Sorry this took so long, kinda got caught up.
Don't have too much to say, other than Maple Whiskey is rapidly becoming one of my favorite drinks, and I'm sorry this took so long to come out. Real life kinda got in the way for a bit (I have one of those?), and I had to put stuff on the backburner. Sorry.
That about covers it.
Previous/Main/Discord/Next
_________________________________
Fries limped his way down the ship’s hallways, using the wall to his right to support himself. Twisted metal and debris littered the hallways, but it had clearly not come from this sector. He was in the center of the ship, far enough away that nothing was dangerously damaged yet, but they were obviously putting stuff in the wide, CEVA-rated hallways for the time being. He gritted his teeth from the pain and was forced to take short, shallow breaths as he walked. He clutched his side as he shuffled along, almost wishing that he was in one of the suits to help support him.
“Fuck me.” He muttered, pausing for a moment outside of his room to breathe. He was about to type in his code to unlock the door when he realized that it was already unlocked. Not sure why and fearing the worst, he drew his personal pistol from the back of his suit’s waistband, keeping it close in to himself to make sure that it couldn’t get pulled away from him. Exhaling sharply as he brought his arm away from his chest to hit the button that opened the door.
It quickly slid open with a sharp hiss and allowed him into the room. The lights were on, and the room didn’t seem to be different, but he distinctly remembered having locked the room prior. He slowly walked in, trying to clear as much as possible while coming in. He took note of the new bag in the room, but couldn’t see anything else new in the room.
His attention was rapidly divided by a shipwide alert that the admiral had left the vessel, causing him to turn around suddenly.
“You alright?” a voice behind him asked, causing him to rapidly turn around to aim the gun, but wound up hurting him more and causing him to drop to one knee.
“What in the fuck are you doing in my room?” the ODST whispered, barely able to speak from pain.
“Got moved down here for safety, you can ask Donahue.” she stated, helping him up and taking the gun from him.
“Got it… he just left the ship?” he asked, immediately attempting to lay himself down on the bed.
“Yeah, he’s heading to see the Tikaqick.” Firdaus stated with a slight bit of disdain in her voice.
“You got a problem with them?” the ODST muttered, barely looking at her.
“Not as many as with my own people, but certainly a fair number of problems with them.” she hissed, helping the man move towards the bathroom.
“You’re going to need to explain, but in a bit. I have like six different bandages to switch.” Fries grunted, closing the door behind him.
_____
“Sir?” the lieutenant Marine beside him asked, racking a round into her rifle’s chamber, “You alright?”
“Hmm?” The man asked, his head quickly snapping up to look at her, “Oh, yes. I’m fine.”
“You’re sure?” she asked again, watching as the man sealed on his helmet.
“Yes.” He nodded, shooting a glance back at the ship they left from, “Yes… it’s not my first time doing this…”
The crew continued on in relative silence. The Marines and ODSTs were a mix of the two crews, one of each being from the old crew and one of each being the replacement crew. The Marine Lieutenant was one of the new crew, along with the ODST Sergeant. The Marine Sergeant and ODST Captain, however, were both well experienced in combat.
“We’re approaching the landing bay.” The pilot called out over radio, “Thirty seconds.”
“Copy that.” Donahue nodded, standing up and bracing himself against the roof to avoid floating around, “Well… Guess it’s that time again.”
“There’s no CIA on board and the ship isn’t a USS.” The Marine sergeant stated, unbuckling himself but not standing up, “It’ll be different this time.”
“Let’s hope not. Flu’ron’s still on board.” James Orwell, the xenobiologist muttered, attempting to raise his reflective visor, to little avail.
The Marine floated over and helped the man with his visor before floating towards the pilots’ cabin door and letting himself in, floating between the two so he could see out the front window.
“Siddown, Sergeant.” One of the pilots muttered, not looking back as he did minute adjustments to the ship’s trajectory as they approached.
“This whole damn thing could be made of gold…” The Marine muttered, magnetically locking himself to the floor and kneeling down as they approached.
“Crossing threshold, standby for turbulence.” One of the pilots radioed out, a hydraulic whine reverberating through the ship’s hull as they lowered the landing gear.
“Back and seal the hatch, Sergeant.” The other pilot snapped, barely looking back at the Marine, instead focusing on the windows and displays ahead of them.
“Copy that.” The Marine nodded, taking the time to check the two pilots’ weapons stowed behind their chairs before floating himself back into the crew compartment and sealing the hatch behind him.
“Ten seconds to landing. Artificial Gravity is off in the bay, disarming OMS.” A pilot called out, still keeping a smooth voice about him, “Threshold crossed, stand by.”
The ship seemed to do nothing for a moment before a very light shudder echoed through the hull, followed by a sharp, metallic ‘thud’.
“We have contact, maglocks engaged.” The first pilot informed.
“Gravity systems and harmonics coming online. Disengaging RCS.” the second pilot called out, likely talking to his partner over the crew in the back. After a few seconds of silence, the ship seemed to spool down and orange lights came on in the back of the crew compartment, showing up just over the CEVA-sized, round airlock doors at the sides of the craft and above the regularly-sized hexagonal door at the back of the craft. After a moment, a female robotic voice called out ‘Pressure stable’ and the lights switched to green.
“We’re down. Thank you for flying Air Peregrine, please take your bags from the overhead compartments and leave in an orderly fashion.” one of the pilots called out, putting on an extremely good and smooth ‘airline’ voice.
“You are aware that you’re talking to an Admiral, right.?” the Marine Lieutenant asked, seemingly disappointed at the pilot.
“Oh, I imagine he does.” Donahue smiled, motioning for the ODSTs to head out the door first.
The two armored figures were already moving towards the door, letting the ladder come out first before checking pressure one last time and opening the rear door. To their shock and horror, the void of space lay just outside the door, though nothing was losing pressure.
“Plasma barrier?” a Marine asked, his voice faltering slightly when he saw the smoking form of the Dracula in the distance.
“Something like that…” James muttered, waiting for the Admiral to head down the ladder after the ODSTs before following him down.
There were no aliens directly off their ship, which surprised them slightly, but gave the crew time to prepare themselves. They were supposed to form a ‘triangle’ with Donahue at the front, the two ODSTs behind him, and the two Marines on either side of James, behind the ODSTs. However, they had more than enough time to prepare, to the point of it becoming awkward. The team moved to the left side of the Ranger, and sat in waiting. The Marine Sergeant began to get skeptical and checked the chamber of his rifle while his reflective visor dropped into place, subtly preparing for a conflict.
However, before their thoughts could fester any further, a door off the left-side nose of the Ranger opened to reveal the creatures that owned the ship. They were around the same height as a Human, albeit seeming a little taller on average. They were obviously Avian-esque, with short, stubby, owl-like faces, in opposition to the long beaks of Afi’end. They had two large eyes just behind their beak, with what appeared to be two sets of closed eyelids underneath them. Their feathers were gray and black, with a small amount of crow-like iridescence in them. They had long wings which wrapped around their bodies, making a ‘cloak’ around them. Their legs were similar to that of an Afi’end’s, but seemed slightly thinner.
They wore thick, heavily stylized armor. It had gold plating with ivory and blue-diamond accents, glassy pauldrons, and other, seemingly glowing, lines and accents in it.
The rest of the ship looked similar; with gold, ivory, and blue-diamond glass seeming to come from all parts of the ship. The ship looked incredibly clean, with no smudging seeming to come from anything except the Humans. The flight deck they were on was made of some kind of ivory-esque compound as well, with the only scuffs on it being from the RCS thrusters the Ranger had used earlier. Against the gold, whites, and blues of the alien vessel, the greens, grays, and oranges of the Human suits contrasted hard;
Donahue’s suit was nothing special, nor was it too dirty, but it was not perfectly hermetic, like the rest of the ship seemed to be. James’ suit did seem to fit their criteria of cleanliness everywhere except his boots, where it was obvious that he hadn’t put hours of work into cleaning the dirt out of the fabric on the last surface mission he had done. The Marines’s suits were the most well-loved; boasting patches of stained mud, foliage, and other assorted junk all over the suit. The ODSTs were clearly battle-damaged, however: Cuts and scrapes into the plating could be seen around the arms and chest, with plasma burns etched into the metal of the helmet on the more experienced man.
Donahue almost wished he had been able to wash his suit now, but he hoped they would understand.
“Hey, we’re not the only ones to bring armed guards.” The ODST to his right stated.
“Oh thank Christ.” Donahue muttered, shifting his reflective faceplate up, “I would have felt awful if they trusted us that much.”
“Feel better, they don’t.” The ODST muttered back, standing up straighter as the aliens approached.
“Admiral Donahue?” the creature at the front of the group asked, looking at the admiral in the front of his own group.
“Captain Kinlykc?” Donahue asked, stepping towards the aliens. The creature seemed mildly amused at the Admiral’s suit, but went back to looking him in the eyes shortly after.
There was an awkward silence for a moment before the alien decided that it was likely in everyone’s best interests if something was said.
“Apologies for my awkwardness in this situation; it has been a long time since I’ve had the pleasure of doing a proper first-contact scenario.” it stated, clearly motioning for his own guards behind him to be less on-guard. The Humans were taken aback a bit, as the creature didn’t move his mouth to speak, but more seemed to emanate the words from itself.
Donahue nodded, but didn’t have to motion to his own men, as they had already come to stand down themselves.
“Entertainingly enough, I was still captaining that ship out there for our true first contact.” Donahue nodded, making sure that both his hands were visible in front of him.
“Really?” the avian asked, motioning for the admiral to follow him deeper into the ship, “Is your ship the only one in your fleet?”
Donahue paused for a moment before following the alien Captain, motioning for his team to follow shortly behind him.
“Negative, we’re just lucky.” The Admiral smiled, attempting to hide his trepidation through humor. The ODSTs were just as slow to follow behind, but eventually caught back up, seemingly worried about leaving the pilots alone. They were brought into a wide hallway. It had the same stylings as the docking bay had, but seemed to have ‘tiling’ instead of the solid piece that the other room had. James slowly pushed his way through the column of armored personnel and wound up beside the Admiral.
“Umm, excuse me, Captain Kinlykc?” He asked, fiddling with his suit to attempt to make sure the external speakers were working.
“Yes?” the avian asked, looking back at the scientist.
“How… are you talking?” He asked, not sure whether the question was to be considered rude or not, “As in, your mouth isn’t moving, how are you talking to us?”
After the scientist clarified himself, the avian seemed to understand the question.
“We do not breathe through our mouth, I’m assuming like you do then.” It nodded, tapping on its beak and unfolding its wings. It raised its arms and pointed at a set of openings under the creature’s armpits, “We breathe and vocalize through these.”
James was speechless for a moment, but the Admiral was relatively sure that was because he was deciding whether or not it was entirely wrong to lean in closer for a better look.
“If you do not mind me asking a question of my own, what are the clothes you’re wearing?” The avian asked, motioning to everybody except the ODSTs, “Are they your uniforms?”
“These?” James repeated, pulling at his suit, “These are pressure suits. To keep our own atmosphere in.”
“But why?” The bird asked, continuing down the path, “We scanned your vessel as the door opened to analyze what your atmosphere was to accommodate, and they were almost identical.”
"We pressurized our vessel to the bay’s atmosphere.” Donahue stated, nodding at the two, “Our atmospheres are similar, and very breathable, but not the same.”
“Why the pressurized suits then? We can breathe the same atmosphere, no?”
“Our people are not nearly as advanced as some others, who can do bacterial scans of atmospheres before they even land to make sure that neither side will infect the other. We cannot do that, so we hermetically seal off from everybody else to avoid infecting them.” James stated, finishing Donahue’s explanation.
That was an answer that seemed to sit well with the avian, who nodded at them and continued down the hallways.
_____
Kinsey practically dive-rolled out of her vessel’s docking port and into the Dracula’s gravity field, her helmetless RHEV suit’s bulk causing her to roll erratically to the side. She quickly got back up and started jogging her way to the other side of the ship, her quickly-moving, armored figure moving everybody out of her way. She wasn’t in any actual hurry, but the message did have to be delivered relatively quickly.
She quickly dog-legged down a side hallway and towards flight bay 3, near the primary medical bay. As soon as she was at the area, she started heading back towards the outer hull of the ship again, turning only when she was directly on a course with the med bay. After a few moments of running, she turned into the medbay, where Flu’ron was inspecting a rifle another Marine had given him.
“Feathers!” she called out, skidding to a halt outside the door.
“Oh Hells.” Flu’ron muttered as he looked up at her. He handed the rifle back to the Marine and walked towards her, “What do you need, Doctor?”
“Only us Marines can call him ‘Feathers’.” the Marine muttered, putting on a fake pout for her.
“Look!” She exclaimed, ignoring the Marine’s protest and shoving a datapad into the avian’s face.
After pulling back a bit, he took the pad from her and started reading the text on it. After a moment, during which the Marine came over to see what the commotion was, Flu’ron looked up from the pad and nodded at her.
“Well… Goddamn!” He smiled, handing the pad back and pulling out his own tablet, “One-hundred. Going your way.”
“Woah, hold on, I think I missed something. What’s going on?” the Marine asked, confused as to why the Afi’end was sending the scientist money.
“Her brother, who was listed KIA a month and a half ago, is not dead.” Flu’ron explained calmly, watching as the scientist practically bounced off the walls with excitement. He wasn’t sure whether it was because of the money or that Frost was still alive.
“And the fucker made it onto Xalantun before me!” Kinsey stated, calming down enough to get the words out.
“You saw the ‘sent’ date, right?” Flu’ron stated, making sure she knew how recently she had received it.
“Three hours, forty-five minutes ago!” she stated, nodding enthusiastically.
“If the round-trip time isn’t that long, why’d it take him nearly a month to respond?” Flu’ron asked, just sitting down to enjoy the show.
“I’ve got two theories; either he’s been too busy to respond, or this is the first time he’s gotten a data dump in months.” She stated, “Where’s Firdaus, she owes me money!”
Flu’ron shrugged, but the Marine perked up, “To my knowledge, she’s down in Deck 5, section 6, subsection 3, room 156. She’s keeping hidden from the alien ships around us.”
Kinsey perked up at that knowledge, suddenly looking concerned, “Hold on, what?”
“Yeah, she’s residing in an ODST’s room, to my knowledge. Not sure why she’s hiding though. I’m not saying anything to anybody who isn’t a crewmember on board this ship though, aside from you, doc; she wants to stay hidden, we’ll keep her that way.”
“In an ODST’s room?” Kinsey asked, looking immediately at Flu’ron.
“He’s got four broken ribs, you need to go stop her.” the avian stated, rolling his eyes, “I’ll prep the machines, just in case.”
“Ok, I gotta check on two things with her then.” Kinsey stated, nodding at the two before running out of the room and yelling “Carry on!” at the pair.
_____
“Peregrine, we’re going deeper into the vessel, think you can handle yourselves?” The Marine Sergeant asked, slinging his rifle onto his back.
“Hey! Keep that thing out!” the Lieutenant snapped, motioning to his gun again.
The man rolled his eyes, but unlimbered his rifle again.
“Copy that, Praetor. We’re good for the time being.”
“Understood. Keep us apprised, yeah?” the Marine radioed back, shifting his suit around to relieve a pinch he had created in his armpit.
“Copy that, Praetor. Out.” one of the pilots responded back, killing the communications network afterwards. The Marines and ODSTs walked alongside the Admiral and xenobiologist in silence, taking intrigued glances down hallways as they passed them, and receiving intrigued glances back from aliens as they passed them in the hallways. They weren’t entirely privy to the conversation that was happening ahead of them, but they weren’t looking to be part of it either. The two veterans were far more interested in getting a good look at the ship than having to talk to anybody, and the two newer members were still too paranoid to pay attention to anything other than their duties.
They were brought into an unoccupied room with a large window that looked out into the deep space just beyond, though the Dracula and other alien vessel blocked the view. The guards from both species gave a quick visual sweep of the room as they came in. Upon watching the Tikaqick guards sit down or generally relax, the veteran ODST and Marine slung their weapons and moved towards the back of the room, motioning for the other two to do so as well. Despite obvious hesitation to do so, they eventually moved to the back with the other two soldiers.
“So what, if you are able to tell me, are your people doing out here?” Captain Kinlykc asked, glancing back at the soldiers momentarily before returning his gaze to the Human ship.
“Sadly, I am not able to give you our reasoning for being out here. That’s not exactly something I can give away freely.” Donahue sighed, not even sure why he’d actually have to explain that, “What I can tell you is that we weren’t planning to be out this far.”
“Really?” the avian asked, looking at the man with surprise, “Scans have indicated that your vessel is prepared for long-range assignments, based on compartmentalization and areas theorized to be for food.”
Donahue raised an eyebrow at the statement, realizing that they likely had a near-perfect model of the interior of the ship if they could theorize about the ship’s rooms, even if they couldn’t entirely see the contents of the rooms. He was relatively concerned at the revelation, but didn’t let it show.
“Well, that ship is a modification of our first attempt at a long-range exploration ship, but the project was canceled five years before first contact.” Donahue explained, watching as a few suited figures climbed around the hull of his vessel, “There were only ever three of the ships created, all of which got converted to combat duty."
“Really? I know they got converted, but what became of the other vessels?” the avian asked, seemingly entranced by the same men on the hull.
“Well, the Armstrong-Class exploration vessels, named the AC-00 J.T.K., AC-01 J. Harker, and AC-02 M. Reynolds, were all brought back to our home planet as soon as possible, be that from assignment or construction, for retrofit.” Donahue explained, turning away from the window so he could better look at the avian, who saw the gesture and did the same, “The J.T.K. was a prototype, and was axed shortly thereafter. The Reynolds was renamed to Serenity and moved to be part of the United States Space Force, but was destroyed on assignment after the newly-fitted reactors went on runaway and melted half the ship off.”
“And the J. Harker?” it asked, indicating towards the window, clearly already knowing the answer.
Donahue nodded and motioned out the window, “Refused the new reactors, renamed to Dracula, joined the USSF, made first contact, made first contact negotiations, made first Human-to-alien combat, limped back to our space, received the first official ship-systems AI, became the first ship in the UNITF a year later, and still remains in combat as the oldest space combat ship in our service. As a species.”
The bird looked at the vessel with a new form of respect in its eyes, though whether for the crew or the vessel was unknown. It gave a shallow nod to the vessel before turning back to the man in front of him, “How old is it?”
Donahue had to pause to think for a moment, trying to remember everything he could about his ship.
“Well… the program to make them started nearly seventy years ago, and she was the first ‘production’ model. After decades of systems upgrades and additions, she’s the embodiment of Theseus’s ship, but her original christening would have been… forty-eight years ago.” He muttered, ignoring the confused look on the alien’s head when he mentioned Theseus, “I remember her first launch. I would have been around seven at the time.”
“How… Do you keep something like that running for that long? Especially if it’s a combat device.”
“Same way we keep the grandfather clock and jukebox in the primary lounge running; good care from a good crew.” Donahue nodded, watching as the blue sparks from a plasma cutter lit up a section of hull that was surrounded by CEVAs.
_____
“Watch it! Merde!” The Marine snapped out as Kinsey sprinted past him, intent on quickly making it to the room.
“Sorry! A life is at stake!” she called back, hearing another string of words in French that she didn’t care to translate yelled back at her.
The scientist slid to a halt in front of room 156, trying the door, then knocking on it rapidly. When nobody came to the door, she looked up and down the halls, locking eyes with the Marine, who was still watching her.
While still looking at him, she grabbed a tool out of her belt and started to plug it into a receptacle below the keypad.
“Code is two-five-four-eight.” The Marine called out, shaking his head and just walking away.
“Oh.” was all she could manage, pausing for a second to put the tool away before waving back at the Marine, “Thanks, Frenchie.”
“Je m'appelle Mauvieux…” he mumbled from down the hall, turning down another hall, seemingly to get away from her and the scene of the crime.
She ignored him entirely as she punched in the code and hit the button to open the door. The door had barely slid open entirely before she slipped inside and looked around for the snake.
“Firdaus, don’t! His ribs are-” She started, pausing when she realized that the snake was not doing anything other than sitting curled up in a corner of the room, a book in her hands. She looked surprised when she saw the suited Kinsey enter the room.
A door slid open to the scientist’s right, revealing the ODST she was looking for. Unfortunately, he was covered only by a towel around his waist, was clutching at his floating ribs with one arm, and had a pistol in his other hand, pointed directly at her head. As soon he recognized who he was looking at, he lowered the sidearm and leaned against the doorframe.
“Jesus Christ, Ev. What th’ fuck yeh doin’ in here?” He hissed, letting her take the gun from his hand and put it on a nearby desk, “And who th’ fuck gave you the emergency code to my door?”
“Someone who I forgot the name of.” Kinsey shrugged, stopping the man from bending over to pick up his clothes, which had been unceremoniously dumped onto the floor. She handed them to the ODST, who nodded at her and headed back into the bathroom, leaving the door open and hoping, or simply not caring, that the two women didn’t look into the room while he was dressing.
“Ok then, better question; and one I already asked you: Why the fuck are ya barging in here?” he wheezed out from the bathroom, obviously struggling a bit as he tried to dress himself.
“Making sure the thirty-odd foot long constrictor isn’t doing anything to the poor man with the four broken ribs.” She shrugged, shooting a shit-eating grin back at the snake, who flipped off the woman as she smiled back.
“Hey, don’t worry, I drew a gun on her as well.” Fries chuckled, grunting immediately afterwards. After a moment, he came out of the bathroom far more clothed than previous. He immediately went towards the scientist and gave her a quick, one-armed hug that leaned a fair deal of his weight on her, something that took her off-guard.
“Hey… you alright?” She asked, clearly realizing that something was wrong. She knew how the ODST usually acted, and he wasn’t generally the kind to hug without a stiff drink or three in him, let alone put weight on somebody else.
“Yeah, just… didn’t like what happened out there.” He sighed, pulling his weight off of her and going to lean against a wall.
“Didn’t hear what happened. You mind filling me in?” She muttered, moving to sit in a nearby chair. It creaked in protest to the woman’s suited 6’2” frame sitting down, but didn’t break.
“Thought I was going to die stranded out in the middle of fuck-off=nowhere space.” Fries wheezed, knocking his head on the wall behind him, “Kinda… put into perspective what I was told from day one was still a possibility.”
“Well, now I’m more interested in who told you what from the start.” She chuckled, clearly attempting to lighten the mood.
“Me mum always told me that I’d die alone in space, a billion and a half miles away from home.” He muttered somberly. He thought for a moment before his face twisted into a sad grin, “First time she’d shown concern for me in years.”
“Jesus, man. I’m sorry.” the woman muttered, feeling bad about her previous attempt at humor.
“Seriously; my condolences.” Firdaus piped up, simply sitting in her coils and watching the ODST sadly.
“Ehh… Whatever. That cunt never wanted to have me to begin with.” the man shrugged, grunting slightly as he sat down, “I did her a favor when I joined the forces.”
“That’s… not how you should look at that…” Kinsey muttered, standing up slightly when the man sat down, but sat back down when he waved her down.
“Ehh. Don’t care anymore. She’s six feet under an’ can’t bitch at me anymore.” He stated callously, rolling his eyes.
Kinsey quickly snapped to look at him, an expression of horror and sadness on her face. Firdaus seemed to share the same reaction as her, but was far less expressive in her movements.
“What the hell, dude?! Your mother died?! When! How?!” she exclaimed, getting out of her chair and motioning her arms out.
“Three years ago, MDMA overdose.” he muttered, clearly wanting the subject to change.
“Fuck…” the scientist muttered, picking up on the man’s clear reluctance to continue the conversation, “You could have said something.”
Fries paused for a moment, before simply shaking his head, “Nope.”
Kinsey paused for a heartbeat before nodding and stepping back towards the door, “Well, I’m sorry that there’s no better place to leave this at, but I’m going to head out.”
“Alright. Have a good time doc.” the ODST muttered, looking down at the floor for a moment before looking back up at her and nodding again, “Check in again sometime soon, yeah?”
“Yeah. Can do.” She nodded, opening his door and stepping out.

One would’ve thought I’d be used to this by now – typing with one arm. It takes time to get used to; especially when you’ve spent most of your life in front of a keyboard. Muscle memory digs deep.
A few years ago, I was in a car accident. I was going 60 down an empty road, coming home from a long day of overtime, when some kind of animal came charging out of the woods. Trying to avoid a collision, I swerved off the road. My front left wheel got caught in a ditch, sending the entire vehicle careening off the road; only to smash into the trunk of an ill-placed black walnut tree, driver’s side first.
I have this vague memory of blinking lights and vague shapes in the distance. I was so cold. But at the same time, it was so unreal. I couldn’t even understand what had happened.

I was brought into emergency surgery. My left arm was, literally, hanging by the thread of my jacket. It had come off clean by the socket.
According to the surgeons, I was lucky. Most of my shoulder was intact, so it became a matter of salvaging what they could. The cut had been clean. I did suffer some whiplash damage to my neck and lower back, but considering I could’ve easily died or gotten paralyzed, losing an arm was considered “mild”.
Looking back at it, I am inclined to agree. Considering what could’ve gone down, I was damn lucky. Still, in that luck, I wished I could’ve gotten just a tiny bit luckier. See, I had this gold ring that I’d been given by my later mother. A simple thing with the engraving of a musical note on the inside – a memento of our shared love of music. We played Louis Armstrong at her funeral.
That ring disappeared in the accident. Somehow, that’s what bothered me the most. My arm could be reattached. It could heal. But that little memento was just gone.

What followed was a long period of intense physical therapy, medication, and painful readjustments. It took weeks before I could even move my fingers again, and when I did, it felt like pushing your nerves through an unwashed garlic press. It was this stunning chemical-level kind of pain. The kind where your body just shuts down, begging you to stop.
But over time, I started to get over it. Small movements started to get better. I could tie my shoes. Press the space bar. Hold a knife. I wasn’t about to juggle anytime soon, or play the piano, but I could get by.
Soon enough, I got back to work.

