Commander handed them a small cardboard box. Oklahoma opened it and gasped.
It was an ornament with Louis on it, saying “Louis’s first Christmas.”
The Commander smiled. “I figured I would make it special and have you guys have two baby-themed ornaments.”
Oklahoma smiled as she hugged the Commander. “Thank you, Commander. That was really thoughtful.”
The Commander smiled as she placed the ornament on the tree, right next to the one she received last year.
Soon, the group unwrapped the gifts they got for each other. Irving got all the children a comic book, while Enterprise got every adult a Christmas sweater.
Everyone smiled at the gifts they received. Irving smiled.
“Personally, being with all of you guys, after the hectic year we had, is the best Christmas gift of all.”
The group nodded as the Commander sat up. He pulled out the bottle of scotch that he got from Irving last Christmas. It was three quarters full.
“Irving, I’ve yet to finish this bottle of scotch that you gave me last Christmas. Let’s say we finish it.”
Irving nodded and got out some shot glasses. Soon, Fritz, Heinz, Malcolm, and Samuel all had shots of scotch in their hands.
After a while, the bottle was empty. The men were having trouble standing after doing at least three shots of scotch between them.
Irving was sitting in a chair. Samuel giggled.
“I suppose I’ll give the Commander his present.”
He reached under the Christmas tree for a long cardboard box that said “To The Commander: From Sammy:”
The Commander opened the box with some help from Nevada. Inside was a bottle of whiskey. Samuel giggled.
“I suppose we make it a tradition. Every Christmas one of us gets the Commander a bottle of booze, and he’ll use it for toasts. If that bottle is not empty by the time the next Christmas comes around, we all drink it at Christmas and get him another.”
The Commander nodded. “Sounds like a good plan, Sammy.”
Samuel nodded. “I suppose I’ll let New Jersey tell you the next thing.”
New Jersey got up.
“Everyone.”
She pulled out a small box. The group raised their eyebrows at her.
New Jersey opened the box. Inside was a golden ring with a diamond on it.
“We’re engaged.”
Enterprise’s eyes went wide. She ran up to New Jersey and hugged her.
“Congrats NJ! That’s amazing news!”
New Jersey smiled. “I figured you would be excited about it, Enty. The wedding will be in May. I hope all of you will come to the wedding.”
The group nodded. Oklahoma smiled.
“I would not miss it for the world.”
New Jersey sat down at the table.
Enterprise looked at the men. She looked at Bismarck and Oklahoma.
“It’s clear none of them are in a state to drive. You guys feel like being drunk wranglers?”
Bismarck and Oklahoma nodded.
“Yeah. We just need help to move them into a room and a person to watch over them.”
Enterprise nodded as she looked at Nevada and Tirpitz.
“Nevada, Tirpitz, can you watch the children?”
Nevada and Tirpitz nodded.
Enterprise looked at Hornet II and Yorktown II.
"Can you guys set up some sleeping bags and cots for the men to sleep on in the living room? Everyone else can help me carry them to the living room."
Hornet II and Yorktown II nodded.
Soon, the other shipgirls carried the men into a room. Samuel groaned.
“Should old acquaintance be forgot?”
Bismarck sighed. “Great, one of them is singing. What should I do?”
Oklahoma sighed. “Just let him sing.”
Irving giggled.
"Clink. Clink. Another drink. Plenty in the cellar when it's gone."
Enterprise sighed as she placed her husband on his side on a sleeping bag.
Soon, all the men were on sleeping bags, cots, and blankets that were spread out on the living room floor. Vittorio Veneto and Littorio all got things for the men to vomit in.
Bismarck sighed. “Jesus. This is reminding me of Irving’s bachelor party.”
Oklahoma laughed. “Yeah. And this is also reminding me of Enterprise’s bachelorette party, with all of her group passing out on my living room floor.”
Enterprise giggled. “I remember you having to be the drunk wrangler, even though you were eight months pregnant.”
Oklahoma sighed. “That feels so long ago.”
Enterprise smiled. “A lot can happen in a year.”
Oklahoma nodded. Her eyes went wide.
“Enty, we have another problem. Where are the children going to sleep?”
Enterprise froze. She placed a finger on her chin.
Bismarck smiled. “They could sleep with us. Moritz, Max, Marlene, Helga, and Joachim are old enough.”
Enterprise nodded. “That only leaves Maria, Olin, Lucio, and Louis.”
Littorio raised her hand. “The babies can sleep in the nursery in their carriers.”
Enterprise nodded. “Sounds like a good plan.”
“Alright, so who will watch over the men, and who will watch over the babies?”
New Jersey and Vittorio Veneto raised their hands.
“I’ll watch over the men. Vittorio Veneto will watch over the babies. The rest of us will watch over each other and the children.”
Enterprise nodded. “Got it. I’ll be in the room with the girls and the older children.”
Soon, the shipgirls went to sleep. New Jersey was on the sofa, watching over the unconscious men as if they were 24K gold bars.
Enterprise got Vittorio Veneto a cot to sleep on, and she joined the other shipgirls. She had some cots, blankets, and sleeping bags set up for the group.
A few hours passed. Suddenly, the night calm broke.
“AHHHH!”
Enterprise and the others looked around. They could see Bismarck was sitting up.
“Bismarck! You alright?”
Bismarck looked down at herself and saw an odd light brown-shaped thing in her sleeping bag. She sighed.
“Relax. It's only Joachim. He scared me. He must have gotten cold and crawled into the sleeping bag with me.”
She sighed.
