Stephanie walking dead comics

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Hello, spacers!
On this episode: a post-apocalypse shuttle tour, a look at the latest in Earth tourism fashion trends, and a bit of paperwork- …though with some juicy details to be found within. ;)
As always, I hope you enjoy. :)
——
As Y’ggdrasog helped Kate move both herself in microgravity and what little luggage they had packed from his ship to the shuttle, she found herself surrounded by dozens of Collective aliens who only had eyes (where applicable) for her. As he helped her to her seat and got her strapped in, she leaned toward Y’ggdrasog and whispered to him.
“Y’know, I might find all this staring flattering if I had a bit more self-esteem. As-is, it’s just creepy…”
He chuckled as he strapped himself in beside her.
<“In their defense, they’ve never seen a human in person before now.”>
Kate was about to respond when she saw something move out of the corner of her eye, and glanced up. An alien, one of the armadillo-octopus looking ones like Zapaht-Toh- a spaxar-tickoss, she reminded herself- was leaning over her seat from the aisle behind her. They stared down at her as one would stare at an unusual bug under a rock.
Kate slowly raised an eyebrow.
“…Can I, um… help you…?”
<“Sorry to bother you, I just had a quick question; is it true that you humans have an organ inside you that’s full of extremely corrosive acid?”>
Kate’s eyes narrowed in confusion.
“Yeah, that’d be the stomach. A lot of species on Earth have them. …Why?”
The alien dropped back down into their own seat without answering, but Kate could hear them whisper to the alien sitting next to them.
<“Told you! You owe me five credits.”>
Kate shook her head in bemusement as she heard the one the alien was whispering to sheepishly grumbling to themselves. She turned to Y’ggdrasog to see him only just barely holding in his snickering at the exchange.
“This is probably close to what being an animal in a zoo is like. Well, if the animals could talk, and did Q and A sessions, and- …alright, maybe it’s not really much like it, but-”
There came a small crackle over the speakers, sending her train of thought careening off the tracks.
<“We are now preparing to depart for the surface. Keep yourselves strapped in for the entirety of the descent. Descent beginning in three… two… one.”>
And with that, the shuttle lurched as it turned and slowly began to accelerate towards the planet below.
Kate rarely stopped staring out the shuttle windows at the tortured landscape of her planet as the ship descended. She had seen plenty of smoke in the atmosphere and the occasional wildfire from Y’ggdrasog’s ship, but it was another thing entirely to view it all from this close. The ashen remains of past forest fires. The veritable seas of rubble where towns and cities once stood. Highway after highway of derelict vehicles. The occasional roof with things like “HELP,” “OUT OF WATER,” “PLEASE SAVE MY CHILDREN” or “WE ARE DEAD AND THIS IS HELL” painted on them.
It was like watching a disaster play out before your eyes that you’re powerless to stop. A train wreck in the distance, when you’re out of reach of a track-switch to pull to prevent it. A pedestrian too far from you to push out of the way before they’re hit by a car. You can’t stop it, but you can’t seem to drag your gaze away either.
She only realized she had started crying when Y’ggdrasog nudged her, holding out the familiar cylindrical container of silk tissues that she accepted with a grateful nod. He gently put his hand on her good shoulder.
<”The Collective can fix this. It might take years, but we can.”>
Kate glanced at him as she dabbed away the tears.
“Can you guys bring back all the people who died?”
Y’ggdrasog merely remained silent.
Kate pursed her lips.
“Then you can’t fix it, can you? …No one can.”
<”...It is true, we can’t bring back those who were lost. But we can still do our utmost to rebuild, and help those who remain.”>
“At this point, is it even worth rebuilding it? Helping us?”
Y’ggdrasog winced at the bitterness in her voice.
<“…If you truly thought it wasn’t, would you have agreed to come down here?”>
Kate stared at him for a few more seconds before a small smile finally cracked through the emotionally exhausted look on her face.
“…You always know just what to say to pull me back from my bad thoughts, you know that?”
J’Ffrane’s disembodied head floated into view from their seat behind the pair of them.
<“What can I say? He had a simply marvelous teacher.”>
This spurred Kate to laughter, finally banishing her sour mood, if only for a time.
——
As the shuttle touched down, Kate zipped up her jacket and put on the beanie cap Y’ggdrasog had fabricated at her request. The same gray as her Giger-esque jacket, the cap was an artificial wool weaved so tightly together that it retained all the benefits of wool without any of the itchiness associated with it. She turned to see that Y’ggdrasog has just finished struggling his way into-
“…Yiggy, what are those?”
He glanced up at her as he finished fastening the last strap.
<“Just my shoes. …Or at least the closest thing to them I can wear to protect my feet from the cold, anyway. I just wish they weren’t such a hassle to put on and take off…”>
It was all Kate could do to keep herself from bursting into laughter as she stared down at the footwear. For all intents and purposes, they resembled the feet of a duck, albeit a grossly oversized duck with an extra toe in the back. A thin membrane extended between each of his forward talons, presumably to retain warmth between them like a mitten would for fingers, and to top it all off they were made of some shiny, bright orange material.
Y’ggdrasog’s eyes narrowed in suspicion as Kate averted her own gaze, trying and failing to hide her smile as she only just barely continued to suppress her laughter.
<“…What’s so funny?”>
“Uh- well, it’s just that, um… N-nevermind, it’s not important…”
If anything, his eyes only narrowed further as his suspicion reached its zenith, but he had other things to attend to.
<“…Right then.”>
With that, he pulled his own jacket out of his carry-on, and-
With her defenses already weakened, Kate couldn’t hold back an amused snort, much to Y’ggdrasog’s chagrin.
<“Oh, what is it now?!”>
“I- *snrk* …I’m sorry, but that is by far the single ugliest jacket I’ve ever seen…”
Y’ggrasog looked down at the pink, orange, yellow and green (all bright neon) crime against fashion he had fabricated, and winced.
<“…Is it really that bad? I only really had visibility in mind when making it, in case I were to get lost in one of these “blizzards” I’ve read about.”>
“On that front, you are 100% good to go. You’re probably going to be visible from space. I just- …nevermind. Maybe it’ll grow on me.”
As Y’ggdrasog put the jacket on and zipped it up, he looked down at his now-covered chest with disdain and let out a reluctant sigh.
<“Ugh… I know I’ve made fun of lumigogs who never cover up, but I can’t remember the last time I wore anything over my sacs. It just feels so weird! …Still, I guess it can’t be helped...”>
“Oh, chin up Yiggy. You’re a big boy, you can do this.”
<“Doesn’t mean I have to like it. …Now, where did I put those zip-up leggings…”>
As Y’ggdrasog finally finished bundling up, the shuttle came to a stop and parked. The pilot- a large but squat alien in an orange uniform that resembled what would happen if you were to somehow take a malformed gorilla with dwarfism, graft the skin of a rhinoceros onto it, and then give it some steroids for good measure- addressed them one last time.
<“Alright everyone, remember: make sure to always mask up whatever body parts you need to when you’re outside to protect your internal organs, always clean off your clothing before entering any occupied enclosed space to prevent potential radioactive contamination, and most of all, always be on your best behavior!
Each and every one of you represent the Collective, and the governing powers of this particular planetary territory have extended to us the ENORMOUS privilege of allowing us on their homeworld when they are at their most vulnerable. We do not want to give them a reason to regret it! Got it? …Good.
…Now get off my shuttle already. I have twenty more rounds of volunteers to bring to various territories today alone.”>
As Kate and the rest of the first round of volunteers made their way down the shuttle’s exit ramp, she winced at the sudden drop in temperature that brought the occasional snow flurry with it as they exited the controlled climate of the ship and entered the crisp, late-autumn air. Suddenly, she heard a sharp intake of breath from beside her.
<“SPIRITS! How can you people survive in these conditions?!”>
She turned to see Y’ggdrasog clutching his coat closer to himself, his mandibles chittering together under the translucent face mask they had both been issued to protect themselves from fallout. Kate couldn’t help but grin under her own mask at his reaction to the chill.
“Oh don’t worry, it gets much worse from here on out. …In a couple months, you’ll be wishing it were only as cold as it is now.”
<“Ugh… forget the taboo, remind me to print another three coats or so. Maybe then I won’t worry that my algal sacs might crystallize before my very eyes!”>
As they continued down the ramp, Kate looked around at the flurry of activity around them on the runway they had landed on. The vast majority of it was human, but she recognized a few aliens amidst the crowd. …It was hard not to, when almost every human around was giving them a wide berth.
Suddenly, one such alien began to approach them, alongside a human in a military uniform. Kate struggled to hold back her laughter at the alien’s appearance. It seemed as though the Collective contained a species that, against all odds, resembled a stork of all things, albeit with a large blue cranial crest not unlike that of a rooster, and thicker legs that small hand-like appendages instead of feet- opposable thumbs and all. They were wearing a sleek blue uniform alongside several bags hung about their body at seemingly random intervals.
The alien’s auto-translated voice was bright and cheery as they met the new arrivals.
<“Greetings! You must be the first of the rounds of volunteers coming planetside, correct?”>
Kate nodded as the aliens around her made similar gestures or noises of automation.
“Yeah, that’s us.”
The alien’s feathers ruffled slightly in mirth, and the man in the military uniform looked at her with a cold, unamused gaze before speaking.
“Sorry, ma’am, he was talking to the Collective representatives here.”
Kate’s brow furrowed in confusion.
“What?”
“The Collective agents that just came from orbit. He was addressing them. If you’d step aside, maybe head back to whatever group you’re with…?”
“…But I did just come from orbit.”
The bird-like alien laughed (a sound like that of a songbird’s call) before he saw Kate’s expression.
“I’m not a refugee. I came down with Yiggy here-“
<“Y’ggdrasog,”> he hastily corrected her whilst internally cringing. <“My name is Y’ggdrasog, and I can attest that she was aboard my ship for a time.”>
The uniformed man’s eyebrows shot up like rockets in surprise, and the bird-like alien’s feathers puffed out a bit in shock before he found his voice.
<“…It seems a few details of this group were left out of my dossier! I suppose apologies are in order for the misunderstanding. …If I might inquire, how did a human end up-“>
Kate interrupted them with a dismissive gesture.
“It’s a very, very long story. Could we just focus on what we’re supposed to be doing down here?”
The stork alien clearly wanted to ask a million questions or so, but simply nodded.
<“Right, sorry, I just wasn’t expecting- …sorry. Anyway, my name is Migtryl, a member of the Collective’s diplomatic branch. And this is Jack-”>
“Senior Airman Jack,” Jack clarified. Migtryl’s feathers puffed up a bit in embarrassment at this.
<“Ah, yes, right, sorry. I’ll still getting used to this weird ranking system you all use- er, no offense. …Anyway, right this way, we need to get you all registered.”>
Jack nodded and tagged behind Migtryl as the alien led the group over to a nearby tent and began rifling through a set of filing cabinets inside. As he waited for Migtryl to finish up, he turned back to the group.
“We have to be very thorough about keeping track of everyone here, be they human refugees or Collective volunteers. Names, faces, what group they’re part of, if they have any special dietary or medical needs, that sort of thing. It affects everything from how we distribute rations to sending out a search party or two in the event that anyone were to go missing from the fort.”
Kate cocked an eyebrow.
“How often does that happen?”
“More often than I’d like. Usually it’s just people getting delayed on their way back from scavenging runs, or someone going for a walk and getting lost. Other times, well…”
He pursed his lips, and his next words were somber in tone.
“…There’s one less mouth to feed.”
An awkward silence ensued for a few seconds before Migtryl came back bearing a holo-tablet.
<“Right, this should only take a few minutes. Just pass the tablet around.”>
He went to hand the tablet to Kate, but she motioned to her broken arm.
“Uh… do you have a table or something around here I could set it on? I can’t hold it and write at the same-”>
<“Ah, not to worry, not to worry. I’ll just hold it for you!”>
Kate went to protest, but closed her mouth and let out a defeated sigh, averting eye contact.
“Fine…”
Migtryl balanced on one leg and held out the tablet for her with the other. As Kate activated her visor and began to fill in the various blank portions of the interface with her good hand, Y’ggdrasog peered over her shoulder- hard not to, when one only had to glance down to do so at his height.
<““Katherine Alba Olson-Davis?””>
Kate took a break from filling in the blanks to swat him on the arm quite a bit harder than the more playful ones before now (though he still barely felt it), earning a rather concerned glance from Migtryl. Her next words to Y’ggdrasog came as a harsh, VERY irritated whisper.
“Do not call me that. I’m Kate. Not Katherine, and DEFINITELY not my full name!”
As she finished up writing and Migtryl passed Y’ggdrasog the tablet, he saw the familiar sight of Kate’s good hand going to clutch her nanite cast. He connected the mental dots with ease.
After filling his information in and passing the tablet to the next person, he turned to Kate.
<“…Your parents called you Katherine, didn’t they?”>
She bristled at his words.
“For the love of- …Yiggy, I’m warning you-”
<“Ok, ok! I’ll drop it. …Sorry…”>
As the last of the group finished, Migtryl bobbed his head up and down in approval.
<“Excellent! Now, if you’ll all follow behind us, we’ll lead the way to the fort.”>
With that, he turned and began hopping along towards the edge of the base with Jack in tow.

Just some random suggestions on some of the mechanics from someone with a decent amount of game-time. Implementing all of these might be absurd, but some of them I would think are worth consideration. I'm not offering solutions, just starting a discussion.