People were glad to see me. I wasn’t gonna be able to work at full capacity in my usual role, but I could still sit in on meetings. I won’t bore you with the details, but most of my work relies on answering e-mails, proofreading, and translation. It’s pretty technical stuff that requires a lot of pitter-patter on keyboards.
At one point, I was stuck in a particularly drawn-out meeting between two clients that we were facilitating. I was there mostly as an observer (to fill the seats), but I was supposed to weigh in if something related to my department came up. Of course, it didn’t, but I still had to act interested. My colleague was trying to draw up a compromise between the two parties, laying out terms and conditions. Meanwhile, I was nursing a cup of coffee and waiting for the day to be over.
Looking over to my side, I noticed something odd. I wasn’t just holding the coffee cup with my left hand; I was stroking it with my index finger. Sort of like how you’d scratch a wary cat under its chin.

It was a strange sensation. I was looking at my own arm, my own hand, and I couldn’t feel what was happening. I couldn’t feel the ceramics tapping against my finger, or the twitch of the nerve as it contracted and extended. It was just happening. An involuntary twitch, perhaps.
But it didn’t feel like it. It felt intended, somehow.
A few similar events took place that day. Grabbing the bathroom door for a little too long. Knocking over desktop decorations. Suddenly letting go of my jacket as I was about to head home. It was just little things. I was still having trouble even using my arm in the first place, so these quirks didn’t bother me too much.
A friend of mine was giving me a ride home. I wasn’t at 100% yet and sitting behind the steering wheel felt like inviting disaster. Instead, I sat in the passenger seat, nodding off as the trees passed me by with a steady rhythm; causing me to blink.

A noise pulled me back. The driver said something, but I wasn’t paying attention. Turning to him, I excused myself.
“Sorry, what was that?” I asked.
“What are you doing?” the driver repeated.
I looked over. My left hand was wrapped around the parking brake, as if ready to pull. I forced myself to let go.
“Nothing,” I said. “Sorry, I don’t… it’s nothing.”
“Right,” he nodded. “Just… don’t do that.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “Yeah, no. Sorry.”

That night, I was exhausted. It felt like my lungs had been robbed of breath. I felt weak and trembling. I was cold, yet feverish. Famished, but without an appetite. I went to bed early, faceplanting into the pillow.
I had horrible nightmares, none of which I can remember. I kept waking up over and over, not being able to discern dream from reality. My bed was soaked with cold sweat, sending shiver after shiver up my spine.
By the early hours of the morning, a stray ray of sunshine burned my eyes open. I was lying on my side, looking towards the window, leaning on my left shoulder.
The fingers of my left hand were moving on their own. And not just moving, but bent in every which way; as if lacking bones. They were vibrating, shuddering, like wounded worms fearing a predator.

I grabbed my hand, and my fingers were back to normal. I could move them as usual. For a moment, I was doubting what I’d seen. It was one thing to experience oddities, but that was unreal. I must’ve laid there for half an hour, just expanding and contracting my hand, begging my body to work with me.
“Enough of this,” I begged. “Please. Enough. Please.”
I clapped my hands, cracked my fingers, and ran them through my hair. It was fine. Nothing out of the ordinary. Right?

A couple of weeks passed without any serious peculiarities. I could even work a little. There were a few of oddities, like unknowingly grasping a warm cup, or my fingers pointing in all directions when in contact with cold water. Just strange little things that I could easily get control of.
That was, until one morning at work. We were out of coffee, so I was making myself a cup of tea instead. As the water came to a boiling point, I accidentally spilled some on my arm.
The reaction was immediate.

My arm whipped out to the side, throwing the pot across the room. For a moment, my arm looked like it didn’t have any bones; rippling like a skin-covered liquid. It made me think of it not as a part of me, but as an alien thing attached to my shoulder.
And for a brief moment, in the blink of a heartbeat, I could see my fingers grow and shrink. Fingernails throbbing, like a cat throwing up a hair ball.
Suddenly, it stopped. Looking back, I could see one of my co-workers watching me from the other side of the room. She must’ve heard the crash.
“You alright?” she asked.
“Yeah, just got a burn,” I sighed. “I’ll, uh… I’ll be fine.”
She side-eyed the broken pot on the other side of the room and nodded. Not entirely convinced.

As soon as she left, I looked down on my hand as if shying away from a wild animal. It was alien to me. It was something… other. A twitch was one thing, but this was downright unnatural.
Coming home that night, I had a weekend ahead of me. I ran my symptoms through a couple of online services. While there are a few ways the human body can trick itself, like the alien hand syndrome, or phantom pains, this was different. Physical properties do not rapidly change. Then again, maybe I was imagining it?
I decided to do something crazy. An experiment. I wanted to recreate what’d happened in the break room.

I boiled up some water and poured it into a cup. I held my left hand over my sink, grabbing the cup with my right. I stood there, trying to calm myself. I wasn’t insane. This was a rational thought that I had to play out in order to eliminate an outlandish possibility.
I prepped a cold pack and ran the tap. Then, taking a deep breath, I poured some of the boiling water on my left hand.

Twelve fingers.
My hand split into twelve fingers, lined with raw, open wounds. My wrist rolled, like a cobra fixing its eyes on a prey animal. This was no longer an arm – it was a nest of flesh-colored snakes.
My mind blanked. I fell backwards, smacking at my arm as if trying to kill it. I couldn’t feel a thing. It’s as if all sense of touch ended at my shoulder. I crawled backwards on the floor, trying to wave my arm away, but it clung to me like a parasite fixed on my shoulder.
Seconds later, a searing pain ran up my arm. Looking down on my hand, it looked as it always had. It was just a hand with a burn. I could barely feel it through the pounding in my chest. Every noise in the room was overshadowed by my pulse.
I ran my hand under a tap and wrapped a cold pack around the wrist. It wasn’t a bad burn, but it wasn’t nothing.

I did some research, looking up news from around the time my accident took place. There were a couple of reports, but nothing out of the ordinary. A domestic call, a brawl at a local restaurant, a couple of missing pets. There were a couple of other reports, but they were short and didn’t lead anywhere. A mention of a couple disturbances. Some idiot blasting music in a parking lot.
But there was one more thing I noticed. In one of the reports covering my accident, there was a picture of the car. There was spatter of the blood on the hood, with something meaty stuck in the grille – as if I’d hit an animal.
That caught my interest. I couldn’t remember hitting anything, so what the hell was that about?

The next day, my arm was acting up even worse. It kept going cold, as if circulation was cutting in and out. Before heading out, I wrapped it up in bandages. Partly because of the cold sensation and partly because I just didn’t trust it. There was no way to tell what could happen, or why.
I managed to get a hold of the owner of the junkyard where my trashed car had been towed. I went over there early in the day, just before the fog cleared.
Now, this was long after the car had been crushed and stored, but it was the only lead I had. An older woman greeted me at the gates, letting me in. We had a short chat about the accident as she showed me around, ending up at a stack of metal that could hardly be recognized as anything. The only thing to even hint at my car being in that pile was a thin slice of colored metal from one of the doors.

I dug around there for about 20 minutes; all while being observed by this old woman.
“Yeah, won’t find much,” she said. “If the police didn’t get it, the insurance folks did.”
“Been a lot of people digging around?”
“Not a lot, nah,” she said, shaking her head. “But you ain’t the first.”
And she was right. There wasn’t a drop of blood, or bone, or anything. It was just scrap metal in a pile of even more scrap metal. I was wasting my time.

But as I was about to leave, I noticed something. I hadn’t thought about it, but I could see the old woman was wearing a ring. It looked like a wedding ring at first, but she was wearing it on the wrong finger. I pointed to it.
"You found that?"
"What about it?" she asked.
"It’s got a tune engraved on the inside, right? Like, a, uh… music note?”
There was no response. She just looked at me and sighed. Turns out, I was right. She gave it back.

She’d found it near the hood of the car the night they brought it in. Grabbing it was just a spur of the moment thing, and since no one had come asking for it, she’d kept it. I was a bit annoyed, but mostly relieved that I got it back. But the question remained, how had that ended up at the hood of the car?
“There was all kinds of gunk just kinda hanging there,” she said. “Figured it was an animal.”
“And you’re sure that’s where you found it?”
“Sure as sure can be, yeah.”
I stood there for a moment, feeling an uncomfortable thought forming in the back of my head. There was no way for that ring to go from my broken arm on the driver’s side to a pile of meat stuck in the grille of the car.

But the proof of it had been in front of me all along. I had worn that ring for 12 years. There was a permanent indent on my finger.
Looking down at my left hand, there was no such indent.
This wasn’t my arm.

As soon as that thought settled in my mind, I could feel the arm twist and turn. Hadn’t it been for the bandages, there’s no way to tell what it would’ve done. It squirmed and pulled against me, thrashing like a dying fish on land. The old woman just looked at me.
“You alright? Want me to call someone?” she asked.
“I-I… I don’t know,” I said. “I don’t know.”
I had to get to the bottom of this. I hurried out of there as fast as I could.

It was getting late in the afternoon when I got back home. Grabbing an old backpack and a couple of painkillers, I was about to head right back out. But a thought hit me. Maybe it wasn’t as abstract as I thought. Maybe it wasn’t just a feeling – maybe something was really there.
Looking down at my arm, I could feel it stirring, just within my control. Something sleeping, waiting to spring into action. With my right hand on the front door, I stopped, and spoke out loud.
“Whatever you want, just… don’t,” I asked. “Don’t.”
There was no response. No stirring. On a spur-of-the-moment whim, I packed one more thing into my backpack. Just in case. A hail Mary.

Making my way to the scene of the accident, it was impossible to tell anything had ever happened there. I could barely even make out the place where I swerved, or where my wheel got caught in the ditch. I found the general area in the field where my car had spun out of control, and from there it was easy to find the tree I’d smashed into. It was still there.
I spent hours going over it all. Following the path the car had taken, starting from that tree, and working my way back. There was nothing there. Nothing new. It was all just gravel, weeds, and pavement. What had I expected? A signed confession?
As the sun dipped behind the clouds, I could feel a cold wind coming on. I’d lost track of time.

As I turned back, there was a sudden cramp in my arm. A shock of pain crept up my spine, spreading throughout my body like a spider’s web. I could feel my left arm throbbing against the bandage wrap. Something was wrong.
I was in the middle of the field. I could see for miles in every direction. Cars passing by in the distance. Wet grass staining my pants all the way up to my knees. And this one cold wind, cutting straight through my clothes. I shivered, but my left arm didn’t.
Taking a step back towards where I came from, another shot of pain struck me. This one tripped me, sending me face first into the grass. It knocked the air out of my lungs.
I rolled over on my back, gasping for breath. My left hand was creeping up my stomach like a spider with a meaty tail. It stopped over my face, tapping the bridge of my nose with the index finger. I couldn’t feel a thing. Moving to push it off, it instead struck back; grasping my right hand in return.
“Stop,” I wheezed as I sat back up. “Just stop. Stop this.”
But it didn’t. I just sat there. A wounded man holding his arms.

I struggled back and forth for well over half an hour. Getting back on my feet, only to get knocked back down. By the time I’d made my way back to the road, I looked like I’d been hiking for miles. My hair was a mess, and my clothes were covered in grass and mud. I had a handprint across my face, like I’d smacked myself.
I’d trusted myself with a short drive to get there, but I wasn’t sure about going back. It felt reckless to get behind a wheel in my state. Still, I couldn’t just walk all the way back home, and having it towed would be a pain in the ass.
I got back in my car while I thought about it, wiping myself off with a towel from my backpack.

It’d gotten dark outside. The overcast didn’t help, I could almost taste the rain. I contemplated my options and figured that if I kept it slow and only used my right arm, I could carefully make my way home. I put the keys in and turned on the headlights.
There was an elk standing in front of my car.
It sniffed the hood of my car curiously, then proceeded to stare me down. I was just surprised. I got a good look at it. There was something wrong with one of its hind legs – it lacked fur, and there was a sort of spreading baldness reaching halfway up the side of the body.
My arm was slowly rising on its own, as if looking over the dashboard. The elk recoiled, as if in pain, and set off in a troubled three-legged gallop. It disappeared into the woods.

Looking down at my arm, a stray thought hit me.
Was this spreading too?

I painstakingly made my way back home. I dropped my backpack in the hallway, locked my front door, and collapsed into the shower. I was exhausted.
I stood in the shower for about half an hour, looking down at my mother’s ring. I was wearing it on my right hand now, but it just didn’t feel the same. That wasn’t where it was meant to be. Still, it was nice to have it back. Whenever I turned the ring a little, I could feel the engraving against my skin. It was a little gesture I did when I was anxious, as a reminder that it was still there.
I got dressed and ready for a slow evening at home without any further drama. My arm wasn’t acting up. But as I passed through the hallway, something didn’t feel right.

At first, I couldn’t say what it was. Maybe the hum of an old lamp, or some air duct acting up. I wasn’t sure, but it was something. It had to be. I stepped up to the front door.
There used to be a light coming from the hallway outside. That light was always on, and there should be a little light coming in through the peephole. But there wasn’t. Had a fuse blown? I had a closer look.
There was someone just outside my door.

A click.
My left hand had unlocked the door.

The door flung open, knocking me back. A tall silhouette, close to seven feet tall, pushed its way into my apartment. It was dressed in a sort of black poncho, covering its face with layers of bandages. A single frog-like eye stared me down as it pushed forward.
I scrambled backwards on the floor. It was fast. Damn fast. It stepped forward and reached for one of my legs, but I managed to pull away in time. I got back on my feet, barely managing to pull my left arm along. It was trying to grab a hold of something, as if to slow me down.
In a spur-of-the-moment decision I grabbed a lamp from the windowsill, throwing it across the room. The intruder ducked, then came at me again. I ducked under, just in time, and headed for the door.

As I reached the front door, my left arm tried to force it shut. I fought against myself to get out, but it was useless. The door was shut and locked, and my left hand refused to budge. The seven-foot-tall shape came around the corner, slowly approaching. I had to think of something. Anything.
My backpack. It was right there.

I had packed a couple of things earlier. A towel, some bandages, painkillers, and a water bottle. But I’d also packed some lighter fluid. Seeing as how my left arm had reacted so violently to boiling water, I had this stupid idea that the prospect of a straight-up fire would do something even worse to it.
It didn’t seem so stupid anymore.
I grabbed the lighter fluid and sprinkled it on my left arm. The tall shape stopped, seemingly reacting to the smell of it.
I wanted to say something, but all that came out were empty breaths. We were like animals, circling each other, waiting for one to make the first move. I emptied the lighter fluid, grabbing a box of matches. I held the box with my mouth, and a triplicate of matches in my hand. I spilled the rest on the floor.

For a moment, we just looked at one another. A single inhuman eye peeking through the bandage wraps. The vague shape of four, maybe five extremities at its side. How many arms did this thing hide under the poncho?
A flash of realization came to me. This is what I had almost hit with my car.

And with that, I lit the matches. It leapt at me, but it was too late.
The moment the open flame touched the skin on my left arm, it detached. The open nerves just let go of me, and the thing fell off my body. It squirmed on the floor like a dying animal, grasping at whatever its fingers could reach.
Adrenaline forced me out the door. A heartbeat behind me, the seven-foot-tall figure scooped up my burning arm and pushed past me. Within seconds, it was gone – leaving me with an open wound in the stairwell, smelling of lighter fluid.

One of the neighbors called for help. I didn’t even notice how much blood I was losing, but it was bad. They sent me back into emergency surgery; this time without an arm to reattach.
It was deemed that the wound was self-inflicted. A result of some stress-induced psychosis. I wanted to agree, but I saw what I saw. I’ve been trying to convince myself otherwise, but I lived this. This wasn’t any other life but mine.
I’ve since learned to live with a full prosthetic. It’s not much, but I can trust it, and I can wear my mother’s ring the way it was supposed to be. It’s starting to make an indent on the synthetic skin.

I don’t like to think about what would’ve happened if I’d let that thing stay on. But just a couple of weeks ago, I got an answer. I was stuck in traffic, looking out over the fields, when I saw a group of elks in the distance.
One of them had no fur.
None at all.

We started naming the plants so my boyfriend would know who to take care of when I’m not home. Wish we would’ve done it sooner, it’s so fun referring to them by their names lol
•Dugtrio - African Milk Tree
• Guacamole - Avocado Tree
• Ka-Chow - Baby Rubberplant
• Ferox Fawcett - Begonia Ferox
• Uncle Phil - Brazil Philodendron
• Abigail Lemonparty - Dracaena Lemon Surprise
• Mona Lisa - Dracaena Lisa Cane
• Cedric Figery - Fiddle Leaf Fig
• Figgie Smalls - Fiddle Leaf Fig, Cedric’s son
• Casper - Ghost Snake
• Jeanie Gold - Gold Dust Croton
• Ted - Golden Pothos, my first plant already named
• Nemo - Goldfish Plant
• Medusa - Head of Medusa Air Plant
• Vincent Van Grow - Inchplant
• Johnny Cash - Money Tree
• Mike Wazowski - Monstera Deliciosa
• James P. Sullivan - Monstera Deliciosa
• Para-Swole - giant Moondrop Umbrella
• Mable - N'Joy Pothos, Ted’s second wife
• Jolene - Orchid
• Coco Freespirit - Peperomia Hope, she pees on the floor every time she’s watered
• Plants Armstrong - Peperomia Hope
• Kunu - Pineapple Plant, his mainland name is Chuck
• Princess Peach - Pink Princess Philodendron
• Barbie - Pink String of Hearts
• Victreebel - Pitcher Plant
• Jenny Fromdabloc - Ponytail Palm
• Air Bud - Red Air Plant
• Laura Vanderbooben - Red Valentine Aglaonema
• Nagini - Sansevieria Snake
• Edgar Allen Potho - Satin Pothos
• Toby Flenderson - Sensitive Plant, this dude sucks
• Dan Ansom Handsome - Silver Exotica Pothos
• Octomom - Silver Monstera, she’s a baby making machine
• Squidward Tortellini - Silver Squill
• Ricky Spanish - Spanish Moss
• Rapunzel - String of Hearts
• Snap Trap - Venus Fly Trap
• Cocomelon - Watermelon Peperomia
• Finnegan - Whale Fin Snake
• Sir Plantsalot - White Knight Philodendron
• Birkini Bottom - White Wave Philodendron
• Airiana Grande - Xerographica
• Zenon - Xerographica, girl of the 21st century
• Plantonio - Silver Monstera
• Leaf Erikson - Silver Monstera
• Frankie - Monstera Deliciosa
• Mash - Monstera Deliciosa
• Christina Reachy - Brazil Philodendron, always climbing on stuff.
And Lily the Neon Pothos, Ted’s first wife. Send good thoughts, she’s in the ICU for root rot :(
Edited for formatting problems

I love character action games. They were at the forefront of my childhood from the legendary God of War 1 to the unfortunately less celebrated (and underrated) Sonic Unleashed. They've followed me and matured with me as I would go on to discover free-flowing action RPGs, which of course took heavy inspiration from these games starting in the 6th and early 7th console gens. Devil May Cry, No More Heroes, Ninja Gaiden, NieR: Automata, Bayonetta, Transformers Devastation; there were so many colorful hack n' slashes and beat 'em ups out there! And of course, leading the charge and arguably pioneering the 2010s gen character action renaissance was one Platinum Games. If you don't believe me then look back at that list I just made--three of the six are Platinum's own creations, and two are regularly ranked among the greatest games of the genre if not ever made.
Needless to say, for Platinum to make a decidedly good game is a low standard for them. For them to make a banger like Metal Gear Rising, though? Well, that's a different story. Yes, you may know it for the constant memes, or the sensory overload that is Max0r's video regarding it, or the bait-and-switch "revengeance status" shitposts that bombarded every Discord server back in 2021 and 2022. But allow me to be the one to say that this game is more than just a meme. It's honestly a legendary, unforgettable spectacle that if nothing else is 10 hours of pure fun with enough reason to warrant multiple replays.
The story is actually interesting to discuss because at face value it's really hard to take seriously amidst all the chaos and beautiful, power-cringe dialogue. But if you look a little deeper, it feels like the story they're telling is quite respectful to Kojima's passion project that is the Metal Gear franchise. It stays in line with the political themes of the series. It warns of war as a business, government conspiracy, and even brings real-world ideologies to the forefront symbolized by characters (such as Senator Armstrong clearly representing anarcho-capitalism). However, even with the DLC in mind, the story is honestly just a little too short to explore these themes deeply enough for me to care all too much as I'm playing the game. Yes, it's really fun to look deeper into it when not playing, but there's not a whole lot that the game talks about on-screen. And besides the deeper thematic storytelling that is there, it still feels extremely nonsensical and more focused on being cool than anything. And frankly, that's fine by me because it certainly works.
Another way this game respects Kojima is by making sure no character is bland. Not even the random, nameless nobodies that appear on screen for a total of five seconds. That guy in the booth to open the gate to the military base Raiden's visiting? Yeah, he's obsessed with anime girls to a cartoonish degree (normal by reddit standards probably). He's one of the most normal characters in the game. The main character is a cyborg twink ninja who kills people with a dark past of being a fully human twink ninja who kills people. The main villains consist of superhuman Dick Cheney, a really insane cyborg version of One Piece's Buggy the Clown, a Brazilian samurai with the manipulation skills of Light Yagami, and a French woman with a hand fetish so insane that she uses robot arms as a staff. Needless to say, this cast of characters is kind of ridiculous and, like the story, pure chaos at face value. However, looking beyond the zany designs and unconventional superpowers you're met with a lot of interesting characterization. That samurai? His father was killed and he had been planning to betray superhuman Dick Cheney the entire time, only held back by his strife to see whether he or Raiden would be more fit to face him. Buggy over here has a LOT to say about how the media controls the masses. The character writing is actually genius in a way, and even though the plot is generally shallow the characters that fill it are amazing.
The combat and setpieces are, however, the true MVP of this game. I LOVE the action. This is the only Metal Gear game where the TUTORIAL BOSS is a Metal Gear. Raiden slices the thing apart limb from limb with a sword that looks like a thumbtack compared to its arm, let alone its building-crushing tail. How does it manage to cleanly slice this thing in half? I have no fucking idea, nor do I care. It's insane the first time you watch it, insane the second time you watch it, and insane the next few times. And it only gets more insane from there. The game really doesn't quit throwing you into setpiece after setpiece, and it moves at such a breakneck pace that I'm floored that the story managed to even be as deceptively deep as it was. The combat really feeds into this fantasy as well. On its surface, it's built on a very similar base to Bayonetta. Light attack, heavy attack, combo through input combinations/delays, special inputs for more specific moves. But the game changes completely when you take into account the Zandatsu system. AKA Blade Mode, this is a special system that allows you to enter a stance and angle your blade with the right stick for refined slashes. You can use this mode to not only stockpile instakills, but also hit weak points on bosses and steal "electrolytes" from enemies' cybernetic spines. I distinctly remember joking with my friends that Raiden is actually addicted to Gatorade and using Zandatsu gets him his fix, which would explain why it fully heals him as well as replenishes his Zandatsu gauge so that he can keep farming those instakills and electrolytes. This is partly so that Platinum can flex their biggest technical achievement at the time, which was giving you the ability to slice anything into as many pieces as you wanted to in any shape a blade can make without turning your system into an active nuke. All in all, while it isn't Platinum's deepest combat system it's without a doubt one of their most fun, carried to absolutely insane heights by the spectacle of it all.
And at the end of the day, that's what this game is. One massive spectacle the likes of which we've never seen, and will probably never see again. But I'm not sad that it won't happen again. Rather, I'm happy that the miracle that is Metal Gear Rising ever happened to begin with. It's a once in a lifetime experience to play this game for the first time and see everything it has to offer. And personally, it cemented Platinum Games for me as the greatest studio to ever touch the character action genre.

I worked the 3-11 so after housekeeping left I was the only employee on site. It was summer so it was our busy season and we are sold out.
I'm keeping busy folding towels in the laundry room behind the front desk when the fire alarm goes off. I call 911 and then procedure says I have to collect in-house guest cards, bang on all the doors (two floors, about 40 rooms), and escort all guests to the designated area in the parking lot away from the building. I knew that in one room the guest was an elderly lady with a walker. I ran down that wing first banging doors and yelling. When I got to her door I waited until she opened and made sure she was safe outside before I continued on my mission.
So I now have everybody outside, I'm on the phone with my manager, the building's fire alarms are freaking loud, you can hears sirens from the firetrucks coming, and who rolls into the parking lot but some wannabe Lance Armstrong. Professional racing bike, fancy spandex outfit, and aerodynamic helmet. He dismounts and proceeds to walk towards the front door. Of course I yell, "Hey! You can't go in the building!" He gets angry and tells me he's gotta take a shower after his "workout." I don't remember exactly what I said back but I remember he tried arguing with me about it. (Ok buddy. I guess if the building is fire then you won't have to worry about running out of hot water.) Firetruck shows up so the one testicle wonder gave up.
The building was cleared and the alarm was reset. Turned out to be someone smoking in the stairwell. This was years ago and we still had smoking permissible rooms so it had to be some young kid sneaking one behind his parents back. Never did catch who it was though.
Cherry on top was the next night after the cyclist had checked out, he called to say he left his fancy spandex behind. I checked the lost and found, not there. When I pick up the phone and tell him, he pitched a fit. "You better find it! That cost me $xxx! I bet housekeeping stole it(?)" Nobody had checked into that room yet so I went and looked. Sure enough HK hadn't fully looked in all the drawers and I found his costume.
He then proceeded to have a fit when I informed him he'd have to arrange and pay for shipping.