“Can’t believe I almost punted my son across the room.”
The group sighed. But this calm was only temporary, as all the babies wailed, one after the other.
Enterprise and Oklahoma got up to check on Vittorio Veneto and the babies. They saw Vittorio Veneto. Her eyes were wide as saucers as all four babies were crying. She looked at them and sighed.
“I think Bismarck’s screaming woke them up.”
Enterprise held Olin in her arms. Oklahoma did the same with Louis, and Vittorio Veneto held Lucio in her arms.
Littorio joined the group, holding Maria in her arms.
“Ave Maria, Vergin del ciel”
Maria stopped crying upon hearing her mother’s singing. The other babies also stopped crying.
Littorio smiled as, one by one, the babies went back to sleep. She giggled.
“Huh. I guess the babies like music.”
Enterprise smiled and placed Olin back in his crib. The other women did the same by placing their babies back into their carriers.
Enterprise made her way to the living room, where New Jersey was. New Jersey was sitting on the couch, trying not to fall asleep.
Enterprise smiled at her as she sat next to her. “It sounds like this Christmas is one we will never forget.”
New Jersey giggled. “Yeah, but we will have one hell of a mess to clean up in the morning.”
Enterprise nodded as she grabbed a plaid blanket. She saw Irving lying on his side and smiled. She lay down next to him and covered themselves with the blanket.
Soon, she fell asleep.

So I (22) live with my parents (67m and 63f), because they want me to until I become married and because I have disabilities that cause me to not be able to be alone. Because of said disabilities, I cannot work, so the help support me (until I am approved for disability that is). I also have a boyfriend (24) who I plan on marrying in the near future.
Living with my parents is agonizing, to say the least. They put my ideas down, always complain that I did something wrong so much so that when they are about to speak I almost expect them to say something about myself and how I am in trouble, and just feel that they are better than everyone else in the way that they live their lives (although they would never openly admit it).
Here are just a few examples of how they are:

• after my boyfriend leaves from visiting me on the weekends, we almost always get into an argument usually because of how they don’t listen to me or put ideas of mine down. They usually end with her threatening me that she won’t miss me when I’m gone with my boyfriend. (Ex. My parents (my mother especially) got into an argument with me about how she will not buy my boyfriend a cake for his upcoming birthday on my behalf since he’s decided to spend his special day with me and my family since his family lives out of town. She will not spend any money on him for his birthday, including a gift, because why should she do that? I told her “it’s for your future son in law” to which she responded “I don’t care. The only son I have is our dog”. She knows I don’t have any money to my name and she won’t help me, not because she can’t, but because she won’t. (She also said if she were to buy him a cake, she wouldn’t help me get him a gift, because a cakes a gift enough, just like my past birthdays where my dinner was supposed to be my gift to me.)) PS. Although my dad stays out of it when my mom is attacking me in an argument, he comes to her aid and tells me off every time I try to defend myself.

-my parents know that I am planning on marrying my boyfriend, and when I talk about my plans they either shoot them down as “that’s too expensive, I’m not helping you monetarily with that” or “there’s no time to be thinking of happy things, remember, your father is dying of cancer” (my dad has had cancer since 2010, his diagnosis isn’t anything new, and he’s been stable with it since then. I also deal with depression myself, so it’s nice to think about a happy event like my wedding, which almost every time is shot down with how bad my dad is doing. They tell me to “be happy” but then actively make me think about depressing things)
-a family member of mine had psychologically and verbally abused me when I was 10 years old over a period of 4 months, which to this day still affects me. When I tell them about my issues, it is met with “here we go again” and “we don’t want to hear about this!”. They want me to get better but don’t want to hear about my issues that are plaguing my mind. Not only that, but sometimes when I tell them stuff it is met with “well, what did you do to deserve this?” Mind you, I was 10 YEARS OLD. At one point when I was being abused, I literally felt like I had to touch my feces, which usually is a sign of abuse. Which my parents have made me out to be the villain in that situation and made me feel even more disgusting than I already do.
-I’m adopted, and my parents let me know at least once every other week how lucky I should feel about being adopted by them. If I feel badly about my predicament, then that means I’m not appreciative of them. Which I don’t know how I should be, when my mom has let me know a couple of times that she “didn’t want me at first” which stings, but stings even more when she tells me how she really wanted to adopt my second cousin (my cousins (who was 14 at the time) daughter). “Such a pretty girl. I really wanted her.”
-absolutely NONE of the issues above or any issue that happens in the household should be shared, either to my boyfriend or my therapist, because that’s throwing them under the bus, and they have threatened to cut cell service to my phone if I share anything.
I’ve told my therapist about these problems, and she says that “that’s just the way normal parents are” and that they really love me, but I don’t know, I don’t think parents act this way. Do normal parents act this way?

Our toddler, who's 18 months old, has recently exhibited certain behaviors that have raised concerns for my wife and me. As first-time parents, we're uncertain about what constitutes typical toddler behavior. We've turned to online resources for guidance, which seem to suggest potential signs of autism, while also indicating these could simply be part of his development.
One of his behaviors involves a peculiar hand movement. He began this at 13 months, bending either his right or left arm and raising his hand near his face. He then rapidly opens and closes his hand while fixating on it. Initially, this was an occasional activity, but it has become more frequent over the past two days.
In terms of responsiveness, our son exhibits a mix of behaviors. He doesn't always react to his name, but does so on occasion. He tends to run off when he senses he's done something wrong. However, he does seem to follow simple commands like picking up a toy or following us upstairs. His eye contact varies - sometimes he maintains it, and other times he appears more engrossed in his surroundings.
