Good Friday evening to all of you here on StockMarketChat! I hope everyone on this sub made out pretty nicely in the market this past week, and are ready for the new trading week ahead. :)
Here is everything you need to know to get you ready for the trading week beginning June 5th, 2023.

Dow leaps 700 points on hot jobs report, Nasdaq notches sixth straight winning week: Live updates - (Source)

The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged Friday as traders cheered a strong jobs report and the passage of a debt ceiling bill that averts a U.S. default.
The 30-stock Dow jumped 701.19 points, or 2.12%, to end at 33,762.76 — its best day since January. The S&P 500 climbed 1.45% to close at 4,282.37. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.07% to 13,240.77, reaching its highest level since April 2022 during the session.
With Friday’s gains, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq finished the holiday-shortened trading week about 1.8% and 2% higher, respectively. The Dow’s Friday advance pushed it into positive territory for the week, finishing up around 2%. The Nasdaq notched its sixth straight week higher, a streak length not seen for the technology-heavy index since 2020.
Nonfarm payrolls grew much more than expected in May, rising 339,000. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected a relatively modest 190,000 increase. It marked the 29th straight month of positive job growth.
Recently strong employment data had been pressuring stocks on the notion it would keep the Federal Reserve raising interest rates. But Friday data also showed average hourly earnings rose less than economists expected year over year, while the unemployment rate was higher than anticipated.
Both data points have given investors hope that the Fed could pause its interest rate hike campaign at the policy meeting later this month, according to Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management.
“The so-called Goldilocks has entered the house,” Sandven said. “Clearly, on the bullish side, there are signs that inflation is starting to wane, speculation that the Fed is going to move into pause mode, increasing the likelihood of a soft landing.”
Easing concerns around the U.S. debt ceiling also helped sentiment. The Senate passed a bill to raise the debt ceiling late Thursday night, sending the bill to President Joe Biden’s desk. That comes after the House passed the Fiscal Responsibility Act on Wednesday, just days before the June 5 deadline set by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
Lululemon shares popped more than 11% on strong results and a guidance boost, while MongoDB surged 28% on a blowout forecast.

This past week saw the following moves in the S&P:

(CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL S&P TREE MAP FOR THE PAST WEEK!)

S&P Sectors for this past week:

(CLICK HERE FOR THE S&P SECTORS FOR THE PAST WEEK!)

Major Indices for this past week:

(CLICK HERE FOR THE MAJOR INDICES FOR THE PAST WEEK!)

Major Futures Markets as of Friday's close:

(CLICK HERE FOR THE MAJOR FUTURES INDICES AS OF FRIDAY!)

Economic Calendar for the Week Ahead:

(CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL ECONOMIC CALENDAR FOR THE WEEK AHEAD!)

Percentage Changes for the Major Indices, WTD, MTD, QTD, YTD as of Friday's close:

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S&P Sectors for the Past Week:

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Major Indices Pullback/Correction Levels as of Friday's close:

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Major Indices Rally Levels as of Friday's close:

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Most Anticipated Earnings Releases for this week:

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Here are the upcoming IPO's for this week:

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Friday's Stock Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades:

(CLICK HERE FOR THE CHART LINK #1!)

(CLICK HERE FOR THE CHART LINK #2!)

A Resilient Labor Market = A Resilient Economy

Another month, another employment surprise. Should we be surprised anymore?
Economists expected payrolls to grow by about 187,000 in May. That’s still a solid job growth number, but a stepdown from what we’ve seen this year through April. However, actual payroll growth beat expectations for the 14th straight month.
The economy created 339,000 jobs in May, close to double expectations. Better still, payroll growth in March and April were revised higher by a total of 93,000!

• March payrolls were revised up by 52,000, from 165,000 to 217,000
• April payroll were revised up by 41,000, from 253,000 to 294,000

(CLICK HERE FOR THE CHART!)

We’ve got two months of payroll data since the Silicon Valley Bank crisis in March, and nothing suggests weakness arising from that banking crisis.
Over the first five months of the year, the economy’s added 1.5 million jobs. That in a nutshell tells you how the economy is doing. For perspective, the average annual payroll growth between 1940 and 2022 was 1.5 million. During the last expansion, 2010-2019, average annual payroll growth was 2.2 million per year.

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But what about the unemployment rate?
The unemployment rate did rise from a 50-year low of 3.4% to 3.7%. This does raise some cause for concern but digging through the data suggests it may be noise more than anything else.
It probably helps to understand that the job growth and unemployment rate data come from different sources. The former comes from asking about 120,000+ businesses how many people they hired. The latter comes from asking about 60,000 households about their employment status. No surprise, the latter is noisier.
A big reason for the weak household survey (and rising unemployment rate) is that more than 400,000 people who were self-employed said they were no longer employed. As you can see in the following chart this is very noisy data, but the recent trend seems to be toward lower self-employment. It’s basically reversing the surge we saw in 2021, when self-employment surged. So, what we’re seeing now may simply be normalization of the labor market as more workers move from self-employment to W2 jobs with an employer.

(CLICK HERE FOR THE CHART!)

Also, the unemployment rate can be impacted by people leaving the labor force (technically defined as those “not looking for work”) and an aging population. I’ve discussed in prior blogs how we can get around this by looking at the employment-population ratio for prime age workers, i.e. workers aged 25-54 years. This measures the number of people working as a percent of the civilian population. Think of it as the opposite of the unemployment rate, and because we use prime age, you also get around the demographic issue.
The good news is that the prime-age employment-population ratio dropped only a tick, from 80.8% to 80.7%. This still leaves it higher than at any point between 2002 and 2022.

(CLICK HERE FOR THE CHART!)

All in all, the labor market remains strong and resilient, despite all the recession calls. Perhaps its not as strong as the headline payroll growth number of 339,000 suggests, but any number above 150,000 would be good at this point. And we’re certainly well above that.
In fact, looking at the job growth and employment-population data, this labor market is probably the strongest we’ve seen since the late 1990’s. Our view since the end of last year has been that the economy can avoid a recession this year, and nothing we’ve seen to date suggests we need to reverse that view. Far from it.

June Better in Pre-Election Years

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Since 1971 June has shone brighter on NASDAQ stocks as a rule ranking eighth best with an 0.8% average gain, up 29 of 52 years. This contributes to NASDAQ’s “Best 8 Months” which ends in June. Small caps also fare well in June. Russell 2000 has averaged 0.6% in June since 1979 advancing 63.6% of the time.
June ranks near the bottom on the Dow Jones Industrials just above September since 1950 with an average loss of 0.2%. S&P 500 performs similarly poorly, ranking ninth, but essentially flat (0.02% average gain).
Despite being much stronger S&P 500 pre-election year June ranks fifth best. For the rest it is just sixth best. Average monthly gains in pre-election year June range from DJIA 1.1% to a respectable 2.4% for NASDAQ. Russell 2000 has been the most consistently bullish in pre-election years, up 8 of the last 11 (72.7% of the time).

(CLICK HERE FOR THE CHART!)

The June Swoon?

Stocks did it again, as the S&P 500 gained 0.2% in the month of May, making it now 10 of the past 11 years that stocks finished green in May. Of course, it gained only 0.01% last year and only 0.25% this year, so the recent returns weren’t off the charts by any measure.
Looking specifically at this year, tech added more than 9% in May, thanks to excitement over AI and Nvidia, with communication services and consumer discretionary also in the green, while the other eight sectors were lower.
Specifically, turning to the month of June, stocks historically have hit a bit of trouble here. Since 1950, up 0.03% on average, the fourth worst month of the year. Over the past 20 years, only January and September have been worse and in the past decade, it is again the fourth worst month. The one bit of good news is during a pre-election year is it up 1.5%, the fifth-best month of the year.

(CLICK HERE FOR THE CHART!)

Here’s another chart we’ve shared before, but years that gained big in January (like 2023) tend to see some periods of consolidation in late May/early June, but eventually experience a surge higher into July. Given the flattish overall May, this could be playing out again.

(CLICK HERE FOR THE CHART!)

What if stocks were having a good year heading into June? Since 1950, if the S&P 500 was up more than 8% for the year going into June (like this year), the month of June was up an impressive 1.2% on average versus the average June return of 0.03%, while in a pre-election year the returns jumped to 1.8%. The percent of the time where returns were higher gets better as well, from 54.8% in your average June to nearly 74% if up 8% or more for the year heading into June, to 80% of the time higher if up 8% for the year in a pre-election year.

(CLICK HERE FOR THE CHART!)

Overall, it has been a very nice run for stocks this year and we remain overweight stocks in the Carson Investment Research House Views. June could potentially cause some volatility, but when all is said and done, we wouldn’t bet against more strength and higher prices in June.

NASDAQ and Russell 2000 Lead June Pre-Election Strength

Over the last 21 years, June has been a rather lackluster month. DJIA, S&P 500 and Russell 1000 have all recorded average losses in the month. Russell 2000 has fared better with a modest average gain. Historically the month has opened respectably, advancing on the first and second trading days.
From there the market then drifted sideways and lower into negative territory just ahead of mid-month. Here the market rallied to create a nice mid-month bulge that quickly evaporated and returned to losses. The brisk, post, mid-month drop is typically followed by a month end rally led by technology and small caps.
Historical performance in pre-election years has been much stronger with all five indexes finishing with average gains. June’s overall pattern in pre-election is similar to the last 21-years pattern with a brief, shallow pullback after a solid start.
In pre-election years the mid-month rally has been much more robust beginning around the sixth trading day and lasting until the fifteenth. Followed by another modest retreat and rally into the end of Q2.

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May and YTD 2023 Asset Class Performance

May 2023 is now behind us, and below is a look at how various asset classes performed during the month using US-listed exchange-traded products as proxies. We also include YTD and YoY total returns.
May was a month of divergence where Tech/AI soared, and the rest of the market fell. Notably, the Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ) gained 7.88% in May while the Dow Jones Dividend ETF (DVY) fell 7.7%. That's a 15 percentage-point spread!
At the sector level, it was a similar story. While the Tech sector (XLK) rose 8.9%, sectors like Energy (XLE), Consumer Staples (XLP), Materials (XLB), and Utilities (XLU) fell more than 5%. In total, 8 of 11 sectors were in the red for the month.
Outside the US, we saw pullbacks in most areas of the world other than Brazil, India, and Japan. China, Hong Kong, France, Canada, Italy, Spain, and the UK all fell more than 5%.
All of the commodity-related ETFs/ETNs were in the red for May, with oil (USO) and natural gas (UNG) falling the most at more than 10% each.
Finally, fixed-income ETFs also fell in May as interest rates bounced back. The aggregate bond market ETF (AGG) was down 1.14% in May, leaving it up just 2.6% YTD and down 2.2% year-over-year.

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How Worried Should We Be About Consumer Debt?

A very common question we get these days is whether we’re concerned about the massive increase in consumer debt.
Short answer: No. Well, not yet anyway. But let’s walk through it in 6 charts.
The New York Federal Reserve (NY Fed) releases a quarterly report on household debt and credit, and the latest one that was released last week came with the headline:
“Household Debt Hits $17.05 Trillion in First Quarter.” But let’s look at the details. Household debt increased by $148 billion in Q1. That translates to a 0.9% increase, which is the slowest quarterly increase in two years. Most of the increase in debt was from mortgage originations ($121 billion) – mortgage debt makes up $12 trillion of the total $17 trillion in debt. The rest was auto loan and student loan balances.
Here’s something interesting: credit card balances were flat in Q1, at $986 billion. The fact that overall balances are higher than where they were in 2019 ($927 billion) should not be surprising given we just experienced a lot of inflation. Prices rose at the fastest pace in 40 years, and so you should expect card balances to increase. However, incomes rose as well.

(CLICK HERE FOR THE CHART!)

When you think debt, the key question is whether households are able to service that debt. A good measure of that is to look at debt service costs as a percent of disposable income. As of Q4 2022, that’s at 9.7%, slightly lower than what it was before the pandemic and well below the historical average.

(CLICK HERE FOR THE CHART!)

There’s even better news: disposable income grew 2.9% in the first quarter of 2023. Significantly higher than the 0.9% increase in total household debt, let alone interest costs!
Part of that includes the large boost to social security income due to inflation adjustments in January. Also, tax brackets were adjusted higher, resulting in more money in household wallets.
But even if you exclude these one-off increases, disposable income growth has been strong between February and April, rising at a 5% annualized pace. In fact, employee compensation by itself has risen at a 3.9% annualized pace over the past three months. Meanwhile, inflation is running just about 3% – which means households are seeing real income gains (adjusted for inflation).