First
Author’s Note:
How would you feel about me changing Dr. Anderson to sound British? I’m considering this change to give his character a bit more life and personality. Backstory draft - Dr. Victor Anderson is American-born, but has a British mother. After his time in the military, he pursued a career in archaeology, which had him work with the British Museum and a lot of Brits, resulting in a hybridized accent.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
Author’s Note 2:
If you haven't done so already, please create an account to follow and support the story!
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– –
GB-2, Grenden Forest
November 29, 2024
The chamber lit up with a blast of white light – quick, like a flashbang, but silent. Even through his envirosuit’s filters, it was like getting flashed in the face with a high beam. He squinted hard, a bit annoyed. Must be the decontamination thing doing its job, he figured.
After the glare dialed down, Henry blinked away the spots in his vision. The wall melted open and he stepped into the dim corridor, his boots ringing on the metal. The way the door formed suggested nanotech, which would explain why the facility was so well-maintained and sturdy.
The section here was as quiet as the main hallway behind them, aside from some old machine’s soft hum somewhere out of sight. The air was still, almost oppressively so, as if something were lurking just out of sight. Well, as long as there weren’t any grotesque pustules and twisted biomass, he supposed they’d be fine.
Henry turned back to the small window within the chamber and gave a thumbs up. His team followed, each moving through the light.
“Well, ain’t that a kick in the pants,” Ryan muttered as he emerged from the chamber, his voice slightly distorted by his suit’s comm system. “Reckon these Gatebuilders coulda used a dimmer light.”
“Yeah, well, personally I’d take the lightshow over the risk of something crawling up my ass,” Isaac remarked.
Ryan gave a nod. “Touché.”
Ron stepped through, followed by Sera, Kelmithus, and Dr. Anderson. The two scholars were the most enamored by the sight, seemingly oblivious to the unsettling atmosphere. Hell, they were probably even excited by it.
The corridor led into a hallway with two ‘windowed' rooms on either side. Henry had seen enough of such setups to recognize them as laboratories, even if he couldn’t identify a single piece of equipment.
Dr. Anderson walked up to one of the windows, face plastered on the invisible field that separated the room from the hallway. “The technology here is incredible. To have remained undisturbed and operational for so long…”
“No signs of Baranthurian interference either,” Henry added, noting the fact that the various rooms hadn’t been stripped bare. “They must not have breached this section.”
Kelmithus summoned a few small orbs of light to illuminate their path. "Indeed. The Baranthurians either lacked the means or chose not to pursue this area."
They pushed deeper until they reached another doorway. The wall here seemed… dead. It gave off the same impression as seeing a pale body, even if the analogy was stretching it for the nanotech walls before him. Henry touched the wall. As expected, it lacked the same malleable feel as the other parts of the Gatebuilder site.
“Captain, here,” Sera announced over the silence, crouching down by the open doorway.
The team huddled around Sera, spotting a thin wisp of white in the corner. Cobwebs, and large ones at that. Not so undisturbed after all, Henry thought, eyeing the delicate threads moving in their wake.
He straightened up as Kelmithus sent some orbs of light through the doorway. The room had a box in the middle, accompanied by a chair and some sort of stand positioned directly in front of the chair. From the looks of it, it was some sort of containment unit or isolation chamber, large enough to accommodate a passenger airliner – or perhaps even the myriad of higher-tiered fauna on Gaerra.
As he peered further, Henry noticed a tube linking the box to the ceiling, likely a vent. Scattered around were desks holding alien tech so advanced he couldn’t even tell what they were. Though, there weren’t many of them. Most of the tables were empty. If he had to guess, the Gatebuilders probably materialized whatever they needed, just like with the walls. An empty panel decorated the wall beside the entrance – an empty weapon rack. Among the relics that were present, he spotted heaps of dust that had probably been important documents at some point, now just whispers of what was.
Henry approached the containment unit, studying it closely. The box was completely sealed, with no visible seams or openings. Whatever the Gatebuilders held in here had zero chance of ever getting out.
Dr. Anderson stepped up to the stand in front of the unit tapping it with his hand. The pedestal reacted, flashing a holographic screen above. “Incredible,” he said, stepping back.
“If only we found one of these when the gateway was unearthed, huh?” Henry remarked.
Dr. Anderson gave a light chuckle. “I can’t imagine it would’ve been any easier to activate it even if we did. We would have been like cavemen trying to figure out how an iPhone works.”
The screen was clean, devoid of clutter and icons aside from a set of lines, which appeared to be a menu. The archaeologist’s brow furrowed, a slight movement that Henry caught through the man’s helmet. Was he… stumped? Kelmithus joined him, beset by the same confusion.
“Any luck, Doc?” Ron asked, moving to stand beside him.
Dr. Anderson shook his head. “There’s just too little information on the Gatebuilders. This is my first time seeing their language. I don’t even know where to begin.”
“Kel?” Henry asked, looking at the archmage.
He, too, shook his head. “Absent one versed in the language, my translation magic finds no purchase.”
Despite the bleak outlook, Dr. Anderson didn’t seem like he was ready to give up. He hovered his finger over the screen and flicked it up. The screen reacted accordingly, scrolling through the menu. Then, he pressed one of the entries. A soft chime echoed through the room and an icon appeared on the display. It was a simple rectangular shape, reminiscent of a battery with a sliver of red at the bottom.
“Well, that’s something we can recognize,” Henry said, pointing at the icon. “Guess that confirms it – this section is lower on power.”
“Oughta be simple enough, right?” Ryan asked.
Isaac inspected the icon on the screen. “Yeah, I dunno about that one. Certainly won’t be like substituting wire for vine. For all we know, these guys could’ve used antimatter or, shit, even zero point energy.”
“Antimatter? Zero point energy? You speak in riddles, Specialist Yen. Though, should fortune favor us, mayhap the solution will be within our grasp, even if the means are yet unknown,” Sera said.
It was optimistic, probably even far-fetched, but there was still a chance. “Yeah, let’s hope all we gotta do is flip a switch…” Henry tilted his head, directing his team to begin the search.
They spread out, searching for clues. The room was relatively barren for its massive size. As they moved further in and away from the containment unit, the presence of cobwebs increased, particularly near a doorway at the far end. Seeing that was the only other door in the room, they gravitated to it.
Henry glanced at Kelmithus, who immediately responded by illuminating the doorway. It led into a room full of the stasis platforms they had identified earlier. The darkness inside seemed to permeate with greater effect. Was it just an optical illusion?
Sera paused, halting her approach a few feet away from the doorway. “I… hear something.”
Ron took up a position beside the ‘frame’, preparing for a breach. “Yeah… I hear it too. The fuck is that? Shit’s giving me the heebie jeebies.”
Henry checked his HUD, confirming that his helmet was picking up the audio. He adjusted the settings to enhance the sound. It was a strange combination of noises, like a brush running along wood, accompanied by a continuous whine of stretching rope and soft, rapid drumbeats.
These were familiar sounds, though he’d only heard them once before. It wasn’t a pleasant experience: he had put on a helmet prior to a training session only to hear strange scratching and tapping. Only when a spider crawled along his visor did he realize where the sounds originated from.
Here, the sounds were amplified, audible enough to be registered by Sera. The scratching noises – stridulating, as it was apparently called – were like a sinister whisper, promising something far worse than the average creepy crawly. He’d seen his fair share of oversized bugs in Gaerra, but hadn’t yet come across ones large enough to be deemed monsters and granted their own tier. If the size of the cobwebs were any indication, whatever created them was no ordinary spider.
Henry looked back into the room, then turned to his team. He signaled for Isaac and Ryan to stack up on either side of the doorway, their shotguns at the ready. Sera and Ron took up positions behind them, while Kelmithus and Dr. Anderson stayed back, prepared to provide support if needed.
Henry held up three fingers, counting down silently. Three, two, one. On the signal, Isaac and Ryan breached the room. Isaac went left while Ryan went right, their weapons sweeping the corners and potential hiding spots as they cleared the immediate area.
“Clear left,” Isaac reported.
“Clear right,” Ryan confirmed.
Henry and the rest of the team entered the room, following behind Isaac and Ryan. The corners in the ceiling and the blind spots behind the few desks scattered around were clear, but full of webbing, The stasis chamber was cavernous, rows upon rows of platforms stretching out into the darkness. Some of the pods had near-transparent fields around them, giving off a faint glow that cast eerie shadows on the walls.
“Owens, take point. Sera, cover our six. Kel, lights,” Henry ordered in a low voice.
As more orbs of light brightened their surroundings, they moved deeper into the chamber. The tapping and stridulating from earlier ceased, giving way to an eerie silence. As they progressed, Henry felt a growing sense of unease. The sheer number of creatures contained within the fields was staggering. Hundreds, maybe more, all from different regions.
Some were familiar, like the monsters he’d encountered and learned about in preparation for the Tier 5 test – likely distant ancestors of dradaks and rillifanes. Others, less so. They looked like they were pulled right out of a horror film or dystopian universe – clawed, insect-like monsters that seemed poised to swarm en masse, and unsettling aliens whose appendages looked perfectly designed to latch onto a person’s face. Hopefully, the fact that he couldn’t recognize them meant they were extinct.
Sera was drawn to a pod with a snake-like creature within. It had scales that caught the faint light, sharp teeth that looked capable of tearing flesh, and a pair of small, awkward wings. “This bears great resemblance to a fenwyrm. An ancestor, perhaps?”
Dr. Anderson inspected one of the active pods, his face practically pressed against the stasis field as he examined the creature inside. It was a formidable-looking beast, some sort of arthropod with a hardened carapace. “Fascinating,” he muttered, “The Gatebuilders were studying Gaerra’s wildlife. I wonder… did they have magic before coming here, or did they get it after?”
Henry glanced at another pod containing one of the primal fenwyrms. “Kel? What do you think?”
Kelmithus studied a nearby specimen and the stasis field containing it. “A perplexing query, that is. The Gatebuilders’ technologies are so thoroughly imbued with the Aether that discerning the origin of their magical prowess is a formidable task. However, the study of the various beasts herein suggests that magic is, indeed, endemic to our world. Had they brought magic with them, I gather they would have focused their efforts on other pursuits.”
“Research sounds about right. But hey, maybe they just wanted to collect specimens for a zoo,” Ron shrugged.
“A zoo?” Isaac scoffed. “More like a freak show. Look at this thing,” he said, pointing to a pod containing a creature with tentacles sprouting from its back, its maw filled with razor-sharp teeth.
Henry shook his head, scanning the rows of stasis platforms. The deeper they progressed, the more frequently they came across empty units. The power outage had done a number on this place. Some of the platforms were totally dead, their stasis fields – and whatever creatures were inside – long gone. Others flickered on and off, equally empty.
The scene before him made little sense. “Gatebuilder tech so far has been so well-maintained; I doubt decay or erosion could’ve caused this,” Henry noted.
Dr. Anderson nodded. “Agreed. Something must have managed to get inside, cause a cascading effect.”
Suddenly, a buzzing sound echoed through the chamber, like a power line got cut open. Henry whirled around, aiming his shotgun in the direction of the noise. One of the pods had shut down, its stasis field flickering and dying as the creature inside tumbled out onto the floor. It was a small, furry thing, with big eyes and a long tail – almost like a squirrel. It looked up at them and let out a pitiful whimper before scurrying off into the shadows.
“What the hell?” Ron started, scanning the perimeter with his weapon.
The scratching and drumming sounds were getting louder now, bouncing off the walls in an unsettling chorus that set Henry on edge. He could feel the hairs on the back of his neck standing up, his senses on high alert. Whatever lay ahead probably wasn’t as threatening as a group of insurgents with AKs or a Sentinel Lindwyrm, but it sure as hell topped them in terms of creepiness.
“Let’s fall back to the containment unit room,” Henry ordered.
They retraced their steps quickly and without incident. The sounds faded behind them, but the unease they left in their wake remained. Once they reached the relative safety of the containment unit room, Henry took up a position near the entrance. “Yen, get the Black Hornet in the air. We need to know what we’re dealing with.”
Isaac wasted no time as he prepped the nano drone for launch. Hopefully, the profile of the small helicopter drone would be enough to allow it to sneak through undetected. The device powered up, rotors spinning as it lifted from Isaac’s palm. With deft taps on his wrist control, Isaac directed the Black Hornet through the doorway into the stasis chamber.
Henry watched the drone feed’s camera feed on his HUD, jaw clenched tight as the device navigated the rows of stasis pods. The thermal imaging revealed little. The stasis platforms seemed to produce no excess heat, as if neither the machinery nor the creatures suspended within the fields existed.
Suddenly, the feed focused on a large, shape crouched over a smaller heat signature. As the drone drew closer, the details became clearer – it was an arachnid figure, akin to a very large spider and easily the size of a desk, feasting on the remains of the furry creature they had seen earlier.
Henry noted the creature’s size and behavior, calculating the potential threat it posed to the team. Observing the creature’s aggressive dismantling of the pray and the apparent liquefaction associated with its feeding, Henry suspected it might employ ambush tactics, akin to terrestrial trapdoor spiders. In fact, it looked familiar… almost like a –
“Spiranid,” Sera muttered, finishing Henry’s thoughts. “Though, I can’t say I’ve ever seen a Spiranid that looks quite like this.”
“This appears to be a primal form of Spiranid, potentially a precursor to the species we’re familiar with today,” Dr. Anderson pointed out. “I’m not as well versed as Dr. Perdue, but the segmentation of the abdomen and structure of its mandibles don’t match Spiranid documentation from the Adventurer’s Guild.”
“Wonder how different these ones are…” Ron said.
The drone continued its sweep, revealing two more stasis chambers ahead. Each room was crawling with more of the spiders, cocoons of their unfortunate victims tucked away in the corners. The smallest were the size of stools, while the largest were as big as couches. Henry counted at least ten in each room, noting their general positions.
As the drone pressed on, it entered a larger area, one devoid of stasis platforms. In the center of the room, the camera picked up a large, webbed-up structure that looked like it could be a power unit. Surrounding it were several large, pulsating masses that could only be eggs, visible even in the low light.
Henry brought his hand up, expanding the feed with his fingers. If that was the power source for this section of the facility, then those eggs were a problem. Clearing those eggs was crucial before even thinking about restoring power.
Just as he was about to give the order to recall the drone, the feed suddenly cut out. The last image seared into Henry’s mind – a massive, segmented leg filling the screen. “Damn,” he muttered, tightening his grip on his shotgun. “We’ve got a big one in there. Could be damn near the size of a truck, at least.”
“At least we got a map of the area,” Isaac said, uploading a basic layout of the rooms to their HUDs.
Henry glanced at the map at the top left of his heads-up display, which showed the rooms ahead and blue dots representing his team. “Alright, listen up. Stasis chambers first. Yen, get a new drone up. Owens, Hayes – flank security. Sera, Kelmithus, with me. Power room is the OBJ once we’ve cleared out the rooms. Sera, focus on the smaller targets. Leave the larger targets for our guns. We’ll try to minimize collateral damage as best we can. Kelmithus, focus on shielding and temperature: if these are anything like the spiders back home, extreme cold should slow them down a bit. Think you can manage that?”
Kelmithus nodded. “It shall be as the Lindwyrm’s magic. How great a chill must I summon?”
Henry gave it some thought. Their envirosuits were rated for extreme conditions, from the freezing Arctic to the void of space. The Gatebuilders’ technology could probably handle it as well. He figured Kelmithus could go all out. “As cold as possible, as quickly as possible. We’ll build up our tactical advantage; we push in after the temperature drops below freezing.”
“Once we reach the power room, our priority will be to neutralize the suspected queen and clear out the eggs. Expect CQB. Use the environment, maintain spacing, watch crossfire. Doc, identify any manual controls or interfaces. We’ll breach the rooms with flashbangs; no frags. Check your gear and we’ll head in.”
Everyone gave nods or thumbs up, signaling their readiness.
Henry raised his shotgun. “Let’s go.”
The archmage took a deep breath, focusing his energy as he approached the doorway. Henry watched as Kelmithus raised his staff, a faint blue glow emanating from its orb. The air around them began to cool rapidly, evident from a thin layer of frost that formed on the metal surfaces. As the temperature dropped, the corresponding icon on his HUD declined, finally plummeting below 30 Fahrenheit.
Kelmithus lowered his staff, the blue glow fading. “It is done,” he announced.
Henry signaled to Ron and Ryan, who were already stacked up on either side of the door. They acknowledged with sharp nods, waiting for the countdown. He held up three fingers, counting down silently. Three, two, one…
As Henry’s pinky went down, Ron and Ryan pushed through, their weapons sweeping the corners and potential hiding spots as they cleared the immediate area. Henry and the rest of the team entered the chamber. The spider’s must’ve retreated into the depths of the room, hoping to get away from the freezing temperatures as best they could. He noticed a glint of webbing tucked away in the far reaches of the room, near a light source.
“Sera, take point. Kel, lights,” Henry ordered with a hushed tone.
More orbs of light brightened the chamber. The soft tapping and stridulating from earlier had ceased, leaving an eerie silence. The stasis fields didn’t seem to be affected by the chill, their surfaces unblemished by frost, or any other indication of the freezing temperatures. They didn’t radiate heat, but he wondered if the Spiranids would’ve gravitated to them anyway, due to the faint light they gave.
Suddenly, a dark shape lunged from behind one of the active stasis fields, skittering towards them with alarming speed. Sera reacted instinctively, cleaving the dog-sized spider in two with almost no effort. The creature didn’t even have time to cry out, silenced by the sheer speed of its death.
Then, more jumped at them. “Contact!” Henry called out, already moving to acquire a target rushing at them from the right side.
He reacted instinctively, his shotgun snapping up as he squeezed the trigger. The blast echoed in the confined space, the buckshot tearing into the Spiranid’s carapace. It let out a high-pitched shriek, ichor splattering the ground as it thrashed. Henry blasted it again, following up in quick succession.
Sera whirled to her left, a blast of wind magic sending a pair of smaller Spiranids crashing into the wall. They twitched and went limp, their exoskeletons cracked. It seemed the stool-sized ones were fragile; he guessed that a basic stomp would be enough to neutralize them. The larger ones, however, seemed to soak damage much better than their miniature counterparts.
More Spiranids emerged from the shadows, scuttling along the walls and ceiling. Henry heard more weapons fire – powerful shotgun blasts, the dull cracks of an M7, and even the sound of someone’s M18. It was apparently Kelmithus, taking shots at a Spiranid that he’d impaled with an icicle.
The sight of an archmage in an envirosuit – wielding a staff in one hand and a gun in the other – was certainly a sight to behold. If he had to sum it up in one word, he’d say it was unreal. Maybe even badass. As unique as the scene was, he was sure he’d probably see more of it in the future. He kept the surprise in the back of his mind as he took down another Spiranid, this one the size of a desk and managing to eat a shot directly to the face.
A quick burst from Ron’s M7 took it down. That was the last one, for now. Henry signaled his team to move forward, reloading as they used the stasis fields for cover. He could hear the skittering of more Spiranids ahead, their shapes darting between platforms near the entrance to the next room. He held up a fist, signaling his team to hold position.
“Yen, Hayes, flank left,” he whispered into his comm. “Owens, with me. Everyone else, cover us.”
The arrows on his HUD spread out as his team moved to comply. Henry and Ron advanced slowly, their weapons trained on the gaps between the stasis units. The skittering grew louder. He didn’t know if spiders were capable of emotion, but if they were, the sounds now suggested they must’ve been completely pissed off.
As they reached the end of the row, Henry prepared a countdown. On one, he and Ron swung around the corner, weapons at the ready.
Four large Spiranids crouched behind the stasis platforms. Their glowing red eyes gave the impression of rage, mandibles clicking like a bunch of angry crickets on steroids. Yeah, they were definitely pissed off. Henry didn’t hesitate. He aimed at the nearest one and squeezed the trigger, the shotgun bucking in his hands as the buckshot tore into the creature’s carapace.
Ron fired simultaneously, hitting the closest target with a burst before quickly transitioning to the next. The monstrous spiders shrieked, their exoskeletons shattering under the onslaught of lead. Ichor splattered the walls and slid off the active stasis fields, pooling in sickly green puddles.
But one of them, larger than the others, didn’t want to go down easy. It lunged forward, faster than something that size had any right to move. It slammed into Ron, sending him sprawling. The creature then set its sights on Henry, its mandibles looking like it could crush the envirosuit plating. Henry brought his shotgun to bear on the Spiranid’s head and fired.
The creature reeled back, its face pockmarked with small holes from the pellets that struck it. Yet, it didn’t seem to be enough. Before he could get a second shot off, a blast of frigid air engulfed the creature. It screeched, its movements slowing as frost coated its exoskeleton. Sera stepped forward, her hand outstretched as the glow of magic faded from her gloved fingers.
Henry took the opening. He stepped in close, pressing the barrel of his Benelli M4 against the Spiranid’s frozen head and pulled the trigger. The blast shattered its carapace like a hammer through ice, fragments of frozen chitin tinkling to the floor. The Spiranid slumped over, its legs twitching in its final moments.
“Clear?” Henry called out, scanning the room.
“Clear,” came the response from Isaac and Ryan, who had circled around to the other side.
Henry helped Ron to his feet, checking him over for injuries. Thankfully, his envirosuit only appeared to have minor scratches – nothing that breached inside. “You good?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Ron grunted, rolling his shoulder. “Tough bastard caught me by surprise. Feel like a damn pinata today.”
“What doesn’t kill ya, am I right?” Henry remarked, suppressing a smile as Ron gave an annoyed sigh. He clapped Ron on the shoulder before turning to face the battlefield.
The floor was littered with Spiranid corpses, their ichor pooling on the metal. It was quite a mess; hopefully the collection personnel wouldn’t mind. The various parts here should be more than enough to satisfy Dr. Perdue for a while.
“Alright,” Henry called out. “Let’s keep moving. We’ve got more rooms to clear.”
As they regrouped, Henry checked his Holding Bag to keep track of his ammo expenditure. He still had enough to clear out a dozen more rooms if he needed to, thanks to the Holding Bag’s capacity. The standard buckshot worked well against the Spiranids, but sometimes he’d need to shoot two, maybe three times to take down one of the bigger ones. The white phosphorus ammo would definitely perform better, but these were hard to come by. After all, this ammo wasn’t supposed to exist or be in use anymore. He guessed he’d rather save them for the upcoming ‘ boss fight.’
Kelmithus had already moved toward the next chamber, staff glowing with an icy power. The team took up positions, ready to breach as soon as the temperature dropped.
The process was repeated, the cold slowing the Spiranids’ reactions as Henry and his team stormed the room. They moved from chamber to chamber, the routine becoming almost mechanical. Kelmithus would cool the room, they would breach, and the Spiranids would fall under a hail of lead and magic.
By the time they reached the final chamber, Henry’s stomach was growling from the constant effort – and he really needed to take a piss. The job was almost done. The stasis chambers were clear, the immediate threat neutralized.
As the team took a moment to catch their breath and regroup, Henry noticed Sera approaching him. She had a pensive look on her face, as if wrestling with a thought. “Captain, might I have a word?” she asked.
Henry turned to her, his brow furrowed slightly in concern. “Of course, Sera. What’s up?”
Sera hesitated for a moment, seeming to choose her words carefully. “Fighting alongside your party… ‘tis a far cry from what I’m accustomed to. Your coordination is impressive.”
Henry nodded. “Standard procedure for us. Having magic on our side though, it’s taken things to a whole new level. Those ice blasts? Damn handy.”
“You mentioned that the ‘offer’s always open’. Being with you –” she cleared her throat, “Fighting alongside you all... ‘Tis given me pause… about your offer.”
Henry raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Thought you weren’t really interested in joining up.”
“I have dabbled,” she admitted, “Yet beholding what we may accomplish jointly… it compels me to rethink.”
Sure, Sera knew how to fight, but she wasn’t a soldier. Henry regarded her carefully. “It’s a big decision. We operate differently than Adventurers. More structure, more rules.”
Sera scoffed. “Rules, I can abide. ‘Tis just…” She hesitated, looking away for a moment. Joining your team, ‘twould change things. For me.”
Henry nodded. “Yeah, it would. But y’know, you’d still be you. Your skills, your magic… that doesn’t change. You’d just be applying them in a new way.”
Sera looked up at him, her eyes telling him all of her concerns without the sound of a single word. It was obvious – she had been a solo adventurer for so long, and joining Alpha Team was a huge shift. However, Henry could also see that her time with them was probably the most exciting experience she’d had in a while, perhaps ever.
Sera’s eyes then grew determined. “I… I have decided. Seldom have I bound my lot with that of others. I oft find Adventurers distrustful, but I see now that it was a mistake to see you as I did others. Might I join your party? Would you accept me into Alpha Team?”
Henry offered a smile. “Sera, you’re one hell of a fighter and a valuable asset to any team. I’d be honored to have you join us, but it’s not entirely my decision to make.”
Sera tilted her head. “What do you mean?”
“Well, I am the leader of Alpha Team, but I still need to answer to my superiors back at Armstrong,” Henry explained. “Specifically, General Harding. Yeah, we’re a Party of Adventurers, but above that, we’re a military unit. So, the General’s the one who gives the final approval on any new members.”
Sera nodded. “I understand. And when might we seek his approval?”
“After we finish this mission and return to base,” Henry said. “I’ll vouch for you, and I’m sure the General will see the value in having you on the team. For now though, we’ve got other matters to focus on.”
“Right. The secrets of the Gatebuilders await.”
With a nod, Henry turned back to the others. “Alright, let’s get this done. We’ll sort out the rest later.”
As they rejoined the team, Henry noticed Isaac on his wrist controls, monitoring his HUD while tapping away.
“What’s our status?” he asked.
Isaac glanced up, sharing a live feed to Henry’s HUD. “See for yourself. Looks grim, Captain. Almost twenty hostiles, and…” He paused, “Think there’s another contact by that central obelisk. Bringing the drone around to get a better visual.”
The power room was expansive, centered around what appeared to be the main… generator? Encircling it were several pulsating masses resembling eggs. Shadowed corners revealed distinct Spiranid silhouettes, with one form dominating the others in size.
Just as the Spiranid Queen came into view, a string of white darted toward the display, the feed jostling as the drone was caught in what appeared to be a web. The Queen approached the camera, giving a menacing chitter as it crushed the drone under one of its legs.
Henry crossed his arms as the feed went dark. “Damn, that shit’s big,” he muttered. Turning to his team, he started his briefing, “Alright, we’ve got visual confirmation on a Spiranid Queen in there, plus about 20 smaller Spiranids. Hayes, switch to Whiskey Pete. Everyone else, check your gear, standby for breach.”
Ryan gave an amused grunt. “Been waitin’ for a chance to break out these beauties,” he murmured, sliding the white phosphorous-tipped shells into his shotgun.
Henry turned to Ron. “Owens, you’re on point with the Gustaf. On breach, engage the Queen. Prioritize the cephalothorax.” Catching Ron’s confused expression through his visor, Henry continued, “Uh, the head and neck area. Hopefully, we neutralize it quickly.”
Ron nodded, pulling a launcher out of his Holding Bag. “Solid copy.”
Henry addressed the rest of his team. “Everyone else, focus on the smaller Spiranids. Nades and suppressive fire the moment we step in. Watch your angles, control your bursts. Keep them away from the central unit; we don’t wanna accidentally make a reactor go critical. Kel, you’ve been throwing out a lot of magic. You good to chill the room ahead?”
Kelmithus gripped his staff. “Fear not, Captain. I yet have abundant reserves of mana.”
“Solid,” Henry acknowledged. “Sera, you’re our wildcard. Move smart, watch crossfire, and stay vocal.”
Sera unsheathed her sword. “Understood, Captain.”
Henry checked his Benelli M4 one last time. “Alright, stack up. Kel, work your magic. Breach on my mark.”
Henry watched the temperature drop, the warm colors on infrared giving way to the chilling blues. They were so close to finally unraveling the mysteries of the Gatebuilders. They’d dealt with the imposing Sentinel Lindwyrm outside; now, only the monstrous arachnid ahead stood in their way. As the room’s temperature dipped below freezing, Henry initiated the countdown. Three, two, one… execute.
-- --
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Here is the list that I wrote for Georgia's post Furman execution roster for my death penalty project. Like with the previous posts, the dates aren't a precise duration of time spent on death row, but rather an approximation of their earliest known criminal activities to their executions. Many of the crimes discussed in this post are also extremely horrific, and thus please read at your own risk.
As I finished finials yesterday, the remaining states, Missouri, Virginia, Florida, and Oklahoma might be released on a quicker pace. I'm planning on doing Missouri next, but it might be split into at least two separate parts due to the currently 98 executions that have taken place.
The currently executed 77 inmates:
1. John Smith (1974-1983, electric chair): Smith and his wife decided to kill her ex husband, 38 year old Ronald Atkins, and his 29 year old wife Juanita, when they learned that the daughter she had in their former marriage were beneficiaries of the Atkins' life insurance policy. The couple and another accomplice lured the Atkins' to their home with a promise of selling them a television set, and shot them both dead.
2. Ivon Stanley (1976-1984, electric chair): Stanley and an accomplice abducted Clifford Floyd, a 46 year old insurance agent, after they lured him into the accomplice's apartment. Floyd was dragged into a forest, beaten with a hammer, and tied to a tree. He was then shot and buried alive in a shallow grave. Floyd succumbed to a combination of blood loss and suffocation and a total of $234 was stolen from him in the attack.
3. Alpha Stephens (~1961-1984, electric chair): In 1973, Stephens shot dead 57 year old Louise Mercer while robbing a grocery store her brother owned. A year later, Stephens abducted Roy Asbell, a 49 year old minister, from his home with a gun he stole from Asbell's son. Asbell tried bribing his captor with hundreds of dollars in cash for his life, but Stephens simply snatched the money away, dragged Asbell to a barn, and shot him in the head. He had a significant rap sheet that included several armed robberies, prison breakouts, auto thefts, kidnappings, and burglaries, and was first arrested at the age of 16.
4. Roosevelt Green Jr. (1976-1985, electric chair): During a robbery of a convenience store, Green kidnapped the clerk, 18 year old Teresa Allen, stole $466 from the cash register, and drove away with his loot and hostage in her car. He then raped Allen, shot her to death, and dumped her body on a dirt road.
5. Van Solomon (1979-1985, electric chair): Solomon and his accomplice Brandon Jones gunned down 29 year old Roger Tackett while robbing a Tenneco store he managed. Ironically, Solomon himself was shot by an assailant robbing his grocery store some years before the murder.
6. John Young (1974-1985, electric chair): Young attacked 6 elderly men and women with bottles, lamps, fireplace pokers, and vases in their homes, across a single neighborhood. 3 of the victims, 85 year old Coleman Brice, his 83 year old wife Gladys, and 83 year old Katie Davis, were beaten to death in the assaults. Several variables such as jewelry and watches were taken as well.
7. Jerome Bowden (1976-1986, electric chair): Bowden and an accomplice stabbed 55 year old Kathryn Stryker to death and gravely wounded her bedridden mother, 76 year old Wessie Jenkins while burglarizing their home. Several items, such a wig, a pellet gun, some jewelry, and a television set was stolen in the intrusion. The television set was sold by Bowden to one of his acquaintances. Jenkins initially survived the attack, but died from complications relating to their injuries after Bowden was indicted for her daughter's murder.
8. Joseph Mulligan (1974-1987, electric chair): As part of a scheme to collect an insurance policy, Mulligan shot his sister's estranged husband, 30 year old Patrick Doe and Doe's girlfriend, 25 year old Marion Miller, while they were driving to a party. Doe was a captain in the United States Army at the time of his death.