Despite not pointing at objects, our son identifies them by name, such as "ball" or "car". He also attempts to converse with us and strangers alike, though it mostly consists of babbling at this stage.
A peculiar habit that we've noticed since he turned one is his tendency to cover his ears at random times, even when it's quiet. He also has a tendency to bang his head, particularly when upset or resisting bedtime, often laughing when we try to stop him.
In spite of these behaviors, our son shows no hesitation in approaching and interacting with other children and adults. Additionally, we've noticed his preference for running rather than walking, whether at home or at the park. He also enjoys his independent playtime.
If anyone has any insights or advice, we'd greatly appreciate it.
TLDR; Our 18-month-old son has exhibited a few unusual behaviors, like rapidly opening and closing his hand while watching it, covering his ears randomly even in quiet settings, and head-banging when upset. He's always on the run and never walks. He tries to converse but mostly babbles. Despite these behaviors, he interacts with others without hesitation. We welcome any advice or insights.

Author's Note:
Reddit was having issues when I posted the last chapter, so just in case anyone missed it, the previous chapter (197) starts here.
Also, the next chapter will come out a week from now, on June 5th.
​
--
​
Two Days Later
"AMBUSH!"
Rob's eyes snapped open. Panicked shouts were resounding from outside his tent. The first notion that popped into his sleep-addled mind was relief, as an ambush was preferable to the nightmare he'd been having. That sentiment lasted until a distant explosion obliterated the final remnants of his drowsiness, sending him and Keira sprinting out of their tent with weapons in hand.
Chaos awaited them outside. People weren't quite running around like chickens with their heads cut off, but it was close. While the coalition had known that a night attack was possible and prepared themselves accordingly, no one was ever truly ready to be assaulted with spells and Skills as they frolicked through dreamland. Arrows peppered the ground at their feet, the majority landing harmlessly away, although Rob spotted a few soldiers with fresh wounds seeping blood.
He spared a passing glance for the numerous banners the coalition had erected across their campsite. Each one was raised twenty feet high, decorated with lights in order to glow in the dark, and marked with wartime symbols indicating a desire to engage in peaceful negotiations. The Harpies answered by filling the banners with arrow holes and setting many of them on fire. Diplomacy's plan had been doomed from the start.
Kicking his brain into high gear, Rob activated Quick Thinking and sent Messages checking on Riardin's Rangers. His eyes traveled up towards the night sky, seeing a canvas of pure darkness broken up by stars and moonlight. It must have been the dead of midnight or close to it. Arrows were impossible to see coming before they'd already hit the ground, and the only indication of Harpies flying above were the shadows blotting out the stars every so often.
Thankfully, the coalition had planned for this. As if on cue, multiple orbs of brilliant light shot upwards, mages from each faction contributing to the effort. The orbs hung in the sky like floating lighthouses, banishing enough darkness to allow Rob to see what he was dealing with.
A resigned expletive slipped out of his mouth. There had to be at least four hundred of the fuckers up there, maybe five hundred, swarming like a colony of feathered bees. It was the worst-case scenario of what the coalition envisioned – Elnaril sending the maximum number of Harpies he could realistically field without leaving the capital undefended.
How am I supposed to fight them? Rob wondered, asking himself a recurring question that he'd never been able to answer. They can't kill me with piddly arrows and long-range spells, but my allies aren't so durable. Somehow I doubt they'll listen if I tell them to stop being cowards and come fight me in melee range.
All thoughts of attacking were swept aside when the Harpies began dropping a very different projectile towards the coalition base camp. Rob opened and closed his mouth several times, shock suffusing every cell in his body. He recalled the explosion that had awoken him, the moment now disturbingly re-contextualized.
The Harpies were airdropping crates of Firebombs.
"THAT'S COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT, YOU LITTLE SHITS!" Rob summoned his own crate from his Bound Items, tore open the cover, and grabbed a Firebomb in each hand. He activated Bulk Up for extra Strength and hurled Firebombs towards the falling crates with the best baseball throws he could muster. One, two, three, four, five, six – the crate's supply rapidly depleted as Rob threw again and again, trying to intercept as many payloads as possible, Keira following his lead. They were joined by coalition archer support, arrows sniping at crates that were out of reach.
Dozens of roaring explosions lit up the sky. While some of the crates had gotten through, most were turned to dust before they could hit the ground, reducing the Harpies' shock-and-awe tactic to an impromptu fireworks display.
Throwing Proficiency Level Increased! 6 → 7
Throwing Proficiency Level Increased! 7 → 8
"THAT'S RIGHT!" Rob whooped. "LEAVE THE KABOOMS TO THE EXPERTS!" He paused, then turned to Keira, looking abashed. "Um...was this my fault? Are they actually copying me?" Please don't tell me I accidentally advanced warfare by a century.
"We can ruminate on that later," Keira answered, skillfully dodging the question. "For now, we should focus on retaliating by any means available."
No sooner had the words left her mouth than a glowing yellow projectile shot up into the sky. Orn'tol's Chain Arrow nicked a Harpy on the edge of their wing – which was all it needed to begin the process. A tenth of a second later, the arrow veered to the right and struck a different Harpy in their stomach. It ripped out and through the other side, taking another ninety-degree turn to spear an unsuspecting Harpy in the back. And so it went, chaining from target-to-target with ruthless efficiency. By the end, twenty Harpies had been struck, eight of them falling out of the sky, unmoving.