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This is why consumers don’t feel the need to borrow to the extent they did before the pandemic. Credit utilization rates measure credit card balances as a percent of available credit. As you can see in the following chart, utilization rates for both credit cards and home equity lines of credit are well below pre-pandemic averages.

(CLICK HERE FOR THE CHART!)

Lack of stress showing in delinquency data as well Another way to look for signs of consumer stress is to look at the debt delinquency data. As of the first quarter, the NY Fed survey showed that the percent of loan balances that were more than 90 days delinquent was stable around 1.5%. That’s down from 1.9% a year ago, and quite a bit below the 3% average in 2019.

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Even third-party collections are at record lows, with just over 5% of consumers having collections against them as of the first quarter. This is down from 6% a year ago and below the 2019 average of 9.2%. The average collection amount per person is $1,316, which is lower than the $1,452 average in late 2019. This is surprising because just with inflation you’d have thought the amount would be higher.

(CLICK HERE FOR THE CHART!)

All in all, the data on consumer finances is not showing much cause for concern. So, count us in the “not worried” camp. At least, not yet.

Some Good Inflation News

While the market prices in a much higher likelihood of a rate hike at the June meeting, there was actually some decent news on the inflation front today. Starting with the Conference Board's Consumer Confidence report, in this month's update, the inflation expectations component fell to 6.1% from a peak of 7.9% fifteen months ago in March 2022 (first time reading touched 7.9%). Looking at the chart below, this reading was also at 6.1% fifteen months before that first peak. In other words, for all the talk about how inflation has been stickier, the pace of decline in this indicator on the way down has been the same as the pace of increase on the way up.

(CLICK HERE FOR THE CHART!)

Another notable report was today's release of the Dallas Fed Manufacturing report. The Prices Paid component of that report showed a decline from 19.5 down to 13.8 which was the lowest reading since July 2020. For the month of May, two of the five components (Empire and Philadelphia) showed modest m/m increases from multi-month lows, and three showed significant declines to multi-month lows. The chart below shows a composite of the Prices Paid component using the z-scores for each of the five individual components going back to 2010. The peak for this component was 19 months ago in November 2021. Unlike the inflation expectations of the Conference Board survey, this reading hasn't declined quite as fast as it increased in the 19 months leading up to the peak, but at -0.2, it is still below its historical average dating back to 2010 and back down to levels it was at right before the COVID shock hit the economy in early 2020.

(CLICK HERE FOR THE CHART!)

Home Prices Bounce in Hardest Hit Areas

March data on home prices across the country were released today with updated S&P CoreLogic Case Shiller numbers. Case Shiller home prices had been falling rapidly in many of the twenty cities tracked, but in March we actually saw a pretty big month-over-month bounce in some of the hardest-hit areas like San Diego, San Francisco, LA, Denver, and Phoenix. Some cities still saw declines, however. Las Vegas saw a m/m drop of 0.93%, while Miami fell 0.41%, and Seattle fell 0.28%.
On a year-over-year basis, Miami is still up the most with a gain of 10.86%. As shown in the table below, Miami home prices are up 59.87% from pre-COVID levels in February 2020, and they're only down 2.9% from post-COVID highs. Only Tampa is up more than Miami from pre-COVID levels (+61.04%), but Tampa prices are down more from their post-COVID highs (-4.70%) than Miami (-2.90%).
Four cities are down more than 10% from their post-COVID highs: San Diego (-10.12%), Las Vegas (-10.95%), San Francisco (-16.35%), and Seattle (-16.50%). New York is down the least from post-COVID highs of any city tracked at just -2.9%.

(CLICK HERE FOR THE CHART!)

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(CLICK HERE FOR THE CHART!)

Below we include charts of home price levels across all 20 cities tracked by Case Shiller along with the three composite indices. We've included a vertical red line on each chart to highlight pre-COVID levels. When looking through the charts, you can see this month's small bounce back in most cities after a 6-9 month pullback in prices from peaks seen early last year.

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STOCK MARKET VIDEO: Stock Market Analysis Video for Week Ending June 5th, 2023

(CLICK HERE FOR THE YOUTUBE VIDEO!)

(VIDEO NOT YET POSTED.)

STOCK MARKET VIDEO: ShadowTrader Video Weekly 6/2/23

([CLICK HERE FOR THE YOUTUBE VIDEO!]())

(VIDEO NOT YET POSTED.)
Here is the list of notable tickers reporting earnings in this upcoming trading week ahead-

($NIO $GTLB $GME $CIEN $DOCU $SAIC $ASO $SJM $CXM $THO $OLLI $MOMO $CBRL $FERG $TTC $HQY $CPB $PLAY $QMCO $FCEL $LOVE $ABM $CNM $HTOO $TCOM $JOAN $UNFI $SFIX $CHS $GIII $SIG $SMAR $PL $ZFOX $HYZN $VRA $CASY $MTN $SMTC $ALYA $DBI $SCWX $JILL $OESX $BSE $REVG $VBNK $VRNT $RENT $HCP)

(CLICK HERE FOR NEXT WEEK'S MOST NOTABLE EARNINGS RELEASES!)

(CLICK HERE FOR NEXT WEEK'S HIGHEST VOLATILITY EARNINGS RELEASES!)

([CLICK HERE FOR MONDAY'S PRE-MARKET NOTABLE EARNINGS RELEASES!]())

(N/A.)

Here is the full list of companies report earnings for this upcoming trading week ahead which includes the date/time of release & consensus estimates courtesy of Earnings Whispers:

Monday 6.5.23 Before Market Open:

(CLICK HERE FOR MONDAY'S PRE-MARKET EARNINGS TIME & ESTIMATES!)

Monday 6.5.23 After Market Close:

(CLICK HERE FOR MONDAY'S AFTER-MARKET EARNINGS TIME & ESTIMATES!)

Tuesday 6.6.23 Before Market Open:

(CLICK HERE FOR TUESDAY'S PRE-MARKET EARNINGS TIME & ESTIMATES!)

Tuesday 6.6.23 After Market Close:

(CLICK HERE FOR TUESDAY'S AFTER-MARKET EARNINGS TIME & ESTIMATES!)

Wednesday 6.7.23 Before Market Open:

(CLICK HERE FOR WEDNESDAY'S PRE-MARKET EARNINGS TIME & ESTIMATES!)

Wednesday 6.7.23 After Market Close:

(CLICK HERE FOR WEDNESDAY'S AFTER-MARKET EARNINGS TIME & ESTIMATES!)

Thursday 6.8.23 Before Market Open:

(CLICK HERE FOR THURSDAY'S PRE-MARKET EARNINGS TIME & ESTIMATES!)

Thursday 6.8.23 After Market Close:

(CLICK HERE FOR THURSDAY'S AFTER-MARKET EARNINGS TIME & ESTIMATES!)

Friday 6.9.23 Before Market Open:

(CLICK HERE FOR FRIDAY'S PRE-MARKET EARNINGS TIME & ESTIMATES LINK!)

Friday 6.9.23 After Market Close:

([CLICK HERE FOR FRIDAY'S AFTER-MARKET EARNINGS TIME & ESTIMATES!]())

(NONE.)

(T.B.A. THIS WEEKEND.)

(T.B.A. THIS WEEKEND.) (T.B.A. THIS WEEKEND.).

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DISCUSS!

What are you all watching for in this upcoming trading week?

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I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and a great new trading week ahead StockMarketChat. :)

Since they’ve started keeping track of the data, the Nuggets have underperformed on the road, to the tune of being 7th worst against the spread—not a conclusive data point, but interesting to note.
It also bears mentioning that the Nuggets have been in the top 10 in pace in 80% of their seasons on record, meaning they seem to actively construct rosters that are more conducive to up-tempo play that would work better at home (since the reason for this would be to tire out the other team) than on the road.
But that’s not to say things even out. According to this link, our HCA does indeed amount to about an extra win and a half a year:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/joelrush/2018/09/12/study-affirms-altitude-boosts-denver-nuggets-home-advantage-but-do-other-factors-blunt-the-impact/amp/
That’s a decent (not monumental) edge, but I’m leery about giving it much air-time.
Why?
For the simple reason that the biggest geographic factor vis-a-vis its effect on winning is NOT “altitude”
It’s free agent-friendliness. By a country mile.
Denver is one of the last places marquee players look to sign.
Los Angeles and Miami are one of the first…so when I hear big outlets run this story, my bad-faith-detector goes off big time. I would gladly trade our 1.6 extra wins a year for LA’s desirability as a FA landing spot.
Lakers and Heat fans, conversely, would not take that trade in a million fuckin years. If the Nugs and Heat swap rosters in 2010, would LeBron have been compelled to go to Denver instead? Please lol.
TL;DR: our HCA doesn’t cancel out the disadvantages we face so kick rocks if you’re using it to crap on this team.

I have been with my boyfriend for 8 months now and we have been in a long distance right from the start. I have had a bad relationship in the past but this once started off really great. He's a very mature person and he has a beautiful way of thinking which is one of the reasons why I love him. Recently I decided to visit his place for 15 days and was really looking forward to the trip. However, the trip was bad. We both were busy with work so I didn't have any out-of-the-box expectations. Just a few things like spending time together, cuddling, etc. None of these happened. We didn't even have sex and when I brought it up he said that he had been going through something for the last 1 month. I could clearly see it - he wasn't eating very well, he overslept a lot, didn't speak to his family or friends - so I understood. But I was upset. Mainly because he didn't tell me that it was because he was going through something and it led to a lot of overthinking about whether or not he loves me. Before leaving I communicated all what I thought through a letter and normally asked him if he wants to continue this or not. I even told him that it's fine if he wants me to wait through this, that I would wait with him as long as my capacity demands, because after all that's what partners are for, right? He didn't answer my question and he said he needed to e. I came back home a week later and things are not good. We spoke for a couple of days and he decided to cut off all communication. He told me that it's not that he doesn't want to talk to me but that he doesn't want to talk to anyone. I understood, I've had offline phases as well. But I keep going back to that question. Does he love me? Does he want to be with me?
How do I broach this? Please I need help.