1. Richard Tucker Jr. (~1963-1987, electric chair): In 1963, Tucker stabbed his aunt, 61 year old Annie Armstrong, 14 times with scissors while burglarizing her home. He was released from incarceration in 1978. 6 months after being let out of prison, Tucker abducted 50 year old Edna Sandefur from a hospital parking lot while she was visiting her ill mother, and drove her to a remote warehouse. He robbed and raped Sandefur, and then beat her to death with an iron pipe. Tucker also had previous convictions of burglary and attempted rape.

10. William Tucker (1977-1987, electric chair): Tucker abducted 19 year old Kathleen Parry, a pregnant clerk, while he was robbing a convenience store she was working at. He forced Parry at knifepoint to withdraw money from the cash register, and dragged her into his car. When they drove to a chapel, Tucker stabbed her to death.
11. William Mitchell (1974-1987, electric chair): Mitchell accosted 50 year old Willard Williams while he was walking down a street and mugged him of $4. He then forced Williams to lay down and shot him execution style. In the following day, he held 34 year old Peggy Carr and her 14 year old son Christopher at gunpoint while they were opening their family owned store. Despite Peggy giving him $160, he made rape threats against her and forced the pair into a freezer. Both mother and son were shot several times and left for dead by Mitchell. Christopher died at the scene, while his mother survived her injuries.
12. Timothy McCorquodale (1974-1987, electric chair): McCorquodale and his entourage accused Donna Dixon, a 17 year old runaway, of stealing money from him and giving it to a black pimp that he thought she was having a relationship with. He bombarded Dixon with racist insults and sexual advances as he and his accomplices kidnapped her from a club. After she was taken to McCorquodale’s apartment, Dixon was bound, and repeatedly beaten and raped. They tortured her by cutting her breasts with razor blades, burned her body with cigarette butts and candle wax, and she was violated with a bottle. The abuse ended when McCorquodale broke her arms and legs, and strangled her to death with a clothesline.
13. James Messer Jr. (1979-1988, electric chair) To get back at his estranged wife for leaving him with their children, Messer kidnapped her niece, 8 year old Rhonda Tanner, while he was picking her up from school. He raped and severely beat Tanner in a forest and stabbed her to death.
14. Henry Willis III (1976-1989, electric chair): Willis and his accomplices abducted a policeman, 29 year old James Giddens, that was dispatched to stop their robbery of a food market. They took the captive officer near a lake, where he tried to escape by jumping into it. Willis and one of his partners shot Giddens dead while he was trying to swim to safety.
15. Warren McCleskey (1978-1991, electric chair): McCleskey robbed a jewelry store at gunpoint, and fired on the responding officers. One of the officers, 30 year old Frank Schlatt was killed in the shooting.
16. Thomas Stevens (1977-1993, electric chair): Stevens and Christopher Burger abducted a fellow soldier, 20 year old Roger Honeycutt, who was also working as a cab driver, when he picked them up from the enlisted men's club on Fort Stewart. Honeycutt was tied up with a cord, robbed of $20, and sodomized repeatedly by both of his captors. The pair then locked Honeycutt in the trunk of the cab, and drove it into a pond as they jumped out. Being unable to escape, Honeycutt drowned as his car sank into the pond's depths.
17. Christopher Burger (1977-1993, electric chair): As mentioned under Thomas Stevens' section, Burger assisted in the robbery, abduction, rape, and murder of Roger Honeycutt.
18. William Hance (1977-1994, electric chair): Hance, a former Marine that transferred himself to the Army, abducted at least 3 women, 32 year old Irene Thirkield, 24 year old Karen Hickman, and 21 year old Gail Jackson. Thrikield and Jackson were black prostitutes and Hickman was a white Marine servicewoman that was stationed in the same base as Hance. They were all raped and beaten to death with jack handles and tire irons. In a misguided attempt to throw off the police and attract media attention, Hance staged a convoluted hoax involving a race war between a gang of white vigilantes and a gang of black counter vigilantes. He tried to pretend that his victims were murdered from retaliatory killings between the two groups. Hance was also suspected in the murder of another woman in Indiana, but was never charged of it.
19. Nicholas Ingram (1983-1995, electric chair): Ingram broke into the home of 55 year old J.C. Sawyer and his wife Mary. He forced them to hand over $60 and their car keys at gunpoint, tied the couple together to a tree, and shot both of them. J.C. was killed, while Mary survived their ordeal. Ingram then stole their car and fled to California. While a fugitive hiding out in California, he committed another carjacking, and ran off to Nebraska, where he was detained for a DUI and deported back to Georgia to face trial. Due to being a British national, Ingram's execution sparked outrage in the United Kingdom.
20. Darrell Devier (1979-1995, electric chair): Devier lured 12 year old Mary Stoner into his car while she was walking home from school. He raped her in a forest, made an attempt to strangle her during their struggle, and crushed Stoner's head with a rock. Months before the murder, Devier was accused of raping a 13 year old girl, but the charges against him were dismissed from the lack of sufficient evidence.
21. Larry Lonchar (1986-1996, electric chair): During a dispute over gambling debts, Lonchar confronted his bookkeeper, 54 year old Wayne Smith, at his condo while pretending to be a FBI agent. In the altercation, he bound Wayne and his 24 year old son Steven with handcuffs, and shot and stabbed them to death. Wayne's girlfriend, 45 year old Margaret Sweat, called 911, and was also shot and stabbed to death while she was on the phone with the dispatcher. Another one of Wayne's sons was attacked in the incident, but he managed to survive his injuries.
22. Ellis Felker (1977-1996, electric chair): Evelyn Ludlam, a 19 year old cocktail waitress for the Holiday Inn, was lured into Flelker's clutches when he promised her work at his leather store. For religious reasons, Ludlam was disaffected with her job, and wanted a new line of work. Felker raped and strangled Ludlam to death and sexually mutilated her body. After he murdered Ludlem, Felker dumped her remains in a creek. He was registered sex offender with a sodomy conviction at the time of Ludlam's death.
23. David Cargill (1985-1998, electric chair): Cargill and his brother stormed a gas station, and forced a couple, 41 year old Danny and 29 year old Cheryl Williams, to lie on the floor. Cheryl was a clerk for the station, and Danny stopped by to help her close down after he put their sons to bed. The brothers shot the couple execution style, and stole a total of $482.79 from the register. They were also involved with several carjackings.
24. Terry Mincey (1982-2001, lethal injection): Mincey and his accomplices robbed a convenience store at gunpoint, and forced the clerk, 38 year old Paulette Riggs to empty the cash register into their bag. They shot her dead, and took 2 teenage siblings hostage that were present in the store. Coincidentally, a firefighter pulled up to the scene to refill his truck, and Mincey shot and wounded him. The siblings took the opportunity to escape and fled into a nearby field.
25. Jose High (1976-2001, lethal injection): High and his accomplices abducted 11 year old Bonnie Bulloch and his stepfather, 27 year old Henry Philips, from a gas station they were operating, after emptying the cash register. The robbers forced the pair into their car, reportedly taunted the captives about their intentions to kill them, and drove to a remote forest. They then shot Bulloch dead and wounded Philips.
26. Fred Gilreath Jr. (1979-2001, lethal injection): Gilreath's wife, 28 year old Linda, moved out of their home to escape their disintegrating marriage. When Linda returned with her father, 57 year old Gerrit Van Leeuwen, to pack up her belongings, Gilreath shot them both dead.
27. Byron Parker (1984-2001, lethal injection): Parker enticed 11 year old Christie Griffith into his car after she missed her taxi that was supposed to take her to her older brother's high school graduation. He bound Griffith to a tree, and raped and strangled her death, while his two year old son was waiting for him in their car.
28. Ronald Spivey (~1961-2002, lethal injection): While playing pool at a bar, Spivey got into a fight with 32 year old Charles McCook over money he perceived to have won, and shot him to death. A day later, he robbed a bank and took hostages. He fatally shot Bill Watson, a 40 year old off duty police officer that tried to stop him, and injured the manager, 21 year old Welton Allen. Allen tried fleeing to a nearby restaurant, and Spivey following him into it in pursuit. He fired on the establishment in an attempt to kill him, but missed and wounded an employee caught in the crossfire. Spivey then kidnapped a waitress and forced her to drive him to Alabama. She was rescued unharmed by local authorities when they pulled over and captured Spivey. A search of the stolen car found that Spivey stole a total of $360 in his robberies. His previous convictions include several counts of forgery, armed robbery, and auto theft.
29. Tracy Housel (1984-2002, lethal injection) Housel was a sexual predator and thief that victimized men and women alike between the ages of 18-45. He worked as a interstate truck driver, and picked up victims that he befriended from stops all across the country. They were driven to isolated locations, where Housel would bind, rob, and sodomize them. His killing methods were diverse and circumstantial, but Housel mostly used strangulations, beatings, and stabbings in the attacks. Housel was convicted in the deaths of Troy Smith (age unknown) and 44 year old Jean Drew, and is suspected in and/or confessed to 15 other murders. He was also responsible for several non fatal assaults and robberies. Like Nicholas Ingram, Housel's death sentence and execution sparked outrage in the United Kingdom due to him being a British national.
30. Wallace Fugate III (1991-2002, lethal injection): Fugate forced himself inside the home of his ex wife, 39 year old Pattie. He pistol whipped Pattie dozens of times and shot her dead in front of their 15 year old son. Unrelated to the case, but that son was beaten to death in the same house by his friends a year after Fugate's conviction.
31. William Putman (1980-2002, lethal injection): Purtman shot and killed 49 year old William Hodges on the side of a highway. Hours later, he snuck up on a married couple, 28 year old Kate Back and 22 year old David Hardin, sleeping at a rest stop in their car with their children (which included a 9 year old daughter, a 7 year old son, and an 11 month old daughter) and 14 year old niece. He shot David dead and tried to abduct Kate. When she resisted and screamed for her husband, Purtman shot her as well and fled the scene.
32. Larry Moon (1984-2003, lethal injection): According to prosecutors, Moon ambushed 34 year old Ricky Callahan while the later was walking to a pharmacy to buy headache medicine for his wife. Callahan was shot in the head during the attack and had $60 taken from his wallet. Moon was also suspected in the shooting deaths of Jimmy Hutcheson (age unknown) and Thomas DeJose (age unknown), several robberies, and the abduction and sexual assault of a female impersonator. The prosecution failed to convict him for the murder of DeJose on the grounds of self defense and the murder of Butcheson on the lack of sufficient evidence. His conviction for Callahan's murder is contested, as Moon and his supporters claim that a late hitman confessed to the killing.
33. Carl Isaacs (~1960s-2003, lethal injection): Isaacs, with the help of two of his brothers and a cellmate, escaped from the Maryland State prison, and fatally shot 19 year old Richard Miller when he tried to stop them from stealing a car. The group drove by a Georgia gas pump in the hopes of refilling their getaway car. However, the pump was empty, and decided to burglarize a nearby trailer belonging to the Alday family (which consisted of brothers, 62 year old Ned and 57 year old Aubrey, Ned's sons, 35 year old Jerry and 32 year old Chester, and Jerry's 26 year old wife Mary) while they were gone. When the family returned home, Isaacs and his accomplices held the entire family at gun point, gang-raped Mary several times, and shot them all dead. Isaacs had a very troubled history, and committed several burglaries and robberies as a teenager.
34. James Brown (~1968-2003, lethal injection): Brown went on a date with Brenda Watson, a 21 year old stripper. After they were drinking and partying together at a bar, Brown tied up Watson with nylon stockings, and raped and asphyxiated her by shoving panties down her throat. He had a long history involving violence towards women. One of his previous convictions involved an incident of him breaking into a woman’s home, and (non fatally) stabbing and sexually assaulting her. Brown also had a warrant at the time of Watson’s murder for aggravated robbery, kidnapping, and sexual assault charges when he lured another woman by posing as an artist in need of a model.
35. Robert Hicks (~1970s-2004, lethal injection): Hicks laid his eyes on 28 year old Joni Rivers while she was talking to her boyfriend using a grocery store payphone. He chased down Rivers when she tried to flee from him and nearly decapitated her in a frenzied stabbing attack. Rivers' shoes, shorts, and ring were taken and found in Hicks' car. Hicks was released from prison months earlier after serving a half of a 15 year sentence for sexually abusing a 16 year old girl.
36. Eddie Crawford (1983-2004, lethal injection): Crawford tried spending the night with one of his estranged wife's sisters after a drinking binge, but she ejected him from her home. Out of anger, he abducted Leslie English, her 2 year old daughter, from the girl's bedroom, and then raped and strangled her to death.
37. Timothy Carr (1992-2005, lethal injection): Carr and his girlfriend attended a party with 17 year old Keith Young. The couple decided that they wanted to rob the boy, and they lured him into a forest with the help of two other teenagers. Carr slit Young's throat, and then proceeded to beat him to death with a baseball bat. He and his accomplices stole a $125 paycheck and Young's car in the robbery.
38. Stephen Mobley (1991-2005, lethal injection): Mobley shot and killed 25 year old John Collins while robbing a Domino's Pizza restaurant he was managing. He had also held up 6 other restaurants and dry-cleaning shops at gunpoint in his month long crime spree.
39. Robert Conklin (~1981-2005, lethal injection): Conklin stabbed his boyfriend, 28 year old George Crooks, in the ear with a screwdriver in their apartment, and dismembered his body. In an attempt to get rid of the remains, he stuffed them in a garbage disposal in their kitchen and a nearby dumpster. At the time of Crooks' murder, Conklin was on parole from a 6 year sentence for armed robbery.
40. John Hightower (1987-2007, lethal injection): While under the influence of cocaine, Hightower shot his wife, 41 year old Dorothy, and his stepdaughters, 22 year old Sandra and 19 year old Evelyn Reaves, to death in their sleep.
41. William Lynd (1988-2008, lethal injection): Lynd got into an argument with his girlfriend, 26 year old Ginger Moore, over a planned vacation and shot her to death. While on the run in Ohio, he tried to hijack a car, and shot the driver, 42 year old Leslie Sharkey, in the process. Sharkey managed to crawl to safety, and notified the authorities of the attack. She died of her injuries a few days after the shooting.
42. Curtis Osborne (1990-2008, lethal injection): Osborne, a career drug dealer, shot his girlfriend's brother, 29 year old Arthur Jones, and Jones' girlfriend, 28 year old Linda Seaborne, dead in argument over money gained from a motorcycle sale. His death sentence was controversial, as Osborne claimed that his attorney denied him a plea bargain for a racist agenda.
43. Jack Alderman (1975-2008, lethal injection): In an attempt to collect a life insurance policy, Alderman beat his wife, 20 year old Barbara, to death with a wench.
44. Robert Newland (1986-2009, lethal injection): Newland went to the apartment of his girlfriend, 27 year old Carol Beatty, after a drinking binge, and tried to kiss her. When she rejected and slapped him, Newland stabbed and disemboweled her alive. Just before she succumbed to her injuries, Beatty used her own blood to identify Newland as her attacker to the first responders.
45. William Mize (1994-2009, lethal injection): Mize was a leader of a white supremacist gang called the National Vastilian Aryan Party, in which 34 year old Eddie Tucker had filed to join. When Tucker disobeyed his orders to burn down a "crack house" as part of an initiation ritual, Mize lured him into a forest and shot him dead.
46. Mark McClain (1994-2009, lethal injection): McClain robbed a Domino pizza parlor after ordering a pizza. He shot the manger, 28 year old Kevin Brown, dead and stole $130 from the register.
47. Melbert Ford Jr. (1986-2010, lethal injection): Ford had a very specific fantasy about robbing, abducting and then murdering his ex girlfriend, 30 year old Martha Matich, after forcing her beg for mercy. He decided to make his fantasies into a reality, and stormed the grocery store she worked at with the help of an accomplice he hired. Ford shot Matich and her niece, 11 year old Lisa Chapman, dead, and stole $579 from the register.
48. Brandon Rhode (1998-2010, lethal injection): Rhode and his accomplice Daniel Lucas broke into a house, and encountered the residents, 37 year old Steven Moss, and his two children, 15 year old Kristin and 11 year old Bryan. Bryan was home alone when the intruders arrived, and tried to fight them off with a baseball bat. Lucas and Rhodes quickly subdued the boy and shot him to death. Kristen and Steven were also shot dead when they returned home. Their bodies were discovered by Gerri, Steven's wife and the children's mother. The pair were career burglars, and previously targeted the Moss home weeks before the massacre.
49. Emmanuel Hammond (~1983-2011, lethal injection): Hammond, his girlfriend, and her cousin spotted 27 year old Julia Love broken down on the side of the road. They dragged her into their car after she declined their offer for a ride. Love was tied up, forced to withdraw $140 from an ATM, and raped. The attackers partially strangled Love and shot her to death in a remote forest. In exchange for having all charges dropped, Hammond's girlfriend agreed to testify against him and her cousin. He tried to hire a fellow inmate to permanently silence her testimony, but was foiled by prison officials. Hammond had numerous previous convictions, but my sources didn't disclose details.
50. Roy Blankenship (1978-2011, lethal injection): Blankenship climbed into a home of 78 year old Sara Bowen after breaking her window. He raped and beat Bowen, and penetrated her with a bottle. She succumbed to a heart attack from the stress of the assault.
51. Andrew DeYoung (1993-2011, lethal injection): Wanting to use their life insurance policies to start his dream business, DeYoung stabbed his parents, 42 year old Gary and 41 year old Kathryn, and his sister, 14 year old Sarah, to death, and unsuccessfully ordered his accomplice to kill his 16 year old brother Nathan. Nathan escaped through a window and went to a neighbor for help.
52. Troy Davis (1988-2011, lethal injection): Davis was sentenced to death for a crime spree involving several robberies, the non fatal shooting of a teenager, and the beating of a homeless man, Troy Young (age unknown). Larry MacPhail, a 27 year old police officer and security guard, was shot and killed when he intervened in an attempt to protect Young. Davis' execution was controversial, as he managed to amass a popular following that believed in his innocence during his time on death row. He previously plead guilty for a carrying concealed weapons charge, and Davis paid a $250 fine as part of a plea agreement to avoid prison time.
53. Andrew Cook (1995-2003, lethal injection): On a random whim, Cook walked up to a couple, 22 year old Grant Hendrickson and 19 year old Michele Cartagena, parked near a lake, and shot them both to death in their car.
54. Marcus Wellons (1989-2014, lethal injection): Wellons took an obsessive sexual interest in his neighbor, 15 year old India Roberts, and began to stalk and harass the girl in an attempt to groom her into a "relationship." At one point, he even pressured his girlfriend's 14 year old son to date her. His illicit pursuit of Roberts alarmed his girlfriend and she tried evicting him from their apartment. With his relationship in shambles, Wellons' behavior escalated beyond the breaking point. After he ransacked his now ex girlfriend's apartment and poured bleach on her clothes, Wellons ambushed and abducted Roberts while she was walking to school. He raped and strangled her to death with a telephone cord.
55. Robert Holsey (~1990s-2014, lethal injection): Holsey shot and killed Will Robinson, a 26 year old Sheriff's Deputy, during a robbery of a convenience store. At the time of the shooting, he was on parole for an armed robbery conviction.
56. Andrew Brannan (~1980s-2015, lethal injection): In 1998, Branner was pulled over for speeding by Kyle Dinkheller, a 22 year old deputy. While Dinkheller was trying to file a citation, Branner became belligerent, pulled an M1 carbine out of his truck, and opened fire. Dinkheller was killed in the shootout, but he managed to wound Branner in his return fire. Branner was a Vietnam combat veteran, and he tried to use PTSD as a defense for the fatal shooting of Dinkheller and previous domestic abuse charges from his ex wife.
57. Warren Hill Jr. (~1985-2015, lethal injection): Hill was given a life sentence when he shot and killed his girlfriend, 18 year old Myra Wright. His sentence escalated to death a few years later when he fatally beat his cellmate, 34 year old Joseph Handspike, with a nailed board. At the time of his own murder, Handspike was also serving a life sentence for shooting and killing a restaurant manager during a robbery.
58. Kelly Gissendaner (1997-2015, lethal injection): Out of a desire to leave their marriage and to collect a life insurance policy, Gissendan assisted her boyfriend in abducting her husband, 30 year old Douglas, from their home. Her boyfriend stabbed Douglas to death, and she set their car on fire to destroy his body. The couple were also charged with attempting to intimidate witnesses during the murder trial.
59.Marcus Johnson (1994-2015, lethal injection): After Johnson picked up 35 year old Angela Sizemore from a bar, he sexually assaulted her with a knife. Sizemore was stabbed 41 times in the attack, and her throat was cut. Her body was found in her car by a man walking his dog hours after the murder.
60. Brian Terrell (~1992-2015, lethal injection): Terrell forged up to $8,000 in checks using 70 year old John Watson's name. Watson, who was seeking a relationship with Terrell's mother, tried to make a deal that he wouldn't pursue any charges if the money was returned to him. According to prosecutors, Terrell broke into Watson's home, and beat and fatally shot him to avoid repaying the money. His execution caused controversy, as the defense attorneys claimed that the footprints at the scene were smaller then his feet, and that he was condemned only by what they perceived to be misused testimony from his cousin (that testified against him in exchange for a plea deal) and a neighbor (who allegedly claimed that they saw "someone else walk out of the home"). Those arguments were shut down by the courts, but embraced by anti death penalty activist groups and outlets. Regardless of his guilt or lack thereof, strong evidence points to him perpetrating similar armed robberies of other homes, and was on parole at the time of Watson's murder.
61. Brandon Jones (1979-2016, lethal injection): Jones was an accomplice to the above mentioned Van Solomon, and participated in the robbery that killed Roger Tackett.
62. Travis Hittson (1993-2016, lethal injection): Hittson, who was serving on the U.S.S. Forrestal, was convinced by a crewmate to kill Conway Utterbeck, a 20 year old fellow sailor, for the thrill of killing. When they were off duty, Hittson and his accomplice walked into the home of Herbeck's parents, and found Herbeck sleeping on the couch. Before they shot him to death, the pair bludgeoned Herbeck with a baseball bat. To prevent the body's identification, they chopped off his hands, feet, and head with a hacksaw, and dumped his dismembered remains in two separate burial sites across a 300 mile radius.
63. Joshua Bishop (1994-2016, lethal injection): Bishop and another man accosted 44 year old Leverett Morrison at a bar, and demand to have the keys to his jeep. When Morrison refused, the pair beat him to death. Bishop also orchestrated the beating death of 36 year old Ricky Wills for having intercourse with his prostitute mother. The prosecution declined to charge Bishop for Willis' murder, as they wanted to use it as evidence to help secure his death sentence for Morrison's slaying.
64. Kenneth Fults (1996-2016, lethal injection): Fults forced his way inside the home of 19 year old Cathy Bonds. He bound, gagged, and blindfolded Bonds with duct tape, and made an attempt to smother her with a pillow. When that failed, Fults shot Bonds in the head, stole her keys, and drove away with her car.
65. Daniel Lucas (1998-2016, lethal injection): Lucas was the accomplice to the above mentioned Brandon Rhode, and he assisted him in murdering Steven Moss and his children in their home.
66. John Conner (1982-2016, lethal injection): In a drunken rage, Connor beat his friend, 29 year old James White, to death with a whisky bottle and a stick while visiting him in his home. The two had gotten in fight when White refused to take Connor to a liquor store.
67. Gregory Lawler (1997-2016, lethal injection): Lawler and his girlfriend were walking home intoxicated after drinking heavily at a bar, and got into a fight. A witness called the police, and officers, 28 year old John Sowa and 38 year old Patricia Cocciolone, were sent to the scene. They carried Lawler's girlfriend to their car, and drove her to the couple's apartment. Lawler was allowed to walk home unescorted. When he arrived, Lawler grabbed an AR-15, and fired on the officers. Sowa was killed, while Cocciolone survived with crippling injuries and called for backup. The other officers besieged Lawler in his apartment, and he surrendered after a 44 minute standoff.
68. Steven Spears (2001-2016, lethal injection): Spears suspected that his girlfriend, 34 year old Sherri Holland, was cheating on him. He reacted to his suspicions by wrapping Holland's head with duct tape and suffocating her with a plastic bag in her home.
69. William Sallie (1989-2016, lethal injection): Sallie's ex wife, 19 year old Robin Moore, divorced him for his physical abuse and moved back to her family (consisting of her parents, 49 year old John and Linda (age unknown), and her siblings, 17 year old April and 10 year old Justin). He was able to acquire visitation rights to their 2 year old son from the courts, and used that pretext to attack the family. Sallie charged into the Moore family home, shot and killed John, wounded Linda and bound her to Justin with handcuffs, and kidnapped Robin and April. The sisters were both kept captive and sexually assaulted together in a trailer, but they were spared and released after a few hours.
70. J. Ledford Jr. (1992-2017, lethal injection): Ledford was welcomed inside a home by the wife of his neighbor, 73 year old Harry Johnston Jr.. He tied up the couple at knifepoint, stole an undisclosed amount of money and guns, kidnapped Johnston, and drove away with him in his truck. Johnston's body was later found near an abandoned building. He was half decapitated, had a knife embedded in his back, and covered with several minor stab wounds.
71. Carlton Gary (~1964-2018, lethal injection): Gary raped and murdered at least 8 mostly elderly women between 40-89 years old. Almost all of his victims were killed in their homes, but his youngest, 40 year old Marion Fisher of New York, was abducted while walking out of a bar. They were all strangled to death with nylon stockings, which is why Gary was given the “Stocking Slayer" epithet by the media. Despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary, including positive DNA tests, testimonies from surviving victims, fingerprints found on crime scenes, and semen samples, Gary still has a vocal following trying to proclaim his innocence. He had an extensive criminal history, which started with several arson, assault, and robbery charges as a teenager.
72. Robert Butts Jr. (1996-2018, lethal injection): Butts and his accomplice Marion Wilson carjacked Donovan Parks, a 24 year old off duty correctional officer, after he agreed to give them a ride home from Walmart. They forced Parks to exit the car and the shot him in the head execution style. Both Butts and Wilson were part of a Latin Kings set, and are believed to have killed Parks to gain more prestige from their gang. Butt's previous convictions include charges of shoplifting and burglary.
73. Scotty Morrow (1999-2019, lethal injection): Angry that his ex girlfriend, 26 year old Barbara Young, broke up with him for his abusive behavior, Morrow shot her, and her friend, 21 year old Tonya Wood, dead in their home. A third woman, 18 year old Latoyna Horn, was injured in the shooting. Young's two children, a 5 year old son and an 8 month old daughter, witnessed the killings, but were unharmed.
74. Marion Wilson Jr. (1999-2019, lethal injection): Wilson assisted Robert Butts, a fellow Latin King gangster, in the carjacking and shooting murder of officer Donovan Parks. He had a lengthy and very violent criminal history, which included the non fatal shootings of a Mexican migrant worker and a drug dealer during robberies, unprovoked assaults on a classmate and a youth worker, and an arson attack on an apartment complex. His friends noted that Wilson had a penchant for animal cruelty, and they reported seeing him shooting dogs on random whims.
75. Ray Cromartie (1994-2019, lethal injection): While robbing a grocery store, Cromartie and his accomplice shot two clerks, 50 year old Richard Slysz and Daniel Wilson (age unknown). Slysz died at the scene and Wilson survived with crippling injuries.
76. Donnie Lance (~1990s-2020, lethal injection): Lance broke down the door of his ex wife's, 39 year old Sandra, and fatally shot her boyfriend, 33 year old Dwight Wood Jr.. He then used the butt of his gun to club Sandra to death. According to court documents, Lance subjected Sandra to extreme abuse during their marriage, and reportedly kidnapped and tortured her with beatings, strangulations, and electrocutions on numerous occasions.
77. Willie Pye (~1985-2024, lethal injection): Pye's ex girlfriend, 21 year old Alicia Yarbrough, had a child with another man that he believed was his. Despite his suspicions, Yarbrough and their boyfriend pushed Pye out of the child’s life. In retaliation, Pye and two accomplice’s broke into Yarbrough’s ex boyfriend’s home to rob it, but found her alone with her infant. They abducted and robbed Yarbrough of her jewelry at gunpoint, raped her for several hours in a motel room, and shot her a total of 3 times in the head. Due to reports of him allegedly being cognitively disabled, Pye’s execution sparked some controversy. He was previously convicted of burglary.