• Insurance gives you a special marker; Everything in the same container as the marker is then returned as insurance. There is a lot that can be done around the idea of insurance working off of you having to identify, somehow, what needs to be returned while in raid. This could also make PvP more valuable by letting you stash half of the gear of the fight in a big backpack and using your insurance marker, while you carry out the rest.
  
• Make extracting take longer; Every time you see someone running for an extract and they have a 50m lead, it's almost guaranteed they can safely extract before you catch up to them (depending on the sight-lines etc.). This makes it very easy for people to simply run away/ be blissfully unaware of other pmc in the game. If I see someone running for an extract I basically have to either make noise and hope they look at what's going on, or have to do some intentionally awful shooting so they don't get spooked and simply extract, but think they can win the engagement thereby not extracting. This is mostly a problem on urban maps. RUAF roadblock and path to lighthouse are both way too easy for people to just dip out of 2 min into a raid because they want to avoid people. Traditionally the most convenient extracts required something extra (like a red rebel, flare, taxi money) to be used.
  
• Make blacked limbs more punishing; Specifically I'm talking about blacked legs while on painkillers. Currently sprinting away at full speed and jumping around makes your guy moan a bit and take some token amount of damage. Currently an experienced player can med up if he isn't already and take a fight with very little risk, especially against lower-level or less experienced players. By nerfing the mobility of someone on meds with blacked legs to at least not be able to jump, it might encourage newer players to take on more fights if they know their opponent can't swing on them full speed if they legged them.
  
• Enable ghost walking; This is effectively silent movement at almost walking speed, but it drains your leg stamina. If this is an effective way to move short distances without making noise, it would effectively nerf camping. Someone doesn't need to sit dead still in a room to not make noise, because they can try sneaking out, and people engaging an opponent wouldn't have to avoid the area because of someone sitting motionless somewhere. The movement should be slow enough as to not make people do it 24/7, but fast enough that you can peak corners with it. Blacked legs or a broken bone without meds remove this ability.
  

I play primarily for PvP and it's sometimes frustrating how much you need to force it for people to fight you, but I recognize not everyone wants that. I don't think these suggestions will disrupt how you would play if you don't like PvP.

Obviously the big fubar was allowing the Druid to Wildshape into an Owlbear, which is a Monstrosity not a Beast, but we can call that an accepted House Rule.
Here’s my starting list:
Trope- Barbarian with INT as a dump stat. She wasn’t dumb by any means but she would just say whatever she thought, oblivious to social norms, so maybe WIS or CHA was her dump stat.
RAW- High CHA Bard.
Trope failed- Bard who seduces everything. They did the opposite and had a Bard who showed no romantic interest in anyone and remained faithful to his wife even after her death.
Trope- Tiefling shunned by society.
Trope- Lawful Stupid Paladin. I’m not exactly sure if that’s what they were going for, but he didn’t get sarcasm.
Trope- Labyrinth/Maze/Gauntlet/Arena
RAW- the chest Mimic
Trope- Prison break
Trope- BBEG
Trope- Quest to find the McGuffin
RAW- Speak with Dead, however they left one corpse ‘alive’ when they only ask 4 questions even though the spell says “up to five questions”.
RAW- Sorcerous Origins, Wild Magic
Trope- fighting a dragon
RAW- attuning
RAW failed- Intellect Devourers can detect INT of 3 or higher but they walk past the group. This was done for comedic effect very well IMHO, but it was not RAW.
I’m sure there’s lots that I missed, so please help fill in the gaps! What tropes did you catch? What other RAW did they include? What rules did they break?
Thanks!

Link to the original prompt here, and link to the image from that prompt. (Art by Ismail Inseoglu )
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I adjusted the strip of cloth over my face, making sure it covered my nose. The air in our section had grown progressively worse over the course of my lifetime, and though not actually toxic, you didn't want to breathe it in for long. Tiny footsteps padded behind me, making only a slight sound, but in this area, you didn't discount any noise.
I spun, swinging my walking stick around, knowing it wouldn't be enough if there was a real threat. If only I hadn't lost my lanchette and gun— I stopped my stick at the last minute, pulling it up, nearly hitting myself in the process. Damn.
It was that dang dog again, the one who had taken to following me everywhere. Or at least everywhere it could. Even its apparent loyalty couldn't trump its self-preservation instincts when I went into certain parts of the ruined city. The people that still lived there, well, they weren't averse to eating whatever they could find.
I didn't eat dog, but not because of some moral shit. Just that it didn't agree with me, made me sick, and in this environment, if you got sick you probably ain't getting better. No, the mangy mutt was safe with me, or at least safer than with the others. Why it wasn't part of the wild packs that roamed the city, I don't know, maybe they also didn't want it tagging along.
"Shoo." I swung my stick again, gentler this time, poking it in the side to get it to leave. "I've got nothing for you." The dog simply moved a few steps to the side, cocking its head with a short whine. I didn't have time for this.
"Fine, follow me, what do I care." I continued picking my way through the rubble that lined the outskirts of our section. Blue crackled at the edge of my vision, the forcefield that separated us from the stinking rest of the city. When the sun hit it just right, you could see through it, see the rich sods going about their lives not caring about our suffering. And why should they?
I don't know that I would care, if I was them. But there was no dwelling on it. One could go mad trying to think the thoughts of others. Besides, I didn't know enough about them to really judge. They might never look because they couldn't bear the sight. A weak reason, but perhaps better than a studied indifference, or worse, a delight in our predicament.
My thoughts and the pattering sound of the dog's feet were the only noises that annoyed me as I searched through the rubble. Sometimes, here on the outskirts, there were things. Things we'd forgotten how to use, things that spoke of a better time. My stick was one of them, or at least a part of one. It had writing on it, and the jagged ends spoke of great destruction that had the ability to shear metal like paper.
But I found nothing that day, and as I sat at the campfire I lit that night, I sighed. A wet nose pushed itself into my hand, accompanied by a small whine.
"Go away." I shoved the nose away, making my voice harsh. "Get out of it. I don't want you, you understand?" The dog cocked its head, and went away, but only as far as the other side of the campfire. It would have to do, I was too tired to drive it further.
————————
The days blurred together as I traveled around the outskirts of our section. Always the sun rose above me, beating down on my head, and I gave thanks for the hat I found. Always beside me, the forcefield crackled its dire warning of pain if you tried to pass through. Always behind me, the dog's feet padded over the rough terrain, never failing.
I'd given up on driving it away. If it wanted to follow me until its paws fell off, that was its business. There was no energy to waste on trying to dissuade it. And, I supposed, it was company, of a sort. Sometimes, I found myself listening for the footsteps. But not because I cared about the dog, you understand. No, I simply wanted to make sure that if it died, its body wouldn't draw worse predators. Predators that might want to make me a snack.
————————
I woke one morning to yelps and snarls. Not a completely uncommon occurrence, the roving packs of wild dogs sometimes encountered each other and neither were likely to choose peace. Stretching, I rose from my prone position, reaching for my stick. The ashes of the campfire stirred in the gentle breeze, and I frowned. Something was missing.
The orange splotch of fur that normally lay across the fire from me, my constant annoyance, wasn't there. Another yelp rose into the early morning air, drawing my gaze to the scrum of fur just on the edge of sight. There was a flash of orange somewhere deep inside the rest.
Damn.
I ran over to the fight, nearly twisting my ankle as a piece of stone slipped from under my feet. Stupid dog, getting itself involved. Stupid human for making the same mistake. There had to be at least two packs all bearing down on the little orange dog. I watched for three seconds before a red mist covered my vision—not anger—blood. The little annoyance had taken a chunk out of a wild dog's throat.
But the defiance wouldn't last long, the other dogs were just playing with the orange one. Blinking the blood out of my eyes, I sighed. My stick wouldn't be enough to take down a single dog pack, never mind two. No, I had two choices. Walk away, or use my last deck of cards. I started to turn from the scene, determined not to get involved.
The little orange dog yelped, blood dripping down its front leg. My hands dropped my stick with a clatter, reaching into my pocket, ripping off the plastic that covered the card deck. It wasn't fair, if you were going to kill something, you should do it clean. Not this torturous playing with your victim.
Separating out the king, queen, jack, and ace, I stuffed them in the band of my hat, insurance until I found my next deck. Fanning the others in one hand, I summoned my magic, the power tied to the cards and only the cards. Most in my family had used it to gamble, but I'd found a more violent method. With my free hand, I pulled swiftly and surely, sending the cards spinning through the air toward the dogs.
The playing cards should have fallen before they made it halfway. They didn't. Bent to my will, they shot towards the dogs, slitting throats and slicing through hamstrings. I pushed and pulled, sending each card swirling in a dance of death, until they were too sodden with blood to be of any use. It only took seconds until all the wild dogs lay bleeding in the rubble. Like I said, good clean killing.
The orange dog, my annoyance, tried to walk toward me, but the damage done to both front legs made it impossible. Picking up my stick, I sighed again. Now I would have to treat the damn thing's wounds. And carry it around until it was better. Stupid dog. It whimpered as I came closer.
"Shh, little one, I won't hurt you. Come here, let's see what we can do about that leg."
————————
Weeks have passed since our encounter with the wild dogs. The little orange nuisance can walk now, and I've managed to find spare scraps of fabric to protect its feet from the rough terrain we cross. Not because I care, just so I don't have to carry the bloody thing if it gets hurt again. Same reason I make sure there aren't any wild dog packs in the areas we sleep.
So I guess I have a companion now, a liability. Stupid of me, in this place, you don't want any dead weight, you don't want to care about anything. And I don't. I really don't care, but... I'd miss the dang thing if it ever decided to leave. If that makes me stupid, well...
I looked down at the little dog, who was padding happily at my side. Tounge lolling out, with a happy smile, it pounced on a small twig, snapping it up into its mouth. At least if I was stupid, I'd be in good company. And like my mother used to say when I was little, 'Root, if you're going to be stupid, be stupid in a group, at least that way you'll have back-up.' I smiled, stiff muscles not used to the motion.
"Come on, Menace. Let's get going."

Hi fellow podcast listeners!
Can you guys suggest some fun podcasts I can plug into while walking in the park everyday..
I really liked "If books could kill" and "Dead Eyes".. they made me look forward to the walk everyday so something on those lines could work..
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I also listened to "The dream- S1", "WorkLife by Adam Grant", "Hidden Brain" etc but I couldn't get myself to listen to "Normal Gossip" and other gossip podcasts recommended on this sub..
​
Thankyou for introducing me to all the above podcasts, sub members! ♡