Terror gripped my mind as the gigantic bear started to charge towards me. My army critically wounded and the first of the few defensive lines compromised, outnumbered, overpowered, overrun... as I desperately searched for any options, a way to defeat my foe, temporarily or permanently, I just found myself running into a wall sooner or later - I could only delay, never actually stop this attack, even if I were to sacrifice my spawners for the temporary mana gain that could let me pump out more denizens, but even then they would just be crushed by the monstrosity, it's hatred alone enough to pierce my defences, a body so large it might uproot the tree itself and a mind behind it that would not stop at anything short of absolute annihilation. "Is this really so bad?" I thought with a weak voice, "Death just means I get resurrected again, does it not?" with every passing thought the idea seemed more enticing, before I came to the horrifying conclusion that I did not actually _know_ what would happen if I died here. I may have been resurrected before, but who is to say that I would have the same chance again, especially after failing, _giving up?_ This core is not just a body, it is the soul of mine - so if Deepholm takes it, _IS_ there even such a thing as heaven or hell for me? And would I accept giving up all of what I've built here to have all my progress and my memories wiped, damning this place to be taken by this abominable presence below?
​
No matter how I tried to argue, losing here was not an option I was willing to accept, and I could not sink even deeper in my contemplation as I was torn out of them by the bellowing roar that was far closer to me than previously, emitted by the Bear with the Jackalope on it's back, having shaped the bow into a spear and penetrating the thick hide to lodge it between the bones, using it both to delay it's advance and find grip on the movable Bulk which tried to shake her off. Focussing on the Scene, the bear was pelted by a mass of flechettes, though they did little more than slow it down as the few that actually pierced it's pelt were simply pushed out by the regenerating factor, leaving it enraged rather than hurt. And Jackie herself, despite her amazing growth and skill, was struggling to remain on it as it shook, before rolling over and crushing her with it's ~~meaty posterior~~ massive weight. Though I saw Jackie still living, protected by her Aether armor and fast sprouting vines that formed a dome, she was heavily wounded and exhausted by all these actions, the spear still lodged into the bear but proving to be as effective as a nail would against an elephant. Is this really all I can do? Was I doomed from the start, simply for having appeared above something that would not tolerate any other existence? Did I fail to plan for the invasion properly? Is it all my fault, that my loyal denizens, scions and all the people in my domain will die? was I that useless? I feel myself on the verge of tears as The slow but steady grind of Deepholm crushed all that I have, the battle brutal but ultimately hopeless.
​
Kelvin was making hasty progress through Deepholm's domain but I knew that he would not find the core in time, let alone reach it, and even if he did I doubt that it'll be found without resistance. Giorno was commanding the swindling troops to hold the line just that little bit longer for me to come up with something. Emmet was trying to rushing the production of concoctions, her supplies already low and the draughts providing little advantage against such an overwhelming foe, Alexa was in the air watching over her companions which were decimated just like that time when Deepholm tried to deprive me of another spawner, though this time around there would be no more survivors. And Jackie was still fighting tooth and nail to keep herself from being crushed as well as attempting to find some form of weak spot, some kind of special strike just to hurt the Colossus in any meaningful way yet found herself at her limit as no amount of effort provided any change, her strength waning by the second. Is this it?
​
I close my vision, praying to the heavens above, as the last of my hope bled out and I had nothing more left. "Heavens above, God, Guardian Angels, please help me! I do not want to die!"
​
The noise of the fighting continued, my denizens trying to hold off the endless horde
​
"Please, was it not your will that I find myself upon this planet, fulfilling the role of a dungeon that you so desperately wanted?"
​
Alexa cries out, having been hit by a sonic wave of the Bat scion, her equilibrium disturbed, falling to the surface
​
"Why do you do this to me, when I was just doing what I thought you wanted? Did I do something wrong?"
​
the secret laboratory is consumed in an explosion as the desperate mixing led to a fatal mistake, the chain reaction devastating the entire place
​
"How can you expect us to live in your image when you allow this to happen? We do all we can, and this is how you reward us?"
​
Giorno gives off a scared croak as the structures that serves as the defences started to collapse, leaving him under the collapsed rubble
​
"Do you not love your creations? Is this a punishment for some transgression that our ancestors committed?"
​
I feel Kelvin panicking as the last of his potions wore off with him nowhere near Deepholm's core
​
"ANSWER ME!"
​
But the only answer I got was the crumbling of the makeshift fortifications as the badgers and bears started to flow in, tearing apart whatever defenders were left. I look to the stars shining upon us, their light providing no guidance
​
"please...somebody..."
​
Jackie was lying on the ground, the Armor gone, the horns broken, lungs collapsed as her attempts at simply staying alive were weakening
​
_"anybody..."_
​
The twins lie unconscious, exhausted of all their mana and wounds marring their body
​
*"save me"*
​
​
​
​
[PACT ACCEPTED]
​
Without even an instance passing I find myself in outer space, or someplace akin to it, stellar bodies surrounding me like trees in a forest, so close yet so far away with their infinite beauty as the nebula in the back ground stretches it's orange, purple and all other facets of color into infinity. There is no up and down, no past or future, and for a moment I find myself left speechless at this arcane wonder I found myself in. There were no words spoken, no sound made and no interruption of the visage had, but a foreign thought reverberated through my mind. Safety. Power, to defend myself against those who would seek to subsume me. The knowledge and guidance to achieve victory once and for all. And a price to be paid, a prize of my choosing. Without even thinking properly, I answer with the one thing that comes to mind, something as priceless yet worthless to me as could be
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"In turn, I offer you Deepholm. all it's territory, all it's land. It's scions, it's spawners, it's knowledge. I want none of it. And once the last piece of it's core was subsumed, the last of it's offspring removed, it shall all be yours"
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not a sound came out of me, yet the offer was made, and the stars shone in acceptance. The universe itself seemed to expand and contract at the same, my vision focussing out. I let go of the reigns and let s̸̨̧̢̧͓͙̞͖̠̬̊͐͊̈́̅͋̈́̿͋̀̀͆̈́̋̋̓̐̽̀͜͠͝H̷̡̙̖̖̤̻̽͊̎̒̔̓͆̏̈́̎̉̉͛͝e̸̢̼̯̥͇̱͖̻̣͖͒̄̾̐̽̎̒̿̀̈̀̀̇̄̅̔̊̾̆̽͒̽̚̚͝y̸̖̲̯͂͌̅̈̀̕͘ take the lead ***control*** as I black out
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**LYDIA POV**
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Fire. Fire everywhere
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That is all I could feel, despite knowing fully well that there was none. And yet, in spite of the calming words I was trying to tell myself, the unconvincing lies that it might be alright, any focus I tried to direct inwards was just torn apart by the horror instilled into me. The battle - no, _slaughter_ that was happening on the once almost idyllic dungeon, the fields and tree covered in blood, the screams of dying creatures of all kinds, and the marks of a battle soon lost, not a single able bodied scion in sight with the last spark resistance pushed back deeper and deeper. Though the comparison seemed far fetched in a sense, my brain lapped it up like a dog from the desert, the colossal bear's brutality and iridescent glowing blood floating around the battlefield almost having a morbid beauty about them if it were not for the uncanny resemblance with the past. I knew I had to get away, if not for my own safety then to report about the murdering that Deepholm has committed, but I was torn. Ignoring the fear that the execution caused, I still felt the need to do something to help Caldera in the back of my mind, as if I would lose something far more important than I could imagine if I just left her to die. Yet, what could I even do? I am merely an inspector, and I already almost got killed by Deepholm's assault when I rushed here to warn the mining party and then Caldera, and now it was an entire army that stood before me, not just some rogue animals. Looking at the exit while contemplating my options, I realised that fleeing was actually just as hopeless as fighting directly, as badgers have set up an uneasy line, disorganized but loyal enough to not abandon their post. Whatever miracle let me live those few days ago, it would not save me now, especially not now that they were on the lookout for anyone else fleeing and had air support as well. The only bit of grim spite I could find was the note that everybody else packed up already, hopefully able to make it back in time without being targeted by Deepholm and maybe even deliver my message for me.
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Having no choice in this matter, I finally decided to do what I am best at, my mind slowly calming as I pull out my kanabō
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"Let's see how many of you fuckers I can take down with me"
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_well, this is it then_ were the thoughts that crossed my mind as I charged into certain death. _Sorry papa. I guess I won't survive for as long as you hoped me to_
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strike by strike, I kept the badgers at bay, dodging the hits as I dished out my own, the dead bodies slowly mounting yet the amount of living ones piling up faster
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I did not last long until the only thing left that I could do was keep the monsters that encircled me away, my stamina at it's limit. The badgers looked at me with hateful hunger in their eyes and approached me as my strikes slowed to a halt, my body unable to keep this up. A sneering sound akin to a laugh came out of them before they pounced on me and started tearing my flesh from my bones
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_"damn. This will be our end then I guess. and you were such a good dungeon too, Calde-_
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My thought was torn apart by the abyssal boom that swept over the battlefield, a deep emotion of wrongness griping my body at the shockwave that even the colossus seemed to be unsettled by. A deafening silence followed the wave that everybody witnessed yet nobody heard, every being that was not knocked out staring at the core's location with various looks of confusion, nausea and fear, as even the scions could not comprehend what they perceived. yet then it washed over us all at once, as if god himself has descended to give the answer
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***this is not Caldera***
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my body merely gave off a croak before I started throwing up, still standing straight and looking at the tree. The tree, once full of life, was now glowing a black light, the skies torn open from any clouds that could obscure the judging stars gazing upon us, and Hell was let loose upon earth
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My vision swam together as bears and badgers burst, unholy tendrils and roots having taken their place, their blood watering the soil for the being to fester
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The bats, once dominating the skies now were frozen in place, as if time itself has abandoned them, screaming silently into the void with contorted expressions of pain on their face.
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the once overwhelming colossus started vibrating in unnatural frequencies, their body torn apart from the inside as their flesh warped and melted into forms I could not comprehend, regenerating factor turned malicious cancer then servant as the new hulk dragged it's boiling body like an amoeba, chunks left behind in it's wake that the dark one all too eagerly consumed.
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and worst of all were the denizens, the once animalistic beings' faces contorted into an expression with hate that only gods could muster, their screeching rage tearing apart their voice bands as they rampaged, bodies spitting into pieces through the sheer fervour they fought with, yet still charging even as entire sections were missing.
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above them all, 100 meters in front of the tree, a storm started to form, one of purple darkness and of magic not meant for this world, an unmoving vortex twisting matter around it like an artist may in a drawing, unnatural and impossible, an orange haze forming around it all the while
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my brain felt like it was about to burst. the universe wept as reality itself screamed in rage, celestial rays piercing the ground at the transgression as I desperately tried to cover my eyes, only staining them with the blood flowing out, my body's wounds closing and sealing as my mind betrayed and consciousness failed me, my body writhing on the floor
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**DEEPHOLM POV**
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"What an utter waste of mana"
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Deepholm spoke to itself in third person, mentally pacing through the lavishly decorated sanctuary
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"The interloper dares to enter his claimed space, and then resists elimination. INSOLENCE!"
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the ground shook, the waves reverberating through his domain. a satisfied smirk appeared on his face. how could it hope to ever stand against him? Whatever trick it pulled against his voice, He would not fall twice for it. That cat it sent, it was a surprise to see it appear in his domain so suddenly, but taking care of it would not take long. Whatever plans it had were shattered with it's body, The sorcerer no match when in foreign domain, and the armies that were sent were probably not even a necessity as his scions alone could have uprooted the tree and destroyed the core.
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"What an absolute waste"
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It starts laughing, wondering how for even a moment it could have expected anything more. The rush of imminent victory fills his soul as he listens through his bond with the scions about the progress they made, how the last of the interloper's scions fell. How nothing was left to stand between it and defeat. The laughter silently swept across the room, showing itself as ripples through the steady flow of mana pulsing out of the core. This is what it meant to be powerful! He feels mighty! he feels great! he feels-
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***PAIN***
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a scream washes through the dungeon, wiping away any semblance of happiness it felt just a moment before as it recoiled, writhing at the new sensation filling it's perception. Turning his attention at the source hatefully, it finds the once the warm, pulsating domain that laid there like prey gone, replaced with a wall of torment and hostile intent, cold and black as it stood there unmoving. Raging, Deepholm reached out to it's scions, a mistake that it would regret soon after. The moment it established a proper connection with the scions horrifying visions filled it's mind, from the entirety of the universe to a place that was not meant to exist, twisted and tangled in shapes that would cause any other mind to babble and break. As if their body was it's own, for that split second it felt itself growing larger, tendons and muscle mutating into new organs that kept up the painful expansion, as eternity itself stretched out before him, a never ending stream in any given singular instance.
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Wailing with unknown emotions, the Dungeon retreated back to it's core, the momentary insight sweeping across him like a wave of acid, leaving festering wound across the entire mental space. "What..._IS_ that damned creation..?" words that came out heavy, tinted by a fear never felt before. The answers came like tendrils, stretching out from the foreign domain and piercing his, deepening the wounds that were already inflicted. "Impossible..." was all he could mutter as his body was pierced by the blackening roots, dividing him into pieces - the pain keeping Deepholm from drowning in the surrealism and impossibility of it all.
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And there, where once the corpse of the scion lay, an orb of nothingness manifested itself, the orange glimmer on the outside being the singular thing that prevented all from collapsing in it, a momentary space of reality and it's absence melding together. He could only stare, no arrogance, anger or joy remaining as the space grew to the size of the cave, light seemingly bending around it as he stared into the abyss, and the abyss stared back. There was no need to speak to understand that this was it's end. There is no reality where it could resist, and so he whispered the only thing he could
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"How..? " a single word uttered in complete helplessness at the happenings of an assault turned into utter annihilation. Orbs of Plasma from the void all burned him with their stare, beings that were not meant to be seen by the earth locked creature.
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a single voice, spoken in a chorus answered
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**TIME IS SIGHT**
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**GRAVITY IS DESIRE**
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**POTENTIAL UNLEASHED**
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***AN OFFERING WAS MADE, A TRADE CONCLUDED***
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**A SOUL FOR A SOUL**
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**AS ONE WAS ALL, AND ALL IS ONE**
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**WHAT WAS SHALL BE**
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**AND NOW THE PAYMENT**
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**WILL PAY THE PRICE**
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This hurts like Hell
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I groan, my entire body aching as if I trained nonstop for seven days straight, opening my sore eyes slowly
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This is Calderas domain... ugh, my head is killing me. Did she pull one of her tricks again and knocked me out so badly that I don't even know what I was doing?
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I squint my eyes, the glaring sunlight doing wonders by making me feel even worse than before, as I shield my eyes with my hands, providing some much needed relief
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"So much for hospitality" another groan, as the thought of Deepholm attacking shoots through me like lightning. The instant jump just makes me sit again as nausea overtakes me, the fast movement not serving well to my intentions of stopping this incessant headache. Looking around, I find the grass swaying in the wind, The tree still standing tall and the pond in the background. there were some denizens here and there, though all seemed to be asleep as me before. Affirming that there does not seem to be an immediate threat at least I focus inwards, letting my stagnant ki slowly come into proper motion, undoing the headache like untying a knot. Feeling somewhat better at least, I stand up, slower this time, and walk around. Though the relative silence is unusual, there seems to be no threat in sight. Deepholm's thralls are not to be seen, and any adventurers that could have gotten hurt must have departed already, as was planned.
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suddenly a gust of wind came from below and I felt like throwing up again. Barely holding it in I look down, and stare at the small crack in the ground revealing a cave that looks like burning charcoal if it's fire was a dim purple. from it, I could feel nothing. My senses are still messed up and I cannot afford to find out what it is, so I do the next best action and start running towards Caldera's Core
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**CALDERA POV**
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I lie in a sea of nothingness, swimming through the molasse like a log on a slow river. Lack of duties, a space where there is no touch and I relax in a space of my mind's making...there is no better feeling one can get. I drift, slowly and without direction, my eyes closed in the infinite comforting darkness, faint smile on my face. Yet it was not meant to be. I frown, as I make out some sound. Nooooo...I don't want to wake up. Can't I just sleep five more minutes? Groaning, I turn around, the comfort slowly slipping away and making way for light. I don't think I can ignore the alarm for that long... Ugh, I guess I'll have to do the shitty daily routine then as I always do. As the light embraces me I open my eyes, just to realize that I have none. Ah, right. That happened.
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focussing on the noise, I find myself at my core, a red woman yelling something something. Huh? what does she want? I focus on the noise made, slowly tuning my own hearing until I can hear the words
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"...DERA! oh thank the shield you are awake!"
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Huh? what's that? is it not missing a 'finally' before telling me how I was trying to cross the border with her and that bandit over here? wait, why does it sound like it's so important that I am awake?
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sharpening my attention I look at the surroundings, realizing that the aforementioned red woman was Lydia, standing in my sanctum without anybody else to guard her, no frogs, no Jackie - and the network of information spread by Alexa was nowhere to be found
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Panic mode settling in I rapidly skim around my domain, finding no invasion, no delvers, not a single thing happening. I quickly calmed down, partially, as the brain fog I woke up with still has not left me, and since this amount of quiet was far too unusual. Refocussing back to Lydia, she notices my attention immediately and asks "Do you know what is going on? I just woke up in the middle of the field, and there is no one to be found"
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Trying to answer her I am once again reminded of the lack of voices, so I simply divert my attention to finding my scions, starting with Jackie. I realize mid search that maybe Giorno or Alexa are better choices but I can just search for them later, for now I'll just focus on the task at hand
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Finding Jackie in the small space that is my former sanctum, I notice how her horns were shed, lying by the sides as she muttered in her sleep. Now how about you wake up? Of all my scions I expected you to be the least lazy one. In return she simply turned around and muttered something else, the intention this time being felt through the bond and translating roughly into "I do not want to be horny anymore, I just want to be happy". Oh haha, very punny. Well if that won't work, let's try... Hey Jackie, Lydia stole your strawberry chocolate cake and is eating all of it!
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Immediately her form changed from 5 more minutes to ready to fight the world as she jumped up and immediately hit her head on the root above, slumping into a crouch as she held her head from the ache as I laughed my ass off, getting an upset glare from her. Her faked anger was short lived however as she touched her head repeatedly to find the horns she's used to missing, just to see them lying on the floor. Looking around frantically, wondering if this is some prank or if she is sick, I focused her and myself away from the distraction on Lydia still waiting anxiously at the core, telling Jackie to sprint over to her while I look for the other scions after a flash of sharing information on the current situation.
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Before I was able to find any others however I felt a shudder run up my spine, as my clarity is regained yet the feeling of wrongness only intensifies - and now can actually be pointed somewhere. Right below me, where my border meets - Deepholm! switching over there immediately I find the source of that uneasiness, though it's not Deepholm, and I am unable to decide if what I see is more or less threatening
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Right at my border the uneasiness identifies itself as emptiness that rubs against my border, a feeling similar to driving a car with maybe a centimetre of space between it and an obstacle to the left or right, except I also cannot see; not truly. Because what I find is a shrouded space, purple swirling vortexes and darkness, A place where mana may go in, but nothing ever comes out. Whatever it is, it seems to be the only thing there, so from what I can tell...
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Deepholm is no more. And I do not know what to do with that.