Hey Sportsfans — it's time for Week 5 of baseball Power Rankings: It's the end of April, which teams are screaming 'MAYDAY'? Which teams don't want this month to end? Please enjoy these baseball numbers.
Every voter has their own style / system and the only voting instructions are these:

"To an extent determined individually, you must take into account how strong a team is right now and likely to be going forward. You must, to some degree, give weight to the events and games of the previous week."

TRANSPARENCY: This link will show you who voted each team where and has added neat statistics!
Auxilliary Post: You can view extra stats and breakdowns posted here.
If something is a little messed up, feel free to pester me let me know.
Total Votes: 29 of 30. So close.

#		Team	Δ	Comment	Record
1		Braves	0	Braves pitching gave up only 10 earned runs in 6 games this week. That is a team ERA of 1.66. This is a great sign. Our SPs were excellent this week and that has been the weakness of the team (if there is one) so far. This team is 19-7 which is a 162 game pace of 118-44. This is while Acuña, Riley and Olson are not really doing much. Tough week on deck with a West Coast road trip against both Western Division's top teams in the Mariners and Dodgers.	19-7
2		Yankees	0	Oh thank God above Judge is finally hitting. I wasn’t worried per se, but it sure is relieving to see he’s finally doing it. It’s been fun playing these road games against the Brewers in Hiroshima and Nagasaki over the weekend, which is where I assume they were based on the sheer amount of firepower we put up against them. Right now we have Volpe, Soto, Rizzo, and Trevino all batting above .270, which is truly a breath of fresh air compared to last year when All-Star names routinely looked like Quadruple-A players. On a side note, I’m kind of floored the White Sox swept the Rays? Like wtf man? I was told the White Sox might possibly be a group of Blackhawks rejects cool-runningsing their way to a major league roster. Where are the flappy parts?	19-10
3		Dodgers	+3	The Dodgers had an ok week going 5-1 and having 19+ hits in two of those games. Freddie Freeman is heating up now, Shohei is still on full blast, and Chris Taylor even got a hit! Soon there will be no one to stand in the way of the blue crew except themselves and 29 other teams and their fanbases.	18-12
4		Orioles	-1	The sky is falling in Baltimore, or at least that is what orioles would have you believe. A couple of blown saves this weekend from a now "injured" Kimbrel and Jackson Holliday being demoted aren't great. The good news is both John Means and Kyle Bradish are on their way back to the rotation, and this team is still on pace to win 102 games. When those two come back the question will be what happens to the rotation? Do you make it a 6 man to keep both Irvin and Kremer in it? Do you move Irvin to the long-man role? Also, who becomes the closer with Kimbrel possibly out? If I was Mike Elias, I would not have let Mason Miller leave Baltimore, but I unfortunately am not him. To say this series against the Yankees this week is "big" in April is a bit much. It will be a decent barometer though for the rest of the year.	17-10
5		Guardians	0	I was worried the Guardians would get completely humiliated by the Braves. That did not happen, though I was disappointed we got a series L. The Red Sox series went pretty well too, but this team could use a starter. This week, we play my most disliked team, the trashcans/Asstros/Asterisks/Trashtros/Astros. I REALLY hope we sweep them.	19-9
6		Phillies	+1	The Phillies are good??? I think a lot of Philly fans expected a down week this week after a 6 game winning streak aganist bad teams, but they kept up the elite play against two decent teams on the road. The starting pitching continues to be absolutely incredible, led by Ranger Suarez and his 0.63 WHIP. Taijuan Walker made his season debut and seems ready to take over for a shockingly torrid start to the season by Spencer Turnbull of all people. The offense has also finally picked up with the 6th best team OPS in the majors. Alec Bohm has been absolutely on fire to start the season with a 1.056 OPS and not terrible defense. If he can perform anywhere close to this level or even his 2020 rookie season level, the lineup is suddenly so much deeper. Trea Turner is also playing as he was expected to, although he could probably steal a few more bases. They finish up the west coast road trip with 3 in Anaheim and come home for a 4 game set against the Giants (that goes into next week? I've never seen that before).	19-10
7		Brewers	-3	My wife isn't a baseball fan, but she agrees to go to one game a year, so I try to really make it worth it. I've been raving about this team and how we really look good this year, so she was a bit more excited to go than normal, but leave it to the Brewers to make me look like a fool. We gave up 15 runs, looked pathetic at the plate, ended the game with a position player pitching, and had to put up with terrible wind and rain on our way home. The worst part is, you still don't even know if I went to the game on Saturday or Sunday.	17-10
8		Cubs	0	The Cubs kept winning this week, going 4-2 even as they lost yet more key players to injury. The injury bug came for Cody Bellinger (Rib Strain) and SP Jordan Wicks (Forearm strain). While neither injury appears to be serious, coupled with the other injuries the Cubs are now down their two best hitters and 2 key starters moving forward. Fortunately, top prospect Pete-Crow Armstrong filled in admriably, as his first MLB hit was a go-ahead 2-run HR to clinch a sweep of the Astros. Looking ahead, the Cubs have a 4-game series against the Mets in NY before a 3-game set with the Brewers, their first divisional series of the season.	17-11
9		Red Sox	+6	Are the Sox actually a good team? After a month of baseball, I'm still not certain I can answer that question. If you had told me this offseason that Bello, Pivetta, Whitlock, Giolito, Casas, Story, Grissom, TON, and Devers would be injured (minor to severe) during March/April, I would've assumed we'd be dead last in the AL East with one of the worst pitching staffs in the league. Instead, our team ERA is 2.68, and we've managed to outplay a much healthier Toronto and a similarly cursed Tampa. Boston making the playoffs will be determined by how much of that pitching performance is real, sustainable improvement over 2023, and how much is plain old luck.	16-13
10		Royals	0	Am I high on the Royals comparatively? Probably. However, the Royals also got through what was expected to be the most difficult part of their schedule with a winning record. There are question marks and areas that could use improvement, but the Royals are exceeding expectations after the first month.	17-12
11		Rangers	-2	A seres win against the Reds, and offense is starting to show some slight signs of life. There has definitely been a slow start to the season, mostly due to injuries so getting guys healthly and back and there might be a run of solid baseball in the future, especially with a semi-favorable schedule coming up.	15-14
12		Mariners	+6	Back-to-back series wins against the World Series teams from last year is good, and being on top of the divsion is better. The injury bug coming around - not so good. Brash being shut down indefinitely puts even more pressure on the Mariners pitching lab to turn those reliever arms into nasty weapons - it's certainly worked for Gabe Speier so far. Speaking of pitching, the rotation has been filthy, holding two of the top offenses in MLB to just over 1 run/game this week and throwing a Quality Start nearly every game the past few turns in the order. The offense may still be lacking, but if they can keep holding teams to that run total they're going to win a lot of games. Up next: 3 vs. Jarred Kelenics, 3 @ Trashcans	15-13
13		Reds	+1	I’m not doing my usual dumb shitpost this week, it’s been a shitty couple days. My family dog died on Saturday morning, so I hope you excuse me taking a week off of trying to write out some goofy stuff to make people laugh. The Reds played okay baseball this week, we split a series with the Phillies and lost a series to the Rangers. Our offense is beyond inconsistent and we sorely miss the presence of TJ Friedl and Matt McLain in the lineup. We have some tough series coming up against the Padres and Orioles so it’s really make or break time for how this team will fare. Anyway, my dog’s name was Capone, named after Al Capone because my dad likes gangster movies. I’m sorry for everytime I pushed you away when you tried to rest your head on my chest because you wanted petted. I’m sorry for all the times I ignored your attempts to play whenever I was busy or tired. I’m sorry i’ll never get to see you jump with excitement whenever I came home and all you wanted was to be petted. I’m sorry I’ll never see your beautiful derpy face again. I’m sorry buddy.	15-13
14		Tigers	+5	Is Tarik Skubal on your Cy Young radar yet? He should be. Over his first six starts this season, Skubal is sitting at 36.2 IP, 41 K (25.4& K-BB%), 1.72 ERA (2.23 FIP), 0.74 WHIP, and red all over his Statcast page. Even more dominant than his half season in 2023 returning from injury, he should even be in the conversation about starting the ASG at this point. This week: 3 vs. STL, 3 at NYY.	16-12
15		Twins	+8	We may never lose again! A 7 game win streak and the hottest team in the MLB, so I literally can't complain about anything this week. Realistically though, can we keep this up? We have 3 more games against the White Sox, then we're back to playing real teams. Will our offense go back to being unable to deal with breaking pitches and die again, or is this level of offense sustainable now that we have a magic sausage? Tune in next week to find out.	14-13
16		Mets	-3	Things were a little shaky this week for the Mets, as they dropped series to both the Giants and Cardinals since you last heard from me. JD Martinez is here. Starling Marte is on the bereavement list. Reliever Drew Smith is hurt. The Mets avoided a home sweep at the hands of St. Louis yesterday with an 11th inning walk off homer from Mark Vientos, fresh off a callup from AAA Syracuse. No days off this upcoming week for the Amazins, with 4 at home vs. the Cubs followed by 3 in St. Pete next weekend.	14-13
17		Blue Jays	-5	The short version is: This offense sucks right now. Gausman returned to CY form on Sunday, limiting the Dodgers to 1 run and the Betts-Ohtani-Freeman Hydra to a 1-for-9 day while Short King Alejandro Kirk finally had a huge game to help salvage a disappointing week: only 2 wins and 17 runs scored in 7 games versus KC and LAD. We're 26th in MLB in runs scored, averaging 3.6 per game. That's fewer than the Rockies. The 1-2-3 of Springer, Bichette, and Vladdy just had their least productive combined month as Blue Jays. George and Bo, especially, look lost at the plate this year, and might be due for a lineup shakeup. The pitching and defense, tho? Yeeeewwwww! Our OF is basically three Gold Glove centerfielders snagging everything hit their way and the rotation is looking as formidable as last season. Hopefully this upcoming stretch of easier competition sparks the bats and gets us out of .500 territory.	14-15
18		D-Backs	-2		13-16
19		Padres	-2	Down week for the Padres, only able to split in Colorado, and got swept by the Phils, who absolutely lit up our starters. They’ve had our number, with a 20-8 record against us this decade. It also puts us 5 losses behind LA, and 3 under .500. To be slightly positive, Manny is back at 3rd, after starting the season at dh while recovering from an injury, and his wife gave birth to a bebe this week. Jackson Merrill is a stud, and has already proven his spot at CF in the majors. Profar is still hitting over .300!!!	14-17
20		Rays	-9	Great week for the Rays as we got some fire City Connect uniforms with some sick bonus grafix. Baseball manatee? Skate punk DJ Kitty? Sick new socks with multiple neon colors, further cementing the Rays as the best socks game in baseball? You'd better believe it. Only good news, things looking up, especially the socks related things. An ERA of highs. No Lowes.	13-16
21		Gigantes	+1	Two consecutive winning weeks – the Giants are moving in the direction that fans expected before the season began by taking 4 of 6 from the Mets and Pirates. However, while the pitching, the rotation specifically, has been killing it, (21st in RA / G, 9th in SP ERA, 30th?!?!? in Bullpen ERA) the bats are taking a siesta. Hold on, 30th? THIRTIETH IN BULLPEN ERA? Forget the bats for a second. The Giants have given ~42 IP to four pitchers who have, in order of IP, these ERA+s: 74, 66, 42, 59. Suboptimal, guys. There are some young guns in the minor leagues I suggest you check out because I expect this bullpen to be fluid for a while, excluding Doval, Rogerses’, and, uh, Ryan Walker? As far as the bats go – and they currently don’t – 21st in RS / G. But the Giants are winning baseball games as they head on a road trip: 3 @ BOS, 4 @ PHI. Keys to success: Rotation, pls continue, Bats, step it up, Bullpen / Farhan, continue the musical chairs – any human being who can maintain a 90+ ERA+ deserves their shot.	14-15
22		Pirates	-2	The Pirates appeared to have a solid lineup and deep bullpen coming into 2024, but I was worried about how the rotation would hold up. A month into the season, that has been flipped on its head: the rotation has been great, while the bullpen has struggled and the lineup has been downright atrocious. David Bednar has an 11.70 ERA. Aroldis Chapman is walking more than a batter an inning. Henry Davis, first overall pick in the 2021 draft, has a 49 wRC+. Jack Suwinski is barely better at 51 wRC+. First baseman Rowdy Tellez is slugging .269. If the Bucs can't get right this week against the A's and Rockies, will they ever?	14-15
23		Astros	-2	It seems like the Astros' front office is finally publicly losing faith in Jose Abreu, even if they won't directly lambat him due to his status as a respected veteran. Hopefully Joey Loperfido can turn some heads at the big league level... the back of his baseball card is still unwritten. cue Natasha Bedingfield This team is still not fun to watch, even though balls went boom in Mexico.	9-19
24		Nationals	0	This team is...something. Coming off back to back series wins, the Nats get swept at home by the Dodgers. Then they travel to the cavernous confines of loanDepot Park and are proceeding to destroy the Marlins pitching staff - one win away from a 4-game sweep. If completed, this will be the first 4+ game series sweep since taking 5 straight from the Phillies in September 2019.	13-14
25		Cardinals	+1	The Cardinals won both their series this week and while the offense is still struggling, it feels like Nolan Gorman's walk off blast against the DBacks was a small breakthrough. The Cardinals need to take care of business this week as they visit old friends Jack Flaherty, Shelby Miller, Carson Kelly, and Buddy Kennedy in Detroit then John Brebbia, Paul DeJong, Tommy Pham, and Dominic Leone in Chicago.	13-15
26		Angels	-1	Jo Adell’s career with the Angels has been a perpetual game of tug-of-war between talent and results. Four seasons of middling between AAA and the majors, he amassed just over 600 plate appearances on the top circuit with his wRC+ consistently residing in the 80s. Now at 25 years old, the organization has had an enduring patience for him but the bill is due. 20 games and 50 plate appearances in, one thing his fifth year has shown is a remarkable lack of strikeouts. After striking out a near-mind-melting 40% of the time between ‘22 and ‘23, he’s cut that down to a respectable 22% this year. A rate that low and an xWOBA of .458–maybe his talent and results are finally finding a new harmony.	10-18
27		Atléticos	0	I guess I'm the new A's voter? Weird, obviously hate this season but I pay attention from habit so who knows. Anyways, split with the Yanks and a series win against the O's, about as well as could be expected. Miller is legit and Erceg is solid (at least an improvement...), plus the offense finally woke up. Blackburn is regressing but some of the other starters are hitting their semi-stride (towards 85 ERA+ ig), so as long as we're healthy it'll be prettier than last year. Pirates and Marlins next, we'll see how good we are	12-17
28		Rockies	+1	We're bottom-five in WAR, WRC+, xFIP, ERA.... (this is a long list and I'd run into the word limit). But we're 19th in wOBA, so hang the banner baby.	7-21
29		Marlins	-1	Welp, the offense is doing what they can but anytime they put up runs the pitching absolutely shits the bed. Losing luzardo is gonna be wildly improbable to overcome. At this point the marlins wont win games unless they put up 14 runs. Until then, the fish will be firmly sharing last place with the white sox for the forseeable future. At this point ill be shocked if they win more than 70 games. Got the rockies coming into town and then they fly out to the bay area for 3.	6-23
30		White Sox	0	The White Sox are currently 3-0 in the Caleb Williams era.The Sox shocked me-NAY-Chicago-NAY-the WORLD with their sweep of the Rays this weekend. It doubled their season win total from 3 to 6. I think this is called a win streak, but I'm not super familiar with the term so please feel free to correct me. All the Sox needed was to come together as a Pham-ily. What's more is that this offensive surge powered Benintendi's and Maldonado's SLG% above their OBP for the first time this season, leaving the White Sox with only 4 players on the roster with that unfortunate stat (Lopez, Vaughn, Grossman, Fletcher)	6-22

And Then There Were None [[module Rate]]
Ten little soldiers, all having crossed the line,
One was distracted, and then there were nine.
Nine little soldiers, reading books at late,
One got too tired, and then there were eight.
Eight little soldiers, two up in heaven,
One tried to fly and join them, and then there were seven.
Seven little soldiers, blowing out the wicks,
One got lost in the dark, and then there were six.
Six little soldiers, running to the hive,
A busy bee stung one, and then there were five.
Five little soldiers, wondering who's Blore,
One wasn't Wargrave, and then there were four.
Four little soldiers, swimming in the sea,
One swam out too far, and then there were three.
Three little soldiers, eating up their stew
One ate too much, and then there were two.
Two little soldiers, the rest were all gone,
One AIMS to hang himself, and then there was one.
One little soldier, thinking "I should do that again!"
So we're back to the beginning,
And then there were ten.

1. Adrian Goddard glanced at the poor bastard on the receiving end of his deflected bullet
2. Lawrence Sellars watched as Henri jumped into the pool
3. Emma Rawley sent the six of them through the doorway
4. Mohammed Ayad jammed his foot on the accelerator
5. Jane Anderton didn't look at him as he asked if it was safe
6. Lev Shevchenko threw the torch onto the house
7. Jacob Devers spent one final moment with his finger on the trigger
8. Harry Thornton punched him in the head
9. Daniel Clay hesitated to fire when he started to scream
10. Edward Reiben took aim at his head
    and he carried on running Larry Sellars ripped open the envelope to his invitation, and converted it into a paper airplane that exploded into a literal fireball when it slammed into the window. “Considering buying some of your pieces,” he read aloud. “Would like to meet you in person. Meet me at Soldier Island. Costs and travel will be sorted after you meet with my assistant, Blaine, later today… ring if you cannot make it… blah blah blah… Yours Sincerely, Mr. Rios-Guy. Huh. Nice name. Still, what creatively bankrupt goon names a placed Soldier Island? Christie did that ages ago, mate.”
    