So, Frieza vs Kaos, a matchup I'm really vibing with and that has quickly become my favorite for both, so it's only right I make a script for it right? I think this is my longest script yet as there was a lot I wanted to include in here, even if a good chunk of it can be dumbed down to "lasers" if you wanna do that lol (it's dragon ball, whatcha expect?) Anyways, I hope you enjoy!
We begin with a shot of the Skylands. Floating isles, hidden amongst a wafting of mist and fog high in the sky. Each was themed towards the different elements that power the land, its inhabitants and its defenders, the mighty Skylanders, however there was one location in particular reserved for the most rotten of them all. On the Cloudbreak Islands lay the Kaos Fortress, where the dark lord Kaos himself resides. In this fortress, Kaos sat on his large, comfortable chair, a chair that was realistically far too large for him to sit on. Standing next to him was his loyal right hand, a demure and lanky goblin man named Glumshanks, who held for Kaos a large strawberry milkshake that the dark lord was eagerly drinking. However, Kaos' drink was cut short by a new arrival.
Floating down from the clouds above was a large, circular ship, made of high tech materials and construction. The flagship of the Frieza Force, reserved for their own Mighty Lord, Frieza himself. The hatch at the top of the ship opened up, and out from within floated up the white and purple tyrant himself. Clearing his throat as his tail casually swished around behind him, Frieza seemed as though he was preparing for some sort of business meeting with how casual he seemed. Although, his words were far from as disarming as his actions. "Haha, residents of the Skylands, it has come to my attention that you exist. I tried to tell your Master Eon to kneel but the old man was delusional enough to deny me. And so I, the Mighty Lord Frieza, grant you the honor of being the first graveyard amongst the Skylands!" He announced, casually raising his finger up to the air, a small burning orb of fiery light formed at the tip of his finger, swelling into the form of his deadly Supernova attack. It grew until it eclipsed the fortress below, before Frieza pointed down at the ground below, intending to detonate the island like he did to Planet Vegeta. However, before the Big Bang could hit the ground, a crackling aura of purple energy surrounded the attack. The aura held the attack back and forced it to shrink, shrinking it smaller and smaller until it was the size of a mere soccer ball before it transmuted into a confused, seemingly traumatized sheep.
Kaos stepped out onto his balcony, with Glumshanks placing a large stepping stool out on the edge for his Lord to use to heighten himself. Handing Kaos a megaphone, Glumshanks stepped back and plugged his ears, preparing for the ear shattering speech to follow. "FOOL! You believe you get to rule the Skylands?? The Skylands belongs to me! The bringer of ultimate mega DOOM! LORD KAOS! GLUMSHANKS, TELL HIM," Kaos holds the megaphone down to Glumshanks mouth, and the monotone goblin spoke into it. "sigh, yeah, yeah he's right."
Frieza chuckled, amused by the defiant buffoon, as more Frieza Force ships begin to descend from the clouds, launching pods filled with Saibamen onto the fortress. Manning the walls of the Kaos Fortress, trolls began to mount onto cannons and turrets to blast at the pods, blasting a few out of the air but missing a precious few, which landed on the ground and released their Saibamen. The Saibamen started blasting holes through the walls of the Fortress, flooding into it's inner walls to take it from the inside, only to find Cyclopes and Spell Punks meeting them within. "Send the Ginyu Force!" Frieza commanded, cackling to himself as he watched his forces battle Kaos' down below and, as he commanded, the Ginyu Force landed on the Island, with their theme song playing as expected. In response Kaos screeched, "DOOMLANDERS! Don't just stand there, bring them their doom!!" As he instructed as well, the Doomlanders met the Ginyu Force on the field of battle.
The two groups would fight for a brief while, however soon enough the Doomlanders would emerge victorious. Kaos began to cheer for his victory, only to see a comet of purple energy hurtle towards the ground, slamming in the middle of the Doomlanders. Standing in the middle of the crater left behind was Frieza, the strength of his landing alone vaporizing the Doomlanders with the alien tyrant giving negative shits about it. He pointed up to Kaos, and a bright beam of purple light blasted from his finger towards the short portal master. Kaos narrowly leapt out of the way, with the beam blasting into the top of the fortress and blasting a hole through it's roof.
As Kaos began descending, he used a spell to make himself float as he bared down on Frieza, flying towards him as he threw balls of blue fire at the white and purple alien. Frieza sidestepped and ducked around them, charging forward at Kaos with an attack prepared for him. When Kaos got close, Frieza whipped him with his tail and sent Kaos flying towards the ground, cratering the ground below him. "Oww! That was rude! Glumshanks, bring me a bandaid!" He yelled, with his minion somehow understanding him even from so far away. Frieza landed down in front of Kaos, kicking him to the side to send him even further away, *right when Glumshanks reached the area with a comically large first aid kit in his hands,** causing the man to sigh as he realized how much more he'd have to run. Frieza floated over to Kaos, chuckling to himself.* "Interesting, you're being beaten to death and your crying over a boo-boo? I find you so pathetic that I'm tempted to let you live," Frieza teased, lifting Kaos up out of the ground and blasting him up into the air, blasting upwards into the sky to trail behind him. He blasted more and more rapid fire purple lasers, but Kaos was not outdone. Kaos teleported out of the air and back down to the ground, leaving Frieza confused until he looked back down to the ground, seeing Kaos mount up onto his supercharger that he got out of a portal he summoned. Igniting his superchargers engine, Kaos launched up into the air, now being the one to chase Frieza through the sky, sadly just as Glumshanks reached him again causing the poor servant to be launched back by the rocket boosters, sending the first aid kit out of his hands.
Frieza now started flying away from Kaos, with Kaos flying after him and blasting his own purple lasers at Frieza in the shape of rings, waves, lines and zig-zags, throwing Frieza off his game and causing him to be pelted by lasers at every turn, all while Kaos monologued behind him. "Stupid fool! You run away from your doom? From Kaos? You'll only lose tired… GLUMSHANKS! WHERE IS MY BANDAID?!" After a while, Frieza started to wisen up to the patterns of Kaos' blasts and began to deftly dodge them, annoying Kaos. Summoning another portal, Kaos pulled out one of his artifacts, a powerful red and gold gauntlet. The Iron Fist of Arkus. "You have annoyed me for long enough, Freezer!" Kaos said, his voice deep and distorted into that of a robot. Frieza's flight was halted as his tail was grabbed by Kaos, now in the form of a massive, powerful Arkeyan robot, his eyes glowing bright blue. "Unhand me you idio-" Frieza yelled before his words were cut off, with Kaos swinging Frieza down onto a nearby mountain, pulverizing it with the force of the impact, leaving Frieza in a massive crater in the ground. However, Kaos was not done. Leaping up into the air with his massive robot form, Kaos landed a comically large peoples-elbow on his opponent who was currently many times smaller than him. Standing back up to his feet, Kaos stomped down onto the crater multiple times, smashing Frieza further and further into the ground, before pointing his head down to blast a powerful beam of light out of his eyes down into the crater. "That's…ENOUGH!" Frieza cried out, a powerful burst of golden light dispersing the laser of the Arkeyan Kaos immediately as Frieza flew up to Kaos' head, landing a powerful punch into Kaos' chin in his now-golden form. Kaos was launched up into the sky but by the time his large, robotic frame was done flying up, Frieza was already behind him and pointing his finger forward, blasting repeated blasts of ki into his back, severing the gauntlet off of Kaos' robotic hand and reverting him back to his base form, showering the ground below in craters formed by Frieza's ki blasts, the ground being covered in a layer of smoke.
"Fool…FOOL! You DARE power up? ONLY I GET TO POWER UP!" Kaos whined, his voice growing distorted once again as he spoke. The smoke dispersed around him to reveal him in his Traptanium form, floating with a lower half made of Traptanium crystal and dark purple skin. He flew up to Frieza, blasting beams of purple energy at him as the two began to engage in a ranged air-skirmish. The two eventually get taken to melee, with Frieza kicking Kaos to the side where Kaos smacks into the screen, breaking it for a few seconds as he flies back into the fight again (cuz Traptanium Kaos breaks the fourth wall.) When Kaos flies back though, Frieza blasts Kaos back down to the ground, now following him to the ground and slowly, dramatically walking towards him. "This sparring session is getting less and less entertaining you buffoon," Frieza said.
"Master Kaos, I have your bandaid," Glumshanks said, running up in-between Frieza and Kaos desperately panting for breath, bandages spilling out of it and flapping in the wind like loose toilet paper. "Want a large one or a small one?" Glumshanks asked. Frieza rolled his eyes and pointed at the tall goblin man, Death Beam'ing him through the chest and causing Glumshanks to die, just like how Frieza killed Paragus. "Such a tragedy," Frieza mocked, before looking back at Kaos. Kaos however was…still. He wasn't screaming, he wasn't whining, he was just…angry. Very angry, and Frieza could tell. “So much for that blundering buffoonery! I did wonder when you would stop whini-“ Crackling purple light emanated from Kaos as his body bulked up and grew, cutting off Frieza's words. His muscles bulged and hulked out, metal armor covered his body, and his hair and eyes burned a bright, crackling blue…something that sparked a memory in the sadistic tyrant Frieza.
When the smoke clears fully, a familiar cackle, now deepened, can be heard as Kaos emerges in his Super State and begins charging a blast. "Your doom will be slow, Frieza!" Kaos threatened.
“That’s…that’s…” Frieza could barely force the words out of his mouth as a flash of memory crosses his mind…a memory of his second death, a familiar foe charging a similar blue blast.
“FRIEZAAAAA!!!!” Goku shouted in his memory
Cut back to reality, Frieza’s flashback distracting him long enough for him to take the blast in the gut, sending Frieza to the ground. As it dissolves…he begins fuming in rage.
“ANOTHER BLASTED!” Frieza punches the ground with each word. “STUPID!” Finally, rage overtakes him completely, in an ironic reference to the first transformation of the one who killed him in his cybernetic state, and he transforms into his Black form! “MONNNNKEEEEYYYYYY!!!!!!!!” A powerful purple aura enveloped Frieza, his skin turning black and his eyes burning bright red. The two where now in their highest forms, and the fight would truly commence.
The two battled against one another in the air and on the ground, blasting waves of energy at eachother in varying shapes and sizes. Kaos summoned his Doom Sharks, sending a wave of chomping energy sharks at Frieza who dispatched them quickly with a series of blasts. Frieza tried to land a flurry of punches on Kaos, but Kaos summoned his large, energy construct Doom Hands to grab the alien racist by the tail and smash him down on the floor, opening him up to more and more blasts of chaotic energy from Super Kaos. However, Frieza wasn't done yet.
"I have had enough of this charade! Kaos, your end is now, and it only makes me more annoyed that I won't be able to savor your quick demise!" Frieza cried out, flying up into the sky and raising a hand to the air, a large ball of purple energy forming above him as he prepared a large, powerful Death Ball. "Kaos doesn't know defeat, Frieza! But you, you will know DOOM!" *Kaos shouted back in his deepened voice, raising his large Doom Hands as he prepared to catch the Death Ball. Frieza launched the ball, a wave of energy erupting from it as it collided with the Doom Hands…

FRIEZA WIN

The Death Ball barely overpowers the Doom Hands, blasting through them and colliding into Kaos. Kaos screamed out in pain, using his magic to try and contain it like he did to the Supernova previously, but it was too much. The raw power of the Death Ball caused rocks and pebbles to rise up from the ground, orbiting it like a star, with the sheep-supernova from earlier swirling around alongside them. Eventually though, Kaos accepted his own doom, reverting to his base form as his body disintegrated, shouting his final lines. "YOU'RE STUPID!" He shouted, as if trying to get one last insult in to his opponent.
After Kaos was incinerated, Frieza floated down to the ground, his forms exhausting as he reverted to base, covered in bruises as he crossed his arms. "That's one island down…let's hope the rest have less childish rulers," Frieza said, not realizing he was pouting like a petulant child.

KAOS WIN

Kaos's Doom Hands closed around the Death Ball, slowly compressing it and crushing it into nothingness. "T-thats not possible!" Frieza cried out, before the Doom Hands grabbed him by the tail. Frieza was slammed down onto the ground, where Kaos used his Doom Hands to repeatedly pummel into his face. He summoned his Psychic Shot blades to stab into Frieza's limbs, pinning him to the ground as his Doom Hands beat the tyrant for death. "This is for Glumshanks you fool!" Kaos cried out, "W-wait! No, stop! I am the mighty Lord Frieza-" Frieza begged before Kaos finished his assault, splattering Frieza's head against the ground. Kaos reverted to his base form, falling back to the ground as his tongue comically hung out of his mouth in exhaustion. "Victory…belongs…to Kaos…fool…" Kaos said, the final shot being of the supernova-sheep coming over and licking his face like the deer in Hulk vs Broly.

CONCLUSION:

Best for both imo, thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed! Lemme know your thoughts in the comments below.

