hey there I am hoping somebody might be able to help me get a bag of food for my dog I am homeless rn I am walking down s 5th in slc with my dog. we had been staying in my car but I could not get it to start up this morning so also looking for a place to buy broken car without a title. if anyone can help me I'd appreciate it so much. if you cant come here but could help my cash app is $littlemonday12 i will just only get dog food. i will be at the McDonald's here for a while i have a green coat on. thank you.

"Pig! Nasty fat pig! - Arthur thought with irritation, leaving the subway, - Squeals, as if she is being cut! Businesswoman! I would put this businesswoman with doggy style right on her huge table and fuck her like a..."
Arthur Lomov was thirty-four and he had everything, like people have - a house, a wife, a child, death ahead, and death inside. He also had a job that he hated. More precisely, the work itself did not cause rejection in him, work as work is no worse than then of others. He did not like the bosses (who likes their?). And not even all the bosses, but only the headmistress, the one whom he was going to "fuck". Sleek and haughty, she spoke to people with undisguised disgust, through her teeth, sincerely and deeply despising the "cattle" that surrounded her. Lomov including. He was nobody for her, a manager, what millions, not even an insect, but a bacterium, office plankton. She has not fired him until now just because there was no case. And then the crisis broke out and rumors about layoffs spread around the office.
And as luck would have it, Arthur mixed up some numbers in the quarterly report. Margarita Nikolaevna called him into the office, and screamed as if he had stabbed and robbed a beggar on the porch of church! Not only did she deduct 30 percent from his salary, she also promised to fire he next time! Yes, he himself would have gone, on the same day! If he had money, real big money, say a million dollars!
Arthur suddenly imagined how he, in an expensive dark gray Versace suit, with a small suitcase in his hand, ignoring the screams of secretary, opened the door with a kick and entered the hated office. How the headmistress's already round stupid eyes are rounded.
"What do you want, Lomov?" She asks.
“I have a business proposal!” He says and puts the case on the table; - I want to fuck you ... Yes, to fuck you now on that table fore million dollars! Behind, you a lustful bitch!
“Yes, you are drunk Lomov, leave my office immediately ...” the headmistress says and the last word gets stuck in her throat, because at that moment Arthur opens the suitcase and she sees tight green bundles with real American money.
The headmistress hardly takes her eyes off the dollars, looks at Lomov, then back at the money. Her primitive brain tries to comprehend the non-standard situation and begins to boil.
"Where did you get this from, Lomov?" she says, swallowing her saliva.
"Who cares? You agree?"
The woman's face is covered with red spots, becomes confused and even somehow miserable.
“This is so unexpected…” she mutters, “what if someone comes in?”
Lomov does not answer anything, and only looks at the headmistress, enjoying her confusion.
Finally, having overcome her excitement, she presses the "selector" button:
“Lena don’t let anyone in to see me! I'm busy!"
Then she raises her eyes to Lomov and begins to unbutton her blouse with trembling fingers, the buttons do not obey her, she throws it, grabs the zipper on her skirt.
At this moment, Lomov slams the suitcase shut and takes it off the table.
"Best wishes!" he says.
"In what sense?" The headmistress asks bewildered.
"I changed my mind!" Arthur calmly answers and, without looking back, leaves the office...
He dreamed so much that he almost fell under the wheels and right on the pedestrian crossing. Some idiot on a tinted "nine" flashed in front of him, Arthur barely had time to bounce, but did not calculate his strength and fell into a puddle.
“No, that’s not good,” he thought, rising to his feet and shaking off the dirt from his jacket, “I need to drink urgently!”
* * *
The pub turned out to be very unpresentable, but this did not bother Lomov. Taking two mugs of beer, he hardly found a free table in the bluish smoke and finally took his first long sip.
- Your headmistress got nitpicking you up, and you are completely innocent of anything? - Arthur heard a dry cracked voice in his ear.
He raised his eyes and saw that a dubious appearanceg peasant with a week-long stubble and two mugs of light beer was sitting at his table. Since the question was purely rhetorical, Arthur merely chuckled vaguely in response.
Now ask me, how do I know this? - the stranger did not want to lag behind.
- What is this?
- Well, the fact that you were fucked by your headmistress for no reason at all?
- Well, how do you know that? - Said Arthur to get rid of the importunate type.
- It's very simple - I'm God! - The stranger said triumphantly. And noticing the bewilderment in the eyes of the interlocutor, he explained:
- Well, the one who created the Earth, the Sky and all this! - He glanced around at the smoky pub.
The life of Artur Lomov developed in such a way that he was not ready for such meetings.
"Yeah, that's exactly how I imagined you!" he chuckled sarcastically.
But the impostor, as it turned out, was not going to joke at all.
- What did you want? I look like this because of you! Because that's how you represent me! And if you were a Hindu, I could now have an elephant's head and a long trunk. What if you were a Mayan...
- Don't, I understand everything, - Arthur stopped him, - Just don't expect me to buy you beer!
- Do not make me laugh! I can create so much beer that it will flood not only your entire Moscow, but the entire planet! And what, not a bad idea - a worldwide beer flood! It is high time! Pathetic little people completely lost their fear, they do what they want! I created such a beautiful planet for you: blue seas, snow-capped mountains, shady forests, crystal waters of rivers! And what did you turn it into?
“Yes, the guy seems to be in trouble with his head!” - thought Arthur, listening to the ravings of an uninvited drinking companion.
Finally, he couldn't take it anymore.
- Well, if you are so omnipotent, could you, just as an entertainment, create for me, let's say a small suitcase with a million dollars? Lomov asked.
“I could,” reply the impostor, not at all embarrassed, “but I won’t. You see, money is such a thing… no matter how much they give you it anyway, very soon you will feel that this is not enough. I'd rather make sure you never need money at all. Is it coming?
Arthur shrugged vaguely.
- I will turn you, well, let's say ... - the stranger thought for a second, - into a rat!
“I don’t want to be a rat,” Lomov suddenly got scared, “they are vile and nasty!”
- No, no, just a rat! Big black rat! But not today, tomorrow. In the meantime, drink your beer!
- Wait! Don't turn me into anyone! - Arthur shouted, but the hanyga had already vanished into cigarette smoke.
* * *
Arthur could not get the key into the keyhole for a long time, and when he finally managed to open the door, he saw his wife in a dressing gown with a crumpled night face.
- Where are you hanging out? – Unkindly asked she, - Do you know what time it is? And why isn't the cell phone answering?
- The phone is dead. Probably ... - Arthur muttered, barely moving his tongue.
- You're l drunk! - The wife said and grimaced in disgust, - And with whom did you get so drunk?
- You will not believe - with God!
- Moron! - said the wife and slapped Arthur on the head with a slipper.
- I am not kidding! I actually drank beer with God and he promised to turn me into a rat! Tomorrow! - He suddenly felt funny, and he began to choke with laughter, - Imagine, tomorrow you wake up, and your husband is a rat, or rather ratman! But it's tomorrow, and now I want to sleep!
- You idiot, take off your shoes! - said the wife and went to the kitchen.
Lomov threw off his shoes with difficulty and went into the bedroom and, without undressing, collapsed onto the bed.
* * *
He dreamed of some nonsense: Margarita Nikolaevna, completely naked, in only shoes, walked around the office, scolded negligent employees, gave valuable instructions. The subordinates listened to her with a serious look and nodded their heads. And only one Arthur could hardly contain the laughter. But when the naked headmistress began to teach the electrician how to properly install the outlet, Lomov could not stand it and literally neighed out loud.
- Lomov, what's the matter with you? - Margarita Nikolaevna asked sternly, - Did I say something funny? By the way, how are you going to compensate for the colossal loss that you caused the company with your mistakes in the report? Do you have a million dollars?
- I have? – Surprised Arthur – Where?
- Then we could cut off your hand! - Suggested Margarita Nikolaevna, - Although wait! Say, are you drinking?
- No!
- It's good that you don't drink, and then we'll take your liver. Or not, better a kidney, because you have two of them!
And then Arthur saw a huge kitchen knife flash in the headmistress's hand. He realized that it was time to run, but his legs suddenly became wobbly and he could not budge...
* * *
Waking up the next morning with a sore head, Arthur first tried to understand why he felt so bad? Obviously, because he got drunk yesterday - that's clear. He strained his brain, and he managed to remember the scandal arranged by the headmistress, as well as the promise to fire him. After such it was a sin not to get drunk! But where? He didn't remember this.
However, there was no time to think, he was already late for work. Taking a sip of cold tea from a cup standing on the table, he quickly dressed and rushed out into the street.
* * *
Despite all the efforts, Lomov was still late for work. As soon as he sat down at his desk and turned on the computer, the secretary called and said that Margarita Nikolaevna urgently wanted to see him. His heart immediately felt ugly and cold.
Arthur honestly tried, following Chekhov, to squeeze a slave out of himself, drop by drop, but somehow it didn’t work out very well. He could convince himself as much as he wanted that the worst thing this woman could do to him was to fire him. Only and everything! But after all, he has arms, legs and a head on his shoulders; he will not die of hunger. But as soon as he was in the director's office, all logical arguments instantly evaporated, and only one animal inexplicable irrational fear remained. That vile, shrill voice pulled things out of the depths of his subconscious that he didn't even know existed. He literally physically felt how he began to decrease in size.
Even now, standing in front of the huge director's desk, like a delinquent schoolboy, he could not get rid of the feeling of his own insignificance.
“Not only are you unable to write an elementary report,” Margarita Nikolaevna’s voice boomed in his ears, “you are also late!” What do you not like about your work? Or do you want to be reduced?
Lomov suddenly imagined that he really was reduced, and at the same moment he saw how all the items in the director's office, including the hostess, began to grow rapidly. He did not immediately guess that in fact no one and nothing is growing, and that he himself is decreasing in size.
- Arthur Valentinovich, what are you doing? – Finally noticed the strange metamorphoses headmistress, - Immediately stop, I order you!
But Lomov was no longer able to stop anything. He was already looking at the edge of the director's table from the bottom up, and after a couple of seconds he realized that his height did not exceed the height of a woman's shoe.
- Rat! - Margarita Nikolaevna suddenly squealed and jumped onto the table with unexpected agility, - Lena, come here soon!
Whistling a few centimeters from his temple, the massive crystal ashtray hit the carpet with a dull thud, and Arthur realized that any delay could cost him his life. With all his might, he rushed under the closet, and a mobile phone and a few obscene words flew after him.
- Where is the rat, Margarita Nikolaevna? - asked the secretary, who came running to the cry.
- She hid under the closet! Call the guard as soon as possible, the closet must be urgently moved away before she runs away!
Realizing that he could not hide here, Arthur began to look for a way out and soon discovered a gap between the plinth and the wall. With difficulty, squeezing through a narrow opening, he found himself in a pier between the main wall and the plasterboard panels with which the office was sheathed. Only now did he feel relatively safe and tried to analyze the situation.
First, he realized that not only had he shrunk in size, but even worse, he had turned into a rat (he never liked rats). This followed not only from the screams of the headmistress (she could call her subordinate and not that way!) but mainly from the long bare tail dragging after him.
And only then Arthur remembered yesterday's visit to the pub and dubious type who called himself God.
It must be said that yesterday he treated his random drinking companion rather lightly, but now, under the pressure of circumstances, he was forced to admit that the impostor was far from being as simple as it seemed to him at first glance. Of course, he is no God, that's clear. But who? For some reason I didn't want to think about it.
Meanwhile, a security guard came and pushed the closet away. They searched for Arthur for a long time and unsuccessfully, but found only a gap in the wall.
- She probably climbed into this hole, - said the guard, - now you can’t smoke her out of there! Or you order to break the wall?
Then the supply manager and some other people came, made noise, moved the furniture.
This bustle tired Lomov, and he dozed off, and when he woke up, there was dead silence. Obviously, the working day has already ended and everyone has gone home. He was terribly hungry, however, not surprising, because he had not eaten anything since yesterday. And then his nostrils caught a delicious smell, it came from the director's office, seeped through the cracks in the wall, penetrated into the brain and caused painful salivation.
Overcoming fear, Lomov cautiously crawled out of hiding and, sniffing the air, moved in the direction of the source of the seductive aroma. Very soon he realized that the smell was coming from the drawer. Using the wires leading to the monitor, he deftly climbed onto the table, but the drawer was closed, and Arthur's weak rat paws were simply unable to pull it out. Luckily, there was a pencil on the table, he pushed it through the slot and, acting as a lever, opened the drawer rather quickly. To his disappointment, he found there only a pile of useless papers and a thick stack of five thousandth bills tied with an elastic band. The impostor did not deceive, now Lomov's money was not at all interested, out of annoyance he even shit on them, but this only increased the hunger.
“Did the devil pull me to ask this idiot for a million dollars?! - he thought, listening to the hungry cramps in his stomach - And yet, where does this smell come from? How can money smell so delicious!”
He rummaged through the entire drawer filled with stupid papers and finally found in the very corner under some kind of contract a small moldy piece of cheese. Well, yes, of course, it was cheese, only he could emit such an attractive aroma.
Arthur ate it in a couple of seconds and of course he didn’t sated a drop. Unable to resist, he even began to gnaw at the contract, soaked with a cheese smell.
- Are you eating contracts? Look, you will earn an ulcer! - Arthur heard a sly voice behind him and turned around. On the edge of the table sat a small but rather pretty white rat.
- Hello! My name is Larisa, - the rat introduced herself, - And you are Arthur from the sales department!
- Exactly, but how do you know me?
- Yes, I used to work in the logistics department; I was fired six months ago.
- Larisa from logistics? I remember you! - Arthur was delighted, - Such a pretty blonde, you still always wore very short skirts, our men just twisted their necks when you walked down the corridor.
- That's why I was fired.
- Wait, are you, too, like I used to be a human?
- All rats were once people, - Larisa remarked philosophically, - but fear turns a person into an animal.
- What kind of nonsense? - Arthur was skeptical.
- No nonsense. British scientists conducted research and came to the conclusion that over the past 40 years, the IQ in rats has increased by 10 points! And at the same time in all rats living in different parts of the globe.
- And what? Rats live next to people and learn all sorts of tricky things from them!
- Let's admit it. Do you know how many people disappear without a trace every year in our country? 80 thousand! A man went out to the nearest store for bread and did not return!
- Do you think they all turn into rats?
- Maybe not all, but many. We have become!
It was difficult to object to such an argument, and Arthur remained silent.
- What are we all talking about? - said Larisa, - you're probably hungry? Come on, I've got something from the New Year's banquet.
Larisa led Arthur to her hole, where a sumptuous dinner was waiting for them: there were half-eaten sandwiches with boiled pork and smoked sausage, and assorted fish, and of course cheese, a lot of cheese.
Satisfying his hunger, Arthur took a closer look at Larisa and suddenly realized that he liked her. And even her long bare tail now did not cause disgust, but rather seemed piquant. And what a wonderful smell emanated from her small, but such a dexterous little body!
Unable to resist the call of the flesh, he approached her from behind and put his paws on her shoulders.
* * *
- Darling! Do you want us to have little rats? - Larisa asked a few minutes later, snuggling comfortably on Lomov's shoulder.
- What? What other rats? Arthur didn't understand.
- Well, how? We didn't protect ourselves! And I am very prolific, in the last litter I brought twelve rats!
- Oh my God! Lomov groaned, “But you can’t do it somehow so that ... well, you understand!”
- Don't you want us to have little rats?
- No, you misunderstood me, that's not the point! It's just all of a sudden...
- What is unexpected? If you don't want little rats, say so!
- It's not that I don't want little rats. You see, this happened to you a long time ago, and in six months you have probably turned into a real rat, you feel like a rat and think like a rat. And I was still a human this morning...
- You were office plankton! - Larisa reminded.
- Okay, so be it! But I walked on two legs, wore a blue suit, a striped tie, and drank Gösser beer.
- You can get beer in the garbage dump, - Larisa suggested, - Sometimes unfinished bottles are thrown there.
- I don't want beer from the dump, damn it! - Arthur got angry, - And I don't want to be a rat! Why on earth should I be a rat? Why, Lord? There are so many real scums around: thieves, robbers, murderers, rapists, child molesters! Well, why me?!
“You and I seem to have such karma,” Larisa sighed sadly, “never mind. Let's sleep better, and tomorrow we'll go to the garbage heap and find you a Gösser beer.
* * *
Lomov fell asleep and had a wonderful dream. In this dream, he was human again.
He was lying in a small bright room on a clean sheet, covered up to his chin with a striped woolen blanket. The gentle spring sun shone through the window, and the soul was light and calm.
He thought that, perhaps, he should go to wash and already threw back the covers, but at that moment voices and noise were heard outside the door. Arthur returned the blanket to its place and pretended to be asleep.
People entered the room, through narrowed eyelids Lomov could only see through the legs and the skirts of white coats.
- But Semyon Arkadyevich, pay attention, a very interesting case! - said the first rather pleasant male voice, - Sick Lomov, he entered yesterday. Hypomanic arousal in an acute form, convinced that he is a rat. When the team arrived, he rushed around the director's office, biting, scratching, trying to hide under the closet, barely managed to calm him down. He was injected with 4 cubes of chlorpromazine. When he wakes up, for some time he will adequately perceive the surrounding reality, but after a few hours the effect of the drug will end.
- Very good! - Answered the second voice, - continue aminazin, add more phenazepam and electroconvulsive therapy. Who's next for us?
- Maklakov, Delirium tremens, entered three days ago...
The voices began to fade, the dream gradually melted away and Lomov found himself again lying in the rat hole. A white rat sat next to him and somehow strangely (with tenderness?) looked at him.
- Larisa? You? - He asked, looking at the animal.
- Well, yes, Larisa, who else?
- You know Larisa, I had such a strange dream here! - Lomov yawned, unable to restrain himself, - As if I had become a man again, I was lying in a clean, bright room, some people in white coats were coming and saying something. It seems like I got sick, I'm in the hospital, and they treat me.
- I, too, at first dreamed of something similar, but then everything went away, - Larisa reassured him, - And it will pass for you too!
- I do not want will pass! Vice versa. Understand - I do not want to be a rat, sleep in this stinking hole, and eat garbage! I want to be human!
- Unfortunately, this is a one-way street.
- In what sense?
- I asked to other rats. There has never been such a case that a rat became a man.
- And what, there is no hope?
- To be honest, not the slightest. Okay, stop talking, let's go have breakfast in the trash, otherwise yesterday we ate up all the supplies!
- I won't go, - Arthur answered and lay down, resting his head on his front paws.
- Okay, lie down. Then I'll bring you something delicious. Do you want rotten herring intestines?
- No.
"Then what do you want I to bring?"
- I do not want anything.
- You can't do that, Arthur. If you don't eat, you'll get sick and soon die!
- That's good, everything is better than this life!
- You know, Arthur, I used to think so too, but then I realized one very simple thing: since we exist as outcasts ...
- Outcasts? Lomov asked.
- Well, yes - rats, cockroaches, crickets and others ... So, since we are exist, then someone needs it!
- To whom? To office plankton? So that they look at us and rejoice that it is not they who have to rummage through the garbage in search of rotten herring intestines?
- Well, yes, at least. And don't forget that at any moment they themselves can be in our place!
- I don't want to be a scarecrow for these one-celled!
- And what do you want?
- Don't know. I don't want to live, that's what!
- We must be careful with desires, - Larisa warned, - they tend to come true!
- Well, let! I want to die and the sooner the better!
- Bad deed is not tricky. There are thousands of ways: you can deliberately climb into a mousetrap, or, for example, go out into the yard in the evening and shout: “Cats are motherfuckers!”
- Faggots! Cretins! Jerks! - Heard the cries of Margarita Nikolaevna from behind the wall, - I will fire you all; you will eat rotten meat in my garbage dump! I told you yesterday to catch a rat! Not only did this bastard gobble up a million dollar contract, but he also pissed off my money!
“Money can be laundered,” the financial director advised timidly, “now many do it!
- Here you take Mark Antonovich and launder this money as you want! And you, Igor Ivanovich, as the head of the security department, urgently take care of the rat! And so that by tomorrow morning I could see her corpse!
- Then I went for mousetraps? Igor Ivanovich asked.
- Go, do something already! Do not stand like idols!
* * *
Arthur not only did not go with Larisa to the trash, but did not even touch the delicacies that she brought him. He spent the whole day lying in the hole, with his head on his paws and staring dully in front of him.
But by evening, when there was no food left, hunger began to make itself felt. Thoughts of suicide disappeared somewhere; he wanted cheese, ham, grain, and most importantly more and more. At first he endured, trying to hide his cowardice, but then he could not stand it.
- Listen Laris, and there you have nothing left to gnaw? - he asked.
- No, I finished everything, you refused! - Answered Larisa, - But I think it's time to visit our headmistress's office. The working day is already over; no one will interfere with us.
Four mousetraps were waiting for them in the office, richly stuffed with cheese, sausage and even lard.
- Give me a pencil! Larisa asked.
Arthur climbed onto the table and brought a pencil. Larisa put it in a mousetrap and it snapped shut, breaking the back of the pencil.
- Well, now you can safely eat cheese! - She said.
While Larisa was fiddling with the next mousetrap, Lomov decided to look for food on his own, and very quickly found a saucer of flour in the corner behind the bedside table. True, the smell of flour was a little strange, but the hunger was so strong that he did not become picky.
- You're so funny! - Larisa giggled when she saw Arthur, - you have a white mustache, and the whole muzzle!
- Yes, I'm here ... I found flour ... - Lomov muttered and began to embarrassedly rub his muzzle with varnishes.
- Wait, are you eating flour? Larisa asked, and her gaze was filled with genuine horror.
- Yes, what wrong? - Arthur spoke slowly, involuntarily infected by her fear.
- I knew it! You could not be left alone for a second; you are like a small child! It's my entire fault!
- Wait a minute, explain plainly what happened?
- There is such an old way of killing rats and mice. Flour is mixed with alabaster and placed in a conspicuous place. Now you will be thirsty, the alabaster will mix with the water, the solution will immediately seize, and you will die a slow and painful death.
- What if you don't drink?
- Then you will die of dehydration. Not a very pleasant ending either.
Wait, you must be wrong! Maybe there was no alabaster in that flour? 'Cause I can't die, I'm so young!
- Okay, let's go; let's look at your flour! - Larissa sighed.
Lomov showed her the saucer; the rat carefully sniffed it and confidently sentenced:
- The smell of alabaster!
- And what will happen now?
- Now you're going begin to die!
- No, it can't be! After all, I have not even begun to truly live, only I was going to! And most importantly - for what?
- I don’t understand where all of a sudden such a thirst for life comes from? Just a few hours ago, you yourself wanted to die!
- I was a fool! And now I understand everything, I want to live! Live by anyone: a blind mole, a cockroach, a worm.
- Whoever you are, sooner or later you would still have to die. Or did you think you'd live forever?
- No, of course, - Arthur was embarrassed, - I just didn't expect everything to happen so quickly and ridiculously. I am not ready!
- Well, get ready, you still have time! I told you - you will go to die for a long time.
- Wait, Laris, it seems it has begun!
- What started?
- Well, what were you talking about. There is something going on inside of me. It feels like... I don't know what to say. It seems like everything is starting to turn to stone!
- I knew it! Well, go to look for your last shelter!
- What other shelter?
- The rat, when it feels that its end is near, leaves its relatives, looks for a secluded place and hides there.
- For what?
- Such is the law - everyone dies alone!
But I don't want to die alone! In fact, I just don't want to die! However, I think I've already said that.
- Of course he did! Come on; crawl away faster while you can still move your paws!
* * *
Arthur wandered for a long time through some basement passageways, crawled into holes, but could not find a quiet place anywhere. There was a rat smell everywhere, or even worse, a cat smell. Finally, he managed to find a seemingly suitable hole, he lay down on a pile of dirty rags, but as soon as he closed his eyes, some devils appeared and dragged him to hell.
"Put me down," he shouted, "I don't want to go to hell! For what? I didn't do anything wrong!"
In response, the devils grinned and were talking among themselves in an incomprehensible language. And when he began to struggle, they twisted his hands (now he had hands!) Behind his back.
But the worst began when they arrived at the place. The devils put a funnel down Arthur's throat and began pouring molten lead into him. However, maybe it was not lead, but silver, platinum, or some other white metal.
Then he vomited with this liquid metal, and then the funnel was inserted again, and everything started all over again. But this was not enough for the devils, and they began to pour the same metal into it only from the other side. His insides were swollen, and it seemed that they were about to burst. Unable to bear the torment, Arthur passed out.
And when he came to himself, he saw a girlish face of angelic beauty bending over him. And suddenly this angelic face approached him and dug into his lips with a passionate kiss.
"Maybe I'm in heaven!" thought Arthur.
- Stop overworking, Lariska, don't you see, he's already recovered! - A rather unpleasant female voice came from somewhere above.
Larisa pulled away and spat.
“I thought he would never recover!” she said, wiping her lips with the back of her hand.
- Where I am? Arthur asked, looking around.
- Where, where, in Karaganda! - Answered the second girl and rolled up with a cheerful laugh, - You better tell us fool, why did you eat cement?
- Cement? So it was cement? – Delighted Arthur, - Definitely not alabaster?
- We have Tajiks doing repairs, - the girl explained, - there are bags of cement in the corridor, so you ate straight from the bag. Dzhamshut came running, complaining, if your patients eat our cement, how can we repair? You had to do a gastric lavage, and out of habit you almost go to hell! Well, Lariska noticed in time, you can say, she saved your life!
The nurses left (he guessed that they were nurses in white caps and gowns) and Lomov began to inspect the room. On the wall, framed under glass, he noticed a rather strange document. Arthur got out of bed, walked over and began to read.
“A reminder to the new arrivals.
Eight levels of hell.