This was a personal essay for a writing course. It ended up being a very personal writing. I'm much better at fiction and my other personal essays did not stand up to this one at all. So this one is very special to me. I hope you enjoy the read.
Ever since I could remember I wanted to be a superhero. I read and traded comic books and superhero cards with my neighborhood friends regularly. In 1989 my parents got me a Nintendo Entertainment System (or and NES for short) in which I actually could be superhero characters and save the day. These early years ultimately forged who I would grow up to become, for better or for worse. I would go on to develop one driving force in my life. One mission above all: to be a hero, to help people at any cost.
You could say I was a typical young boy. I loved my parents and wanted to be just like my father. When he had to work on his old Chevy I was there. When he watched basketball games on Sunday afternoon I was there. When he played basketball in city leagues, I was there. In fact, in the city league games, I got to flip the score cards and sound the buzzer for the end of each quarter. So as I got into high school, still wanting to be like my father, I considered joining the military. I didn’t go to enlist for a long time, but after high school while working at my job at a kiosk in a mall, I ran into an old friend who was now in the US Army. He had asked if I would be interested in enlisting. I was in my mid twenties and working at a mall kiosk barely making any money with no real career prospects. I told him I would go down to the center.
This was my chance to be a hero. This was how I could do something to better myself and the world around me. When I committed to the decision to enlist, I proudly told my parents. My father, who served in the army when I was a child, was proud and excited for my decision. My mother on the other hand, was more apprehensive and worried about her only son enlisting. A couple of years passed by and I swapped my elected branch to the US Navy. The enlistment process was intense and I needed a lot of documents. I regrettably left my military career behind when I got a job offer at GE Aviation. This was a big deal. The facility manufactures helicopter and airplane engines and components for commercial companies and the US military. It was a major salary boost and a job I could be proud of.
Even after landing this career job, I stilled pined for military life. What kept me motivated was knowing that if I couldn’t serve next to the brave and dedicated men and women of the armed services I could have their backs in a way. The main engines produced at this facility are for the US Blackhawk helicopters. The engines are designed to withstand sand, dust and other materials that might otherwise damage and bring down other engines. When I tell people that I wish I enlisted to this day and that if I could still I would, they try to dissuade me.
“The pay isn’t that great.” “It’s dangerous.” “You’ll probably get sent overseas.”
None of these were valid points for me. You do not perform a job of nobility for the money or accolades. Yes the job may be dangerous at times, but to defend what you love, sometimes you must take risks. If called to travel for the job, I will go for my job. I would be signing up for this role knowing what it entailed. There would be little shock and awe when it comes to the basic job duties. I truly believed that having to abort my previous mission to start this new mission with this new job that I would still be satiated. I believed it would be what I needed. To fulfill my duties and honorably contribute. I was only partially correct.
While I am very proud of the work we do and my part in the system, the “hero” in me never left. Still having a strong affinity for military culture, I strive to take care of and protect people, usually at a personal cost. Leave no man behind. Sacrifice yourself to save the person next to you. Earn the highest honor. While lending someone money or waking up at two am to help with an emergency or dropping what you’re doing to help someone who ran out of gas is not a death on the battlefield, it can still be a death of self. Superheroes are super for a reason. Maybe they are impervious to heat or cold. Maybe they can fly. They can probably bench press cement trucks. Maybe they just have billions of dollars to buy all the heroic toys they want. I don’t fit into any of those molds. I am just a human, just a man of average means going through life like everybody else. I can’t possibly save the world myself.
In trying so, I have developed depression and anxiety, both extremely debilitating. I somehow put on my cape and cowl and gauntlets and never took them off. I made my mission to serve and protect at any cost. In doing so I forgot who I was. I will disregard my comfort in order to make somebody else more comfortable. I will sacrifice my sleep if it means somebody else can rest more easily. I believed wholeheartedly in my impregnable armor and that it would keep me safe from trauma and I could freely rescue people. I learned that my armor is not impregnable. I learned I could be attacked and damaged. However, I am also learning that it is possible to take off my armor and not be the hero. I will by no means abandon people, but I am on a path to learning how to wear just a utility belt rather than a full suit. Without my suit of armor I can be a normal person. Everything I did to save others I can use on myself. I can have bad days like everybody else and I am learning that it’s okay to tell somebody else having a rough go:
“Hey, I’m not doing so well today. I don’t think I can be much help right not.”
Even though I am in the process of removing my superhero attire, I will hold on to my utility belt. It still contains useful tools to assist others, but allows me to be me. I can learn who I am without my gauntlets and work to fortify my mental and emotional armor. I can be my personal superhero.

Alright, I've been kind of worried about this for a while but my girlfriend [15] (I am 16) is currently living in an abusive household, mostly verbal but I also hear about physical as well. We've only been together for 2 months and I hear about a lot of issues within the house. She wants to call CPS but is worried they wont do anything or they'll just keep her at the house, which will may lead to things getting worse. About the actual abuse she's gotten multiple mental breakdowns which sprung from her father who verbally abuses her. He uses terms such as "disgusting retards" to make her go into a breakdown. Another instance I heard about is that when she said she didn't want to go to church he slapped her across the face and went on about a lot of stuff involving religion. In the house they are strictly forced to follow Christianity and its to a point where its hurtful to their lives because they basically don't have a mind of their own. Another thing is that I guess he's impossible to talk to, he refuses to take any self responsibility if he was wrong for anything, so it's impossible to talk back, and all the people within the house have to deal with the consequences which to me seem like verbal abuse. Almost every day I hear something new that happens and I can tell she is mentally unwell. She has cut herself because of him, and has also almost committed suicide and thought very heavily about doing so. All these feelings are because of him, and I'm not sure what CPS does with primarily emotional abuse cases.
Questions I have regarding this is where CPS will take her if they consider this. I've heard multiple similar cases but all of them have differences. Will she be put into foster care or will she have some choice on where to stay. I have talked to a friend of mine who has a safe home environment and she's welcome to stay there. It'd be roughly for 8 months considering that she can't file for emancipation which is a part of the long term plan for her. She'll be 16 sometime soon and she'll be out on her own once she files for it. Once she does this her dad will legally have no control over her. She's currently enrolled in school here in Arizona where we both live so I would hope they wouldn't take her and her sisters back to where she used to live which is far away from here. Her actual mom is considered unwell because of a mental condition and that's why her dad moved them down here. He blocked all contact with her and banned all of them from speaking with her.
I tried talking to her about getting evidence since I'm pretty sure they need some form of it. Whenever she's tried he always finds out and takes her phone and goes through it. He does this even when she's not doing anything. This goes for audio and voice recordings. I gave her a burner phone to try and record on something else in a back pocket so we'll see if that works. I'm pretty sure he keeps trackers on everyone as well, but I'm unsure if that's considered inhumane (to me it is).
This whole situation gets even more messed up, because, her dad is a police officer. Would he get some sort of "special" treatment from CPS because he works for authority or does he get treated the same.
He owns several guns from what I know and her herself said that she doesn't feel safe in her own home. He forces his beliefs of whatever he wants onto them and gives them zero freedom to talk from the heart.
All in all, I need some help with this. I'm trying to get her through this but I don't know what the best option would be, and I don't even know if CPS would do anything regarding this. There has been no evidence yet but I believe messages have been archived from her and her dad which signify hatred. I see complete neglect in this household and almost zero sign of a healthy family.