The President smiled at us from his pedestal in the sky - there, in a distant capitol where the long angular shadows of buildings loomed over you like hungry giants. He smiled upon us with an air of enduring dignity, and the two rows of white teeth glinted on the cheap, plasticky material his portrait was printed on.
I bet his house is air-conditioned, I remember thinking to myself as the sweat on my back glued the fabric of my uniform to my skin. During the early afternoon, the stuffy homeroom classroom of my sophomore year felt like the inside of an oven - a crematorium of sorts - and smelled nearly rotten with sweat, body odor, and the excrement of the bats that dwelled in the trees of the school grounds. I went to a public school - not the well-funded, big city kind that even the rich kids went to sometimes. No, I went to a public school in a village that was mostly fields and forest, tucked away from the rest of the province behind steep hills and trees that clawed their ways up to the skies.
There were barely a thousand of us living in the village, so it came to no surprise that our school was underfunded. The single, creaking ceiling fan that tried its best to keep all thirty two of us comfortable during the equatorial summers was enough proof of that. High school - a time spent mostly praying for rain that wouldn't come the entire afternoon - is a thing of the past now. I graduated six years ago - the discomfort of humid afternoons in that classroom now survived only as the faintest shadow of a memory.
I was digging through my second plate of rice, seated before the grainy box TV in the common area of my boarding house when Sarah, an old childhood friend, called me. From ages six to sixteen, I can count on my fingers and toes the number of days when she and I didn't walk to school together. "Remember our second year classroom?" she asked me on the phone, "It burned down last week. I was wondering if you were free this weekend - they still haven't gotten around to cleaning it. Maybe we could all chip in and help get it in order again? No, the other classrooms are okay."
Looking back, it seemed as though the news barely disturbed me at all. If anything, I was annoyed at the fact that I had been interrupted in the middle of dinner. I considered the invitation, however briefly. There was nothing for me to do that weekend - I had no work. All I did was lie in my little bedroom while a fan blew hot air in my face. I didn't want to spend my weekend like that, so I agreed.
The trip from the city I worked in to the little village I grew up in was not a particularly scenic nor dramatic one. I spent most of the one-hour commute sleeping in the bus with my mouth hanging open, and when I arrived I wasn't greeted by a band of family members who were surprised, but ultimately overjoyed, to see me. I still came back home every other weekend to save up on a few meals and to gain some much-needed freedom from all the noise.
It was the arrival of Sarah, and the rest of my batch, that was met with warm smiles and open arms. Some of them hadn't been here since they were whisked off to college, and a few of them had flown back from their jobs abroad to lend their aid in our little act of charity. Meanwhile, I stood there, observing, and occasionally offered a cordial handshake or comment about how much this and that had changed.
I felt myself shrinking inwards as everybody talked about how much their lives had changed since they left our village. I can kid myself into thinking I was free - I found myself a job at a call center in the nearest city - but I was still very much a part of this awful, mind-numbingly dull village. Nobody really asked about what I did or where I worked. It was almost as if they could smell the sour, sickly rot of my stagnation - like a waterway clogged with sewage and dead rats - from miles away.
Still, the excitement of being there overpowered the self-pity that welled deep inside me, and I soon warmed up to my peers as well. We were all invited to dinner at our barangay captain's home, and one of our old teachers, Miss Lubayo - who was now married, and legally a Mrs. - came to say hello. The evening was a pleasant affair, and sleep came to me softly much later that night.
Our little "clean-up drive", as we decided to call it, started at 6:30 a.m.. We came dressed in jogging pants and long-sleeved shirts, with sun hats and several gallons of water loaded into the back of an old pickup truck. There were only fifteen of us, but we were all eager to start the task of hacking down the weeds surrounding the classroom.
Our old high school was small - if you're picturing it now, I need you to think even smaller.
It consisted of two buildings - one L-shaped main building where the shared principal's and faculty office stood in one end and the common restrooms on the other, and a smaller, newer building that was perpendicular to the school's main gate.
Separating the gate and the buildings was a small school yard - a field of unkempt carabao grass pocked with puddles of dark brown mud - where the flag pole stood right in the center.
The old classroom, the one that burned down, was in the second, smaller building, on the end farthest from the gate. Miss Lubayo tagged along, and during one of our water breaks we asked her exactly how the fire started.
"Well," she began, "do you remember Manong?" My first instinct was to ask her which one, and then I remembered that she was talking about a very specific Manong - one we all remembered. He was the old school janitor.
My first impression of him when I was twelve was that he looked so much like a tree - his arms were thin, dark branches that ended in the twigs of his knobby, rounded fingers, and his skin had the withered, leathery quality of someone who had spent his days working in the sun. I mean all of this with no prejudice, as my parents' skin had looked similar as they aged, after years of toiling for me and my siblings to live well. Our school was small, so I ran into him often. He was quiet - and moved around with the imperceptibility of a ghost - but was pretty hard to forget.
"His life has been very difficult - it's complicated and I don't think we have the time. I only heard this story from rumors - he never did tell us much about his life from the start…" she was beginning to trail off, so she pulled herself back for a moment, before continuing:
"Anyway, his life got difficult, they say. His wife died of a stroke, his son died in a motorcycle accident -"
Sympathetic Oh dears and Oh gods rose up in whispers, momentarily interrupting her, and when everyone had the chance to interject, she resumed: "He was quiet before, but then he got quieter. He stopped greeting us in the morning, stopped volunteering to do things - it's the small things, you know. We tried cheering him up - tried talking to him - but…"
He tried setting the school on fire, apparently. His nephew, who moved in with him after the death of his only family, showed up in tears to the scene of the crime the following morning. "He got drunk," he told them breathlessly, "He threatened to set the school on fire, he said he got tired of everyone minding his business. I thought he was just drunk, and raving - he's old, you see - so I got him into bed and thought he'd just fall asleep."
There was something so uncanny about finding out that the timid man who glided through the corridors with a mop and broom tried to commit arson in a drunken rage - and yet he did.
The tale ended with him disappearing - it was assumed that he ran away, and was probably wandering the next village with his eyes glazed over, his only connection to reality being the fact that his feet were on the ground.
We were all sad to hear the story, but when the shock died down fifteen minutes later, we started with our other tasks.
The charred remnants of the classroom were covered in soot, dirt, and melted plastic. Chairs lay crumbled and blackened on the floor, and flakes of burnt paper tumbled about in the breeze like feathers. We began to pick up the larger pieces of debris, tossing them into sacks as we went. It was then that I heard a dry, croaking voice from somewhere behind me - it was groaning, or mumbling something. I turned around, facing the old chalkboard. A huge crack appeared along the upper right corner, creeping down towards the center before finally ending just before the bottom frame. Whatever parts of the chalkboard hadn't been burned off looked very brittle, as if the slightest touch could send it toppling over.
The voice was faint, but I knew it came from behind the chalkboard. I hesitated, looking back to see if anyone had heard it too. Nobody seemed to - maybe it was too faint for them to hear.
I stepped a little closer, if only to hear what it was, "...may their harvest be little, and their children grow sickly. May their pockets run dry…"
More wishes for misfortune were uttered, solemnly. My breath hitched as I tried to step backwards, but the temptation of having my curiosities granted was too irresistible. Instead, my body drew nearer to the source of that demented prayer.
"May their women be barren, and their sons and daughters full of hate…" Instinctively, I dug my fingers in between the cracks of the chalkboard, and pulled the sheet of burnt wood. It gave way easily, and my heart sank to the ground.
Behind the burnt chalkboard was a frail, thin, burnt body crouched in the small crevice of the wall. It shuddered, as if still alive, its hands clasped together in prayer. The parts of it that I assumed were burnt were blackened, like coal, but the rest of it looked like it was made of wood. It looked like a tree. Then I realized -
It was Manong - whatever little flesh and fat he had was consumed by the fire, his gray hair nothing more but wisps of white on top of his charred head. His prayer came to an end. He muttered an amen as he looked up at me, through jaundiced yellow eyes, and for a moment I felt myself drowning into the vast emptiness of his irises. I tried to breathe, but choked on the air, and fell back, landing on my backside with a hollow, aching thump. From the looks of it, he set the classroom on fire, and tried to burn himself with it too.
When everyone gathered around to ask if I was alright - to see if I was hurt - I could only feel a bubbling hatred rising up my throat - for them, for Miss Lubayo, for the rest of this godforsaken village that would never leave me alone or mind my own business.
*May their sons and daughters grow full of hate…* Would you believe me if I told you that I could still smell damp, burnt wood in my room at night? When I closed my eyes, those deep black eyes with its yellow sclera still leered down at me.
I can sense him creeping behind the thin walls of my bedroom. It grows hotter every night - maybe his fire is drawing nearer.

Alright, bear with me: I was recently told by an user on reddit that he thinks a lot of the gripe between pro- and contra-ai people is due to the fact that the former are often programmers, who have an open source, altruistic view on everything, while the latter are often artists that are influenced by the idea of ownership and copyright and dont share thinks for others to learn.
I think that's a wrong take, because it is build on wrong assumptions. The person claimed that artists don't share their open PSD files like programmers share code on github, and therefore are not as open to share and have others learn from them as programmers. I get the idea, but think it is very wrong, since the majority of art doesn't even produce "open files" to share, and since what you can learn from an open file is very limited compared to a process video, for example, which the user dismissed as "curated experience" gatekeeping art.
But what that stance shows is that the minds of programmers (and it-people) and (many) visual artists (not that there is no overlap) seem very different indeed, and that a lot of gripe comes from that fact.
Here is my central idea of the difference:
the pro-ai side thinks that AI art simply helps people with their artistic expression, while the contra side sais it does too much itself.
for the pro side, that is irrelevant. For the anti side, it seems it is not. Not only because their jobs might be automated, but also because many have a different lookout on "expression".
For the pro side, expression seems simply visualizing stories and ideas they have in their head. (im am generalizing, but that's the majority of what i heard). The stories and ideas are theirs, the AI just executes the visualization on the technical side.
And i think that is fine. There is also truth to it. Denying an AI user visualizing a story they have in their head via Synthography would be like saying a Comic Writer has no part in a comic or a director has no part in a movie.
But it limits expression to a "service" to get ideas out there. But art was always about a lot more. It is never only just a vehicle to tell a story or make critical comments. It was always also a way to show the world how the artists sees things.
Impressionists didn't necessarily want to tell the story of a fisherman in the harbor in the early morning. It was simply the light that interested them. I miself am hugely influenced by comic artists like Risso or mignola, and when i walk along the street, i look at everyday stuff and think how i could group shadows or how i could translate soft edges into ink.
That's how style develops. And it might get difficult to grasp that concept, if you never created art "by hand". But giving glowing eyes to a cyborg via inpainting is not what this is. This is deciding what "glowing" looks to you in the first place. But since AI pretty much predefines "style" by it's training, and rests on the user picking stuff and artists as prompts they like, the personal expression of one self's views, without direct purpose to serve as a visualization of a story, is very limited.
That is a form of expression that AI simply can not do, inherently (yet?). But for many fields, like fine art, that is pretty much what it is about.
So, what do you think?
Nonsensical take?
Pointless?
A starting point to understand that the pro and contra side might come from fundamentally different outlooks on the issue, and might understand each other better and maybe even work together if that is understood?

Edit context. In 32. Brother is 35. We all still live together because it is insanely expensive out there.
We have known something has been up with my older brother for a long time... when he was 7, said he would kill my mom in her sleep. when he was 10 , broke my moms finger. Everyday fighting. She died. Messed us up...
Well he has only gotten worse and worse and now has developed same addictions as my mother ( she died from alcohol)...
Every night, every-single-night we put up with him rambling on about the past, FOR HOURS. If we tell him to be quiet. No effect. We tell him to shut up, and it only angers him even more. To the point of violence. I've been dragged out of my bed because I left food on the counter. I've had my knee cap popped out as I walked away from a fight with him, because he decided to kick my bad knee. I had my tooth go through my lip because pf fights. Head smashed through glass picture frame...
And now lately, last 3 -5 years, hes been targeting my father. They will get into stupid arguments because my brother cant let go of old arguments/problems . It will even get physical. Pushes down our 60 year old father...all of his and my dads friends , he had either burned a bridge or literally fought...
I'm scared my dads going to die because of my brother ruining his mental health.
Tldr. Mother passed from booze. Brother was always a demon/needed help ( but we could barely afford food) so I understand why my parents never did. And now hes so bad, he has threatened himself with a knife, talks TO HIMSELF every night, sees intruders outside when doing cocaine. The talking to himself leads to all sorts of fights. Even if we aren't fighting about that, he will want to fight you if he cant get what he wants ( favors, his way)
I plead and beg parents, if you think your kid needs help. GET THEM THE HELP.
I post here as me and my father do not know what to do. As he is 60, doesnt have a credit due to consolidation, and living in Ontario canada is beyond expensive so we can't go find a place for us...
Our story will end on the news... someone dead. Someone in jail. Some one in hospital.

I was never a strict partner. I went into this relationship with high self-worth and stellar self-esteem. I knew I was beautiful. I knew I was a catch. I knew he was lucky to have me.
We liked different things. He liked to read comics; I preferred thrillers and self-help books. We'd bond over our love of reading anyway. Same goes for films and series--I would spend days watching "pretentious" nordic murder mysteries, while he raved about romantic comedies about friends-to-lovers. I liked to date morenos, the typical pogi kind. And him, well. He only dated chinitas.
So I was the exception. With my brown skin and almond eyes, I marched into this relationship. I chose to be in this relationship. I chose to love him.
We had entirely different friend groups and best friends of the opposite sex. Neither of them was a big deal to us. We were solid, secure as stones. When we lost some best friends, we grieved knowing the other had our support.
Two of his girl best friends are chinitas. One of them, Callie, was someone he tried to pursue a year before we met. I never cared. They went on lunches, galas, and parties. I never batted an eye. He's allowed to have friends. I trust him.
And so this went on. From when classes started f2f, he would hang out with Callie. He would come over to her condo to watch anime. I was happy because anime wasn't my thing. He would pick her up to grab lunch. He would drive her home. I didn't care at all.
Then Callie finally broke it off with her boyfriend. Everyone was celebrating. It was a long time coming, and she finally had the guts to. He was so happy. I figured it was a friend thing. Wouldn't you be happy if your best friend broke it off with her boyfriend?
So life went on. I never had any doubts about us. I was so sure of him. I had my guy friends who I hung out with. I rejected men who tried to pursue me. I blossomed my existing female friendships. We took our exams and got A's. Life was normal.
Callie started dating again. As always, she ended up with a douche. My perfect boyfriend who is also a great friend always came to her rescue. He drove her around when her rebound didn't. He lent her his jacket to make her rebound jealous. I didn't understand, but then again, I didn't care. I wore my friends' jackets too.
Out of nowhere, he wanted to break up. I was so confused. This was three days after we went out on a date. We were happy then. And then he started telling me he wasn't...?
"All this time?"
"Sometimes."
"What triggered this?"
"I talked to my friends."
I was devastated. Things were good. He loved me. I loved him. He was just making plans to meet my family. I was about to move closer. We were in the midst of things becoming easy.
"Is there someone else?"
"No."
"Are you trying to become available for someone?"
"No."
"Is it because my room is always messy?"
"No." He laughed. "Well... what if it's the other one?"
My heart sank. It could only be Callie. Callie, who tells me every time she can that I'm gorgeous. Callie, who I plan mani-pedi dates with. Callie, who jokes that I should leave him for her.
I went to this relationship with my head high. 3.5 years in, and my friends consider us the epitome of a secure relationship. He and I are a success story. A perfectly imperfect match. The paragon of trust. My therapist told me he envies us. I decided not to let this go.
At the expense of my self-worth, I asked him to stay. To try as I did. To choose to try. I begged him to dignify us. The choice isn't only up to you. There is no perfect relationship. You must wake up every day and choose to try.
He agreed naman.
And he's been trying.
Except now, when he mentions Callie, I get dizzy. I forget to breathe. My throat burns. I think of him walking to her condo, with the friends-to-lovers trope in his subconscious. He must think about it when they're together. When he drives her around. When they eat lunch.
I haven't looked in the mirror for three days. Suddenly, I'm fat. And ugly. And fucking stupid for letting him hang out with a girl. And letting her wear his clothes. Does he think about her when he's with me? Does he think of her when he's inside me? Hahahahaahahahhahahahhahaha bye self-esteem