1. Arbuda-naraka - hell of blisters. On a dark frozen valley, surrounded by cold mountains, there is a constant blizzard and snow storm. The inhabitants of this hell are naked and lonely, and their bodies are covered with blisters from the cold. The time spent in this hell is how long it will take to empty a barrel of sesame seeds, if one grain is taken every hundred years.
   
2. Nirarbuda-naraka - the hell of swelling blisters. This hell is even colder and the blisters swell and explode, leaving the bodies covered in blood and pus.
   
3. Atata-naraka - hell when shaking from the cold.
   
4. Hahava-naraka - the hell of weeping and groaning. When the victim moans from the cold.
   
5. Huhuva-naraka - the hell of chattering teeth. Terrible chills and chattering of teeth.
   
6. Utpala-naraka - the hell of the blue lotus, when the constant cold makes the whole skin turn blue like a lily.
   
7. Padma-naraka - lotus hell. A snowstorm covers the frozen body, leaving bloody wounds.
   
8. Mahapadma-naraka - the great lotus hell. The whole body cracks from the cold, and the internal organs also crack from the terrible frost.
   

Staying in each next level is 20 times longer than in the previous one.
After…"
What awaits the unfortunate then Lomov did not have time to find out - a doctor entered the ward. He felt his pulse, pulled his eyelids back, examined his tongue.
- Well, the patient, I see - your condition has stabilized, it's time for the procedures! - He said in a cheerful voice.
- What other procedures? Arthur asked suspiciously.
- Shock cryotherapy.
- What is this? Never heard of such a thing!
- No wonder, this is my own technique. It consists in the following: the patient is stripped naked and placed in a special chamber, cooled to an extremely low temperature...
- Wait, I can't be frozen, I can't stand the cold! My skin is covered with pimples and starts to beat like a fever!
- Get used to, a person gets used to everything. Moreover, you have eternity ahead of you!
Are you a doctor; are you out of your mind? What the hell is eternity? Are you going to freeze me forever? My heart can't take it, I'll just die!
- It's you who are crazy, - the doctor objected, - and now we will treat you!
- Do not treat me, doctor! Yes, I admit, I was sick, but now I am cured. Believe me, I'm healthy! I adequately perceive the reality around me! For God's sake, let me go!
- Would a healthy person eat cement? - The doctor grinned sarcastically.
The orderlies appeared - Lomov recognized in them the very devils who poured liquid metal into him.
They blindfolded the patient and led him through the endless hospital corridors. Then he was taken for a long time in an elevator, as it seemed to him down, and then again there were corridors.
* * *
- I can't be frozen, - just in case, Arthur warned, when the orderlies suddenly began to pull off his clothes, - I'm allergic to cold. I will die immediately!
- Not anymore! - The orderly assured, continuing to undress Lomov.
- In what sense? - Arthur didn't understand.
- In direct! You probably think you're in a psych ward?
- Yes of course! Where else can they bully people like that?
- Wow, "above the people"! - The orderly chuckled, - But just a few hours ago you considered yourself a rat!
- I was wrong! But now that I have realized my delusions, there is no need to keep me in your terrible hospital!
- I told you, this is not a hospital for you!
- What then?
- The ancient Greeks called this place Hades, the Muslims Sakar, the Buddhists - Naraka, the Christians - underworld or just Hell. Atheists believe that there is no such place at all. Remember that jerk on the tinted nine?
- Wait, what do you want to say? But I managed to jump back!
- As you can see, you didn’t have time! - The orderly grunted sarcastically, - You died before the arrival of the ambulance!
- How did I die? Wait, I'm… - Arthur tried to object, but suddenly he realized that he was talking to himself.
He tore off the bandage from his eyes and saw that he was standing completely alone, naked in the middle of an endless snowy plain, and the icy wind was beating his face, tearing tears from his eyes, which immediately hardened, turning into ice.
There was no strength to stand still, and he went at random, trembling all over and falling into the snow almost up to his knees...