Rob saluted the display. "Yeah, I don't have any ranged attacks on that level. I think we'd be better-off guarding the people who do."
They rushed over to where the Fiend mages resided, discovering the group huddled under cover, besieged by a stream of arrows and spells hammering down around them. Rob sent off a quick Message to Vul'to, then jumped in front of an icicle spell that would have gored a Fiend through her neck. "Sup."
"Lord Roy!" The Fiend's jubilation froze when she saw the icicle sticking out of Rob's shoulder. "Are–"
"No time for chitchat. If I cover you, can you fire back?"
After some thought, the mages nodded. Rob gave them a thumbs-up with his left hand and deflected an arrow with his right. He turned his full attention to the projectile storm raining from above, calculating which ones he'd be able to block and which ones he'd need to take on the chin.
The next few minutes became a blur of activity. Arrow. Skill. Arrow. Spell. Spell. Skill. Arrow. Arrow. It never ended. His slow walk towards Harpy Settlement #4 was proving to be an invaluable experience, because he wasn't sure if he could've kept up now without already knowing how to handle a barrage of small projectiles. Even Keira was struggling; while Danger Sense told her where she needed to move, it was reaching a point where she physically couldn't execute the motions fast enough. Rob would've expected the Harpies to lay off once they noticed that he was there to play defense, but if anything, they were attacking more fiercely than before.
Almost as if they held a grudge against him or something.
Outwardly, he was projecting the supreme confidence of a Leader. Inwardly, he was honestly starting to get a bit worried. While he'd only taken about 300 HP of damage, a different resource was beginning to wane: his Stamina. Quick Thinking consumed 3 Stamina for every second it was active. That combined with his constant movement was...tiring. He'd activated Second Wind to restore 35% of his Stamina, but unlike his Vitality-based abilities, this one had a cooldown of 24 hours. In a couple minutes, he might actually need to ask for a short break.
Was that the end of the world? No. Was it embarrassing? Potentially. Leaders weren't supposed to ask for breaks. At least, he thought they weren't. Elatrans could be weird about what constituted a good Leader. Rob was still figuring out when he was supposed to act like an invulnerable pillar versus when he was allowed to be a real person. I miss when I didn't have to care about this sort of thing.
His reputation was saved by Vul'to's timely arrival. The Soul Guardian burst onto the scene in a mad dash, skid to a halt, took a stance, activated Auto-Guard, and proceeded to swat away the Harpies' projectiles as if they were no more than gnats. "I will protect the mages from here on out," he calmly stated. Vul'to's movements flowed like water, his voice showing no sign of exertion as he spoke. "Put your efforts towards an offensive strike."
Rob suppressed a relieved sigh as he deactivated Quick Thinking. "For the record, when our Party inevitably complains about my risk-taking later, I'm going to say that both you and Keira signed off on a Rob Plan."
"You can't be serious," Keira blurted out, panting heavily as she rested. "Our enemies are in the sky. What scheme could you have possibly concocted that would put you at risk?"
Rob hesitated. He was distinctly aware of the mages listening in as they fired spells, devoting a portion of their brainpower to gathering gossip material. Anything he said here would reflect on his status as Leader. That included overly-casual speech and devising schemes that by all rights should get him a one-way ticket to the loony bin.
Then he remembered that allies were dying around him, and he stopped caring so much about what other people thought.
"My usual method for dealing with mobile enemies is Rampage spam," he began to explain. "That isn't viable here. I'd run out of MP long before I reached their altitude, and even if I somehow made it, what then? I can't dodge mid-air. They'd turn me into a pincushion. So here's what I was thinking..."
His explanation was brief. By the time he'd finished, the mages were staring at him with eyes wide as saucers. Keira merely nodded. "Very well. I'll accept it."
"No complaints?"
"You left yourself an escape route. That already makes this plan safer than most." She turned away, gesturing for him to follow. "Let's go find Malika. If I'm not mistaken, she'll be at Orn'tol's side."
It wasn't hard to locate her. They only needed to trace the empowered spells blasting upwards like rocket launchers. Rob did a rough headcount of the Harpies' numbers, estimating that, despite their ambush, the battle wasn't going well for them. Over forty had been felled by Malika's spells, Orn'tol's arrows, and the other coalition mages and archers. The Dwarven riflemen were also putting in work, gunshots echoing as Harpies were struck by blindingly fast projectiles they'd come entirely unprepared for, their race inducted into a new era of war with a baptism of lead and gunpowder.
Conversely, Rob would bet his life savings that not even fifteen coalition members had perished. While he didn't have any proof of this, he knew from experience that basic arrows and mediocre spells lost striking power when fired from a long range. And unlike the Harpies' army consisting of everyone-they-could-get, the coalition soldiers were the elite of each territory. They were tougher, stronger, and had access to superior healing magic. In this instance, quality trumped quantity.
Especially when the quality was so lopsided. As Rob ran, he saw a lightning spear shoot up towards the sky and explode into a ball of electricity, frying a dozen Harpies in an instant. Moments later, the surrounding air seemed to dry out, like a heat wave passing through, as moisture was collected into a towering plume of water. Once it was ready, the plume burst upwards and casually washed away another dozen Harpies as if they were drowned rats.
Sylpeiros and Cyraeneus. Ambush or no ambush, long range or close range – didn't matter. Leaders were terrifying in every scenario.
Rob found Malika and Orn'tol in good spirits. The siblings had a whole squad of Vanguards protecting them, like a pair of pint-sized siege cannons with ground support. "Rob!" Malika exclaimed, the instant she saw him. "MP Potions! Forthwith!"
