getting to the point where my braids are old and i know it’s probably time to take it out 😭
ive had them in for 2 months (i wash them routinely so they are getting fuzzy fast)
i used to be so confident wearing my type 4 afro, but i don’t feel pretty nowadays when i do, and im really dreading taking out my braids…even though i probably should.
for the record, im traveling in latin america, and i was never insecure about my hair until i started traveling here. i see the girls that are desired have long, straight hair, or loose curls.
when i wear my natural hair out, i am met with even more stares (i already get the stares too for being black in mexico), and way too much attention. like people see my hair before they see me. my hair has to be the topic. it’s draining! or they make assumptions about me, like im this black power woke af type of girl.. just for wearing my hair out.
i was also seeing this guy in guatemala - when we first started talking, i had passion twists but when i took them out, i remember him telling me “i like your hair better long” and that made me feel so terrible. we obviously aren’t seeing eachother anymore, but that made my insecurity stronger.
i think too, as im growing up and acclimating into corporate america, i feel a lot of shame wearing my hair natural. like i feel like id rather wear some raggedy braids or a synthetic wig over having my hair out.
its crazy because this once wasn’t at the forefront of my mind, i use to wear my hair freely and never cared. but it almost feels like my natural hair journey has gone backwards…
i started stretching my hair and doing braid outs, to loosen the curl
ive had thoughts of buying relaxer, getting a flat iron, getting a sew in, tape ins, anything. i do have braiding hair and could just put more braids in, but it feels so time consuming and i just wanna wear my hair free without it being so out there.

Dearest gentle readers, did you miss me? it’s time for season 2! I’m gonna try to do all 8 episodes before s3 drops
Episode 1

• Daphne’s bangs have transformed from pringles mustache to a lovely diadem of hair
• I love lady danbury’s structural lace collar capelet
• The featherington mourning wear is twice as unflattering
• Lol @ gregory rolling his eyes about anthony’s list
• The art in the opening credits is interesting. The texture of it reminds me of a video game
• Ah penelope knows her worth and raised her prices. We love to see it
• Sharpening my knives for all of you damn girl
• pen’s fake irish accent is somehow different than nic’s real irish accent
• “Theyre the ones running around while you sit on your arse” get ‘im girl
• “All the young ladies looked the same” rude
• Violet: you want to give my treasured ring to just some girl? Do you have no respect for love? for me?
• The brothel scenes always crack me up because its just a bunch of big velvet curtains and some candelabras in the background. but Ive never been to a brothel so maybe thats accurate
• Anthony’s perfect lady: independent, intelligent, agreeable, no mama drama. May i suggest a golden retriever
• Anthony did not come off as this heavy-headed, overly burdened with responsibility tortured poet soul in season 1
• Kate!!
• Anthony is surprised and turned on
• It sounds like kate says “Oh fuck it” when he pulls up next to her but the captions say [speaks hindi] does anyone know what shes saying?
• Anthony is absolutely smitten. The stubborn dumbass
• Newton! LD is not a dog person
• The mature age of “six and twenty” keels over as an elderly 31yr old
• Eloise has a new ribbon hat contraption. This one has a round felt disc a la a beret
• Pens face as el talks shit about LW >:(
• Potatoes again?? Yes please
• Favorite fun fact: potatoes are an excellent source of vitamins and minerals, and adding cheese adds calcium/vitamin d and makes it a complete vitamin source. My daily intake of cheesy potatoes is like a flintstone vitamin
• Lol the feather’s maid is like why dont you try selling some of this fancy shit if you need money so bad
• Kate has a blue ribbon braided in her hair. Its so pretty. This cerulean shade looks stunning on her. She’s wearing the bridgerton blue from day 1 ♥️
• Edwina’s perfect match: charming, handsome, a duke or a prince. Might i suggest a king charles spaniel?
• Kate’s perfect match: someone who understands her on a deep spiritual level. Might i suggest anthony
• As the sharmas walk into the ball, theres a horse pulling a carriage that looks like its feet are tied together or something. Its doing the strangest walk
• I love the classical version of material girl
• QC like hi mary still hate you bitch ok bye
• Benedict stealing el away from the gentleman version of chucky
• You know, the gossipy quality of the ton is a great way to give viewers background info
• Fake tears always work
• Phili and finch will make beautiful cheese babies
• LD: anthony is a perfect suitor Edwina: dibs Kate: goddamn it
• Anthony’s smile when he sees kate again 😍
• I want to reach through the tv and smoosh their faces together right now. This annoying adorable banter is too much “You find my smile pleasing?”
• LD and violet like shall we do it again this year? pick another perfect match together?
• Pen is an excellent business woman. 10 pounds for 1 LW edition? Thats more than a thousand bucks in todays money. Girliepop is a girl boss. A true she-e-o
• Aw regency chucky has a crush on eloise
• I sympathize with kate. I am also dreadful and unpleasant
• Benedict trying to get it in with madame delacroix again
• Anthony can dish it out but sure cant take it
• Lower those expectations and settle for someone - violet
• Pen writing to colin. THREE MORE DAYSSS
• LD dressing kate down like girl. I opened my home to you. You really gonna stand here and lie to my face
• Love that kate comes clean and LD is like okay good now that thats out in the open lets get this girl hitched. I can scheme too
• Agan kate in blue here is so beautiful
• I love QCs laugh
• I would rather die! Well well how the turntables
• Pen: i have managed to find joy in this whole spectacle Eloise: WOW so you hate feminism
• LD really looked at kate like watch this and then got edwina diamond-ed
• Edwina: i love a man who knows what he wants and is direct Anthony: doesn’t know what he wants and sniffs kate
• LW: suddenly writing feminist rhetoric Eloise: wow what coincidence i was JUST talking to penelope about this
• I love that QCs wigs have natural textured hair in them

okay good night! thanks for reading

There's something up here with me.
Since I returned to the world of the living, I've been doing my best to become an active member of society again and to try and earn my ticket to heaven in the meantime.
Even though I can't afford this luxury right now, I always donate a portion of my salary to charity, do volunteer work on weekends, and help out at a community kitchen on Thursdays after work.
All of this is to avoid going back there.
But I don't know how well this can work, nor do I know if by gaining this new life, I also received a new chance.
There's something I haven't told you.
If none of this makes sense to you, it´s good to take a look at my first post.
If you missed the last update, I recommend reading it before continuing.
The truth is that my torment hasn't completely stopped. Since I returned from the dead, my nights are filled with agony and terror.
The nightmares are terrible, but when I wake up shrouded in the darkness of my room, I can sometimes discern things in the shadows.
Arachnid-like forms with dozens of eyes and mouths that sing profanities.
Throughout the day, I can still see them, in the corner of my eye almost like a permanent silhouette, a reminder that they're watching me, just waiting for my last breath to take me back via the VIP express lane.
I think Samael didn't like being deceived one bit.
Now, however, it's not the time to recount my escape. There are still many dangers I've yet to warn you about.
And if after your death you find yourselves wandering through the infernal circles, surely at some point you'll come across the Silver City.
The last vestige of community in hell.
Gehenna is like a living structure, a fabric composed of buildings, streets, and alleys that stretches vertically through the 9 circles that compose the abyss.
When I died, I arose just like many others in Lust, the third circle of Hell, contrary to what Alighieri claimed.
The real order of the circles would be: Limbo, Greed, Lust, Wrath, Gluttony, Heresy, Violence, Treachery, and finally, Pride.
The goal of the Collectors was set like a jewel in the center of Limbo.
It's funny, in Dante's work, the city is portrayed as a paradise away from heaven for those with good hearts who never accepted Jesus into their lives. Their only punishment would be to never glimpse the face of God.
Damn, I wish it were like that.
I woke up with the mettalic taste of blood still on my mouth.
A gentle voice was saying something, but with my ears ringing, I couldn't make out anything. I could tell there was something in front of me, the smell was good, my stomach reminded me I was yet to eat anything.
Without much choice, I accepted the charity and ate. The taste was surprisingly good, if I were to describe it, it's something close to pork.
I spent some time just eating and recovering. I was also given a canteen of warm water; it tasted weird, but It was not like I was gonna complain.
As my senses returned, I could understand what the young man in front of me was saying.
I still remember his face, without any bruises,shallow beard and a glimmer of hope that didn't match that place at all.
"Feeling better now ?"
" I guess.. where are we now, Is that thing still here ? "
I tried sitting but a sharp pain on my chest stopped me from moving.
"Hey take it easy now. You're so skinny you look like a twig. When was the last time you ate?"
"About 10 seconds ago "
He smiled a bit.
"Well at least now you´re good enough to enjoy the ride"
With that, I felt prompted to look around, and finally noticed that we were on the back of a strange pickup truck.
Not only that, some sort of locomotive seemed to form around us. In total, there were four vehicles.
Our pickup stood at the center, with metal plaques around its frame and sharp grates on the ends confining us.
On our left, an old mustang suffered to keep itself close traveling on such uneven terrain.
On our right I could see Mice on top of an old motocicle gigling to himself, I silently wished he crashed.
Leading the group ahead, I could see the rear of a black van, and finally, following behind, I saw what appeared to be a Honda with smashed windows and covered in dents.
"Where are they taking us?"
"I have no idea, but anything must be better than these fucking fields."
Recalling Mice's delusions, I wasn't so sure about that.
"Who are you? Are you with them too?"
"I think we're in the same boat, buddy."
"The last guy who called me 'buddy' tied me up and dragged me into the clutches of a monster."
"I don't like them one bit, but from what I saw when we arrived, he was trying to protect you."
"So you really are one of them!"
"I already said we're in the same shit-hole. I got caught by the masked one while trying to hunt dinner." he said, pointing out the window towards the driver of the pickup, a tall, muscular man wearing a strange wooden mask.
"Sorry, the past few days have been so... God If you only knew what I've been through."
The young man chuckled sincerely. "Friend, I'm sure whatever you've been through, I've lived it dozens of times already. The name's John, nice to meet you."
"Well, John, you can call me Nate. I would shake your hand, but..." I nudged towards the wires on my hands. "
"Could be worse" He gestured towards his feet.
They where chopped off.
"Holy shit! I´m sorry John, these guys are insane!"
"Don´t be, They will be back once I die, but I have a feeling they will not let that happen so soon."
We could already see the spire slowly coming into view on the horizon.
"You sound used to all of this."
"Don't tell me, you're new?"
" I...still can´t believe this is all real"
"You better come to terms with it fast; this place doesn't take pity on the weak."
We didn't feel like chatting after that.
I wanted to ask about what I was given to eat, but something told me I would be better off not knowing. We traveled far towards the Spire, Gehenna slowly embracing us again with its dark skies.
From up close, I was able to see an opening in the base of the Spire.
The twisted terrain of the fields gave way to broken roads and dusted buildings, screams of despair found their way back to my ears as we passed near the tar pits.
Haunted by memories of my arrival, I couldn't help but search for the beasts that mauled me in the confusing streets of the city. I don't know if it was because of the sound of the engines or the size of our group, but I didn't see them among the wreckage and alleyways.
As we approached the Spire, a strange icy breeze embraced us. The shock was so intense that I lost my breath, trembling as I noticed a thin layer of ice forming rapidly on the pickup truck.
"Try to control your breathing, it'll pass soon."
"What is this now?"
"Specters."
As we finally reached the center of Lust, I realized we were not alone.
The base of the Spire held an immense arched opening, from which a dark interior was barely visible. Above the entrance, crucified on the wall, I saw a man; the slight movement of his head and his blue eyes made my stomach churn.
The culprits for the sudden cold gathered below the man in desperation. There were dozens of them, humanoid beings emitting a faint glow and seeming to levitate; their cries echoed through the city, spreading along with their icy presence.
The man only watched them, one by one, but said nothing.
He seemed to be judging them.
The engines shut off, and one by one the collectors descended from the vehicles.
Mice was the first to approach; the specters recoiled from him like cockroaches fleeing from light.
He then looked the man in the eyes, bowed, and said:
"Oh Aeacus! King of Aegina, my heart is not pure for rest, my eyes are blind to injustice, and my fists only weigh for my desires. From dust I came and to dust I return, my soul judged to forever burn, so I beg you to open the doors to my torment."
The Man's eyes locked onto Mice for a moment, then his lips whispered something in an elaborate tongue, and the darkness of the entrance turned into a scarlet mass.
I didn't knew about the kings back then. Aeacus is the easiest to convince; he oversees the higher circles. They say if you're under Minos's gaze, however, I hope you enjoy the lower circles because he's unlikely to grant you passage. And if you're a special kind of unlucky, I suggest you don't even try to approach Rhadamantus unless you want a one-way ticket to Pride.
The collectors then pulled us out of the cars, displaying us like trophies in an organized line. I had to support John on my shoulders; otherwise, they would have made him crawl the rest of the way.
From the other cars, a few more people emerged, other unfortunate souls with the same destination as mine. I saw a beautiful woman with short red hair and brown eyes; she was injured with several cuts on her back. The collector taking her out of the van seemed pleased; I tried not to dwell on it too much. She stared at me intensely, looking scared.
A man had to be forcibly removed from the Honda by two collectors. He was big and strong, dark-skinned with furious eyes, long braids cascading from his head to the middle of his back, a terrible scar showing on his left arm.
To this day, I have no idea how they managed to capture that bastard; later, he would tell me that they didn't got him until after he'd taken down some of them.
Finally, an old man with a band over his eyes was pushed into line; he looked so worn down that I thought I would see him turning to dust at any moment.
Mice then made his way to the entrance and was swallowed by the mass.
The collectors forced us to enter, one by one I saw everyone being pushed into the unknown, looking around I tried to think of something, some escape route.
"Don't do anything stupid," John whispered in my ear. "It won't work."
I thought about throwing him at them and running for my life. I didn't know him, didn't know a damn thing about him except his name. A glance at the collectors' weapons made me change my mind; I wouldn't get far even if I did find an opening.
Finally, my turn came. With the weight of John still on my shoulders, I walked to the entrance with my heart pounding in fear.
The mass that filled it seemed to react to me, stretching to cover my body, the scarlet glow blinding me as the collectors urged me to hurry.
I reached out my hand and felt a slight resistance, almost like touching cold gelatin. I felt it pulling me, and before my head was completely swallowed, I held my breath.
My body was warm; it was like being bathed in soup, every exposed inch of my skin burning, but the agony was only beginning.
I felt that strange mass invading me, entering through my nose, ears, eyes.
It hurt.
I tried to scream but my lungs were filled with the alien substance that forced its way through my organs; I felt like I was about to lose consciousness.
A shockwave ran through my body; I felt as if I was being torn into a thousand pieces and reformed, my consciousness used as a child's toy.
And then I was spat out.
I barfed on the gray grass that solemnly clung to me; John lay beside me, eyes rolled back, red fluid still trickling from his mouth.
I didn't have time to worry about him.
Before me, proudly stood what can only be described as a monument of sin.
Far from the light of hope it once was, now taken and calloused, abused and defiled by the filthy ideals of the damned scum.
Its golden streets don't shine.
Its security only harbors hate.
Its cracked walls don't protect, they only confine.
Even though I didn't knew much about hell, didn't knew its history or care about its purpose, I could see in that moment that I was looking at the greatest disrespect to the sacred that could exist.
An empire built with blood and erected by desire.
The Silver City opened its gates to me.
With the intention of never letting me go again.
The other collectors arrived, and one by one we were introduced to the next 40 years of our lives.
The memories of this city are painful. I tried to ditch this shit given the purpose of it all, but a drag is necessary if I'm really going to recall the decades I spent under that tyrant's rule.
Passing through the rusty gates, the lower city is the first thing you see. Jack leaves this region of the Silver City for his merchants to sell their findings in the lower circles, where everywhere you look, prostitutes and slaves accompany the more fortunate. Jack's personal guard takes advantage of his authority to get everything they want without spending a penny, of course.
Linked to the lower city by a rudimentary elevator, the Pleasure Zone casts its glow over those below, a neighborhood where the best drinks, drugs, and alterations can easily be found. Hunters and collectors usually walk around there, spending their earnings to calm their vices and complaining about their King's insane demands.
But by far, the most striking sight is a castle covered in soot, built at the highest level of the city, where only Jack's personal circle can tread without being summoned.
That's exactly where we were being taken.
John was still unconscious, being carried by our captors.
As we walked under the guns, naked and defenseless, the malicious glares of the vendors assessed us as new merchandise.
My feet ached, full of blisters; I couldn't feel my hands anymore. Looking at a toothless man being pulled by a chain around his neck, I wondered if that would be my fate.
Desperation was beginning to consume me.
We ascended to the Pleasure Zone by elevator, the same one powered by the brute force of several slaves harnessed to the wall, their hands raw from continuous and repetitive effort.
The hallucinogenic fumes from the laboratories filled the street of the neighborhood. I felt my heart race, my skin tingle, and a sweet smell invading my mind. The woman accompanying us seemed to recognize the substance as she lunged towards the source of the vapors. Mice kicked her in the stomach, making her kneel, grabbed her by the hair, and laughed.
"You fucking addict! You've used this shit before, haven't you? Look at the way you're trembling, hahaha! If they don't send you to the brothel, I might have an idea of what to do with you!"
She didn't seem to understand, or care, drooling from her mouth and experiencing small spasms as the drug filled her lungs.
Wish I could say I avoided it, but this shit is strong; within a few minutes, I was almost as high as when the Succubus attacked.
We then walked through the alleyways towards a staircase carved in marble; a sinner was overdosing against the steps.
Mice shot him in the head and threw him aside.
One moment he was alive, and the next, the remnants of his brain adorned the ground.
I gasped for air, my vision darkening; I meant nothing to them, they could dispose of me whenever they wanted.
I felt like I was going to die. I felt like I was going back to the tar pits, seeing myself suffering and being devoured for ages, running only to be captured, no rest, no warning.
What kind of being would create such a rotten place? Why did he have the right to read my soul and throw me towards this flaming lake? It's not fair, it's sick.
As I climbed the stairs, stepping on the remnants of the sinner's mind, I wondered if God was watching me at that moment.
Maybe he was having fun.
The biblical hell holds a king.
It shelters demons and powerful beings born from darkness itself.
And as you already know, beings made by the Creator's own hand.
It wouldn't be at that moment that I would meet Samael, but alongside the self-proclaimed human King, I met his right-hand beast.
When the doors of the castle opened, I fell to my knees on the ground.
An angelic figure, with the aura of pure evil.
A feminine body, dressed in white adorned with jade, three pairs of long and golden wings kept her hovering a few meters above the ground.
On her face, a twisted helmet, with an eternal black flame at its peak, portraying what was, what is, and what will come.
The base of her helmet completely covers her eyes, squeezing them with such force that blood constantly drips to the ground. Her face constantly changes—a slender young woman, a frightened child, an irritated elder, a black goat, a hungry tarantula, an unnamed beast, an indescribable void.
In her hands, a chain hangs a clock, which constantly moves, which moves constantly. It tries to guess the hour, the hour that only He knows, constantly wrong, corrects itself, recoils, recalculates, wrong, corrects itself, recoils, recalculates, wrong.
Such a beautiful creature, fell alongside the morning star, with a third of the stars, to forever hate us, to extinguish everything and everyone.
Who was I compared to such perfection?
Who was I compared to such obscenity?
I felt broken.
I felt complete.
Terrified.
Emancipated.
A thousand mouths sang in a thousand languages in my mind, all equally correct, all equally wrong.
The duality that leads to madness.
In my heart, he introduced himself, Astaroth, the Grand Duke of Hell.
With a flick of his hand, he disappeared, but I still felt him watching us, assessing us.
Seated on a broken throne, there was the face of control.
Almost as tall and robust as my captured companion, a short, defined beard adorned a ruthless face marked by battles.
Gray hair and a leather cloak, a silver medallion around his neck, and a shining red ring on his left hand, eating grapes like a Greek emperor.
Jack graced us with his presence.
Mice once again took the initiative.
"My lord, we have found fresh meat of the highest quality to expand your empire, mostly young and strong, and the old one is wise and knows the ancient rituals."
Jack looked at us as if we were worms, evaluating us like a spoiled child receiving gifts at Christmas.
"You bring me trash and expect gratitude. If this is what you consider good quality, perhaps it's time to revoke your position."
Jack's ring began to glow, and I felt Astaroth's strong presence growing. Mice quickly knelt and spoke again.
"My king! One of them appears to be marked." Mice then looked at me with a malicious smile, sending a shiver down my spine.
Jack observed me, the disdain in his eyes palpable.
He seemed to notice something at that moment, scratched his beard, and smiled.
"Mice! I can always count on you to keep me entertained. Take him to the pit, send the others to the dungeon. There may be something useful in this batch after all.
Before I could protest, I was struck on the head with the butt of a gun, and I lost consciousness.
Sorry, I need a moment. Just remembering the terrible nights I spent in that place makes me feel sick.
Man, I hope smoking doesn't count as too big of a sin.
When I woke up, I was chained to a wooden pillar by the neck, with several other sinners chained around me.
The place was poorly lit, and I could smell feces and urine. They didn't even release us to go to the bathroom.
In front of me, Jack stood with two guards.
"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty. I'm sorry to disturb your rest, but I have some questions, and if you cooperate, you may find yourself involved in something much bigger and more important than your miserable afterlife."
"Screw you! I've seen the things your people do, you're all crazy. I don't want anything to do with you!"
Jack's ring began to glow, and Astaroth's silhouette became visible even in the deep darkness.
"For your own good, I hope you learn to have good manners. Now tell me, where is he?"
"What?"
The ring glowed, and Astaroth entered my mind.
The concept of emptiness is terrifying.
Non-existence is dreadful.
Emptiness occupied existence before everything existed; in the beginning, there was nothing, and then there was God.
My consciousness faded away, I felt the void corrupting my flesh prison; it's not a lack of senses, it's Nothing.
Sounds didn't vanish; they turned into nothingness. Along with sensations, memories, my existence.
I was completely devoured. I wanted to scream, but there was no voice, no will.
I wanted to exist, but there was never an "I."
I vanished completely, and then I was catapulted back into existence, where I could feel everything.
The infinite, it destroys.
Through Astaroth's eyes, I saw, I understood, not even in a thousand and one lives could I touch one percent of the truth.
My brain burned, flooded with everything that was, everything that would come. I cried, I screamed, agony drove me to madness; time made no sense anymore.
And then everything stopped. In despair, I screamed, I cried like a child. Jack embraced me with the tenderness of a mother as I collapsed into his chest. He gently stroked my head while speaking softly.
"Poor thing, so much suffering, so much lamentation. Pain is a choice, and I don't want it for you. I love you; I love all my possessions from the bottom of my heart. I only want what's best for you, but for that, I need your help. I want your pain to stop, help me make it stop! You just need to tell me, Where. is. he?"
I didn't want to return to nothingness; I didn't want to suffer with knowledge. Desperately, I lied; I said I knew where whoever he was looking for was, I would show him, he just had to let me go.
Jack acquired a sad expression, gently lifted my face, and said.
"Oh, child, why do you lie to me?"
With the scarlet glow of the ring, once again, I ceased to exist, catapulted between two extremes, blood streaming from my ears, I laughed, cried, begged.
All to make it stop, for him to remove that being from the room, I just wanted peace.
I felt my cells giving up, exploding and restructuring; memories were erased and returned, lived a thousand times per second.
My wife, my daughter, the drugs, the betrayal, the accident, the body, the hospital, the fall.
Once again, everything stopped.
I spat blood on Jack's cloak, who asked me again.
"Where is he, come on, damn it, just tell me! He marked you, he touched you, come on, where the hell is Samael, tell me and I'll leave you alone!"
I pleaded, I tried to tell him that I didn't know who he was talking about, I promised obedience, my life, anything for mercy.
Once again, he sent me to the void. For countless nights, the cycle repeated itself, I have no idea how long I was tortured in that place.
Eventually, Jack began to use me in other ways.
My days were divided between slave labor in the lower city and nights of torment in Jack's palace.
At the time, I didn't understand how he couldn't see that he was wrong; clearly, there was nothing special about me, I couldn't lead him to Samael, I was just a damned soul who could barely endure the first days in the abyss.
I just hadn't realized that Jack already had the certainty that I was different. After all, how could I be a nobody if Astaroth couldn't extract the "truth" from me, and they had to resort to torture?
Hope vanished from my chest; I didn't know if I would ever escape from there, if I would see John again before my soul was corrupted by the Grand Duke.
The years dragged on, and Jack's fury only grew.
Fortunately for me, in my fourth year in the Silver City, I gained a new cellmate, the old man who had been brought in the same group as me.
Little did I know that he would be my first clue to the way out of there.
I'm tired of remembering those horrible years, so I think I will stop here for today.
Clinging to hope in hell is as useless as using petrol to put out a fire; you'll only end up dying either way. But in the realm of insanity, it might not be all that crazy to think there might be a way out of the suffering.

Boy oh boy where do I even begin. Coleridge Bernard stroud IV... honey, my pookie bear. I have loved you ever since I first laid eyes on you. The way you throw the ball and strike fear into your enemies eyes. Your silky smooth touch with the ball, and that gorgeous running. I would do anything for you. I wish it were possible to freeze time so l would never have to watch you retire. You are even amazing off the court, you're a great leader and captain, sometimes I even call you dad. I forever dread and weep, thinking of the day you will one day retire. I would sacrifice my own life if it were the only thing that could put a smile on your beautiful face. You have given me so much joy, and heartbreak over the years. I remember when you first got drafted and It healed my soul. And a tear fell from my right eye when I watched you win your first game against Trevor Lawrence because I knew you deserved it. One day when you lead the Texans to the superbowl l know we can prove the world wrong. Not only have you changed the game of football and the world forever, but you've eternally changed my world. I know it's early in your career, but you're still the goat, my goat. I love you pookie

Seafoam-green eyes urged me to follow. A tan willowy beauty beyond imagination, held firm my rough hand, hewn from years of hard labour, in her delicate, welcoming touch. Each step carried us nearer to those crystalline waters of the sea, bloody warm hues of a sunset reflected.
“Come,” she said, voice as warm as the ocean breeze that wafted over the secret cove where my bare feet trod through pearl-white sands. “Let’s have some fun!”
A giggle, innocent and impetuous all at once tickled my ears; eyes focused on the plump pinkness of her lips, down her statuesque body masterfully carved by a renaissance artist, perfectly proportioned in every way that seemed a fantasy made real. She turned, still she dragged me, my eyes drifted down the breathing masterpiece before me, her golden locks cascaded down to her round buttocks where sand stuck to the underside curves; long legs in an easy, amorous, rolling stride, skin unblemished and silky smooth.
Eyes closed, burned to the back of the eyelids the first encounter. A beachside bar, shaded from midday sun, bitter beer in one hand, the other deep in a bowl of acidy pineapple and ripe mango chunks. I ate and drank, glances to the people who played, laughed, sunbathed.
“Hey there,” a voice materialised from my left, sweet and tickled the primitive brain.
Head swivelled, eyes widened, mouth gaped, and beer drained into the sand, as I drank in instead the athletic beach girl so unlike any other. Blinked, mouth worked as words had tried to form in my head, when after minutes, I simply gave a nod and gestured to a chair.
“Thanks,” the girl beamed with teeth the purest of white. Eased into the chair, she ordered up a beer for herself and locked those hypnotic eyes to mine. Leaned forward on both hands, she offered an impish smirk, her generous bust pressed into the table surface, threatened to spill out of her navy-blue bikini top. “It’s nice, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, it is,” I stammered, my gaze thrown back to the sea and sand. “Calms the nerves, doesn’t it?”
The girl hummed.
“Easy to see why so many people want to live near a beach or in the tropics. The trees’ gentle sway, warm sand and water, good fruit, food, a nice beer in hand—”
“—beautiful women too…”
Head spun about, there on the woman’s face, a smoky lusty expression that could drive any man mad with lust.
“I love it too,” she said, beer snatched from the server’s tray. She took a gulp, sighed, and played with the bottle. “I live close to here, you know. Have some knowledge of nice places that tourists don’t know about. Want to go to one with me?”
“You hardly know me.”
“I know your type.”
“What’s my type then?”
The girl giggled, drank more of her beer, bit her bottom lip as she leaned forward. “My type, of course…”
From there, all memory blurred as if with a lusty spell concocted effortlessly by an enchantress of some olden fairy tale. No recollection of ever having left the bar, faintest hint of a vehicle, the journey along the road, not even the passing memory of the first step on the beach.
Just her beauty.
She laughed; eyes glistened like sunlit waters. “You daydreaming? Why do that, when this is all real?”
“I just can’t believe it…” I mumble, lost in the smile she gave so easily. Yet something began to rattle in my skull, a warning, a growing fear, something primal and deep.
“Don’t worry, we’re almost there,” her musical voice urged.
Each step through perfect white sands, we came closer to the lusty waves lapped, sensual surf silvery from moon beams peeked over black palms. A jagged crimson rockface flanked all sides of the cove, vicious, hateful, vampiric; a maw of some gluttonous anglerfish turned monstrous through years and decades of endless feast. Gentle winds whispered kindly through the cove; a dreadful bite of cold that stung through the soul hidden within. Sand once warm and friendly, now icy as arctic snows.
I slowed.
“What’s wrong?” the question came through lips pursed through worry.
Eyes past the beauty, where waters became a grim blackness of death where once it shone of jewels. Waves great and crashing, the warm bubbling now greed slapping against the sand.
I stopped.
Her lovely hand tugged and jerked with demand. “Hurry, we’re almost there. Don’t you want to have fun? Just some more steps, come on!”
Her face, those lovely features creased with annoyance and wrinkled with hurry. I frown, then swallow. “Can’t I enjoy this a little longer? The view, I mean.”
My hand fell from hers; she spun to face me, a smirk on her face as she backed up several steps. “View…?” she asked, she struck a sinuous pose; she shone with the dying light, those last vestiges accented every curve, a stunning goddess of twilight. “You can enjoy more of this, after we play in the waves. Enjoy much more.”
Deep within, a voice screamed warnings, drowned under animal lust for the woman. Against the dying throes of that voice, I followed. All the way to the edge of the waves, where restless and excited they became when at last those freezing waters licked past my ankles.
“Yes, come…come closer with me.”
Despite fierce winds and waves crashing, the whisper of her voice seemed clear. As the light flickered it’s last, her eyes became a venomous lambent green. My eyes took in the unearthly woman; hair once blonde now pure as silver, skin radiant with the glow of the moon; taller, slimmer, soft features turned sharp and predatory. Wind thrashed, waves roared, ice rattled through the bones as the sun sunk into the silvery void of the horizon, all consumed but the moon and the daemon that stood before me.
That drowned voice of warning resurfaced, a single question surfaced:
“What are you?”
She cackled, cruel and amused, and still dreadfully lovely. Through the waves she strode, with confidence of a cat that caught the mouse. “Come, find out…”
Eyes squeezed shut, thoughts feuded over choices. Hands clenched, deciding, thinking, wondering, debating. Those winds that howled only added to the cacophony of the inner voices. To flee the trap that was set with the sweetest bait, or to join the goddess there in those doom filled waters.
At last, leg lifted, I took the step that would decide it all. Eyes squeezed shut, I let only my body decide my fate. That goddess or daemon, whatever it was, waited for that primal answer.