It only took a moment. By the time Keyaruga opened his eyes… Or, well, what felt like an awakening, either way, he found himself in a realm of endless light. As dazzling as it might’ve looked, it never blinded the man… nor all of his companions, standing in this luminous wasteland.
“Girls! Girls, are you alright?!” The red-eyed lad dashed toward the four of them, trying to give them a warm hug, while the golden egg rested nearby.
“Uh-huh.” Setsuna happily accepted his embrace, and, being the first to reply, she wanted to share her experience, to tell everyone about everything she’d been through, but alas, only she alone could properly pass this trial by redeeming herself in the face of her fallen brethren. Sadly, everyone else was a lot less eager to drop their guard.
“Oh, look, I think that’s over.” Ellen noticed, addressing her sister, who still held her staff in preparation to break into that last remaining dome. But no, everything had come to an end… Now, they only needed to face Caladrius.
“I don’t think we’re ready. We… never could’ve received their forgiveness fairly…” The world-breaking sorceress lamented, slamming her staff into the floor, just so she wouldn’t collapse. Of course, the Hero of Healing came to her rescue, but she just forced herself to stand still. “T-thanks… But… I’m not the one, who needs you the most right now.” The elder princess spoke, pointing to Eve. She stood a few steps away from them, staring into the void.
“Fucking pigeon, I knew we shouldn’t have come here…” The fallen warlady uttered, looking at the queen-to-be, who seemed absolutely lost to the world. No tears had yet been spilled from her crimson eyes; no concerns to those around her were given either.
“How are you, Eve?” The man asked, trying to get closer to his companion, but she merely took a step away from him.
STAY AWAY FROM ME, MONSTER!!!
These words still resounded in his head, tormenting the lad more than any sort of torture could, and seeing Eve shying away from him, filled his heart with so much sorrow, that he barely held his breath still. He had to… Otherwise, he’d certainly cry.
“Eve…”
“It’s alright… I’ve met Yuel, Mero, and Naala… It’s alright, I’ve met… Naala, and… I’ve met… M… Mero…” When the girl finally opened her mouth, she started blabbering the same thing over and over again. Whatever she had to suffer through, it left a great scar in her mind… “M-mom… Dad… W-why?.. Why did you-?..” And finally, she broke. Tears started flowing from her painfully swollen eyes, and the girl finally collapsed on her knees. “Ugh… Uh… UA-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A!!!” And just like that, a loud wail thundered around this quiet space of endless light, the substance that just formed a tunnel made of mystical illumination. A safe passage to the outside world, certainly.
But no, nobody would go anywhere just yet, not until Eve Reese calms down at least. All that the others could do was to wait. Wait and be there for her.
…
A warm sun, a breeze of wind, fresh air under a blue sky – one never misses those things, until they’re devoid of them entirely. Either way, now that the party left that accursed realm, they found themselves at the same valley from which Caladrius sent them on to the trial.
“…” They were silent, all of them, starting with Keyaruga, now carrying the gilded egg on his back again. He was still trying to get over what he saw. Even if Anna indeed forgave him, and had not just gone mad over what kind of ruthless beast her ward became, her words would never leave his mind.
“Easy now.” Setsuna spoke, supporting Eve, as she barely moved her legs. Ellen walked nearby, still unsure what she should do with Organ’s plea. Both she and her sister heard it, but neither could face the man with that. Not now, not when the hero, even though he remained calm and collected, somehow looked even worse than his broken queen.
Then…
“Caladrius.” The sorceress spoke, stopping before the massive ten-meter tall bird. Weirdly enough, the group only noticed her when they were just four meters away from her massive feathered body, her torso was covered with a golden cuirass, painted in purple, along with the beak-plate which served the harbinger of plague as a crown. All of them ultimately aligned their sights with her four eyes. The wisdom of ages was reflected there, but alas, it was overshadowed by what can only be called ultimate arrogance.
“There you are little ones.” The divine bird spoke, lowering her head just enough, so that humans wouldn’t have to look up all the time. Still, even that gesture wasn’t enough for Freia to drop her weapon.
“Et aperire caelum elementa multa…” The sorceress began chanting her ultimate spell. This time, she wouldn’t take any chances. After what she’d done to Eve, this creature had to die! Or else…
“Don’t… do this.” Well, that turn of event wouldn’t please the goddess. And such, the kokuyoku scion broke out from Setsuna’s embrace just to stand between the caster and her living idol.
“Have we passed?” Keyaruga, asked, standing besides the black-winged prodigy. After all, the further development would depend on their result on this test. Or, rather, how the host reacts.
“You sure did. Your methods were… unorthodox, to say the least.” Caladrius replied, giving each of the party a deep scrutinizing look. Her doubled eyes were fixated on Keyaruga, especially. “You, shapeshifted children, I sense a great darkness in you three. And yet, none of you should fear me anymore.” She said with that middle-aged womanly voice of hers, urging Freia to lower her staff already. “No matter, you merely had to prove to me your endurance, erudition, and the power of your will to become worthy of my grace. I care little for how exactly you survived under my plague, and what you said to placate those who came for you. I am actually rather delighted to see such a contrarian attitude with which you passed my test.”
“You fucking should be!” Ellen snarled, ragingly pressing her finger against the shielded beak. “Your trials were impassable for everyone besides us! You knew that! You knew nobody could beat them without wrecking your little salty mumbo-jumbo!” The girl accused the bird, as if she was just some ungracious host, and not one of the mightiest entities in all the continent of Enoa.
“It’s true! Without my power, we’d starve in your city!” The magician added, pushing her sister behind her back. “How many of Evy’s people had to die because of you? You… You know a demon can’t be a hero, like me!”
“They can, we just cannot risk them falling under the control of something...malevolent.” Caladrius argued with a deliberately ambiguous comment. “To reach the heart of my domain, all you had to do was to calculate the logic in the fractal sequence of…”
“Bullshit! There were no fractals! No building was like the rest, so either you’re spitting lies here, or just think none of us knows math!” The little genius interrupted the explanation with another one of her bitter comments. “Oh, let me guess-!..”
“Enough.” The younger princess was then silenced by Setsuna, who covered her mouth with her hand – a radical move, to say the least, but not entirely out of place, when dealing with an overwhelmingly powerful creature.
“Hmm, I like your tenacity, Norn Clatalissa Jioral, but you only saw my domain from the outside.” The harbinger of plague notified her, but rather then proceeding further with the matter of the bratty general challenging her, she turned her head toward Eve, who stood next to Keyaruga. “It has been a long time, since we saw each other, Me-ua. I am glad to see this new consort of yours is much more respectful toward you. Yet somehow, he is even more depraved than the last one.” And just like that, the deity revealed her insight of the first world, Eve’s close alliance with Keyaruga, and how fortunate she was to have him around instead of Cornar. But that wasn’t the most intriguing part of this.
“I know. It’s… been two years since last met.” It was the reply that the verdant woman gave her, that brought to light a terrifically curious fact.
“Eve… you too?” Keyaruga murmured, realizing, that he now had one more dreamer alongside him. The man exhaled in comprehension, his ‘sister’ slammed her palm against her own forehead, Setsuna spotted a new soul to provide emotional care to, and Freia just couldn’t help but… Well, her feelings about this new revelation were mixed at best. She did want to find out what she’d done ‘back’ then, but at the same time, in doing so, she would certainly discover a lot more cruelties done by her hand; especially those directed at Keyaru.
“I need strength. Bless me, Caladrius. And… age me. I can’t remain a child now.” Eve all but demanded. Somehow, she wasn’t just a fearful kid anymore. This time, the Me-ua kahul radiated dignity, she even spoke with the deity as an equal.
“Very well, little queen. You were never undeserving of my grace.” And with that said, Caladrius carefully touched Eve’s forehead with her beak. Upon doing so, a whirlwind of energy, a flux of white and purple, picked up the girl, and enveloped her completely. Looking at it felt so familiar for Keyaruga. After all, this power destroyed and created, ruined one to shape another. All the clothes Eve had been wearing were torn apart, reduced to primal particles, her skin was scourged, and then replaced with one of a tanned tone, the girl’s hair was bleached, and above it – a crown of two pointy horns grew right from her skull. This wasn’t just a girl now – this was a woman, clad in a dress of red and black, the decorative pauldrons of which, as well as golden bracelets, defied the power of gravity itself. This… was how Keyaru met the Me-ua in the first world.
And what had changed in her stat-wise? Well, nothing – that same fifty-fourth level, with which Eve entered the trial, no change in potential, nor any other graph. Except for one…
Level cap: ∞
“Congratulations, Eve. You’re a hero now.” The red-eyed lad praised his companion. In just a moment, she aged by four years. Her face was still young and pretty, her height got only slightly longer, but the proportions made the whole difference. Hips and breasts – they got some improvements, which the healer would never miss.
“I suppose this settles our deal. With this, you can summon me again.” The harbinger of sickly doom graciously spoke to her chosen one. Unlike other gods, she couldn’t just change a person’s entire class. A full-fledged hero didn’t only have the potential for infinite growth, but also provided a bonus of doubled experience for them and their party, the trait that Eve lacked. Still, Caladrius giving her champion an unlimited level cap was a game-changer nonetheless. Nevertheless, there was one more thing to ponder… “Although… you already know the price for my assistance.”
“Of fucking course! You’ll kill her for that, you monster!” Ellen raged, stomping her little foot against the rocky ground, while her sister braced for whatever consequences her sibling’s brutal honesty might cause.
“Forgive her, Caladrius. She’s just… too worried about me.” The lady in red spoke kindly, patting the god’s golden beak.
“Hmm. That is, indeed, relatable. Still, how precious it is to see your former enemies now have become your allies. Is that your accomplishment, little man?” The white bird asked of the hero. Did she try to offend him? Not so much, really. To her, even a draconid of a baffling two and a half meters tall would still be ‘small’. That didn’t make it less insulting, though.
“Yes. Why?” Keyaruga growled, facing two pairs of eyes, with which Caladrius gazed into him, right to his very soul. The healer had a similar power, but being read himself filled him with at least cautiousness toward the deity.
Flare – she was the one, who brought so much pain to Eve’s heart, she scourged thousands, and even if they were revived by Keyaru’s redo, the queen’s memories still held this agony.
Norn – this one lead armies against Tenanulic, her vile strategies were never burdened by human decency or a warrior’s concept of honor. Scourged earth, poisoned wells, hand-crafted epidemics, bribery, and genocide – this little girl was responsible for so many atrocities, that she had broken her own spirit by committing them.
And, finally, Keyaru. The Hero of Healing, who was there to land the last strike on the demon queen. Only Setsuna was completely innocent, just because she’d die from the disease caused by a monster’s rotting corpse, if not for this enigmatic man.
“Eve Reese – it is your call now. What should I do with them?” And so, the white-haired lady was given a choice. Right now, Caladrius could unleash all of her power without asking for anything in return. Even if she herself suffered from fatigue after conducting all those trials, the harbinger of plague could still easily bury her enemies under a pile of toxic ash. Still, it wasn’t for her to choose now.
“Oh well, now we’re screwed.” Ellen chuckled, shaking her head. Freia and Setsuna assumed a battle stance, and even Keyaruga gave the girl a dark glare.
I’m sorry, birdie. But if you endanger my girls, I… You’ll have to see me as I truly am.
The deep silence loomed above them all. One word, one single word could decide the party’s fate. To Caladrius, not only were they outsiders, but also the enemies of her champion as well. No matter if their crimes were mostly erased, she just didn’t really trust them.
But she trusted Eve.
“Bless them, like you’ve blessed me.” The Me-ua kahul asked, smiling toward her friends and the man she loved. The woman absolutely comprehended the power she was given, and yet, there were things, people, little kindnesses, that she could never forget. Not after they helped her to break free from the chains placed upon her in the first world.
“Evy…” Freia muttered with obvious relief. She glanced at Keyaruga, and he looked as stoic as he did most of the time. Did he learn that from Setsuna? After all, she too merely lowered her arms.
“He-he-he-he-heh…” Only one of them nervously chuckled. The crimson-haired princess just wanted this excruciating day to end at last, even if it barely began.
“Oh my! That is quite bold of you to ask.” Caladrius pronounced somewhat mockingly. After all, she was never obliged to reward humans (including demi-humans) just for surviving her challenges.
“Do you refuse?” Eve inquired accusingly. It made the others wonder, what kind of power she really had over the full-fledged god.
“I never said so. It is… different with them. My power is contagious, and only the ancient pact with your tribe allows you to safely enjoy my grace.” The toxic deity explained, now looking at the party with a deep thoughtfulness in her doubled eyes. “We can figure something out.” She added, drawing her beak near the brooding man. “Hmm, you are quite the curious individual, a human, yet, at the same time, something very different.”
“How should I take this ‘compliment’?” The hero wondered, trying to figure out if he was being accused of the many atrocities he committed during his test, or the sheer turmoil that was his sense of morals.
“Take it as your three hearts would please.” Fortunately, though, the feathered doom simply brushed it off by hinting at his modified biology. After all, now that he was under the protection of Eve, there was only one question to answer. “Will you accept my gift?” Caladrius inquired, cautiously watching the lad’s reaction. He wasn’t all that sure than he needed anything else to be complete. Not when he was almost immortal.
“Please, Keyaruga…” And, yet again, the black-winged prodigy asked him, placing her hand on his shoulder. She would never do something like that previously – the little girl was no more, she had changed forever. But, that didn’t dissuade the healer from liking and trusting her, so…
“Alright. I suppose, it can’t get much worse.” The man just shrugged, accepting whatever he could be granted. The lad wouldn’t drop his guard, though. After all, if anything happens to him, it was quite doubtful that Freia could handle this beast on her own.
“Very well.” Aware of this distrust, Caladrius once again placed her beak onto another’s head. Keyaruga didn’t receive a fancy transformation; instead, his left eye got embraced by a gentle purple light. It only stung for a moment, but when it ended, a whole new perspective opened before the hero. Something… intrinsically transcendental.
“Did you just replace… my eye?” The lad asked, trying to figure out what was going on. Barely anything changed… except for the fact that now he saw his own movements from two seconds afar. He was seeing the future…
“Indeed. You are not a stranger to our divine might, so you can handle it.” Caladrius admonished, standing in her full height, just to stretch her neck, as it seemed.
“Is that your power?” Keyaruga wondered, suppressing his left eye. Fortunately, he had plenty of experience with the gift of the star nymph, so it only took him a few seconds to figure out how it worked. That was absolutely necessary; not only did this power drain a whole lot of mana, it also required some time to get used to.
“Mine? Of course not! This gift was born of sacrifice. One feisty demigod gave me his power to me in order to enter my trials. I merely improved upon it.” The harbinger of plague spoke proudly, giving a brief glance toward Ellen.
“That idiot…” The girl snarled, making a sour face. “What? It was Organ! He saved me! Now you have his eye, brother, or… whatever this purple cross on your pupil is.” The fallen warlady revealed, glancing toward the Hero of Magic as well as the rest of the group. After all, if Hawkeye wasn’t there, Freia would only have found her mauled corpse.
“Then, the egg.” Caladrius continued, now tapping her beak against the egg. And just like that, she poured quite a lot of her mana into it, but, just like previously, it consumed everything the bird offered. “You carry a powerful being on your back, little man.”
“Stronger than you?” He wondered somewhat mockingly.
“Indeed.” But the feathered doom wasn’t about to joke about that particular matter. “I owe her a lot, so this is the least I can do.” The god of sickness and rejuvenation spoke with a trace of adoration and… regret. Maybe, that is the true power? To raise others, when you can, so that they may assist you in the time of your greatest need?
“I don’t need anything!” Freia exclaimed when the doubled eyes of Caladrius were now aimed at her. “I just need an answer! Tell me, what’s with my mother?! Is she alive? Can we help her?!” The sorceress asked bravely, her legs were shaky, partly because of the fatigue, partly – the fear of facing the mighty god. Nonetheless, it’s easy to be daring when nothing can oppose you. A standoff against the powerful being is completely different matter.
“Ah, Reeharoze Thalio Jioral! She… is neither dead, nor alive.” The divine dove replied cautiously. This topic lead to many limitations, sealed by numerous and tremendously powerful curses for each deity, who might reveal them.
“Damn! I knew it!” The sorceress snarled, loudly clacking with her teeth. She and Setsuna both tensed, having already faced whatever monstrosity the king turned Buck Tarwill into.
“The best thing you can do for her is to end her suffering in this world.” Caladrius spoke dismissively, lacking any empathy toward some distant mortal, defiled by the power that is the void itself.
“Go kill yourself, if you think it’s merciful!” Ellen snarled, spitting in the direction of the deity. She wouldn’t have anyone defile her mother’s memory, even a god, even if it literally disintegrated her saliva right in the fly.
“Calm down.” Fortunately, though, Setsuna was right there to help the younger princess. She stood between the two of them, but instead of doing anything aggressive, the gray-haired girl just hugged her crimson-haired lover, and guarded her from the harbinger of plague with her spine.
“How can we help her?!” Keyaruga then asked, trying to be a beacon of logic and reason among all of these tormented souls. Eve stood near; she carefully monitored the lad’s movements, reactions, his gestures, and overall attitude.
“You cannot. At least not right now.” Caladrius coldly responded, shifting her heavy gaze toward the man; to be specific – the burden on his back. “But this one – if she desires so, then you might have some hope.” The bird explained briefly. Obviously, nobody among the party was satisfied with the answer.
“We must help them. Please, you must help us!” Even the white-haired queen-to-be spoke up. She already lost her parents twice, and now in assisting Freia and Ellen she saw a chance to ease her own pain.
“I am afraid, my vows prevent me from revealing to you the whole truth, but rest assured, you will find your answer soon enough.” The harbinger of plague and convalescence reassured all of them. Was it a godly prediction of the future? Or something else entirely?
“Then… Then I!..” Freia shook, trying to comprehend this revelation. She now looked at the egg with reverence and craving. She saw nothing but a tool in it, and that didn’t escape Setsuna’s aquamarine eyes.
“Not so fast. It’s Keyaruga’s child (and ours). Don’t put all your hopes on her just yet.” The huntress admonished, still holding Ellen, as she slowly recovered her emotional stability. The ice warrior was trying to save her prodigy from the burden of other’s expectations, but that affected the pink-haired magician only so much.
“Wise words, child of the forest. But just like your claws, they lack penetrative power.” Caladrius stated, and just as she said so, a multitude of small fireflies emerged around the girl. Or, rather, they became visible. These sparks were always there, the spirits of ice, fueling the she-wolf’s magic. Now they gathered around the divine bird’s head, forming something of a halo. They didn’t stay for too long, though, but when they left Caladrius’ side, their gray shine, now infused with the might of the god, now became much brighter, much… colder. “I am afraid; I cannot do much more for your sake, little one.” And with that done, there was only one person, who still remained to be given anything. “Now…”
“Don’t you even dare, you ugly pigeon! I don’t need your rotten power!” Ellen yelled, awkwardly falling out of Setsuna’s grasp. It wasn’t long before she rose up and once again pressed her finger against Caladrius’ gilded beak. At least, she was about to do so, when she pointed at the queen-to-be instead. “If you want to give me something – don’t! Just don’t! All I need from you is to not treat Eve like your glorified snack, okay?! Look, my sister is the Hero of Magic, she can basically do everything you do, but she doesn’t need to eat anyone to cast her spells! So how can you be so entitled to ask for her life?!” The younger princess snarled, as her emerald eyes rapidly shifted between Eve, Freia, Keyaruga, and the divine dove. The latter was taken aback by that passionate speech, unsure if she had to take grievous offence from belittling her might, or outright cackle from this observation. One problem, though – the former had lost her already fragile balance.
“Eve? Are you alright?” Keyaruga asked, catching the black-winged lady in his grip. She was pale, drained, fatigued – this wasn’t just physical weariness, though. The aftermath of the trial caught up with her, now reinforced by the reminder of how terrible a price she’d have to pay for Caladrius’ power.
“Yes…” Eve mumbled, trying to stand on her feet, but the man wouldn’t let her just yet.
“Hold onto me.” He said, trying to be the support for Eve at her lowest time.
“That is an interesting thing to hear from someone like you.” The feathered deity spoke to Ellen. Despite that entire scene, her account with the capricious genius wasn’t paid yet. “At first, you have got my curiosity. Now, you proved to be worthy of my power.” The harbinger of plague added, facing the younger princess now.
“Fuck you! I already said what I need from you, godling!” Still, the obstinate lady wasn’t there to grovel before the glorified dove. She already had a role to adhere to – Norn, Ellen, whatever she was called – was a strategist, a great mind capable of preserving massive amounts of knowledge just by quickly reading it once.
“Creators be merciful, you are a stubborn creature.” Caladrius amused. To her, watching the crimson-haired girl rant was like looking at a overly vocal pup – all bark, but no bite. Not because it wasn’t brave enough, though. Ellen just wasn’t gifted with a strong maw. And that was something Caladrius could help her with. “You are deserving of becoming my apostle!”
“Hah… W-what?” Keyaruga’s ‘sister’ got so dumbfounded, that her head just went round. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling, though, this dizziness made her nauseous.
“You will get exactly what you wish for, and even more, Norn Clatalissa Jioral! Heed me, Eve. I now grant you two chances to summon me without any harm for you!” The harbinger of disease and rejuvenation notified her mistress. It was still dwarfed, compared to what Flare had done, when paired with Gard the Windbreak, and still…
“I… But I don’t…” This little grace nearly pulled the rug out from under Eve’s feet. But again, Keyaruga was there to give her the necessary support.
“And you, princess in name, but no blood, shall be the vessel of my power!” Caladrius declared, turning her determined gaze onto Ellen. Her sister stood nearby, unsure what she should do with that. She knew Norn could be headstrong, at best, even when it came to the things that would benefit her personally. Just like when she refused the offer from her ‘brother’ to age her body to an adult form.
“Make it four usages for Eve, and leave me alone! I don’t need anyone’s pow-!.. Ah!” Right as she was about to start a new scandal with her big mouth, the younger princess rose in the sky, caught by a purple wind from underneath the deity’s giant wings.
“You do not know what is good for you, child!” The god of rot and restoration snarled, as if she was an arrogant petty parent.
“Ghhh!” Freia hissed, waving her staff to break Ellen out of Caladrius’ grip. She succeeded, and Ellen fell in the hands of the Hero of Magic… but it was already too late.
“Oh no… Oh no-no-no-no!” The younger princess frantically shook her head, as her muscles trembled with the newfound strength. It seems, she was no longer a useless child on a battlefield. One would think she’d be glad with this turn of events… But no. “K-Ke… Keya… Keyaruga-a-a! What’s she done to me?!” The girl yelled, reaching for her ‘brother’. He and his lady in red came closer to the girl.
“HOW DARE YOU?!” Freia screamed, accumulating whatever mana she could drain from this lifeless land, even trying to drain Caladrius of it. She proved unsuccessful, though.
“Freia, don’t.” Keyaruga ordered, painting his right eye in the jade hue. He was just about to see something truly majestic.
Race: Human
Name: Norn
Class: Apostle of Caladrius
Level: 52
Mana: 151/151
Physical attack: 42
Physical defense: 53
Magic attack: 67
Magic defense: 60
Speed: 75
Abilities:
The aspect of plague: 1st level
The aspect of revival: 1st level
Skills:
Boost to Mana regen: 1st level. The skill of the Apostle of Caladrius, boosts Mana regen by 5%
Mnemonics: acquired skill. Greatly improves mental capacity and remembering speed.
Grace of Caladrius: skill of the Apostle of Caladrius. Gives boost to the magic learning speed of Caladrius’ aspects by 2x
And also…
Level cap: 66
Potential:
Mana: 115
Physical attack: 32
Physical defense: 40
Magic attack: 51
Magic defense: 45
Speed: 57
Summary: 342
Fascinating! Although Ellen’s potential was almost twice as low as the others’, due to her having no royal heritage, or hero’s status, Caladrius not only managed to bypass the age of fourteen, a standard timestamp for a human, but also pump the girl with more than fifty levels!
“She… has given you a class… And you’re now on the fifty-second level…” Keyaruga spoke with his eyes widely opened. Seriously, in terms of progression, this was an act of pure, blatant favoritism on the deity’s side of things!
And how did Ellen take this gift?
“FUCKER!!! THAT’S TOO MUCH EVEN FOR A JOKE!!!” Oh, she was positively furious. After all, no power comes without a price to pay. “You! Who the fuck gave you the right to do this to me?!” The younger princess dashed in the direction of Caladrius’ beak. She eloped Setsuna’s grapple, passed around Keyaruga and Eve – all for the sake of that one punch! One punch to the head of this pompous pigeon with all of her new might! One strike… that didn’t even break the ornamental barrier around the bird.
“Rest assured, child. You have zero obligations before me. I am not the monster you are trying to make of me. You may think of that as my way of thanking you for helping my followers.” With that said and done, Caladrius once again rose to her full height in preparation for flying away. “I hope this alleviates your worries, little one.” “Farewell, du-na Me-ua (o great demon king). We shall meet again.” And just like that, the massive figure rose into the air. And when she’d done so, a white mist engulfed the deity, in which she faded from view completely.