AFAB nonbinary person seeking long-term romantic relationship with childfree man who is not a creep.
I'm pretty heavily introverted and shy. I like keeping plants, especially succulents. My degree of success with this... varies. But they're all living, so it's probably fine.
I'm more of a cat person. Well-trained dogs are cool. I say this because I have three, and because one time some weirdo got really insistent about "dog superiority" after I told him I'm a cat person. So now I just say it in my posts.
I like the standard human things. Indie-pop and alt music, graphic novels, Chainsaw Man (the manga and the anime), The Boys (just the show), Sweet Tooth (just the comic), and plenty of animated shows and movies. I have a soft spot for stop-motion.
I'm autistic and demisexual. Not currently locked into a special interest, so maybe it could be you?
I'm left-leaning, non-religious, and don't drink or smoke. I have discord, so we can switch to that after we've gotten to know each other.
Appearance: I'm 5'4", plus-size/curvy/fat/whatever you feel like calling it, keep my hair cut short, and am pretty average-looking. I don't know how to use makeup and refuse to learn, so I've gotten comfortable with this. Couple of pictures on my profile.
What I'm looking for: - male - 24-30 - living in the USA. The closer the better. - childfree. This does not just mean "childless". - monogamous, LTR-minded, wanting to take things slowly - won't insult me for fun/as a joke. A lot of people seem to like doing this before they've even gotten to know me. Being picked on that way turns me off. - bonus points if you're built like a bealook like a lumberjack. Not required, I just like that. I have no other preferences.
Tell me about yourself if you message. Age, location, hobbies, likes, dislikes, your ideal date night, whatever. Otherwise I will just assume you didn't read my post.

I know this is nocontract which is mostly about prepaid, but those of you who know how to play the game know how valuable Xfinity Mobile was and still is, but how they are starting to get away from what made them a great value.
I am completely ignoring their unlimited plans. I don’t care about them, never have.
The real value is the “By-The-Gig” Plan.
Unlimited Talk & Text w/ 1GB of shared data across all other By-The-Gig lines.
Even after the price hike a while ago from $12 to $15. Still great value.
$15/m for up to to 5 lines.
(FYI I’m still on the old $12 plan with up-to 10 lines.)
I will say that being able to get the base unlimited plan for $30+ taxes with just one by-the-gig line is… okay. Not bad. It’s not great but not terrible.
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With all the “free phone” promos throughout the years.
The $50-$200 BYOD New Line Promos.
The Extra Xfinity “Rewards” Promos.
—-
Sadly it’s starting to come to a slow end.
Increased from $12 to $15 even though I’m still grandfathered in at $12.
$10 activation Fee, even for port-ins on existing lines (this hurts more than you might think)
Slightly higher per line fees and taxes.
Seems to be no more good “free phones” without a promo code. I’m not talking about some garbage Motorola or Samsung AWhatever. Sometimes a pixel is “free” but iPhones is where it’s at. They are really pushing trading in now, don’t know how I feel about that, I’ve never traded in a phone with them.
It needs to be paired with an Xfinity internet account. Not the end of the world but can be annoying at times.
—-
Good Things -
Verizon Coverage.
It’s still a great base hub account with unlimited talk&text. With a dual sim phone specifically an iPhone all you need is to pair up another SIM that has data and your good to go. The advent of eSIM free trials have been a great paring with Xfinity Mobile.
A slept on feature missing on so many prepaid services is the enhanced “iCloud Calling on Wi-Fi Connected Devices” feature. It’s available even on the By-The-Gig lines.
I still wait for the BYOD port in promos though. That’s the real value.
If you are the kind of person who gets the cellular models of iPads like I do. They usually have them at retail with the base iPad model usually with a discount on the line fee. 24 month 0% interest for the new base iPad. I’ll take that, even at retail. With an optional by-the-gig sim in there for emergency data.
This mobile account has almost acted as a Apple financing account for so many years.
The promos are still there, just at a lower quality/frequency than before.
Eligible for the ACP if you qualify.
Apple Watch compatible for $10 per line fee.
You can swap SIM cards with other devices even though they don’t like it.
Retail stores so you don’t have to do everything online or on the phone.
I have easily gotten more out of my relationship with Xfinity Mobile than they have out of me.
—-
They seem to be not so concerned with customer acquisition as much anymore and now are actually trying to cut the losses. Are they even profitable now?
I’m still on the ride but I’ve realized that it is indeed slowing down.
Who remembers the $1 LG Charge phones!? Those were awesome. I still have one somewhere.

Well, hey friends, sorry for the delay... again. I wish I could write faster, but I think chapters will come out every 1-2 weeks for the foreseeable future. Anyway, on to the chapter!
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Memory transcript subject: Mikhail Rykov, Human Liberation Front, Eastern American cell
Standardized human time: January 10th, 2057
After the reinforcements were briefed, our force of 65 strong left and headed towards the base, leaving behind only a skeleton crew to keep the outpost running. Just as the commanders promised, I was going to be leading the team going into the building itself to rescue my friends.
“God be with me…” I muttered to myself, closing my eyes as I clutched the small cross my grandmother had given me before my first mission as a token of good luck. It felt like so long ago now, I’d have to pay her a visit once we’re done. I had no doubt that my comrades would need medical attention, so we would likely be taking them deep into the wilderness to one of our larger permanent bases. I’d see if I could get a letter out to her, or get a secure radio signal that would reach Kamchatka.
“You still pray, huh?” One of the women in the back of the truck, who I recognized as part of Borowski’s reinforcements, said after I put the cross back in my pocket. Catherine I believe was her name. “I keep what little we still have of our ancestors' culture alive” I said while making sure my rifle was ready for the fight. My old, wooden stock, bolt action hunting rifle. It would do.
“Good, I think we’ll need a god's help” she said, checking her rifle as well. “We’re coming up on it now.”
“Then let’s prepare for a fight. Everyone!” I yelled as I stood up, facing the rest of my team in the cramped vehicle. “You know what they’re likely doing to our comrades! You know what they will do to us should they find out where we hide! Let all of your righteous rage at what they’ve done to our beautiful planet and cultures boil over! Let it guide your bullets towards the skulls of those Federation bastards! For the true humanity!”
I smiled as I was met with a chorus of our rallying cry said back to me, with a few cheers thrown in. It felt good, finally being able to do something. Finally being able to rescue them from whatever hell they were going through.
“Rykov, Borowski, get ready, T minus ten seconds” Carlson's voice said over the radio. I crossed myself one final time before grabbing onto a handle on the ceiling, steadying myself as we went off road. Carlson began counting down as we got closer.
“Five.”
Deep breath
“Four”
They’ll pay for what they’ve done
“Three”
My team will be ok
“Two”
Every Fed killed is a step closer to our freedom
“One!”
As Carlson finished the count down, I felt our vehicle crash through an armored wall. I could hear sirens blaring from inside the building as I pushed open the back doors, and hopped out of the truck with my team close behind me. “Bury them in lead! Leave no survivors!” I yelled as I fired at a fleeing Gojid, nailing the spiky bastard in the back of the head. It slumped to the ground, and I pulled the bolt back on my rifle before advancing forward, my team and I putting down the little disorganized resistance we faced with ease.
“This way! Come on!” I yelled, motioning for my men to follow me. I slid into cover, Catherine sliding in beside me, and looked over to see a door open. Perfect. “Right there! Light it up!” I said to her, raising my rifle and firing into the doorway. She fired as well, and we managed to take down three of the approaching reinforcements before we were forced into cover again.
“Hey Rykov” she said with a smile, reaching onto her belt and pulling out a grenade. “Would you like to do the honors?”
“I’d love to.” I said with a smile, taking it from her and pulling the pin. I threw it right in the middle of the group of federation soldiers, standing up and firing at any survivors as soon as I heard the explosion. I saw several attempting to crawl away, who I quickly put down with quick headshots. I wouldn’t have minded carrying out their deaths a bit longer, but I needed to be efficient.
Maybe I’ll bring one in alive, find out what a krakotl tastes like
As I looked back at the doorway, I saw a familiar face scrambling to his feet nearby. The officer from the road, the one that shot Miles. I watched as he shot one of my men in the neck before slipping into cover. When I looked around, I saw several bodies, both ours and federation. It was a sad truth that people died fighting for freedom they’ll never see, but I knew that when I chose to fight. I knew that when organizing this mission. There would be time to mourn later.
“Give me another grenade, now!” I said to Catherine, who quickly handed it over. I pulled the pin and threw it towards the officer's cover. I saw him fly backwards and hit the ground, which took care of almost all of the enemies outside.
“Now, move! Forward!” I yelled to my team as I rushed towards the door. I stopped to make sure everybody got inside before joining them, but as I was walking through the doorway a bullet hit the wall next to me.
I turned around to see the officer, blood running down his leg as he staggered towards me with his pistol aimed. As tempting as it was to beat him to death against the wall, I refrained.
Efficient, I need to be efficient.
Instead, I fired a shot at him, hitting him in the chest before pulling back the bolt and firing again into the same spot. He fell backwards onto the ground, finally out of the fight.
Hope that killed him, I thought as I advanced inside with my remaining team. Borowski and his group should be distracting them outside, while we push in towards the cells. Immediately, we were met with a firefight, forcing us into the little cover we could find behind corners and walls. A few of my team dipped into side rooms along with the techies, clearing them of anyone, even scientists and non combatants as they rushed towards the computers, nabbing whatever intel they could. The scientists were the chief architects of our cultural genocide, they deserved no more mercy then the soldiers who forced the cure down our throats.
“This way!” I yelled after we managed to clear the hallway, thanks to some of the team bringing along makeshift firebombs that we liked to call Greek fire, after the legendary weapon used by the Byzantine Empire back when we had a history. I doubt the cured had ever heard of Rome or Byzantium.
We hurried through the building, carefully rounding corners and picking off any enemies that came our way. We lost some of our own, of course, but we still had enough of a force to finish the rescue. Finally, we found them. I could see what looked like cells down the hall, guarded by a smaller force than I anticipated. We easily dispatched of them, and my heart began to race as I sprinted towards the glass doors.
What I saw in the first door drove me into a rage. Jacob was there, a large collar around his neck and a bloody bandage around the stump where his right hand once was. Blood was running down his face from his eye, and his mouth was scarred. He was being held up, one of the cured human guards using him as a shield while a Zurulian doctor coward behind them.
“St- stay back!” The guard said, aiming his pistol at me. He was clearly terrified at the sight of me and the remaining seven team members gathering behind me. “Go get the others” I said without looking away from the guard. He began to panic as I shot the lock on the door and began to approach, clutching my rifle until my knuckles were white. My team ran off, hopefully to enact the same vengeance on whatever federation monsters they find.
“Mikhail… I… I knew you’d come…” Jacob said weakly, forcing a smile, which let me see that he was missing a tooth as well. My rage finally boiled over. I lunged forward and grabbed the monster’s hand, tossing his pistol away from him before he could react. Jacob fell forward as I dragged the guard to the ground and began beating him. Over, and over, and over. No matter how much he cried, no matter how much he begged for mercy, I no longer possessed any. I beat it till it stopped making a sound, then stomped on its head until there wasn’t much left but a mess of red blood where a face used to be. The scientist had attempted to run while I was distracted, but even in his injured state, Jacob was still quick. He picked up the guard's pistol, and was keeping the terrified zurulian held at gunpoint.
When I finally got up, my hands bloody and my breath ragged, I approached him. He winced as I put a hand on his shoulder, but gave me another weak smile. “It's… good to see you again… how’d you find us?”
“A story for another day” I said, turning my eyes back to the scientist. “He’s all yours, do what you want with him.” Jacobs' bloody smile grew wider as he approached the cowering marsupial, who only attempted to run again. Jacob promptly shot it in the leg, sending it to the ground with a pained yelp.
“You fuckers put us through so much…” He said as he slowly approached, likely relishing the fear in its eyes as much as I was. The thing whimpered as he knelt down next to it, placing the barrel of the sidearm right up to the doctor's stomach. “Took my hand, took my eye, mangled my mouth, MADE ME EAT YOUR CURE!” He yelled, getting inches away from the shaking doctor. The part about the cure made my heart drop. After all we’d been through, after all we’d fought for, the federation had turned him into one of them. They’d probably turned everybody into one of them.
“Destroying who we were wasn’t enough three hundred years ago, was it?” He said, moving the pistol to one of the doctor's other knees before firing again, point blank. It cried in pain and began to whimper as Jacob got right up in its face again. “I will burn the federation to the ground… there’s nowhere you, or your species, or your entire fucking federation will be safe!” With that, he fired a shot into its gut, and left it to bleed out in agony. I went with him out of the cell, half carrying him as he leaned on me for support. The others had been rescued too, and thankfully were in better shape then Jacob. Miles had bandages around his chest and leg, but was otherwise ok. Alexandra was limping along with the help of one of the rescuers, while Emily looked completely unscathed other than a couple bruises and cuts.
“Get those collars off, now!” I said as I grabbed the pistol from Jacobs hand, firing a shot up through the large device and into the ceiling. I managed to pull it away, revealing burns from constant shocks. “Those fuckers… come on, lets go!” I began helping Jacob towards the exit while the others followed behind me. Emily fell in beside me, having grabbed a rifle from a corpse. “I can't believe what they’ve done to him, I knew it would be bad, but…” she said, taking a few steps ahead along with another partisan to make sure we would be clear to help the injured to the vehicles.
“I’m… glad to see I got it the worst…” Jacob said as we limped down the hall. “Don’t worry brother, we’ll be safe soon.” I said to him.
The techies joined us as we approached the exit, falling in behind Emily. “Find anything?” I said to them as the doorway came into sight. “Let's just say command will like what we have, this could change everything” one of them said with a smile. I recognized him as Ilich, the guard that had helped me into the cave and given me water when I first arrived at Carlson’s outpost.
“Yeah… you won’t believe why we were taken alive…” Jacob said as we made our way outside. To my dismay, the body of the officer with the glasses who I’d shot was gone, meaning he’d survived and managed to scurry away. A blood trail led around the side of the building, but I didn’t have time to chase him. Not right now.
“Tell me on the ride back” I said, calling for a medship. “Commander Carlson, Commander Borowski, we’ve got them! It's time to pull out!” I yelled into my comms as I helped Jacob onto a small dropship that had just landed outside the destroyed outer wall, one that had been converted into a medical vessel. I made sure everybody else was loaded onto ships before finally climbing into one myself. This surprise attack had gone spectacularly well. Borowski and his group had kept them completely distracted, letting us get in and out with my comrades without much resistance.
I finally began to relax as the ships lifted off with everyone inside. Carlson and Borowski would conduct a fighting retreat, and meet us back at the outpost later. Just as I let out a deep sigh, I saw Miles limping towards me. I barely had time to turn towards him before I felt his fist collide with my nose.
I stumbled backwards, wiping blood away as I stared back at the furious kid. “You left me!” He yelled, drawing the attention of anyone who wasn’t already watching this spectacle. “You ran! You left me, left us, and now look at Jacob!” He said, motioning to our mutilated friend currently being treated by a medic.
“And then I rescued you…” I said quietly, letting out a quiet sigh before I continued. “I didn’t want to run, but if I didn’t I would have been in those cells with you, and nobody would have made it out of that hell… I’d just be stuck with you.”
“Y- You… you…” Miles stammered, tears welling up in his eyes. He was clearly too angry to get any words out before he turned away and sat down, letting a medic tend to him as he glared at me.
“Here.” I heard Ilich say as I sat back down. I looked over to see him holding out a piece of cloth for me to try and stop the bleeding in my nose, at the very least wipe it off.
“Thanks…” I grumbled, taking the cloth and quickly staining it red. “So what did you find on their servers?” I asked him, turning to face the techie. A wide smile grew across his face as I asked, a smile wider and more genuine than any I’d seen in a long time. “Well… we aren’t alone, there’s another predator species. They call themselves the Arxur.”