I trembled, another rejection. I numbly gazed at the floor and was surprised to see my reflection staring back -- an expression of despair. I leaned on my spear for support, the base buried in a combatant’s face. The once regal polished floor now bore the scars of our battle. From the jagged gash on my neck, a single bead of silky white blood slipped free, tumbling down to join the pool below. It struck the surface with a quiet finality, sending ripples shuddering outward. Ripples that twisted and distorted my reflection until even that oh so familiar expression blurred beyond recognition. My vision swam, and the emptiness washed over me, pulling me under, a sorrow that seeped into my membranes like a numbing rot.
A small squeak broke the silence, I looked up and matched my next adversary’s gaze; it’s grip tightened around the small captive creature. I slumped in near fatal exhaustion. Beady red eyes stared back in maniacal amusement, it’s serrated grin growing wider. It’s mind betrayed a brutish horrid lust for my anguish. My hopes for kinship amongst the stars had flown to the heavens and been brought crashing back down. There was no ashkhen, mutual bond. I had tried everything. The thoughts were so alien and unlike anything from my planet. Not that any of the other creatures I had come across were any different. Perhaps the others were right, there was no common ground with the starfolk.
I had hoped to appeal to this warrior’s spirit during the heat of battle to establish ashkhen. But it only sought a self fulfilling vengeful quest and I was left floundering trying to break the simple mind’s barriers.
My outstretched limbs had seemed to cause insult as they were promptly severed, bitten, burnt, or pulverized. Not to worry, they grew back. The stars had not been kind, my desperate search for kinship thrown aside. Some gifted me strange lights, shapes, or tremors, unbridled kindness from charitable creatures helped me along my path exploring the stars. But as the decades churned on I still walked it alone. Over time the bond I had with home weakened, it grew to a whisper then faded away.
I convulsed as my body struggled to keep up with the numerous wounds. The loss of vital fluids was catching up to me, every membrane wanted to cramp as lacking resources caused panicked biological reactions. Organs rattled on new dreadful sensations as they began to fail.
I wondered if dying now would curse me to wander the emptiness of space forever, the life tree not able to pull my spirit into her embrace.
The captured creature didn’t seem to be faring much better than I.
One tentative step forwards.
It’s pale face had grown a slight shade of blue.
Not much fight left in me, but I couldn’t let a potential friend die.
One more step.
The creature stopped struggling.
I lashed out with my spear, it hurtled towards the brute in a carefully calculated trajectory. It barely had time to react as the charged tip arced across the room and burned itself into the shoulder opposite the held captive. I was accurate, but in my state not that accurate. I had aimed for the head. I fell to the floor not able to stand any longer.
It reeled in pain as I saw its mind explode with hatred. With the other arm it flung the captive straight at me. I didn’t have the energy to hold open my eyes any longer. The creature might at least survive now I thought grimly. A worthy trade for my life.
Silence. A touch. The universe imploded to a singularity of focus, time was near frozen. A tingling sensation began to burn into bolts of energy shooting up my arm. The point of contact. I could feel it, something almost forgotten. Another mind reaching out.
* * * * * * * *
Lucy couldn’t breathe, the scaly hand was wrapped too tightly around her neck. She desperately lashed out with her hands trying to dislodge it, if only for a moment to get the life saving air.
My forehead began to sweat, a hot wave washing over my body. The giant ugly lizard was babbling on about how it would hunt down and end the invader’s entire family lineage for how much trouble it caused. The strange alien had come aboard without invitation as we were all being loaded into the pirate’s cargo bay. It had oozed its strange jellyfish octopus body... began fighting... oh god. Hard to fucking think.
I managed a squeak. My vision narrowed to a tunnel, and my temples pulsed with my pounding heartbeat, the world was drowning out.
A loud whistle cut through, and the brute screeched. Suddenly the deathly grip tightened even harder. My eyes bulged as the sharp boney fingers dug into my neck. My arms slumped as stars filled my rapidly darkening vision.
“If you want this one so bad, here, you can have it.”
Darkness. Pain rocked my world as I was forcefully thrown forward. My lungs, desperate and burning, greedily seized the air with a ragged, choking gasp. I felt it cut a cold path down my throat as my chest expanded with a sweet ache. For a precious moment, nothing existed but the overwhelming sensation of being alive. And flying. I was flying.
I didn’t have time to tense in preparation for crashing, but I was even less prepared for what happened next. Suddenly the universe rushed away again and a barrage of feverish dreams plagued time. How long it lasted I don’t know, my eyes opened barely registering the world in front of me. An eternity and no time at all had just passed. Reality was confusing, it was like I was another person inside me, looking through and not from my own eyes.
A tremor rocked through the floor at my back, a flash of light and a strong gust of wind washed over me. My kidnapper’s head suddenly exploded in a shower of green blood as the contingent of marines filed through the breach.
Someone grabbed me by the arm and a bright light moved over my eye.
“She’s alive, vitals are non critical.” The female medic didn’t wear an assuring look however as her gaze fixed on my neck.
The helmeted figure’s suit crackled to life as a gruff male over the speakers blared to get me back onboard the vessel.
Wait, I can still hear it. But my complaint barely came out a coherent mumble.
The doctor gave me a dumb fake smile. “Don’t worry, we’ll get you back to medbay. Can you sit up for me?”
The armored figure turned to the doctor and pointed at me. “More ships are on the way and our shuttle won’t survive the trip back if we don’t get a move on.”
My raspy breath finally caught up as I paused panting to spit out the blood in my mouth.
“Wait! You have to help my friend.” The outburst surprised even myself. I looked, pointing over to my left, I must have rolled over the strange creature as I was thrown across the room.
A black visor stared back at me. “Our only priority is you, and that pile of fish guts doesn’t look alive.”
I quickly crawled over and scooped up one of the, fish gut, arms. God it was heavy. “I can still hear it, it's alive. I owe it my life.” Holy shit I must look mad. Maybe I am going crazy.
The doctor looked incredulous, like I had just proudly procured a mud pie for her wedding cake. The armored soldier glanced back at his troops now firing their weapons down the next corridor. His speakers seemed to pick up in volume. “We don’t have time for this, we’re leaving. Now.”
Unheard commands passed between the suits as the lead soldier tossed a grenade into the tunnel and the group peeled back to the breach. The doctor suddenly appeared next to me and wrenched the mass from my arms. I yelled in protest barely registering over the grenade's blast. “I’m not leaving without it!”
Doctor Yuki growled at the armored figure. “Lieutenant, help me get this thing on top of the gurney since Lucy wont be needing it.” I wasn’t so sure about that, but was relieved we wouldn’t be leaving my new buddy behind. I owed it that much for busting me out and sticking it to the ugly beast.
He hesitated before dropping his rifle. Two soldiers flanked him providing cover as he unceremoniously bear hugged the mass residing on the floor and began lifting. Yuki quickly ran the gurney over from beyond the breach as another soldier scooped me up. It was a tight fit for the marines, medic, patient, and alien, on the shuttle.
A voice called back from the cockpit as the pilot confirmed for departure. “We’ve got three minutes until the rest get here, we’ll just barely make it back before they drop in.” A pause as the thrusters blared to life. “Captain wants to know if we got her?”
The lieutenant blared back. “And a plus one it seems.” Yuki frowned, “I’ve got a connection back to the main ship’s database, but I’m still getting no records of whatever this thing is.” Everyone was now staring at the gurney, even the pilot reached his head back to see what the commotion was about. “Holy saints, what did you lads bring back onto my shuttle.”

Sup fellow Honda lords.
I've been tracking my 09 FA5 for a few of years now and the car is in a great place with every component except the brakes. I've done the TSX front caliper upgrades with slotted rotors, stainless steel braided lines, run Motul RBF 660 and Hawk HP+ pads. That gets me about two laps around Road Atlanta before brake fade starts. The heavy braking zone at the end of the back straight into the chicane it just too much for the little 1 pot calipers, even with the larger TSX swap.
Before dropping ~$2K on a big brake kit I wanted to check with the VTEC brotherhood to see if y'all had any luck with finding a direct bolt on 4 pot caliper. I know people have used the TL Type S caliber but it does require a spacer which I'm a little wary of running on the track, especially with the amount of heat I'll put into it at Road Atlanta.
I've heard whispers of a Brembo caliper from a 06-15 Hyundai Genesis track edition but haven't been able to find any decent confirmation.
Thanks y'all!

hello readers, my name is Chase, and I have a story from the perry state forest and my home that neither me nor my friends will ever forget, but before that, here is some backstory. We lived bordering the perry state forest, on a large hill. My entire immediate family lived on this hill, my grandfather, aunt, uncle, cousins, my mother, father, and me. My aunt and uncle had a medium sized farm and raised many goats and had free roam chickens. It was extremely common for the animals to go missing. We honestly just chocked it up to the coyotes, until we caught a mountain lion on one of our trail cams. Mind you, we live in southern Ohio, we aren’t supposed to have mountain lions here, yet there was one, with its own den in our woods. Our.. “wild” woods.
we always had odd things happen at night, Seeing shadows, hear loud knocks, whispers, screams, footsteps, even hearing drums in the woods every year around Halloween. Pretty creepy. But moving forward, let’s get into the meat of this story. My first encounter that I can remember is when I was maybe 8 years old and fell asleep late in my living room. We had a very large window with a tv to the left of it, in the corner of the room. I woke up and looked at the clock, and it was about 3:00AM and the tv was buzzing static, I looked out the window from the couch and there it was. A tall man, wearing a brown cloak (likely made of deer skins) and a deer head coving his face. Standing in the window with a little Indian girl in braids to his right. He stood there and stared at me for a long time, then waved to me in a way that said “come out side, it’s okay, just come on out”. After I freaked and just sat there in shock, they both walked out of view of the window. I had a sudden urge to follow but I stayed put and cried out of fright. I then ran to my room and eventually fell asleep.
The next morning I explained what had happened to me earlier that night and My mother told me it was a friendly Indian chief who was just paying a visit, meaning no harm. I had since then blocked the experience from my memory And pretty much forgot that it even happened until years later my mom sat me down and told me the truth. That “cheif” has been around for a very long time and terrorized everyone on the hill and staring at them from a distance since they first moved in, around 1999. She told me, according to her knowledge that he was from the Adena tribe and during his time, he would collect kids from the surrounding tribes and take them away, for human sacrifices. She then further explained that He wasn’t waving me hello, he was waving me on, to follow him outside with the Indian girl, To do god knows what with me once I was alone in the woods. She said He is evil, and my mother doesn’t use that word often. But she said “whatever that thing is, it’s evil” and “don’t ever go out there in the woods alone at night. Don’t even go with friends. Stay as far away from the deep woods. A evil lives there.”
And so of course, I didn’t listen. And me and my friends quickly learned our lesson. Me and my two friends, we will call them Andy and Jeremy, decide to have some spooky fun after a long and boring night. we where all 17 to 18 years old, so we hatched the plan to go into the woods, and into the Perry State Forest to try to scare ourselves and just mess around and have a fun time. After all, there where roads in the forest that was only a couple of miles long, for example in a twenty minute drive you could easily make it right into the city, it was a straight shot, one single road, with no turns. We decided to drive, because hoofing it out there was just a little too ballsy for our Taste. In all honesty we just loved the rush of being spooked. Andy and Jeremy are, or at least where, the furthest thing from superstitious, for they didn’t believe in anything unless they could see it or feel it themselves. And that’s exactly what they got. We was in my father’s car, a manual bmw, it was a fast car and we felt oh-so cool driving it around. The time was approaching 2:30AM when we slowly drove into the forest, after turning off of the main road.
Upon entering the forest had a wave of… something come crashing into us, it felt as if we were fazing through a wall that wasn’t there. The air felt heavy and thick. and we felt extreme pressure on our chests. this made our eyes tear up, and it was hard to breathe. There was no pain, just an overwhelming feeling of sadness, anger, guilt, dread, regret and emotional distress. it honestly felt like every bad feeling you could possibly feel all together at once. We felt like we needed to turn around and just say “forget it” but we wanted this, we wanted to feel scared. It’s what we came here for in the first place.
So We continue driving through the weird wall of bad feelings and we all just thought we got that weird feeling because we were in the woods at night and it was late and dark out. And I mean really dark out, it was a new moon so we really didn’t have any light. It made sense at the time, yet the headlights were only able to see about a yard in front of us, which was not normal for the LED lights my dad had installed. We talked amongst ourselves about how weird that feeling we got was when we entered the forest. Then out of nowhere we saw a large black figure standing at the left side of the road, and just watched us drive by, and by the time we passed it, it was gone. And when I say black, it wasn’t just black, it was darker than anything I’ve ever seen before, the darkness of the forest behind it almost looked bright in comparison. We checked in the rear view mirrors, and it had just vanished, poof, gone. Like it was never there in the first place. We said some obscenity’s to each other completely stunned and aghast at what we just witnessed.
We drove for about a whole minute in silence, until Andy said “Did y’all see that shit?” We all agreed with a simple “uh-huh”. We continued to drive. After a little while Andy looks up at the sky and says “uh guys, the sky looks kinda.. off”. Me and Jeremy looked up, and The sky wasn’t just “off” it was blood red, yet it was so dark in the forest that you couldn’t see your hand in-front of your face. We thought maybe it was starting to get daylight out but it was only 2:32AM. We were perplexed at how little time passed since we entered And at how on earth the sky could be light up in such a dark red. At first, we thought it could possibly be a blood moon, yet there was no moon to be seen. We continued on our journey for what felt like a half an hour in a straight line. Then suddenly Andy yelped and said “no.. no, no, no we just seen that tree, I just seen that tree, it’s like we are going in a circle! You didn’t take any turns did you chase?” I denied with a simple “no, why would I? It’s a straight line through here, I don’t want to get lost, especially out here.” and so we continued to pass the same trees, the same guard rail, the same lake, the same signs, the same exact everything over and over and over again. Everything kept repeating, as if we where driving in a big circle, but that’s impossible since the road is only a straight line through, there are many turns that we could have taken but we never turned, not once.
“Dang man this feels like some blare witch shit” Jerermy murmured. As we continued to drive through the endless loop we where now apparently stuck in, over time we slowly started to see dark figures in the woods, shadows, things staring at us in the trees and and scariest of all, deer that didn’t look right. Something was off about them. They would all just stand there and stare at the car, and sway back and forth. yet unlike how normal deer eyes glow when lights hit them, there was no glow, like a black, empty void within each eyeball. then one spontaneously jumped in-front of the car, making us all physically recoil, and brace for the impact of a deer entering my front grill, but it never happened. It disappeared just as quickly as it had jumped in front of us. “No man this isn’t right we need to turn around that can’t happen, this isn’t real” Jerermy said to me, I told him that we couldn’t be far from the exit after all we’ve been driving for what We felt like was hours. So we continued driving down the dirt road We then noticed the dark figures in the woods to slowly transform into a more.. human figure. We also started seeing disembodied eyes staring at us and heard odd distorted animal noises, screams and whimpers. we suddenly all had something in our heads telling us to “just stop the car. Stop the car and get out and everything will stop” We all shook off the eerie feeling that came over us. We then heard whispers, but these where no ordinary whispers, they sounded like they where coming from INSIDE the car. Again, we continued to drive. While driving we would also sporadically get a glimpse of the.. thing we seen at the very beginning when we entered.
Then, abruptly all the visions and sounds stopped. We then heard a girl scream, not a coyote or a bobcat, a girl, and it wasn’t in the woods, it was Right in all of our ears, it was loud enough to make our ears ring. then the car shut off. Dead. No lights on, no nothing. Just off. Pitch black darkness. I tried to start it and nothing. While trying to start the car we heard a train in the distance and it sounded like we were on the tracks ourselves, hell we could feel the ground rumbling. But the odd thing was, there was not a railroad anywhere near the park. Not for many miles. So how is it that we could hear the chug of the engine, the whistle and the screeching of the wheels? We had absolutely no idea. it got closer and closer until it sounded like the train was in the car, passing right through us. while the train was going through the car, that car came back to life, all the lights on, just like normal. So I started it. Tried to take off, and killed it. (It was a manual and I was scared, it was my own error but it still scared me when the car lurched to a stop) I then started it again and took off.
We were fleeing for our lives at this point so we were easily hitting 50 mph on a shitty gravel road. We continued to pass the same everything over and over again, I then abruptly slammed on my breaks. “Damn dude!” “What the hell man?!” Andy and Jeremy both yelled as they face planted into the front seats. Guys, look. They look up in awe to see car two car headlights coming right at us, growing bigger by the second. I was stopped and i panicked and instead of driving out of the way, which there wasn’t any real “out-of-the-way” since we were on a very narrow Road, I started to flash my lights at them, hoping they would see and stop. But they didn’t. They continue to get closer and closer, so we all just accepted our fates and put our heads down to protect us from the collision. We waited and waited, and nothing happened. We all looked up and it had just vanished, just like the deers had previously. no car, no tread marks, no dust cloud, nothing. It was just all in our heads.
At this point we knew something was in our heads, warping reality and making us perceive whatever it wanted us to see. We continued down the road. After about 15 minutes of relative peace, other than the screams and human figures and other horrific things happening, the radio randomly switched on and we heard people talking on the radio through static but they weren’t just radio hosts, it was people, so many people talking at once it was defining. We heard loud knocking and banging on the doors and windows, enough to shake the car. The voices in our heads were now scream at us to stop driving, to roll down the windows. to get out of the car. To do anything to let them in. Everything was deafening, it was so insanely loud and we all started weeping, we just gave up, we couldn’t handle it anymore.
then, In the blink of an eye we appeared on the new reservoir road, right before the city. We all looked to each other, completely stunned on how the hell we just teleported to the end of the dirt road, out of the forest. the radio was still blaring static so reached and turned it down so we could talk amongst ourselves. I looked and seen The time was now 3:00AM. How did such little time pass? How did we get here? We had no clue, and we still don’t. We were just glad it was over. We drove away, to the city. The sky slowly faded from red to black. We stopped at the 24 hour Taco Bell and got some food, and sat in the parking lot talking about what we all had just experienced. We then drove back to my dads, and waked up to the front door, exhausted. Then right before walking in, there it was. The figure we seen at the very beginning, standing right on the edge of the property line. Staring directly at us. But now we could see it in finite detail.
It was about 7 feet tall with broad shoulders and the stature Akeem to a man. wearing a blacker than black cloak and a deer skull on its head with piercing red glowing eyes. It then raised its hand to its chest and waved a single wave, from its chest to its hip, then it vanished into the woods behind it. We then went inside, and all fell asleep immediately, after vowing to never, ever go out there again.
But funnily enough, years later we have all agreed to go camping in thoes very woods, next week. If anything happens, I will write again. This was my first time ever writing something like this and if it wasn’t for my friends experiencing all of it along with me, I would simply think I am bat shit insane. It was their idea for me to even write this in the first place, so I hope it was easy to read. And thank you, for reading our story. And also, heed my mother’s warning and don’t ever go into the Perry State Forest at night, because an evil really does live there.

I think I am coming close to my final version before moving on. I want to get better at showing and not telling so that enough of the protagonist's character comes through/is developed so that the plot from here on out is driven by character instead of just things happening to him and him reacting. I generally have
I am trying to show the reader 2+2 instead of 4.
There are some parts that I feel are info-dumpy that I might keep in for now until I can find a place later in the story but I'd like them pointed out regardless so I can at least highlight what I need to modify/cut.
I want to know if what the potions are doing is clear, whether there's enough of the character coming through but I've found it difficult without anyone else for him to speak with.
I'll write future chapters in third person just to try things out.
Get in, get the fruit, get out. Simple enough, right? Even so, this wasn’t a somewhere any human should be. Had my ambitions as a mage gone too far?
My world brightened and my body was weightless for a moment. Then, I collapsed onto a hard, dry ground. Standing, sulfur and smoke lingered on my clothes from the ritual that brought me to this realm—the Fae Lands. I blinked my eyes to clear my vision, and grinned. For better or worse, I succeeded in the first part and entered the White Woods. An orchard in which magic grew like fruit on trees – the heart of the Fae’s magic.
Its inhabitants, and their bestial servants did not take kindly to intruders. Only, the Fae were dead, and these lands were abandoned. But with their passing, any way out of the Fae Lands had been cut off, not that they’d let anyone leave. But we have a plan. Something even the Fae may have never known. I trusted my friends. But all knowledge comes at a risk. All lessons required payment. Common sayings amongst those that studied magic and all too habitually used to justify reckless behavior.
As my vision cleared, I craned my neck up and my pride turned to awe.
Massive trunks surrounded me as they stretched into the night sky like smooth, marble-white pillars. Their foliage seamlessly blended with the stars which shed a pervasive blue glow throughout the forest. Underneath, sparse vegetation grew dark, waxy leaves that reflected the light.
I placed my hand on a root and received a cold sensation as though it were worn stone. I always expected to sense the weight of past eons here but, instead, this place seemed entirely beyond the grasp of time. Though abandoned, it wasn’t clear whether this forest was tranquil or holding its breath.
Now, the Fae fruit, within which resided raw magic. I didn’t know what it looked like but XXX said I’d know it when I see it. I pulled a water satchel out and drank deeply, relieving my mouth from the dry, still air. My bag was light for being so far from home, but I shouldn’t be here too long if things go as planned. And if they don’t, extra provisions wouldn’t save me.
I uncorked a vial filled with a metallic, heavy liquid, and drank the bitter, iron-tasting liquor. I gagged and wished XZ made these damned concoctions tolerable for once.
I stilled my breathing. My heart slowed and my eyes closed as I channeled magic into them. Hoping the potion was effective and lowered my sensitivity to the intense magic here, I cautiously opened them.
Gradually, iridescent strings brightened into view, forming winding paths that hung in the air or an interwoven network along the ground which grew dense at the base of the trees. Their trunks, rigid and smooth before, were now laced with these threads, which wound together and formed cords that ran the length of the trunks and rooted themselves in the stars above.
Under the protection of the potion, my eyes safely explored the surrounding network for a single strand that would lead me to the sapling which held the Fae fruit. It didn’t take long to find. Its irregular and frenzied rhythm made it stand out as it bumped and danced around the older, more tired threads rooted to the nearby giants as if wanting to find a partner. As if it wanted to be found.
The Fae fruit was not a spell but was magic itself. Wild and untamed. Moldable. It longed for place in the fabric of the world. Ancient rulers used them to forge spells and weapons of war or to win the affection of those they sought for matrimony. Others, to defend land for their subjects to till. An utter waste of such potential. A Fae fruit for dirt? Some, reasonably, used them to fashion flames to burn away incursions of the withering rot, a seemingly sentient mold that threatened to cover entire nations.
But I sought greater heights. Too long had magic been used to hurt or destroy. Where others would cut, I would mend. I sought to forge a new spell. One to heal the sick and wounded. At least in theory.
After all, future ages would better remember our names if they could live.
I marched on, following this thread. Occasionally, it would skip to my right or left, and I’d chase after it and leap over other roots, like a game of tag I played with XZ and XY when we were kids, at least, whenever we could pull XY’s nose out of her books.
Gradually, other strands appeared, each just as excited. Though strange, it was like I was approaching a festival. A celebration. After what felt like a quarter of a night, I saw my destination. The threads had converged at the roots of a sapling.
The sapling, if it could be called such, better resembled the trees I’d climbed as a boy, pale as it was. It was distinguished only by its size from the other arboreal titans nearby. And there, on one of its branches hung the Fae fruit.
It was still. Quiet. But when viewed by those trained in the arcane, the tree burned with energy. The threads twirled around, formed new connections, and just as easily breaking them. Occasionally, two threads would twist together, fuse, then separate having switched their dancing partners.
In the right hands, the fruit could be used to weave entirely new spells or, if one were wasteful, in the crafting of a single powerful enchanted item. But worst of all, the brewing of an especially bad tasting, though potent potion. Of course, neither I nor anyone else in their right mind would pass on any such treasures. Wars were fought over such relics in the past, though politics, pride, and occasionally honor also played their role spectacularly in such disputes.
But if left alone, would the fruit grow into a tree and root into the sky if not stolen from no one at all? Was our intention greater than that forest’s? I pushed such questions from my mind as I advanced towards the base of the tree. Towards my ambition.
It was surrounded by a deep thicket. With no way around, I cautiously stepped onto the underlying mossy carpet and traveled deeper within. As I pushed, the vegetation fought my efforts but, before snapping, abruptly relaxed and gave way. “Thank you.” I whispered, surprising even myself. Though, I supposed it never hurt to be too courteous. Even to a bush.
Behind me, the path I’d made slowly disappeared as the branches returned to their original position like I’d never been there. I looked forward and-
*crunch*
The bone-chilling sound shattered the silence of the forest. I froze. My heart quickened.
What was that? What did I step on? The vegetation closed in around me, surrounding me in blackness. The convenience of their allowing me deeper within now seemed to be the opening of a trap which now closed on me as I stood frozen. The branches surrounded me and... paused.
The next minute was an eternity in this timeless place. ‘Would I die to a bush?’ The thought lingered, ominous and absurd.
Slowly, I lifted my foot and positioned it to the side. Feeling the even ground again, I pushed forward. The branches, seemingly having forgotten my presence, once again needed convincing to let me pass through. Clear of the thicket, a sigh of relief escaped my chest as I was unsure of exactly how much danger I was in. Or what I’d stepped on.
But such thoughts vanished as my sight settled on my goal. It radiated a cold-blue light and, surprisingly, did look far more like an apple than expected.
“Huh.” I’d said, far louder than intended.
I climbed the tree and crawled out on one of its branches, using another to keep my balance. This was used to be easier. A stem connected the fruit to the branch which my instincts told me could not be cut by normal means.
Withdrawing a small knife with a white, wooden handle, provided by XXX for this occasion, the enchanted blade was passed across the stem. Frayed, iridescent threads were severed and hung in the air as they slowly dissolved. Others would find each other and fuse to survive. As more threads were cut, some swept along the blade, threatening to bind to it and alter its very nature. It might disrupt the enchantment.
My work quickened and the fruit came free in my palm. Then, for the first time, a cool breath of wind caressed my face like the forest exhaled. The air had shifted. I braced and my eyes watched the gaps in the trees as the forest turned its attention to me. More than just the White Trees were now watching. I needed to get home. Now.
I gently secured the still glowing fruit in a bag and strapped it tightly onto my back, feeling its weight on my shoulders like a ball of iron. Dust kicked up as my boots hit the ground, and I navigated back through the thicket, avoiding the place where I’d stepped on the object.
I reached for a second vial, also provided by XZ, when my eyes focused on something. It was nearly as tall as I was and covered in moss, resembling a circular stone table on its side with a single thin rectangular protrusion extending upward.
Despite the sensation of being watched, I lifted the moss to reveal a pale-white surface with distinct ridges radiating outward from a central point. A vertebrae. The moss was returned onto the enormous bone. I didn’t want to think about that right now.
‘Home. Now.’ My instincts told me.
I took a vial within which a clear liquid effortlessly danced with the light. Uncorking it, I tipped it over, ensuring only a single drop fell towards the ground. Before landing, it slowed, curved, and accelerated away from me to my right. Thank goodness. Trusting the droplet would lead me home, I chased after it.
Each droplet eventually tired and fell to the dusty ground or splattered against the side of a tree. After, I’d poured another, eyeing its slowing descent and acceleration ahead of me. As this ritual repeated, the sound of my boots hitting the hard, dusty ground echoed off the bodies of the pale giants surrounding me.
The more time I spent here, the more it felt like this place was deep underground. Like the sky above threatened to trap me here alone. I increased my rhythm of chasing the droplets as a distant hum in the air continued to grow louder.
Smiling triumphantly, I caught my breath and watched as a droplet traveled towards the base of a single, undistinguished tree, then danced upwards along its body, glowing brighter before disappearing in a flash. I’d found my way out.
“Almost there. Here goes nothing.”
I gingerly stepped onto the side of the tree. The other foot followed. Feeling my weight shift, I stood horizontal to the ground. Laughing, I look ‘up’ back towards the way from which I came and froze. That’s when I see it. A hulking figure with a wolf-like body crouched motionless and low to the ground. It was mid-step as it stared at me with pale eyes that were all too intelligent. The long hair on its head was a braided, tangled, mess from which a crown of antlers protruded. Slowly, it raised its body.
This place was supposed to be abandoned.
CLICK.
A sound like a boulder cracking reverberated through my bones, breaking the humming of the tree under my feet, and threatened my balance.
This isn’t happening.
CLICK. CLICK.
It shifted. And lunged, kicking up dust and tearing the ground as it ran. It’s hair waved wildly as it clawed the ground while the clicking grew into a frenzied rhythm that drowned the hum of the tree.
I snapped back and turned, sprinting up the tree hoping to get high enough to escape its reach. I nearly slipped as I looked back at the ground. Dread filled me as I saw the thing had immediately closed in on the base of the tree. It was far too agile for its size. It leapt and grabbed onto either side of the giant tree and heaved itself upwards, swiftly scaling the tree.
I ripped the cork from the same vial, throwing it away, and drank the rest. It burned my throat as I continued my mad ascent. Halfway up the tree, my weight shifted again, and my vision brightened. The world turned white when suddenly a searing pain arced across my back as my flesh was opened. Then I’m falling.
I feel a cool wind whip across my face as my eyes open to see familiar sunlight on green fields surrounding a lake towards which I’m rapidly falling.
Thanks for reading if you've gotten this far!