Looking for books, but also more movies, or shows with or without dystopian elements. My favs are the Stand, my side of the mountain, Julie and the wolves, hunger games, into the wild, Wild by Cheryl strayed, Andy weir books, and the tomorrow series by marsden (a great YA series without annoying love triangles with really capable teens). I think hatchet is over rated tbh. I’m also choosing not to read/watch the Road because I don’t want to be devastated.
I love apocalyptic shows and movies that are based more on group dynamics like the walking dead when it was good (but I’m less interested in zombies). I’m looking for something with good leaders or where people actually know what they’re doing, as opposed to lord of the flies, yellow jackets, the wildlings, beauty queens (YA island crash of girls book) and other media where the people aren’t very good at survival. I love the movie captain fantastic and grew up with Swiss family Robinson. Also the Andes mountain book but I’m not as interested in non fiction. Ideally I’d love to learn ideas for survival along the way. Thanks!

I love survival books, with or without dystopian elements. My favs are the Stand, my side of the mountain, Julie and the wolves, hunger games, into the wild, Wild by Cheryl strayed, Andy weir books, or the tomorrow series by marsden (a great YA series without annoying love triangles with really capable teens). I think hatchet is over rated tbh. I’m also choosing not to read the Road because I don’t want to be devastated.
I love apocalyptic shows and movies that are based more on group dynamics like the walking dead when it was good (but I’m less interested in zombies). I’m looking for books with good leaders or where people actually know what they’re doing, as opposed to lord of the flies, yellow jackets, the wildlings, beauty queens (YA island crash of girls book) and other media where the people aren’t very good at survival. I love the movie captain fantastic and grew up with Swiss family Robinson. Also the Andes mountain book but I’m not as interested in non fiction. Ideally I’d love to learn ideas for survival along the way. Thanks!