Yesterday I was looking through some pictures from when I got my puppy in DecembeJanuary. Oh man, he was so adorable and extra cute at 8 weeks! But looking at the pictures I remember how stressful it was, especially as a first-time dog mom. Potty training, chewing, biting (oooof, the biting!), scavenging, getting up at night, constant vigilance and basically having no time to myself.
I was in love with him from the first second and I never got the puppy blues, but looking back I feel like I couldn't really enjoy early puppyhood because it was sooo so stressful.
For reference, this dog is freaking SMART and trainable, but he's also very high-energy. As in: Every professional (trainers, vets...) who has met him was like "whoa, this one sure is a handful, he has energy for 10 puppies!"
5 months later and I can't believe how things have changed! I finally have a wonderful DOG instead of a furry teeth tornado on steroids.
I've posted before about him entering adolescence and suddenly becoming way more well-behaved despite everything people say about this age. And thank god, it didn't get worse, on the contrary. My teenager is an absolute delight!
Of course he's still high-energy and an adorably silly puppy at times, but he also has an off switch. He can happily nap while I'm gone and we haven't used the crate in months. He walks perfectly on a loose leash, crosses streets like a pro and instead of being stressed about passing other people I can actually enjoy our walks and constantly get compliments on how cute and well-behaved he is.
Things that were unthinkable a couple of weeks ago are no big deal now. He lets me trim his nails, remove ticks and patiently sits still for me to administer eye drops. We even managed to curb his frustrated greeter behavior, which was a big hassle right from the start. Within a couple of days we went from lunging at any other dog (because he wanted to say hi) to sitting down politely and letting them pass. He knows 30+ commands/tricks and I can actually talk to him and he definitely understands.
We had a playdate with his girlfriend from puppy school this morning and right now I'm chilling in the backyard. Pup is lounging next to me in the grass, perfectly happy just chilling out, working on his chew and getting an occasional belly rub. I'm totally in love with him and can't even imagine living without him.
To all the puppy parents out there: Hang in there, it's SO worth it ❤️
Puppy tax

I’m a personal trainer (which is good for me because as soon as I sit down I nearly fall asleep.) I yawn 5-10x an hour and clients get SO offended. Just a few know I have adhd and don’t bat an eye. It’s exhausting trying to explain to people so most of the time I just don’t.
Does this happen to anyone else? And how do I make it seem less offensive 😂

So I just ordered a de buyer carbon steel pan and I'm planning to use it as soon as possible (my old non-stick pan has lost so much coating, it's unusable cause I don't want to die).
Anyways, so for that reason I'm planning ahead with the seasoning process. I'm a sunflower oil user and I'm planning to season with that but so many people talk about flax seed and other oils. Is that really necessary? They are pretty expensive here too just to use a drop of it.
Also how many times do you season before first use? I was planning to maybe do one coat, smoke it off, then bring the temperature down to mid and do a second one. All on the stove top too.
Does this sound like a good plan to you? What do the experienced seasoners say?

It's Monday and I have a bone to pick with TAG Heuer. They announced their new watch right as I clicked publish on the news update. I guess you're already caught up on it.

What's new

1/
TAG Heuer Releases A Trio Of New Monacos With Skeleton Dials Ahead Of The Big Race
Hey, thanks a lot TAG! The exact second I sent out the Friday edition of It’s About Time they decided to announce a new watch. And not just any watch, that I would be cool with waiting until Monday to write about it. It is a trio of new and very different TAG Heuer Monaco Skeleton Chronographs, one of the first times they put a skeleton dial in the Monaco, but it’s also a release that coincides with the Monaco F1 Grand Prix. So here I am, writing about it after the race is over.
Never mind, it’s still a nice watch. Excluding the V4 editions that had a different case and was driven by belts, a unique piece in carbon made for Only Watch 2021, and the very exclusive “Riviera” edition, TAG Heuer has never made a production Monaco with a skeleton dial. And looking at these watches, it looks to have been a mistake on TAG’s part as the watches really do look fantastic.
The base dimensions of the watch remain the same - 39mm wide and 14.7mm thick, but not much else is the same. The case in the skeleton model is made out of sandblasted titanium to make it much lighter. While I see why some people would want that, I adore the weight of the original model. You know when you are wearing one.
TAG calls this watch a skeleton, I described it as a skeleton but it, in fact, is not actually a skeleton watch. It would more appropriately be described as an openworked Monaco, as it has a partial dial that reveals a slightly reworked movement. But even as such it looks great - all sharp lines and angles. The watch comes in three editions - Original Blue with an untreated titanium case, blue dial, white and red accents and a blue strap; Racing Red, an untreated case, black dial with red and white accents and a black strap; and Turquoise, with a black DLC coated case, a black strap, a black dial with turquoise-coloured accents and sub-dials, a colour also being sported on the column wheel and rotor.
Inside is the familiar Calibre Heuer 02 with some slight improvements, with an 80 hour power reserve. Apart from the colors, all the straps are the same, a mix of rubber and leather with a titanium folding clasp.
All three are part of the regular collection and are not limited. The Original Blue and Racing Red editions are priced at CHF 10,500, and the DLC-coated Turquoise edition at CHF 11,000.
2/
Aquastar Revives Their First Dive Watch With The Model 60, The Most Classic Of Skin Divers With A Great Price
We are in the golden age of brand revivals. Aquastar, for example, was founded in the early 60s in Geneva by Frédéric Robert, a diver, sailor, pilot, mathematician and watchmaker after Robert took over his fathers watchmaking business JeanRichard. Over the next ten years, Rober filed a number of patents that are still relevant today, like inner rotating bezels, multiple dive decompression bezels, a new crown sealing system and the friction bezel ring…
When Robert retired, the brand was bought and sold by a number of companies and ended up being revived in 2020 by Rick Marei, who is known for building up Doxa to the powerhouse it is today. And ever since then they have been putting out fire releases. Their newest one is the Aquastar Model 60, which brings back the brand’s first-ever diver with modern specs.
All of the modern releases from Aquastar have been based on the Deepstar, but the Model 60 gets a completely new case. It’s based on the original Model 60, introduced in 1957 as JeanRichard7s first diver with a water resistance rating of 100 meters, and it was seemingly the earliest watch to use a skin-diver-style case. The Model 60 is also famous for being worn by Don Walsh to the bottom of the Mariana Trench while inside the Trieste submersible.
The stainless steel case of the Model 60 measures 37mm wide, 47mm lug-to-lug, 11mm thick and with a 19mm lug spacing. Speaking of the lugs, the watch comes on a tropic strap and can be had with an optional beads-of-rice bracelet with a safety clasp, or a nylon strap. Water resistance is 200 meters, and the sunburst-finished steel bezel is bidirectional.
The dial is what you would expect from a vintage diver - black with printed white minute track and hour markers, filled with “Old Radium” Super-LumiNova. The hands are the same as the Deepstar aside from the addition of a central seconds hand with a lume pip. Inside the watch is the La Joux-Perret G100, which features a 68-hour power reserve and is adjusted to four positions.
The Aquastar Model 60 will be a regular production model for the brand, and will not be limited. The Model 60 will start at $990 and rise to $1,290 at some point. The bracelet will cost an extra $159. Also the first 100 buyers will get a liquid-filled compass that can be attached to either a Tropic or nylon strap. However, considering the amount of press this watch has gotten over the weekend, I imagine they sold the first 100 already.
3/
The New And More Compact De Bethune DB28XS Starry Seas Is An Ode To Calm Seas
De Bethune watches are really something very special. The DB28 line especially. The floating lugs, delta-shaped bridge and crown at noon all give it a very futuristic look while remaining supremely elegant. The newly introduced DB28X Starry Seas takes all of these traits and gives them a huge makeover, despite looking practically the same - it shrinks it down radically to 39mm and gives it a beautifully serene blue dial with a world-first random guilloché pattern designed to evoke a starry sea.
The DB28XS is not only the smallest model in De Bethune’s family but inherits the slimmer, more stylised profile of the DB28XP models. With its diameter of 38.7mm (down from almost 43mm of the DB28) and thickness of 7.4mm, this petite newcomer is small and slim but also light, thanks to the polished titanium case.
The dial, which relies on a heat-blued titanium base that De Bethune has become known for, is decorated with the world’s first random guilloché pattern invented by De Bethune. Whether this means that De Bethune invented a random guilloché pattern or whether it is the fact that De Bethune has applied a random guiloché pattern to a blued titanium base needs clarifying. But there’s no denying that it’s a beautiful dial, as the wavy pattern is interrupted with sprinklings of white gold that mimic stars. A silver-plated rounded chapter ring bearing transferred Arabic numerals for hours and a blue dotted minute track frames the wavy dial. Time is indicated by two custom-made and hand-polished titanium openworked hands.
The watch comes on a supple dark blue alligator leather strap with light blue top stitching and a titanium pin buckle. De Bethune have not said whether this will be a limited model or when it will be available, but it’s expected to retail for CHF 77,000, excluding taxes.
4/
Alpina Has A Very Interesting Startimer Pilot Heritage Manufacture
Alpina is really starting to annoy me. I don’t want to take them seriously, on account of the name they share with the people that make my skis, and I’m not a huge fan of a number of their watches. But every now and again, they release a watch that’s just so great… Wait until you read all the specs and the price of the newly introduced Aplina Startimer Pilot Heritage Manufacture, an attractive vintage-inspired pilot’s watch.
The barrel-shaped case measures 42×40.75mm and lacks traditional lugs, with the strap going deep into the brushed case, with a crown at 4 o’clock. The dial is splendidly simple, with a deep blue color, a white minute track and beige luminescent hour markers. The rectangular hour and minute hands get the same beige lume. You can get it on a very vintage brown calf leather strap with white stitching.
But what’s really special is what’s inside the watch. A number of Alpina watches have had third party movements, but this one gets the AL-709 in-house calibre, an automatic movement presented in a becoming golden hue. Visible via an exhibition caseback, the movement at first glance resembles a manual movement due to its oscillating mass sharing the same golden tones as the automatic device bridge and mainplate. Subtle graining, blue screws and perlage are all augmenting the model’s overall appeal.
But what makes it even more special is the availability of 188 pieces and the price - just €2,850. And now this presents me with a question. This is obviously a very attractive watch - it looks great, has a good size, has an in house movement and does not break the bank, while still being limited which should, in theory, increase its desirability. I only now found out about the watch from the article in Escapement. In fact, this has been available since January. Why hasn’t it sold out yet? Is it just not attractive enough? Is it the name? It can’t be the value for money, or am I mistaken?
5/
Respected Independent Watchmaker Andreas Strehler Launches New Brand And Watch With The Strehler Sirna
Andreas Strehler is one of those watchmakers that is a leader among independent watchmakers and for good reason. He has mastered everything from fabrication to finishing, but then would not budge from the polarising design of his watches that many argue kept a lot of customers from him. And I love when someone is so stubborn. To be clear, his previous watches were not ugly monstrosities. They were elegant timepieces marked by a distinctive papillon, or “butterfly”, movement architecture and resulting cushion-shaped case, and Strehler has become known as the independent watchmaker’s watchmaker, having developed the HMC 341 perpetual calendar movement for H. Moser & Cie and the Dragon Lever escapement for Precision Engineering.
Stehler has now decided to expand to a wider audience and has launched a new brand known simply as Strehler, which aims to reach a wider audience with more accessible designs and prices. The brand’s opening act is the Sirna, named after the town of Sirnach in northeastern Switzerland where the manufacture is based.
At launch, the Sirna is offered in a single reference that features an elegantly proportioned, 40 mm steel case with a concave case band and ergonomically formed lugs. The crown is inlaid with a blue titanium disk that features Mr. Strehler’s signature Papillon logo. The patterned dial is also titanium, anodised in a beautiful blue. Designed by Eric Giroud, each dial is machined and laser-engraved before being individually hand polished.
But what’s really special is what’s inside - the in-house SA-30 movement that has some of the highest quality finishings at this price point. For example, the movement has an in-house gold rotor and ball-bearing rotor mount. Most brands, even those in the so-called “Holy Trinity”, typically outsource the production of rotors to a specialist.
The architecture of this 30mm calibre stands out with a series of circles for the bridges and the openworked rotor that match the curvature of the case. The large, free-sprung balance beats at 21,600 vibrations/hour and boasts 60 hours of power reserve. The decoration of this movement is refined, with hand-chamfered bevels, circular Geneva stripes, graining and circular-grained wheels, all channelling the movement’s elaborate design.
The Strehler Sirna comes on a supple brown calfskin strap with off-white stitching. The steel pin buckle is engraved with the brand’s logo. The price is set at CHF 20,000 (excl. taxes), which seems fair for an “independent watch” of this level. The watch is not a limited edition, but the production capacity is expected to be around 30 to 50 watches per year maximum.
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On hand - a selection of reviews

1/
A review of the Shinola Duck the brand’s light-duty, entry-level diver-style watch
2/
Hands-on with the Maen Brooklyn 36 — an unusual panda with a champagne twist
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Watch Worthy - A look at an offbeat, less known watch you might actually like

The Sofia II from Axia Time — high style with some substance
The Sofia II sits somewhere between a dressy and sporty piece, and Axia has sized it accordingly. The diameter of 40.5mm and lug-to-lug length of just under 48mm is a good fit on my 17.75cm (7″) wrist. It perhaps looks even larger than that due to the all-dial design and large polished lug facets. The combination of titanium, a thickness of 10.5mm, and lug tips sitting slightly lower than the case back all help the watch to sit securely and wear comfortably. But this leads to another dichotomy.
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People loved the PRX giveaway! That's why I'm doing a new one. This time, we're giving away three Seiko Alpinists in that lovely green. The giveaway will be ending at the end of the month, so head on over to the newsletter before Wednesday, midnight CET if you would like to enter.
If you would like to receive some additional watch-adjacent content, as well as this news overview, every morning Monday-Friday in the form of a newsletter feel free to subscribe. However, there is absolutely no need for you to subscribe, as all the news from the newsletter is posted here. It is only if you want to receive a couple of daily links that are not strictly watch-related and want to get this news overview in your inbox.

Fanfic name: Pokemon A(sh)/S(erena)
--------------------Continuity and Placement-----------------
After 1 years of MPM Epsiode 11
For Liko and Roy: Somewhere After Pokemon Horizon Epsiode 6-8 and it's subject to change
--------------------Character settings--------------------
Main Cast: XY Gang (Ash, Serena, Clemont, Bonnie) + OG Gang (Misty, Brock) + Gary Oak
Everyone will receive the Mega Evolution
​
Dawn become Top Coordinator before the fic starts.
May and Dawn will become Serena's rival.
Chloe is May, Dawn and Serena's apprentice
Pokemon Master scaling from best to worst: Ash >>>> Leon > all 6 Masters
Pokemon Coordinator scaling from best to worst : Dawn = May >< Serena > Chloe > Miette > Drew = Zoey
Pokemon Performer scaling from best to worst :Serena > May > Dawn > Aria > Chloe > Miette> Jessie
​
​
--------------------Change from Anime in this fanfic--------------------
-Ash:

• become smarter and more mature at beginning, but still a dense shell (slowly breaks)
• Use Aura and his superhuman strength very often
• Regularly use his old pokemon and keep switching his party except Pikachu, because in this fanfic, Ash want to spent more time with their old pokemon. However, as the times comes by, Any non Pikachu Pokemon that Ash have (including his greninja) will be slowly replaced by the Paldea Pokemon like Armarouge and Cyclizar