Everything was fuzzy and warm, like a childhood blanket. Yet flashes of dread memories invaded his mindless bliss.
A storm howled and struck at the ship with mighty waves, rocking and beating at the masts as though it meant to crush the great vessel. The sky was a churning mass of black clouds, flickering with lightning and moving with the rotation of an angry storm.
A tremendous crack and the groan of splitting timber rode over the shrieking wind. Water crashed against him and coldness seized his body. Chaos and terror stole his mind. Then there was the sensation of sinking into a warm dream, welcome and content. So long since he’d slept this well.
Something cold hit his face.
Drue's eyes flew open, and he expelled his lungs in a great coughing fit that left water on the worn and beer-stained wooden planks of the floor on which he now lay.
"What're ye layin about fer?" A crusty-sounding voice asked from the ringing daze that lay heavy on Drue's head.
"Huh?" he managed between fits of coughing. He blinked bleary eyes up at a bearded face split into a grin missing more than a few of its teeth. "Wha—"
Slowly, the ringing in his ears subsided, and the pleasant thrum of voices washed over him. There was music and laughter and the sound of a kitchen in the distance.
He rose to an elbow and blinked at his surroundings. “Where?” he croaked.
"Here," the man said, and a foaming mug of ale was thrust at Drue’s face. "Yer gonna need this."
"What is this place?" Drue said, his voice growing strong. He ignored the proffered mug and rose to a sitting position. "How am I here?"
Laughter exploded around him.
A crowd of faces that were not there just a moment ago grinned at him, all bearded but the women and in various states of cleanliness. A few were braided and intertwined. Others were a long bush of wiry hair in black and blonde and red. Some of the folks around him wore the three-pointed hats of his time, some cloth wrapped tightly about their skull. Some nothing but a mop of wild greasy hair.
Music came to him, a lute, was it?
He turned his head to follow the sound and found a pretty little man with golden curls and a face bereft of a single hair standing on a small wooden stage, plucking at his instrument and humming to get his tune. He was dressed as if for court in silks of red and gold with matching jewelry on fingers and neck. All around the stage, sailors lifted their tankards and shouted encouragement to the lad. Then they danced a spinning caper.
"Storm sent ye here, lad," said the wild-eyed man missing a few teeth and wearing a silver studded eyepatch. "Same as most of us."
"Where is here?" Drue was starting to get angry and scared. He was confused and alone and did not recognize this tavern. "Might be I can't remember."
"Why, Davy Jones’s Locker, lad," the men and women gathered around him all exploded into drunken laughter, looking at each other and clapping shoulders. Then they drained their mugs, ale spilling down the sides of bearded and unbearded faces alike. "The afterlife for those of us what met our end at sea."
Drue stood up. Was this some kind of joke?
He scanned the crowd and the faces around him. He recognized no one. The vast open bar room seemed to stretch forever. Endless tables and chairs, milling men and women dressed in every shade of attire ever worn, stretched as far as he could see in any direction.
Panic seared to life in his chest.
What was this place? Was he dreaming? No structure ever built on earth was ever so big as this. Davy Jones’s Locker? The words echoed in his thoughts. And his temper flared.
Before he realized what he was doing, Drue had the man with the long black beard and silver studded eyepatch by his lapels, their noses an inch apart.
"Enough of your game, swine," Drue was really pissed. He didn't like being toyed with. "Where’s Captain Wil? Where are me shipmates? Answer or I'll gut ye like a fish for dinner!" The fancy speech he'd worked so hard to master fell away in the heat of his anger. The pirate in him came out.
Everyone around had a good laugh at that, toasting Drue with a crash of foaming mugs, drinking as if they expected the well to run dry. None laughed harder than the man he held in fists of rage, the man with the silver studded eyepatch, throwing his head back and laughing at the ceiling. "Ye don't believe, is it?" the man said once he'd caught his breath. "Look," he pointed past Drue to something behind him.
Drue was no fool; the first thing you learned as a lad on a ship was never to turn your back on another pirate. Or any man, for that matter. Women, too.
"Look," the crowd said in unison, pointing with their mugs. "Look." And he looked. He didn't want to; resisted the urge to crane his face around and look behind him. But it was as if a giant's hand held his face and slowly turned him to see what lay behind.
A wall of storm-thrashed ocean hovered in the air before him.
Waves crashed over a three-masted ship, tossed like a child's toy before the fury of a god. A shadow passed over his heart. Memory stirred. He recognized the Emerald Maiden and the carved figure of a woman holding a great longbow on the ship's bow. She was carved and painted in intricate detail, so lifelike you had to look twice to make sure she didn't draw breath. There could be no mistake.
"What sorcery is this," Drue rasped with a throat suddenly dry as desert bones.
A wave three times the height of the Emerald Maiden reared up and raced toward her starboard side, looming over the ship like the hand of death. The ship vanished in a tremendous watery explosion of splintered wood and sails, men flailing in the thrashing waters. Then the scene winked out, and the tavern, its lively music, and endless crowds stretched out before him. His crew was there now, smiling at him and raising their glasses. Captain Wil was among them, the saw-faced bastard he was.
Drue felt his bones relax, and suddenly he couldn't remember why he'd been so upset. The minstrel's voice was elegant and sweet as birdsong, the way the glittering notes danced with the pluck of his fingers on the lute strings. Everyone laughed and clapped him on the shoulder, and he couldn't remember a time in his life when he'd been so happy. He lifted his mug and tasted the best drop of ale to ever touch his lips. And that was saying a lot.
A woman with a face to make a man dig out his heart and offer it to her, took his arm and pulled him to dance.
"If yer half as handsome with those rags off as ye are with them on, we'll be having a good time tonight," she said, smirking over her shoulder and bursting out laughing at the color that suffused his cheeks. Never had he met a woman so forward. Food, drink and laughter without end, somehow he knew it would never end. What was this place? Had he died and gone to heaven?
He nearly laughed at the thought.
Then struggled to remember what it was he was laughing at. Well, it didn’t matter, did it? This was a place of celebration. Here there was no need to muse on troubled thoughts. Here? Where was here?
"I told ye," the man with the eyepatch laid a hand on his shoulder and whispered in his ear. "The sea brought ye to me. Welcome to me tavern."

hello readers, my name is Chase and I have a story from the perry state forest and my home that neither me nor my friends will ever forget, but before that, here is some backstory. We lived bordering the perry state forest, on a large hill. My entire immediate family lived on this hill, my grandfather, aunt, uncle, cousins, my mother, father, and me. My aunt and uncle had a medium sized farm and raised many goats and had free roam chickens. It was extremely common for the animals to go missing. We honestly just chocked it up to the coyotes, until we caught a mountain lion on one of our trail cams. Mind you, we live in southern Ohio, we aren’t supposed to have mountain lions here, yet there was one, with its own den in our woods. Our.. “wild” woods.
we always had odd things happen at night, Seeing shadows, hear loud knocks, whispers, screams, footsteps, even hearing drums in the woods every year around Halloween. Pretty creepy. But moving forward, let’s get into the meat of this story. My first encounter that I can remember is when I was maybe 8 years old and fell asleep late in my living room. We had a very large window with a tv to the left of it, in the corner of the room. I woke up and looked at the clock, and it was about 3:00AM and the tv was buzzing static, I looked out the window from the couch and there it was. A tall man, wearing a brown cloak (likely made of deer skins) and a deer head coving his face. Standing in the window with a little Indian girl in braids to his right. He stood there and stared at me for a long time, then waved to me in a way that said “come out side, it’s okay, just come on out”. After I freaked and just sat there in shock, they both walked out of view of the window. I had a sudden urge to follow but I stayed put and cried out of fright. I then ran to my room and eventually fell asleep.
The next morning I explained what had happened to me earlier that night and My mother told me it was a friendly Indian chief who was just paying a visit, meaning no harm. I had since then blocked the experience from my memory And pretty much forgot that it even happened until years later my mom sat me down and told me the truth. That “cheif” has been around for a very long time and terrorized everyone on the hill and staring at them from a distance since they first moved in, around 1999. She told me, according to her knowledge that he was from the Adena tribe and during his time, he would collect kids from the surrounding tribes and take them away, for human sacrifices. She then further explained that He wasn’t waving me hello, he was waving me on, to follow him outside with the Indian girl, To do god knows what with me once I was alone in the woods. She said He is evil, and my mother doesn’t use that word often. But she said “whatever that thing is, it’s evil” and “don’t ever go out there in the woods alone at night. Don’t even go with friends. Stay as far away from the deep woods. A evil lives there.”
And so of course, I didn’t listen. And me and my friends quickly learned our lesson. Me and my two friends, we will call them Andy and Jeremy, decide to have some spooky fun after a long and boring night. we where all 17 to 18 years old, so we hatched the plan to go into the woods, and into the Perry State Forest to try to scare ourselves and just mess around and have a fun time. After all, there where roads in the forest that was only a couple of miles long, for example in a twenty minute drive you could easily make it right into the city, it was a straight shot, one single road, with no turns. We decided to drive, because hoofing it out there was just a little too ballsy for our Taste. In all honesty we just loved the rush of being spooked. Andy and Jeremy are, or at least where, the furthest thing from superstitious, for they didn’t believe in anything unless they could see it or feel it themselves. And that’s exactly what they got. We was in my father’s car, a manual bmw, it was a fast car and we felt oh-so cool driving it around. The time was approaching 2:30AM when we slowly drove into the forest, after turning off of the main road.
Upon entering the forest had a wave of… something come crashing into us, it felt as if we were fazing through a wall that wasn’t there. The air felt heavy and thick. and we felt extreme pressure on our chests. this made our eyes tear up, and it was hard to breathe. There was no pain, just an overwhelming feeling of sadness, anger, guilt, dread, regret and emotional distress. it honestly felt like every bad feeling you could possibly feel all together at once. We felt like we needed to turn around and just say “forget it” but we wanted this, we wanted to feel scared. It’s what we came here for in the first place.
So We continue driving through the weird wall of bad feelings and we all just thought we got that weird feeling because we were in the woods at night and it was late and dark out. And I mean really dark out, it was a new moon so we really didn’t have any light. It made sense at the time, yet the headlights were only able to see about a yard in front of us, which was not normal for the LED lights my dad had installed. We talked amongst ourselves about how weird that feeling we got was when we entered the forest. Then out of nowhere we saw a large black figure standing at the left side of the road, and just watched us drive by, and by the time we passed it, it was gone. And when I say black, it wasn’t just black, it was darker than anything I’ve ever seen before, the darkness of the forest behind it almost looked bright in comparison. We checked in the rear view mirrors, and it had just vanished, poof, gone. Like it was never there in the first place. We said some obscenity’s to each other completely stunned and aghast at what we just witnessed.
We drove for about a whole minute in silence, until Andy said “Did y’all see that shit?” We all agreed with a simple “uh-huh”. We continued to drive. After a little while Andy looks up at the sky and says “uh guys, the sky looks kinda.. off”. Me and Jeremy looked up, and The sky wasn’t just “off” it was blood red, yet it was so dark in the forest that you couldn’t see your hand in-front of your face. We thought maybe it was starting to get daylight out but it was only 2:32AM. We were perplexed at how little time passed since we entered And at how on earth the sky could be light up in such a dark red. At first, we thought it could possibly be a blood moon, yet there was no moon to be seen. We continued on our journey for what felt like a half an hour in a straight line. Then suddenly Andy yelped and said “no.. no, no, no we just seen that tree, I just seen that tree, it’s like we are going in a circle! You didn’t take any turns did you chase?” I denied with a simple “no, why would I? It’s a straight line through here, I don’t want to get lost, especially out here.” and so we continued to pass the same trees, the same guard rail, the same lake, the same signs, the same exact everything over and over and over again. Everything kept repeating, as if we where driving in a big circle, but that’s impossible since the road is only a straight line through, there are many turns that we could have taken but we never turned, not once.
“Dang man this feels like some blare witch shit” Jerermy murmured. As we continued to drive through the endless loop we where now apparently stuck in, over time we slowly started to see dark figures in the woods, shadows, things staring at us in the trees and and scariest of all, deer that didn’t look right. Something was off about them. They would all just stand there and stare at the car, and sway back and forth. yet unlike how normal deer eyes glow when lights hit them, there was no glow, like a black, empty void within each eyeball. then one spontaneously jumped in-front of the car, making us all physically recoil, and brace for the impact of a deer entering my front grill, but it never happened. It disappeared just as quickly as it had jumped in front of us. “No man this isn’t right we need to turn around that can’t happen, this isn’t real” Jerermy said to me, I told him that we couldn’t be far from the exit after all we’ve been driving for what We felt like was hours. So we continued driving down the dirt road We then noticed the dark figures in the woods to slowly transform into a more.. human figure. We also started seeing disembodied eyes staring at us and heard odd distorted animal noises, screams and whimpers. we suddenly all had something in our heads telling us to “just stop the car. Stop the car and get out and everything will stop” We all shook off the eerie feeling that came over us. We then heard whispers, but these where no ordinary whispers, they sounded like they where coming from INSIDE the car. Again, we continued to drive. While driving we would also sporadically get a glimpse of the.. thing we seen at the very beginning when we entered.
Then, abruptly all the visions and sounds stopped. We then heard a girl scream, not a coyote or a bobcat, a girl, and it wasn’t in the woods, it was Right in all of our ears, it was loud enough to make our ears ring. then the car shut off. Dead. No lights on, no nothing. Just off. Pitch black darkness. I tried to start it and nothing. While trying to start the car we heard a train in the distance and it sounded like we were on the tracks ourselves, hell we could feel the ground rumbling. But the odd thing was, there was not a railroad anywhere near the park. Not for many miles. So how is it that we could hear the chug of the engine, the whistle and the screeching of the wheels? We had absolutely no idea. it got closer and closer until it sounded like the train was in the car, passing right through us. while the train was going through the car, that car came back to life, all the lights on, just like normal. So I started it. Tried to take off, and killed it. (It was a manual and I was scared, it was my own error but it still scared me when the car lurched to a stop) I then started it again and took off.
We were fleeing for our lives at this point so we were easily hitting 50 mph on a shitty gravel road. We continued to pass the same everything over and over again, I then abruptly slammed on my breaks. “Damn dude!” “What the hell man?!” Andy and Jeremy both yelled as they face planted into the front seats. Guys, look. They look up in awe to see car two car headlights coming right at us, growing bigger by the second. I was stopped and i panicked and instead of driving out of the way, which there wasn’t any real “out-of-the-way” since we were on a very narrow Road, I started to flash my lights at them, hoping they would see and stop. But they didn’t. They continue to get closer and closer, so we all just accepted our fates and put our heads down to protect us from the collision. We waited and waited, and nothing happened. We all looked up and it had just vanished, just like the deers had previously. no car, no tread marks, no dust cloud, nothing. It was just all in our heads.
At this point we knew something was in our heads, warping reality and making us perceive whatever it wanted us to see. We continued down the road. After about 15 minutes of relative peace, other than the screams and human figures and other horrific things happening, the radio randomly switched on and we heard people talking on the radio through static but they weren’t just radio hosts, it was people, so many people talking at once it was defining. We heard loud knocking and banging on the doors and windows, enough to shake the car. The voices in our heads were now scream at us to stop driving, to roll down the windows. to get out of the car. To do anything to let them in. Everything was deafening, it was so insanely loud and we all started weeping, we just gave up, we couldn’t handle it anymore.
then, In the blink of an eye we appeared on the new reservoir road, right before the city. We all looked to each other, completely stunned on how the hell we just teleported to the end of the dirt road, out of the forest. the radio was still blaring static so reached and turned it down so we could talk amongst ourselves. I looked and seen The time was now 3:00AM. How did such little time pass? How did we get here? We had no clue, and we still don’t. We were just glad it was over. We drove away, to the city. The sky slowly faded from red to black. We stopped at the 24 hour Taco Bell and got some food, and sat in the parking lot talking about what we all had just experienced. We then drove back to my dads, and waked up to the front door, exhausted. Then right before walking in, there it was. The figure we seen at the very beginning, standing right on the edge of the property line. Staring directly at us. But now we could see it in finite detail.
It was about 7 feet tall with broad shoulders and the stature Akeem to a man. wearing a blacker than black cloak and a deer skull on its head with piercing red glowing eyes. It then raised its hand to its chest and waved a single wave, from its chest to its hip, then it vanished into the woods behind it. We then went inside, and all fell asleep immediately, after vowing to never, ever go out there again.
But funnily enough, years later we have all agreed to go camping in thoes very woods, next week. If anything happens, I will write again. This was my first time ever writing something like this and if it wasn’t for my friends experiencing all of it along with me, I would simply think I am bat shit insane. It was their idea for me to even write this in the first place, so I hope it was easy to read. And thank you, for reading our story. And also, heed my mother’s warning and don’t ever go into the Perry State Forest at night, because an evil really does live there.

Hello readers, my name is Chase, and I have a story from the perry state forest and my home that neither me nor my friends will ever forget, but before that, here is some backstory. We lived bordering the perry state forest, on a large hill. My entire immediate family lived on this hill, my grandfather, aunt, uncle, cousins, my mother, father, and me. My aunt and uncle had a medium sized farm and raised many goats and had free roam chickens. It was extremely common for the animals to go missing. We honestly just chocked it up to the coyotes, until we caught a mountain lion on one of our trail cams. Mind you, we live in southern Ohio, we aren’t supposed to have mountain lions here, yet there was one, with its own den in our woods. Our.. “wild” woods. we always had odd things happen at night, Seeing shadows, hear loud knocks, whispers, screams, footsteps, even hearing drums in the woods every year around Halloween. Pretty creepy. But moving forward, let’s get into the meat of this story. My first encounter that I can remember is when I was maybe 8 years old and fell asleep late in my living room. We had a very large window with a tv to the left of it, in the corner of the room. I woke up and looked at the clock, and it was about 3:00AM and the tv was buzzing static, I looked out the window from the couch and there it was. A tall man, wearing a brown cloak (likely made of deer skins) and a deer head coving his face. Standing in the window with a little Indian girl in braids to his right. He stood there and stared at me for a long time, then waved to me in a way that said “come out side, it’s okay, just come on out”. After I freaked and just sat there in shock, they both walked out of view of the window. I had a sudden urge to follow but I stayed put and cried out of fright. I then ran to my room and eventually fell asleep. The next morning I explained what had happened to me earlier that night and My mother told me it was a friendly Indian chief who was just paying a visit, meaning no harm. I had since then blocked the experience from my memory And pretty much forgot that it even happened until years later my mom sat me down and told me the truth. That “chef” has been around for a very long time and terrorized everyone on the hill and staring at them from a distance since they first moved in, around 1999. She told me, according to her knowledge that he was from the Adena tribe and during his time, he would collect kids from the surrounding tribes and take them away, for human sacrifices. She then further explained that He wasn’t waving me hello, he was waving me on, to follow him outside with the Indian girl, To do god knows what with me once I was alone in the woods. She said He is evil, and my mother doesn’t use that word often. But she said “whatever that thing is, it’s evil” and “don’t ever go out there in the woods alone at night. Don’t even go with friends. Stay as far away from the deep woods. A evil lives there.” And so of course, I didn’t listen. And me and my friends quickly learned our lesson. Me and my two friends, we will call them Andy and Jeremy, decide to have some spooky fun after a long and boring night. we where all 17 to 18 years old, so we hatched the plan to go into the woods, and into the Perry State Forest to try to scare ourselves and just mess around and have a fun time. After all, there where roads in the forest that was only a couple of miles long, for example in a twenty minute drive you could easily make it right into the city, it was a straight shot, one single road, with no turns. We decided to drive, because hoofing it out there was just a little too ballsy for our Taste. In all honesty we just loved the rush of being spooked. Andy and Jeremy are, or at least where, the furthest thing from superstitious, for they didn’t believe in anything unless they could see it or feel it themselves. And that’s exactly what they got. We was in my father’s car, a manual bmw, it was a fast car and we felt oh-so cool driving it around. The time was approaching 2:30AM when we slowly drove into the forest, after turning off of the main road. Upon entering the forest had a wave of… something come crashing into us, it felt as if we were fazing through a wall that wasn’t there. The air felt heavy and thick. and we felt extreme pressure on our chests. this made our eyes tear up, and it was hard to breathe. There was no pain, just an overwhelming feeling of sadness, anger, guilt, dread, regret and emotional distress. it honestly felt like every bad feeling you could possibly feel all together at once. We felt like we needed to turn around and just say “forget it” but we wanted this, we wanted to feel scared. It’s what we came here for in the first place. So We continue driving through the weird wall of bad feelings and we all just thought we got that weird feeling because we were in the woods at night and it was late and dark out. And I mean really dark out, it was a new moon so we really didn’t have any light. It made sense at the time, yet the headlights were only able to see about a yard in front of us, which was not normal for the LED lights my dad had installed. We talked amongst ourselves about how weird that feeling we got was when we entered the forest. Then out of nowhere we saw a large black figure standing at the left side of the road, and just watched us drive by, and by the time we passed it, it was gone. And when I say black, it wasn’t just black, it was darker than anything I’ve ever seen before, the darkness of the forest behind it almost looked bright in comparison. We checked in the rear view mirrors, and it had just vanished, poof, gone. Like it was never there in the first place. We said some obscenity’s to each other completely stunned and aghast at what we just witnessed. We drove for about a whole minute in silence, until Andy said “Did y’all see that shit?” We all agreed with a simple “uh-huh”. We continued to drive. After a little while Andy looks up at the sky and says “uh guys, the sky looks kinda.. off”. Me and Jeremy looked up, and The sky wasn’t just “off” it was blood red, yet it was so dark in the forest that you couldn’t see your hand in-front of your face. We thought maybe it was starting to get daylight out but it was only 2:32AM. We were perplexed at how little time passed since we entered And at how on earth the sky could be light up in such a dark red. At first, we thought it could possibly be a blood moon, yet there was no moon to be seen. We continued on our journey for what felt like a half an hour in a straight line. Then suddenly Andy yelped and said “no.. no, no, no we just seen that tree, I just seen that tree, it’s like we are going in a circle! You didn’t take any turns did you chase?” I denied with a simple “no, why would I? It’s a straight line through here, I don’t want to get lost, especially out here.” and so we continued to pass the same trees, the same guard rail, the same lake, the same signs, the same exact everything over and over and over again. Everything kept repeating, as if we where driving in a big circle, but that’s impossible since the road is only a straight line through, there are many turns that we could have taken but we never turned, not once. “Dang man this feels like some blare witch shit” Jerermy murmured. As we continued to drive through the endless loop we where now apparently stuck in, over time we slowly started to see dark figures in the woods, shadows, things staring at us in the trees and and scariest of all, deer that didn’t look right. Something was off about them. They would all just stand there and stare at the car, and sway back and forth. yet unlike how normal deer eyes glow when lights hit them, there was no glow, like a black, empty void within each eyeball. then one spontaneously jumped in-front of the car, making us all physically recoil, and brace for the impact of a deer entering my front grill, but it never happened. It disappeared just as quickly as it had jumped in front of us. “No man this isn’t right we need to turn around that can’t happen, this isn’t real” Jerermy said to me, I told him that we couldn’t be far from the exit after all we’ve been driving for what We felt like was hours. So we continued driving down the dirt road We then noticed the dark figures in the woods to slowly transform into a more.. human figure. We also started seeing disembodied eyes staring at us and heard odd distorted animal noises, screams and whimpers. we suddenly all had something in our heads telling us to “just stop the car. Stop the car and get out and everything will stop” We all shook off the eerie feeling that came over us. We then heard whispers, but these where no ordinary whispers, they sounded like they where coming from INSIDE the car. Again, we continued to drive. While driving we would also sporadically get a glimpse of the.. thing we seen at the very beginning when we entered. Then, abruptly all the visions and sounds stopped. We then heard a girl scream, not a coyote or a bobcat, a girl, and it wasn’t in the woods, it was Right in all of our ears, it was loud enough to make our ears ring. then the car shut off. Dead. No lights on, no nothing. Just off. Pitch black darkness. I tried to start it and nothing. While trying to start the car we heard a train in the distance and it sounded like we were on the tracks ourselves, hell we could feel the ground rumbling. But the odd thing was, there was not a railroad anywhere near the park. Not for many miles. So how is it that we could hear the chug of the engine, the whistle and the screeching of the wheels? We had absolutely no idea. it got closer and closer until it sounded like the train was in the car, passing right through us. while the train was going through the car, that car came back to life, all the lights on, just like normal. So I started it. Tried to take off, and killed it. (It was a manual and I was scared, it was my own error but it still scared me when the car lurched to a stop) I then started it again and took off. We were fleeing for our lives at this point so we were easily hitting 50 mph on a shitty gravel road. We continued to pass the same everything over and over again, I then abruptly slammed on my breaks. “Damn dude!” “What the hell man?!” Andy and Jeremy both yelled as they face planted into the front seats. Guys, look. They look up in awe to see car two car headlights coming right at us, growing bigger by the second. I was stopped and i panicked and instead of driving out of the way, which there wasn’t any real “out-of-the-way” since we were on a very narrow Road, I started to flash my lights at them, hoping they would see and stop. But they didn’t. They continue to get closer and closer, so we all just accepted our fates and put our heads down to protect us from the collision. We waited and waited, and nothing happened. We all looked up and it had just vanished, just like the deers had previously. no car,no tread marks, no dust cloud, nothing. It was just all in our heads. At this point we knew something was in our heads, warping reality and making us perceive whatever it wanted us to see. We continued down the road. After about 15 minutes of relative peace, other than the screams and human figures and other horrific things happening, the radio randomly switched on and we heard people talking on the radio through static but they weren’t just radio hosts, it was people, so many people talking at once it was defining. We heard loud knocking and banging on the doors and windows, enough to shake the car. The voices in our heads were now scream at us to stop driving, to roll down the windows. to get out of the car. To do anything to let them in. Everything was deafening, it was so insanely loud and we all started weeping, we just gave up, we couldn’t handle it anymore. then, In the blink of an eye we appeared on the new reservoir road, right before the city. We all looked to each other, completely stunned on how the hell we just teleported to the end of the dirt road, out of the forest. the radio was still blaring static so reached and turned it down so we could talk amongst ourselves. I looked and seen The time was now 3:00AM. How did such little time pass? How did we get here? We had no clue, and we still don’t. We were just glad it was over. We drove away, to the city. The sky slowly faded from red to black. We stopped at the 24 hour Taco Bell and got some food, and sat in the parking lot talking about what we all had just experienced. We then drove back to my dads, and waked up to the front door, exhausted. Then right before walking in, there it was. The figure we seen at the very beginning, standing right on the edge of the property line. Staring directly at us. But now we could see it in finite detail. It was about 7 feet tall with broad shoulders and the stature Akeem to a man. wearing a blacker than black cloak and a deer skull on its head with piercing red glowing eyes. It then raised its hand to its chest and waved a single wave, from its chest to its hip, then it vanished into the woods behind it. We then went inside, and all fell asleep immediately, after vowing to never, ever go out there again. But funnily enough, years later we have all agreed to go camping in thoes very woods, next week. If anything happens, I will write again. This was my first time ever writing something like this and if it wasn’t for my friends experiencing all of it along with me, I would simply think I am bat shit insane. It was their idea for me to even write this in the first place, so I hope it was easy to read. And thank you, for reading our story. And also, heed my mother’s warning and don’t ever go into the Perry State Forest at night, because an evil really does live there.