In a flash of blue mana, he produced three Potions from Spatial Storage. "Your humble servant is here," he remarked, in a tone drier than the air.
"Only three Potions? Bah! Give me more!"
"Your humble servant has no wish to deal with an Archmage with a hangover."
Grumbling, she grabbed the Potions and chugged them like a frat boy on spring break. Rob rated her chugging prowess at a solid 7 out of 10, judging that – while she'd grown considerably – there was still room for improvement.
"Should..." Orn'tol started to say something, then thought better of it. Rob could guess what he was thinking. The boy was worried that they weren't being properly respectful of the situation, joking around in the middle of a warzone where allies were suffering. He'd likely come to the same conclusion as Rob: that letting Malika keep her morale up was more important. "Are we winning?" he instead asked.
"Easily," Rob affirmed. That was never in doubt. It would've taken something going catastrophically wrong for them to be in danger of losing. In reality, today's battle was just another leg in the extended marathon that the coalition was running. Rather than obsessing over a transient victory that was all but guaranteed, they needed to minimize casualties so that taking the Harpy capital was a feasible prospect. That meant being careful, guarding their back lines, and only attacking when it was safe.
Oh, and crushing the Harpies so that they wised up and retreated.
"I am...concerned," Orn'tol admitted. "The Harpies should have been aware of our strength. Yet by the end of this night, unless they soon retreat, their losses will mount in the hundreds. Why waste so much life?"
Rob narrowed his eyes at the sky. "Couple possibilities. Elnaril could be screwing around. Blights think that wasting life is absolutely hilarious. He is part Leader, though, so I can't imagine he'd be quite that frivolous with his resources. With that in mind, I don't think the Harpies are going to fight to the last man – they probably came here intending to thin our numbers and skedaddle. Severe losses would prevent us from being able to seize the capital. Their initial Firebomb barrage could've potentially done that on its own."
"And it failed."
"Sure did. Now they're stuck trying to do it the old-fashioned way." Rob shrugged. "They might have a backup plan. If so, we'll handle it, no worries." He faced Malika. "Speaking of plans, I've got one. Do you mind holding onto some MP for me?"
She opened her mouth to respond – then froze, her head turning sideways. Rob followed Malika's gaze towards the Gellin encampment, his brow furrowing at what he saw. All thirty Gellin were exiting their tents in near-perfect unison. They reminded Rob of a collection of wind-up animatronics, with movements that weren't entirely synchronized and robotic, yet also weren't dissimilar enough to appear fully lifelike. As the Gellin drifted forward, moonlight mixed with the light emanating from the mages' sun orbs, bathing them in an almost ethereal glow.
A small shiver crept up Rob's spine. He didn't know why, but something about the situation was giving him the heebie-jeebies. Maybe it was because he'd never seen a Gellin awake at this hour before. He'd gone on more than one midnight walk to clear his head after a bout of nightmares, and while he'd met the occasional Fiend, Dwarf, Elf, or Merfolk, the Gellin were always sequestered in their tents.
His shiver crawled up to the back of his neck, making its little hairs stand on end as a thrum of mana built within the Gellin. Even Rob's meager Sense Mana could feel it. Thirty Gellin had joined into three Mage Circles, linking their power, creating...something. A force. An aura. It lacked physical form, yet felt no less threatening than one of Sylpeiros' lightning spears.
The space above them seemed to shimmer, as if viewed through a lightly-smudged eyeglass. Virtually invisible if you weren't paying close attention.
Or if you were flying hundreds of feet in the air.
The Harpies didn't try to avoid it. They didn't even know it was there. Lightning spears and plumes of water were obvious. Flashy. The Gellins' something simply wafted upwards, like rising heat, until it reached the sky and engulfed a multitude of Harpies in a devouring fog.
Piercing screams cut through the din of warfare.
The affected Harpies reacted in different ways. Some went still as statues. Some writhed as if electrocuted. Some began attacking invisible enemies. But regardless of how they reacted, they all fell, and they all screamed.
Rob covered his ears. It was the worst sound he'd heard since Elnaril laughed at him through a Message Crystal. The battlefield didn't completely grind to a halt, but it definitely slowed, with both the attackers and defenders needing to process what the fuck just happened.
"Was that Mind Magic?" Malika whispered, her bravado gone and vanished.
"It appears so," Keira quietly answered.
"I...did not know it could do that."
"Neither did I."
After shaking his head to reset his thoughts, Rob stepped back from everyone, ensuring that he was out of their line of sight. Much as he wanted to take a breather, he couldn't. The Harpies were reeling – this was a perfect opportunity to execute his plan.
He just needed to finish the prepwork. Hefting his longsword, Rob turned it around and pointed it at his heart.
And paused.
My hands are shivering, he realized. Why are my hands shivering? I've done this before. He willed his hands to stay still, nearly snarling when they failed to cooperate. This is a waste of time. Don't be a fucking bitch, Rob. Just lie back and think of England.
Stab.
Stab.
Stab.
Lifesurge.
Living Bomb ready.
Rob used Spatial Storage to switch his clothes for an unbloodied ensemble, then tapped Malika on her shoulder. "Do you have enough MP for a big wind spell?"
She blinked, jolted out of her reverie. "Oh. Um, yes. Why?"
He told her of his plan. A broad grin split across her face, transitioning into an excited cackle. "You're a madman. Let's do that straight away."
As Malika charged her spell, Rob attached a Waymark point to the ground, then summoned the Dwarven Sheet Metal from his Bound Items. Keira, Orn'tol, and the Vanguards spread out to give them some space. The Vanguards were looking on in awe; Rob could only hope that they'd enjoy the show.