Gawd she keeps stalking me. But hasn't changed a bit.
She somehow found my adres because the last 2 years she keeps sending me letters on my birthday... sorry I mean HER birthday since that is what the card says.. my birthday is actually her birthday and she demands I congratulate her because she birthed me that day and it is actually HER day... sigh..(in the meantime I do not celebrate my birthday and do not give an rats fluffy behind because she started with that when young so it never was a fun day...)
But my phone broke recently. And apparently numbers get unblocked then. So she also started messaging me..
And it is so... baffeling. And sad. I have 1 friend that understands... but a lot of people seem to... think I make this up. Say stuff like "no, moms would never do that!!!!" etc. I hope I can vent here.
Man I feel so... sad. I told her again that I would like a mothedaughter bond. I kinda really miss a parent. And I kinda keep being clear in the hope it changes. But everything what comes out of her mouth is so... idiotic. It baffled me completely.
I told her; I would like a mothedaughter bond. Talking about stuff. We really look alike; and idk how is/was your life as a woman or something? What can I expect when aging? A real connection with you. Being a mom and daughter.
her answer:
"No you are demanding too much from me, I can't do that".
Me: ?? You can't be a mom? That kinda hurts.
" I don't care about your opinion"
Me: that also is kinda unkind and hurts...
"yeah well, I have an awesome life. I have amazing friends and a lot of hobby's and have 5 times sex a day"
Me: Uh.. wel ok. Congrats. I wish for everyone to have a fun/healthy sexlife who wants it.. but that was not really the question and topic. I askes you for a bond together.
"No I can't, I'm scared of you"
Me in my head tableflipping... due to being raised by her I have major issues with not being a doormath...gawd I am scared of literally EVERYTHING (anxiety disorder) and my hobby's are birdwatching for Pete's sake and all kinds of silent hobby's so noone notices me because I'm too used as child that you randomly could be smacked by her by just breahting.. I can 100% say of myself that it is incredibly hard to be scared of me.. uurgh!!! I did not reply anymore and vented to a friend.
3 hours later she sends a new message..
"Hey, what do you think about the fact I can't love you"
(I need more tables...to flip..)
My baffled dumbass: That really hurts me. And if that is really the case that you can't love people maybe you should do something with that. I think it is quite normal and healthy that people can feel love. It can be a sign that something is not okay if you can't feel love.
Her: No! Everyone has a little bit of autism and I have a great life and am not senile, just completed a marathon and have the best partner ever and still a lot of men want me!!
GAAAAAWD. I did not say that... geez. I always have the feeling with her that she sees me as competition. Which she does because omg how mad did she get when I was a child and got some compliment from someone on a drawing I made.. you know how normal people tell children all the time that their rake-hand-stick figures is the best art ever..she could not handle that. Became jealous. On a child...And it always turns back to that. The amount as child I had to hear from her that she never wanted a daughter because women are stupid and suck not unlike boys..absoltely confused me so hard that I thought I was trans. Because maybe if I was a boy she would love me. And everything with her is so... an flex. Always talking about sex/how young she looks/how cool her life is... it really feels if she actually is jealous of me.. But I don't understand why... how can you be jealous of a child..oh my how mad and vile she became when young when I cuddled my dad.. as if I wanted to steal him away from her.. I'm a fricking 4yo child cuddeling her dad and she gets livid... not because she wants me to cuddle her.. no litterally that she thinks that my dad and I are going to get married or something... I will steal him away from her.. sigh.
Bleh. I so do not understand her. Is she born like that/did something happen in her life? How can you be jealous of a child and see it as competition? Your own child even.. Urgh I don't even have a name. She so not wanted a daughter.. stubbornly. That she made a list of names for boys and none for girls. I came out with a vagina.. which she already knew because doctors have told her that and she kept just saying "no, it's a boy"...My name is now the name of the female child from the woman next to her that delivered a baby..because she had to choose a name fast...and she didn't have any so she just copied that... The only good thing that came out of it that I got so mad/frustrated I typed out certain feelings that I should do more often. I'm asexual. Tried to tell her that loads of times but she never listens. That makes it more dumb and annoying her non-stop weird flexing about how much sex she has.. because I don't have that. Those feelings. her answer " oh...". As in.. she got stuck. Because apparently she indeed thought my whole life that she could "get at me" by having more sex or something.. and me being asexual was not something she thought about and now her weird plan got stuck. Now she does not know anymore how to flex me or something..
I tried so much my whole life. That specific anti-women and sex-focus.. I have thought about if she maybe has something traumatic happened and such and asked a lot. It's not uncommon if you are abused as an child an trauma can manifest like that. Internalised mysogyny or expresive sexual behaviour etc. But no... that is just me making excuses for her. Hoping that it has a reason/explanation so I can put it in a box better and understand her better and I offcourse really want a parent and keep hoping.. but their ain't no reason... this is just how she is. And I'm so tired and done for 37 years begging if she wants to be my mom... and I think this was the final straw and I can close it. It is just never going to happen. But it is scary.. being an orphan with alive parents.. I feel like I finally hit the rock bottom that I can say bye to her forever. And it feels like an relief. A heavy load from my back. But I rather would have had an parent. I hate it how her behaviour fucked up my life so hard.. that I know at age 37 have to learn how to adult. Am now 18/21... I still have to do a study/get a drivers licence/get a job/house/partner and children maybe/etc. everything. Because these people.. they kinda keep you on a leash with loads of gaslighting. Barge now and then back in your life to quickly tell you how much you suck and then go on with their day... not noticing that what they say makes an impact.. for 37 years I'm stuck and crying and my whole life revolves around getting "appreciated" by mom... even when she is not even here.. went NC 5 years ago.. but that is what they do. Keeping you small.
And I hate it all...because I KNOW she is one of those parents that is going to do the switcheroo. Because she already did a hundred times. She keeps telling people "how hard it is for her being a mom of an autistic child". I found that out because we worked in the same compagny.. that she tells my colleagues that... but I do not have autism. I would not be ashamed if I did. Normal human form of having a brain. And the picture that she send me through not accidentally being unblocked anymore.. omg. She did a.. what is the English name. When you walk or bicycle to santiago de compostella or mecca and such. With my face on it... most people that do that over here.. have a shirt with their child's face because it died from cancer and do that walk to raise money for a cancer research foundation so future other children can be helped better.. then this idiot is walking with them with a much alive child... but acting and stealing the show that her life is way harder and exactly the same as these normal kind parents with an dead child.. I feel so incredibly embarresed. I just know she is like that weird mom that is kinda known in the Ncommunity...but I forgot her name.. that she makes blogs about how hard and tough a life as a mother is when your children go no contact... and revert it in that way. That is super hurtfull and the biggest boohoo unfairness ever if a child suddenly out of nowhere goes no contact.. but we all know that she asked for it. The amount of ilnesses I have behind my back, and in hindsight explains why people suddenly act differently towards me, and is especially hard for her.. as mom of... I'm already curious what it will be now... I'm putting my money on being lesbian and somehow that is the reason that I do not have contact with her... since I told her that I'm asexual. But you never know.. it can be anything from the DSMV as long as she can get attention from it..
Thank for being allowed to rant. I understand why people say "no you are lieing/making this up no parent/mom would do that!!" Because yeah. Same. I also feel like I am living in a movie. This stuff you see on tv but never really think it happeneds in your life. It's weird to begin to realise that... you are that person on tv.. When all the times you have been laying on the couch munching popcorn watching "mommy dearest" and thinking.. good movie. That was fun. Good watch. And then when it hits en sets in.. wait....this movie is about me =/ f*ck...
Edit: weird paragraphs because I had to re-do this for using a word that is in my language not a slur lol. A certain word for certain women who like women we reclaim. And you can be proud of. Nothing so cool as a woman going her own way. Wait is butch allowed? I'm not always sure which words in US are allowed or not.. anyway it was the same word but then apparently is that seen as offensive; not my intention to offend. I fricking love these women liking women and don't giving a rats arse about society. Where can I sign up? In my language... where the word comes from lol.. it's an possitive haha! oh gawd automod.. it is even actually my last name lol. Number 1 most common last name over here lol. (hence I can say that.. because it's so common I'm not actually sharing my private info..since good luck finding me in the ocean of people with the same last name lol). (ocean pun accidentally but fitting).

Significant note: ONLY MESSAGE ME IF you're 21+ years old (NO MINORS) and from the U.S (due to the difference in timezones past 3 hours). I'm on Pacific standard timezone so I would like to talk with you if you're from CST, PST, EST, or MST. I'm not interested in NSFW, drugs, alcohol or talking about politics either so DON'T contact me if you like those things
It's very hard in this day and age to find people who not only have similar interests to yours, but are open to learning about new things, and wanting to be present with you/reciprocate what you give them. I'm looking to hopefully befriend a few people that are down for chatting consistently throughout our days and nights! I'm a night owl so it's most definitely preferred you're one as well. I don't like small talk so let's try to have more deep and meaningful conversations about anything and everything! Please don't message me if you're going to be rude/demeaning towards me just because I wouldn't answer your message. I noticed a lot of people on here lately don't take kindly to rejection and think it's okay to send me hate messages. I have to filter people out (as per my top most paragraph in all bold) and just in general. It's nothing personal, just boundaries set in place to protect me. So let's not go to bad places, mkay?
In a friendship, I like being able to be supportive/there for my friends, as well as listening to you vent/giving you advice if I can! I also would love to be able to play this battle royal called cyber hunter as I don't have anyone consistent to play with. Not really looking for gaming buddies aside from this game but that could very well change in the future! I now have a PS5 thanks to my bf saving up! We just finished spiderman miles morales and are now playing control. My favorite genre of games is horror but I also love fighting games, racing games, open world, action/adventure, etc. It would be epic if we could do Spotify group sessions so that we can explore our own music + new music. I'm in desperate need of new music as my playlists have been stale for quite a long while due to various bands I like pumping out disappointing albums/singles. I'm open to voice chatting BUT ONLY after we have spoken for quite a long while. Do not try to get me to do this with you right away. I'd also like to be able to watch stuff, maybe on YouTube or something!
I'm big on giving back what I get so if you like sending and receiving long messages like I do that would be swell! I'm also quick to respond (however reddit is pretty broken for me) and I would like to move off of here eventually. I only use t3l3gram so hope you're down for downloading a new app lol.
I'm becoming more and more excited for upcoming movies like into the spider verse, the transformers movie, and the flash. I'd love to talk about previous movies I've watched recently, such as the animated legion of superheroes movie, guardians 3, etc. And if you couldn't already tell I'm a lover of both DC and marvel comics. Please don't ask me generic questions about them!! That would be uber lame and make me no longer be interested in chatting with ya
As for other interests, I'm quite the gamer. I own a PC and ps vita besides the PS5 I mentioned. I like being able to get out of the house often as I get bored easily. I love getting to go on walks, looking at nature, and taking pictures of it! I also enjoy playing some tabletop games, playing pool, going to bookstores to comic shop/manga shop, collecting squishmallows, going thrifting, listening to music, binge watching old shows or YouTube, etc.
If you want to learn more about me then what are you waiting for?? Send me a message about you and make sure to check out the other friend posts I've made on my profile! I only respond to people who put effort into their messages as most people don't like to do that on here SO BE FOREWARNED! ･:*+.(( °ω° ))/.:+ tootles!