Boy oh boy where do i even begin. Mandarins… honey, my pookie bear. I have loved you ever since I first laid eyes on you. The way you march onto the field and strike fear into your enemies eyes. Your silky smooth brass sound, and that gorgeous ballad. I would do anything for you. I wish it were possible to freeze time so I would never have to watch you age out. You had a rough childhood, but you never gave up hope. You are even amazing off the field, you're a great corps and organization, sometimes I even call you home. I forvever dread and weep, thinking of the day you will one day fold. I would sacrifice my own life it were the only thing that could put a gold medal on your beautiful neck. You have given me so much joy, and heartbreak over the years. I remember when you first left sacramento and its like my heart got broken into a million pieces. But a tear still fell from my right eye when I watched you make your first finals in indianapolis, because deep down, my glorious king deserved it. I just wanted you to return home. Then allas, you did, my sweet baby boy came home and I rejoiced. 2022 was a hard year for us baby, but in 2023 you made history happen. You came back from 10-6 and I couldn't believe it. I was crying, bawling even, and I heard my glorious king exclaim these words, "SACRAMENTO, THIS IS FOR YOU!" Not only have you changed the game of basketball and the world forever, but you've eternally changed my world. And now you're getting older, but still the goat, my goat. I love you pookie bear, my glorious king, The Sacramento Mandarins.☺️♥️🫶🏻

PoF is also hosted on Ao3! do with this information what you will.
u/SpacePaladin15 is responsible for the creation of the NOP universe.
special bonus points to u/DoomlordKravoka (author of sawing the tree that feeds) for beta reading this chapter.
 