He stood up, before saying, “Still, good artists copy, great artists steal.”
Jane Anderton read through the email quickly. An invitation to Devon from somebody she had never heard of did arouse some suspicions, but she needed some time off anyway. If she hadn’t have sold that damned death clock, she probably wouldn't have been demoted. Hell, she probably would- should have taken that idiot Hartwell’s job if he hadn’t brought up some bullshit about “ethical violations”- like he gave a toss! Like he wouldn't have done the same if he could get away with it, like she would have without the fucking idiot customer leaving their address on the fridge!
“Didn't matter, it was done,” she thought, before looking once more at the address. Soldier Island. Wasn’t that the one from that old Agatha Christie book? She looked at it a final time, before shrugging her shoulders and saying, “Fuck it, why not?” to nobody in particular.
Corporal Edward Reiben read his letter slowly. He had put off opening it all day; not out of fear, but out of preserving the anticipation like a child before Christmas. He didn’t receive any more mail after Sam died. When he read that Mr. Rios-Guy was hoping to hire three new security staff- and that he was one of them- his first thought was that it was that arsehole Evans playing a trick on him, or some pathetic scam trying to rinse him of his last few pennies. But… it didn’t ask for any credit card information, and the only thing Evans did was call him, “Reibender,” before Captain Moore told him to back off. He didn’t mention the letter.
When Blaine actually arrived at the barracks hidden off somewhere among the Surrey countryside, he hugged him.
Lev Shevchenko spent five minutes thinking after he had finished his letter- or perhaps fantasizing would be a more accurate term. He had always wanted to visit England, and with Rios promising to sort out his Visa, it had the potential to turn his life around.
He spent the next half hour arguing with Mr Blaine over the accompaniment of Alexandra and Vera, his wife and daughter. Blaine finally compromised by agreeing to pay for their accommodation and travel, but that they would stay in a separate hotel in Devon, more than thirty miles away. They agreed on that.
He waited three hours to tell them, saying no more than the occasional hint of a big surprise. He gathered them in the living room- after assuring Vera many times that she was not in trouble- when he had finally accepted himself what was happening.
It still didn’t stop him breaking into a massive smile before he could say the words “Very important letter.”
He screamed his name for hours. The storm raged. Waves smashed against the side of the Vindication, rain teemed down in its thousands, and the moon’s hue was reduced to a vague haze by the pitch black clouds. Foundation agent Rawley sat quietly inside, reading slowly over her invitation.
“Dear Ms. Rawley, It is my pleasure to invite you to a small social gathering at Soldier Island. I have been looking for a decent body guard since I acquired the place, and your record indicates you are somebody I would like to have in my organization. Please consider it. Funding for your journey will be provided. My assistant, William Blaine, will arrive shortly. Please contact me if you are unable to attend. Yours sincerely, Mr. Rios-Guy” She had gone for it. What the hell, it would be a decent excuse for weekend off, and her boss Tanners didn’t have a problem with it.
She looked up at the ten other people on the boat. The cabin was cramped; ten of them sat in the cabin, while Blaine piloted the boat.
She turned to the person next to her. He looked about five years younger than her thirty two, his face clean-shaven and his hair cut short.
“Hey, why’d they hire you?” she asked, more out of boredom than curiosity.
He responded with a thick American accent. “Said they wanted to have a chef.”
“Huh. Security guard.” She extended a hand for him to shake, and he took it.
“Harry Thornton. Work for the United Independent Utilities, hoping that’s going to change soon.”
“Emma Rawley,” she said, thinking for a moment as to whether to mention that independent and united were mutually exclusive.
“You know the owner?”
“Mr Rios-guy? Nah, haven’t even seen him, actually.”
“Huh. Neither have I. Hey, you ever read And Then There Were None? Cause, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say this seems like the exact same plot.”
“You a murderer?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact. Killed a homeless guy just an hour ago,” Thornton said, totally deadpan.
“Yeah, good one. How long till we get to this damn island anyway?”
“Think that’s it coming up now,” he said, jabbing his slender index finger against the window misted by condensation at the sole light in the endless expanse of the sea.
Adrian Goddard idly flicked through his e-book on his phone. He didn’t really understand it- Why was Norton beating up Meeks, when the Helios were dragging Dufay away?- but, seeing as he lost any signal on his phone twenty minutes ago, he had no other choice, other than to talk to the stupid idiots next to him.
“Hey, you got any connection?”
Goddamn it.
“Uh, no it’s just something I downloaded. No connection either.”
“Huh. Hey, I’m Danny, by the way. Danny Clay. Private investigator, specialize in stopping corporate espionage. Guess this Rios guy… guy doesn’t trust his own employees. Hope that doesn’t apply to us, heh.” He smiled weakly at his own joke.
“Hmm. I’m Goddard. UN corporate executive. Rios doesn’t even want me for a job, he just decided having a UN bloke around would be good press or something.”
“Hey, you met Mr Rios? Haven’t heard too much about him.”
“Neither have I, actually. Odd.”
Mohammed Ayad sat quietly, his arms pressed against the wall in a vain attempt to stop the rocking of the boat to send him flying into the person next to him. It didn’t work. “Sorry,” he muttered, and the man responded with the same.
“Hey, you know anything about this Mr Rios? Just wondering, cause I’ve heard basically nothing about him.”
“Nah, can’t say I do, mate. Only here ‘cause he said he could use a speaker like me at the place for a few hours, and it’s a free holiday, so why complain? Jay Devers, by the way.”
“Mohammed Ayad,” was all he managed to say before William Blaine shouted through the speakers.
“Uh, we’re coming up to Soldier Island now, if you could please get your possessions and be ready to disembark.”
Ayad and Devers exchanged glances, before grabbing their suitcases and converging with the others onto soldier island.
The island was small; no landmarks were on it except for the rather large house in its centre. A few trees grew on the neatly cut grass that surrounded it, a small beach at its front.
As the roar of the boat’s engine started up again, they all headed off for their rooms, previously located by Blaine.
Reiben flopped onto his bed. He was knackered; he had spent the last three hours travelling, and all he wanted to do was sleep. Still, he’d probably have to meet Mr. Rios. He dropped his suitcase (“Suitcase wanker!” Brambly had shouted as he left, not maliciously. Reiben returned a non-malicious middle finger) onto the floor, before a pennant hanging from the wardrobe grabbed his attention.
It read, in a middle-ages esque text:
Ten little soldiers, all having crossed the line, One was distracted, and then there were nine. Nine little soldiers, reading books at late, One got too tired, and then there were eight. Eight little soldiers, two up in heaven, One tried to fly and join them, and then there were seven. Seven little soldiers, blowing out the wicks, One got lost in the dark, and then there six. Six little soldiers, running to the hive, A busy bee stung one, and then there were five. Five little soldiers, wondering who's Blore, One wasn't Wargrave, and then there were four. Four little soldiers, swimming in the sea, One swam out too far, and then there were three. Three little soldiers, eating up their stew One ate too much, and then there were two. Two little soldiers, the rest were all gone, One AIMS to hang himself, and then there was one. One little soldier, thinking "I should do that again!" So we're back to the beginning, And then there were ten.
Reiben felt a pang of fear. Just like the book… Jesus. Jesus, why the hell had he come here? He was going to die. He was going to die on this god-forsaken island and he’d done exactly what he told himself he would be clever enough to avoid when he read the damned book, had probably inspired the bastard to do this-
No, he was being ridiculous. Worst case scenario, it was a prank, a twisted joke. And he wasn’t a murderer.
Except for Sam. He couldn’t have known that he’d die. Hell, he had taken all responsibility if it all went wrong… Commander Moore had cleared him of all blame…
But Armstrong didn’t have a motive, he did it accidently as well… and he probably saved more lives than he killed… and he even stopped drinking. Didn’t matter to Wargrave, killed him anyway. And Armstrong’s first name was Edward…
God, why did he have to fucking invent that piece of shit gun that was supposed to, “Save lives”?
All he managed to mutter was, “Jesus, Sam, I’m so sorry.”
There was a knock on the door. It was the posh bloke whose name he had picked up to be Goddard.
“Hey, Reiben, wasn’t it? Looks like Blaine has set out dinner. Should get down there before it gets cold.”
Reiben shrugged, and followed Goddard to the dining room.
Meals had been set out on the table, each looking identical.
“God, I’m starving,” said Clay. “Let’s eat.”
“Heh. Let’s hope it’s not poisoned,” Reiben joked. Nobody laughed.
One returned They sat down, and Devers had just taken his first bite when a voice suddenly rang out from the next room. It was deep, distorted, inhuman.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, silence, please.”
They all stared at each other. Had to be a joke, nobody would actually-
“You are charged with the following:
“Commander Adrian Kenneth Goddard of the Global Occult Coalition, you are charged with causing the death of Frederick McPherson.
“Agent Emma Jane Rawley of the SCP Foundation, you are charged with the deaths of Daniel Denney, William Carlyle, and Geoffrey Betterton.
“Lawrence Daniel Sellars, of Are We Cool Yet?, you are charged with causing the deaths of thirteen people during an anomalous art exhibit.
“Corporal Edward Richard Reiben of the Chaos Insurgency, you are charged with the manslaughter of Samuel Birch.
“Mohammed Omid Ayad, of the Office for the Reclamation of Islamic Artifacts, you are charged with causing the death of Nicholas Vincent Graves.
“Jane Helen Anderton, of Marshall, Carter, and Dark Ltd, you are charged with causing the death of Charles Jonathan Kimball.
“Daniel Frederick Clay of the Horizon Initiative, you are charged with the murder of an unknown Fifth Church Combatant.
“Harry Michael Thornton of the Unusual Incidents Unit, you are charged with the death of Kevin Victor Connors.
“Lev Yuri Shevchenko of the GRU-P, you are charged with the deaths of Victor Cherenkov, Yuri Malarkov, and Alexis Artyom.
“Jacob William Devers of the SCP Foundation, you are charged with the murder of 124 people aboard the Regal Vindication.
“What do you say in your defense?”
and buried the secret They all stared at each other, taking in the surreal situation, before Reiben stumbled away from the table, and straight out of the dining room. A vomiting sound emitted shortly after.
The remaining nine stared at each other, before Sellars finally said, “I suppose we’re all in on the masquerade. No point trying to hide it.”
“He’s right. We might as well be honest about it,” said Clay.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” spluttered Devers. “What masquerade? What was the voice even saying? Total nonsense.” He sipped his drink, perhaps in an attempt to look natural. His wooden acting gave him away.
“Bullshit. Look, the rest of us aren’t denying it,” said Sellars.
“So you admit to killing those people?”
Sellars grimaced, before admitting, “I didn’t want anyone to get hurt. They were just being idiots, and more people would have died if I hadn’t have stopped them.”
“Fine, I’ll admit to killing that Fifthist bastard. Guy killed two of my men, I wasn’t gonna let him walk away just because he threw his hands in the air.”
“I have no idea whom Fred McPherson is. You’d think I murdered someone I’d remember it!” shouted Goddard.
“But you are GOC?” asked Ayad.
Goddard paused for a moment, before saying, “Yes.”
There was a noise from outside the room, and everybody turned to its source.
Reiben walked back into the room, looking pale.
“S-sorry. Got a bit… bit light-headed. Like, this is just like And Then There Were None, right? Nobody should drink anything, that’s how the first person died.”
“Shit,” said Devers, looking at the glasses. His was the only one that had been drunk at all.
He coughed loudly, then again, before entering a coughing fit. Ayad and Shevchenko, who were sitting next to him, grabbed him before he could fall onto the floor. He suddenly stopped coughing, and went limp. Ayad’s hands darted for Devers’ wrist.
“He’s still got a pulse… We should get him to his room, have somebody take a look at him. Anyone here a doctor?”
“I’m no expert, but I’m better than everyone else,” said Goddard.
Shevchenko and Ayad carried Devers between them, Goddard following.
The six people remaining in the dining room looked at each other.
“Right, I’m going to get on the radio. See if we can contact Blaine,” said Clay.
“You really think the killer hasn’t already taken care of that?” questioned Rieben.
“Worth a shot.” He left.
Rawley began to speak.
“Didn’t the killer leave a poem in the book? Seems strange that they’d miss out such a vital part of the-“
“Actually, there’s a copy of the poem in my room. I’ll get it, could give us some clues. Whoever it is, he- or she- is basing it off the book, right?”
Rieben left before Rawley could object to a Chaos Insurgent running around on his own. She figured that he probably was of little danger as an individual.
She looked back around the table. Thornton, Anderton, and Sellars.
“I’m going to find out where the hell that voice came from,” said Thornton.
“Shouldn’t we all stick together?” said Rawley. “Someone poisoned Devers-“
“Like anyone would base their murders off a book. Probably just a joke.”
“Joke? How would they know about the UIU, or the Coalition, or the Foundation? Why would they fly you half way around the world for a joke?”
Thornton left without another word.
Rawley, realizing that Devers’ party was now larger than her own, decided that going there was her best bet. She left Anderton and Sellars in the dining room.
“Is he alright?” she asked Goddard as soon as she stepped into the room, surprised to see only Shevchenko there.
“He’s still alive, if that’s what you mean.”
“Where did the others go?”
“Goddard went out to get his first aid kit from his room, not like that’ll help much. Ayad… actually, I have no idea where Ayad went.”
He paused, trying to remember, before saying, “You’re Rawley, yeah?”
“Yeah. Shevchenko, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, Lev Shevchenko.”
There was a period of awkward silence, before he asked, “So… who do you think poisoned him?”
The fact that her tactic of safety in numbers had resulted in her being alone with somebody maybe a foot taller materialized in her brain the moment he said it.
“Clay,” she said, the first name that came to mind. “I really should be getting back to the others.”
“I’ll come with you.”
When they arrived in the living room, Goddard and Reiben were there.
“Look, all I’m saying is that it says in the poem “One got distracted”, right?” said Reiben
“That doesn’t mean anything, it could be a lie, or maybe even the distraction itself!” argued Goddard.
Sellars sat quietly, turning towards Shevchenko and Rawley.
“Anderton said she was going to the toilet, if you’re wondering where she is.”
Thornton entered the room, a small speaker in his hands.
“Found this little bastard,” he said, holding it up. “Must have been from this.”
Ayad arrived shortly afterwards, saying, “Tried signaling Blaine, but he’d already gone out a few miles and I couldn’t see him.”
William Blaine’s death was mostly painless. When he first noticed he was out a fuel, he had accepted his fate. Narracota had survived, but he wasn’t Narracota, he was Morris. He knew that the sandwiches given to him by Mr. Rios were poisoned with a particularly slow poison; too late.
In a final attempt at spite, he released the ladder. He knew it would probably mean nothing, but his final image in his mind was of the poor sod who had been pushed into the water climbing onto the boat and finding his body.
“Where’s Clay?”
“He said he was going to the radio room, try and hail Blaine,” answered Rawley to Ayad’s question.
They didn’t have to look for long. Daniel Clay the Third was found sitting on the radio room chair, his throat sliced open from ear to ear. His face was stoic, his eyes closed. Blood had splattered all over his clothes.
Rieben vomited for the second time that day. Ayad fell silent. Goddard checked his pulse. Anderton looked at Shevchenko, who looked back. Rawley went to check on Devers. Thornton fiddled with the speaker in his hands, in a futile attempt to distract him from death.
It was Sellars who said, “Clay’s dead… murdered, and somebody’s responsible.”
“Hmm? Yes, of course.” Goddard and Reiben took Clay’s body to his room, both trying their hardest to avoid his- its?- vacant stare.
“How the hell did a kid like you end up working for the CI?”
“Pretty simple, actually. Sam- yes, he was the guy I killed- said we should sign up. I’d always been interested in the anomalous since I was a kid, and I guess I saw it as an opportunity to really change the world in some way. You know what we were working on when Sam died?”
“What?”
“This gun we were making for the Mi- these guys, which was basically a really powerful tranq rifle. Like, it was brilliant. Had to break a few laws of physics, but it was worth it. Full auto. Just took one of the darts to hit the guy and he’d be out. Not strong enough to penetrate bones; biggest chance of injury was it smacking straight into your eye and blinding you.”
“I’m guess something went wrong.”
“Sam kept saying that he wanted me to shoot him, just to make sure it worked perfectly before we showed it to the buyers. Had a fatal allergic reaction to the sedative. Died before I could get a doctor to him. Cleared me of all blame, since Sam made a note saying he’d accept all responsibility. I just…just wish that I hadn’t done it.”
“Jesus. You were friends?”
“Probably more than that, actually.”
“Sorry.”
“Nah, not your fault. So, what happened to you? How’d you kill Fred McPherson?” asked Reiben, laying Clay onto his bed. He had almost forgotten he was carrying him.
“Can’t recall it exactly, but I think I’ve got a good idea of what he’s on about. Back a few years ago, I was in South Africa chasing after this anomaly in this old street. Fired at it, must’ve accidently hit this guy. He was bleeding on the road, begging for help. Had a choice between either saving one life, or letting the anomaly kill more. Easy choice, don’t regret it.”
“Do you regret it now that we’ve got this guy killing us off one by one?”
“Fair point.”
“JESUS!”
Rawley’s scream was heard by everyone on the island.
Ayad and Shevchenko sprinted in, only to find Devers sitting up on his bed and Rawley looking at him like he was a ghost.
“Christ, Devers, you scared the hell out of me.”
“So, uh, who poisoned me?”
“We don’t know, but…”
“Clay’s dead,” said Ayad suddenly.
“What? How?”
“Some bastard slit his throat.”
“Who?”
“We don’t know. Whoever it was is probably one of us, and probably isn’t going to stop at us.”
The nine survivors gathered in the dining room.
“Okay,” said Rawley, holding up Rieben’s pennant of the poem and his copy of the book.
“The killer is obviously basing their murders on both this book and this poem. Now, one of us is dead, and they are going to continue to do so until we are all dead, minus themselves. That much is obvious.
“I don’t know how many of you have read it, but I’m going into some serious spoiler territory, mainly because our lives are at stake. The first person to die had his drink poisoned; the killer anticipated this, used that as a distraction so he could get to Clay.
“Now, seeing as the killer in the book faked his death, we will be thoroughly checking to make sure the dead are actually dead. We’ve all committed crimes, we all work for enemies, but if any of us want to walk off this island alive, we have to work together. Agreed?”
There were a few murmurs of agreement.
“I think we’re each meant to represent a character in the original,” said Reiben. “Considering that my murder was both accidental, and that my name is Edward, I reckon I’m Armstrong.”
“But you’re not about to ally with the killer with the benefit of hindsight, are you?” said Shevchenko.
“Good point, but I suppose he’s trying to subvert it on every count.”
“It’s late,” said Anderton. “We should sleep.” “…I’m sorry, but have you been listening to a fucking word we’ve been saying?” said Goddard. “Did the part about the psycho killer running about become lost on you?”
“If we are gonna sleep, we should all get in one room. Keep three people awake at all times.”
“How will that help? The killer could just, I don’t know, drop a grenade and run,” said Sellars.
“They have to follow the poem, remember?” cut in Ayad.
“Yes, but what’s stopping a particularly paranoid person whose goal is to simply off us all to ensure their survival doing it?”
“The obvious lack of grenades?” said Goddard, but that did not stop them going to their separate rooms that night.
—- Rawley looked around her room. Why had the killer hanged the pennant in Rieben’s room? Why poison Devers in particular?
Probably just random. She locked her door, and pushed the bedside table next to it, locked all the windows, and did a final sweep of the room to make sure it was totally devoid of anyone but herself.
She considered just staying up all night, pointing her revolver at the door until morning.
But then again, “One got too tired, and then there were eight,” was next, and she didn’t fancy tempting fate, so she slept.
When Shevchenko found a copy of And Then There Were None resting on his bed, he decided that skimming through it could give him some clues.
It was 2 AM when Shevchenko read the epilogue. It was a single sentence that suddenly revealed to him who the killer was. God, it was obvious. Their motive wasn’t revenge, it was some twisted form of justice, mixed with a heavy dose of a-
Lev Shevchenko turned the last page, and the memetic image stuck to it was the last thing he ever saw.

Neil Armstrong's son Rick Armstrong's sci-fi rock band called "edison's children" (which is sort of like Pink Floyd meets Tool or A Perfect Circle) is making new videos for their entire back catalogue with Wendy Darling Blackwood attempting to put it all together as she has on every production from Neil Armstrong's son's works.
(Here is an example of Wendy's work on the 1st album "In The Last Waking Moments..." which Giorgio Tsoukalos was tweeting about https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipSZwMUoxPw and the 2nd album The Final Breath Before November. These 2 albums caught the attention of Rick Armstrong and led to him asking to join the band as a full time member The Final Breath - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOM67h82yxk
----
They would like to make 2 new videos for their album "The Disturbance Fields" that showcase the meaning of the album
Here's the 2 songs that they really want to have a video made for
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6Xic3zzQcs - Edison's Children "A Random Disturbance"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiLx7KEA968 - Edison's Children "The Confluence"
We need crazy weather videos that showcase how intense conditions on earth are getting.
The album is about Mother Nature becoming an out of control supernatural presence who is using everything at her disposal ... earthquakes - tornadoes - wild fires - hurricanes - giant tidal waves (tsunamis) - lightning - volcanoes - etc... to stop the virus that is destroying the earth... us.
We need video that is owned by YOU. Not stolen from someone else.
We cannot pay you for your video and it will be quick flashes and edits of videos to the beat of the music but you will absolutely be credited if your video does appear at the end.
Thanks everyone. Cheers
Edison's Children.
​
P.S. the next album is about an impending alien invasion (yes Neil Armstrong's son is making an album about all the UAPs / UFO's that have reached the congressional floor). Anything interesting WHICH YOU OWN we would gladly take a look at.
​

Live Music

• Eric Groves, Mill Top Tavern, 12:00 pm – 4:00 pm
• Christian Powers, Pierre's Pub, 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm
• Tony Scozzaro, The Cellar Upstairs Wine Bar & Restaurant, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
• Yael Dray and ZaZa Flamenca, Bin 39 Wine Bar, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
• Joshua "Tennessee" Worthy, Backyard Island Cafe at Meehan's, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
• Mark Hart, Tradewinds Lounge, 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
• Dewey Via, Backyard Island Cafe at Meehan's, 5:30 pm – 9:30 pm
• Trevor Compton, O.C. White's Seafood, 5:30 pm – 9:30 pm
• Committee, The Cellar Upstairs Wine Bar & Restaurant, 6:00 pm – 10:00 pm
• Brian Rowland, Mellow Mushroom — St. Johns, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm
• Jesse Cruce, Mellow Mushroom — Anastasia Island, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm
• Denny Blue, Kingfish Grill, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm
• Teal Cabana Club Band, Fuzion 904 Eatery, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm
• Richard Kuncicky, Guy Harvey Resort, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm
• Mark Evans, Guy Harvey Resort, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm
• Sam Pacetti, Hurricane Patty's Bar and Grill, 6:00 pm – 9:30 pm
• Greg Johnson, Crabby's Beachside, 6:00 pm – 10:00 pm
• Crawford Boyd, Oasis Deck & Restaurant, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm
• The House Cats Band, Chez L'Amour, 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm
• Julie Papili, Colonial Oak Music Park, 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm
• TR Zielinski, Colonial Oak Music Park, 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm
• Chillula, A1A Ale Works, 8:00 pm – 12:00 am
• Smokin' Joe Schauer, Meehan's Irish Pub & Seafood House, 9:00 pm – 12:00 am
• Josh Ford, Mill Top Tavern, 9:00 pm – 12:00 pm

"Little Satchmo" Documentary

• The Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Heritage Center presents a screening of the Emmy-award-winning documentary, Little Satchmo, on Friday, April 26, 2024, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. The film focuses on Louis Armstrong's private life, based on a memoir by Armstrong's only child, Sharon Preston-Folta.
• Sharon was the child of a 20-year love affair between Armstong and Lucille "Sweets" Preston. While she was raised as a secret, Sharon and her mother were supported by Armstrong who maintained a loving relationship with his daughter. The film focuses on the private side of Louis Armstrong, and themes of family, identity, fathers and daughters, and single-parent families.
• Admission: $15.00 per person.
• When: Friday, April 26, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.
• Where: Upstairs, at the Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center, 102 Martin Luther King Avenue, St. Augustine, Florida 32084.
• Free parking is available in the front and back of the building and paid parking is available at a lot across Martin Luther King Avenue. The entrance to the second-floor room is off Pomar Street. There is an elevator.

Bad Religion and Social Distortion at St. Augustine Amphitheatre

• The St. Augustine Amphitheatre presents two venerable punk bands from California, Bad Religion and Social Distortion. These bands, and the Lovebombs, will perform on Friday, April 26, 2024, at 6:30 p.m.
• A West Coast hardcore punk band, Bad Religion has released 19 albums since forming in 1980. Known for their harmonies and musicality, Bad Religion has often been listed as an influence on punk bands of more recent years. The membership of the band ebbed and flowed in the 80s and 90s until they settled into what is now the current lineup: Greg Graffin on vocals, Jay Bentley on bass, Brian Baker and Mike Dimkich on guitar, and Jamie Miller on drums.
• Social Distortion has performed for more than 30 years, developing a punk sound that's a mix of bluesy rock 'n' roll and outlaw country. The result is a hard rockabilly punk that appeals to all ages. Social Distortion consists of frontman Mike Ness and longtime guitarist Jonny Wickersham, along with bassist Brent Harding and drummer David Hidalgo, Jr. At the concerts on the tour, Social Distortion will play their 1983 debut Mommy's Little Monster in its entirety.
• Admission: Ticket prices range from $49.50 to $69.50. Tickets can be purchased online or at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre Box Office, which is open on Thursdays and Fridays from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and on Saturdays from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The box office only accepts payments by debit and credit card.
• When: Friday, April 26, 2024, at 6:30 p.m. Doors open at 5:00 p.m.
• Where: St. Augustine Amphitheatre is located at 1340 A1A South in St. Augustine, Florida 32080.