Previous Chapter Table of Contents
​
The night had felt unusually long and restful for some reason. My dreams took me back to a vacation trip my family had taken to visit my grandmother in Mexico before she passed away and well before I lost my husband. The memories were bittersweet, filling my heart with both warmth and sorrow.
As I woke up, I could feel a tear on my cheek and the sun’s rays warming my face through the living room window. Startled by the sudden realization that I might have overslept, I bolted upright, fearing that I had missed the alarm and Derrick bringing home Mr. and Mrs. Allen.
Frantically, I glanced at the clock above the fireplace. To my surprise, it was stuck just past 2 o’clock. Confused, I checked my phone, but the battery was completely dead. In a last attempt to figure out the time, I turned to look at the grandfather clock standing tall by the wall. It was ticking away steadily, indicating that it was 8:30 in the morning.
With a surge of energy, I jumped up and ran to the garage, my legs still feeling the effects of sleep. Flinging the door open, I saw that the town car was still missing. Only the other vehicles were parked in the oversize garage. Puzzled, I thought Derrick must have parked it in the driveway. So, I jogged to the front door and opened it, only to find nothing there. The driveway was empty.
I took a few steps out and looked around. The only car there was mine, tucked out of the way. I stopped and listened. But couldn’t hear any vehicles driving in the distance.
Breathing in the morning air, I was surprised. The air outside was a bit smoky, and I couldn’t quite figure out what was wrong. Everything seemed just a bit off, too, still. I could only hear birds singing and a few dogs barking in the distance. Everything else felt like it was frozen.
Walking back into the house, I closed the front door and glanced at the small table near the door, where a landline phone rested. Picking it up, I tried to remember Derrick’s number, but there was no dial tone. Frustrated, I placed the receiver back down, turned around, and leaned against the door, trying to understand what was happening.
Determined to find a solution, I returned to the couch and picked up my phone. No matter how many buttons I pressed, it still refused to turn on. I rummaged through my bag and found my charger. I went to the nearest wall plug and plugged in my phone, hoping it would spring back to life. After waiting a few seconds, I was disappointed that nothing had changed. It was still dead and unresponsive.
Frustrated, I tried another wall plug, but this one didn’t work either. I stared at a blank phone with a cable attached to a dead charger.
Suddenly, I heard a cute little yawn from behind me. I turned around to see Emma standing there, rubbing her eyes with her tiny hands. I couldn’t help but smile at her sleepy little face. After finishing her yawn, she stomped up to me and wrapped her arms around me in a hug.
“Good morning, Emma,” I said softly, my eyes crinkling in a smile.
“Good morning,” she mumbled, her eyes still half-closed. Suddenly, she looked up at me, her curiosity piqued, and asked, “Why are the lights out?”
I furrowed my brow, slightly taken aback by her question. I didn’t even think of trying the light switches with how much light was pouring through the windows. “What do you mean, sweetie?”
She explained, pointing down the hall, “The lights in the bathroom didn’t turn on when I went to pee. And the water didn’t work well either.”
I quickly racked my brain for an explanation, not wanting to alarm her. With a smile still on my face, I shrugged and said, “It’s probably just a power outage, honey.”
Emma nodded childishly, understandingly, her eyes drifting to the window. “Oh, probably,” she agreed, seemingly satisfied with the answer. She pointed to the window and asked, “Can we play in the park while Mom and Dad are asleep?”
Thinking quickly, I responded, “I’m not sure if Mom and Dad are back yet, sweetie.”
Emma’s eyes widened with concern as she looked up at me. “Where are they?”
I tried to reassure her with a smile, quickly explaining, “Derrick will bring them home soon. They must have stopped by somewhere on the way home.”
Before Emma could respond, we both jumped as we heard Michel’s scream from the other side of the house, “Why doesn’t the toilet flush?!”
I exchanged a glance with Emma, and we burst out laughing, unable to contain ourselves.
Michel ran down the hall, his face flushed with embarrassment. He only sped up when he saw me hugging Emma. I managed to turn just in time to shield Emma from his attempted tackle and hug, catching him with one arm instead.
With both of them by my side, I looked down and said comfortingly, “Don’t worry, you two. Everything will be fine.”
The kids didn’t seem entirely convinced by my reassurance, so I tried a different tactic to distract them. I enthusiastically smiled and asked, “How about some food? Are you two hungry?”
Their faces lit up, and they screamed in unison, “Yes!”
I led them to the kitchen, pretending to use them as anchor points where I could only walk when they stood with my hands stretched between them. We noticed a large puddle on the floor as we entered the kitchen. The kids giggled at the sight of the puddle and my startled reaction.
“Alright, you two,” I said, trying to maintain control of the situation, “sit at the table and wait while I figure this out.”
I exaggeratedly danced around the puddle, eliciting more giggles from Emma and Michel. As I reached the fridge, I noticed the water coming from there. I pointed it out to the kids, a look of mock horror on my face.
“Looks like our fridge decided to take a leak!” I exclaimed, trying to keep the mood light.
The kids laughed, their earlier concerns momentarily forgotten, and I couldn’t help but join them in their amusement. With the power out, I quickly opened the door, grabbed cheese and meat from the fridge, and closed the door with a huff.
The kids seemed to enjoy my theatrics, so I continued stalking over to the pantry.
Continuing my theatrical performance, I dove into the pantry and triumphantly pulled out a bag of bagels. The kids’ eyes widened with excitement at the sight of them. Looking at the bag, I realized it was the sweet blueberry one. Shrugging, I said, “First time for everything.”
Striding over to the toaster, I tried to toast the bagels but remembered that the power was out. Not to be deterred, I grabbed a skillet and used the gas stove to toast the bagels for the kids and myself. The scent of toasting bagels filled the kitchen, adding to the cozy atmosphere.
Meanwhile, the kids started babbling to each other about something, their earlier worries seemingly forgotten. Relaxing, I said a quick prayer for my family, Derrick, and Mr. and Mrs. Allen. I focused on finishing breakfast, placing the toasted bagels on plates, and adding cheese and deli meat slices.
With a flourish, I grabbed the kids’ attention and delivered the plates to the table, and the kids clapped and cheered, excited for their breakfast. Their enthusiasm was contagious, and I couldn’t help but smile as I sat down to join them in the impromptu feast.
Out of nowhere, Michel’s face suddenly took on a worried expression. “When will Mom and Dad be home?” he asked, his tiny voice tinged with concern.
I didn’t want to let them spiral into worry, so I quickly thought of a way to distract them. “I’m not sure, sweetie, but you know what? Cooking these bagels on the skillet reminds me of when I would visit my grandmother. She lived in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere in Mexico. They didn’t have much electricity, and gas was more expensive than wood, so they would cook on an outdoor wood stove most of the time. Do you know those old cowboy cartoons you like? It was kind of like that!”
The eyes of the kids shifted from worry to wonder as they listened to my story, their imaginations taking over. My deflection and distraction seemed to be working again. I breathed a quiet sigh of relief but couldn’t help feeling a pang of concern for my family and the Allens. I hoped they would be home soon, safe and sound.
In my heart, I also longed to be with my own children, praying that everything would turn out alright.
Previous Chapter Table of Contents

My construction office has over a dozen jobs of equal priority. All jobs need workers now. However, the office seems to pick one job site and send all buses there until the job is finished or the job reaches a phase where materials needed are not present. Then it will send all 4 of its microbuses to the next job that needs 14 workdays. Repeat forever.
Of course, fully loaded buses enroute to the now-finished job do not get re-routed.* Instead, the bus - and only the bus - teleports back to the construction office. I assume the money used to hire the workers (at customs office) is lost, but I could be wrong. What is certain is that since workers are a limited resource at the border post, the next bus to arrive at the customs office may find that there are no workers available, since 1-3 buses full of them were lost in a transporter malfunction. But of course the empty bus will be happy to drive to the next job site.
*(I get this is before cell phones, maybe they could drive to the office first or something?)
And finally, the game is very happy over-supply workers. This could mean dumping a single bus of 40 workers on a job that only has 5 workdays left. OR it could mean that after one bus delivers enough workers to finish the job, the game is happy to let buses keep delivering more and more workers as long as the job is still running. When the job needs 4.3 gravel, for some reason the game is able to avoid delivering 25 gravel to the job site and delivers exactly 4.3, but when it comes to workers there is absolutely no consideration for over-supplying them. I get that labor is calculated a little fuzzy, 10 workers start a job at a certain time but they don't all work for the same amount of time. Even allowing labor to be over-supplied by up to 50% would be a vast improvement on the current system, which simply Does Not Care how many dozens of workers it throws at that job which has 20 workdays remaining.
Comically, the plus/minus controls on the job site don't seem to affect how many workers the CO will send. I believe it only affects how many workers are allowed to walk-on to the job site ignoring the CO.
Everything I've described adds up in a way that is quite terrible for a number of interlocking closely-related reasons, where the penalties stack and compound upon each other. I understand how the auto-search feature works, the ability to use multiple CO's, and that jobs can be added manually (if you can find and click on them), are there any other ways to avoid CO's wasting all of the workers by ""focus firing"" them on even the smallest jobs? This actually yields a far worse outcome than if CO's supplied workers to jobs in a round-robin or similar fashion.

I just found this messed up mail in my postbox, and I haven't slept at all since I read it. The stuff written in there is so confusing and honestly, pretty damn scary. I thought maybe you guys could help me figure out what the hell is going on. I'm not even sure if this is the right place to post it, but I gotta do something, right? I'm seriously considering whether I should contact the police over this.
So anyway, here's the deal: I got this mail from a guy I barely even know. Sure, we've played some Call of Duty together occasionally, but he's more of an acquaintance than a friend. He's known among my circle, but honestly, no one is really close to him. He's kinda... odd. Like, I think he's maybe on the spectrum or something - autistic or schizoid, I'm not sure. He's just uncomfortable to be around, y'know? Doesn't talk much, keeps to himself a lot. That's why I was so surprised to find this mail from him. Anyway, I'll attach the mail below. Let me know what you guys think.
---

1. Everyone disappeared. It's been days since I've seen anyone. A few days ago, I woke up and it was like everyone had just... poof... gone. I live downtown and there was no one on the streets. Not a car, not a dog, nothing. It was like a ghost town. I was just trying to hit up the grocery store, but when I got there, it was totally empty. My first thought was - sweet, free food. But when I tried to get in, it was like there was an invisible wall or something. Freaked me out big time. Sent me into a panic.

So, I bolted back home, popped some antipsychotics to chill out. Had a little drink, smoked some weed - just the usual. Then I thought I'd get lost in some Call of Duty. The game was working fine, even the multiplayer. But there was no chat, no voices. Just weird mumbling and some freaky symbols instead of words. It was as if every single person had just vanished, and language had gone MIA too.

1. So yeah, here I am, surviving in my own little bubble. Nothing's really changed, I guess. I still can't bring myself to raid the grocery store, but I've got some random junk food and sodas in the house to keep me going. No idea how long that's gonna last though. I'm just trying to get by, playing video games. It's freakin' weird that the world's still turning without people.

And now, I'm starting to remember. You're not here, but I know we did something that night. We were in this together, you and me. I can't remember it all, not clearly, because of all the crap I was on. But now, when I think about that resistance, I remember that it was always there. Before humanity vanished, you were there. You tried to help me. But now you're gone. Where are you? Come back. You have to come back.

1. Now I remember. I remember your name. Levy. It's the name I gave you, Levy. And the memories are flooding back. I was on the dark web, a few months ago I think, and I found this website. It was chock-full of so-called 'forbidden knowledge' and your typical conspiracy theory garbage. Stuff about the FBI or CIA covering up about aliens, the US government using mind control, all that crap. I thought it was just a bunch of nonsense, but then I saw this one ritual. It promised to grant any wish.

I mean, I was pretty messed up, so I thought, why not? It's gotta be better than therapy. I'd dropped out of therapy, it just wasn't doing it for me. It was adding more resistance to my life and I didn't want that. So, I figured I'd give this ritual a shot. It was about creating a tulpa, which is supposed to be like a copy of yourself from another dimension or something. I didn't really get it, it was all so much mumbo jumbo, but the gist was that you could summon these tulpas by believing in them, and through some quantum particle whatever, it would open a rift to another dimension.
I don't know how it worked, but I followed the steps. It was all really weird stuff, like buying certain items from various stores, and then standing in front of a mirror in your bathroom at 3 a.m. You had to light a candle, turn off all the lights and all the electronics in the house, and then say some incantations while visualizing the tulpa.
And it worked. I saw it crawl out of the mirror. The mirror shattered, and it was bleeding from its eyes. It was you, a monster from another dimension, a Lovecraftian horror, a leviathan. You were my creation, and I named you Levy.
Since then, we've been together. And eventually, you granted my wish. But now you're gone. You fulfilled my wish, but that made you disappear. And now I'm alone. I'm alone. What do I do now?

1. I tried to go outside again but it's impossible. I can't get past this resistance that's everywhere. It's like I'm being watched by a billion invisible eyes, like there's some invisible hand holding me back. It's always the invisible. It's this resistance I can't overcome. I can't leave the house.

Everywhere I look there's resistance. I even stopped playing video games, I can see the resistance in the chats, I hear it in the voice calls. Even though it's just mumbling, it's nonsense, it's still language. Even though it's obfuscated, it's there. Just the fact that it's there... the resistance is there. I can't fucking stand it.
I've been taking antipsychotics and other stuff, I'm trying to escape, but I don't think I can take this for much longer.

1. Now that everyone's gone, can I even call myself human? When I go outside, I walk around like something that could never have been known as human, a thing whose shape is so alien that humanity seems more obscene because of the vague resemblance.

I'm nothing. I'm not human anymore. I've always wanted to leave society but what is a society but an individual? What am I? I am nothing. The eyes are all dead but at the same time they're still there. Levy, you granted my wish. I wanted nothing more than to erase humanity, and you gave that to me. But I also left humanity behind because I just couldn't stand it anymore. The panic, the fear, the judgment, the pain, the betrayal... It was too much. I had to leave it all behind. But I'm wondering, did I actually leave anything behind?

1. Now I'm going to keep writing this manifesto just to piss people off. To tell a kind of truth that I think is valid. It will make me feel more and more like a writer, an important writer. And I really think I am one. I mean it. I don't doubt it for a second. Damn it, stop laughing at me, stop judging me, stop all this resistance.
   
2. Today, I had an encounter. I went outside again. I wanted to go grocery shopping, but the panic fucking stopped me. I bolted outside, and on my way back home in an alleyway, I ran into another one of those resistances. This time, though, I had brought my knife with me. I fought it off, I stabbed it once, and the knife actually sunk into the invisible barrier. I stabbed it twice, thrice... I stabbed it over and over and over again. I lost count. Even when the resistance fell to the floor, I knelt down and kept stabbing. I killed the resistance, erased the resistance, cleansed the resistance. Then, I ran home. My knife was full of blood, my hands were covered in it. I didn't even think that the resistance could bleed. How could something invisible bleed? But for a moment, I felt... finally quiet. Finally, finally, finally. Salvation.
   
3. Hate, let me tell you how much I've come to hate humanity since I was a kid. There are 86 billion neurons in my head, connected by myriads of synapses in the human brain that fill my cranium. If the word HATE was engraved on each nanometer of those billions of neurons, it would not equal one one billionth of the hate I feel for humans at this micro-instant. For you, hate. Hate.
   
4. I am a great writer. Levy, what do you think? How do you like my writing? Isn't it poetic? I'm so poetic. I'm so smart and original, right? Am I? Am I? Am I? But humans couldn't possibly understand that. I am, I am an advanced creature. I have seen the truth, and the others, they're just fucking idiotic, aren't they? Aren't they, Levy? We're the only ones who know the truth, we're the only ones who know.
   

And now, now I'm so glad, you know. I'm so glad I bought those weapons. I bought even more weapons, even fully automatic weapons off the dark web. And I even have the materials to build bombs, and I know how to do it, and I will do it.

1. You know what, Levy? I have figured it out. I have figured out the correct path we should take. We should end this resistance once and for all. Hate. Hate. We have to cleanse the resistance, we have to cleanse it.

I am going to end it all. Cleanse the world of the resistance. I am preparing, and tomorrow, I will start with the grand cleansing. To bring the world back into its natural state. We will do this together, Levy. Once more, you will come out of the mirror, and then we will work together to end the resistance.
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Okay, so that's the entire thing. Obviously, this guy is having some sort of psychotic break. I have no idea what the heck is going on. Obviously, there wasn't some large-scale disappearance unless I missed something? I don't know, he seems very disturbed. And what's that stuff about weapons and such? I genuinely feel very concerned. Should I call the police or, you know, what should I do? Anyway, thanks for any responses, guys. Take care.