quick notice: as of may 9th, 2024, chapter 11 has been edited to feature more dialogue and overall be more plot relevant, so i advise going back and checking that out real quick. it will be important sometime in the next few chapters :3
now... without further ado, in the name of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, behold: “the nature of where we once were”
in this chapter: to some, sleep doesn't come easy. the realm of dreams is unkind to those who have known the injustice of the universe.
content warning for nightmares, accidental injury and discussion of traumatic events.
first - prev - next
////////////////////////// Memory Transcription Subject: Dan Hayes, Human Resident of Venlil 4 //////// Date (standardized human time): January 22nd, 2137 //////////////////////////
When Sparci exits the bathroom, clean of spaghetti residue but once again resembling an over-fluffed cloud of fur, he pauses in apparent surprise and confusion at the immense mass of blankets and pillows Emma has left on the floor for us to deal with. I've already taken the liberty of claiming my spot on the couch. It's not exactly comfy. The cushions are rough and unyielding, and the armrest is so hard I can feel it through my pillow, and I have nowhere to put my legs. Consequences of being 6'3 I suppose.
"Grab one of those blankets and throw it on me," I say to the rust-furred alien. Letting him sleep with me is just going to make it even more cramped, but prey races don't like sleeping alone. I can't afford to alienate him and risk losing his trust. "Then just, make yourself comfy wherever you can fit."
He glances between me and the pile of bedding, suddenly looking even more confused. "But. I thought Ms. Emma said--"
"Do you want to sleep on the floor like an animal?"
"...No."
"Then you know what to do."
He looks back down at the myriad blankets, seemingly comparing them in his head before crouching down and grabbing one of the lighter ones. It's barely anything. He holds up the thin sheet and watches my face as if waiting for a reaction. I give him a quick nod of affirmation, and he tosses the fabric over me.
"Is it really okay, though?" he asks. "Don't humans normally sleep separately from their herd- or, packs, or whatever you call them?"
"Usually, yes," I say. Time to bend the truth a bit. "To be more specific, we don't like sleeping with other humans. But, as I'm sure you gathered from all the videos, we're a lot more tolerant of... non-humans. It's some weird quirk of our brains. We like having soft friends."
His tail wiggles slightly, probably from the implication that I think he's a friend. Then he freezes. "Wait. Not with other humans? Not even with your siblings? Or even just your parents?"
...
...He doesn't need to know I didn't have any siblings, nor that my parents were the worst people on Earth. "Super young kids will, but we grow out of that pretty fast. At most, we'll sleep in the same room, but on different beds."
"Oh..." He frowns, looking somewhat perturbed. His jaw tightens, like he's fighting against saying something he thinks he'd regret.
...
"Hey. You can talk to me, y'know. I've told you before that I won't get mad from just words."
He cringes. "No, it's... it's nothing," he murmurs, and his head shifts slightly, as if he's examining me and the couch. "Um... so... how do I...?"
"Fuck if I know. You're the expert here."
"Eh... not really," he says, stepping aside and looking intently at my legs. "Haven't really had a proper herd since before I moved here. And even back then I..." he trails off, wearing a frown. "Nevermind."
Tsk. Something's haunting him. I hate how he still won't open up, even after... everything that's happened today. Maybe Emma was right. Maybe I do need to start pushing him a bit.
He leans forward and crawls onto the couch, poking around in what little space there is around my legs. Not nearly enough to fit him. He wastes no time in looking for another spot, nose twitching as he moves in odd increments, as if he's being guided more by instinct than conscious thought. He worms his way across my chest—fuck, he's heavy—before settling into the shallow crook between my side and the back of the couch.
I can't help my hand finding its way to his back, fingers scratching into the long, curly fur around his spine. He lets out a deep sigh of contentment and goes completely limp, all 90-ish pounds of his body weight pressing directly down onto my fucking lungs. It is not ideal. But. This is a perfect opportunity to reinforce the idea that humans are supportive and trustworthy, and want only the best for him. So I have to cope.
...Plus, he's warm, and soft, and smells vaguely of pizza—why the fuck does Emma have pizza scented shampoo, and why did he use it?—and, of course, I could never refuse a good dose of happy brain chemicals. While it's unfortunate that I can't breathe, the whole situation is nonetheless a pretty solid win-win. I can't be mad.
"Comfy?"
The tip of his tail flicks back and forth lazily. "Mhmm."
"Good. So, when did you move here?" I ask. It's a pointless question, since we already know the answer from what Emma pulled out of the database, but I need to test the waters and see how he feels about answering personal questions.
"Uhh. [A few months] agoooOOo," he says, yawning right in my fucking ear. "Right around when you guys made first contact, I think? Maybe not. I dunno. I think we got the news late since Venlil Prime went total information lockdown when it happened."
He's telling the truth. That's good. Let's see how far I can take this. "What made you move out here, of all places? I can't imagine you're one of the contract colonists."
His tail stops moving. "Uh. I..." he pauses for several seconds. "I... didn't have a reason? It's just, a good place to live, cuz there's no wildlife or predators, right?"
Hm. Now he's hiding something. "Where did you live before?"
His breathing turns shallow, and I can feel his heart rate quicken through the blanket as his muscles tense up.
He takes a long time to respond. "...Talsk."
...
Hm. This kind of reaction can't stem from mere national shame, from the Archives debacle. He wouldn't be so... scared if it were that simple. Something bad must have happened on Talsk, before he came here.
The question is, do I need to spend energy on this? What we need to know is what happened at his apartment, so we can have the data on how prey races react to perceived betrayal. Somehow I don't think unpacking his life before Bluefield will help us with that. But. Maybe it'll help in other ways. Can I bundle his history with my report? Say it's relevant, how prey races cope with abuse and trauma? Assuming he was abused, and it's not just that his family got exterminated or something...
...Ugh. I don't know. Too many options. Too many possibilities. I... need to sleep. Refresh my brain. I'll figure it out tomorrow.
"Y'know, I liked talking about your weird alien cryptids," I say in a casual tone, hopefully defusing whatever shitstorm he's got roiling around in his head. "We'll have to finish that issue of BBR sometime. Not right now, obviously. I'm fuckin' tired."
"...Yeah. Tomorrow?"
"When we get home, unless Emma wants to read it with us."
His tail gives a couple lethargic wags, and his eyelids sink closed. "Okay."
"Okay," I agree, then raise my hand toward the lamp and snap my finger at it. The motion sensor picks up on my intent and all the networked lights shut off, instantly flooding the room in dim gray ambience from the murky, still-rainy outside. "Goodnight."
"G'night."
He falls quiet, and so too does the world around us, filled with naught but the steady patter of rain against the roof. No wind, no thunder, just rain. Like any average shower. Perfect conditions to fall asleep... and stay asleep. Hopefully.
...
But no matter how much I hope, that all-encompassing sense of dread still looms over my mind.
Sleeping is my least favorite part of the day for a reason.
...
...
...
. . .
. ̛. ͢.
.̡ ͘ . ̛ ͜.̨
.͞ ̨ ̛́ ̵̢ ̸͡.̸ ͏̧͘ ̴͘ ̵̢ ̷̡.҉͢͝
G҉u̡n̴s̡ho̢ts̶.͝ Cl҉an̸g̸in͞g͡ met̛al̸.͏
B҉l̢͡o̸od̀.̕͝ ̡̧͢So̧me͞ ̸g̶uy͞ b͜eate̢n̴ ͘t̕o͝ d͢éat̨h͟,̵ le͜f͝t͟ ̛i̡n̵ t́h͢e̸ c͢o̴ŕne̸r. ̧̛N͞o̢͜ o͢͝nȩ ç͢a̴͞r͝es.̧̛ E͜͞͝v̵ę̵̕ŗy̛o͠n҉̕e'̸s̵̕ ̸̵̡bu҉͢sy̴̸ t̛͡wea̷͘k͟iń͜g͟҉.̵
M̷̷̡o͏m̡͠͠.̨͠ ̵͘͠"̕͝G͟o͜ ͢a͟͠hea̸̢d̶̴̨,̵͏ h́͜on̸e̵y, d͠o̶̡ ̶̶j͜ų͝st l̕i̕͜͠ke̶̡͝ ͜҉͢t҉̧h͡a̵̛t,̵ ̡͘no̴w̴ ̨̛̕p͞͝ul̵͠l͝ ̢t͝h̨̨͞e ̛̛ţ̸̷͢͝r͏̡̡̕҉i͝͠҉g̸̷̛ǵ̢̨͟͡e̴̡r̢͟"
T͠ḩe̷̵͡ ̵̨ẁ̴or̶ks҉̕hop̢.̢͟ ͏A ́́̀n̷̷e͜w͢͢͏ ͟͝c̢͠us͡to̧m̸̡͡er̷̸.̀ ̸T҉w̕͟ì͜t̀c̸̢͟h͘͞i͠ņ̸g,̀ ̕f̧͜rò̸t͡͞h̛̀in̛g̷ ͝a̛t̛ ̕t͘h̸̡̨e̕ m͠out̸̀ḩ.̸͏ ̷͞Ǫv̕e͘r͢dò͞s̷̢e̸.̸ ̨N̵͢o̧ ҉o͞n̵̴͝e̛͘ ̷w̧͜͝į̕ĺļ̧ ̴̷m̷̕̕is̛s̕͞ ͘͞h̨im.̀
M̨̲͕̖y̦ ͏̟̹b̙̫̜̦͇͕a̫͉̜̝̬͔͠c̤̥kp̝̖̦͎̮͇ͅa̗̟͍c̠k̙.̹̺͔͖͕͝ͅͅ ̸̙̗T͉o̯̼̺̻o̖̟ͅ ̩̺h̙̪͕̤̝͕͟e҉̘̯a̡̱v̪̦ý.̸ ̶̜̘͖̜N͖̙ot͜ ̠͔̹̦̘̳͖s̝̞u̵p̶̻͎̬̪͔p̘o̢͍̲̩̙̣̣͍se̳̪͓̺̠d̰͎̘̘̯̝͟ ̷̦͚͉͔ͅt̩͕̙͖̳̦͕͢o̸̬̪͈͓ ҉̗̮̻p̡̜̣̰u̸̪t̤͡ͅ ̺͚̻̪̠ͅi͍̞͔t̳̱̳͘ ̹̭d͈̟̠͙͘ǫw̤͇͕n̼͙̩͓̦̳͚. ̱̝̬̠̫̪͝T͙͍̘̥̩̩͚͘ḥ͕͓̲̝̥͢ȩ͇ ̼̗̟̙̬̰͢bo̷̥t̼ṱ͚̫͙l҉̝̯͎͇͕ͅe̹͉͕̺̟̹͙s̨̗̼̣̠̭ ͖̪̞w̮̮͔̟̙i̢͉̣l̺͈l̴ ͔̪̻̰̣ͅb̡̳͚͇r̝̜̹͎͘e̱̖͍͜ͅa̤͜k̻̭̯̞̹. ͎̳D̺a̯̮͕̼̥̯͞d̨̩̩̝̼̦͙ ҉͉̺͕̲͔͓̬s̞͍̗͍̱̜a̡̺̞i͏͉̞͍d̰̭̙̥͈͓͉͝ ̻̩s̶̙͇͈͉̘ͅo̱̝̩̜.̼
M̎͞r̯̮͓̿̎̓. ̸̙̯͓͚̱͕ͫͥͯ͛ͤE̝̦̩ͦ̐̋̆m̵̬̲̩̺̹̻͎̃̇ͫ͌̈̋ȩ͚̙̯͖̜̻͎̿ͤ̏͛rͨ̉͐ͤͣͪs̘̫̰̀ͮ͂̆͐̓ͨoͦ̓҉̝̼̺͈̜̣n̛̝͍͇͓͇̦̯͛̾ͯͫ.̪͍͍̺̌ͩ̏ͣ̃͗ͦ ̙͊ͧ͗ͨHͦ͌ͧ̀̐ͣ̍ȩ̱̰̰͋ͭͅ ̿̐̿̌̅͏̘̟̤̫͈̭c̲̙͇͉͉̗̿ͮͪ͑a̛̹̱̰̯̤͐̑ͬ̋̉͐ͭm̜̏̒ͤͤͫ͗͛ę̜̱͖̯͗̎̅ ̣͕̮ͨ̉́̔ͤ̓toͅ ̡͎̯̖̳͔̳̹m̙̽ͬ̔y̷̠̼̤ͯ̍̋ͤ ̣̳͙̘̦̾̅̇̅͘b̡ì̺̯r̰͕̱̊ͭͮ̐̿͝ẗ̡͚̠̼̥͎̤̦͌͂͐̅̏̅h̡̪̿̈̉̌ͯd̛̜͖͖̰̹̺a͋҉̜̮̹͙̦̲ỳ̼̦͡s̱͔̗͒͌̒ͪ͋ͧ͋.̳͕̝̝̂̏̽͌ͣͨ͌ ̴̹̙͎̙̝̐̾B̹͇ͭͦ̆ͮ̀u̟̘t̶̗̙̪̊ͮ̓̽ͤ ̅̒͐̇͏t̘͉̥̙͖̝̳ͪḧ͎̣́̂͆ͯͬ̔͐e̴̗̬̱̱ͯͦ̽̅͋̓y̮͈̐ ̰̞̦̈̇͌ͣͬͩ́g̼̙̥̹̾̽̾͐͐̚ö͇̺͈̬ͣ̍̐ͅt̷̞̥͕̉ͅ ̸̳̻̽͆̃h̙̞̥ͤ̌̓̏́̅̇́i̫̪̘̪̍͒̓̉͠ͅm͙̙̯̬̓̄́ͧ̓ͨ͡ͅ.͍͋ ̯̪̥̩ͨ̔̆ͧ̂͊ͯẂͮ̂̄ͪ̇͐҉̞͔i̻̰̫̣̜̗͑ͯ̍l̢̺ͣͩ̓l̘̼͚̣ͧ̏̓͟ ͉͆́I͌̚ ̪̼ͭͩ̎ͥͪͣ̓͡b̨̭͖̾ͯ̉̔̋e͍ͤͩͬ̾͒̚ ̩n͓͙̙͚̏͋͞e̥̫̯̠̻̭̽ͪ̕x̼̞̟̮͂̆͛̊̇͑t̖͔̜̘̘̋̚?͍̻͒̏̑͋̄ͤ
À͡͠n̶̵̷̴͞o҉͘͏̡͠t̀͘h̛͏̷̡͡e̢̕͢͡r͘͏ ̡͏̨́͟c͢҉u̢͞s̡͡t҉̵̕͝o̢m̶̕e͡͏r̴̸̵͟.̴͘ ̢̧A҉̀͏̶ţ̷ ̡͘͜t̨͟҉͘h̷̀e̶̴ ͜͏u͏̷͡s̡͜͠u͡͞͏̧a͏̢̕͞l̢̢ ̸̶ṕ̸l̴҉a̡c̶̡͟͝è̷̵͞͝.̶̸̢̧͡ ̧̕͢C̸̀͞u̷̸̡͠͝t̷̢͠ ҉̵̨i͏̷̨͢n̶̢͞ ̴̢̢h̨̛͘a̶̛̕͢͡l̀͘͝f̛.̸̴́̕͡ ̢̀͢͞I̵̢͢ń̢͡t̶̴̸̸̛e̷̸̡͘͞s̴̡̨͡͝t̵̴̛͜͟í͏̸n̷e̸͜͟͝s҉ ̢̀à͘̕n̸̡͞͝d́̕ ̢́ĺ̨̢͘͝i̕͜v̴͡͠e̴͢͠͝͡r̶҉͠ ̷͠a̵̷̧͢͞ņ̵̛͞d͏̀ ̷́͏͝ļ̶҉҉͏u҉҉̀͟͜n̢̛͝ģ̛͢͠s̢͢͏ ̡̧̕á̵͟n̸̸͢d͏̡ ̶͏̸ḩ͝e҉̵̴̵a̢͠͞҉r̡t̶̀͢͠ ̨̧͞͡͡p͏̵̀͜͝u҉l̵͢l҉̵̵̢͜e̵̸d͢͜ ̸̸͟͞o̵͏u̶̶t̵̵̡͘͘ ̧͏̡̕͘o͘҉f̢͏̷ ̡҉҉̴͞h̡͜i͏͏̨̡̕ş̛̛͝ ̡͘c͏́́͘h̴̸͝e̴̡̛͘s̷̸̀͟t͟͟ ͉͇̗̪̩͚ ̧̟͎͈̮̣ ͉͇̗̪̩͚ ̧̟͎͈̮̣   G̝͍̺̳̩ͪ̚u̥̫͎̽͌ͤ̄ṉ̗̰s̖̭ͬh̖̫͖͍̝̀̈́̂ͮͫ̿ͮỏ͌̈̅t̺̰̲̫̔ͫͥs͖͍̤̣͍̮̜͑͑ͤͪ.̬͚̏̇̄̈̊͂ ̭͚̝̒ͫS̖̜̦̞̦e̯͈̠̦͔̓̓ͅv͖̪͉ͣ̓̄e̘̝͔͔͂͒͐ͥ̚r͈̳ͦͧ̽̎͂̚ă̱̽ͨl̞̲̉ ̫̯̜̘ͤͥͬd̲̞̲̠̩̘̾ͪ͐̏̔̐̊e͉̐͑̍̏̽ͥǎ͍̤̲̏ͦ̀́d̼͕̻͇̟̐͊͐̂ ̫̰ͤ̐ͤa̺̰͋͛ͭͥ̀ͨl͓̱̟͍̼͆͐̄̊̉ͦ̚r̺ͧͦ́ͥ̂̚ẽ͈̻̫̎̊̐ͭ̈́a̒d̳̼̪͚ͨy͇͋͒̅ͩͤ ̬̹͉͕͎̽͆̃ͪ̊̈́͑ͅ ̢̀́͟҉ ͟͠ ̡̢͢͞ ͠ ̀͢ ͘͟͠ ̵̴̡͘ ͟͏̴̕͝ ́͘͢ ̧̧͠͠ ̡̨ ̵͘͏ ͜͢ ̴̧͝ ̸̕͜͠ ͟҉̸͞ ̨͜ ̷҉̴͡ ̸̨͜͝ ̸͘͠ ̴͘͏̢͜ ̵̨̀͜ ̵̶̨̛ ̶̷̨́ ̛́͟ ̧́́ ̢ ̶̀͢ ̧̛͞͡͠ ͟͡ ̴͢ ̷̛͟͡ ̷̢͘͢ ̷̶̛͜ ̶͞҉ ̵͡ ̷̨̛̀͟ ͏҉ ̥̫͉̰̫ͅ ̦͝ ̛͇̻̥̭̤ͅ ̶͖̗ ̶̤͙̳ ̴̧̢̟̠͕͔̜̀̕͠ ̢̨̀͢͠ ̧͞͝ ̷͟ ̵̧́͜͟ ̶̶̸ ̢̀̀͢ ̴ ͉͇̗̪̩͚ ̧̟͎͈̮̣ ̢̀͟͠ ̵̶͢͏ ̵̢͟  C̷̝̜͖̩̞̼͍͐a̤̮̽̈́͋̇̌ͦş̣͙͚̻͌̓̎̅̈́̄ͦḙ̸̺͖͓̗̯̹ͩ͑ͬͣ̓y̧̲̙͐ͫ̾̎̊͆ ̰̲̩̥̹ͨ̃s̷̰̪̭̥c̯͕̦͉̖̞ͩr̷͉͉̼̤̜̞̪͂̎ͮ̈̉̅́ẽ̺̇́̀͌́a̖̜̪͓̪̩̙͑m͖͖͕ͮ̔̾͆͋ͫs̪͕̫̺̰͛̿̕ ̺̱̭̞̣̫̈́͆̋̎ ̴̩̗̫͖ͨ̀̌ ̻̗̹͍̟̹̈́́̓͢ T͒̊ͣ̾̒͘h̸̞͚̙̼͇ͩ̈́͂e̤̘̤͕̾̔͞ÿ͇́ͫ̓ ̨̅̏͗͒f̛͖͎̂̋o̢͖̮̜̱̠͌ͪu̇̈͌͋̽́ň͋̊͏̳̣d͇͓͔͎̾̽ ̰̗ͯ̊̀͐h͈̫̓̈́́̍͘i̱̹̰̾ͨ̈́̌ͨ͟m̵̯̞̯̙̤ ̶̨̡͢ ̷̵̡ ̷̨̧ ̡́͝͝ ̵̵̵͡ ̶̨̡͢ ̷̵̡ ̷̨̧ ̡́͝͝ ̵̵̵͡ ̴͢͞ ̛̀ ҉̵̷ ̴͝ ҉̶̢͠ ̸̴̢́ ̷̸̸͟ ̸̨͘ ̶̵̧̢ ҉͘ ́͟ ̧̕͢ ̵̡ ̶ ͜͏ ҉̵̴́͢͠͞ ̛̀ ҉̵̷ ̴͝ ҉̶̢͠ ̸̴̢́ ̷̸̸͟ ̸̨͘ ̶̵̧̢ ҉͘ ́͟ ̧̕͢ ̵̡ ̶ ͜͏ ҉̵́͠  I̵̢͈̝̺͔̪̹͎̹͇̥̬̙̱͚͕͎̕͘̕'̸̛̩̩̮ͅm̴̸̢̝̪̼̬͕͢ ҉̧̯̘͙̘̗͇̟͎̹̗̦̼̀͟͠n̙̜̩̗̟̹̥̞̝̮̙̘͔͙̦̩̹̹͟͜ͅe͏͏̶̙̘̙̫̙̩͕̞̱x̸̴̝̭͈̗̀͘t̶̯̳͖̙̟͉̯̹̦̣̲̘̺̘́ ̨̺̻̬̠͙̭͈͕̣̲̭̱͝ͅͅͅ ҉̪̦̮̖̙̲̥͎̩̟T͇̞̻̘̜̙̬͈̠̺͘͢h̴̢̛̪̬̭̹̟̩̹̜̤̣͘é͏̧͏͏͎̤̭̯̲͔͉͔̜̼̼̲̣y̨͏̴̺̺͎̱̳̺͢'̷̛͙̺͔̠̫̺̱̯̖̺͈̮̬̱̘̗͈̩̀͡l̵̖̖̠̰̫̟͉̫̮̹̰͡l̸͉͙̞̭̣͍̮͈̭̠̗̘̗͖̭̮͢͠͡ͅ ̷̡̮͎̫̣̗̀͢͝f̛̙̮͎̲̘͔́͟i̛͏͍̙̭̪͇̖̠͖̯̤̰͕̖͕̭̦ͅn͖̝̟̝͞͡d̛̝̼͎̺̝̩̤̠̲͖̬͟͜ ̴̣̰͓̦̬̭̹̫͙̤̥̯̺̯̣͍̭̻̲̀̀͢͡m̵̛̮̤̦̹̘̰̞̻͕̦͎̙̥̥̳̩e҉̴̧̧̯̟̝̻̹͈͙ ̣̤̳̤̦͚̬̕͞ ̵͕̣̩͍̱͖͔̗͞ ̶̰̜̙͙̖̺̭͇͈̺͎̞̪̺͝I̴̤͇͖̬̭͇̩̠̗̣̭̘͕̱͟'̕͡͠҉̮̮̠͓̦̗̘̝̣m̤̞̜̭̫̘̗͎̱̻̫̖̘͎͟͟͞͡ͅͅ ̨̣̜̖͚̦̤̯̖͖̣̹̭̫̳͢ͅņ̶̘̺͙̯̼̣͔͍͍̦̞̲͖̦͈̮̀͝e̡҉̷̮̫͔͕̩̞̗̘͉̲͢͡x̡̨̪̼̟̕ͅt̷͇̣͉͎̫͈̫̹̭̗̗̲̬̱̣̳͟ ̴̸̨̝͇͈̤͇̞̼̮̪̭̰͞ͅ ̷͓̜̰͖̰̫̖̼̬̻͙͍̗͎̠͔͔̣̰̗̙̳̺̊ͥ͛̋̿̽̉͋ͧ̓̚ͅḬ̤̻͖̲̞̮͔͚̞̭͉̱̠͓͉̈̉̔̊ͣ̅͛ͩ'̤͕̺͍͈̣̤̰̙̺̱͎̪͓̹̏̎̅ͭm̩̣̹̪̳͈̟̰̝͔͉̟̗͖̹͇̖͑ͤͥ̐̇ͯ̄̀̄ͅͅ ̯̗̟̪͔̙̝͍̰̜̩̙̖̩͇̝̰ͫ̆ͣ̐ͅn͎̯̲̱͕͓̥̻̥̰̺̪̗͖͎̯̻̣̽̋ͫ̌ͨͤ̑e͎͍̞̦͚̦̤̠̞̖̟̦̪̬̗ͭ̀͆̿̆ͮ̔̒̑̄̐̌̋͂̌̐̐ͅx̟̟͖̳̟̭͖̳̻͙͙͙͍͉̣͕͔͆̉͌ͥ͌̉̒̅ͯ̿̔̄̈͊ͯ̿ͭͨ̚t͕̹͈͓͕̝͖͂ͫ̏̃̽ͧ̂ ̺̗̠̪̬͎̤̬̰͎̥̜͎͉̖͔͈͓͙͗́̍͊̉̓͛̓ͯ̑ͨͦ ̠̭̼̻͕̜̤͖͈̖̠̯̙́͒ͬ́̎̄ͭ ̶̨̡͢ ̷̵̶̡̨̡͢ ̷̵̡ ̷̨̧ ̡́͝͝ ̵̵̵͡ ̴͢͞ ̛̀ ҉̵̷ ̴͝ ҉̶̢͠ ̸̴̢́ ̷̸̸͟ ̸̨͘ ̶̵̧̢ ҉͘ ́͟ ̧̕͢ ̵̡ ̶ ͜͏ ҉̵́͠ ̷̨̧ ̡́͝͝ ̵̵̵͡ ̴͢͞ ̛̀ ̶̨̡͢ ̷̵̡ ̷̨̧ ̡́͝͝ ̵̵̵͡ ̴͢͞ ̛̀ ҉̵̷ ̴͝ ҉̶̢͠ ̸̴̢́ ̷̸̸͟ ̸̨͘ ̶̵̧̢ ҉͘ ́͟ ̧̕͢ ̵̡ ̶ ͜͏ ҉̵́͠҉̵̷ ̴͝ ҉̶̢͠ ̸̴̢́ ̷̸̸͟ ̸̨͘ ̶̵̧̢ ҉͘ ́͟ ̧̕͢ ̵̡ ̶ ͜͏ ҉̵́͠  I̮̊̆̌͗̃͢'͇̩͍̭͕͚̮͌̆͐̂ͨ̾̎̋ͅṁ͚̦͕̱͚ͩ̽̌̉͊͘͡ ̷̹̟͇̓͞͡n̸̸͕͎̬ͣͨ͋ͦ͂̕ę̗͈̪̳͇̭̅ͩͭ͗ͩ̔̏͟͠x̭̟͙͎̦̾ͨ̽͋ͪ̑͋͂t̥̥͇̎ͣͭ ͇͉̤̓͗ͮ͜I̢͌͏̨̹͎͇͉'̤̪̼̏̀m̶̛̖͉̟͖̺͙̭̩͚͊ͤ̊͑̔ͫ̀ ̡̮̲̤͚̟̲̦̥̒̃̍ͮ̓͝n̶͉̟̬̬̠͂̍̎̃ͤ̔ͨͨ͘͟e̡ͫ͗͂҉͔͉̯͎̠͕̜̲x̧̦͈̺͉̩͙͙̫̒͊̾̍̄͝ṯ̵̢͇͊͐̎̉́ͥ̈́̚͜ ̡̭̲̫̦̹̹̬͚͗̔ͣ͞ͅĬ͎̣̮̥̓̔̋̓̈̐̋͘'̨͈̪͚̾ͨ̐ͨm̶̴̪͍͈̪͔̼̓ͣͅ ̲̯̫̦̮̊ͣ͂ͭ̓͢n̸̲̠̟ͣ͞e̜̺̔ͬͬ̀ͯ͂̐x͈̞̻͎̗̋̑ͫ͑͆̀ţ̵͚̯͇͇͈̀ͦ͑ͬ͋̐͗̓ͪ ̱̫͕͚̺̹̜̲ͣ̑ͤ̌͘͢ͅI̥̠͓̱̯̓͋͑'̹͚̣̼͉̐ͧ̆̆m̳͖͚͔̼̋̇̚ ͉͎̜̥͈ͭ̉̀͟͢n̷̳̜̳̳̳͓̯̬ͪ̈́ͨë͎̭ͮ͌͆ͯ͊ͮͨ͜x̡̘͓̂ͮ̔͘̕t͔̝̙͊ ̝̘̪̜̫̼̖ͦ̎͐̉̾̿Ī̶̫̣̣̯̙̻̺̜̔ͧ͡'̶̧̫̝̳̮̈́͋̒̓̑̈́m̴͖̙̦̪̠̯̪͒̓ ̢̻̙͍ͨ̃͌͌̍̎ͧ͢͠ͅn̷̨͖ͪ͒ͧę̡͉̼̤̪͈̯͍̿̈́̉ͥ̽x̸͖̘̣̩̪̦̠̣̖͛̀̑t̐͐̀̓ͧ̅̿͂҉̜̝̮̖̗͢͝ ̪ͬ̐̓ͯͨI̵͕̩̬͓̲̞͙͋ͪ̿̚'̵̭͇͖̮̮̮̓͑ͬ̌͛̅͑̚m̷̟̫͙̬̙͉̣ͧͫ͛̓ͧ ͇̌́̓n̶̳͉̖̯̰͍̻ͫ̀̐ͫ̇͢e̷̸̗͐ͮ͋ͦͧẋ̨̣͇̯͓ͧ̈́̃̀́̉́͘tͦͤ̒̈́̾ͩ̈҉̴͕͉͕̯̠̼̲̕ ̢͓ͦ͛̈́̀̽ͯ́ͤI͕͎͈̝̭͔͉͒̇̈́͆͆ͯ̄̀͠'̻̤̹͙̤̦͈ͬm͔̜͍̥̘͚̳̲̳͗̋́ ͂̂̑ͦ̅͏͏̢̮̲̦ņ͇̜͇̟̤̭̓̍̎̉̈̍́e̥͈̜͂̅̃x̷̼̜̭͙̼̫̥̘̘ͥ̓t͉͔͍͚̭͇̭ͧ͗͆͋̏ͦͥ ̴̶̩͔̦̭̗̥ͥ̽̾͝
i d̳̝̝̲̹͚͖̞͈͕̬͇̳̫̮̙̜̀ͤ͑̿ͬ͋͗ͧ͐͆̀ͩ̅̌ͤ̊ͅo͇̞̲̟̟̝̩͔̳̘̩̹͉͕ͨ͌ͨ͒̊ͣͅͅn͚̱͖͎̻̜̼̰̪̪̭͈͗ͯ̐ͧ̇̆̄̿̄͊t̯̯͈͓͓̯̣̟̻͖̮̺̯͈̟̬͆̐̓͒͌ͦ͗ͮ̄̏́̀̓̊͐ ͚͓̖̜̪̖̝̻̞̿́̒̈́ͅw̙͓̣͔̤͓̜̘͔ͯͪ͌̈́̓̈ͭȁ͎̭̯̝̓̄̈͛̓̊̎̌ͅn̦͖̩̞ͥ̈́̃͋ͯͯ̓̚̚t̜̞̼̮͇͚̖ͫ͑͛̌ͥ̐͗ ͎͖̹̞̘͇̬͍̰̫͂̾͌̊͑ͤͪͮ̀ͮ̾̔t̠̩̦̹͖ͦͣ̑ͦͪ̈͐̿̆̀ͮ͊ͩ̿ͫo̰͇̜̼͙̿̌̽̽̓͊̊̍ͪ̎́ ̠͚̞̤͕̞̘̘̟̞̙̻͖͙̥̳͙͉̰ͭ̋̒̍ͤḏ̻̖͎͈̎̓̉͊͒ͯ̈̍̆̒̔̓͐͊͆̚̚i̠̬͍̼̦̲̮̞͚̣̼̞͖̎̏ͥ͊̉̉̏́̎ͅe̯̘̼̲̥̫̱̖͉̺̪̗̼͈̻ͮ͐͒̄́͐ͨ̀̂͗͐̌̿͛ ̂̍̆̀͊ ̭͑ ̓ͥ̓   l̳̻͖͐ͦ̓ͅl̜̬̳ͮ̏͛̿̓͂̏͟ľ͕̠͕̘ͯͭ͂͛̄ľͦ̄̋ͪͫl̲̫̩̟ͨ̌͌̓̄̈l̹̜͓͑͊̕l͈̓͌͊̐ͪ̊l̐̍̒ͬ̃ḻ̛͔͎̘̼̫ͅl͈͓̦̣̭̟̘l̝̱̤͎͌̋l͓͙̤̼̥̣̯̍̚l̞͇͙̫̹̒̄̀ͧ͢l̟͍̗̯͇͔̏͗͛l͙̪̩͇̲̩̝̓̀̿ͯ͗ļ̝̮̫̈l̻̦͎̝̳̖ͅlͦ̒͛͋l͙̬̞̺̼̩͕̃̈ͮ̍͂͟l͈̟̺̼͓̮̦l̙̝̳̖̯̬͇̋͌̋̋ͯ̐͞l̼̔͠l͇͐͋͊l̳̲͖̝̹̑͗̔͋̾l̥̫͓͎̳̭̲ͫ͌̑͆̔ͬ̀l̳̞̤̼͌l̢ͧ͛̃̒̐̔l͙͈̟ͪ͛ͪ̉l̬͈̝͍̳̗̭̂ͯ̔̊͐͑l̴̺̲͍̤͇l̮̻ͣl̡̮̩͙̩̪͊͊̇͆l̹̗̻ͭ͐ͣ̈́́l̳̼͙̍̍̀ͅl̹̳͇̠̘͖̳͊̌̓͗̏ͣͧl̛̲͎̈́ͮ̃́̀̅͌l̠̱ͮͯ͗͐ͣ̈́l̎̔͂͑̽ͨ͠l̘͕͙͙̤̳̎̂ͯ̎l̓̎ͣ̑̌̃҉̰̰̳̬̟l͑̾l͎͉̏̔͋̅ͫ̿̏l̡͉̦̪̍̑̄̆̓l̅ͥ̓̊҉̠͉l͕̗̺̫̖̝̓͌ͦlͯl̪̤̫̺̞͔̿͛ͮ́̇̈́ͣľ̞̣ͫͧ̈͑ͤ͜l̙̟̣̼̻̦̋l̝̞͒̇ͣl̤̯͎̟̘̲̏ͧ̒͌ͬ̆ͅl̴̜̘̟͂̄ͪͬͧ͂l͔̼͇̫̬̣ͦ̄̀ͅl̼ͣ̊̐̏͛l҉̺̦͉l͚̫͙͓̻̒l̼̙̱̲͗͜l̝̲̓̂ḽ̭̪̲͉̚l̜̱̥͔̠̩̰͊̓̄̚ḽ͈́̓̊͂͠l͘l̖͇̲ͩͭͣl̰͉̯͋͊͆̓ͥ̈́l̶̦̭͙l͈̖ḷ̫̐̚l͙͔͚͗l͍̞̖̠̝͇͉ͯ̀l̨̪̞̞̜͉͑̇͂l̖ͫl͔l̛̼̰ͬ̽̑̂ͅl̩͙ͩ͋ͩͤͮ̅ͦ ̮̟̦͙͗̅̄ļ̟l͒ḽ̨̹̦̳̱̂̎̇̆̋̈́l̵̪̞̭̖͔̠͌l̢͉̞̔͆ͬ͐͌̿ḽ̷͍͇̮̼̻̆̎͛̂͛͑͛l̙̱̖̯̞̐l͈̰̜̫͈͙̘̔ͬͩͨ̀͂͝l̳̈͂̍ͨ͠l̴̘̳̐l̵̞͖̦͔̼͎̿̐̽l̡̹͎̯̺̬̒ͥ̂ͨl̡͖̲̝̪̘̄̄ͅl̨̗̘̭ͣ̓ͩ͂͆̅ͬl̓͌̈͒l͗̅͟l̷̺̤͇̫l̜̄̈́̍ͮ̿ͬ́ļ͆͒̾̃̎̉̚l̇ͩl̼̂͒̔ͭ͑̊ļl̻̬̺̬̫̮ͮͥ̾̔͗l̮͍̇ͩ̾l̛̥̘̬̪̘̇l̻̫̫̣̬͆̿́ͧ̾̕ͅl̈́ͯ̈́ͫ͒͒ͨ͏̬͎̳̘̳̜ͅl̥͕̟̱̬̘̫͐̈́̓͋ͤ͗l̫̯̪̭̥̪ͩ̌l̙͇͈̹̦̹̣͂̈l̺̬̺͚ͪ̑̃͊̅͂̀l̤͕͎̭̘͐̈͒̍̒ͣ̎l̴̍ĺ̝͉̩͓̼̖̓͠ͅl͙̓̔̋̅͛͝l͏̙̫̣̳͕̝l̥̹͇̘͗͝l̯͚̦̩̤̐̈́ͨl̸͔̖̗̲͕̱̎̾ͅl̷͔̦̰͈͎̃͑ͪl̎ͬ̓̽͝ḻ͍͚̼̆̇̔͂̿ͮ̌l̩͔͙̙̀l̝̱ͯͧͬ͆̈́͑̔͡l̎͏̥̟̼̭̞̗l̔ͬ̃͛͆̎͂҉̜l̖͖̥̝͈ͥͥ̓ͭl̲͓̩̣͚̗ͩ͗̓͑ͫ̚͝l͕̣͈͇͍̫͎̉̓͒̒ͪ̅ͯl̵̩͖̣̗͂͂̓l̸̰̩̻l͚̯͎̥͌͘l̛̹͂̿̐ͫͣl͎̣̳̹̑͆́̽̊͆͊͜l̡̪̰̱͗ͩ̇̓͗͊l̖̺͊̽͆ľ̟̪͉̪̜̻ͥ̆͋̃̽l̫̣͍̜̿̌ͦ̈l̛͎̻̫͒͗͌͑̄ͯ͑ͅl͙͔̻̺̭̐̿l̰͌̒͛l̫̺͒͆̔͋l̂̌ͧ̎̒̇̚҉͓l̪̜͎̩͎̅ͬͤ̋̀l̙̰̟̮ͦ̾l͍ͫ̽̀l̖̤͕̻͖͟l̤ḷ̸̞̪͚̺̠̭́̌̂̄ͧͮl͍̥̺̪̜͙̻̐̀l̥̬̮ͮ̎ͨͮ͋l̷͓̻̜̰̮͊̓̈ͅḻ̵͈̖̱̞l̕l̴͒ͤ́̌l̦̦͙̀l̥̍̇l̖͈ͩ̉͑͌̐͛͊l̑ͣ̒̄͒̽ͫl̹̥͙̼͙̆ͮ̔̑ͧ͠l̺̹̥̭̪ͧ͑ͯ͠l̈̿ͩ҉͙͚̥̠̤̩l̯̤͎̩͓̺͓͆l̘̺̲̫̺̬̪ͨ͊ͦ̇ͬ́l̯̘̉́ͣ̽ͦ̽̀͢ͅl̇̽ͯ̽ͦͯ́ll̵̥̼̜̻̙̤̰̓̓l̹̼͚̺̤̣͇̐̐̈́͐̀͞l̲͇͓͔̖̓͆̆̽̽ḻ̜̮̠̲͕̒̃ͯ̃̂̈͟ͅl̲̣̜͙ḷͤ͊͘l͉̗͙̮̮l̞̖ͬͩ̑̔̏l̵̦̭̝ͥͫ͐̓̍ͭl̤̤̬̦̩̰͡l͍̫̭̞̗̲l̷̲͔̺͓̰̼̑̎̌l͈͖̗͉̼l̉̀͊̍͋̔̚҉̲͖͖̲̺l̴̬̤͕͖̹͆ͭl̲͓̪̾ͯͣḽ̨̱͑̈́ḷ̲͉̾ͥͅl̠l͖͒͐̋̅ͩͫͦ͡lͣ҉͎̘̳̘̜͖l̯̦͎̱͇ͨ͗̌͗ͨ́̚l̘̥̝͕̩͓̦̾̊ͥͭ͂̈l̶̫̱̪̆͐̅ͮ̐͛l̫̠͔̯͈͔̜̓ͯl̬͓͓͕̱ͩl͕͙̮̟̼̣ͥͨ̅̊̃l̩̖̮̪͙͊͂͆͛ͥͧͩ̕l̷͕̠̲̺͈̹̮̔̽ͣ̇̀ ̵͖̙̙͐ͯ͂̋̚̚l͒̚l̟̺̱̠̿̔ͮͤl̸̯͔͕͔̫͍̤͆ͦ͗̾͛l̖͙̲̬̥͊̀ͅl͕͉ͯͩ̔̓͗̂̕l̺̬̦͍̯̗̝̀l̙̪̦̠͎̅̌̎̄͜l̋̽̓̄ͮl͚̺̊̏̄l͋l̹̘ͨ͒̂ͪͣ̌́l̻̫̹̓̾ͦl͕̳̼̆͂͌͒̄͐͆l͚̙̬̟͎̽ͅl̡̖̟̟̫̬͈̐̅l̩͔̰̻ͪ͑̀͐̉̚l͎͙͙͉̋͐̈́̃́͐ͣ́l̰ͮ͒l̢͓̮͔̲ͤ̎̈̆͛lͮͤ̈ͭ̚̚͏͉̳͈͕̥l̠͔̤̺̮l̩̙̖̮̍l̯̝̤̭̙ll̦̟͕̪̍̎̾̔̎̅̔͢l̜̼̼̀̓ͬ͘l̖̞͙͓̻͔l̞͍͕ͮͮ͊ͯ̽͑ͤl̯̲͎̜̿̊̿̈̚͞l̜̪̹̩̇̓͛͂ͯ͞l̩̠̳̹͈̘̝͗̌̈̌̉͠lͥ̐l̼̮̝̽ͤ̔͐̽ͅl̨͓͉̲̙̦̋̽̂̇̓̚l̺͆̿̇ḽ̝͈̰̙͗͛̃͛̇ͣ͑l̞̠͉̬̞͉̈́̒̂̕ͅl̺̏l̷̋̏ͧͦl͇̇ͦ̀l̷̠͓͚̔͑ͦ̉̓l̦̤̽ͥ̂ͩͩḻ̗͚̪̟ḷ̹͉̠̋l̙̤̥̟̅ͪ̏̉̀l̡͙͓̦̆̈́ͮ̆l̵͎̮̐̅̌ͭ̓̚l̳̼̋͗ͬͥ̋̂̕l̶̖͂l̘͕̗̼̄ͮͭ̉̎̈́l̵̘̜̖̤͒l̳̮̤ͫ́ͯ̊ḻ̴̗̪̟͇͋̍͗͗ḽ̲̮͉ͫl̫̰̥͎ͪͨ̽͆̌l͚̭̮̩̓̅ͯ͑ͮ̑l͍̰̗̻̣͓͒̈́̃͑́ͣͨl̈́ͬͯ̑ͥͤ͌҉͇̹͇l̡̤͚̤̩͐͗͆́̒ͦ̊l̵̽͗ͬͩḽ̞̄ͩͬ͡l̡̫͚̪̫̹ͦ̈̇̀͐͂͗l̪̯͍̻͍̏̽̊ľͣ͗͌̂ĺ̻̬̎̾̐ͭ͗̉́ḷ̥l̟̞͔̩̖̊̀͜l͗ͦ̐̏҉̯̩̝̖̬̤l͕̉͋̐͐l͈̆ͥ̈́ͧͮ͛l̠̤͚̦͉̺ͩͭ̏̿̋̈͛ͅl̿̔ľ͈̺̳̜l͎̩̦̜̹̤̓̾̊̈̐̊ͅĺ̞̯̳̦̩͎̌̉̅̐̓͟l̨̘͚͇͙̯̚l̤̩̠̘̝̜͖ͯͬͭ̔̀ͣl͉͒̇̅ͥ̄̍ͣ͞l̶͔̪̹̙͇̀l̎ͯ̇̔́l̮̦͈̜̺̰̰l̞̰͕͑̉͘ͅl̵̗̥͎̘͚̹̄ͅl̞̰̪̤̰ͭͮĺ̻͕̻̲̭͗l̝̤̖̙̖ͨͥ̓̀̍̄ĺ̮ͣ͐ͮ͂͜l̴͉͓̜̘̉̋͑l̜̮͕͇̪͍̍̆͆̿̐̇̀͘l͐̄͛̔ͧͣľ̹̘̼͉̿l̅̋͐̐ͦ͊҉̪̳͉͈ͅl̈́͋̅̍̃͏̦̦͎̙̻̹̥l̦̫͚̇̎͊ͩͧ̏̊́ḻ͔l̖͇̝͖̎́l̤͎̞ͪl͇͍̫̠͉ͩͤͩ͐̀͞l̨͖̉l̓̏͝ĺ̠͚̥͙̯͖̄̑͂l͓̋l̳̲͙̲̙̖̊ͩͪ͛l̛̻̼͈͔͍͇͛ͥ̂͑͆̋̚l̝̮̪̫͆ͨͯ̈́ͭ͗͢l̘͓̘̆̐̔̎̅͡l͛͂̽ͨͦ̍̒l̷͎͇̩̿͆̑ͮl̖l̵̯̮l̫̑ͦ̾̂̿͟l̶̘͔͊͌̆ͯͬ̀lͮ͂ͩ͌ͩ̌l̨l̞̲̬̪̮ͯ͌̎̕ľ̳̻̫ͮ̐̍̉͟l̟̾̐̆͝l͈̲̮͖̖̪̃̈́l̯ͪ͠l̻̖̭͙̫̰̭̎̑ͮ̇͂l̫͈ͥ͐̈́͐ľͯ̑̐ͫ͠l̷̰̮̣̱ͤͦ̓̏͑ͧ̄ͅl̷̻̼͙̞̜̓ͯ̐ͪl̈ļͣ͆̌̒̾̂̚l̯̙̲̗̖̀͛͒͋̚l̼̯l͙̳͢l͍͕ͦͯ̿̏̈̃l̼͒̂l͆ͫ̓̔́͌l͌ͨl̲ͣ̄̚l͖͇̗̫̹ͪ͌͛̾̉ͯ̚͠l͚̞̯͇͗ͪ̎ͮl̦͎͟ ̪̤͕͕̐͂͋̒̇́l̈̇ll̯̘͙̰̟ͣ̓͞l̙͖͉̤̳ͯͮl̯͇̼̗̱̋ͬ̌̀l̘͎̼̃l̰̂͌͋ͫ͑̒ͅl̷̞͙̭̟̗̓̓̐͒̃ͬl̬̭̠̲͓͉̤̑̏̾ͥ͊͑l̷͊ͣl̸͓̻̗̇̒͊̓̽̈́̚l̘̺̥͚̕ͅl̸͉̥͈̪̍ͨ̿ḷ̷̳̤͈̮͚͊͋̒̏̚l̸͓̻̘̮̞̹̺ͪ̒l̪̤̞͎͑͢l̥̼͚̗͕͙̃ͯͤͦ̈́͛ͥl͕̪̤̫̫̰̼ͬ̀l̰̹͕̞̠̈ͩ̏ͅľ҉̞͎l̢͙̠l̰ͮl̰͇̼͇̙̥̣̀͆̌ͯl̠̺͎̫l̶̳͑̊ͮ̐l̳̭̳͔̯̪̙͛̍ͦͨ̆͑ͭlͭ͆̅̾͐̎̚҉̫̜̭͈͕l͛̎l̼͋̃l̔̈́̚̚̚l̻̮̟̀̓͂̆̾l̥̥͆̈́ͣ̄l͓͈̣̳̟͙͔l̜͙̳̮̾͑ͤ̾͆l̹̣͈͒ͤl̵̹͙̲͓̘͙͍ͥ͒̎̒͌l̃̏̿̈́l̞͖̬̱̤͔̖ͨͦ̔̓̔͌l̪̱̘͊ͫ͛ͥ͆̕l̺̣̞̱̗͚̟ͯͦ͗ͬͤ̌l̍ͬl͖̪͈̱̿ͣ́ͩ̎ͮl͔͙̮̀̑̅̋̎ͮͣļ͍̰̊̈ͨ͛͗͂̾l̲͍̠͚͓̫̲̂͋̑͒͋ͮl̗͇͉̘͊̇̉̀l̼ͮḽ͉͓̹̯͎ͮ͗ͤ͠ͅl̟̫̱̠̜ͥ̈̅̕l̺ͫͥ̋ͫ̇̈́l̵̪͙̳̭̅ͤ͗l̬͓̤̽̎͊̒̈́ͤͥ͘l̥̠̹̟̠̞̔͂ͮͨ̅l̮͙̅̈ͤ̂͐ͥl̄̎͆ͯ̌ļ͎̲̏ͮ̂l̤̰̱̬͍̳̈́͑ͨͫ̎̓̏ĺ̛ͧ̍ͫl̨͉̈̽̌̒͆̇l̜͔̜ͫ̽̆̇ͣͮḻ̾̚ḻ̞̬̣͐͂l̺̗͖͒̆ͥ̃̕l̢̳̖̖l̩l̟̩̈́͂̌̑l̻̼̝̜̮ͭ̌͐̆͜l͛ͬͪľ͔ͦ̎̅l̫̳̭̓ͫ̈́ḻ̼͌̃͠ḷ̺͕͈̫̱̩̃ͫ̒̉ͬ͋ͪlͯl̥̊̊͑͌ͩl̗̠̙̬͖̰̖ͬͮ̚l̎͑̾͆̈́l̡̪̥͕͔ͮ̿͂ͬͅl̶ͣl̪̤̫̘͆̉l͕̜̰̒͛̒̄͋̀ͅḻ̢͙̰̯̼̻lͪ̆̄̀l҉̲̯̟̣̲l͎̯̘̥̺͈ͮ̍̆̉̾̈́̀́l̈̓̓l͙͖̲l̷͆l̹͓͐̌̌ͬͧ͊ͫ͟ͅl͓͍ͭ̚̕l̛͚ͬ̆ͧ͐̽̊l̨͍̿̀ͭ̾ͧ̒̚l͙̙͖̞͖̯̱̒͒ͬ͐ͤ̍ĺ̘̟̱̦̱̻ͥ͂͛l͓͈̱ͤͦ̓̑ͭͩ͆l̹͂͋̇͢l̰̤͕̦̲̀ḽ̣̦̖̱͉ͭ̂ͨ͌l̜̠͈̜̮̘̒̕l̫̠̔̊͐̾̂ͦͫl̟̼͐͋l̏͑̊͌ͮ̍ͨl̢̥͓̱̯̞̀l͇ͦͥͫ̏ͫ̋͜l̴̼̹̮̲͓l̠͕̏l̬̗̾̑̿͌l̸̘̫̖̼̙̳̥͛ͩ͒̍ͤ̚l̥̖̙ͨͣ͜l̰͇̣̏̈̄ͮͩl͈͈̳̳͛ͣ̋ͣ͊̀l͈̣̂͞l̙̥̖̤̝͡ḽ̸͍̆l̸l̶ļ̖̑́̃̒ͮ̅l͔̣̦̮͙̳͕͐l̤̥̼̗ͨ̍̂ͩ̿lͩ҉͇ͅl̪̱̥̈́͛̓ͦ̒̆l̼̬̳̽̏̅̓̊͒̅l͍̘͇͌͒̎̃lͮ͋l̺̤̜͓͠l̷̺̥ͧlͫ͑l̯̜̟̹̙̈͌ͬ̅ͯͤ̈l͔̰̩̒l̢̥̠͇͖̫̹ͨ́l̛̯͈͖̲̼l̜̘̞͒̐̾l̨͓̪͍͎̄ͣͮl͉͍̘̭̤ͅl̛̤̬̗̝ͮ̍̒̐̔̓ͬͅll͉̲͈̳̲̲͎͒̒ͤ̓ḷ̳͔͚͚̩ͪl̨̝͈͌ͥͥ̒l̇l̪̟̬͇̄lͯ̈͏̖̞̟̟l̶̯͕̼̠̒l̰̭̼̔́̽ͬ͋l͍ͥ̍́ ̦̙͖͚̂ͨ̎͐ͥ͛l͙͎͙l̰̳̪̹̤̖̎͂̀̋͌͐͂l̰͉̂l̩̙̫͗ͬͦ̑l͗͞l̟ͭl̖̖͉̀͌͋ͨͤ̋lͦl̽ͥ̚͟l̨͕̳̥͇ͩ́̓ͬ̾̂ͪl̪̘̲͌̅͊̏ͣl̸̟͕̣̼l̖̜̮̥͉̟͒̑ͫͪl͓̝̗̞̑̓̓̃̇̚͡l̸̃͆̀̏̊l̬̩̝̳͉̾̀̒ͪ̅l̴̐̆ͧl̥͈̂ͬͮ̍l̎͗͏l̢̠̠ͯ̄́͋̈́̓l͖͙͓͇̾̔̒ͦ̄l͚̩̹̗͉͓̰̓ͮͥ̔̄ll̠͕̭̪͔ͤͧͧͦ̈́ͥl͙̺͐͂̇l̙͇͇̣͍̝ͨ̐̋̓̉ͅl̰̤̥͒̋͑l̏͆͟l̎҉̱̘l̝̰͑ͪ̋ͥ̾̑͟ͅl͉̺̠̫̬̞̃̎̒̆̕ͅļ̍ͪl͒̈́ͯl̄̽͒͒l̜ͪl͔͕̯̞̭͢l̠̬̫̦̹̫̊͗l͚̙͇̩͙̮̐ͥ͋́͋ͫ͘l̀͐̀̄ͪ̏҉l͍͇̫̝l̷̫̳͍͓̅͂̒͂ͯļ̱͓ͣ̏̈͗ͮ̊̓l̩̳̟̟̜͂ͯ͢l̢̗̻ͥͩl̥̺̫ͬ̆ͥ̅͆͆ͣl̿͐͏̟̝͉̙̤l͎̞̫̪͐͊ͨͬ̈l̹͕̉͝l͈̿͂̈̂͠l͎͖̼̩͚͑̐͐̄ͮͮͥl͂ͥͭḽ̷̦̘̣̃͌͌̾ͨl̛̐ͨ͋ͩͩͭͮl̜̪̘͍͑͛̿̌l͈̣̻͂ͦ̈͋ͣ̀͐́l͍̥̬͚͕̹ͯ͂͢l̷͓̠̦͕͕̖̲̔͒ͭ̐͆ͦl̛̞̭̺͎̩͇̠̏ͪ͛̑l̢͚̗̖͔ͭ̃͑l͚͕̲̾ͦ̈ͦ͋ļ̠͎̥̹̤̃ͬ̏l̴̤͔̻̪͕ͅl͉͓̹̞̦̣̩̎̕l̨̔̏l̞̬͌̂lͬ́́ͪ̎҉͖̳͈̹̭̻l͌ļ͇̈́͗͒ͬ̊l̝̼̹̫͔̫ͦ̐ͮ͊ͫl̞̰̜̾ͩ͢l͕̼̈̓͋ͦ̽̅ḻ͙͗̓̐̐̈͋͞ͅl̯̘̱͔̯͌l̝͈͚͇l͍̻̻̦͉̮͕̊̈́̓̈́͝l̠̭̭̋̎̅ͫ̀l̍ͪ̾̏͌͌̄l̇̽ͪͤͨ̓͘l̮̿̏̚l̡̪͓̱̟͊̌̉́l̨͚̯l̹͖̮̖̩ͮ̃̎͛ͭ̚ͅl͓͖̮͙̮̈́̅̏̃̎ͮlͥͣͨͮ̚l̩̠̥̇͑̌͛̊̋l̥̻̆ͭͭ͑͞l̯͕̺̯̘̦͛̏͝ͅl̦̱̳͙͖̻̓̂̎ͅl͜l̴͖͙̼̯̥̘͆̔̅l̜̰͖͆̕l̸̹͓ͥ͆̄ḷ̵ͪ͐ͮ̔́̅l͉͔̝̙͎̻͡ͅl̤̙͈̠̋ͫ̊̈́̔̿́̚ḷ̶̭̮ͯl̜̹͍̦͗̐ͧ̐͝ͅl̯̮̞̭̤̱͔͗̈͛l̥̩̥̻̹͖͂ͤ̓ͪ͜l̳̥̘̺͕̖̱̅̓͋ͨͥ̍̇l̹̠̯͚̘̭ͦ͆̀̍̋ḷ̝̼̯͉̈́ͧl̨̪̰̝̭̥͖͌̈́͐l͑̊́̀̈̇ḻ̱͑͟l͔͙̱͔ͥl̻̤̦̹̻ͪ̇ͬ̇l̸ͧ̊͗ļ̃̍̉̊͐ͥll̴͎̱͎ͥ̎̏̀l͙̼͚͖͖͍l̲̥̍l̶̦̫̲̅̂̌̾͋l̬̑̌̀̚l̷͈͉͎̘͂ͥͯ̐ͤ̑ͩl̽̾ͬ͗̅ͯl͕ͣl̜͕͎̣̠̜̣͌̂̀l̖͇͑ͥ͗͋̂͂͌l̛̗̼̤ͫ̀̀l͉̯̭͕̱͂͋͒͗̃͛̄l̵͍͔̦͚͛l̶̲͚̙͙̠̊͗͒͆̀͛l̹̹͉ͬl̛̞̥̪̰͈͇͖̊̄̏l̶͔͖͚̺̼̾ͬ͆l̶͚̙ͧͭlͨ҉̖̲̳̥͇̹̮l̸͕͔̗͖͔̙ͧ̄̎̔̎͊ͨl̲̖̬̦ͤ͗͒̌̆l̢͉͙̫̝̹͚̪̀̚l̘͕͓͓̳̹̳l̲̹ͦ̄̓͋ͅl̵̓̆̄̆l̗̫̺͙͈͊l͉̹̘͓͉̻̎̋ͯ͊͟l͎̼͓̗̜̫͍ͨͦ͋̿́l͍̭̟͓̪̄l͉̬ͬ̈́́͐͌̅̏l̬̻̎ͅlļ͇̙͔̫̏̂l̪͈̭̼̦͓̰͂̃͛̍́ll̶͈̪̺̜̱l͚̆͂ ͈̊ͩ̊̽͗͆ͧ͢l͖̲͌͊̆̽ͪ̀l͆͟l̏̎͞l͓̾ͅl͕̿͠l̬̱͉̹̠̓̇ͭ̾ͅl̫̦͖̱̬͔̦̄ͣ͑͠l̢̥͍̗̪̙̇͛ͯ͋ͯ̌ͅl̆ͩ́̊l͎͓͔͊͂͌̊l̗͎̰̠͔ͯͅl̜͈̦̬̉͌ͨ̂ͣ̚l͉̗̥͙̪ͫ̈̓ͫ̀̀̌ͅl͈̣͓͚͕̘͐ͅl̩̰ͭ̑͊͆l͖̱̝̂̈́̍͜l̤ͦ̔̋͆ͭ̽̈͡l̤͓͕̜̝ͦ̎̽̈͘l̞͖l͇̖̳̪̤̞̞ͭͬ̊͡l̗ͬͬ́͌͂l̥̰̹̯̻̝̏̉͌̈́l̗͕̤͖̰̙̐̉̆l̴ͩ͛ͣ͒̽l̦̼̗̞͓͊̃͂l̥̪͇̠̜ͤl̨̜̬̽͋̀l̠̙ͬl͔̖̹̩̰l̶̇͑̌l̮̋̇͆̀l̮̜̭̣̈ͣl̪̪̖̝͉͕͍l͙̳̭͇̚l͒ͤl̹̲̺̫̍͞l̢̫̱͔͉̓̓͑ͧ͑̐l͖͓̥͔͂̒͌̄̄ͣl̝͖̰̊̂̆̇ͪlͧ̑҉̹͕̮̣̭ĺ̬̮̳̦̬͕̜l͗̄̔͞l͋͏͇̻͓̱̬̲͕l͚̭͓͙̳ͦ̽͗̆̒͂̚ͅl̵͙͍̲̇̇̆͒l͏̙̰l̜͉̤͚̝̥͑́ͦḽ̬̦̠̦͕͆ͭ͋̃́́ͅl̰̺͎͕̪̭̿̋̑l̜̩̲̼̼̘͗̆̋̒ͤ̓̓l̦̪͘l̯̰̦̒l̫͐͐̀̽͌͑͛ĺ̞̠͚̬͉̱͎ͬl̵̠̦̥̬ͯͧ̍l̴̗͍̣̮̯̻̓ͥ̎̑̐l̤̗̈́̿ͮ̒̚l̇̃ͫ̋͊̓҉̠̤̱̩͚͍̟ḽ̣̮̘̭ľ̷̗͔̰̖̅ͣ͑ͫl̛̅̀l̙̍l̰̊l̫̦̲̑l͏̩̙̣͍͚̯̭l̫̮͚̗̻͉ͦͬ͑ͦl̎̽̊͆̋ͦ҉l͎͕̤̫̓́ͭ̃̚l̲̺̲̺̟̘̹͛ͪl͚̠ͦͮͨͮ̑ͭͮ́ͅl̻͌̇͝l͇̞̟̇̐͋̃l̼͙̻̓͐ͭ̏̅ͭ̚l̢̉̔̊l̴̤̿̌ͥ̑̾̓l̵͎̠̖͈͂ͤ̈́̏͋͒l̪͕͚͗̉ͪ͋̄ͪl̜̖ḽ̟̖̘͓͈l͈̣̳͉̦̈́̄̔̿̄ͤ͗l͕͍̰̙̺̰ͭ̀l̻̗͍͉̣̮͋̽̔͌͗l̵͙̩̟̒͂̓́̎̉̑l̊ͣ͂͒̽̎҉͇͕l̦͐̾͛̑l̪̩͍̐̀ͭͅl̡͙̣͕͊̏̂ͥl̷̦̒̾ͭ̋̚l̻̀̉́͐͐ḻ̈ͅl̞̥̟̰̞ͯ̑ͧͩ̅̉͊ͅl̗̝̖̱̞̟l͉̲̺̖̽ͯ̍͒ͣͦl̶͎͌̓l͑ͧ͋ͧ͑̂l̼̽̆͑̌͛͂ͥl̒ͯ̒ͭl̗̘̖̮ͮ͊̚l̓͌̀͊̽ͪ͐l̤͕̫̜̯̃͒̊ͅļ͉̒͛l͍̜͖͚͕̮̿͐͆̏͗ͪĺ͇̤l̪̒͋͗ͩ̽l̩͆ͩ͝l̝̮̞̝̤̝̱̒͂̓l̖̩̼͎ͫ͋̓̒͊͋̃l̠̑ͥ͗͆̀ͤl̜̲̱̹̠͝lͤ͆͑l̲̣̰̈́̀̒̈͌l͕̞̺͉͖l̛͍̼̹̭͈̎l̫̥̞̫͚̖̍̕ͅl̥͓̥͍̟͔͙ͯ̿ͯ͌ͭl͔̙̟̺̤ͯ̋̈́͂ͫ̃ͤl͍̳̻̠̳̹͞l͎ͤͪ̐̂̾̐͑͜l̻̫̤̥̻͜l̶͖͍̗̗̿l̫͓̪̲̼ͭͫͮ̀ͨl͉̗̓ͯ͊ͮ͒l̝̏͌ͦͭ̓̾l̢̻̰̠͕̳̦ͥ͌͐l͉̩ͯ̾ͦ̃̓̒l͎̠̳͙̃̀͊ͨͩͮḷ͓͓̘̈̒͋̆ͨl̵̦͚͉̺̞̗̈ͩ̓̐l̛͕͇̭̣͎ͯl͈̫̟̘͙ͯ̒̿̈ͦ͌͂ḻ̣̦̯͋͑͗ͨl̖͙̥̘͎͞ĺͦ͂͏͇̟l̟͉̙͉̱̳̝lͭ̆͛҉̹l̻͔l̠̥͕̜̞̬̾ͫ̀l̶͈̤̰̩͉̓̏͜ͅl̟̘̣̥̜̲͚̖͉͋̓ͬl͌̓ͤ́̋̂́͏̷҉͕̩̲̪l̸̛̞̲͚̩̘̙ͬ̀̚lͥͮ͆̔̿͌̈ͥ͢͠҉̥͙͉̝l̳̬̫͍̬̒̐́ͯ͝l̥̼͍̥̠͇͂̋͒̕͢l̨̨̧͚̝͔͕͉̣̪̯ͦ͒ͧ͋͒̓l͊͆͊͗͛̍ͪ͌ͮ͟͏̹͇l̛͈̮͎ͨͨ̓̕͞ ̋ͩ̍̎ͦ́͏̫̦̠l̝̖ͨ̋̌̂͒̊͐l̴̙̭̭͎̉͛ͫ̊ͅl͔̠͌̓l͈͈̟͚̱̟̒͂̂͛ͬ͂̚l̰l̶̯̥̩̗̳̻͔̿̌̉̌ͦ̉̔ḽ̮̙̭̖̟͙ͤ̾́̐̎ͪ̀̚l̻̬̮͜ĺ͚̘̌̄͒ͅl͎̰̲̪͈̤̝͒ͬ͗l̴͇̞̳̙̖̏ͤll͍̱̅̂̊͟l̶̲̯̹͉̺̩ͦ̽ͤl͎͓ͦ̓̔̒l̳̻͎͇͔̈́ͭͭ̑ͯl̦̤̺̫̯l̸̠͇̏͛͒l͔͇̩̹̞͇ͩ̇͋ͯͅl͎̝̗̱ͬͬ͋̑ͩl͇̻̔̽̐ͣ̾̏l̘͑ͥͤ̾ͪ̿ͪ̀l̛̤̺̪̦̥͉ͪ͑̽̒l̔̌͐͡l̠̺ͭ͠ͅl̼̰̝͙̥͂̒̄̅̓̈́ͪͅl͎ͪl͛ͪ̌͌ͮ͏̹̟̩͈̮ḽ̣͉̩̪͖͂͊͂̅͛̔̈́l̵̥͛l̀̌̒̓͌ͪ͡l̟̘̘̯̍ͦ̊l̹͍̝͙̗̩̮͊̎ľ̪l̡͕͍̗̳ͮ̈́̌̚l͕̦̯̻͇̺̤̓̽ͮ̀ͯ̓l̘̦̻͇̭̐̍̊ͫ̑̕ͅl̥̰̲͍̗͎̍ͯ̓ͫ̿̎͂l̦̜̥̥̙̫ͧͅl̵̘ͯͨ̃̃l̛͖̬͚̣̩̼̰̊͛̊̐l̴͉̥̻̒̔l͝lͭ́ľ̖̮̒ͦ͠l̘͎̺̻̳̳̩̑̐͊ͩͧ̿l͍̻͍͖̯̻̉ļ͒ͧ͗ͩͅl͖͙̝ͭ̈̊͘l͚̦̬̱̈́̇ͨ̂̕l̠̺̻̍̌ͪͯ̑̀ͅlͦ̓̅͛ͦ̄͗̀ļ̜l̲̱̺͊̅̒̔͠l̻̯͇̳̹̮̳̂͘l͓̱̳̪̳̮͟l̫̹͕͔̯̻̲͌̕l̜̺̪̪ͣl̬̮͍̦̮͕̮̿ͣ̄͌l͙̗̩͇͔l̮̭̫̓͛̇̕l͕̦͎͇ͧ̅̋͑͘l̫̓̄͋͛l̺̐͊̅͂͡l̗̗̳̤͒͊̌̎̐̂͜ḽ̷͉̖̮̱̻͑̅̃͆̃ͦl̐ͪ̆ͦ̉̔lͯlͫ̽͏͍͇̲͓̳̙͙l̎͂͆̊͏̭̼̭̝͔̥̮l̝̙̹͕͔̹̔̓ͧ̐ͧ̉ͫḽ̮͔̥͉ͩ̾̓͋̎lͬ͌ḽ̞͚̥̥̰ͬ͞l̘̰͎̞ͮ̂͞ḽ̣͕͔̘̮͕̉͐̕l̊̔ͪ҉͉̜̘͔̳l̴̹̥͐ͣ͒ͣ̃̅̏ĺ͖̥̟̫͎̂ͯ͌̓ͨͧ͞l̨l͌ͨ̈́҉̳̤̘̭̯͖̬l̦̩͎͙̞͍̭̈̄l̼̩̩̗̱͕̅̂͗ͤͮͪl̯͈̤͙̐ͤͦ͒ͅl͋̓́ͥ͝l̝̜̼͎̼͙̜ͫ̕l͍̮̘͉̞͔̈́ͨ̽͂̋̃̇l̩̯l̰̹͙͙̲̏͂ͩͩͩͩ͞l̩̤̻̊̈́̈́͌̇ͩ̚͜ḻ̮̏̏̏̀͂l͊̍ͬͬͨ̑l̰̳̰͙l̬̭̳͖͉̜̰̀l̨̘̤̥͙͎͇̏̈́ͭͣl̢̬ͤͦl̛͖͈͎͙͙͇̭̉l̮̘̳͙͗̍ͅl͒̎͛͑ͧͧ͜l̜̻̑̆̈́̇̾̀l̃͐̀͊ͥ̅l̗̥̝̹̈͋̔ͥ͟ͅl̷̦͂l̞̥̱̞̺͓ͦ̔̏͆l̪͕̳̉͂̒ͣͥͥḽ̴͇́l̰̞̳͔ͪ̑́̑̈́̊̍l̯̰̙̭̟̼̊̾ͧͭl̺͙̜̯̬̗ͮ̐̄͛͋̒̔lͧͧl͔͍ͦ̂͘l̬̱͙̱ͤ͗̽ľ͙̮̗̫͆ͫ̅́̈ͭl͓̔́̅l̫͉̲̩͋͊͋͊̚͢l͐̀̌̆̓҉̖l͈̟̲͉͊̊ͨͥ͊l̴̬͇̰͇̹̱̤̓̂́͒̏̅ͪl̙͎͔̰ͅl̠̰̣͖̫͊l̝̼͇̣̤͈͟l̝͕̤͍̦̥̹ͦͪ̏l̜͙̗̙̫̭͚ͤ͋̽͆͠l̀ͩ͋l̨̮̹̾̓ͥl̤̉̀͘l̵͙̺̪͇̠̤ͥ̎ͤ̏l̞̙̄ͦ͐͊͝l̜͔ͦ͌̀l͇̗̖ͤ͟l͏͕̟̫̫̱l̩̻̠̣̈́̓̉͌͜l̠͉̯ͪͣ̆̽̋l̖͕ͩ̔̆͌̈ͭl̡͈̳̻͔̙͓̈́͒͒̌͆l̓̇͜l̮̼̼̄̍͐͡ ̗͈͎̦̰́l̜͂ͥ̈́̀̒ͪl̓ͣ͗l̖̩̼̙̭̱͂ͤ̈́ͭͧ́l̘̟̯̲ͮͣͅl̸̤̳̪̫̻̠̬̈l̸͓͓͗ͩ̽̔ͩͬ͛l̝̪̼͚͍̳͞l̮l̗̭̼͋͋ͮ̿ͥ̀ͧl͋̓ͦ͏l̉̏ͪͬ̊͏͔̤̯̺̬͍̥ĺ̢͚̼͕̻̱̎ͯ̇̓͒̚l̨̯̩̼̬̭̱̲l̜̺̘̞̣͉͓ͪḽ͍͎̳̗ͦ̔ͤ̆̓̄ͭl̹̠̯͚̟͖̾ͣ͒l̦͎̹̹̼̝̺͑ͪ̓l͖̩ͭ̀͌ͤͭ͟ļ̪͖͇̲̙͔̿͊̆ͭ̿l̮͉̖l̢̓ͥ̑̐̒͒l͆̈̈ͩ͆҉l͌̑̑̄̓́͋l̬̠̦͎̞̦͖͛̾ͪl̬̳͙̦̲̊ͪ͢l̹͆ͩl͎̬͍̼̗͓̖̈͂̌̀͊̐̈͞l̡͍̙̙̝̿̃ͪͭ̍l̨̰̱̥̩̩̺͊͛̅ͬ͂̓l̜̜̼ͅlͤ̑ͣ̓̓̔̓͞l̍̽ͦ̃ͯͯl̪̥͖̄ļ͇̱̟̩l̡͇̪̖̮͇̩̭ͫ̔͌̈́̓͊͊l͇̜̮͉͔͆͂l̢̪l͕͍̺̝̠͔̾ͤͬͩ̊͌̐l̠̘̭̗̍͗̓̊̈́̋́͝ͅl͎̟͎͖̞̠͑ͨͣͬlͦͬ̾̂ͬl͈̼̺͚͉͚̬l̠͉̞̣̭̭͂̉͛ͅl̼̥͚̠̥̚l̘͉͙͙͚̗̀̆̾̽̄̾͘l̫͍͓̿͂ͥl̠͈̲ͫl̜ͦ͡l̿͑͞l̖̤̞̠̙͇̈̆̒̑͆͠l̉̓͠l̯̩̲̙̖̰͊̉ͦ̕l̰͈̉ͤ̇̓l͔̲̰̲̓̌ͨ̓͟ͅl̟̺͍̳͙ͥ̊͐ͥ͆̀l̼͕ͤ̑̍̎l̈̔ͦ̐͡l̖̪͎̱̤͉̐̉̒ͧͪͧ̓ͅļ͈̄ͩ̽ͦ̿̚̚l̀̉͐̚҉̱̤͎̪l̦͉̲̘̱̜͓̓̃͜l̝̟̳̳̳̣̍̾̀͆̉ͨ͞l͍̠̻͔̤̉ͬ͂ͪ͒ḽ̮͍ļ̹̖̮̔l̴ͥ̽̑̔̊̊l͓̱͚͕ͧ̇̃͗́l̵͚̬͕͇̠ͨͪ̃l͙͕ͣ̅̔̊̋̋̏͘l̼͕̦̗͕͎̙ͣ͛̎ͭ̇l͍̠͍͕̄l̲̎̏̐̏̔l͉̳̘̫͈̥͕̅ͣ͐͗̍̓̓l͇̲͛l̯͖̻ͥ͆̂ḽ̮̻̲̻̙ͣl̞̺̱̻̐̽ͫͯ̅̓̇l̼͒͊͜l̟̥̍̾͠l̯̣̖̺̈͐l̷͔̥̺̭͌̑͒ͨ̊l̹̦͛l̨̠̹͈̮̚ḻ̙͇͖̙͉̂͆̐l̼ͩ͑̈́͗ͯl̟̳̞̠͔̟̮ͦl̺̩̥̖͔l͉ͭ̓͛l̳̙͓͇̰̃͆ͩͭ̓̚l̥͖͕͙ͩͫ͑̎̕l̨̯͈͋̊͊ͧḻ͚̖̱͌̒l͉͐̍l͛̈́ͣ̿l̼̪̪̜͕̐̆ͤ̊͛̎̓l͕͕̩̥̞̦̟͌̀̿ͣ̏͌ͧl̈́ḷͮ̓͒̋͆̄̎l͐ͬ̈́́҉͙̻̦̻̜̦l͙͗l̶̙̗͇̮̒̈ͅlḻ͙̲̟l͞l̹̾ͯ̿͊̚ļ̫̫̂͆͛͑̔l̴̬̮ͮ̽ͧ̒͋ll̨͎͎̖̝ͅl̜͚͙ͧ͗͗lͣ͆̚͠l̪ͧ́̿̔ͣͩ̓̕l̦̑̋ͬ̒̎ͧ̚l̮̲̜̯ͨ̅ͭ͌ͩ͌̚l̖̭ͨͬ͆̾ͨͮ̋l͓ͩ̉ͬl̅ͨ̌ͧͫl̖̫̼̎ͤͬ̊̓̋l̡̤̘̿̋̀ͫ̅̐l̵̾ͣ͆̂ͥll̛̳̩͎͕̠̠ͬ̎l͓̼̾ͦl͔̳͙̥̩͗̀̾̾̄l͕̙͟ͅl̥͕͈͈͓͕͔͟ ͌͏̲̦l̇̽̽ͦ́̋͏ḷ̣̔̾ͣͯ͗̑l͚̣̼͈͔͌̇͆̀̆̇͜lͬ̇ͩ̋̇̓̀l̠ͩͤḻ̞͈ͪͭ́͐l̼̲͙̪̼̍ͬͦ̋́l̩̙ͦ̉̑͐̄͠l̏ͧ̉l̻̼͇͎̓͗̅̍l̙͋͊͒̌ḽ̬͂ͤ͒͆̚l͉̥̩̎l̝̲͔̹͆̍̂ͤl͕͔̪̲̞ͪ̇̚l̲̤̘̏̿͊ͭ͊͝l̝̟̯̞̼̬ͯͭ͌͂̿̂̋l̬̲ͨͫ̈l̟͚͔͚͍̋̌̐ͅͅl͎̹̬̹̅ͭl̪̚͠ḻ̖̼̰̗̗̽̔ͫ̓ͨ͂ͪl̻̠̰̪̙̘͠l̘̜̱̺ͤ̃͑̔͌l͋͗̋͂͘l̜̫̤̳̠̤l̺͚̣̳̳ͩͥ̒͂̏ͪ͟l̷̹͛͊̚l̥̿͗̈̽̓͠l͍͎̬̫̣͇͚ͫl̲̙͚̙̙̱͓l̯͓͍̂̒̃͘ͅl̟͈͛̎̊l̼̂ͫͫͨ͆̋̚l̩̹̙̦̼ͭ́l̟̙ĺ̞͖̹̯͙̯ͤ͒̎̑̎͂l̺͆ͮͭ̿̈́̿́l̗̻̣̑ͅl͉̇̑͐̈̅͋̐l̛͓̱̩͕̯ͩ͊ͫͨ͛ļ̙̦̫͚̫̭̃̊͆l̮͍̝͚̞̼̉ͅl͖͌͑l̟͘l̗ͥͅl̝̹̦̫̙̻ͭ̉ͅḷ̛̫̞̬̘̣̬̿ll͌͘l̸̞̖͓̰̟̼̓ͭͥ̈̎̔ͅl͍̣̠̬̭̲͗ͩͮͫͯ̚l̛̻̗̘̫̰ͣͨͭ̏ͭl̎҉̜̘͈l͓̖͕̘ͨ̄͒̿l̤̮̯̙̪͇̊̌ͅl͙̥̰̫̥̑̆l̪͔̪ͪ̄l̛͙̍ͨ̔̑̀l͉̙̠̟̩̑̔̉̿̅̀l͈͒̐̎ͤ͗̃̋l̒̓ͥ̂ͬ́͞l̴̗͖̎l̼̪̝͋̓̋̊l͍̺l̡̾͆l̵̀l̊̓ͬl̯̾ļ̭̞̿ͣ͊̐ͥl͚͕̎̉l̬̱̞̬̳̉̋ͅͅl̜̹͓͔̱̦̈ͥ͂̆͑̇ľ̷̺̼͔̺͚̼̦̏͊ͣ̽ͪ̐l̂̅͋̈́̂̋͐͢ͅl̮̙͇̲̖͎̓ͬ̾͛̀ͯ̊ͅl̞̲ͅl͏̥̮̤̟̙̼l̡̟̜͔̱̇l̖͕͖̬̰ͅl͎͉̋ͫ̋͆͌ĺ̸̘̥̼̯̹̺ͨ̚ͅl̠͇̓͢l̴̩̙̟̗̼͒̓̇̄̇ͩl̨̪̞̗̱̭̓l̠̈́̍̅̋l̈́ͬ̎͒͘l̬̙͙̥̝͔̒̚l̪͈̘̳̗̂ͫͤͬ̃̏l̶̺͍͎͈͓̯̍̌͗́̆͒͒l͇͈̲̼̟̩̬͌̇lͭͤͦ̉̂̋l͓̰̠͇͆͛͂͗͊lͥl͆̾͑ͨ̓̋͗͏̤̮̥̦ l͚͕̎̉l̬̱̞̬̳̉̋ͅͅl̜̹͓͔̱̦̈ͥ͂̆͑̇ľ̷̺̼͔̺͚̼̦̏͊ͣ̽ͪ̐l̂̅͋̈́̂̋͐͢ͅl̮̙͇̲̖͎̓ͬ̾͛̀ͯ̊ͅl̞̲ͅl͏̥̮̤̟̙̼l̡̟̜͔̱̇l̖͕͖̬̰ͅl͎͉̋ͫ̋͆͌ĺ̸̘̥̼̯̹̺ͨ̚ͅl̠͇̓͢l̴̩̙̟̗̼͒̓̇̄̇ͩl̨̪̞̗̱̭̓l̠̈́̍̅̋l̈́ͬ̎͒͘l̬̙͙̥̝͔̒̚l̪͈̘̳̗̂ͫͤͬ̃̏l̶̺͍͎͈͓̯̍̌͗́̆͒͒l͇͈̲̼̟̩̬͌̇lͭͤͦ̉̂̋l͓̰̠͇͆͛͂͗͊lͥl͆̾͑ͨ̓̋͗͏̤̮̥̦l̠̤̥͓̄ḻ̭̰̤͔̎ͬl̯̭͕l̻̗͌͒̎͟l̀l҉̯̪̮̼̠ļ̲̩̠̻̜̠̹̌̽́l͔̈lḻ̯̗̤̝̖͑ͯ͋ͪͪͭ̚l̅̃͗̄̚ḽ̘̘͕͇͓͉͌̿ͣ́ľ̥̰̖͗͑ͧ͆͌͞l͓͉̟̩̣̞ͬ̏̐̔ͪ͌̋l̰͔̺̐̄̊l̤̠̝̣͔ͦ̉̇l̐҉̭̳ͅl͖̯̞̈ͮ̈l̢̯̮̙̥̫̹l̮̬͓͕͎l̡̦͉̣̯͉l͉̰̝̖̣̩ͤ̒́l̹̻̳̀l͚̦͔̖͕̣̹͑ͪ̓͒̋l̲̻̎͋́̒́̚͝ͅl̷̰̥̳̦̳̃̍ͩ̊͂͛l̤͙͇̦̹̜̊͌l̪̖̠͕͓̭͑̾̌̚ͅl͚̬͓̼͓͛͡l͚̻̯ͬ̇l͇͍͒̌͆̕l͎̥̟͔̰̭̩̀̽̔͂l̶̟̜̥̥͚̬̦̍̎l̥̠̾̈ͧͬͮ̚ļ̗͕̹̋ͪͯ̄ͬ͋l̖̣ͣ̍l͚̮͈̬͇̤ͫͪͦͅl͑ľ͏̝̠͍ḽ̯̟̼̖ͣ̎̌͐̉̓̒̕ͅͅḷ͈̼̹ͤ̓̾͐l̶̻̹͇̦͚̤̤̈l̶̫͖̠̰̙̠͙̀͑̍͆͊ͩͯl̗̠̱̳͉̰̏̔͛ͩ̿͠ḽ͊̈͑͐̾̈ͩḻ̶͇͖̙̘̹͎̋͋ͭ͆̓̊̚l̜̭͓͇̩͎l͚͕̎̉l̬̱̞̬̳̉̋ͅͅl̜̹͓͔̱̦̈ͥ͂̆͑̇ľ̷̺̼͔̺͚̼̦̏͊ͣ̽ͪ̐l̂̅͋̈́̂̋͐͢ͅl̮̙͇̲̖͎̓ͬ̾͛̀ͯ̊ͅl̞̲ͅl̠͇̓͢ ̸͋̒͗͐ͣͣͯ̑ ̵̒̀͞ ̽͋̽̋̅͌ͦ͟҉̀ ̃͂͂ͨͭ͌͐͛́͠ ̡̨ͣ̌ͯͤ̆ͤ̀̚̚ ̒̈́͆ͯ̇̍͌͂ ̨̿̅̀̆ͫ̀ͩ͠ ͩͦ̓̈̽̿̔ͮ /̨̡̘̹̼̙̤̣̟̟̹͑ͥ́̃́͂̂͐͑͢ ̈́̑̆̒̾ͥ̃̚͢ ̸͋̒͗͐ͣͣͯ̑ ̵̒̀͞ /̨̡̘̹̼̙̤̣̟̟̹͑ͥ́̃́̃͂͂ͨͭ͌͐͛́͠ ̡̨ͣ̌ͯͤ̆ͤ̀̚̚ ̒̈́͆ͯ̇̍͌͂ ̨̿̅̀̆ͫ̀ͩ͠ ͩͦ̓̈̽̿̔ͮ ͭ͋́҉͘ ͂̂͐͑͢ ̈́̑̆̒̾ͥ̃̚͢ ̢̊̌͋̍̏͑͘͜ ̢ͤͨ͗̓̂ͬͥ͢͠ ̀̑͗ͪ͐̎̃̈ ̎̽ͭ͏ ̅̉̓̇̏ͨ͋͒́͏ ̄̽ͥͪ̑̽͘ ̌͊̂̄̚͞/̨̡̘̹̼̙̤̣̟̟̹͑ͥ́̃́ ̸̨̓ͬ̍͗̓ͣ͋̒͗͐ͣͣͯ̑ ̵̒̀͞ ̽͋̽̋̅͌ͦ͟҉̀ ̃͂͂ͨͭ͌͐͛́͠ ̡̨ͣ̌ͯͤ̆ͤ̀̚̚ ̒̈́͆ͯ̇̍͌͂ ̨̿̅̀̆ͫ̀ͩ͠/̨̡̘̹̼̙̤̣̟̟̹͑ͥ́̃́ͩͦ̓̈̽̿̔ͮ ͭ͋́҉͘ ͂̂͐͑͢ ̈́̑̆̒̾ͥ̃̚͢ ̢̊̌͋̍̏͑͘͜ ̢ͤͨ͗̓̂ͬͥ͢͠ /̨̡̘̹̼̙̤̣̟̟̹͑ͥ́̃́̎̽ͭ͏ ̅̉̓̇̏ͨ͋͒́͏ ̄̽ͥͪ̑̽͘ ̌͊̂̄̚͞ ̏ͫ͜͞ ̵̡̔̏ͪͦ̿ ̨̓ͬ̍͗̓ͣ ͛̉̀̽ͦ͡ ͤͮ̅̉̓̇̏ͨ͋͒́̚͜͏ ̄̽ͥͪ̑̽͘ ̌͊̂̄̚͞ ̏ͫ͜͞/̨̡̨̘̹̼̙̤̣̟̟̹͑ͥ́̃́̓ͬ̍͗̓ͣ ͛̉̀̽ͦ͡ ͤͮ̚͜/̨̡̘̹̼̙̤̣̟̟̹͑ͥ́̃́ ̷ ͟ ͠ ͡ ̡ ͢ ̛ ͞ ̡ ͢ ̛ ͞ ̛ ̨ ̢ ̸ ͢ ̸ ̸ ̧ ͢ ́ ͘ ̵ ̸ ̛ ̶ ́ ̕ ̡ ́ ̡ ͜ ̷ ̴ ̕ ͢ ́ ͘ ̵ ̸ ̛ ̶ ́ ́ ́ ̕ ̡ ́ 
Fuck--
I jolt awake in a cold sweat, gunshots and screams and clanging metal and
Stop. It was a dream. A dream. I can't panic. Shouldn't panic. That'll just lead them straight to
Stop. STOP. I'm in Emma Porter's living room, in the suburb of Orchard Park, in Bluefield City, on the colony of Venlil 4. I'm not on Earth. I'm not back home. It was a dream. There is no threat. Just a dream. I am safe.
I take several deep, long breaths, focusing on the sights, ready to pull the trigger slowly forcing myself back into a stable state of mind, slowly reigning in my pounding heart. It was just a dream. Nothing more. I'm not still back there. I never will be back there. Never again.
Something twitches atop my chest, a cop holding me down while the other checks my backpack and my jittery hands instinctively slither up to find long, silky fur. He's here. I'm here. My fingers run throughout the ungroomed fluff, the tactile proof of being on an alien world, far away from the clusterfuck of home. I'm safe. I am safe.
I. Am. Safe.
...
My eyes gradually drift toward the curtains, to the warm, natural glow from beyond.
///// Date (standardized human time): January 23rd, 2137 /////
Slivers of sunlight manage to creep through around the edges, too yellow to be sunrise. The curtains must have closed themselves when the storm moved on and it got bright outside. Automatic blackout curtains certainly sound like the kind of cool tech Emma would just casually have.
It looks like midday. Probably 6th or 7th claw, if I had to guess. I somehow got more sleep than usual. Not a full eight hours, given Sparci is still dead asleep, but... more is better. I won't complain.
It's almost eerie how similar he is to a regular dog in how he jerks and twitches periodically, facial muscles wildly shifting through a million expressions a second. Whatever he's dreaming about must be fun. Probably jabbering someone's ears off. God knows he doesn't shut up once someone gets him started. Not that that's a bad thing--
Wait.
Every few seconds, he lets out an odd chirp or whimper. I listen closer, realizing he sounds... distressed. His breathing is unstable, tail around his leg, hackles raised. Every other facial twitch looks like he's trying to bare his teeth. I don't like this.
"Hey. Wake up," I say, nudging him with my entire shoulder. He doesn't stir. I really don't like this. "Wake up, you little shit."
"Sparci--"
His eyes shoot open with a loud gasp, and he flails in wild panic, lashing out as he flings himself backward and away from me. He lands awkwardly on my legs--
The blanket comes loose, and he slips off the couch and goes crashing down to the wooden floor. He lands hard on his right side, the impact forcing out a loud, loud yelp. My heart stops cold, hearing the awful sound.
I bolt off the couch without thinking, every instinct screaming at once to check on him. He curls tightly into himself, squeezing his limbs and tail close, shivering in either horror or pain or both.
He flinches when my feet hit the floor, and stares up at me with fear in his eyes. It's That look. The one every prey uses before they get it in their stupid heads that humans aren't dangerous. Why? I thought we were cool now. I thought he trusted me.
But as I open my mouth to say something, his face changes. Recognition. "Dan?" he breathes.
"I'm here," I say as softly as I can, slowly crouching down and kneeling beside him. He reacts suddenly, uncurling and all but lunging toward me, and throws his arms around my chest. He's shaking, ears pinned to his head and tail completely between his legs.
God. No. I hate this. More than anything.
I grit my teeth, barely able to force myself to stay calm. That yelp was easily among the worst noises I've ever heard. "Are you okay? Does it hurt?"
He doesn't respond. Christ. What the hell do I do here? I just woke up from a fucking nightmare. This is the last thing I want to be dealing with right now. How do I even begin to fix this?
Acting on autopilot, I slowly twist downward to sit fully on the floor. His arms cling so tightly to me that, wherever I move, he comes with. I gently run my fingers through his fur, carefully feeling around where his leg was dislocated before. He winces when I touch what must be a sore spot, but it doesn't feel like it's slipped back out of place.
"It's fine. You're alright," I whisper, wrapping my arms around him to pull him closer. "What happened?"
His lips tighten and he shakes his head back and forth, letting out a near-inaudible whine. Something in my chest burns like fire, some ancient instinct awoken by the sound.
"C'mon, buddy, I need you to talk to me. I can't help you if you don't."
"...Th-they were, w-waiting for me," he shakily whispers. "They were there wh-when I got home, and Mr. B-Bargra- and they-- and, a-and--"
His words peter out as he falls apart entirely, collapsing into my lap and heaving agonized sobs that hurt too much to hear.
I can't stand it. Seeing him like this, feeling it—the way every breath he takes turns into a too-shallow gasp, the way his body heaves with every sob—and knowing I can't do anything to make it better. Every part of my soul aches, but the best I can do is hold him, give him time, let him cry it out.
///// Advancing transcript by ≈20 minutes. /////
We stay there on the floor for longer than I can keep count. It feels like hours. Throughout all of it, I run my hands through his fur, continuously scratching down his back even as my arms go numb. A tiny blinking light hidden within one of the smart lamps is all I need to know where Emma has been throughout all this.
But gradually, the distraught farsul's sobbing turns to quiet sniffling and the occasional hiccup, and he stops shaking so hard, and his ears and tail go slack. Finally, he lifts himself from my lap, looking fatigued—and maybe a little embarrassed—as he stares pointedly at the corner of the room.
"Um... g-good waking, I guess," he quietly says, voice more than a little raspy. "I'm... sorry about... all that."
"...No. Don't be. You had a nightmare, didn't you?"
His tail flicks a hesitant yes.
"Yeah. Nightmares are fucked. But, listen—there's no fault in reacting badly when your brain decides to be an asshole for no reason. There's nothing you can do but calm down and move on."
He looks contemplative for a moment—well, as contemplative as he can be, with his drenched cheeks and periodic sniffs—and I take the chance to release my grip on him and slide upwards to sit back on the couch. The floor isn't exactly a good place to spend... however long it's been. He seems to get the same idea, and slowly rises to follow, notably putting minimal pressure on his sprained leg, before turning and gingerly crawling onto the couch next to me. I can tell he's still miserable, but he looks like he's at least able to hold it together.
"...Do you ever have nightmares?" he quietly asks.
...
It's better to be honest. "Yes. I... actually just had one. Right before you."
"Really? What was it about?"
A familiar sense of dread melts into my gut. I take a deep, practiced breath to center myself before my brain can even have the chance to start dredging up bad memories. "Shit that happened back on Earth," I say, focusing more on the feeling of his weight leaning against my arm. It helps, knowing he's here, knowing I'm here. "...To make a long fuckin' story short, my parents weren't good people."
"Oh..."
"But that's enough about me. What made you break down like that?"
He tenses. "...Um. It wasn't really a nightmare. It was... the day I..." he grows quieter with every word. "Got... evicted."
...
This is what we need. I have to push for more. God dammit.
"What happened?"
He takes too, too long to respond. Long enough that I fear I've started another breakdown. "...They all wanted me to leave," he finally murmurs. "My neighbors. Mr. Bargra. They were waiting, and, um... they... made it clear I wasn't welcome."
...
"Go on."
"Sorry. I just... you went there, right? To my apartment. You saw... how it- what they did to it."
"I did see. It's not something I can forget. But what I want to know is how it got like that. What, exactly, did they do?"
He fidgets with his paws, tail curling about anxiously. "Um. They... I dunno. Bad stuff. I... is it okay if we don't, um. If, if we talk about something else?"
Tsk. I wish we could.
"I need to know what happened back there. I can tell it's hurting you." I lift my arm and lay it on his shoulders, allowing my fingers to rub circles between his ears. "But I can't help you if you don't talk to me."
He whines, looking distinctly uncomfortable as he draws into himself. For a terrifying moment I think I've spooked him with the ear scritches, or that I've pushed too hard too soon. But then he mutters a quiet "Okay."
I wait, watching patiently until he figures out where to start. "So... um, after we got the news about the Archives, my neighbors came and decided... well, they didn't like me anymore. I mean, in hindsight, I guess they never did like me, but now they were a lot more... up front about it."
He pauses for several seconds, taking shaky breaths as he seemingly collects himself. "They wrote stuff on the door. Um. You saw that already. And they... said stuff to me, yelled through my door when I w-was trying to s-sleep, came to my work and yelled at me there. Regulars stopped coming in cuz they didn't wanna deal with me, and... u-um..."
As he trails off in a fit of sniffles, I open my arms in an unspoken invitation. He stares for only a second before scooting closer and leaning heavily into my side. "I'm getting off track. Sorry. Um. So, one day—the day we met, um, 3rd claw or so—I came home, and... and they were there. Waiting. Mr. Bargra let them in, and... and they..."
"They broke everything," he hiccups. I hug him tighter and press my hands into his chest, gently scratching in repetitive motions that I can only hope help to keep him calm. "My photos. My mini sled. My... artifacts. I brought all of it from, f-from home, and they, they wrecked it, all of it."
"A-and they said they h-hated me, and said I'm a problem, and a nuisance, and they n-never wanna see me again, a-and Mr. B-Bargra, he, h-he--!"
Sparci abruptly grabs my arms, gripping them too tightly, as if he's afraid to let go. He huffs and whimpers, clearly trying his best not to fall apart, but I can tell he's fighting a losing battle. God dammit. This is my fault. I've pushed too hard. I need to ease off. I still don't know who Bargra is, or who else was involved, or the exact cause of his injuries. But that has to wait for later. I can't justify tormenting him with this any longer.
"It's okay. You're okay. Take deep breaths. You're not still back there. You're here now, with me. Not them. Me," I whisper. His whole body quivers, but he listens to my words and inhales deeply, breathing slowly and intently. "You're safe. You're not a problem. And you're certainly not a nuisance."
"Mmm..." he quietly hums. An uncertain sound. I can't read his mind. I can't know what doubts he might have, or whether he believes me. All I can do is try to comfort him, give him a reason to believe me.
"I like hearing you talk about the things you like. I like answering your weird, unpredictable questions. I had a lot of fun talking about spooky shit earlier. There are a lot of reasons I like having you around, okay? You're not a problem. I promise."
...
He doesn't respond, merely stays where he is, grip on my arms slowly loosening until he lets go entirely. "...Um. C-can we... watch some more videos? Please?" he meekly asks, catching me by surprise.
I don't hesitate to dip a hand into my pockets and find my phone. The clock says it's 3 AM in... whatever timezone it is that syncs up with Venlil 4's day cycle—East Africa, If I remember right. Which, in local terms, is late 7th claw. (Called it.)
I quickly swipe over to Ye Olde YouTube and, after a moment of scrolling through the recommendations, find something suitable. A longer video than we usually watch, detailing a man's inquiry into whether cheetahs prefer to sleep alone, in the cold and rainy, or together on a warm bed. Spoiler alert: it's the latter.
The video quickly captures Sparci's attention, and does its job as well as any other, almost like a magic antidote in the way it calms him down. Something about the way the narrator describes the lead cheetah as 'an elder' seems to stick out to him, though I can't tell whether he's interested, or disturbed. Maybe neither. Maybe he merely understands the idea; as someone who's surely grown up being told to respect his elders, it makes sense that he'd intuitively grasp a kind of hierarchy based around wisdom and experience.
And gradually, as we cross through video after video... nested beneath my arm, clearly tired from the emotional overexertion, Sparci slowly drifts back to sleep. I can tell he's still not fully okay, he's still haunted by lingering stress and sorrow, but... despite that, he trusts me enough, feels safe enough, to close his eyes and rest.
...
The only thing I don't understand... is why it feels so right.
//////////////////////////
first - prev - next
 