Fourth Friday Improv Show

• The Adventure Project presents the Fourth Friday Improv Show at Third Space Improv — an unscripted comedy experience that's different every time, and always based on audience suggestions.
• Every month features various improv troupes from St. Augustine — and beyond.
• Third Space Improv offers beer, wine, soft drinks, and a snack bar.
• Admission: Tickets are $11.00 in advance and $15.00 at the door.
• When: 8:00 p.m. on Fourth Fridays.
• Where: Third Space Improv is located at 200 Malaga Street, #7 in St. Augustine — two blocks from Historic Downtown.
• There is free parking in the lot at Third Space Improv.

Yates Mckendree at Cafe Eleven

• Café Eleven welcomes Yates Mckendree on Friday, April 26, 2024, at 8:00 p.m.
• Yates McKendree, a versatile multi-instrumentalist, was immersed in a milieu of gifted musicians during his upbringing. In his youth, he embarked on a journey of self-teaching, mastering music fundamentals. Born in Nashville, this rising star showcased his talents on both sides of the Atlantic, gracing stages across the United States and Europe. His performances include notable appearances on CBS Mornings, IMUS in the Morning, and various other prominent television shows.
• Recognized by Rolling Stone as a hidden gem and honored with a Grammy for his engineering prowess in January 2020, McKendree continues to captivate audiences with the release of his album, Buchanan Lane. The album not only features Yates's original compositions but also highlights his exceptional skills as a vocalist and multi-talented instrumentalist.
• Admission: Tickets cost $20.00 if purchased in advance and $25.00 on the day of the show. Reserved table seating costs $30.00. Purchase tickets in advance online or purchase them at Café Eleven on the day of the show.
• When: Friday, April 26, 2024, at 8:00 p.m.
• Where: Café Eleven, 501 A1A Beach Blvd, St. Augustine, Florida 32080. On the corner of A1A and 11th Street, one block from St. Augustine Beach.

Boardwalk Bazaar at Marina Munch

• Join us for an evening of Arts, crafts, & unique resale market on the boardwalk at Marina Munch in the English Landing Marina from 5-8 p.m. Live music, food trucks and more.
• Last Friday Every Month
• Marina Munch 509 S. Ponce de Leon Blvd.St. Augustine, FL 32084
• Admission: Free

Arbor Day at St Augustine Beach

Join the City of St. Augustine Beach for a fun filled family and educational event!

• The event will be held in the St. Augustine Beach City Hall parking lot located at 2200 A1A South and will run from 5:30PM to 7:00PM.
• The event will feature a tree giveaway sponsored by SEPAC, the city’s Sustainability & Environmental Planning Advisory Committee. Featured trees: Red Cedars, Southern Magnolia's, Shumard Oaks and Winged Elm.
• In addition to the tree giveaway, there will be fun and educational activities and displays, a face painter, snacks for the kids, and a limited number of giveaways including water bottles, seeds, tote bags and more.

Caravel Concert with Whalin

• FREE show
• 7-10 PM
• Fun for all ages
• Friendly pups welcome
• Featuring St. Augustine Distillery Spirits!
• VENUE: Colonial Quarter

Shrine Club Southern Fried Chicken Night

• Join us at the St. Augustine Shrine Club on the last Friday of each month from 4:00pm-7:00pm (except November & December) for a delicious Southern Fried Chicken Dinner. Dinner consists of 3 pieces of southern fried chicken with two sides, corn bread, dessert and iced tea.
• All-inclusive meal for only $14.00 per plate. Dine in or take out available. Cash or credit card accepted.
• Thanks to people like you, Shriner’s have been able to help more than 1.4 million children reach their potential and lead more fulfilling lives, regardless of the families’ ability to pay. Drop a tip in our jar and all these monies go directly to our hospitals to help children in need.
• 250 Brainard Drive St. Augustine, FL 32086 United States

Island Boulevard Chauffered Tour

• Dine Like A Local on Island Time with The Tasting Tours on their Island Boulevard Chauffered Tour! Friday, April 26, 2024 … 12:30pm-3:30pm.
• Slip into your tropical attire and flip-flops as we cruise across the historic Bridge of Lions to soak up some serious ‘island time’ vibes! Get ready for a laid-back, tropical party on wheels as we explore the hidden gems of the Boulevard and uncover where the true ‘islanders’ hang out.
• What’s Included: -Indulge in mouthwatering culinary and libation delights at 4 of the island’s hottest destinations -This experience unveils the authentic flavors & vibes of St. Augustine beyond the bustling downtown! -Expertly guided by a local culinary insider who knows all the best spots to eat, drink, & chill -Relax in style with a chauffeured, open-air electric vehicle -Dive into delectable island fare that offers a nice size lunch experience – plus games, limbo & more!
• Note: Age 21+ only. Sorry, NO pets of any kind. 4-person minimun to depart.
• Primary focus is on the cocktail and culinary scene with a bit of history & sightseeing sprinkled in.
• Cost: $135.00

Sites

• Visit St Augustine
• Totally St Augustine
• Floridas Historic Coast
• Old City
• City St Aug
• EventBrite
• St Augustine
• SJC Chamber
• The amp
• Facebook
• STAA
• Ocean Village Club Fl
• Original Cafe 11
• The Ocean Gallery
• Bad Dog Mama
• The Colonial Oak Music Park

You can check any of these sources for events I may have skipped over.
Written out urls here https://tinyurl.com/9dt8jr7u
​

For future events please visit the Discord.

https://discord.gg/NG4eZSWAgR
​

Live Music

• Eric Groves, Mill Top Tavern, 12:00 pm – 4:00 pm
• Christian Powers, Pierre's Pub, 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm
• Tony Scozzaro, The Cellar Upstairs Wine Bar & Restaurant, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
• Yael Dray and ZaZa Flamenca, Bin 39 Wine Bar, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
• Joshua "Tennessee" Worthy, Backyard Island Cafe at Meehan's, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
• Mark Hart, Tradewinds Lounge, 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
• Dewey Via, Backyard Island Cafe at Meehan's, 5:30 pm – 9:30 pm
• Trevor Compton, O.C. White's Seafood, 5:30 pm – 9:30 pm
• Committee, The Cellar Upstairs Wine Bar & Restaurant, 6:00 pm – 10:00 pm
• Brian Rowland, Mellow Mushroom — St. Johns, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm
• Jesse Cruce, Mellow Mushroom — Anastasia Island, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm
• Denny Blue, Kingfish Grill, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm
• Teal Cabana Club Band, Fuzion 904 Eatery, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm
• Richard Kuncicky, Guy Harvey Resort, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm
• Mark Evans, Guy Harvey Resort, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm
• Sam Pacetti, Hurricane Patty's Bar and Grill, 6:00 pm – 9:30 pm
• Greg Johnson, Crabby's Beachside, 6:00 pm – 10:00 pm
• Crawford Boyd, Oasis Deck & Restaurant, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm
• The House Cats Band, Chez L'Amour, 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm
• Julie Papili, Colonial Oak Music Park, 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm
• TR Zielinski, Colonial Oak Music Park, 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm
• Chillula, A1A Ale Works, 8:00 pm – 12:00 am
• Smokin' Joe Schauer, Meehan's Irish Pub & Seafood House, 9:00 pm – 12:00 am
• Josh Ford, Mill Top Tavern, 9:00 pm – 12:00 pm

"Little Satchmo" Documentary

• The Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Heritage Center presents a screening of the Emmy-award-winning documentary, Little Satchmo, on Friday, April 26, 2024, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. The film focuses on Louis Armstrong's private life, based on a memoir by Armstrong's only child, Sharon Preston-Folta.
• Sharon was the child of a 20-year love affair between Armstong and Lucille "Sweets" Preston. While she was raised as a secret, Sharon and her mother were supported by Armstrong who maintained a loving relationship with his daughter. The film focuses on the private side of Louis Armstrong, and themes of family, identity, fathers and daughters, and single-parent families.
• Admission: $15.00 per person.
• When: Friday, April 26, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.
• Where: Upstairs, at the Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center, 102 Martin Luther King Avenue, St. Augustine, Florida 32084.
• Free parking is available in the front and back of the building and paid parking is available at a lot across Martin Luther King Avenue. The entrance to the second-floor room is off Pomar Street. There is an elevator.

Bad Religion and Social Distortion at St. Augustine Amphitheatre

• The St. Augustine Amphitheatre presents two venerable punk bands from California, Bad Religion and Social Distortion. These bands, and the Lovebombs, will perform on Friday, April 26, 2024, at 6:30 p.m.
• A West Coast hardcore punk band, Bad Religion has released 19 albums since forming in 1980. Known for their harmonies and musicality, Bad Religion has often been listed as an influence on punk bands of more recent years. The membership of the band ebbed and flowed in the 80s and 90s until they settled into what is now the current lineup: Greg Graffin on vocals, Jay Bentley on bass, Brian Baker and Mike Dimkich on guitar, and Jamie Miller on drums.
• Social Distortion has performed for more than 30 years, developing a punk sound that's a mix of bluesy rock 'n' roll and outlaw country. The result is a hard rockabilly punk that appeals to all ages. Social Distortion consists of frontman Mike Ness and longtime guitarist Jonny Wickersham, along with bassist Brent Harding and drummer David Hidalgo, Jr. At the concerts on the tour, Social Distortion will play their 1983 debut Mommy's Little Monster in its entirety.
• Admission: Ticket prices range from $49.50 to $69.50. Tickets can be purchased online or at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre Box Office, which is open on Thursdays and Fridays from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and on Saturdays from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The box office only accepts payments by debit and credit card.
• When: Friday, April 26, 2024, at 6:30 p.m. Doors open at 5:00 p.m.
• Where: St. Augustine Amphitheatre is located at 1340 A1A South in St. Augustine, Florida 32080.

Fourth Friday Improv Show

• The Adventure Project presents the Fourth Friday Improv Show at Third Space Improv — an unscripted comedy experience that's different every time, and always based on audience suggestions.
• Every month features various improv troupes from St. Augustine — and beyond.
• Third Space Improv offers beer, wine, soft drinks, and a snack bar.
• Admission: Tickets are $11.00 in advance and $15.00 at the door.
• When: 8:00 p.m. on Fourth Fridays.
• Where: Third Space Improv is located at 200 Malaga Street, #7 in St. Augustine — two blocks from Historic Downtown.
• There is free parking in the lot at Third Space Improv.

Yates Mckendree at Cafe Eleven

• Café Eleven welcomes Yates Mckendree on Friday, April 26, 2024, at 8:00 p.m.
• Yates McKendree, a versatile multi-instrumentalist, was immersed in a milieu of gifted musicians during his upbringing. In his youth, he embarked on a journey of self-teaching, mastering music fundamentals. Born in Nashville, this rising star showcased his talents on both sides of the Atlantic, gracing stages across the United States and Europe. His performances include notable appearances on CBS Mornings, IMUS in the Morning, and various other prominent television shows.
• Recognized by Rolling Stone as a hidden gem and honored with a Grammy for his engineering prowess in January 2020, McKendree continues to captivate audiences with the release of his album, Buchanan Lane. The album not only features Yates's original compositions but also highlights his exceptional skills as a vocalist and multi-talented instrumentalist.
• Admission: Tickets cost $20.00 if purchased in advance and $25.00 on the day of the show. Reserved table seating costs $30.00. Purchase tickets in advance online or purchase them at Café Eleven on the day of the show.
• When: Friday, April 26, 2024, at 8:00 p.m.
• Where: Café Eleven, 501 A1A Beach Blvd, St. Augustine, Florida 32080. On the corner of A1A and 11th Street, one block from St. Augustine Beach.

Boardwalk Bazaar at Marina Munch

• Join us for an evening of Arts, crafts, & unique resale market on the boardwalk at Marina Munch in the English Landing Marina from 5-8 p.m. Live music, food trucks and more.
• Last Friday Every Month
• Marina Munch 509 S. Ponce de Leon Blvd.St. Augustine, FL 32084
• Admission: Free

Arbor Day at St Augustine Beach

Join the City of St. Augustine Beach for a fun filled family and educational event!

• The event will be held in the St. Augustine Beach City Hall parking lot located at 2200 A1A South and will run from 5:30PM to 7:00PM.
• The event will feature a tree giveaway sponsored by SEPAC, the city’s Sustainability & Environmental Planning Advisory Committee. Featured trees: Red Cedars, Southern Magnolia's, Shumard Oaks and Winged Elm.
• In addition to the tree giveaway, there will be fun and educational activities and displays, a face painter, snacks for the kids, and a limited number of giveaways including water bottles, seeds, tote bags and more.

Caravel Concert with Whalin

• FREE show
• 7-10 PM
• Fun for all ages
• Friendly pups welcome
• Featuring St. Augustine Distillery Spirits!
• VENUE: Colonial Quarter

Shrine Club Southern Fried Chicken Night

• Join us at the St. Augustine Shrine Club on the last Friday of each month from 4:00pm-7:00pm (except November & December) for a delicious Southern Fried Chicken Dinner. Dinner consists of 3 pieces of southern fried chicken with two sides, corn bread, dessert and iced tea.
• All-inclusive meal for only $14.00 per plate. Dine in or take out available. Cash or credit card accepted.
• Thanks to people like you, Shriner’s have been able to help more than 1.4 million children reach their potential and lead more fulfilling lives, regardless of the families’ ability to pay. Drop a tip in our jar and all these monies go directly to our hospitals to help children in need.
• 250 Brainard Drive St. Augustine, FL 32086 United States

Island Boulevard Chauffered Tour

• Dine Like A Local on Island Time with The Tasting Tours on their Island Boulevard Chauffered Tour! Friday, April 26, 2024 … 12:30pm-3:30pm.
• Slip into your tropical attire and flip-flops as we cruise across the historic Bridge of Lions to soak up some serious ‘island time’ vibes! Get ready for a laid-back, tropical party on wheels as we explore the hidden gems of the Boulevard and uncover where the true ‘islanders’ hang out.
• What’s Included: -Indulge in mouthwatering culinary and libation delights at 4 of the island’s hottest destinations -This experience unveils the authentic flavors & vibes of St. Augustine beyond the bustling downtown! -Expertly guided by a local culinary insider who knows all the best spots to eat, drink, & chill -Relax in style with a chauffeured, open-air electric vehicle -Dive into delectable island fare that offers a nice size lunch experience – plus games, limbo & more!
• Note: Age 21+ only. Sorry, NO pets of any kind. 4-person minimun to depart.
• Primary focus is on the cocktail and culinary scene with a bit of history & sightseeing sprinkled in.
• Cost: $135.00

Sites

• Visit St Augustine
• Totally St Augustine
• Floridas Historic Coast
• Old City
• City St Aug
• EventBrite
• St Augustine
• SJC Chamber
• The amp
• Facebook
• STAA
• Ocean Village Club Fl
• Original Cafe 11
• The Ocean Gallery
• Bad Dog Mama
• The Colonial Oak Music Park

You can check any of these sources for events I may have skipped over.Written out urls here https://tinyurl.com/9dt8jr7u

For future events please visit the Discord.

https://discord.gg/NG4eZSWAgR

I don't typically do write-ups but I feel this show needed some context for so many folks that were tuning in on couch tour but couldn't make it to the show. My opinion, please don't take my words as judgmental, just telling it how I saw it in person without emotions tied. For context, I go to 50(+) live events per year, I'm no musical expert but I have a lot of reference to base on. The past three weeks alone, 8 live events with over 1500 miles travel behind the wheel. Widespread Panic, Billy Strings, Charlie Fog to name a few. Here we go.
TL;DR - Daniel Donato and the Cosmic Country in the caverns was worth every bit of a 7 hour drive for one night. They rocked the place hard.
Sorry for the length, many times I have missed shows to only turn around and wish someone shared the long story.
I hope you enjoy.
​
The Drive to the Caverns
It's 4/20 on the road, traffic early on my route from my pit-stop in Charlotte (family visit) was a breeze. Took the longer scenic route through Asheville, along the Nantahala and Ocoee and finally over the large lakes and basins. Beautiful drive, highly recommended. Tons of kayakers and rafters along the way, early in the season so not too much traffic, could be tough in the busy season. Weather was cool, windows down, jacket on, jasmine blooming in the air. Taking the exit at the grand city of Pelham, about 2 miles to go and you're at the Caverns. Easy Peasy. Not much in the area to speak of, gas station or two. Nice properties along the way, small local homes, cow pastures, nice wooded sections and pretty yellow flowered open fields (cover crops) along the way in.

The Caverns - First time experience

Campground
I stayed in the campground, a glorified parking lot. Folks at the entry were nice, 30 seconds, scan the ticket, gave me instructions and you're in. The grass was cut, clean, no trash or debris, no ant hills, just a clean, green, flat lot with some gravel drive strips. Trees lined the perimeter; I didn't make it over to the yurt village but from a distance it seemed to be about the same setting (someone chime in if you stayed in the yurts). The port-o-lets were grouped in multiples, convenient spots in the lot. The ones near me were clean, no problems. Folks were scattered, free range space for your campsite. Small campers, tents and vehicles were mixed in. Pre-prepared tents for rent were nearest the walking path at the back of the lot that leads to the Cavern. Everyone was relaxed, great vibe, great weather. Bring a frisbee or soccer ball, plenty of room to roam and have fun.
​
The Food
I can't speak to it, ate my own, there was one food truck at the back of the lot near the path. They had ostrich burgers and a few other odd offerings, I'm adventurous but didn't feel risking sitting on the toilet during the show.
Someone chime in on the food.
There was a truck near the venue that had some good fare after the show, a tad pricey but honestly there's a lot of work to get in there and make it happen so pay the fee and smash the burrito.
​
Lay of the Land
Bring shoes. I wear sandals on the coast here in Georgia, most shows as well, I opted for shoes here, glad I did. The lot was vast, can handle plenty of campers. The path at the back was nicely cared for, good for walking, hilly and a decent way to stretch the legs before standing in a long show. The path leads through the silent trees with light posts and benches along the way, cool breeze flows along the path. After a bit of walking, you'll come around to the new outdoor amphitheater (it appears new, someone mention it's still under construction and it appeared 85% complete). Apparently, SCI is coming to play soon, it's going to be an awesome scene for the show. I'm putting the amphitheater on my future show list as well. The light towers are super tall and should allow the light crew to enshroud the whole space. Steep, nice, green grass slope with a few rock faces to stair-step some sections. I'm thinking it will hold 3,000 (chime in your thoughts). Past the amphitheater and you're at the entry. We were greeted by what appeared to be Tennessee state troopers (maybe private security, didn't pay attention but they were focused on their job). More on them later. After that, you're walking toward Big Mouth Cave. It's steeper than the photos let on and definitely has a magical feel at the entry. Well done by the owners for not overdoing it. Go see it yourself, it's awesome.
​
Down in the Hole
Entered and was greeted by only a small handful of lot venders. Nice setup, plenty of room to move about and meet folks. Going through a door opening and you've entered the cavern. Bathrooms on the left, small but was never crowded. Ran out of toilet paper by halftime, didn't get refilled, ever (someone pass this to management if y'all know people there, it's my only complaint about the whole weekend). Concessions were on the right. Single file line, about six or seven employees to take orders. Plenty of beverages to choose from, prices were standard. Drinks were cold the whole time, they did a great job of stocking the venue. You'll drink more water than you expect. The floor has a perfect slope to get a decent view from anywhere in the house.
​
The Cowpokes - Opener
I'll be straight with y'all, I don't CRAVE listening to country. I do love it, the older, traditional country. The new age radio stuff doesn't cut it, doesn't have cojones. The twang, the strange and the range of country music is awesome. That said, I don't know how to rate these guys properly. I came to DDCC by way of Widespread Panic, if that tells you anything. I haven't looked back, DDCC has turned my ear and open the genre, I'm excited to go on this country journey. The Cowpokes rocked in my book, I'd see them if they came to my home town, for sure. Great stage presence. They were talented, hit some great licks, got the crowd pumped and clearly enjoyed the stage life. Lots of cowboy hats early in the cavern to see the opener, it appeared like some locals new these guys and showed to support them. I caught the last three songs, my fault, should have gone in a little earlier.
​
DD and the Cosmic C
The stage was prepped, swept and stocked for the band we all were dying to see.
Quick shout out, the BAND CREW was prepared, major kudos y'all. They flipped the stage over before I could say the word mushroo.... They were handling business like Kool-Aid busting down a wall.
I was fortunate enough to be about six rows from the rail, directly in front of Daniel. I had heard the sound in the Caverns was a bit too raw. It showed in the first song and a half. Early on, Daniel was fighting feedback on the high end. It seemed like it was coming from his monitors, it was faint coming out of the overheads, if at all, maybe reflecting off the back cave wall into the audience. He handled it like a champ, at first squinting like he had a bull horn in his ears, clearly painful as hell, then closing his eyes from time to time, tuning it out and continuing on. Daniel, MY MAN!, true professional right there, he hung in there and sang great through it all. Took a bit for the soundboard to get it straight and then BAM!, situation handled. From my spot, everything was firing great. Kudos, to the crew again. Daniel went back to that great singing smile we all love.
The lights were great, check. The sound was great, check. The stage setup was great, again check. I was surprised that the drum kit didn't have more sound shields. Only had small shields directly attached at the crash, ride, splash cymbals.
Security was thorough but not over the top. I never felt pressured or threatened. The troopers and security were very professional, constantly on overlook but never getting in the middle of anything that the crowd was involved in (fun-wise), at least up front from my view. Whenever I would go to the concessions, they always seemed focused but not heavy and ready. They were prime positioned to assist if needed.
​
First set was awesome, felt long, almost like Daniel just didn't want to stop playing. He was having fun. Lights were on point, I missed some of the overhead cave wall and ceiling show. Someone came up to me and asked if I had caught it yet, I had no clue what they were talking about. The video someone posted on here yesterday says it all, that was some b*da** stuff. I caught a bit on the second set. AWSOME CALL LIGHTS AND SOUND, great production. The standard part light show was on another level. At times the swirling caught me and pulled me into the vortex. At one point I had to claw on to the floor and hold on. The next moment I was dripping off of the cave ceiling. Timing was overall really good to match the boy's hooks and bridges. The light gaps and flares seemed almost out of place but were clearly purposeful to bring you out of the trance and join the flow again. Great stuff, A+. For those of you at home, this was by far next level for DDCC lights (someone correct me here, was it not the best lights to date?) Of course, having the right canvas to paint your lights, in this case, cave walls, helps.
​
Set break, go outside, climb the hill and look back down at the cave entry. At this point the funguys were setting in hard, really brought the trees into play. Going into the show it was sun out, at half time, it was dark skies. The landscaping lights really brought the entry area to life. It was a whole new spectacle to take in. Fairyland is bit of a stretch, but it did have a mystique about it. Besides, fresh air in the lungs, it recharged the batteries.
​
Second set, much of the same in the first set. To start the set, Sugar Legg was having problems with his setup. I couldn't figure out what was going on, I figured he had an issue with an organ pedal or something unknown to the listener. The boys saw him, Daniel kinda looked curious as to what was going on and then a crew member ran up behind SL. He leaned over his shoulder, said something, crew member ran over to a speaker and then the bass came on. HAHA, the guys sounded great without the bass as it was. Daniel let out a huge smile and a nod, giving thanks to his six stringed organ dweller. I think the speaker went into standby mode or went to sleep. If Sugar Legg didn't catch it, dang, that whole set would have been weak without us knowing. The sound in the cave is loud, could have easily happened, maybe not, but great save.
Second Set Firing! Then BAM!....THE SITUATION....
​
Cave Troll and the Space Troopers - The Saga of Mr. Handsy
I felt someone slam into my shoulder and drag their leg along mine, stepping on my foot as he slid by me. He didn't knock me over; I was already loosened up from a little help from our forest floor dwelling friends, the funguys. Still six people back from the rail, I grabbed a small handful of his t-shirt as he trotted toward the next victim in front of me. Enough to slow him down a bit, the next person did the same thing until out of nowhere, a woman close to the rail slung her hand out into his chest (really impressive, she was looking at the stage and had a sixth sense that it was coming, crazy spiderwoman sh*t). He was apparently impressed too, stopping to admire her athleticism, it worked. He looked like he was charging the stage, but I think he had grand dreams of hard rail dancing. The rail was taller than normal, he wouldn't have made the stage, probably would have been a hilarious fail.
Daniel was starting an acapella, D in the D. Eyes closed, he was singing his heart out. All of the following ensued right in front of him.
It took all of two seconds for everyone around to recognize what we were dealing with. Then as if spiderwoman herself knew him from another space and time, she and her man next to her started flagging the trooper on stage side. She looked at the cave troll and nodded "no". Trooper didn't notice right away, this went on for 15 seconds until someone's phone flashlight caught his attention. He jumped into action, off the stage, onto the floor, and up to the rail. He tried a one leg running hop to the top rail. Too bad, Trooper was short, he had no game, never played basketball, couldn't manage the rail. Trooper clearly hasn't been on the rail side at live shows. The folks that flagged him cleared space for his grab hop and roll manuever.
Fifteen seconds from the first sign of trouble, Daniel opened his eyes, looked up and immediately stopped. He basically gave everyone a notice that there was a commotion, no big deal, everyone relax. He probably thought it was a medical issue at first.
Mr. Handsy had plenty of time to run into the crowd to blend back in and disappear like the proper trained cave troll he is. The trooper, delayed by a five-foot metal rail, ran off into the crowd chasing him. Daniel and the boys walked over to a crew/security guy to see what was up. He came back and said, "let's try this thing again" and started the acapella.
Word got around that Mr. Handsy was in fact handsy with some women while he was dancing earlier in the night. Apparently, these folks up front were aware of it and didn't waste time ending his grabbing tendencies.
As they say, the show goes on.
​
The Saga of Mr. Handsy, pt. 2 - The Return of the Troll
He came back, same song and dance as before. He had gotten away the first time around. Belligerent and unabashed, as if nothing had happened. He even found his same spot in front of me and right behind spiderwoman. He started hand chopping a massage into a guy's back (~25 years his elder) and grabbing his shoulders at the neck as if he swings both ways (good for him I guess?). Elder handled it well and shook it off, smiled at him as if to thank him for not poking him below the waste. A couple of us tallebigger fellas were keeping a close eye on him until backup arrived.
I knew it was coming, Trooper was ready this time. Now was his chance to settle the rail jump once and for all. He may never get this chance again, a one and done. About to be relegated from his stage front assignment, he one hand hurdled the rail. Mr. Handsy didn't run. He knew it was over at that point. Trooper walked him out.
In all seriousness, the security detail was cool the whole time, at least to my knowledge. Then they proved it. A couple of Troopers ran up with handfuls of beer and water and started passing them out to the folks at the rail, as if to thank them for the help, cooperation and allowing them to handle the situation.
Satisfied. On this night, the Troopers were definitely the good guys. Never thought I'd say that during a show.
​
Trail Bike, Champions Edition - Daniel's 4/20 celebration "A Ride to Remember"
Daniel, prior to encore, or the seemingly "set that never ended and turned into a setcore", approached the microphone to have a word with the crowd. He's not one to talk mid-show so we all stood a bit curious what was going on. He smiled, laughed and said something along the lines that he and the crew have had a busy day and he didn't have a chance to celebrate the 4/20 holiday. He kindly asked if we wouldn't mind a brief pause so that he could celebrate. The crowd obviously obliged with a good cheer. He grinned, slid to the side stage, IN FRONT OF RAIL TROOPER, kinda shyly glanced at him and the crew. A crew member handed him a pre-rolled (I couldn't tell what it was....???) to him. He walked back near the mic, nervously glanced at Rail Trooper, who by the way, continued his dead stare toward the far away cave entry "not seeing anything". Daniel proceeded to light said pre-roll.
It was a kind gesture of Rail Trooper. I think those guys had really recognized the kind hearted and happy fans that night. Nobody really seemed to make trouble and it paid off dividends in law enforcements trust of us to have a good time without stepping in.
A crew member brought a bicycle up on stage, we were all wondering WTF. There is a sloped ramp along the side wall of the cave that is used to enter the stage area. In true Lance Armstrong performance enhancing style, Daniel hopped on the bike, preroll in mouth and proceeded to ride down the ramp and up the cave floor, out to the entry area oustide. He did a loop, came back down into the cave, down the side stage entry, up the ramp and back on stage. The preroll was gone. I'm pretty sure he smoked the whole thing in that short amount of time.
The following jam was the headiest jam of the night, the celebration added to his guitar licks, for sure.
The "setcore" might be a stretch on my part, it was really difficult to tell how the night was going to end. It didn't drag out but I think the boys were having so much fun that they just didn't want to stop.
​
I will make the trek again. It was a bucket list to go to the Caverns for me, I'm so very glad to have enjoyed the time seeing DD and the Cosmic C for that bucket moment. I will be back, even if for a one nighter, totally worth every minute of drive time and effort.
It is my hope that all who went enjoyed the experience, made it home safe and still wear the same smile I'm wearing. To those of you at home who listened in, glad you could join the journey. I hope this story adds some context to the events of the night. To those who missed it all, I'm sorry you did. Take the time to go back and listen. I hope that you can all join in next year, I have a feeling Camp Cosmic will be a fixture from now on.
See y'all soon. From the Southeast coast, thanks to all you Tennessee cowboys and cowgirls for showing this salt water island boy a good time.
Thanks Mustang, Bronco, Sugar Legg, Daniel, Lights and Sound, Cavern staff.... for a wonderful time.
​
​