​
-While Bond Transformation is exclusive to Greninja in anime ,in this fanfic bond transformation can also be accessed if the Trainer have unusual high relationship with their Kalos Starter (might subject to change in future) such as Serena-Delphox and Clemont-Chesnaut
-Serena will slowly become a better battler than anime counterpart (become as strong as Clemont) , joining battle way more often and will even features with several back-to-back action with Ash
-Clemont's Chespin will evolve to Chesnaught because of some Lab accident which also blow up the Prism Tower(lol!)
-Up to 6 on hand Pokemon Limit still applys here, but can use some device to replace members in their party as they wish before entering battle, and it can be bypassed by simply befriend with other pokemon rather than caught them in pokeball
-Introduce various of team finisher move which will not be considered as one of the "4 moves"
-4 moves limit are still applies here, but trainers can bypass it by create their very own charge move on their pokemon
-Trainers can use all 6 pokemon at the same time
-Features tons of OC enemy, pokemon or the antagionist that are neither Pokemon nor Humans.
-Bonnie will become part of the team instead of Tagalong Kid and use squishy to help saves the day more often.
-Clemont will become more successful Scientist because he now got the more competent assistant (Clembot MKIII and his Chesnaught)
--------------------Miscellaneous--------------------
Everyone will have their official age +1, except Ash who is still stucking at 10 years old (There'll be the story arc which explains why Ash was still 10 years old)
Team rocket trio will be sent to jail at ending of Team Rocket Arc because I feels like they're superfluous in the fanfic. But they might return if I can make use of them and appears as reformed person because they're not entirely bad person I think
Liko and Roy will appear as side characters
Greninja will be actively used, but there'll be few chapter where Ash didn't bring his greninja in his party
Almost everyone will get Mega evolution
Serena will move to Pallet Town and live with Ash, while Clemont, Bonnie and Meyer will temporary living with Ash as well
--------------------Arc 1: The dream begins and reunion (ep 1-6)--------------------
Type: Storytelling, Action, Romance, Amour
Ash recieved the invite that will makes him reunite with his girlfriend, but he must deal with the plant from giant rock which will eventually not only makes him reunite with his girlfriend, but also reassamble the entire XY cast and makes the story looks like XY sequel (lol!)
Episode 1: Story begins with Ash saw the nightmare where the world being destroyed and even Arceus unable to do anything about it. Then Ash wake up and he just realized that he was invited to see the Pokemon Contest final (Serena Vs Aria) in Kalos, but when Ash went to Kalos, he saw his Greninja being unconscious because of being overworked for cutting wood so many years non stop without taking any break (Lol!)
Episode 2: It's only 1 hours before Pokemon Contest final starts, Ash had sent his Greninja into Pokemon center. Meanwhile Bonnie and Clemont calls Ash that the plant from Giant Rock had nearing the Luminse City. Ash and Lucario attempt to sense where's the source of those plant are but unable to. Meanwhile at this time, Greninja had been fully recovered and returns to Ash!
Episode 3: Greninja had been recovered! With Greninja's help, Ash was finally able to find the source of the Giant Rock- on underground. Clemont used the newly devloped drill to make the tunnel so that Ash (with Pikachu, Lucario and Greninja), Clemont (with Luxray) and Bonnie (With squishy) will able to reach the underground and saw the core of those plants. With the combined effort of Pikachu, Lucario, Greninja, Luxray and Squishy, they was able to destroy the core and stopping the Giant Rock plant once and for all.
Episode 4: After the Giant Rock Plant Core had been Destroyed, Ash had found that the Pokemon Contest final had already begin. Ash was tried to reach Pokemon Contest as soon as possible. At first, Aria's excellent Contest skills makes Serena begin to self-doubt if she could made it, but Ash was eventally managed to arrives and cheers Serena, allowing Serena to unlock Bond Transformation on Her Delphox to become Serena-Delphox and become Kalos Queen (Yes, I made her Kalos Queen that early because I have struggle to write Pokemon Contest chapters)
Episode 5: At last, Ash and Serena had finally reunion! To celebrating Serena become Kalos Queen, Ash was going to buy the new clothes for Serena as suprise gift so that Serena can put her Blue Ribbon back on her chest, but Ash have struggle to do so because Ash know nothing about clothing style, but thanks to Diantha's help, Ash was eventally able to find the clothes that fits Serena and fits her Blue Ribbon.
Episode 6: Ash and Serena say goodbye to Miette, Diantha and May and moved to Pallet town. But at the next day, they found themselves had been trapped inside the crowd as both are now become the celebrity and all of the billboard had their own face! Diantha will teach Ash and Serena must find the way to move around in public
--------------------Clemont single chapter (ep 7)--------------------
Type: Storytelling, Action, Humor
I made this chapter so that I can give Clemont bond transformation form
Episode 7: Clemont was devloping the devloution device which allows the Pokemon to devolve if they accidentally evolved against their will. However, like most of Clemont's device, his devlution device went malfunction and begin to explode and accidentally fully evolved his Chespin into Chesnaught as well! Everyone was managed to escape, but the explosion was so huge that it blows half of the Prism Tower, leaving them homeless and have to temporary move to Pallet town to live with Ash until the Prism Tower had been fully restored. Meanwhile, Xerosic managed escaped from jail and separated Clemont from Bonnie and Meyer. Xerosic's power protector easily overpowers all of his pokemon and his chesnaught! Xerosic was teasing that Clemont's science is terrible, but Clemont determination that the science was supposed to be used for justice allows his chesnaught to unlock the bond transformation to become Clemont-chesnaught, allowing Clemont to defeat Xerosic and sent Xerosic back to jail. Unfortunately, Xerosic was managed to damage the Prism Tower which forcing Clemont, Bonnie and Meyer to living in Ash's house temporarily until the Prism Tower had been rebuilt.
--------------------Ash pidgeot single chapter (ep 8)--------------------
Type: Action
Despite Ash's pidgeot had officially returned to Ash, it's another questions of how long can his pidgeot live with his trainer.....
Episode 8: Tons of Fearow had invaded and caused the huge chaos in Pallet town and steals Serena's blue ribbon! Ash's Pidgeot had found that those Fearow are came from Viridian Forest. Ever since Pidgeot had reunited with Ash, those Fearow had rapidly reproduce, quickly take over the Viridian Forest and begin to spread out of nowhere! Those Fearow demands Ash's Pidgeot in exchange for those Pidgey and Pidgeotto's life and the Blue Ribbon. Ash and Pidgeot arrived Viridian Forest but those Pidgey and Pidgeotto told them not to leave his Pidgeot here because they thinks that the Pidgeot was belong to Ash and Ash refuse to leave his Pidgeot here. Those Fearow now attempt to hurt those Pidgey and Pidgeotto and ate the Blue Ribbon! Ash Mega Evolved his Pidgeot to fight against those Fearow but being slowly outnumbered by those Fearow. On the verge of Ash's Pidgeot's defeat, those Pidgey and Pidgetto had evolved into Pidgeot and helps Ash's Pidgeot to defeat those Fearow and give Ash back the Blue Ribbon, ending those Fearow's threat once and for all! Ash and his Pidgeot was bid farewell to those Pidgeot and give the Blue Ribbon back to Serena, now Ash's Pidgeot can live with Ash forever!
--------------------Arc 3: Team Rocket invasion (ep 9-17)--------------------
Type: Action
XY/XYZ cast had finally reassambled! But let's not forget about that they must deal with the very first and longest lasting villain organization-Team Rocket!
Epsiode 9: Gary had reunited with Ash, where former had become the Pokemon Professor. Gary brings Ash and Serena to visit the extension of Professor Oak's laboratory (Clemont and Bonnie was here too!). Meanwhile, Giovanni had arrived the laboratory and defeated Professor Oak. Gary came out and fight against Giovanni once again and.....lose once again. Meanwhile, the Team Rocket Grunts kidnapped Professor Oak while they're battling and Giovanni had left the laboratory!
Epsiode 10: Giovanni kidnapped Professor Oak to Team Rocket base to make Professor Oak works for him. Ash and Gary was thinking about how to save Giovanni. Meanwhile, the Team Rocket trio appears once again and attempt to steal his Pikachu, but Misty and Brock arrives and saves Ash's Pikachu. Ash respond with a heavy heart as Ash aware that this might be their last time to prepare for trouble as Ash had decided to destroy Team Rocket once and for all (Yes, he feels sympathy for those Team Rocket Trio because he aware that Team Rocket Trio have heart) and Ash's pikachu sent Team Rocket Trio flying once again like usual!
Epsiode 11: Thanks to Clemont's science, Ash, Misty, Brock and Gary was able to track down the location of Team Rocket base. Clemont gives Ash the device which allows Ash to freely switch his Pokemon party anywhere and anytime. Ash, Misty, Brock and Gary went to Team Rocket base while leaving Serena, Clemont and Bonnie at Ash's house. Ash, Misty, Brock and Gary charging towards Team Rocket Base and begin the final battle against Team Rocket!
Epsiode 12: Ash, Misty, Brock and Gary fight against thousands of Team Rocket Grunts who "Welcomed" them. But they slowly outnumbered by those Team Rocket Grunts and they realized that those Team Rocket Grunts are here to buying Giovanni's time! Misty and Brock decided to stay here and clean the road for Ash and Gary to reach Team Rocket Base! Meanwhile, Professor Oak had been tied into the chair which extract his knowledge about the pokemon.
Epsiode 13: Ash and Gary was finally managed to find Giovanni and Professor Oak. Giovanni transfer his consciousness into the Armored Mewtwo (this Mewtwo is different from the first movie one and it's nothing more than Giovanni's new body) while Gary was going to save Professor Oak. Serena, Clemont and Bonnie saw the news about Ash is fighting Armored Mewtwo and decided to head to Team Rocket base together with the help of met Korrina, Alain and Diantha. Meanwhile, Ash had been defeated by Giovanni and being tied outside the Team Rocket base!
Epsiode 14: Clemont, Bonnie and Serena met Korrina, Alain and Diantha to rescue Ash, but being interrupted by the artifical pokemon army. Meanwhile Giovanni was about to end Ash's life, but being stopped by Gary. Inside Ash's mental world, Aaron was teaching Ash to master Aura power. After Ash mastered the Aura power, Ash breaks free with his newly mastered Aura power and team up with Gary to fight against Giovanni.
Epsiode 15: Thanks to Ash and Gary's excellent teamwork, in addition of Ash's mastered Aura power, Giovanni had been easily defeated and Giovanni's mewtwo armor had been teared apart. At the same time, Misty, Brock, Serena, Clemont, Bonnie, Korrina, Alain and Diantha had defeated al of the grunts and artifical pokemon army and reunited with Ash and Gary. Meanwhile, Giovanni still refused to give up, he used the knowledge that being extracted from Professor Oak to create the gigantic ultimate pokemon called Chimera. Giovanni insert his consciousness into Chimera and razed half of Pallet Town into ground!
Epsiode 16: Despite the combined effort of Ash, Gary, Misty, Brock, Serena, Clemont, Bonnie, Korrina, Alain and Diantha, Chimera was proven too much for those heroes to handle! Chimera then begin to cover the entire sky with the black smoke which will slowly turns all pokemon all over the world into shadow pokemon! Seems there's nothing to stop him, the real mewtwo appears and helps those hero to fight against Chimera. Meanwhile, Ash's Greninja was managed to use his extrasensory to emulate almost all of Pokemon moveset while his Lucario's aura power had been enchanced which allows his Lucario to create the spirit bomb sized aura sphere. Ash, his pikachu, Greninja and Lucario eventally able to blown Chimera to pieces and sent Giovanni's consciousness back to his human body. Ash came in front of Giovanni and about to kills him with Aura sphere, but Serena, and later the newly arrived Team Rocket Trio pleding Ash not to. Following Giovanni, Team Rocket Trio and rest of Team Rocket member being arrested, Team Rocket had finally being taken down for good. Korrina, Alain and Diantha say goodbye to Ash, Gary, Misty, Brock, Serena, Clemont and Bonnie as Korrina, Alain and Diantha head back to Kalos. Ash and Team Rocket Trio made the promise that they'll be travel together once the Team Rocket Trio served their sentence
Epsiode 17: Few days after Team Rocket being taken down, Ash, Gary, Misty, Brock, Serena, Clemont and Bonnie made the celebration for that.
--------------------Arc 4: Ash being dense shell (ep 18-20)--------------------
Type: Storytelling, Action, character building, emotion
The world had back to it's peace following the shut down of Team Rocket. However, Ash's dense shell kick in ane he'll will learn the the hard way about what will happen for being dense shell
Epsiode 18: Ever since Ash become much stronger since the Team Rocket fight, he begin to become arrogant and addicted in Pokemon Battle! (Yes, typical dense shell Ash for ya) He begin to refuse other people's help and even end up having Quarrel with Serena! Ash ragequit his house and being attacked by Damian, who is looking for revenge of his charamder's betrayal. Despite Ash become lot stronger since they last met, Damian's newly obtained Psychic power and his Charizards army (Mega charizard X and Y, Gigantmaxed Charizard and Shadow Charizard that Damian created with his Psychic power) was proven even more ahead of Ash and defeats Ash! Meanwhile, Ash's rage towards Damian had results his Pikachu unleashed the large energy which not only quickly defeats Damian, but also create the huge hole on ground and become berserk!
Epsiode 19: Being humiliated by Damian and having his pikachu went berserk, Ash had slowly realized that he's only care about Pokemon and become megalomaniac had corrupted his bond with pikachu! He begin to feels sorry about how he treat his friends especially Serena. Ash was later apogoized to Serena and his friends and slowly reconcile with each other and discuss how to bring his pikachu back to control. With the combined effort of Serena and his friends, Ash was eventually able to bring his pikachu back to sense.
Episode 20: Those evil Malamar had finally returned to present and attempt to brainwash Ash and Serena once again, but Clemont used his creation. Ash and Serena was quickly blows those evil Malamar into ashes but the energy crystals absorbs those evil Malamar's body and activated and quickly defeated all of their pokemon except Pikachu. That energy crystals attempt to shoot laser on Serena and Ash attempt to run in front of that laser to protect Serena, which results Ash's feelings resonance with pikachu which makes his pikachu utilized that power once again to create the deadly new move for pikachu: Ragnerok! However, the power of Ragnerok had makes Ash and Pikachu unconscious for a while.
--------------------Arc 5-Serena's upgrade (21-22)--------------------
Type: Action, character building, passion, emotion
Seeing that Ash unconscious, Serena learned that she need to learn self defense so that she wont end up become damsel in distress when her boyfriend isn't present
Epsiode 21: Seeing that Ash end up unconscious for saving her, Serena decided to become stronger so that the same tragic won't happen again. Serena had found Bonnie to train with Bonnie's squishy. Because Serena was never joined the real battle before, Serena was not able to land any single hit on Squishy 10% form even with the combined effort of all her 3 pokemon + having her Delphox , then Serena realized that the only way to makes her stronger battler is to use what she already good at-Pokemon Performer. By using her pokemon performing skills into combat, she was finally able to defeat Squishy's 10% form.
Episode 22 (WIP): Serena will get Absol which will helps her in combat and will be used on Contest too
--------------------Single Pokeshipping chapter (ep 23)--------------------
Type: Story telling, Action
Misty must find the balance between traveling with Ash and her gym.
Episode 23: Misty had been tired of her having to do all three jobs from her 3 Irresponsible sisters, which making her leave her gym behind and went to Ash's house. Ash was suprised how Misty would willing to give up her gym for that Meanwhile, Damian hijacked Misty's gym and kidnapped Daisy, Lily, and Violet, to demands Misty in exchange her gym and her sisters. Ash and Misty worked together to defeat Damian and saved all 3. Misty's 3 sisters apogoized for over-reliance the gym operation to Misty alone and promised Misty that they'll become more responsible for their gyms. Misty give her gym back to her sisters and says goodbye to them.
--------------------------------------Planned Future story Arc:--------------------------------------
Pokemon Contest Arc (Mittie vs Serena) or:
Wallce Cup Arc(May vs Dawn, Chloe vs May, Chloe vs Dawn, Dawn vs Serena) or:
countine the romance amour with Ash arc: (Should I? But I really suck at writing those)
--------------------------------------Oizys Arc (adopted from this one shot): --------------------------------------
Type: Action, Deconstruction Fic, drama, passion, Original Story, Fantasy, Meta
Warning: Starting at this Arc, the typical Amour and even anime Pokemon logic will be thrown out the window and replaced with the original plot that you might not asked for!
Warning: This Story Arc features with full of ridiculousness, rather dark story, in-face towards TPC and filled with heavy irony and even fourth wall break etc. Please watch at your discretion! If you want something closer to Pokemon Anime, skip to Paldea Arc.
Ash teachs Goh how to take care of Pokemon, but Goh's dark side came to manifest as its own entirely separate, physical entity called Oizys, Goh's evil counterpart who is the psychopath pokemon hunter (a parody of many chinese amourshipping fic features with Goh as antagionist), Goh was paralyzed with fear after witnessing his evil counterpart's cruelty and end up in coma for a while. Oizys steal all Serena's pokemon, all Ash's ace (including his Greninja) and almost managed to steal his pikachu but his pikachu managed to free all of Ash's ace and Serena's pokemon, Ash and Serena got the upper hand and defeats Oizys, but Ash being posessed by Oizys in front of Serena's eyes and defeated almost every single Ash's traveling partner, all 7 Pokemon Masters , Gary Oak and Serena. But Serena was eventally managed to free Ash from Oizys control. After defeating Oizys, Goh finally wake up and learned the harsh lesson about how to take care of his pokemon.
​
--------------------------------------gossip Arc (adopted from this one shot): --------------------------------------
Type: Deconstruction Fic, drama, Original Story, Break Fourth Wall, humor
Warning: Another original plot which full of ridiculousness, filled with heavy irony and even fourth wall break sans Action. Please watch at your discretion! If you want something closer to Pokemon Anime, skip to Paldea Arc.
Ash and Serena must find a way to debunk various of the fake news (like Liko is Ash and Serena's daughter) that damaging their reputations and free Liko from being cyberbullied. In addition, they'll also met Nemona for first time who will later join Ash's team.
--------------------------------------"Shipping War" Arc (adopted from This one shot): --------------------------------------
Warning: This Story Arc features with full of ridiculousness, rather dark story, in-face towards TPC and filled with heavy irony and even fourth wall break etc. Please watch at your discretion! If you want something closer to Pokemon Anime, skip to Paldea Arc.
Type: Deconstruction Fic, drama, Original Story, Break Fourth Wall, humor
The giant blue bird had makes Serena and Misty , all Ash's female travel companion and even all humans in pokemon kills each other until there's only 1 left against their will! Ash was able to free all of his friend before any tragic happens but that giant blue bird absorbed Serena and begin to spread all over the world! The only way to save Serena is to have Ash insert the feelings toward Serena into the water shuriken to open the hole out of Twitter's physical body so that Ash can save Serena.
--------------------------------------Ash's 10 years old truth Arc Prequel (adopted from this one shot**):**--------------------------------------
Type: Deconstruction Fic, drama, Original Story, Amour, Break Fourth Wall, romance, character building, Action
Warning: Another original plot which full of ridiculousness, rather dark story, in-face towards TPC, filled with heavy irony and even fourth wall break! Please watch at your discretion! If you want something closer to Pokemon Anime, skip to Paldea Arc.
After Ash and Serena discovered the truth about Ash's being cursed with eternal 10 years old which might potentially eventally wipe away his character development and revert him back to the 10 years old stupid dense shell like in Uvona, Ash and Serena got psychological shadow and escape from reality by living in their own dream and refuse to wake up. However, Ash and Serena would eventually overcome their fear and . It'll also features with the cameo appearance of Calem and Game Serena.
--------------------------------------Paldea Arc: --------------------------------------
Type: Adventure, Humor, amour
Finally the story Arc that closer to Pokemon Anime rather than those edgy fourth wall break meta fic bullshit!
Ash, Serena, Clemont, Bonnie, Misty, Brock, Gary (Should I put Goh and Chloe as well?) will go to Paldea to travel, they'll meet Roy , Liko and Friede for first time and Nemona will join Ash's team. They'll later met Steven and receive the Tera Orb which allows them to Terastalize their pokemon. Ash will got 2 new) Pokemon) in this Arc, might consider to give Misty Quaxly in this Arc.
Warning: Starting at this Arc, the typical Amour and even anime Pokemon logic will be thrown out the window and replaced with the original plot that you might not asked for!
--------------------------------------Tobias Arc:--------------------------------------
Type: Deconstruction Fic, drama, Original Story, Amour, Break Fourth Wall, romance, Amour, character building, Action
Warning: This Story Arc features with full of ridiculousness, rather dark story, in-face towards TPC and filled with heavy irony and even fourth wall break etc. Please watch at your discretion!
Tobias was revealed to be the "Ash's dream crusher", so strong that not even the combined effort of 7 Pokemon Master can stop him! This Arc features with the return and the final battle against Oizys and Damian.
--------------------------------------Ash's 10 years old Arc: --------------------------------------
Type: Deconstruction Fic, Original Story, Amour, Break Fourth Wall, romance, Humor
Warning: This Story Arc features with full of ridiculousness, rather dark story, in-face towards TPC and filled with heavy irony and even fourth wall break etc. Please watch at your discretion!
Last Story Arc where Ash is still 10 years old
Ash finally defeated Tobias, but Ash's 10 years old curse had finally reverted Ash back to the tough dense shell. Ash's friend and Serena must find the way to break that curse to stop Ash from being 10 years old and bring the mature Ash back.
​
--------------------------------------Oshi no Ko crossoveIdol industry dark truth Arc:--------------------------------------
Type: crossover, drama, Break Fourth Wall, Humor
Warning: This Story Arc features with full of ridiculousness, rather dark story, heavy irony, fourth wall break etc. Please watch at your discretion!
Ash finally grown up! Serena was being invited to went to Japan for the performance but eventually rejected after she discovered the shocking, ugly truth of the idol industry in Japan. Officer Jenny gives the secret mission for Ash, Team Rocket Trio (served their sentence), Latias and Team Rocket Trio's Ditto will camouflage as Serena, Dawn, May and Chloe to sneak into those idol industry and debunk the dirty act in idol industry in Japan, while the real Serena, Dawn, May and Chloe will appeals to her fans all over the world to boycott such dirty act in idol industry in Japan.
--------------------------------------TBA Arc--------------------------------------