"We have to time this just right," he told Malika. "Fire the spell on three. Understand?" She nodded so hard that she probably gave herself whiplash. Rob placed his longsword in Storage, holding the Sheet Metal with both hands.
"One." Malika held onto her spell, ready to unleash the fury of an Archmage with a cause.
"Two." Rob leaped into the air, positioning the Sheet Metal under his feet like a surfboard.
"Three!"
A miniaturized tornado slammed into the Sheet Metal, propelling Rob up, up, and away. He lost his balance pretty much immediately, tumbling onto the Sheet as wind pressure buffeted him without mercy. His ascent skyward was so sudden and so jarring that he was actually surprised when he came face-to-face with a Harpy. The two of them exchanged bewildered stares. Rob felt tempted to say a variant of one of the classics, like 'You come here often?'
Then he remembered why he was there.
This was it. No going back. Justified or necessary or otherwise, once he activated Living Bomb, he will have spilled Harpy blood on Harpy soil. There was a sense of finality to it that almost made him hesitate.
Almost.
"I wish you'd stayed home," Rob muttered. The Harpy's survival instincts kicked in, his wings flapping in a hurry, yet it was already too late. You couldn't outrun a thought.
Living Bomb.
The world became obscured by flame, heat, and noise. Rob wasn't sure how many Harpies he'd caught in the blast radius, but the EXP infusing his soul informed him that it was more than a few. Without waiting, he cast Rampage to push himself out of the Bomb's center, then Waymarked to safety so that the Harpies couldn't take revenge after the Bomb faded. The Rampage movement was a necessity; he wasn't taking any chances that using Waymark while in the middle of the Bomb might somehow bring it back with him.
His feet now on solid ground, Rob was treated to an awe-inspiring spectacle. A colossal sphere of fire hung above, like the core of an angry sun, its surface twisting with unbridled energy. The sound it emitted was one long, continuous, ear-splitting explosion, as if the Bomb was a sentient creature noisily lamenting the ones who'd escaped its grasp. This was the first time Rob had seen his Skill from an outside perspective, and in that instant, he truly understood why it was so effective at shattering morale.
As it did now. Living Bomb rapidly faded, but by then the Harpies were already in retreat. The one-two punch of the Gellins' mind attack and a giant fuckoff explosion had doubled their casualties in a matter of seconds. Even if that combo hadn't broken their spirits, not withdrawing at this point would be tantamount to suicide.
Rob allowed his shoulders to relax as a collective sigh of relief passed through the coalition. Their battle was over. Victory was – Wait, what's up with that guy?
Relief gave way to confusion as they noticed a figure in the distance sprinting towards them. It was an...Elf? One of Sylpeiros' Scouts? As everyone watched, the Elf in question passed straight under the fleeing Harpies, neither faction looking at each other as they traveled in opposite directions. The sight was borderline surreal, adding another obstacle to the emotional gamut that Rob was still running. Maybe I can go to bed and pretend I didn't see anything.
Plausible deniability was taken from him a moment later, when the Elf got within range of the coalition's Heightened Senses and started bellowing at the top of his longs. "MONSTERS! PACK OF MONSTERS AND BEASTS! LEVEL 50 AND ABOVE!"
His declaration just left them more confused. There was no such thing as a pack of high-Leveled monsters roaming the surface of Elatra. At first Rob thought that a Dungeon had grown for too long and was beginning to overflow, but the truth ended up being far stranger.
"About...thirty...monsters and animals," the Elf Scout wheezed, once he'd gotten close and could speak in full sentences. "Coming this way. Some are...natural-born. Beasts who've lived for centuries. Others are monsters. Used Identify. Think they...were plucked from Dungeons."
Everyone glanced at Sylpeiros, an unspoken message in their eyes: "He's your Scout. You sort out this mess." The Seneschal put on a deep scowl, somehow managing to direct it at over a dozen people simultaneously. Once he was sure they'd received the full force of his ire, he composed his features and turned towards the exhausted Scout.
"While I don't doubt your words, what you've described is nonsensical. Setting aside how such an eclectic group of creatures was brought together...monsters and natural-born animals are hardly allies. They'd rip each other to pieces under normal circumstances. Animals from differing species would be at odds as well."
"I am merely reporting what I've seen. In one such example, I witnessed an enormous bat flying alongside a misshapen creature of mana that could only have been spawned within the depths of a high-Level Dungeon."
"Are the animals infected?" Rob asked. "This sort of thing happened back when The Village of Ixatan Forest was invaded. Animals got possessed by the Blight."
The Scout paused, searching through his memories – or rather, his log of system notifications. "Yes. An 'Infected' Status Effect appeared when I Identified the animals. Until you provided context, I was unaware of what that implied."
As Sylpeiros continued speaking with the Scout, Rob stopped to think, constructing a timeline of events. This pack of high-Level creatures couldn't have been assembled on short notice. It must've been years in the making, Elnaril searching Harpy territory with a fine-tooth comb, scooping up wildlife and plundering Dungeons.
Rob resisted the urge to shake his fist at the sky. When Kismet warned him that Elnaril had 'strong creatures' to use, it would've been nice to have some extra fucking details. Vague omnipotent asshole.