god this chapter was a bitch to write lmao. it went through SO many iterations. but! it's done! this is the end of act 1. next chapter is... gonna take awhile, cuz i have a ficnap to get to, but it'll be out eventually.
remember, kids, if you use zalgo text, you WILL hit reddit's 40k character limit. it is inevitable.
...(sorry if the zalgo looks like shit. it looked great in google docs, i promise ;-; )

Boy oh boy where do I even begin. Todo... honey, my pookie bear. I have loved you ever since I first laid eyes on you. The way you strike fear into your enemies eyes. Your silky smooth punches, and that gorgeous boogie woogie. I would do anything for you. I wish it were possible to freeze time so I would never have to watch you go to the airport. You had a rough childhood, but you never gave up hope. You are even amazing off the battlefield, you're a great husband and father, sometimes I even call you dad. I forvever dread and weep, thinking of the day you will one day die. I would sacrifice my own life it were the only thing that could put a smile on your beautiful face. You have given me so much joy, and heartbreak over the years. I remember when you first lost your hand and its like my heart got broken into a million pieces. But a tear still fell from my right eye when I watched you win your first fight against hanami, because deep down, my glorious king deserved it. I just wanted you to return home. Then allas, you did, my sweet baby boy came home and I rejoiced. 2021 was a hard year for us baby, but in 2023 you made history happen. You came back from 6-3 and I couldn't believe it. I was crying, bawling even, and I heard my glorious king exclaim these words, "WE ARE THE EXCEPTION!" Not only have you changed the game of jujutsu kaisen and the world forever, but you've eternally changed my world. And now you're getting older, but still the goat, my goat. I love you pookie bear, my glorious king, Aoi Todo.

Cambria-Morning
The day for the inhabitants of the estate begins usually, when the sun is starting to become visible. However, today was not one of those of days. Little Riki, Layra and Ferra, woke up with such high, playful energy, the early morning servant staff were surprised to see the three youngsters invade the kitchen.
Bellanna trotted through the north hall of the estate with a pair of servants in tow. "We're so sorry Mistress Annabella, but those three got away from us!" one of the servants explained. She had no idea when it happened, but apparently Riki, Layra and Ferra became a threesome of trouble. It was bad enough Riki and Layra were troublemakers in their own right, but they somehow influenced Lanara's first daughter to join them.
"I wouldn't worry about them getting away from you, it's not being able to find them, that becomes an issue" Annabella replied, her long white hair was done in a braided tail. it bobbed, swayed and bounced with her movements. Knowing who she'll be helping recapture, she chose to wear breeches instead of the form fitting dress she liked wearing. Vaylin and Fangir's only son Riki has been known to be a skirt diver. Whether he picked that up from his father, or he just learned it on his own, is unknown. But little Riki knows quite a few of the women in the house, gush about him and shower him with attention and love, which seemed to make him brazen. Fangir has been seen correcting that behavior out of his son, but in the same breath, show huge amounts of affection toward Vaylin which includes both of them getting handsy with each other. Especially after what happened with Kiora and Roth being lost on two different planes of existence. Their love was almost unrepairable, but they held on. So, ever since then, the two were inseparable.
"Over there!" the other servant cried pointing two a little tail vanishing around the corner. Annabella and the two servants made their way in that direction. The trio can hear their playful giggles as they got closer. Rounding the corner, all three children squealed playfully and made a run for it. Little Riki dodged under one of the servant's skirts, causing the Tiefling woman to gasp and lock her legs, falling to her knees blushing while the three kids got away.
Lashara, Slithera, and Fangir's two sisters were in the playroom watching Baby's Astra, Wicca, Nissa, Nessa and Samus crawl around while giggling wildly. However, the noise of the three energetic toddlers, got them to smirk. "They're at it again" Kaila commented while picking up Samus who crawled to her.
Lashara chuckled, Tyrande was still a little too young and hadn't figured out crawling yet, so she was in a sling napping against her chest.
"I so want a baby now!" Kaila spoke up suddenly, after putting Samus back down to resume crawling. Hannah chuckled but shared the sentiment. "What about you Slithera? Have you thought of having a baby?" Hannah added looking to the Gorgon woman who became one of her good friends.
Slithera blushed but smiled at the thought of having a baby. "Not really. With all that has been going on over the years, I haven't really had time to even think about becoming romantic with anyone, let alone have a one nighter with someone" she shrugged as she picked up baby Nissa. The baby Tiefling giggled and toyed with Slithera's coiling, slithering, long scales while giggling wildly.
Inara and Vlaad entered the playroom, which resulted in all the babies smiling big. It was Wicca and Astra who apparently got overly excited while giggling, their little hands grasping, when both of them let off little flashes and pops from their hands. This startled them, which caused them to do it again, which then resulted in both baby girls begin to cry. Which ended up becoming a domino effect for the other babies including the once sleeping Tyrande. It was a huge, loud chorus of crying that can be heard all over the estate.
Vlaad and Inara both couldn't help but wince at the noise while they comforted Nissa and Nessa. The other three as well as a couple of servants who were in the playroom, successfully calmed the babies down, just as Vaylin and Fangir entered the room and took Astra and Wicca into their arms, comforting them further.
"It's not just Kiora and Roth who have powers, Wicca and Astra also have them" Inara spoke up, nuzzling Nissa, while Vlaad did the same with Nessa.
"Really? So soon? extraordinary!" Vaylin commented while nuzzling one of her twins, causing her to burst out in giggles. Sure enough, Astra giggled so much, her little hands emitted the same little spark, which startled her again, but Vaylin kissed her and soothed her before she can start crying.
Out in the back gardens, twin siblings Burai, Kou, Vaylin and Varina, oversaw Kiora and Roth, their cousins, sparring. They were impressed with how quickly the pair of nine-year-olds picked up the training when they turned eight. It also occurred to them how alarmingly similar the two girls were to their adopted sister Vaylin. They even looked like smaller versions of their mother, even with the subtle Elvish differences from Fangir.
Kiora and Roth continued to train using their wooden swords. The clacking revealed patterns and even beats as if they were musical instruments. Both girls were identical in fighting styles for the most part. They would charge, spin in place, their swords clacking together, then proceed to strike, block, strike, block and strike again. They never really witness their mother fight, but they somehow knew how she moved. It helped, Vaylin would spar with them whenever their baby siblings were asleep or looked after by the other adults in the estate. Then the girls used their sound attack, when they clacked their wooden swords together. The force pushed the girls back and away from each other a few feet. The two pairs of siblings gawked in shock at the display of sound magic. Then their resumed sparring until both girls stumbled back from each other, breathing heavily and visibly tired.
"Well, it seems they have greater control over their magic output. From What Kiora has explained, she was taught how to harness and concentrate her magics and powers" Varina spoke up and handed her two exhausted cousins water skins. "That will be enough for the day" Varina said softly as her twin sister Vaylin helped them up.
The trio of troublemakers finally started getting picked off. Little Ferra was the first. She didn't see her mother hiding above her until she swooped down gracefully, plucked her up and glided away onto the nearest set of stairs. She giggled wildly from it. Next was little Layra, her mother snuck up on her from another hallway and snatched her up, tickling her, she giggled wildly as well.
Little Riki finally noticed his sister and cousin weren't with him. The funny thing about Riki being one of the three major troublemakers, he was also a scaredy cat. If he found himself separated and alone, he would begin to fuss and even cry. Which he started to do now. He heard footsteps approaching him and looked through teary eyes and saw his father. "Poppa!" he cried while Fangir picked up his son and soothed him.
Vaylin watched from afar and smiled lovingly at the man she loved dearly. She still feels guilty for almost ruining what they had due to fear. She then approached them, kissed her son, then Fangir. Their children calming down now, they joined the rest of the family.
The babies were being passed around; laughter was in abundance. Chit chatter was equally abundant. Fangir bonded with his son, as did Tommen with his. Little Layra and Ferra both made a mess of their food, causing them to erupt in wild giggles. The servants were highly amused and aided the parents by cleaning their little faces with wash cloths.
Annabella just got Astra in her arms when the distinct sound of a wet poot happened, the sudden shock on the baby's face came then the very familiar scent and Astra beginning to wail. "Uh oh, someone needs changing!" Annabella chuckled but held a hand over her nose. Wicca, who was just being passed to Slithera from Lashara, did the same. "Wow! Even you?!" she chuckled and comforted the soiled child while holding her nose as well.
Vaylin guffawed and with the aid of Fangir, they took their crying babies upstairs to be cleaned up, while Layra and Riki remained at their seats amusing themselves again. After a few minutes, Inara herself noticed Vaylin and Fangir were taking a little longer than needed to change their children. When they returned, with both babies in their arms, she noted the highly satisfied grin on Vaylin's face.
"Do I need to spray you two with water next time?!" Inara asked chuckling. Fangir and Vaylin blushed brightly, knew they were caught, and skillfully distracted everyone by passing Wicca and Astra to them again.
"You didn't, you know, in front of them, did you?!" Lanara came over to Vaylin and whispered into her ear. Vaylin shook her head "No" and resumed their lunch.
Fangir and Vaylin just put Wicca and Astra down for their naps, when Vaylin's hands started caressing his sides and hips. The obvious, predatorial smirk on her face as he returned her energy, and they started kissing again. Her arms around his neck, her tail wrapping around his waist, they were hungry for each other again, but were interrupted with an amused, clearing of the throat, catching their attention.
Inara stood there, left brow arched, an amused smirk on her face, her hands covering Riki and Layra's eyes. "I swear, I definitely need to carry cold water with me everywhere now. Do I need to have Slithera take you to another plane, then go back for you after a while?" she asked rolling her eyes.
Fangir chuckled, letting go of Vaylin and checking on their two youngest who were sound asleep, while Vaylin patted her son's and daughter's hair after Inara took her hands away from their eyes. "I'm sorry Momma, but I still feel incredible guilt over what I did to Fangir. I can't help but show him how much I love him" she replied with a smile looking back at him. Fangir chuckle and kissed Vaylin's cheek and the three guided the two toddlers out of the room.
"I've already forgiven her too. But even I feel guilty for how our union almost ended. I was in such a dark place, I was willing to kill that woman after finding out what her plans were and even if she told me there was no way to undo what happened, I would have killed her anyway. Then I was greatly heartbroken from Vaylin's words, spoken from a place of intense fear, that I actually got my things out of our room and packed up because I had plans of traveling to find a portal spell to search for our daughters" Fangir explained as Vaylin nuzzled his neck, rewrapping her arms and tail around him.
Inara chuckled and caressed her adopted daughter's face and Fangir's with a caring smile. "I am glad you two rekindled your love. I'm also glad you didn't kill that woman. I admit, I wanted to as well, I was so scared for my grandbabies. But that has passed now. You two are stronger than ever. Try to space your alone time out though and contain yourselves around your children" she replied and left with Riki and Layra to put them down for their naps, giving them a hint they are now free for now.
Back in their room, Fangir sat naked on their bed, watching Vaylin strip out of her casual dress. He watched her and found himself, not only still very much in love with her, but also still highly impressed by her. When she approached, he caressed her sides, her belly, her soft, heavy breasts. He traced the scars on her body, on her bust, her arms, hips. Each caress got her to sigh to him. Her tail slowly swaying. He loved everything about her. They both gained some weight over the years from having six children, but they remained fit. She straddled him and they started to kiss deeply, taking their time with each other.
"My love. I forgive you. Always have. Marry me again" he whispered, and she smiled, tears flowing down her cheeks as she kissed him. "Yes. I belong to you. You belong to me" she whispered back, and they made love uninterrupted.
Inara and Vlaad just put down Riki and Layra, as well as Nissa and Nessa. Holding each other's hand, they slow danced to no music, just to themselves.
Lanara and Tommen just put their two children down for their naps and it must have been in the air, because they quietly retreated to their rooms, stripped and made love as well.
The two sets of teenagers, along with Lilianna, Kiora and Roth, Annabella, Slithera, Hannah, Kaila and Lashara with a napping Tyrande in her sling, decided to go into town.
"What do you think sister? Will Momma bless us with another child or two?" Roth spoke up with an amused smile on her face. Kiora chuckled, as did Lilianna and Slithera. "Did you see how our lovely parents act with each other? Especially after we returned from lost on different planes. They can't keep their hands off each other, so it's a good bet, we may have another sibling or two in the future" Kiora replied with a chuckle.
The group wandered the shops and carts. Tyrande awoke at some point, became fussy with hunger, Lashara adjusted the top of her dress to feed her.
At some point, the group was on their way back home, when Roth spotted movement in the shadows of the woods. Curious, she made her way over to see, catching the others by surprise.
"Roth? What do you think you're doing?!" Lashara spoke up first, her mother voice coming out, a look of concern on her face. Though Kiora and Roth were not her children, their father was the father of Tyrande, while she tried not overstepping any boundaries or lines, she felt she must treat these two as if they were her own.
"I saw something Aunty Lashara, I was curious" Roth replied still heading in the direction of the movement she saw. Lashara gulped, she then looked to Slithera who nodded and went after her. The group as a whole, chose to follow Slithera's lead anyway, who followed Roth.
"Sister, what did you see?" Kiora whispered as they entered the bush and exited, now entering the woods. It was Varina who spoke up next.
"Roth, you do realize that none of us are armed right?" Varina whispered as well. To her mild annoyance, her little cousin ignored her as well. Eventually the group came upon what Roth was curious about.
"Oh no!" Hannah whispered, her hands covering her mouth, her eyes wide with shock. The group came upon a dead Owlbear, freshly killed and around the animal was three cubs. All sitting, nuzzling their mother's paw. One of the cubs, a brown with black spots decorating its hide and front arms, turned to see them and instead of becoming fearful, the little animal made a mournful sound.
Kiora and Roth both let out little sad sighs, visibly on the verge of tears when they just approached the little trio. Oddly, all three went over to them as well when the other two finally noticed them. The two girls hugged them while Slithera approached and placed a hand on the larger animal.
"She's gone. I can't bring her back. If she were still alive, I could have healed her" Slithera spoke up sadly and gently closed the former mother's eyes. The group then became aware of a pair of rough sounding, male voices approaching.
"I told you she came this way. The poison she ate wasn't enough" one male voice spoke up. The pair of human men finally appeared, they were hunters, both dressed in boiled leather and had armor bits. Both also had long swords in scabbards on their backs. They stopped when they saw the group of women and children. Two of the children were holding the cubs.
"Well, well, besides getting 50 gold pieces for the cubs, I think we can get even more for a Drow, a few Tieflings from the looks of them, some kind of Elf I've never seen before, oh and a few are children as well" the taller of the pair spoke up, causing the darker skinned Elf to clutch her sleeping baby closer to her.
"So, you're the monsters who took these cubs mother from them. Cowards. Especially if I heard you right that you used poison" Slithera spoke up, her long scales coiling in agitation, her briefly shining.
Burai and Kou both stepped forward and got into side view fighting stances that mirrored each other. One fist clenched, one hand open and flat in a "Stop" position. "I can tell you now, you won't be alive much longer, if you don't simply turn around and go" Kou spoke up staring right at them. Vaylin and Varina also stepped forward and mirrored their brothers except both girls had one palm open and facing down, the other open and facing up.
The pair of hunters simply smirked and unsheathed their swords and began to approach when they both grunted, pausing in their tracks and before the curious siblings' eyes, turned to stone.
"Enough of that. Let's go home" Slithera spoke up. She placed a hand on the dead Owlbear, whispered some final words to her and reluctantly let nature take its course.
Inara, Vlaad, Lanara, Tommen, Vaylin and Fangir were in the dining room chit chatting when they heard the estate doors open and the voices of their loved one's float to them. But then they heard three new sounds, little squarks and coos from three animals.
"Momma! Look what we rescued!" Kiora called to her mother. A look of dread showed on Vaylin's face as the children and adults that accompanied them came into the dining room.
Inara let out a startled noise, her eyes getting big. Vlaad closed his eyes and sighed, as did Fangir and Tommen. Lanara was just simply shocked into silence.
"Girls, what did you do?!" Vaylin spoke up finally and stood up from her husband's lap approaching slowly. The three cubs watched her curiously and when Kiora and Roth whispered to both of them, the three cubs seemed to cheer up and trotted over to her.
"We couldn't just leave them there, momma. Their own momma was dead, poisoned by a pair of hunters. They wanted to take us as well to sell us, but Aunty Slithera stopped them" Kiora explained as her mother couldn't help but give the three cubs reassuring pats. Fangir approached as well, his hand glowing green, the cubs accepted him as well.
"You two realize looking after them is a huge undertaking, right?" Vaylin said to her two eldest daughters. "That includes exercise, food, where they sleep, so on" she added.
"We understand Momma, they can sleep in our room!" Roth spoke up with a huge smile, which got a startled reaction from Inara herself. Vlaad just face palmed but was highly amused. The two girls then took the cubs out into the bag gardens to show them around.
Slithera and Lashara approached once the girls were out of earshot. "Roth is more like you, I think. She saw movement and went to see" Slithera explained with a chuckle.
"These hunters, did they see you?" Vaylin asked, a serious tone to her voice while she watched her eldest girls go out back. Slithera explained everything including the part where the hunters were no long a threat since she turned them to stone. Vaylin nodded, then smiled at Tyrande and took her from Lashara, nuzzling her, causing her to giggle and squeal.
"Ahh, the chaos of children" Inara spoke up causing laughter to erupt all around. The day went on and ended with the newest members of the family settling down in Kiora and Roth's room in little beds of their own. The servants were now aware of the Owlbear cubs and accepted this new reality, as did the entire family.