Hi all, continuing my writing improvement journey today. Any and all feedback would be appreciated on the below opening chapter.
Would you read more, does it read well, is the pacing ok, etc?
[2.5k words]
Anything is super helpful! TIA
(Apologies for any formatting issues).
—
[Chapter 1] – The beginning of the end
Olarte crumpled to his knees, wincing as the sharp edges of the cave's rocky floor cut into his flesh. There was probably an easier way of doing this, he thought. A hot humid breath pressed on his neck, stark in contrast to the coolness of the cave.
“G-Get up.”
A strong hand clamped down on Olarte's shoulder, his muscles tensing under the pressure. He shrugged, trying to shake off the grip.
"I've already told you," Olarte said, flinching as the man shoved him. "I'm not going to do anything. I'll help you find it, Son of Maheraf." The stalactites above dripped water, creating a soothing rhythm like a heartbeat. An aroma of damp earth hung in the air. Tunnels led off in every direction, making it seem as if the cave stretched on for miles. The ground uneven, with jagged rocks and stones jutting out.
Despite its intimidating appearance, the cave brought a strange comfort to Olarte. It felt like sinking into a cushion in front of a roaring hearth, a warm bowl of stew on a cold winter's evening, or a comforting embrace from a loving mother.
“Are you alright?” a voice spoke out of the darkness. The words were soft, brushing along the cave walls with care and thought. Olarte smiled and turned his head to see a number of purple crystals glowing, almost pulsating along the floor. “I'll be fine. Although I'm afraid our time has come, my dear.”
“Who are you speaking to?” The Son of Maheraf spat, his words hit the cave walls like a handful of rocks. “What language are you speaking?”
Olarte hadn't spoken in his native tongue for so long that he hadn’t realised he was speaking it. "I'm saying a prayer to the cave to protect us from harm.” he replied. "To keep us safe. You do want to be protected, don't you?" He’ll fall for anything superstitious, they all do.
The captor glared at him. "O-of course.” The man rolled up his sleeves. Clearly trying to present a tough aura. One hand hovering over his swords handle. “Go on then, get on with it."
Olarte pushed himself up, his knees aching as he brushed a thick layer of dust and blood from his trousers. He stepped forward carefully avoiding the glowing crystals lining the floor, their eerie light turning the shadows a deep purple. He bent down, reached out and ran his fingers over one of the crystals, finding comfort in its cool, smooth surface. “We must open The Crystal, my dear,” he said softly.
“Are you stalling?” the captor said, returning a grip on Olarte's shoulder. “No, no, of course not,” Olarte replied quickly, turning to face the captor. “All part of the blessing.”
The captor snorted. “Don’t take me for a fool, Olarte, I-I’m warning you.”
“Charming one this friend of yours, Olarte.” The voice from the shadows hushed tone echoed softly. “Is it really time to open it?”
Olarte glanced at the captor.
“Don't worry, he can't hear me.” The voice let out a sigh that seemed to caress the cave walls. “I’d have a few things to say to your friend if he could.”
Olarte's face straightened. “It is time. It must be done. The Fifth Moon is in the night sky. As we planned, my dear, we must act before The Sixth Moon.”
“And this man, is he the right one to share the truth with?”
“Yes, my dear. He's the Son of Maheraf, leader of Remmus. Maheraf will listen to his son, and the people of Remmus will listen to Maheraf.”
“How did you get him to come here?”
“Well, my dear. A rumour may have spread around town that a certain smuggler has hidden some treasure in these tunnels.” Olarte grinned. “You know how these high-ranking officials love their wealth.”
“Yes, I could see you as a smuggler, Olarte.” The voice’s chuckle softened the walls. “Very well, I trust you. I shall light the way.” The dripping from stalactite stopped, a blanket of silence draped over the cave. “This is what we've worked for. This is how we'll be remembered, Olarte. This is the beginning of the end.”
“Move.” The captor gave Olarte another shove. “I think we’re done with the offerings.” The silence lifted, the dripping returned, and the crystals drew a path towards one of the tunnels at the far end of the cavern.
Olarte led the way through the twisting, narrowing tunnel, his eyes fixed on the glowing purple crystals illuminating the path. "The tunnels here are treacherous. Follow me closely so you don't lose your way."
His captor scoffed. "A-Are you sure you've remembered the way correctly?" The man looked at the three tunnel entrances ahead. "It could be down any of these tunnels." "It's down this one. I can see The Light," Olarte smiled.
"What light?" The man looked around. "All I see is my lantern."
"No, no. Son of Maheraf. I see The Light." "Wait. You're a Light Seeker? Like those creatures from the tales?" He chuckled. “Sure, and I’m off to dinner with Lady Lucinda this evening, with her solid gold boots.”
Olarte smiled, not because he knew the truth but because he remembered hearing the tale of Lady Lucinda from his brother when he was younger. Simpler times... what I’d give to hear his storytelling once more. "All tales have to start somewhere. All start with some truth." Olarte pulled his coat around him more tightly moving deeper into the tunnels, the walls closing in around the two men. The sound of dripping water was now a distant echo. "It won't be much longer. The treasure you seek is close at hand."
“It had better be worth it.”
Olarte raised his hands, the line of crystals rose from the floor hovering gracefully at eye-level. “Oh, I think you’ll find it’s worth it.”
The Son of Maheraf flinched at the words "Mercy of Remmus," his hand instinctively reaching for the hilt of his sword. If the moon had been visible from inside the cave, his face would have matched its pallor.
"Oh, don't fear Son of Maheraf. Not all Light Seekers are like the tales." "So. Th-This treasure, it's not gold and jewels, is it?"
"No, I'm afraid not."
Olarte descended further into the tunnels, the air grew colder, the scent of damp earth thickened. Olarte led the way through the twisting and narrowing walls. During each tight squeeze, the tunnel echoed with the sounds of grunts and the clatter of loose stones. Eventually, the crystal pathway faded to a small hole at the end of the tunnel.
"You're not s-serious, are you?" The man stuttered, looking at the hole in disbelief.
"After you." Olarte gestured towards the small hole. It was the perfect size for a man to fit through. Just one man. Not a well-fed man.
The captor rolled his eyes and cursed. "Tell me first. The t-treasure. What is it?"
"It's a book." Olarte bent down and picked up a small rock. He wrapped his fingers around the subtle indentations. "A book wealthy in knowledge." He snapped the rock in half. "A book that tells of the past, the present, and the future." He broke it into quarters. "A book that will decide the fate of Remmus." Olarte let the four pieces of rock fall to the ground.
"Th-That all sounds rather...rather important." The man rubbed his sweaty palms on his shirt. "I-I think I'll leave this treasure to you, my friend." He took a few steps back before breaking out into a run.
"Oh, I'm afraid it's not a choice, Son of Maheraf." Olarte raised both hands. As he did, a purple wall of crystal blocked off the Son of Maheraf's escape. "You must read the book. You are The One Reader. You are the one destined for its truths."
The captor pulled out his sword and swiped it at the crystal wall. The steel blade broke in half, falling to the floor. A metallic ringing bounced around the tunnel, causing some of the ceiling to break away. Olarte shielded his head. I'd be surprised if he didn't try that. I'd have done the same. The man fell to his knees and stared at Olarte.
"W-What is this magic?" He held the two parts of his sword it each hand observing the terrific neatness of the split.
"All your answers are inside this Book." Olarte gestured towards the man-sized hole once more. "Now, please, after you."
The Son of Maheraf stumbled towards the hole, mouth gaping. His eyes darting between the crystal wall, the broken blade, and Olarte. Lying flat on his belly, he pulled himself through, grunting as the sharp rocks tore at his clothes.
Olarte followed. Through the other side he emerged from the narrow passage, entering a vast chamber. At its center stood a colossal crystal pulsating with a lavender purple hue, casting a surreal glow illuminating every corner of the room. It rose from the ground, towering over them like the summit of an iceberg or the peak of a mountain, its size rivaling that of a ship tilted on its stern.
The air filled with a sweet fragrance, reminiscent of honey and tulips on the first warm day of spring. Delicate chimes echoed throughout the chamber, dust in the air dancing and shimmering in the crystal's enchanting light, casting a beautiful rainbow sparkle. The walls were encrusted with thousands of white crystals, each one glittering and twinkling in perfect harmony with the gentle chimes.
A ring of water encircled the chamber, emanating a soft, lapping sound resonating off the crystalline walls. It was as if the crystal at the center of the room had summoned the water, as if it were a natural extension of its ethereal presence. The water glimmered with a deep, cerulean blue, reflecting the vibrant purple of the central crystal and casting a surreal radiance across the entire room.
Olarte stood next to the Son of Maheraf at the water’s edge, their reflections distorted by the ripples. The water dancing and shimmering in time with the chimes, each one creating a mesmerising pattern of light and sound. The chiming was muted by the soft lapping of the water, creating a soothing melody that played through the chamber. Olarte gestured towards the water. “Step onto the water, Son of Maheraf.”
“I-I'm not sure about this.” He took a step back, his eyes darting around, hands fidgeting with the bottom of his shirt.
Olarte raised an eyebrow. "What's the matter? Not scared, are we?" he asked, tapping his foot. He glanced at the crystal and then back to the water, a scowl forming on his face as he waited for the Son of Maheraf to make a decision.
The Son of Maheraf bit his lip. "I-I... uh,"
Olarte rolled his eyes. "Just step onto the water," he gestured once more. "It's not going to hurt you.”
The Son of Maheraf took a deep breath, paused and walked onto the water. A glass-like bridge formed beneath his feet. Olarte followed, he could feel the surface rippling, humming out to the center of the room.
Olarte placed his hand on the Son of Maheraf’s shoulder. "Yes, it is quite remarkable, isn’t it?" He then nudged him forward.
The Son of Maheraf, didn’t take his eyes of the surface below. “What in the name of Remmus is this?”
"The bridge is made of a special material that responds to the presence of those who are worthy to enter this chamber. It's as if it can sense your intentions and your character. Light Magic, a wonderous thing that no one truly understands."
"But how does it do that?" he asked.
Olarte shrugged. "I'm not entirely sure. It's one of the mysteries of this place. But I do know that it is a manifestation of the crystal's power. It can create and manipulate matter in ways that we can't fully understand."
“What do you mean create and manipulate?”
“Well, just as the bridge responds to your presence, Light Magic can also create other objects when it senses you need them.”
"R-Really? Like what?"
"Like the lectern and chair, for example." Olarte pointed towards an alcove appearing at the base of the crystal. "They are here for you to use as you read the book. The Light knows what you need and will provide it for you, no matter the situation."
“No matter the situation?”
“Well, as long as you know how to call it.”
“So, what you did back there, blocking off the tunnel, that was you calling The Light.”
“Calling, channeling, speaking. It’s known as many things. But yes.”
“H-How does one ‘call The Light’ then?”
"The Book, Son of Maheraf," Olarte gestured towards the alcove, where an ornate lectern awaited, adorned in intricate patterns of lines and symbols. Atop it rested a closed tome, beckoning with an air of mystique. Beside it, a chair of the same crystalline glass-like material, bearing the similar exquisite engravings sat awaiting its reader.
Olarte watched as the Son of Maheraf approached the lectern, who’s eyes were glued to the closed book sitting atop it. The intricate patterns on the lectern shimmering and shifting, as if alive, in the glow of the purple light from the towering crystal. The chiming grew louder, and the colors of the rainbow sparkles in the air intensified. The hum of the crystal seemed to grow stronger, pulsing through the room like the adrenaline of a beast preparing for the fight of its life.
The Son of Maheraf seemed to hesitate for a moment. He then reached out to take the book, his hand trembling. He perched on the armchair beside the lectern, the glass-like material creaking slightly beneath his weight. With a deep breath, he opened the book, and immediately, all the light in room intensified into a bright white glow.
[Chapter 2] — THE BOOK OF NIWRAD Welcome to the Book of Niwrad. You are reading this because there is a chance. One chance. That we can stop it all from happening. The past, the present and the future. And through this book, I will show you everything you need to know about how our world split into five.