Jesi had never been in a hotel before certainly not one as fine as the one Mr Ericson took her and Damion too. They had a suite all to themselves it had two bedrooms connected to a living room, and kitchen. The hotel room was larger then the apparent she used to share with her mama all those years ago. Damion shared a room with Mr. Ericson but for the first time in her life Jesi had a room all to herself. She thought it would feel secure, but she still slept with a knife under her pillow. Still the bed was so soft she felt like it was going to swallow her alive every night. Her nights were one thing but the days were another thing entirely, they were a whirlwind activity. First there was the image coach, a person that Mr. Ericson hired to find a way to make sure Damion and Jesi, both looked nicer then street kids but were still comfortable. Then there was the mountain of paper work and explanations of how her life would change once she signed the papers. Mr. Ecrison said that the press had heard there was an heir to the O’Connal empire but they didn’t have her name or face yet. He was hoping that meant they would have a quite arrival when their plane landed in upstate New York.
He realized he was wrong the moment they entered the airport. Mr. Ericson was shocked to see the number of reporters swarming the gate. He cursed under his breath he’d been so careful he’d even gone out of his way to ask O’Connal’s business partner Constance Karington if they could borrow her family’s private jet to fly the girl in under the radar. With a sigh he squared his shoulders and looked at the two young adults behind him. “You both need to stay quite they will snap photos, shout questions, and shove whatever kind of recording devices they have practically down your throats for a sound bite. Do not give them one.” Mr. Ericson commanded as he lead them toward the crowd. Airport security was already attempting to hold the crowd back. The instant the crowd caught sight of Jesi flashes began to blind them all while the questions started flying
“Miss Jahari is it true you never knew your father?”
“Miss Jahari are you going to sell the company?”
“Miss, Jahari how does it feel to be Cinderella?”
Jesi was proud of herself for not pulling her knife on any of the reporters at the airport. She didn’t like people in general and she certainly wasn’t used to crowds surrounding and recording her. Mr Ericson parted the crowd as best he could and then shoved both Jesi and Damion into a waiting black sedan, with a driver. A short ride later and the small black sedan pulled up to a set of iron gates in the center of a brick wall that surrounded a mansion as big as a castle. The street in front of the wall however was filled bumper to bumper with cars parked on the curb. As the black sedan they were in pulled up to the gates people mobbed the car banging on the windows shouting questions making it hard for the car to move. Mr. Ericson pushed a button on his phone and the gates swung inward admitting the car the driver moved forward slowly through the throng as the gates swung shut behind them. The car pulled up to the front of the house and an older matronly type woman, came rushing out, as Mr. Ericson opened Jesi’s door.
“Ah, let me look at you!” the woman cried out in a thick Irish accent as she looked at Jesi.
“Jesminda Jahari this is your father’s maid and cook Mrs. Mable Mcguil, she has served your father’s family since before I can remember.”
“Aye, your mother must have been a beauty. Why just look at ya! You did get yer Father’s hair though I see, and his eyes.” Mable said as she reached out to brush a strand of red hair from Jesi’s face
“You knew my father?’ Jesi asked
“Knew him? Why I helped his mother raise ‘im I did. Kindest boy you’d ever want to meet. Ack, but he did he ever have a stubborn streak.” Mable added with a laugh
“Mable, my dear, I know you want to get to know Miss Jahari but that’s better left inside I think as the wolves are snapping pictures at the gate.”
“Ack, of course where are my manners, get in here all of ye.” Mable said as she turned to lead the way into the house. Mr. Ericson handed Damion and Jesi the 2 small carry on bags worth of clothes they’d purchased a few days ago, and motioned the two of them to follow Mable inside while he took his own bag from the trunk.
Jesi stepped wide eyed into the large foyer, the floors were a black and gold marble. The walls were a pristine white, with a stair case on either side curving up to the open second floor but what drew Jesi’s eye was a large painting hanging on the wall between the stair cases. A small family of three with a rather severe looking man with blonde hair standing tall a woman beside him with red hair gave anyone who entered a warm welcoming smile. The boy in the front drew jesi in he was around 7 at the time of the painting. Red hair green eyes but the happy smile he gave didn’t quite make it to his eyes. Jesi walked toward the painting staring at the child.
“That’s your father.” Mabel said walking up beside Jesi. “I remember that day clear as a bell yer grandfather insisted on a family portrait sitting. Ah, but yer father little scamp that he was was having none of it. All he wanted was to go out and play in the yard. The artist finally got yer grandfather to agree to take a photo to make the painting off of. As soon as he was free Conner went out and rolled through the grass in that fancy suit you see ‘im wearing. Aye but yer Grandfather was in a snit for days over the grass stains.”
“This house is massive.” Jesi said looking around the foyer.”
“Ah, but we do agree on that. To the left You’ll find the kitchen, dinning room, ballroom, bathroom, den, and living room. Through the right door you’ll find the home theater, another bathroom, library, office, gym and indoor pool. Upstairs there are nine bedrooms each with their own on suite bathroom, And the master bedroom has exclusive access to it’s own balcony. The third floor contains the greenhouse conservatory and excellent views.”
“So many rooms for only three people.” Jesi marveled turning a slow circle around the foyer.
“Yes, that was yer Grandfather for ye. The man insisted on showing the world how successful he was by getting the best of everything privet jet, fancy yacht, all the cars, the house. Yer father was a much simpler type He would have been happy with a one room apparent in the city. That’s why he never replaced the privet jet after the crash. He didn’t see a need, said if he was gonna fly it could be commercially, with real people.”
Jesi stood staring at the painting tears burned the back of her throat, as waves of emotion beat at her. Her father sounded like such a good man she wished she could have known him, but right on the heels of that she was so angry, her father lived in such excess while she and her mother had scraped by on nothing. Yet according to Ericson her father had never known that she existed her grandfather had lied to her father to her mother. Jesi choked back the tears and clung to the only emotion that had kept her alive for so long. Anger. “I hate them.” she ground between clenched teeth.
Mabel’s face fell she seemed to be hoping for a more joyful reaction from Jesi, but to her credit she didn’t try to talk the girl out of her pain either. Damion walked over and placed an arm around Jesi’s shoulders. “Mrs. Mcguil, is there a room we can go to for rest and a little privacy?” Damion asked
As soon as the door to the large guest bedroom drifted shut behind them Jesminda let her real feelings be known. She broke into deep sobs and fell into Damion’s arms.
“I don’t- I can’t- How could he- How could they-” Jesi started so many sentences but the jumble of emotion stampeding through her.
“Easy Jes, take a breath.” Damion tried as he held her.
“Why am I morning a man I never met? A man who abandoned me?” Jesi started
“Because he didn’t abandon you not on purpose Jes.”
“I want to hate him. I need to hate him, Why can’t I hate him?” Jesi sobbed
“Your right Jes it’s not fair. None of this is fair. It’s a lot to take in, and neither of us have taken the time to really process this.”
“In the hotel he didn’t seem real, but now… He was my father, and I never knew his name.”
“I know, Jes, it’s not fair.”
“He was stolen from me!”
“Yes he was.”
“This whole life was stolen from me!” Jesi hiccuped
Damion just held her and let her cry. There was so much for them both to process. Jesi was now one of the richest women in the nation, and she had insisted that Damion share her home as the brother he’d been to her since the day they’d met.
Jesi spent the rest of the day in the guest room that was now her bedroom with Damion bouncing between sorrow and anger like a rubber ball. Eventually she cried herself to sleep. Damion had just eased her into the plush bed, when a soft knock sounded on the door.
“Hey, uumm.” Damion stammered he wished he could remember the maid’s name.
“Mabel deary. How is she?” Mabel asked as she tried to look past Daion towards Jesi.
“She’s sleeping.” Damion said protectivily blocking to door.
“I mean her no harm.” Mabel said gently
Damion winced and tried to force himself to relax “Sorry, I know you don’t it’s just…” He trailed off at a loss “I’ve protectd her since she was five. Its just really hard to let that go.”
“Ye love her then?” Mable asked
“Of course.” Damion stopped and then a thought occurred to him “Oh! Oh you mean! No, no we’re not like that. She’s basically the sister I -” he stopped.
“Yer sister?”
“The crash that took my parents. It also killed my five year old sister Amy. Three days later I met Jesi, she looks nothing like Amy, but she was the same age and well I guess I wanted to protect her the way I couldn’t protect my family.”
“Ack, ye poor dear.” Mabel said with tears pooling in her eyes. “She’s safe here though, not a sole can get past the walls without setting off the alarms.”
Damion stiffened “Jesi, doesn’t like loud noises. Not since her mother was shot.”
“She was there?” Mable asked
“I thought Mr. Ericson would have told you?” Damion asked in confusion
“No, he told me who she was and that her mother had been killed but nothing else.”
“Yeah, she was there, her mom had to take her to work that night and, she says all she remembers is her mom stuffing her in a cabinet then she heard someone yell for the manager then the shots.”
“My God! Did she see anything?”
“No the officer on the scene worked really hard to make sure she didn’t see anything, But she’s been really jumpy ever since.”
“Ack, the poor dear. Well it seems there’s nothing more You and I can do for her til she wakes come I’ll show ye to yer room you must be tired as well.”
“I-I can’t leave her I’ll just stay here with her.”
“She’s safe here. Your safe here. You need rest too.”
“And I’ll get it right here beside her.”
“Ye’ve taken care of her for thirteen years, Ye’ve earned a rest and so has she.”
“We rest better together.”
“I’m sure ye do, and you’ll be ale to hear her through the wall if there’s trouble.” Mable encouraged
“I-”
“Yer both safe. She’ll be fine.”
Damion reluctantly followed Mable from the room. Mable made a show of taking a key from her pocket and locking the door to the room she explained that she was the only one with a key to unlock the bedroom doors but that all door could be locked or unlocked from the inside.
The next morning Mable opened Jesminda’s door with a cart of food behind her. “Good moring Miss Jes-” Mable froze as Jesi lept from the bed a knife brandished in her hand it’s tip nearly rested on Mabel’s neck
“Sorry,” Jesi said as she lowered the knife. “Force of habit.”
“Well, I will say that’s a new way to get the blood runnin in the mornin.” Mabel said with a giggle “Is there a reason ye have a knife on ye?”
“I’ve slept with a knife since I was sixteen.”
“And ye haven’t cut yerself?” Mable tried to joke
“No, Sargent Mullens trained me and Damion how to defend ourselves.”
“Sargent Mullens?” Mable asked
“He was staying at the first homeless shelter we crashed at after leaving the home. I was young inexperienced in street life and so excited to have my first shower in weeks I wasn’t careful enough. After I walked into the ladies room a man grabbed me from behind. He clamped his hand over my mouth and put a knife to my throat. I tried to scream to struggle while he cut my clothes off. Sargent Mullens heard the struggle and rushed in. He pulled the man off before anything happened and called for help. The man tried to cut Mullens but he dodged the blade, disarmed him, and held him until the folks that ran the shelter arrived. He told them to bring the guy to the police for sexual assault. After he helped me and Damion disappear when the police showed up and then taught us how to survive on the streets we stayed with him for about 4 months, until he disappeared.”
“That must have been hard on ye both.” Mable said
“It’s life on the street.”
“Jesi!” Damion called out as he rushed into the room.
“Ah and that saves me the trouble of bringing breakfast to ye as well.” Mable said as she motioned to the cart behind her. “I didn’t know yer preferences, so I, well, I made yer Father’s favorites. Bacon, sausage, pancakes, as well as some fruit a selection of juices and, aspirin.”
“How did you know I have a headache?” Jesi asked
“I’ve spent more then a night or two crying meself te sleep. I know the headache ye wake with in the morin all to well. OOP!” Mable said as she pulled her phone from her pocket. “And it seems that Ericson has arrived for the day with company not far behind. Best ye eat up and prepare seems as though yer in for yoru first dose of Constance.”
“Heellloo, Constance Karington,” The tall blonde woman in her early twenties stepped up to Jesi and offered her hand “Your sister.”
“I have a sister?” Jesi asked
“No, you do not.” Ericson answered.
“Oh not a biological sister but Conner was like a second father to me.” Constance said
“That makes one of us.” Jesi griped under her breath
“Oh look at you aren’t you a vision well besides that scare on your neck but don’t you worry my step-mom knows a great plastic surgeon we’ll have that gone in days.”
Jesi rested a self conscious hand over the knife scare on her collar bone.
“I wish you had consulted with me Ms. Karington, Miss Jahri’s schedule is full today.”
“Oh, so I cleared my entire morning of running my very successful company to hang out with my new sister for nothing” Constance protested actually pouting at Ericson.
“I believe you’ll find the company belongs to both of you Ms. Karington, and as I Said if you’d checked with me I could have told you that Miss Jahari’s scheduled is full this morning.”
“Oh come on I’m sure you don’t need a stuffy old man telling you what to do Jesi. You don’t mind if I call you Jesi do you?” Constance’s words dripped with sugar.
“Actually I do mind.” Jesi wasn’t buying Constance’s act for a second. “And Ercison has a full day planned.”
“Well, what am I supposed to do with an open morning Ericson?” Constance tried again
“Since your so keen to have family time I suggest you go connect with your brother.” Ericson suggested
“I suppose I could find Skyler but I look forward to dinner tonight Jesminda.” Constance commanded
“I will contact your office and arrange for a dinner in a few weeks then.” Ericson offered.
“I look forward to it.” Constance said with a smile as she turned to go.
“Oh Ms. Karington I would like to know how our confidential flight itinerary was leaked to the press.” Ericson asked
“Oh right, I have talked to my pilot about that rest assured he’ll be disciplined for his loose lips. Ta.” Constance tossed over her shoulder as she left.
“Who was that?” Damion asked when the door closed behind Constance
“Constance Karington, she is the co CEO of O’Connal and Karington Enterprises.”
“Isn’t she kinda young to be a CEO?” Jesi asked
“She was a child prodigy she graduated high school early and earned her MBA by the time she was 20. Two years ago she convinced her father to entire and hand over his half of the company to her.”
Constance slammed the front door to her family’s home. And let out a frustrated scream.
“I take it your plan to get Cinderella to sign the papers was a bust?” her brother Skyler appeared at the top of the stairs.
“I thought you’d still be sleeping.” Constance griped
“I was until you slammed the door quite rude if I’m honest sister dear.” Skyler, said with a lazy drawl
“Well, tell whoever your current girlfriend is I’m sorry to have disturbed her.” Constance replied with a forced smile
“You can drop the loving sister routine Constance I’m alone today.”
“For once.” Constance laughed sarcastically. “What do Nora find you flirting with a waitress?”
“Her name was Ashley and no, she asked for commitment, and you know I don’t do commitment.”
“Hm. Yet another doe eyed debutante that thought she could marry New York’s most eligible bachelor?”
“Yes you’d think they’d know better by now don’t they all talk?”
“Brother this may surprise you but the world does not actually revolve around you.”
“And it doesn’t serve you sister dear. A fact it seems ‘Cinderella’ reminded you of today.” Skyer gloated
“That company is mine! Conner promised it to me! Then that worthless brainless rat shows up and takes everything from me!” Constance shouted.
“I’m not sure Cinderella showed up isn’t more like Connor hunted her down?”
“Cinderella?” Constance said as a calculating smile slid on to her face
“That look never bodes well.” Skyler observed
“Well, every Cinderella needs her Prince Charming doesn’t she.”
“As I understand it she came with hers did she not?”
“The street rat no he’s more a brother to her as I understand it, but you Brother dear are currently between lovers at the moment.”
“Ha! Don’t even try it. Your little Cinderella is no where near my type.”
“Oh please, she’s beautiful, rich, and a woman that’s exactly your type.”
“Hardly, once a street rat always a street rat!” Skyler objected
“I don’t care, you will romance her get her so infatuated with you that when you tell her it’s in her best interst to sign over the company she’ll comply.”
“And if it can’t.”
“Then you’ll keep it in your pants until you marry her! I will not let some brat swoop in and steal everything I worked my entire life to get!”
“You can’t make me do any of this.”
“Can’t I? Last I checked Brother dear I control your trust fund.”