Anyway. Elnaril corrals his Pokemon, then prepares to ambush the coalition along with his Harpies. Except...the timing went wrong. Or maybe the position? Controlling that many powerful creatures couldn't be easy. Like attempting to drive thirty cars at the same time. It was probably why the coalition hadn't been ambushed until now – Elnaril was waiting for them to get closer. Regardless, the plan was likely supposed to be the Harpies attacking in tandem with the monsters...but the bombing run largely failed, and the monsters were late to the party.
Rob grimaced as he realized how much of the coalition's victory came down to blind luck. Elnaril's plan was unsuccessful due to logistical issues on his side, not because of any stratagem on the coalition's part. If the Harpies had successfully used their pets as distractions, unloading crates of Firebombs while high-Level creatures ran amok through the battlefield...
The coalition still would have won. But their casualties would've been enormous. Enough to make invading the capital untenable.
Everyone else came to the same conclusion as they listened to the Scout's tale. Sylpeiros remained silent for a time, looking more pensive than someone might expect from a Leader who'd just prevailed in battle. "We shall discuss areas of improvement at a later date," he said, sighing. "How long until the monsters arrive?"
"Roughly four minutes."
Sylpeiros drummed his fingers on his thigh. "While we could swarm the monsters with superior numbers, the vast majority of our soldiers are unsuited for combating enemies over Level 50. The monster will fall, but not before inflicting casualties. Instead, I propose that myself, Cyraeneus, and Riardin's Rangers go forth and hold the line. The rest of our soldiers will defend base camp, kept out of harm's way, firing projectiles at whichever beasts draw near."
He frowned. "Even so, thirty monsters above Level 50 aren't so easily repelled. They may be able to fly, or have carapaces that blunt conventional attacks. It would be best if the entire lot focuses on our group, but some will choose to bypass the front line in favor of assaulting the coalition base camp. Casualties are inevitable."
"No. They aren't."
Rob stepped forward, walking in the direction the Scout had come from. A familiar swell of anticipation built within him. "Counter-proposal. I go. Alone. You all stay and deal with whoever slips past."
Numerous opposing voices exploded in unison. Rob countered them with an explosion of his own, summoning a crate of Firebombs and chucking it into the distance. The faint BOOM bought him a moment of stunned silence.
"No bullshitting," he said, fixing them with an intent gaze. "You want to minimize casualties? This is how we do it. Base camp will be vulnerable without high-Level people to protect it. Hell, some of you might die if you try to 'hold the line' in the middle of an open field. It only takes one screwup to get your head bitten off, and the monsters outnumber us. But me?"
With a flourish, Rob summoned his longsword and activated Step of the Wind. "They. Can't. Kill. Me."
He was off before anyone could raise another protest. None of them followed, perhaps sensing something in his voice indicating that it would be a bad idea. Just as well – Rob would've physically thrown back anyone who tried.
No one else needed to risk their lives today.
It only took him three minutes of running at full speed to locate the monster stampede. They were impossible to miss; a menagerie of oversized animals and abominations with the strength to depopulate a city. For almost anyone else in Elatra, the sight would have filled them with the dread of someone who knew their death was imminent, and that they could do nothing to stop the reaper's scythe from swinging.
Rob waved. The monsters screeched when they saw him, letting out a symphony that could be graciously described as hideous. Music to my ears. Out of curiosity, he cast Identify on the first one in line to die.
Name: Lord of the CavesLevel: 57Race: Blighted BatStatus Effects: Infected, ThirstyDescription: An existence well above Ixatan's Lord of the Forest that nearly killed you three times over. Gee, I wonder what happens now that you're 70 Levels higher and with pent-up resentment towards big beasties? Play nice, Rob, or you'll break your toys.
"Sorry, but breaking them is the fun part." Inwardly, Rob sent thanks to Elnaril for delivering him a herd of acceptable targets to use as living stress balls. After the unpleasantness of being forced to kill his first non-Blighted Harpies, this was a golden opportunity to let loose – and he was going to make damn good use of it.
The monsters drew closer. Any second now, the carnage would commence. Elation and certainty mingled within him, letting him know that he was in his element. He emptied his mind of worries, soaking in the view. There were no war strategies, allied casualties, or moral quandaries to concern himself with.
Just him, and his prey.
Rampage. Rob flew upwards towards the Lord of the Caves. It was a freakish behemoth of a bat, its head as large as a man's body. The creature sank its fangs into Rob's torso, biting down as if four longswords were piercing through him, vital organs shredded to confetti.
637 Piercing Damage Sustained!
It tickled. Rob completed his swing, landing a direct hit on the Lord's head. He didn't activate any additional offensive abilities, because he didn't need to. Blood for Blood increased his damage based on his missing HP. Rampage highly increased the damage of his next attack. Headsman increased his damage by 25% when attacking an enemy's head. Bone Breaker doubled the damage he dealt to an enemy's bone structure.
With all those passive effects stacking onto each other, the bat's neck was almost severed in one clean stroke. Thanks to Lifesteal, Rob immediately recovered most of his lost HP, like nothing had ever happened. Despite the bat's head hanging by threads, it stubbornly clung to life for a few moments longer – but only a few.
Swordsmanship Level Increased! 9 → 10
One down. Plenty to go. Rob pivoted to the next-closest monster, a gargantuan bear that reminded him of an Ixatan beast that had caved his chest in, once upon a time. Emboldened by nostalgia, he put a bit more oomph into his next attack, stacking Rampage, Power Slash, and Imbue Vitality.
The bear's outer hide was abnormally tough, similar to a Vanguard's armor. That mattered up until the point Rob broke the skin, after which Imbue Vitality's quadruple damage effect savaged the beast from within, its insides reduced to crimson mush.