Hi. First time posting here. I am trying to lose 30 lbs. I have been working with a personal trainer for almost 3 months and eating low carb. The scale has only gone down 3 lbs but I see physical difference in my body shape. I am hoping I am just converting fat intouacle and that's why the number hasn't changed much? My trainer keeps telling me to not pay attention to the scale but I can't help it. Any advice on what I can do to shed the lbs and at least 2 pant sizes faster?

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N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) is an important polar solvent with strong selectivity and stability. It is a colorless oily liquid and has slight amine odor, which can be soluble in water, alcohols, ethers, esters, ketones, halogenated hydrocarbons, aromatics and castor oil.
NMP has the advantages of low toxicity, high boiling point, high solubility, etc.
NMP has wide applications in electronics, pharmaceuticals, paints and coatings, petrochemical processing and others.
LPI (LP Information)' newest research report, the “N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) Industry Forecast” looks at past sales and reviews total world N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) sales in 2022, providing a comprehensive analysis by region and market sector of projected N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) sales for 2023 through 2029. With N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) sales broken down by region, market sector and sub-sector, this report provides a detailed analysis in US$ millions of the world N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) industry.
This Insight Report provides a comprehensive analysis of the global N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) landscape and highlights key trends related to product segmentation, company formation, revenue, and market share, latest development, and M&A activity. This report also analyzes the strategies of leading global companies with a focus on N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) portfolios and capabilities, market entry strategies, market positions, and geographic footprints, to better understand these firms' unique position in an accelerating global N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) market.
This Insight Report evaluates the key market trends, drivers, and affecting factors shaping the global outlook for N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) and breaks down the forecast by type, by application, geography, and market size to highlight emerging pockets of opportunity. With a transparent methodology based on hundreds of bottom-up qualitative and quantitative market inputs, this study forecast offers a highly nuanced view of the current state and future trajectory in the global N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP).
The global N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) market size is projected to grow from US$ 2610.9 million in 2022 to US$ 5836.8 million in 2029; it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5836.8 from 2023 to 2029.
The N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) industry has strong technical barriers and high industry concentration. The top 5 manufacturers include BASF, Yuneng Chemical, Synmiway Chemical, MYI Chemical and SNET, accounted for 50% share.China is the largest market, with a share about 70%, followed by North America with the share about 15%.In terms of product, electronic grade is the largest segment, with a share over 80%. And in terms of application, the largest application is electronics, followed by petrochemical processing.
This report presents a comprehensive overview, market shares, and growth opportunities of N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) market by product type, application, key manufacturers and key regions and countries.
Top Manufactures in Global N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) Includes:
BASF
Mitsubishi Chemical
Lyondellbasell
Ashland
Eastman
Synmiway Chemical
MYI Chemical
Yuneng Chemical
Ganzhou Zhongneng
Guangming Chemicals
Ruian Chemical
SNET
CNSG
Market Segment by Type, covers:
Electronic Grade
Pharmaceutical Grade
Industrial Grade
Market Segment by Applications, can be divided into:
Electronics
Pharmaceuticals
Paints and Coatings
Petrochemical Processing
Others
Key Questions Addressed in this Report
What is the 10-year outlook for the global N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) market?
What factors are driving N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) market growth, globally and by region?
Which technologies are poised for the fastest growth by market and region?
How do N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) market opportunities vary by end market size?
How does N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) break out type, application?
What are the influences of COVID-19 and Russia-Ukraine war?
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https://www.lpinformationdata.com/reports/449771/n-methyl-2-pyrrolidone-nmp-2029
LP INFORMATION (LPI) is a professional market report publisher based in America, providing high quality market research reports with competitive prices to help decision makers make informed decisions and take strategic actions to achieve excellent outcomes.We have an extensive library of reports on hundreds of technologies.Search for a specific term, or click on an industry to browse our reports by subject. Narrow down your results using our filters or sort by what’s important to you, such as publication date, price, or name.
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I’ve had a severely dog reactive dog for three years now. I have spent thousands on training without much improvement, though through following balanced trainers online I did pick up a few tips and we have made some big improvements in the past six months.
Anyway, I was spurred on by this improvement and decided to book in with a highly recommended trainer who is four hours away and cost a fair bit of money (for the initial session anyway- price goes down for follow ups). I already have an ecollar so he suggested we use that to teach my dog to follow me on the lead. We paired a leash correction with a stim on level 7 of my mini educator every time he walked in front or behind too far and now he walks, stops and turns when I do.
The difference this has made to him is mad. I’ve taken him out every day since and he hasn’t reacted at a single dog- even dogs that are reacting to him and are close by, including one that he specifically hates and it’s always a shit show when they see each other. He’s not even looking at other dogs as he walks by- just ignoring them!
I just wanted to share this because after having my life be so stressful every time we see another dog for so many years I simply feel like we are finally getting somewhere. I’m so relieved and happy that the idea of being able to take my dog anywhere without the humiliation of his reactivity ruining it for everyone is not a pipe dream anymore- it’s something that could really happen with more work and training. I just wanted to share my win with you all.

For context I have been NC with my mother for 5 years now and never plan to speak again.
This woman is the scum of the earth for how she treated me and my 4 other siblings. She’s a disgusting person. I have so much trauma from her. The specific memory I can’t get out of my head is eating me alive.. I’m too afraid to write it down in a journal and have my bf read it so here goes…
When I was 15 we were homeless, living with whoever, all of us were scattered. I never really had good friends to stay with so I had to follow my mom and stay with this man she liked and one of my sisters (13 at the time). One day she picked us both up from a choir concert after school. Because of this I had on small bootie heels, a skirt with hosiery, no coat on, it’s snowing and 20 degrees out, this is important.
She was arguing with me about something that I can’t remember. And by arguing I mean she yelled and I sat there silently crying. She told me if I didn’t like what she was saying to get out of the car. I said FINE, stop right here I’m getting out. So she did. And I got out of the car. My sister is screaming and crying to please get back in. My mom told her I wasn’t allowed. As she slams the car door in my face she said to me “I hope someone kidnaps and rapes you so you can’t come back”. I was a fucking kid. A KID.
I knew where we were so I just started walking towards the closest friend I had. This walk would’ve taken me at least an hour with the snow. She drove away from me. I walked for about 20 minutes, I had 4 people stop and ask if I needed help but I was scared to say yes and ACTUALLY be kidnapped. After about the 30 min mark my moms friend who I liked pulled up next to me yelling to get in her car. She took me to the place we were staying and SCREAMED at my mom. She laughed at her friend. Laughed about it.
This mother fucker took my sister home and never came back to get me, and wasn’t planning on it. I was fucking 15 years old. This is probably the worst thing she’d done to me at that point. I wanted to simply disappear so I didn’t eat for 4 days and nobody even noticed that I was so depressed. I’m so messed up from her still to this day.

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Story Brief: I play a chaotic evil character, rest of the party tries to abandon and murder me on sight, then blames me for being everything wrong with chaotic evil when I defend myself.
Yeah.
This was a very long time ago on a play-by-post site that you've never heard of; I think the site was called mydndgame.com? I checked, but that domain is up for sale as of the time of this writing so if that's what it was it sure didn't last very long. With the story I'm about to relay to you, I can't help but imagine why that might be!
I am uncertain how this party came to be but we were a group of five, all somewhere on the autism spectrum. The campaign was in the Dalelands of Toril (I think that's right?) and we were all starting at level two. The party composition was a human ranger, a half-orc bard/barbarian (bardbarian!), a dwarf paladin, and my character was a human wilder. For those unfamiliar: wilders are the charisma version of the psion in the same way sorcerers are to wizards, except that wilders are actually really good as you'll learn later.
Our first quest was to clear out a den of orcs who have been doing Generic Evil Bad Guy Things to our starting town. Knowing the reputation that chaotic evil characters tend to have I laid my intentions on the table very early in an attempt to allay concerns. I was chaotic because I want to take the Pyrokineticist prestige class and Evil because she just really likes burning shit. Seeing as I rolled very well on my mental stats (int 16, wis 15, cha 19; the GM was using 2d8+6, IDK why) I felt that my wilder would be very friendly, amicable, and also neurotically aware of her situation. In her own words: "I can burn human villages and be hunted as a villain, or burn orc villages and be paid as a hero. The choice is obvious; we're having barbeque porkchops tonight!" The players acknowledged this and seemed to be mildly enthusiastic.
Thus we get to the actual roleplay.
We keep it simple, start in a tavern and introduce our PCs. The bardbarian and paladin are having a drunken arm wrestling contest and regaling each other with tales of their machismo ("I once suplexed a polar bear off a cliff!" "Reminds me of that time I gave my coat to an orphan girl and had to walk through a blizzard for eight hours warmed only by the celestial hearth of my god!"). The ranger and I enter town from opposite angles and meet up at the bowyer's shop; he's buying a bow while I am having my crossbow repaired after I got a little overenthusiastic with my last Fire Ray. The ranger is immediately distrustful of my wilder; I don't know why, but "grizzled ranger wilderness man" is such a classic trope I don't think much of it and we end up entering the tavern together.
Shortly after we are all in the same ingame space together, a big ol' royal guardsman or soldier or somesuch enters the tavern and calls for mercenaries. The others answer the call, while my wilder listens from the corner given that she's not best friends with the law. We are told of the orcs and the troubles they are causing on the road, and that parties who like gold and killing orcs ought to prepare to embark with him in the morning. Yeah, I thought; my wilder likes both of those things -- one is a good target for fire, and the other buys resources she can use to make more fire. I feel my wilder is not likely to volunteer without her weapons on her -- she wouldn't be taken seriously! -- so I narrate how I'll wait an hour for repairs to be completed and approach the group then, since we have until morning.
My wilder goes to get her crossbow, returns -- and the party is gone. So much for waiting until the morning.
I make some quick Gather Information checks (I had the intelligence so I sprinkled cross-class ranks into K:nobility and various social skills) to figure out what happened, then set off at a brisk hustle to follow.
Upon catching up with the party, the ranger immediately fires an arrow at my wilder.
Ranger: [to the party] "Heh, can never be too careful."
Wilder: [hiding behind a tree] "Whoa mate, check your eyes; I am not an orc!"
Ranger: "Just because you're not an orc doesn't mean you're friendly!"
Bardbarian: "She could be a highwayman, be careful."
Wilder: "We met in town, remember? I was the one who suggested yew for your bow!"
Ranger: "If you're friendly, why are you hiding? Show yourself!"
Wilder: [Comes out with hands up; pointless gesture since I can kill people with my brain, but they don't know that yet]
Paladin: "I use detect evil."
Wilder: [Is evil! And also has her imp patron following her without being aware of it!]
Paladin: "She's evil. Get her and her demon friend!"
Wilder: "Wait, why is Char here? According to my backstory he- WHOA!"
My wilder is wearing a chain shirt, has 17 dexterity, and won initiative so she has her buckler out and is using Total Defense so her AC is... high. She danmaku-grazes through two sling bullets, an arrow, and two darts.
Wilder: "Please calm down! I just want to kill orcs with you and get paid!"
Paladin: "We don't work with evil people!"
Another round of Touhou dodging ensues.
GM: "Round three. Wilder's turn."
Wilder: "I said CALM THE FUCK DOWN!"
I activate my Wild Surge and expend my psionic focus on my Psionic Shot feat and launch my Fire Ray at the ranger's precious masterwork bow. I have Privileged Energy so I get a +1 damage bonus on every die of fire damage I roll. 5d6+5 damage. The bow flashes white-hot as it is instantly turned to ashes.
Ranger: "You bitch! I knew you were bad news the moment I met you!"
They keep fighting...
My wilder took them all down in a single shot each, even including the level six NPC guardsman who attempted to intervene once it became clear that the party couldn't roll above a fifteen to save their lives. I suggest to the GM that the fire cauterized their wounds so none of them are actually dying, but he's a very RAW person and declines while pointing out that I was throwing entire virtual fistfuls of d6s. The entire party ends up bleeding out because -- surprise -- the chaotic evil character didn't think to put any ranks in Treat Injury. My wilder gave the fallen PCs the most respectful sendoff she knew -- burning their bodies in a massive forest fire -- while speculatively wondering how that scene could have proceeded differently and not at all subtly hinting to the GM to rewind so we could take the scene again from the top.
The response to this was to start making the usual noises and ALL-CAPS POSTS about how I'm an edgelord and chaotic evil PCs should never be allowed and I'm terrible and awful for destroying their equipment and getting mad when they attempted to blah blah blah. I don't need to tell you what they said. I was just astonished, refreshing the page throughout the day as they rant and rave, all the while thinking to myself "I have Asperger's syndrome and even I can read the social cues better than these nutters."
They weren't even good roleplayers. I was throwing out paragraphs and they were writing two-liners. The ranger didn't even end his posts with periods. So when I refreshed the page and found I was banned from the game, I couldn't help but sigh in relief. What could I have even said to these people to justify myself? "It's what my character would have done?" Because it actually wasn't; I was trying my damnedest to hold her back in spite of all possible reason to go full bore on the strangers trying to murder her!
I'd still love to play Ashley again sometime. I think she has a lot of potential as a character to explore what it means to be evil, how evil is often perceived by others, and how even good people can work with evil in pursuit of a greater goal.