Hey, all. As the title says, I'm having a rough go of it trying to enjoy DMC3. This will almost undoubtedly spiral into unhinged ramble territory, but I will try my best to keep things a little focused. I'll go over my play history with the series for context and bring up my particular complaints; I'm hoping the community can spot what it is that I might be missing or offer me a window into the brain of a DMC fan. I want to say here, probably unnecessarily, that I am not trying to condemn the series as some doo-doo brain button-masher or anything; DMC as a concept sounds really appealing to me, and I want in, so I am very honestly asking here for any ideas on how to get my ape brain to enjoy it.
I only tried out the games this year, and I had always heard beforehand that these were the games to get into if you wanted flashy hack-and-slash fun, that even if you somehow hated everything else the combat would win you over. So I got DMC1, played about an hour and a half, and I hated it. "No biggie," I thought. "I'll skip over 2 and try out 3." After all, it does seem to be a favorite of the fanbase.
Initially, I was elated. It felt much smoother to control, I had a few more options to play around with, and I was pretty quickly given new guns and devil arms. However, as I progressed, it became very stale very fast. Even with swordmaster as my style the whole way through (I maxed it out, too), I felt like I had a bafflingly small number of things to do with each weapon, and I didn't even like one of them (Nevan).
I took a month-long break after beating Geryon, and in that time I checked out DMC4 and 5 and thoroughly enjoyed Bayonetta. I also bailed on 4 after 10 or so missions of Nero had pushed me to the brink of madness (the same issues I had with 3 but cranked up), but with the help of a character selection mod for 5 (I wanted to skip to Dante to see what the fuss was about), I actually had a pretty decent time on the first few levels. The style-swapping seems like a no-brainer, leveling up styles and getting new moves is significantly faster, and, while I haven't played enough to know for sure, those extra slots on my guns and devil arms promise a deluge of new shit to do later in the game.
This encouraged me to go back to DMC3 with a style-switcher mod. For a while, I was again having an okay go of it. But now, having finished mission 15 like a day ago, I'm all the way burnt out again. I didn't end up liking the Beowulf weapon much (again, too simple, especially compared to 5's interpretation), so I was back to the old three, and they've just become so stale. I have a lot of other gripes with enemy variety and level design, but these are tangential; my biggest grievance by far is that the combos in a vacuum just don't offer me enough variety.
And before you ask: yes, I know about jump-canceling. I've tried it out with a few of Rebellion's and A&R's air moves for 2 or 3 reps, and I don't really care for it. The usefulness is there—I just don't like how it feels to input. I also regularly use crazy combos to get easy peasy SSS when I'm thirsting for red orbs, but I hate the fact that it feels like I'm brutalizing my controller to do them, lol.
So help me out, please: what am I missing/doing wrong/etc.?
Extra context—my history with hack-and-slash and beat-em-up games: this post is probably way too long as is, but I wanted to include this in case it was helpful. Like I mentioned, I recently played and really enjoyed Bayonetta. In particular, I liked the vast array of combo options with appreciable utility differences in their enders and speed, the great variety of weapons (especially that whip, ZAMN!), and (mostly) the bosses. I didn't like how the late game's overuse of minibosses and drought of grunt crowds funneled me into playing less stylishly/more repetitively. A few months before that, I played and loved Sifu. Although I know this game plays a lot more restrained and tactically, there were a lot of tools to use and certainly ways to look flashy. I've tried Ninja Gaiden Black for less than an hour, probably. It was okay? I need more time with it. And lastly, the apple of my eye since I was a kid, God of War, particularly 1-3. I can wax poetic about how much and in which ways I adore God of War, but unless that's useful for shaping advice, I'll cut my flowery ass short.

You know that feeling when your dog is sniffing something they shouldn't and you have redirected them already, and you know they will regret sniffing the forbidden pile of mud?
This was me tonight with our 10mo puppy. He kept wanting to sniff some fresh mud near our apartment, which was close to some kind of plant that gives him the sneeze. Redirect, keep walking, make him potty like the good boy he is. The pile of mud is literally in front of our entrance, can't be avoided, so I keep him away from it.
He's a stubborn little corgi and still manages to get close enough to it (my fault, had a longer leash than usual).
Gets a sniff of the mud and the plants, starts sneezing violently and hits his nose on the ground pretty roughly twice before i can even crouch down to raise him up, because his short lil legs may be cute but make him too close to the ground for his sake.
He left a bit of blood on the ground, probably a small cut on his tongue. He's fine, let us check his mouth and nose, there was no more blood after a few seconds of cleaning him up. He got some ice to crunch on and then sneezed a bit of plant after a couple of minutes and tried to run away with it when I went to grab it.
I love him. I would die for him. But he's a bit dumb.