How do I remove the "I's" in this first person POV while retaining the idea that the protagonist is active? Can you provde an example of what you mean if you address this question? Should I switch to third-person limited?
Get in, get the fruit, get out. Simple enough, right? Well, our plan was more advanced than that. Even so, I worried.
My world brightened and I my body was weightless for a moment and then collapsed onto a hard, dry ground. Standing, sulfur and smoke lingered on my clothes from the ritual that brought me to this realm—the Fae Lands. For better or worse, I succeeded in the first part and entered the heart of the Fae’s magic, the White Woods. An orchard in which magic grew like fruit on trees.
Its inhabitants, and their bestial servants did not take kindly to intruders. Only, the Fae were dead, and these lands were abandoned. But with their passing, any way out of the Fae Lands had been cut off, not that they’d let anyone leave. But we have a plan. Something even the Fae may have never known. I trusted my friends. Even so, all knowledge comes at a risk. All lessons required payment. Common sayings amongst those that studied magic and all too habitually used to justify reckless behavior.
I blinked my eyes to regain my vision and looked up and saw the trees. Their massive trunks surrounded me as they stretched into the night sky like smooth, marble-white pillars. Their foliage seamlessly blended with the stars which shed a pervasive blue glow throughout the forest. Underneath, sparse vegetation grew dark, waxy leaves that reflected the light.
I reached out and felt a root and received a cold sensation in return as though it were worn stone. I expected to sense the weight of past eons here but, instead, this place seemed entirely beyond the grasp of time. Though abandoned, I couldn’t say whether this forest was tranquil or holding its breath.
My mind turned to the second part: get the fruit. Nothing like an apple. A Fae fruit, within which resided raw magic. Reaching into my bag I pulled out a water satchel and drank deeply, relieving my mouth from the dry, still air. There wasn’t much, but it’s not like I’d be here very long and if things went awry, well, extra provisions would not prevent the inevitable.
I uncorked a vial filled with a metallic, heavy liquid, drank it, and gagged, wishing XXZ made these damned potions taste tolerable for once. I stilled my breathing and closed my eyes, channeling magic into them.
After a moment, I opened them.
Gradually, iridescent strings came into view, forming winding paths through the air or a tangled, knotted network that hung just above the ground which grew dense at the base of the trees. Their trunks, rigid and smooth before, were now interwoven with these threads, which wound together and formed cords that ran the length of the trunks and rooted themselves in the stars above.
It was through this tangled mess [that?] I searched for a single strand that would lead me to the Fae fruit. Fae fruit was not a spell but was magic itself. Wild. Untamed.
Moldable. It longed for place in the fabric of the world.
It didn’t take long to find. Its irregular and frenzied rhythm made it stand out. Though thin, it bumped into and danced around the older, more tired threads bound to the elder trees as if wanting to find a partner. As if it wanted to be found. As if it wanted to be found by me.
As I followed this thread other strands gradually appeared, each just as excited and all led to the same place. Though I couldn’t quite place the sensation, it felt as though I was slowly approaching a festival. A celebration. I walked for what felt like a quarter of a night until I saw it my quarry. A sapling on which grew the Fae fruit.
It was closer in size to the trees I climbed as a boy, distinguished only by its size and red leaves from its neighbors. Still. Quiet.
But when viewed by those trained in the arcane, the tree burned with energy. My gaze traced the threads leading to its roots which twirled around the older, more tired threads, just as excited to form new connections as to break them. Occasionally, two threads would twist together, fuse then separate having switched their dancing partners.
In the right hands, it could be used to weave entirely new spells or, if one were wasteful, in the making of a single enchanted item or, worst of all, an especially bad tasting potion. Of course, neither I nor anyone else in their right mind would pass on any such treasures. Wars were fought over such relics in the past, though politics also played their role spectacularly in such ‘disputes’.
But if left alone, if not stolen from no one at all, would the fruit grow into a tree and root into the sky?
The tree was surrounded by a deep thicket. With no way around, I cautiously stepped onto the underlying mossy carpet and traveled deeper within. As I pushed forward the vegetation fought my efforts but, before snapping, abruptly relaxed and gave way. “Thank you.” I whispered, surprising even myself. Though, I supposed it never hurt to be too courteous. Even to a shrub.
Behind me, the path I’d made slowly disappeared as the branches returned to their original position like I’d never been there. I looked forward and-
*crunch*.
The bone-chilling sound shattered the silence of the forest. I froze. My heart quickened. What had I stepped on?
A hundred questions entered my mind as the vegetation closed in around me, surrounding me in blackness. The convenience of their allowing me deeper into the center now seemed to be the opening of a trap which now closed on me as I stood frozen. The branches surrounded me and... paused.
I stood still for what felt like an eternity but was probably only a moment in this timeless place. ‘Would I die to a bush?’ The thought lingered, ominous and absurd.
Slowly, I lifted my foot and placed it down to the side. Feeling the even ground again, I pushed forwards. The branches had seemingly forgotten my being there and once again needed convincing to let me pass. Clear of the thicket, a sigh of relief escaped my chest as I was unsure of exactly how much danger I was in.
I could now clearly see the fruit. It radiated a cold-blue light and, surprisingly, did look far more like an apple than expected.
“Huh.” I’d said, far louder than intended.
I climbed the tree and crawled out on one of its branches, recalling this was easier when I’d been younger. A stem connected the fruit to the branch which my instincts told me could not be cut by normal means.
I withdrew a small blade, provided by XXX for this occasion, and passed its enchanted blade across the stem. As I cut, frayed iridescent threads hung in the air and slowly dissolved while others fused to survive. As more threads broke, some brushed against the enchanted knife, binding to it and threatening to alter its very nature.
My work quickened and the fruit was severed when, for the first time, a cool breath of wind caressed my face like the forest exhaled. The air had shifted. I stiffened and my eyes watched the gaps in the trees as the forest turned its attention to me. I sensed that more than just trees now watched. I needed to get home. Now.
I gently placed the still glowing fruit in a bag and secured it on my back, jumped to the ground, and navigated back through the thicket, thanking them once again. I reached for a second vial when my eyes focused on something. It was nearly as tall as I am and covered in moss, resembling a circular stone table on its side with a single thin protrusion extending upward.
Despite the nagging urgency, I gently removed the moss to reveal a pale-white surface with distinct ridges radiating outward from a central point. A vertebrae. The moss was returned onto the enormous bone. I didn’t want to think about that right now.
Hurriedly, I took the vial out within which a clear liquid effortlessly danced with the light. Uncorking it, I tipped it over, ensuring only a single drop fell towards the ground. Before landing, it slowed, curved, and accelerated away from me to my right. I exhaled, thankful that it seemed to be working. Trusting the droplet would lead me home, I ran after it.
Each droplet eventually tired and fell. After reaching its resting place, I’d poured another, eyeing its slowing descent and acceleration ahead of me. As this ritual repeated my boots hitting the hard, dusty ground was the only detectable sound, seemingly made louder as it echoed of the bodies of the pale giants surrounding me.
I increased my pace and returned to the rhythm of chasing the droplets until a distant hum filled the air which only grew louder as I continued.
Smiling triumphantly, I caught my breath and watched as the droplets traveled towards the base of a single, undistinguished tree, then dance upwards along its body, glowing bright yellow as they ascended before disappearing in a bright flash. The way out was ahead of me.
“Almost there. Here goes nothing.”
I place a foot onto the side of the tree. Then the other. Feeling my weight shift, I stood horizontal to the ground. Laughing, I look ‘up’ back towards the way from which I came and freeze. That’s when I see it. A hulking figure with a wolf-like head crouched motionless and low to the ground. It was midstep as it stared at me with wide forward-facing eyes that were all too intelligent. The long hair on its head was a braided, tangled, mess from which a crown of antlers protruded. Slowly, it raises its body.
This isn’t happening.
CLICK.
A sound like a boulder cracking reverberated through my bones, breaking the humming of the tree under my feet and threatening my balance.
This place was supposed to be abandoned.
CLICK-CLICK.
It shifted. And lunged, kicking up dust and tearing the ground as it ran. It’s hair waved wildly as it clawed the ground while the clicking grew into a frenzied rhythm that drowned the hum of the tree.
I snapped back into my mind and turned, sprinting up the tree hoping to get high enough to escape its reach. I nearly slip as I looked back at the ground. Dread filled me as I saw the thing had immediately closed in on the base of the tree. It was far too agile for its size. It leapt and grabbed onto either side of the giant tree and heaved itself upwards, swiftly scaling the tree.
Panic seized me and I grabbed the same vial, drank the rest and felt it burn my throat as I continued my mad ascent. Halfway up the tree, my weight shifted again and my vision brightens. The world turns white when suddenly a searing pain arcs across my back as a claw rips into my flesh. Then I’m falling.
I feel cool wind whip across my face as my eyes open to see familiar sunlight on green fields surrounding a lake towards which I’m rapidly falling.
Thanks for reading if you got this far!

AJ Styles…the definition of the word Phenomenal. As one of the best wrestlers on the planet for years upon years, as the leader of stables and the face of entire companies, Styles cemented his legacy as one of the best performers of an entire generation. But while he went through Ring of Honor, through TNA, through New Japan before arriving in WWE…let’s go down a different path now. Let’s visit a world where Styles earns the opportunity to immediately compete in the supposed “big leagues”, to work his way up the WWE ladder…
A chance to prove himself for even more young and old fans alike…
​
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
​
Royal Rumble 2002: Men’s Royal Rumble Match
MAVEN HAS ELIMINATED THE UNDERTAKER! WE’VE JUST WITNESSED THE DROPKICK HEARD AROUND THE WORLD, FOLKS!
Undertaker dominated the early portion of the Rumble…just to be eliminated by fucking Maven? As he tries to soak in what happened, remaining motionless on the ramp with his mouth agape, the countdown for the next entrant begins! Maven’s still feeling the high of such an incredible moment, and the fans are feeling themselves…and when the buzzer sounds…
IT’S NONE OTHER THAN AJ STYLES! And in a fun twist…HE GETS TO MAKE HIS FIRST WWE APPEARANCE IN HIS HOME STATE OF GEORGIA! While not all of the Atlanta attendees may know of this debuting combatant, Styles sets out to leave a fresh imprint in their minds, walking past Undertaker with no fear! This elicits the first response out of Taker, who moves his head around to look at Styles, an expression of disgust now etched on his face. But with Styles and Maven oblivious to it, they’re able to start a rapid mini-match, both men displaying impressive quickness. After a few moments of neither man gaining control, Maven sends Styles into the ropes, hoping he’ll blindly come back to him…BUT STYLES JUMPS OFF THE MIDDLE ROPE, FLYING BACK AND NAILING MAVEN WITH A REVERSE DDT! With Maven down, Styles decides to climb to the top, looking to embrace his high-flying instincts…
BUT NO, UNDERTAKER SUDDENLY GRABS STYLES BY THE THROAT AND HEAVES HIM TO THE OUTSIDE! Taker’s finally acting out on his lividness from being eliminated, having stormed back to the ring to blindside Styles, and is now entering the ropes to attack a helpless Maven! The crowd is booing, but Taker doesn;t care: he’s gonna make these disrespectful brats pay! Taker lifts Maven to his feet, immediately sending him over the ropes and crashing to the outside! With no one left in the ring, Taker begins pummeling Maven, sending him into the steel steps before preparing for a Tombstone…
BUT STYLES IS BACK TO HIS FEET NOW, AND HE’S GOING AFTER TAKER! With Styles now the one enraged from being eliminated, he begins stunning Taker with some quick strikes, kicking the legs of Undertaker and forcing him to let go of Maven! However, Styles takes his foot off the gas for just a moment, climbing on the ring apron and going for a springboard moonsault to the outside…ONLY FOR TAKER TO CATCH HIM IN MID-AIR, TRANSITIONING STYLES INTO A VICIOUS TOMBSTONE PILEDRIVER ON THE HARD FLOOR!
It’s after this vicious moment that Taker finally leaves, but the damage already being done, the refs tending to a knocked out Styles. He made a memorable debut…but at what cost…
​
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
​
With Styles forced to rest his head at home after suffering a concussion, Undertaker uses this as a sign, or rather an opportunity, to focus his full attention back on the man who eliminated him from the Rumble: Maven! Taking out Maven’s mentor Al Snow with a Tombstone in the Parking Lot, Undertaker has the complete advantage over the former Tough Enough winner, but still uses cheap tactics to his advantage, blindsiding Maven in the backstage area a week before they were scheduled for a singles match! Despite Maven’s knee being injured in the assault, the match is still set, Maven giving a quick interview before the match about a backup plan…
​
SmackDown (2/7/2002): Maven vs. The Undertaker
But despite Maven’s confidence, the match goes about just as poorly as expected. Maven gets in a flurry at the start, but Taker dodges a move from the top rope, Maven landing awkwardly on his injured knee and leaving him unable to stand! And despite being able to end the match early, Taker takes his sweet time inflicting as much pain on Maven as possible, initially just stomping on the knee…but soon wanting to cause emotional damage as well! Taker grabs a mic, kneeling beside Maven and saying this assault won’t end…until Maven says he quits! Maven refuses, and Taker shakes his head…wrong answer. Taker drags Maven to his feet…before immediately slamming him back to the mat with a vicious Chokeslam! As Maven winces in pain, nearly out of breath, Taker moves back to a crouching position, demanding an answer one more time. Maven motions for Taker to come closer, but as Taker does so…
MAVEN SPITS IN HIS FACE!
Enraged, Taker grabs Maven by the throat, questioning what little of a brain he has…and if that act of defiance was the “backup plan”...he really is a joke. But while Maven’s struggling to breathe…he’s able to get out one last message to Taker…
“That wasn’t the backup plan…just a distraction!”
Suddenly, the crowd begins cheering…somebody’s running from the crowd towards the ring…IT’S AJ STYLES! He’s making his SmackDown debut, and in a big way, as when Taker turns around…STYLES SPRINGBOARDS INTO THE RING, DRILLING THIS BIKER-DEADMAN HYBRID WITH A PHENOMENAL FOREARM! Taker falls to the mat, rolling out of the ring instinctively and allowing Styles to help the weakened Maven to his feet. Once again, Styles has found a way to interfere in Taker’s business…he isn’t letting this go…
Undertaker def. Maven via DQ
​
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
​
With Maven sidelined for a few weeks to heal up, Styles takes center-stage in the quest to knock Taker down off his throne of arrogance. Styles admits that he’s got a figurative and literal tall test in front of him…but his wrestling career has always been about risk, putting his body on the line night in and night out. So if he has a chance to make a name for himself, to beat one of WWE’s top veterans…he isn’t passing on that. But while Styles is showing humble confidence…Taker’s doing the opposite. He looks at Styles as a wannabe wrestler, an acrobat masquerading as a tough guy. When Taker drops him on his head with another Tombstone, just as he did at Royal Rumble…AJ will be sent packing from this company just as quickly as he came.
​
No Way Out 2002: AJ Styles vs. The Undertaker
With Taker having the dreaded “old school guy hating on everything new” mentality, Styles knows he’s going to have to increase the power in his offense if he wants to make a statement. And at the beginning of the match, he does just that, Taker daring him to hit him first…only for Styles to belt him with a forearm, rocking the Biker! Furious, Taker grabs Styles by the throat, but AJ quickly kicks his way out of the hold, knocking him off his feet for leveling him with a running dropkick! With Taker now stunned on the mat, Styles decides to dig deep into his arsenal, climbing to the top rope…
AND HITTING A 450 SPLASH! 1..2… NO, TAKER KICKS OUT! Styles simply smacks the mat after the kickout, figuring it was worth a shot at a quick victory…but also should’ve figured he needed more than that. So with that, Styles moves outside the ring, preparing for his signature Phenomenal Forearm…BUT TAKER DODGES! Styles is able to land on his feet, but when he turns around, he’s met with a vicious big boot! And from there, Taker begins to control the complexion of the match-up, limiting Styles from getting a chance to perform some of his signature aerial maneuvers by just keeping close to the center of the ring, taking out the legs multiple times and daring him to try and crawl to the corner. After a certain point, it seems like Styles is just knocked out of it, so Taker picks him up, jeering at him before hoisting him in position for the Last Ride…
BUT STYLES WIGGLES OUT OF IT! He gets off Taker’s shoulder, and he runs to the corner, quickly leaping off of it without even looking behind him…BUT STILL MANAGING TO DRILL TAKER WITH A BEAUTIFUL MOONSAULT! With the crowd getting behind Styles, he decides to try and send a message to Taker, lifting him onto his shoulders in position for an Ushigoroshi…but straying from his typical style hurts AJ, Taker breaking free and clobbering the Phenomenal One with a clothesline to the back of the neck! And with Taker not interested in letting Styles even have a chance at getting back into the match, he plants him with a Last Ride…before setting out on what he promised before the match, planting him with a Tombstone Piledriver as well to get the pin!
The Undertaker def. AJ Styles via pinfall
Despite a valiant effort, the young Styles has come up short…and now Taker’s going to make sure his career is even younger! The Deadman Biker moves outside the ring, grabbing a chair and setting it in the middle of the ring…NO, HE WANTS TO HIT A TOMBSTONE! But suddenly…here comes Maven! However, he’s hobbling to the ring on a pair of crutches, still favoring his knee from previous Undertaker attacks. Taker laughs at this pathetic display…especially when Maven tries to hit Taker with the crutch, but gets caught and taken out with a boot! With AJ’s only known ally taken down, it seems like all hope is lost for the Georgia native…but in another twist…
A familiar theme plays to interrupt the assault once again…
IT’S THE NATURE BOY RIC FLAIR! Undertaker looks on in disbelief as Flair struts to the ring, and when he gets in between the ropes, there’s a tense staredown for a moment…which soon sees Taker try to Chokeslam Ric! However, Flair is able to get out of this predicament by simply lowblowing Taker, before picking up the steel chair laying in the ring and drilling it into Taker’s back, forcing him to retreat! While Taker is forced to sulk away up the entrance ramp, Flair moves towards Maven, helping him up…before then turning to Styles. Ric looks at AJ for a moment, curiosity in his eyes…perhaps seeing something in him. Ric extends the hand, which AJ groggily accepts, and despite AJ having lost the match…
He might be in a better position moving forward…
​
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
​
Ric Flair would soon start describing himself as a mentor to AJ Styles and Maven. Ric knows that he’s more or less in the twilight of his career, so he decided to do the opposite of what Taker was doing: help guide the young talents of tomorrow. However, Taker sees this as bullshit, thinking Ric only “helped” them because he was gunning for the Biker himself, and is using Styles and Maven as pawns in the attempt to knock out the king. Flair doesn’t deny that he wants Taker, challenging him at Mania…but Taker’s not the King in this battle…
While Styles and Maven offer to assist Flair in his match against Taker, Ric insists that they focus their attention somewhere else: go make a name for yourself on the Grandest Stage. With Styles and Maven not wanting to let Flair down, they begin competing in tag action (once Maven got cleared from injury), and very quickly have success, winning a qualifying match to earn a tag title opportunity at WrestleMania! However, they would find themselves as the clear underdogs, the other two teams to qualify being the well-established Hardy Boyz and Dudley Boyz. But even if the fans don’t know them yet…they’re ready to put on a show…
​
WrestleMania X8: AJ Styles and Maven vs. The Hardy Boyz vs. The Dudley Boyz (c) - WWF Tag Team Championships
As the match begins, the Hardy Boyz initially look to go after the Dudleys…but then they shift their attention to Styles and Maven. AJ and Maven motion for them to come forward…they’re ready to fight! But before Matt and Jeff can do so…Bubba Ray and Devon attack them, and the fight is officially on! AJ and Maven start going at the Dudleys, flustering them with some quick strikes, particularly from AJ rocking Bubba. The Dudleys try to catch a breather on the outside…but when they look back to the ring, Styles is able to take them down with a tope suicida! Maven soon follows suit with a crossbody as the Dudleys try to get back up, but as Styles is helping Maven back to his feet…MATT AND JEFF LEAP OFF THE TOP ROPE AND TAKE THEM OUT!
The rest of the match continues with the frantic pace, and the story focuses on Styles/Maven and the Hardys never having a proper back-and-forth sequence, the Dudleys always preventing it…until Styles has had enough! With Maven having been 3D-ed through a table just seconds prior, AJ realizes he needs to do something to combat the numbers disadvantage, so he starts flying at everyone! He’s able to single handedly take out the Dudleys and Matt Hardy in succession, but as he gets back in the ring…Jeff is there waiting for him! AJ simply smiles…finally. The two begin firing away on one another, a series of quick grapples leading to both realizing they’ll need to bring out their signature move arsenal instead. Jeff tries for a Twist of Fate, but Styles shoves Hardy towards the corner. However, when Styles runs at Jeff, he gets booted away, Hardy climbing to the top rope and hitting a Whisper in the Wind!
With Styles downed, Hardy moves back towards the top rope…he’s in position for a Swanton Bomb…BUT STYLES MOVES OUT OF THE WAY! Hardy lands hard on his back, but the momentum brings him to his feet…only for AJ to pick him up and drop him right back down with a brainbuster! Sensing his opportunity, Styles moves to the ring apron, readying himself for a Phenomenal Forearm…only for Bubba Ray to grab his leg from the outside! Styles manages to shake him off though, leaping off the ring apron and hitting Bubba with a reverse DDT on the outside! Devon tries to attack Styles from behind, but Maven is able to leap off the remaining announce table and hit him with a diving clothesline, protecting his partner! With Styles and Maven both standing once more, they look at each other, nodding before heading into the ring…
Where Matt has since helped Jeff to his feet! We had the AJ v Jeff showdown earlier…time to spice it up even more now with two-on two! AJ decides to go after Matt this time however, while Maven and Jeff Hardy lock horns, with Maven able to get the better of Jeff following a tornado DDT! Meanwhile, Matt seems to have the advantage over AJ, going for the Twist of Fate…but Maven comes over to help his partner, only to be kicked in the gut,,, MATT’S NOW GOING FOR A DOUBLE TWIST OF FATE! But this loosens his control over AJ, and while Matt lands the maneuver on Maven, Styles wriggleD free, climbing to the top rope…AND HITTING THE SPIRAL TAP, THE FIRST TIME THE WWE AUDIENCE HAS SEEN THE MANEUVER! Styles feels the crowd behind him, and he’s not letting this chance slip away: he picks Matt up, drilling him with the Styles Clash in the center of the ring! 1…2…3!!!
AJ Styles and Maven def. The Hardy Boyz and Dudley Boyz to win the WWF Tag Team Championships
​
​
Just like that, at his first WrestleMania, Styles has captured gold, and in one of the most exciting ways possible. Truly a …Phenomenal Beginning…