AMAZONIA
by Andrew Roller
Chapter One
It was a soft summer night. School would be out soon. His pickup was new and smelled new, and it made Susan more responsive. Her blonde hair trailed down over her face and onto his shoulders. They kissed. Crickets took up a new symphony in the long grass surrounding his pickup to celebrate the arrival of his hand, for the first time, within her tight jeans.
He felt the front of Susan’s panties. Strange, how there was nothing there, except soft folds of flesh. Susan had sweet perfume. Her lips worked harder against his.
Lifting his hand from within her jeans, he took hold of Susan’s head. She breathed a remorseful sigh. Did she want him back between her legs? Her lips seemed to beg for his return, but his mouth was pressed so tightly to hers that she couldn’t get any words out.
His fingers infiltrated the long, honey-hued strands of her hair. He felt her ear, her jaw. He seized Susan by her neck.
Susan gave a shriek as he lifted her by her neck and slammed her head into the windshield of his pickup. Her blood splattered brightly against his new, leather-like dashboard. He pulled back his fist, still gripping Susan by her neck, then slammed her head forward again.
The windshield cracked. It was safety glass and it splintered into a tightly-glued pattern of see-through jigsaw puzzle pieces. He rammed Susan’s blonde head into the jigsaw pattern. Again. Again. He broke through into the hot summer night beyond the glass.
A white glare burst through the windshield. It was made of neon bulbs. He held Susan’s lifeless neck in his hand, stared at the hole he’d made in the windshield. Then he let go of Susan. She fell unresponsively into the footwell of his truck’s cab, on the passenger side. Her 14-year-old feet, clad in sneakers, remained draped over his lap.
“My God, what have you done?” he heard from beyond the hole in his windshield. It was kind of a half-scream, this question, and instinctively he pushed himself up from the seat of his truck’s cab toward it. He groped at the broken windshield in front of him with his hands. He found he could bend it back where he’d made a hole in it. He pushed at the glass.
He climbed out of the cab through the hole in the front of the windshield. There was no dark summer night beyond the windshield, not even the hood of his shiny new truck existed beyond it. Instead, he was standing in a neon-lit laboratory. He stared at a white-coated technician.
“God, you’ve broken through,” the technician said to him.
“Are you... my father?” was all he could think to ask.
“Huh?” the technician replied. Then he gulped, once, and, seeming to understand his question, answered, “No. I just work here.”
He looked at the technician. The man was thin. His cheeks were gaunt. Sewn on his coat was a name badge. It read: “Pope”.
“Who are you?” he blurted. He began to feel a rage inside him. It was the same rage that had caused him to strike Susan’s head, so suddenly, against the windshield of his new truck, even as they kissed and she’d given him what he’d wished for from her for so long. Frantically he glanced back at the hole in the windshield of his cab, saw just shadows beyond, and wires, and some kind of a body, the person he’d once called “Susan”.
“You don’t know what you’ve done. You don’t know what it’s like. Out there... you had a good life...“ Pope said to him in a voice as frantic as he himself was feeling. His head turned from the broken windshield back to Pope. Strange, how the windshield was set into the wall of the lab behind him, was part of the wall! And he was standing on a floor, not on the hood of his new truck, as he should be. And there was no grass, no crickets. Had there ever been grass? Was it night, or day? Where was he? Who was he? A vision of a rat in a cage flitted through his mind. The rat bore his head, and he lived in a cage. Pope stood outside the cage, studying him.
And now he was free of the cage and could confront Pope directly. His hand swept briefly over his backside. No, he didn’t have a tail. And, seeing his reflection in the glass cover on a laboratory machine, he saw he was human, just like Pope was. In fact, he was several inches taller than Pope. And he was young, 15, with his Learner’s Permit in his pocket, letting him drive, and he felt strong.
Pope was going gray. He had spindly fingers and a thin neck.
“Who am I?” he blurted at Pope. “And who are you, if you aren’t my father?”
“I’m just... I just... they wanted to study a human in the wild. You had a good life. Sure, it was a six foot by six foot Emulsion Cage, but you didn’t have to ever know that. For you, it was Sedgeway, Iowa, and you were scheduled to have a normal life, right through to old age.” Pope seemed to choke on a sudden, ironic laugh. “I was working on your old age pension plan this morning. You’d have gotten it in the mail in 13 years.”
He stared at Pope. The lab technician stared back. It was just the two of them, in this brightly-lit laboratory room, with the broken windshield set into the far wall. He still regarded the man as some kind of father, despite the man’s denials.
“Thanks, I won’t be needing an age old pension plan,” he said, angrily. He wanted to grab the man by the neck but he felt somehow that the man was real, not like Susan, who wasn’t real, but only seemed real. Real humans could tell tales, tales that died when they did. He needed some tales right now. Any tales.
“Who am I? What’s my name... Pope?” he said furiously to the man.
“Huh?” Pope replied. The graying man seemed half-bewildered by having to confront, face to face, the “rat” he’d studied for so long. “No... Pope is my name. Not yours,” Pope finally managed to say as they stared at each other in the laboratory. “Yours is, well, ‘Cum-Andi’ is all it really is. Cum... sperm from the subject named Andi... that’s all you’re really known by. Plus a number.” Pope grinned. It was that wry, ironic grin that had made him utter a choking laugh a minute ago. “Do you want to know the number?” he asked.
“What’s the number?” Cum-Andi said.
“2A-95596E-2320541-3000,” Pope grinned. It was a Stephen King kind of grin, except Cum-Andi was beginning to wonder if there had ever been a Stephen King. There had, after all, never been any Susan.
“What’s that, my goddamn phone number?” Cum-Andi growled.
“No, dear boy. It’s you,” Pope replied. “It’s your identifying number and I suppose you’ll want to memorize it now, or not. The choice is yours. All choices are yours now. You had a nice life but now you’re here, aren’t you? And you can’t go home again. Because home was a six foot by six foot box that you knew as Sedgeway, Iowa, in the great United States of America at the end of the 20th century.”
Cum-Andi peered at Pope through a haze of rising anger. Who was this little man, and why was he grinning now? Pope straightened his posture and pressed his fingers to a Notebook-sized, computerized pad he was holding in his hands.
“Forgive me but I must call security,” Pope said. “You’ve escaped from your cage and we can’t have you running loose around the building. I’d get in serious trouble. I could be killed…”
Cum-Andi grabbed Pope and smashed him headfirst into a glass covering over a computer. Pope screamed. The computer sparked bits of firefly lightning and its dials dimmed. Blood ran down the face of the computer. Pope fell lifeless to the floor. His notebook fell clattering between his legs.
Bending over, Cum-Andi picked up the notebook. The fall from Pope’s hands had shattered its viewscreen. Yet Cum-Andi studied it, looked at the lettering written across its top: “Renno
Amazonia League, D.C.,” the lettering spelled out, quite distinctly, “Do Not Remove from Building”. Underneath that, in smaller lettering, was written a rationale. The computerized notepad wouldn’t work outside the building and, hence, there was no point in removing it from the building.
Cum-Andi dropped the notepad to the floor. It wasn’t working inside the building, any more. Then a chill ran down his spine. Was he like the notepad? Could he still “work” if he himself left the building?
Dashing through a door, Cum-Andi felt a sense of desperation. Who was he? Just a number? Just a rat in a cage? He left the brightly lit laboratory only to find himself in an equally brightly lit hallway. He wanted to jump up and smash the light overhead. He tried, but couldn’t quite touch it. Cum-Andi jumped again and still managed to fall just short of it.
“Damn!” Cum-Andi swore. He dashed down the hall. He saw a door set in the wall of the corridor. He grabbed the door’s knob and tore the door open. He wanted to wrench the door off its hinges but found he couldn’t.
Staring into the small dark room beyond, he felt a sudden flash of fear. He’d opened a door on a closet. The cage. Sedgeway, Iowa. His truck. Susan. His eyes scanned across a mop, a cleaning bucket, and, next to the bucket, he saw a head. It stared at him. It blinked.
“Let there be light,” the head said. It grinned up at Cum-Andi from a shelf. Wires trailed out of the bottom of its neck. It had no body.
“Who--?” Cum-Andi felt a deep chill. He was about to slam the door shut on the closet but couldn’t quite bear to because the head was grinning up at him in a casual, accepting way, despite repeatedly blinking its eyes at the sudden intrusion of light into its dark closet.
“I’m Stan, if you must know my name,” the head said to Cum-Andi. “Do you want to play?”
“No, I —“ Cum-Andi couldn’t think of anything to say. It was ridiculous. He’d been in Sedgeway, Iowa, kissing a girl he’d longed for, and now he was staring into a cleaning closet at a head with no body. Was he dreaming? He pinched himself. Nothing. No change. But he remembered dreaming before, and pinching himself in the dream to see if it was real, and being assured it was real because the pinch in his dream was a dream-pinch, not a real pinch, and so didn’t wake him.
“I’m a BabbleBot,” the head told Cum-Andi. “I can be male or female. Just get me the body you prefer, and we can play together.”
“No thanks,” Cum-Andi answered. He felt again the need to slam the closet door shut but the BabbleBot stared at him so benignly, he grabbed it instead.
Cum-Andi lifted the head so that it was level with his own.
“Who are you?” Cum-Andi asked.
The head smiled, seemed unoffended by having to restate its identity. “I’m Stan. I’m a BabbleBot. Get me a body and we can play. Male or female, your choice.”
Footsteps echoed in the hall. Cum-Andi shut the closet door. Then, thinking quickly, he opened it again. Steeling himself against the possibility of finding himself in a cage once more, clutching the head as proof of what he’d found outside Sedgeway, Iowa, he stepped into the cleaning closet. He pulled the door in behind him but left it ajar, lest he find himself locked into the closet.
“Ooooh, Post Office! I like games in the dark. I need a body, though,” the head said under the crook of Cum-Andi’s arm.
“Shhhh!” Cum-Andi told the head. Then, looking down at it in the near darkness of the cleaning closet, he asked, “Who am I?”
“Oh, I don’t know that game,” the head replied.
“Keep your voice down!” Cum-Andi scolded the head. “Whisper.”
“Okay,” the head answered. “Who am I?”
“Don’t be useless to me or I’ll kick your head in,” Cum-Andi warned the head. It seemed to understand that Cum-Andi was serious.
“Who are you? I don’t know. You haven’t told me your name yet. I’m Stan,” the head said to Cum-Andi.
Footsteps hurried past the door outside. Cum-Andi heard hissing. The noise, a conversation of hisses, died as whatever was outside the door hurried past.
“Sisguards,” the head whispered. “Have you been bad? They’ll take you to a Detention and Reeducation Center. You won’t like that. I lost my body there.”
Cum-Andi glared down at the head. It had whispered, though, and whatever was outside the door seemed to have passed by without hearing it.
“What are... Sssguards?” Cum-Andi asked.
“Sisguards?” the head replied. “My, my, you’ve never heard of them before? And you so big, how could you...?” the head paused. “You wouldn’t be a Wild One, would you?”
“A what?” Cum-Andi asked.
“Yes, you must be,” the head said to itself, still whispering, as Cum-Andi had ordered it to. “A human, from the look of you, one of the experimental ones grown in the wild. Why aren’t you in your cage?”
“You know about my... cage?” Cum-Andi paused. He still had trouble believing Sedgeway, Iowa, could really be nothing but a fictional illusion inside a six foot by six foot cage. Silently he assured himself he’d wake up at any moment and find himself in his own bed, at home, with no new truck bought for him by his dad for his birthday, and Susan still an unattainable love-object, a kind of 14-year-old Jenny McCarthy. Just like she’d always been, until she’d agreed to go riding with him in his brand-new truck this evening.
“You’ve broken out of your cage,” the head said. “My, my. We won’t have much time to play, then.”
Cum-Andi pushed open the closet door. He peered out. He clutched the head under his arm, not sure if he wanted it, but afraid to let it go just yet. It seemed to have more tales to tell him. And it didn’t seem as much of a threat as Pope had been. For one thing, it had no computerized notepad and, for that matter, no body. It had nothing but a mouth.
“Keep your voice down,” Cum-Andi said to the head under his arm.
“Sure,” the head agreed.
Cum-Andi glared up the hall, then in the other direction. All he could see was the hall’s neon-lit walls. They seemed to close him in on both sides, like a tube-shaped cage. He still felt like a rat.
“Which way? Where do I go?” Cum-Andi asked the head.
“To the bathroom?” the head answered. Cum-Andi glared at the head and it chuckled. “Sorry. A bit of levity, brighten your day, before we both wind up in Det Ed.”
“Det?” Cum-Andi asked, unable to finish because the head interrupted.
“Detention and Reeducation. They’ll get us both now, I’ll bet. I’ll lose my head,” the head answered. Its face broke into a self-pitying smile.
“Look, if you want a body, I’ll see what I can do,” Cum-Andi told the head under his arm. “But if you... if you joke around and fuck with me I’ll kick your head like a football down this hallway.”
“Sounds like a deal,” the head answered. It grinned up at Cum-Andi.
“Good,” Cum-Andi said. “Now who am I, who are you, and where the fuck are we? And how do I get out of this idiot dream I’m in?”
“Not a dream,” the head said. “You may be dreaming soon, and quite painfully, once the Sisguards get hold of you. You’re an escaped animal. Escaped from a cage. I’ll bet you came from right down the hall, hmmm? You don’t seem to have gotten very far from your cage, I’ll bet, considering how little you know. You’ll be back in your cage soon. If you haven’t polluted yourself too much with knowledge of the world outside your cage.” The head looked up at Cum-Andi, and seemed to evaluate him. “If you have polluted yourself, if you know too much, then they’ll kill you. Perhaps you’d best put me back in my closet and turn yourself in before
you know too much.”
“No!” Cum-Andi said. He looked frantically up and down the hallway. Then back at the head. “No, I’m not going back into any fucking cage,” he hissed at the head.
“It’s a nice life. You’ll get to live a full life,” the head replied. “You won’t know you’re in a cage once they’ve got you properly locked back into it. You’ll be... God knows, in Sedgeway, Iowa, if you’re one of that man’s subjects. What’s his name? The guy down the hall? Did you meet anyone besides me?” The head peered up at Cum-Andi from the crook of Cum-Andi’s arm.
“Pope?” Cum-Andi said.
“Yes! Pope! He used to have me sing to him on Friday afternoons,” the head said. “When he had to clean his lab.” The head peered at Cum-Andi closely. “You’re Pope’s subject, aren’t you? Raised in the wild. Or, rather, in a cage that you thought was a real place. Sedgeway, Iowa, right?”
“That’s right,” Cum-Andi answered.
“Pope promised me a body someday, if he could afford it, so I could clean his lab for him,” the head said. “A nice man.”
“Yeah,” Cum-Andi agreed. Something told him to keep his own hostility toward Pope under wraps. The head might not like hearing that Pope was dead.
Footsteps sounded once more in the hall. Cum-Andi jerked his head in the direction of the laboratory. There was a gentle curve to the hallway. It prevented him seeing all the way to the lab, but he guessed that whatever had passed by the hallway closet was on its way back.
Cum-Andi clapped his hand over the BabbleBot’s mouth. The head worked its jaw, futilely.
“Yeah,” Cum-Andi thought. “Blab that I’m here, fucking head. Turn me in and get a body for yourself. No way.” Mewling sounds escaped from between Cum-Andi’s clamping fingers. He pressed them more tightly to the head’s mouth.
Cum-Andi turned and ran. He was wearing sneakers. They muffled his footfalls as he ran down the hall. He was glad he hadn’t taken his Dad’s advice and worn hard-soled shoes for his date with Susan.
Cum-Andi felt a freezing sensation in the pit of his stomach. That father, that man he’d called “Dad,” hadn’t been real. Unless this was just some crazy dream he was in. That meant his mother wasn’t real either. Or his kid sister.
Bethany! Six, going on seven, just old enough to read Dr. Seuss by herself. She’d gotten lost at the Mall last weekend and Mom had gone nuts. Now, it turned out she was lost forever, or, rather, never born. Cum-Andi would have stopped, perhaps even cried, but he could hear footfalls behind him and they were numerous. They, whoever “they” were, had heard him running, despite his sneakers.
This had to be a dream. In dreams, you always wound up being chased. Cum-Andi was torn between stopping, turning around, and confronting whatever was after him. At the same time, he kept his hand over the BabbleBot’s mouth. It kept working its jaw. Cum-Andi adjusted his fingers. The head seemed to be trying to bite one of them.
“Now would be a good time to find a rabbit hole,” Cum-Andi muttered to himself, remembering a book he’d read to Bethany a few days ago, after school. She’d insisted. It had been the only way he could keep her from putting a mud-pie in the oven. And keep her from telling Mom about the pot she’d found sneaking around in his bedroom.
Cum-Andi stared at the floor. It looked solid. He jumped, once, to test it. Hey, this was a dream, right? He’d probably sink right into it.
The floor held.
“There’s the animal!” Cum-Andi heard behind him. Cum-Andi whirled about. Something burned into his arm. He screamed. If it had been his right arm, he’d have dropped the head onto the floor. But it was his left, and in his left hand he held nothing.
Cum-Andi felt tears well up in the corners of his eyes. If this was a dream, it was a damn painful one! His arm felt like it was on fire. Cum-Andi would have looked down at his arm but he couldn’t take his eyes off the creatures who were coming toward him. They resembled lizards! Lizards without tails!
They had long hair, like Susan. One lizard was blonde, two were brunettes. A brunettes had her hair pulled back into a tight, Puritan-like bun. The other two lizards let their hair flow freely down over their shoulders. The lizards had slitted yellow eyes. They seemed to be wearing blue body armor. It consisted of a blue helmet, with a Sheriff-like gold star on its front. A blue armored vest was fitted over each lizard’s torso. The lizards, underneath their vests, seemed to have bosoms. Some of the lizards were more amply endowed in their chests than others. Their arms were bare, but covered with what appeared to be small, mesh-like scales. Their legs were covered with the same cloth, or was it bare skin? Cum-Andi couldn’t decide. Most amazingly, except for one other feature, the creatures wore no pants. Cum-Andi could see what appeared to be pubic hair where the legs of each creature joined.
It was the faces, though, of the lizards that most riveted Cum-Andi. They were crocodile faces. Every lizard had a long, protuberant snout. The snout of each lizard was graced, hideously, by long, glittering fangs.
Each lizard had long claws growing from her hands. Her fangs and claws seemed to match. In fact, they did match, Cum-Andi noticed, for each lizard seemed to have chosen her own personal color to paint her fangs and her claws with.
Almost involuntarily, Cum-Andi glanced at the lizards’ feet. Yes! Protruding from what could only be described as open-toed, sandal-like boots, each lizard had claw-like toes. They had colored their toes’ claws to match their fingers’ claws and their fangs. One lizard had pink fangs, pink finger claws, pink toe claws. Another had chosen yellow as her color. A third lizard had chosen garish purple.
“Is it a Man?” Cum-Andi heard one of the lizards ask another. They hurried toward him.
“Yes. One of the specially-grown, primitive men, created for study purposes,” one of the lizards dashing toward Cum-Andi replied.
“It’s a plot! Pope cloned himself! Now he’s released his creation on us,” one of the lizards cried. The lizard who led the pack seconded this. She said:
“Kill it! Pope was wise to commit suicide. We must not be unwise and let this animal run loose, spreading his diseases among us!”
Cum-Andi watched as one of the lizards rushing at him raised what looked like a gun. Cum-Andi remembered his left arm. It still burned, badly, like a sunburn laid on with a vengeance by a too-long day at the beach.
“Don’t! You’ll kill the BabbleBot!” Cum-Andi cried. He raised up the head to block the inevitable blast of the gun aimed at him.
“He’s an animal! An escaped animal!” the BabbleBot screamed at the approaching lizards. Cum-Andi’s hand had come off the Bot’s mouth as he raised the head to protect himself.
“No!” one of the blue-armored lizards shouted. With apparent sympathy for Stan, she knocked her mate’s gun aside. The blast meant for Cum-Andi went off anyway. However, it went awry. A hole was blown into the wall to Cum-Andi’s right. Shards of it cut into Cum-Andi’s right side.
“Owwww! God!” Cum-Andi yelled. This dream was getting too painful to bear. He turned. He ran. Behind him he heard contentious yelling, as if the lizards had turned on one another.
Cum-Andi tucked the BabbleBot back under his arm so he wouldn’t drop it as he ran. Then he remembered how the head had betrayed him. Cum-Andi lifted the head. He glared at it. He kept running, though, for he could hear the lizards somewhere behind him, still shouting at one another.
“Hi. Exercise is good for you,” the head said with forced nonchalance.
“Where I come from, we play football,” Cum-Andi panted. “If you want to find out what it’s like to be a live football, betray me again.”
“You were using me to block the gun,” the head answered. “I only betrayed you after you betrayed me.”
“Yeah, sure,” Cum-Andi said. He didn’t believe the head had only been getting a just revenge. The head had yelled the minute it could, and it had been trying to talk, or shout, the whole time he’d had his hand clamped over its mouth. “Tell me how to get the fuck out of this dream. NOW!”
The head looked up. “Air conditioning is a wonderful invention,” the head replied.
Cum-Andi looked up. He slowed his pace. He scanned the ceiling. Of course! Air ducts were spaced at regular intervals in the ceiling. If he could pry off a duct’s cover, assuming he could reach it, he might... Yes! He might be able to get up into an air duct!
“You’ll need to jump high, or find something to stand on,” the head said.
Cum-Andi looked along the hall. He saw a door. He rushed to it, turned the knob. It was locked.
Cum-Andi ran on. He came to another door. It too was locked. Then, running on, he came to a hallway that cut across the one he’d been running through.
Rounding the hall’s corner, Cum-Andi found himself staring at a lizard like the ones he’d been running from. But this one had her hair pinned up in a loosely-tied scarf. She was mopping the floor. Cum-Andi scanned her figure for a weapon but saw none.
“Eeeeyah! An animal!” the lizard screamed. She raised her mop at Cum-Andi. She swung it at him, hard. It connected with his chest and sent him sprawling. Cum-Andi landed on his back. He dropped the head as he did.
“Yow!” the head cried. It went clattering across the floor.
Without thinking, Cum-Andi leapt to his feet. He attacked the lizard with the mop. He managed to wrench the mop from her hands. He began to beat the lizard. Viciously, without remorse. The lizard responded, kicking him in the groin. Cum-Andi suppressed a scream, somehow, and beat the lizard even more violently.
Cum-Andi found himself standing over the lizard. It lay at his feet. Blood gushed from its head and mouth. Cum-Andi reached down between his legs and gingerly massaged his crotch.
“Nice work. It’s dead,” the head called from across the hall.
“Now what?” Cum-Andi asked. He felt slightly disoriented by the kick he’d received in his groin.
“Her cleaning cart, idiot. Get up on her cart,” the head said. “And don’t forget me. I doubt they’ll let me off, much less give me a body, now that you’ve killed one of them. They’ll figure I’m polluted, just by having seen one of them killed. By a man. A primitive man. They wouldn’t want me talking.”
“Hmmm, I guess we’re partners in crime, then,” Cum-Andi said. He turned to the head. He walked over to it, his gait slightly awkward from the kick he’d received in his groin. “Good. You won’t be screaming about me any more.”
“Yeah,” the BabbleBot agreed. Cum-Andi scooped up the head from the floor. He looked at it. It had a dent in its forehead but otherwise it seemed just as it had been before.
Cum-Andi heard the blue-armored lizards somewhere around the corner and down the hall. They were running toward him.
I’m getting sick of this,” Cum-Andi said suddenly. He was gripped with a desire to stand his ground, to confront the lizards. He’d end this stupid dream and wake up in his own bed and--
“Look at me,” the head said in a strange, low voice. It might have been a furious voice but the head was just a head, and it seemed silly for a head with no body to be angry with him. Still, Cum-Andi obeyed the head. He looked down at it.
The head glared up at him. “Everything you ever knew is over,” the head said. “This isn’t some dream, like you wish it would be. Your past life is over. It never existed, except in your head, in your cage.” The head said the word “cage” vengefully. “You can’t smoke pot to get out of this one, or listen to Nirvana. This is real. Real life. And they’ll make you pay for killing one of them. They’re wymen, after all. Twenty-fifth century wymen. You’re a throwback. A primitive man from an earlier era. You’re not supposed to be alive, except in your cage, and then only so you can be studied.”
“Yeah, whatever,” Cum-Andi replied. And he wished he could get that name out of his head. He wasn’t Cum-Andi. He was George. George, named after George Washington, George Harrison Smith. He lived in Sedgeway, Iowa, and he had two parents, two parents who hadn’t gotten divorced, like most of his friends’ parents. And he had a 6-year-old sister, almost seven, who had just learned to read Dr. Seuss books on her own.
Cum-Andi winced at the pain in his left arm. At the shards of broken hallway in his right side. At the throbbing in his groin where earlier in the evening he’d been feeling a welcome tightness, in his briefs, as Susan proved remarkably responsive to his kisses.
Susan! He’d bashed her head into his windshield. That’s how all this had started. He’d felt, somehow, a need... a sensation that he was boxed in, inside his brand-new pickup, that he was being studied, watched, observed, and...
He’d killed Susan. Cum-Andi felt it in his gut and knew it was true. Yet Susan never had existed! Pope had said he was living in... what was it? An Emulsion Cage.
Due to Reddit’s character limit, I can only post part of my book here.
A free copy of “AMAZONIA” is at:
http://andrewroller.com
Copyright 2023 by Andrew L. Roller. AMAZONIA is a trademark of Andrew L. Roller.