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It was raining the day Finnegan stumbled inside the Lucky Star.
His blonde hair was matted and plastered to his face. Blood soaked his right sleeve, and one of the lenses in his glasses was shattered.
“H-help,” he murmured. His knees hit the polished wooden floor. His glasses close behind.
The inn and tavern were quiet—most girls preferred to stay inside on rainy days. Yomi and Ravyn weren’t most girls, though. Some of the rarest Encroachers came out of hiding during the brutal San Island storms. That meant new weapons, new armor, and Bells.
They were two drinks in, celebrating a successful hunt of a pack of galatrax, when the youth tumbled through the door.
“What the hell?” Ravyn jumped to her feet, Yomi close behind.
“He’s bleeding!” Yomi hissed, rushing to his side. “[Stabilize]!”
Is this really the next man? Emberlynn, Ravyn’s mother, had always built her father as a larger-than-life figure. A man that couldn’t be felled by a little rain or surprised by a measly roach.
This… man… was tall but thin. Gangly. Like he hadn’t had a good meal in a long time.
He blinked up at Yomi. “A-are you… are you a nekomimi?”
“I’m sorry, a what?” Yomi dabbed at the bite on his arm with the napkin she’d snatched from the table.
“Mou ii.” He had the gall to look frustrated. Ravyn scoffed. “A catgirl,” he tried again.
“Oh. Yes.” Yomi looked over her shoulder at Ravyn. “We’re, um, well, we’re all catgirls.”
“Oh my God. This is the isekai jackpot.” He rubbed his eyes with his clean hand, blinking up at Ravyn. “Even if the monsters outside are a pain in the ass.”
Yomi hurried to the table, snagged her glass of water, and moved back to his side. “Here, drink this.”
“Ah. Arigatou.” He accepted the water and took a deep drink.
Ravyn had never heard so many unintelligible words in so few sentences. Which was impressive, considering who her mother was. “You didn’t fight back?” she snapped.
“Fight? With what?” He sputtered a laugh, his energy seeming to return. “Besides, why would I fight something that could so obviously kill me?”
Ravyn marched to his side and snatched his broken glasses from the floor. “To survive. Level up. Get Bells. Moron.”
“Baka!” he hissed back.
“Ravyn,” Yomi warned, her ears twitching with annoyance. “This could be new for him, remember?”
“Uh-huh. Saoirse has blessed us all with a—” She paused, squatting so she was at eye level with the newcomer. “Hey, is there a term for a small man? Like calling a young catgirl a kitten.”
“Erm, a boy?”
“Yes. Good. That will do.” Ravyn snapped the glasses in half at the thin bridge and looked at Yomi. “Saoirse has blessed us with a boy.”
“Hey, I—!” He reached for his glasses, then flinched back. His deep green eyes flickered between Ravyn and Yomi’s faces. “Nani? I don’t need my glasses anymore?”
“Saoirse’s tits, can you please speak like a normal person?” Ravyn commanded.
“Ravyn!” Yomi snarled.
He stared at her in disbelief. “How did you know I didn’t need those anymore?”
I didn’t. “Call it a hunch.” Ravyn tossed the remnants of his glasses in a nearby trash bin and wiped her hands. “Good luck in Nyarlea, boy.”
“My name is Finnegan.” He pushed Yomi’s hands away and stumbled to his feet. “Are you a bitch all of the time, or am I a special case?”
Ravyn growled, her hands balling into fists. On his feet, he was almost a head taller than her. But Finnegan was still a malnourished, ill-equipped boy. She raised one hand level to her chest and flattened her palm, the burst of flame mirrored in her violet eyes. “Want to find out?”
“Holy shit,” he stepped backward, raising an arm to block his face.
Yomi caught Ravyn’s wrist and forced it down. “She won’t hurt you.”
“Hm? Please, try me.”
He froze, then looked at Yomi. “Wait, so… [Stabilize]. That was a Spell?”
I should burn you to a crisp right now. Save the Encroachers the trouble.
“That’s right,” Yomi said, positioning herself between him and Ravyn. “I’m Yomi, by the way.”
Finnegan nodded, and his gaze returned to Ravyn. “And you are?”
“Leaving.” Ravyn turned, retrieving the Bells for their drinks from her [Cat Pack] and plopping them on the table. She came to Shulan with Yomi for an adventure. Not to team up with a feeble man who used a strange language and had no idea that Magic existed.
That was a fast road to a quick death.
“Ravyn, wait!” Yomi turned to Finnegan and raised her hands. “Sorry, give me just a second.”
“Yeah. Sure. I’m, uh, just going to sit down a minute.” He wandered to an empty booth, then searched the pockets of his trousers. “Wait, what’s this?” His hand surfaced with the silver rectangle that Ravyn recognized immediately—an iPaw.
“We’ll explain in a moment,” Yomi replied, taking Ravyn’s wrist and yanking her farther back into the Lucky Star.
Their waitress—Kiri—and three other catgirls in attendance had witnessed his entrance and their exchange. Kiri was at his table in the blink of an eye, offering him whatever was on the menu free of charge. The other three leered longingly, joining into a single throng to share a whispered discussion.
“We will explain, Yomi?” Ravyn snarled once they were out of earshot.
“Yes. We.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Are you insane?” Yomi gestured wildly toward Finnegan, toward the other girls, and then back to Ravyn. “Isn’t this exactly why we left Zhuli?”
“To die trying to protect a mass of twigs? I don’t think so,” Ravyn retorted. “That is not a man. Let him go get himself killed, and then we can get a real man.”
Yomi fervently shook her head. “I don’t know what your mother told you about the men of Nyarlea, but everyone has to start somewhere, Ravyn.”
“That boy, sitting over there, is beyond novice levels of experience.” Ravyn pulled the hefty pouch of Bells from her [Cat Pack] and waved it in front of Yomi’s face. “Look, right here. We’re doing fine on our own. We hit Level 4 together, and we can hit Second Class together. We don’t need him.”
Yomi glanced over her shoulder and lowered her voice. “No, but he needs us. Look at him.”
The tittering trio had made their way over to Finnegan’s booth, and Kiri had slid into the seat next to him. His face had turned a brilliant shade of red, and he stammered through his answers to the endless stream of questions.
Now that he’d dried off, Ravyn could see the dark circles beneath his eyes and the bruises on his neck and arms. There was a small cut on his temple and numerous abrasions on his knuckles as if he had come to blows with a roach. The tears in his clothing suggested he’d been on the losing side.
This wasn’t Finnegan’s first day on San Island—it had taken him some time to find Shulan. But by the grace of the goddess or otherwise, he’d survived and made it to the Lucky Star.
Memories of lonely nights spent in her own room assaulted Ravyn like a tidal wave. Talking to her only friend—a garnet, for Saoirse’s sake—and wishing someone, somewhere, would take the time to see things from her point of view.
“Fuck,” Ravyn whispered, the fight draining from her shoulders. “Yomi—”
“Look, we can make a deal,” Yomi interrupted, holding up a finger. “We give him two weeks. If we can both agree that he’s a lost cause, we’ll go back to adventuring ourselves. Just the two of us.”
It wasn’t a terrible deal. Two weeks wouldn’t set them back very far. Besides, the Bells her mother kept sending to Yomi—Ravyn had sent them back one too many times, apparently—would keep them afloat for a year if need be. As much as she despised using that money, Yomi was adamant about keeping a safety net should things go to hell.
Well, here we are, Mother. Hell himself has walked through the door.
“Two weeks? Swear on it?” Ravyn sighed.
“I swear, Ravyn. Please.”
Ravyn hooked her finger around Yomi’s, tightening it in a tiny truce. “I’ll have your tail if you push me again.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Yomi grinned and hugged her.
“Oh. That’s overkill. No need for this.” Ravyn held up her hands at her side, unsure how to react to the hug. “I don’t see why you’re so stuck on him.”
Yomi released her, her smile widening. “What kitten doesn’t dream of being in a man’s Party?”
This one. “Yeah. Guess so.” Ravyn turned and marched to Finnegan’s table. Narrowing her eyes, she glared at each of his newfound companions in turn. “Alright, ladies, clear out.”
“Who the hell died and made you queen?” one of the whisperers retorted.
“Are you a healer, kitten?” Ravyn crossed her arms and tapped her foot. “Are any of you healers, for that matter?”
The three girls shook their heads.
Ravyn jerked a thumb at Yomi. “He’s hurt. Let someone who can actually help him through.”
“Kiri, I think one of the girls in the back needs your help,” Yomi said.
Smooth when you can be, huh? Ravyn grinned. “We’ll take good care of him.”
“We’ll see about that,” Finnegan grumbled.
Ravyn cleared her throat and raised her hand in the same movement she’d done before to summon the flame. Finnegan jumped back as far as he could, holding the iPaw up like a shield.
“Don’t set him on fire, Ravyn,” Kiri murmured as she vacated the table. The other three slowly followed, glowering at Yomi and Ravyn as they returned to their seats.
“We’ll see about that,” Ravyn chirped.
Finnegan shot her an angry look over his iPaw.
Yomi took a seat next to him while Ravyn assumed the opposite side. She leaned forward, placed one finger on the top of the iPaw, and tipped it down until it rested against the table.
“Alright— what did you call me earlier? Baka?” Ravyn began, her smile sharp.
Finnegan’s face darkened. “Yeah.”
Ravyn snickered. “Well. Welcome to the Lucky Star, baka. Your training begins now.”
​
Yomi Pro Tip: My mother told me stories of how my father required multiple helping hands to have a fighting chance in Nyarlea.
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I have been cutting for a bit of time now and struggling to lose the lower belly fat and chest and have been considering taking a quick cycle of Clen to help clean up.
I am 5ft8 (male) 26yo and currently 73.5KG. I strength train 4-5 times a week and cardio 4 times a week (40 mins at a time) and am in a calorie deficit - consuming around 1500 calories a day at present but due to increase it slightly after my holiday. Also I have been on and off training for around 8-10 years now.
Really I am just looking for peoples advice and their own experiences with Clen.
I plan to keep the dosage fairly low to avoid the cramps and extreme jitters that I’ve read about. I also plan to run this with Taurine as I understand Clen depletes this.
From my understanding 2 weeks on, then 2 weeks on is the recommended way to cycle this?
Any advice would be good and I’m not looking for any troll answers here.

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I'm 6ft 183 12% cutting to 10% and I find that my compound lifts keep dropping despite nutrition being relatively the same. After coming off my diet break I had great energy. After decreasing cals by only 250 I found my lifts to drop.
Does breaking the 12% barrier affect this at all? What are some ways to mitigate strength loss so that I won't lose muscle? Will strength loss cause muscle loss even if I lift at the same

So me and my friend are doing a run where we play rats. He's clan ikit and I'm clan mors. The first thing I did was bankrupt myself to make four armies and steamroll my local province. Then I started taking cities I didn't want as a means to barter and immediately made friends with the silver counts (small vampire faction to the south), the Beastmen, Khorne, and the Tomb kings. Got them all into a military alliance by trading cities I never planned on holding.
Then I built military outposts because while clan mors can make cheap armies quick, the lines crumble against heavy armor like the dwarves or literal jurassic Era dinosaurs. I used my allies to employ units that would halt an entire armies push and maxed out my ability to summon rats as disposables and then started pushing out plagueclaw catapults (they have great range and they contaminate lowering leadership). This gave me the means I needed to eliminate the orcs near me, the dwarves, and keep the Lizard folk from turning me inside out and using me as a condom.
While I was doing this my friend was using his ratling gunners quite liberally to turn his local elves and vampire coastal lords into target practice.
Through trade routes, guile, and the reckless agreements to wage war on people I figured I would never meet I managed to befriend everyone I needed to police my borders as I used four to five rat armies per Dwarven stronghold to ensure total victory.
Now, at turn 75, about 45 turns away from the end game being triggered we are in the top 10 for strength ratings and everything from misty mountain to Mount Gundir is mine while he owns everything from his starting faction, through the former corrascone knights and to the former abode of the wood elves.
The reason I make this post beyond bragging is normally diplomacy in total war games is absolutely ass, the last good game they made for it was shogun 2 (since we've seen the continual degradation of AI programming and them no longer having fog of war) and yet I have managed to convince everyone to be my friend merely by throwing thousands of rat lives away on pointless conquests for the means of making a nice bartering chip.
If anyone wishes they could convince the AI to be your friend I highly recommend you take a city next to their border and wrap it in a bow for them, especially if you are playing a race everyone hates!

Timestamp: https://imgur.com/a/8a1gcN5
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