Level Increased! 84 → 85
5 Stat Points Gained!
BERSERKER Level Increased! 82 → 83
An apelike creature with distended arms leaped ahead of the rest of the pack, enormous hands wrapping around Rob before he could dodge. It let out a warbling bellow, squeezing down with enough pressure to bend steel. Rob's bones, durable as they were, started to crack.
Vitamin D(efense) Level Increased! 10 → 11
Cute. He flicked on the Flames of Vengeance, azure fire covering his body. A grin spread over Rob's face as the beast shrieked and let go. "No, no, we were having a moment. Don't hide from your emotions." Rampaging forward, he jumped on the ape's head and gave it a big ole' hug. The shrieks intensified, mighty fists pounding at his body, fracturing more bones in a desperate attempt to dislodge him.
It was all for naught. The ape's struggles slowed, then ceased, its brain cooked from the inside like spaghetti in a microwave.
Pyromania Level Increased! 2 → 3
The next one on the chopping block was an honest-to-god giant spider. Rob shivered as he summoned a crate of Firebombs and promptly Riardin Special'd the skittering menace into the hereafter. Arachnophobia's 300% damage bonus against spiders combined with Pyromania's 30% fire damage bonus – well, 40% now – meant that it lasted about two seconds before crumbling like a pile of chitinous kindling.
Good riddance. Monsters and abominations were one thing. Spiders...ugh.
Rob checked back the way he'd come from, narrowing his eyes when he saw that a couple monsters had skirted past him while he dealt with their friends. He chased after something that must've been birthed in a Dungeon on a bender, its body comprised of flying limbs and harsh edges that hurt to look at if he stared for too long.
The floating Picasso painting in monster form suddenly whirled around, aiming multiple sharpened points at Rob's head, neck, eyes, heart, and liver. It was a phenomenally well-executed attack that would have been the envy of any Combat Class user.
Unfortunately, Picasso had chosen the one target in the world that could turn lethality into a detriment. With a thought, Rob deactivated all of his defensive Skills, then activated Dauntless Reprisal, reflecting the damage of five grievous blows back onto the creature. It collapsed into itself, twitching on the ground, silently pleading for mercy as a longsword ended its suffering.
Swordsmanship Level Increased! 10 → 11
As Rob reactivated his defensive Skills and chose his next target, something in the monsters' attitudes shifted. Several of them went from stampeding ahead to turning towards him on a dime. Their movements were stiff and jerky, as if puppeteered by an unseen force.
"Hi Elnaril!" Rob twirled his longsword. "Hope you don't mind me Old Yeller-ing your pets here. I'm sad to say that you didn't train them prop–"
The creatures pounced in unison. Claws and fangs savaged Rob's from head to toe, tearing off limbs and pulling apart flesh. A good chunk of his body mass disappeared in seconds.
Platelet Party Level Increased! 20 → 21
1021 Combined Damage Sustained!
"Wow, that's a lot of damage." Rob grinned, blood dripping from the corners of his mouth. "On an unrelated note, guess what Skill just came off cooldown?"
BOOM.
Level Increased! 85 → 86
5 Stat Points Gained!
BERSERKER Level Increased! 83 → 84
BERSERKER Level Increased! 84 → 85
Rob stood in the center of a crater. Living Bomb had ripped the ground open like scooping ice cream. He was once again back to full health, Lifesteal having converted 50% of the damage he'd dealt into HP.
And he'd dealt a lot of damage.
"It's like I said," he whispered, to nothing in particular. "They can't kill me. When I put my mind to it, I'm a better monster than they could ever hope to be."
The thought didn't distress him like it would have back home on Earth. It wasn't so bad, being a monster to monsters. Kept his friends alive, put food on the table...there were worse careers, he supposed.
Rob jumped out of the crater, searching for new targets. Living Bomb wasn't nearly large enough to take out all of them at once. He set his eyes on a fleeing wyvern and gave chase. As the gap closed, he checked his available Skills, and oh would you look at that, Imbue Vitality was off cooldown now.
Swordsmanship Level Increased! 11→ 12
One monster fell. Then another. Then another. Rob alternated his Skills, rotating between whatever abilities were available.
Swordsmanship Level Increased! 12→ 13
More creatures tried ganging up on him. It didn't work.
Platelet Party Level Increased! 21 → 22
Headsman! 4 → 5
He sliced and cut and Firebombed everything in his path.
Pyromania Level Increased! 3 → 4
Until eventually...
Level Increased! 86 → 87
5 Stat Points Gained!
BERSERKER Level Increased! 85 → 86
There was nothing left.
Rob found himself surrounded by a pile of mangled corpses. He tried counting to see if he could reach thirty, then gave up. Too many mixed-up body parts. It was likely that a couple monsters had gotten past him, so he'd just have to hope for the best.
His prayers were answered when he arrived back at base camp. A wide smile split across Rob's face as he counted a mere six monster corpses littered around the outskirts. They hadn't even gotten close. Most importantly, there wasn't a single allied corpse anywhere in sight.
Zero casualties.
Everyone was staring at him with various looks on their faces. Rob didn't bother trying to decipher all of them. They could think whatever they wanted to think – results were what mattered. The coalition may have lost some soldiers in the Harpy attack, but from the monster stampede?
Zero goddamn casualties.
Rob took a bow, then went straight for his tent. He wasn't going to find a better note to sleep on than this. His consciousness faded the moment he closed his eyes.
And the nightmares didn't dare to come for him.
​
--
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Changes, Character Sheet, Skill List
Thanks for reading!