The ember fell off of my ciggy earlier, and lit on the front of my shorts. Burned a hole through those and through the drawers underneath before I took note of the heat and a burning sensation. Then looked down, and took appropriate and immediate measures to address the situation.
Just a little singed hair and a very minor burn. Thank God it missed John Henry. Wouldn’t have enjoyed that. But thankfully, just a little north of himself.
But now my electric blue shorts are ruined. My favorite pair.
And the “Nightmare Before Christmas” drawers have a hole in them, too.
Some days you just can’t catch a break. My first thought was “Why does shit like this happen to me and nobody else?” Then I remembered that that isn’t entirely accurate:
To set the scene:
Parris Island; 1978. The head in our squadbay barracks.
We were just a week and a half or so from Graduation Day, as I recall. Those we’d lost along the way were lost along the way, and the rest of us had made it. Things were a little more lax now, for the first time. Mostly just getting ready for The Day, with a somewhat more relaxed routine.
Several of us in the head, just killing a little time. Having a smoke. The windows cracked open wide. Those old heavy metal frame ones where you’d twist the lever to the open position and then push up and out.
A sunny day. Cold, but not Too cold. Relaxed, joking atmosphere. We’d made it; all the hard work now worth it. It had been a long three months.
ITS would be the next stop for most of us after Basic. That would be where the trainers would seem especially intent on killing us physically, but we didn’t know that yet. As far as we were concerned at the moment; we had it made.
Wilson was standing guard at the hatchway, keeping a lookout. Much more inconvenience than any of us wanted would still be ours if we were caught smoking anywhere but in the designated smoke pit outside, at the permitted times.
All of us in flipflops, white cotton boxers, and white cotton t-shorts.
Jackson was copping a squat on one of the row of open toilets. His drawers around his ankles. He wasn’t actually Taking a shit; just shooting it with the rest of us. If discovery were imminent, he had, by so situating himself, a ready-made excuse for being there, and a ready-made means of disposal of incriminating evidence.
Suddenly, a hissed “DI’s comin’!” from our faithful looking-out lookout, and we promptly disposed of our lit cigarettes, and immediately began to appear as of we’d come there for the purposes to which the place lent itself.
Set-up for catastrophe. Jackson snatched his lit cigarette from between his lips and tossed it between his legs into the toilet bowl.
Catastrophe ignited. In his haste, the poor bastard’s aim was a little off.
For anyone with familiarity with the paper matches in little folding thin cardboard booklets, that used to be in common usage at one time, you’ll surely remember having gotten the phosphorous head of the match stuck to your finger a time or two. And remember how it would cling there, and how hard it had been to get it off. And just how much the fucker Hurt. And how moisture seemed perversely to make the welding, or bonding, even that much stronger.
Jackson’s lit cig made it into the water in the toilet ok. Mostly. But the burning ember had made contact on the way down with the very forwardmost and most sensitive part of his peepee. And had decided it liked it there, and intended to stay.
The DI picked up his pace considerably when he heard the first wrenching scream. You’d have been screaming, too, if Your dick was on fire. Jackson sure as fuck was.
“What the Fuck?!!” screamed the DI himself, as he came running in, and saw the situation with which he was now confronted. He’d seen a lot in his time, I know. I myself had unfortunately provided such more times than I cared to remember. But I’m quite sure he’d never seen This:
Jackson was screaming full volume as he danced from foot to foot and hopped around like a Sailor performing the most ambitious Hornpipe ever attempted.
Holding the base of his poor barbecuing pecker in one hand, and slapping at the end of it with his other as hard, rapidly, and repeatedly as he could. As if he’d caught it cheating on him, and he now Hated the sumbitch. He was trying with a notable lack of success to knock the still-burning ember loose.
That his boxers were still wrapped around one ankle, and spinning and flopping with each new dance step, made the whole thing just that much more hysterical.
For, as good friends will do in such a situation, instead of trying to help the poor fucker, the rest of us were laughing so hard our ribs were beginning to hurt, and tears of unbridled joy were running down our faces.
Jackson finally remembered the row of sinks, and dashed for the nearest one. His loud groan of relief when he quickly managed to sufficiently mount one enough to stick the end of his poor roasted weenie under the flow of cold water was truly pitiable.
The Corpsmen at the aid station had been just as amused as we all had been. But they pronounced judgement that Jackson’s Johnson would make a full recovery in time. But that it was going to be an Uncomfortable time for a while. Especially each time he had to take a piss. It had all happened, of course, in much less time that it took to tell of it, you see.
“Those fuckers took pictures, OP” Jackson would afterward to me sadly lament. Photographic evidence having been deemed necessary. Otherwise “Ain’t nobody gonna Believe This one!”