FYI, this is a story COLLECTION. Lots of standalones technically. So, you can basically start to read at any chapter, no pre-read of the other chapters needed technically (other than maybe getting better descriptions of characters than: Adam Vir=human, Krill=antlike alien, Sunny=tall alien, Conn=telepathic alien). The numbers are (mostly) only for organization of posts and continuity.
OC Written by Charlie Stastarrfallknightrise,
Typed up and then posted here by me.
Proofreading and language check for some chapters by u/Finbar9800 u/BakeGullible9975 u/Didnotseemecomein and u/medium_jock
Future Lore and fact check done by me.
Nothing to see here. Isn’t it perfectly normal to celebrate the 2051th birthday of something? Ya know I guess they just couldn’t do it on the 2050th anniversary.
Fanmade chapters? I don’t know what you are talking about, those are technically not canon…
Previous First Next
Want to find a specific one, see the whole list or check fanart?
Here is the link to the master-post.
Adam took a drink before setting the glass back down on the table. Across from him, Donovan Red took a pull on his whisky, drinking deeply before setting his glass down wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
"I'm sorry about your man... I didn't intend for things to go that way."
Adam said staring down at the amber liquid in the glass before him.
Donavan signed,
"Not your fault. Sometimes pride gets the better of us, and it's hard to admit that an outsider might be able to beat us at our own game."
He patted Adam on the shoulder,
"But you saved my life, which means I am, and will forever be in your debt."
He smiled. Adam tilted his head.
"That doesn't seem to bother you too much."
"I think there are much worse people to be indebted to. A least I know you won't ask me to do something I don't want to do. Not like other men I know."
He took another drink, the tattoos on his neck bobbing once and then twice as he swallowed,
"So, tell me this favor that you are looking for. How can me and mine be of service?”
Adam sighed and slumped back in his seat. He felt like he should definitely be keeping quiet about what he wanted to tell the man, but it was hard keeping it to himself and the people on his ship. It would be nice if someone else knew what was going on.
And wasn't that the point.
Isn't that why he had come here?
"When I joined the UNSC, I never thought about politics. I was a fighter pilot and then a spaceship captain. I am no politician, but more and more I find myself having to do politics like things. People ask for my opinions on policy, and they encourage me to support one group over another. I have to maneuver as a diplomat for the GA without trying to piss off the actual diplomat, who isn't too happy that I sometimes get in the way of them doing their job.”
”…”
”I am the human representative to the entire Galactic Assembly, and I have to behave the right way, but, sometimes, in doing what I know is right people get mad at me for it. I am worried one day they are going to give me an order that I just can't follow. Not to mention that I have suddenly become the figurehead for an entire political movement. Sometimes I have to make speeches now."
He threw up his hands,
"I represent a coalition interested in cooperating with the GA and all her interests, but there is a very heavy isolationist mindset on earth that is mad that we ever even joined the UNSC. They have already attempted to assassinate me once, and I have no doubt that they are going to do it again."
Donavan grunted and looked him over,
"Yes, I remember hearing about that."
He looked Adam up and down slowly,
"No offence, but you would make a shit politician."
Adam sighed and nodded,
"I know. The only reason that I have so much pull in the arena is based on what I represent, and how the GA feels about me, but now... Now I am learning that there are factions of the GA that want me gone."
Donavan raised an eyebrow in surprise,
"The GA?"
Adam shrugged and sighed pushing his glass away from him,
"Yes, some very powerful people are after me for something I never intended to do."
"And who is this exactly?"
Adam shut his mouth forcing himself to think about it for a moment before finally making his decision.
He sighed and leaned back in his chair,
"The chairwoman of the GA herself."
Red almost choked on his drink, spewing some of it out onto the table before swallowing hard and setting his glass down very slowly.
"WHAT!?!"
Adam nodded.
”I was chasing after some information, and infiltrated the pirate wing of the anti-alliance coalition as a man named captain Kall."
Red held up a hand,
"Hold on, YOU are Kall? No shit? I heard the guy was one badass pirate."
Adam adjusted his eye-patch,
"I AM one badass pirate, but either way, I used that cover to get to their leaders and saw a transmission being sent from the chairwoman of the GA that was ordering those men and women to kill me if they could manage it, and now I don't know what to do. The chairwoman pretty much helped me get my job. As far as I can recall she was one of the most supportive when it came to my promotion to captain. Thought we were allies if not friends, and now I come to learn that she has been operating behind my back to stage my assassination."
Red leaned up against the table,
"Well no shit, that does suck."
He tapped his fingers together,
"And of course you can't tell anyone without proof, otherwise they aren't going to believe you. If you are going to come up with allegations like those, then you are going to need hard evidence against her.”
Adam nodded,
"And I do have some evidence, the recording of what she said, but those sorts of things can be doctored. I need to expose her somehow. I don't know how all of this fits in of course, but it is partially why I came to speak with you."
Red waited and Adam continued.
"I can't trust anyone within the GA, or even within the UNSC. My only option is to go outside the law like my enemies are doing. Fight fire with fire so to say. If they are using the criminal underbelly to try and kill me, then maybe I can use it to try and save me."
Donavan was nodding slowly,
"And you are hoping to fight fire with fire to speak?"
Adam sighed,
"I don't know what I am hoping, but I know for a fact you and your men have the most power in this system, enough that everyone knows but no one questions it. I know you can go deeper than I can ever attempt, and I was hoping that maybe you could keep an eye out for me, track the movements of the criminal underworld so to speak while I try and deal with those people who are pretending to do things legally."
Red nodded slowly,
”That is something I can do."
"But is it something you are willing to do?"
He tilted his head back thoughtfully to look up at the ceiling above,
"I think it is. Not much different from things my men and I already do, except this time it is going to be for a worthy cause."
He grinned, his gold capped teeth glittering in the dim light,
"I-"
Just then, the implant in the side of his neck began to buzz. He held up a hand for Red to be silent, and the other man nodded leaning back in his seat to finish his drink as Adam answered the call.
"Madam UN president."
His tone of surprise roused Red who raised an eyebrow.
"I have to say this is... This is rather shocking. I didn't know that you had this number."
"I can have any number that interests me, Admiral."
"Yes of course."
He shifted nervously in his seat,
"What can I do for you ma'am?”
"Do you know what important event happened on July 20th 1969, Admiral?”
He paused not entirely sure if this was a trick question.
"Go on. I know you of all people would know it."
"The Apollo 11 moon landing ma'am.”
"More precisely, the 2051 anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. And it has been long in coming but the Global Aeronautics Space Division has decided to celebrate the occasion by recreating Apollo 11 down to every historical accuracy. The calculations will be done partially by hand and partially by computer. The Ship design will be exactly that of Apollo 11, etc. etc."
Despite the stress he had been under the last few days, he felt his heart skip a beat.
"Wait, are... Are you serious! That is amazing! So cool!”
"Yes yes."
She said cutting him off.
"And they want... Or all of us want you to pilot that ship and command the mission as Commander Neil Armstrong would have in his time."
The only response he was able to manage was a squeak, and he could feel the fangirl in him coming on hard and fast. He tried to clear his throat and remain professional, his heart pounding, a wide grin setting off across his face.
"Yes, Ma'am you can count me in."
"How confident are you that you can pilot the rocket?"
"I can fly anything ma'am."
"Even so, we would like you back on earth as soon as possible to prepare for the event. This is a big historical recreation, and we want it to go as well as possible."
"Yes ma'am."
The line went dead and he was no longer able to fight back the grin on his face.
Red watched him before standing,
"We will get to work Admiral, and we will keep in contact. It's good to know that my men and women are going to have something useful to occupy their time instead of sitting around twiddling their thumbs."
Adam stood as well and took the man's hand,
"It should be a pleasure working with you."
Red snorted skeptically,
"You are too kind. I doubt it will be so pleasant, but consider yourself as a man who has friends in very low places."
The two of them nodded and Adam excused himself back to his ship, racing towards his rooms with the giddy excitement of a schoolboy. The child in him had awoken. He stopped to sit on the edge of his bed staring at the tiny, recreated model of the lunar module sitting on the shelf above his bed glowing blue in the neon light above.
How cool was this going to be.
How dangerous was this going to be?
[…]
Eris was pleased to learn that she was not lactose intolerant.
They hadn't been sure based on her half alien half human anatomy if she would be able to handle some of the more harsh foods of the planet, but everything seemed to be working properly, a fact she was forever thankful for as she polished off her second bowl of ice cream.
She found the treat novel and delectable.
Leave it to human to think of eating flavored snow, or at least frozen cream.
And she liked it when they put little bits of candy on top.
Martha Sat on the floor next to the couch, and her husband sat in his chair watching 'the Game'. Eris wasn't sure what the rules were, but she liked watching them crash into each other. She wasn't a big fan of all the talking they seemed to do in between the crashing together.
Martha and Jim had invited her to stay over for as long as she wanted after she told them the more detailed story of her life. They had been shocked but ultimately unsurprised to learn that she was less than three years old, feeling sorry that she never got to have her childhood.
That's why they were treating her like this, she knew.
They wanted to give her that little bit of her childhood.
She worried that they would be annoyed at her presence, but they seemed to have a good time with her sticking around indefinitely as far as she could tell. She wasn't sure how long she was going to be staying, but for now, she was happy where she was.
Of course, part of her being welcome had something to do with how Martha had no one to model clothes for her. Since her youngest son left the house, she had been forced to model them herself, which made things difficult when she wanted to make alterations. But now that she had Eris, things were going much more smoothly,
At first Eris had been embarrassed to put on the clothing for her.
Once upon a time Eris hadn't known better in thinking her body was weird. She had floated around without it, using a gravity belt and no clothes, letting her long dark hair and ribbons cover what needed to be covered, but the more she learned about humans, the more self-conscious she had grown, until hoodies and baggy pants were the only things she wore.
Martha did not approve of her wardrobe, seeming to think Eris would look very striking in red or black.
Eris had tried on a few outfits for her nervousness at just how much of her alien otherness tended to show, with plunging backs and short skirts to show off her marble white legs. Martha seemed to think the ribbons were pretty, and in everything she had Eris try on, they were on full display.
"Do they work like starborn ribbons?"
Martha wondered,
"I know they act sort of as solar sails, storing energy from the sun and using that to glide."
Eris paused,
"I don't know. I was born on Noctopolis where there is no sun, so I have never tried it."
"I think you should."
Eris shifted nervously,
"But..."
Martha just smiled at her,
"Our backyard is fenced in, no one is going to see you, don’t worry Eris."
Eris thought about it for a moment and then set her bowl down to the side. She stood slowly and walked to the back sliding screen door and stepped out onto their back porch.
Technically it was only fenced in on two sides. The backside was open where the forest met their lawn, growing deep and black as it went further back into the depths.
Nervously Eris reached up and pulled off her hoodie dropping it to the ground.
The tank top she wore had been made by Martha to accommodate her ribbons.
Once upon a time her gravity belt had allowed those ribbons to wave and undulate, but here they sagged with gravity and flowed behind her in the occasional wind current.
She turned around so they were facing the sun and waited.
And waited.
She felt nothing happening and was about to go inside when.
When something started to happen.
She felt more... Energized. Her blood seemed to grow warm, and a smile spread across her face. At first, she thought it was just all in her head, but then the warmth continued to blossom over her.
Her eyes went wide, and she hummed softly, feeling recharged from the sun like a battery.
She had her eyes closed and was just enjoying the radiation when she heard something ringing from the inside of the house followed by voices.
She was able to tear herself away from the warmth and stick her head inside.
"Adam, how are you doing?”
Jim said and Eris could see Adam's face projected on the TV.
She recognized a bit of herself in him. She had his nose, and his eyeshape.
"You are not going to believe who just called me."
Martha smiled as she walked over to sit next to her husband,
"Adam I wouldn't be surprised if it was the president herself."
Adam frowned some of the wind momentarily taken out of his sales,
"Ok, yes it was the president, but…"
He lit up almost immediately,
"But you are not going to believe what she asked me to do!”
He didn't wait for them to guess,
"She wants me to fly a recreated mission of the Apollo 11 moon landing. Historically accurate and everything!"
His grin was so wide it looked like he was going to split his face in half.
Martha's eyes widened,
"Really?"
Jim frowned,
"That is great Adam, but... Historically accurate?"
He nodded vigorously,
"Yeah."
”As in really REALLY accurate?”
”Yes! isn’t that cool!”
"Son, you do realize the computer they used was less powerful than your mother's automatic blow dryer?”
He waved a hand,
"Yeah yeah, I know I know. Most of the math is probably going to be done by hand."
Jim snorted and Martha grimaced,
"Adam, sometimes I wish you had safer hobbies. I mean flying the omen is one thing, with those shields she could probably survive a meteor impact, but you understand the Apollo 11 mission flew in a rocket that had parts no heavier duty than your average tin can."
"Yes, and that makes it even more awesome."
"I think you are getting dangerous and awesome confused again, son."
"Oh, come on, this is like a dream come true for me.”
Finally, Martha and Jim sighed and broke out into smiles,
"There is no changing your mind as usual."
Adam grinned,
"Nope."
He turned his head just then, seeming to look through the camera, his eyes falling on Eris. Shock spread across his face,
"Eris, is that you?"
She smiled shyly and moved forward,
"Yeah, It's me."
"What are you doing there? I thought you were working at the hybrid foundation taking care of Glados and the others."
She shrugged guiltily,
"I... well Glados and the others wanted to go back to the Adaptid planet, and after that, others started getting adopted, but then I sort of burnt out and wanted to come here and meet..."
She paused not sure if she should say.
Martha put an arm around her,
"She wanted to meet her grandparents and extended family."
Adam looked surprised for a moment as if not having expected that before shrugging,
"Just try to avoid mom's side of the family if at all possible."
"Adam!”
Martha scolded, though she wasn't actually mad.
He grinned,
"I'll be home in a few days."
He looked at Eris,
"Maybe I can show you around town when I get back... If that's something you'd be interested in?"
Eris shuffled her feet and quietly looked down,
"Yeah, i'd like that."
She wished she could read his thoughts in that moment. Was he only offering to be polite? She knew better than anyone that her birth had not been his fault. He had had his DNA stolen to make her, but still, she couldn't help but feel an affinity towards him. One that she knew wasn't fair for her to feel.
He hadn't chosen for her to be born after all.
Not like other people.
Did he just feel guilty?
Was she unwanted?
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Want to find a specific one, see the whole list or check fanart?
Here is the link to the master-post.
Intro post by me
OC-whole collection
Patreon of the author
Thanks for reading! As you saw in the title, this is a cross posted story written by starrfallknightrise and I'll just upload some of it here for you guys, if you are interested and want to read ahead, the original story-collection can be found on tumblr or wattpad to read for free. (link above this text under "OC:..." ) It is the Empyrean Iris story collection by starfallknightrise. Also, if you want to know more about the story collection i made an intro post about it, so feel free to check that out to see what other great characters to look forward to! (Link also above this text). I have no affiliations to the author; just thought I’d share some of the great stories you might enjoy a lot!
Obviously, I have Charlie’s permission to post this and for the people already knowing the stories, or starting to read them: If you follow the link and check out the story you will see some differences. I made some small (non-artistic) changes, mainly correcting writing mistakes, pronoun correction and some small additional info here and there of things which were not thought of/forgotten or even were added/changed in later stories (like the “USS->UNSC” prefix of Stabby, Chalar=/->Sunny etc). As well as some "biggemajor" changes in descriptions and info’s for the same stringency/continuity reason. That can be explained by the story collection being, well a story collection at the start with many standalone-stories just starring the same people, but later on it gets more to a stringent storyline with backstories and throwbacks. (For example Adam Vir has some HEAVY scars over his body, following his bones, which were not really talked about up till half the collection, where it says it covers his whole body and you find out via backflash that he had them the whole time and how he got them, they just weren't mentioned before. However, I would think a doctor would at least see these scars before that, especially since he gets analyzed, treated and goes shirtless/in T-shirts in some stories). So TLDR: Writing and some descriptions are slightly changed, with full OK from the author, since he himself did not bother to correct these things before.

https://minimalfreaks.co/2024/04/best-new-tech-house-releases-21-apr-2024-694-tracks/

Abbud, Pedroz (BR) - Effie 05:26 130bpm 5A Abbud, Pedroz (BR) - Katniss 05:42 130bpm 9A ACA (YU) - Let The Bass Roll 05:47 130bpm 1A ACA (YU) - New Start 06:12 130bpm 11B Adam Clay, ATIØPE - Freak Out (Extended Mix) 04:35 127bpm 2A Aero Jay - The Ride (Extended Mix) 03:05 126bpm 10A AESTASIADO - Mamasita 05:32 127bpm 9A Alan Martz - Youdet 06:09 126bpm 7B Aldo Gargiulo, MarcoLux - I Want Your Belly 06:10 125bpm 5A Alektro - DAYnNITE 04:23 127bpm 4A Alican Sandık - Do It 03:16 126bpm 1A Allan Piziano - Candela (Extended Mix) 06:09 95bpm 4B Allan Piziano - El Sabroso (Extended Mix) 05:23 125bpm 1A Alvaro Ceballos - How Mamma 06:41 129bpm 1A Alvaro Ceballos - Wild Style 05:42 129bpm 5A Amal Nemer - Get It 05:02 127bpm 11B Andino - Coconut Shopping 04:30 128bpm 12A Andino - Parakeet Party 04:41 130bpm 8B Andre Salmon - Alrite (Dub Salmon) 06:03 130bpm 8A Andrea Belli, Dave Roy Bland, LUYON EL CHAMACO - Menealo (Extended Mix) 05:39 126bpm 3A Andrea Maggino, Matteo Dentone - Topping (Extended Mix) 05:31 127bpm 10B Andrea Maggino, Matteo Dentone - Watch 05:30 129bpm 1A Andres Blows - Put a Line (Extended Mix) 05:32 128bpm 2B Andres Blows, Matta (COL) - Purga (Extended Mix) 05:32 128bpm 3A Andrew Core - Communication 05:06 127bpm 9B Andruss, Valexus - Frikitona (Valexus Extended Remix) 03:16 137bpm 10B Andryx - DAMN (Extended Mix) 04:05 128bpm 7B Andy Mancy - Thats What You Like 06:27 130bpm 8A Angel Heredia - Congatrol 06:04 128bpm 4A Angel Heredia - Oye Loca 06:04 129bpm 7B Angel Preciado - Ella Se Arrebata 04:33 128bpm 5B Ant Brooks - Automatic 04:42 130bpm 11A Ant Brooks - Jazz Hands 05:29 129bpm 8A Anti Up - Control The Media (Extended Mix) 04:31 128bpm 2B Anti Up - The Weekend (Extended Mix) 03:42 132bpm 1A Antoine Clamaran, Tristan Garner - Cancun Paradise 2024 (Antho Decks Remix) 04:08 128bpm 10B Antoine Clamaran, Tristan Garner - Cancun Paradise 2024 (Jeremy Bass & Rio Dela Duna Kuum Remix) 05:11 125bpm 7A Antoine Clamaran, Tristan Garner - Cancun Paradise 2024 (Nolek Remix) 05:45 125bpm 10A Antoine Clamaran, Tristan Garner - Cancun Paradise 2024 (Rework) 05:42 126bpm 11A Antoine Clamaran, Tristan Garner - Cancun Paradise 2024 (Tony Cortez Remix) 06:08 128bpm 10A Anton Bykov, Odeum (UA) - Acid Freedom 05:25 130bpm 9A Aramitt - Ghost 04:02 122bpm 7B Armand Van Helden, Mark Knight - Release Me (CID Extended Remix) 05:18 127bpm 12B Arthur M.C. - Hoy Quiero 04:38 125bpm 10A Athos (GR) - Lemons 05:55 127bpm 3B ATTICUS - Eyes 04:59 129bpm 2A ATTICUS - Smoke 06:11 126bpm 6A Avensis - Lollipop (Extended Mix) 05:53 128bpm 9A Bad Monkey - Set Me Free (Extended Mix) 05:09 127bpm 2A Band&dos - Eu Quero 05:25 130bpm 11A Band&dos - Mambo Loko 05:30 128bpm 8B Bandido! - Nasty 05:50 130bpm 4A Bartalux - Idt 05:39 126bpm 2B Bassic (ARG) - Left 06:01 128bpm 4A Bassic (ARG) - Tukutu 06:04 129bpm 7B Becker - The real slim shady 02:45 125bpm 5A BIJOU, alltalk - Oxygen (Extended Mix) 04:47 127bpm 4A Black V Neck, Cave Studio - Do My Thing 04:01 127bpm 9B Black V Neck, ZUEZEU, James Cole (USA) - Sara Tonin feat. James Cole 03:45 128bpm 7A Bleu Clair, POLOVICH - In The Music 05:13 130bpm 2A BLK&WHT - Soul Spirit (SnakDaddy Extended Remix) 04:47 128bpm 4A Bodhi - Popit (Hitty Remix) 05:10 131bpm 7B Bodhi - Reformat 06:26 137bpm 9A Bonn-arg - Dame Too 06:00 128bpm 2A Boss Doms, MI.BARRIO - Pop It 05:23 126bpm 2B Brandon Caballero - Qué Pretendes 05:38 129bpm 5B Brandon Caballero - Sigue Tu Camino 05:42 127bpm 7B Brandon Caballero, Frank Salassi - Tons Que 05:49 129bpm 6A Breaking Beattz, Ragie Ban - Clutch (Extended Mix) 04:22 128bpm 4B Brulefer (EC) - Adn 06:01 129bpm 5A Brulefer (EC) - Nfm 05:57 133bpm 8B Brulefer (EC) - Rolling Cigarretes 05:59 132bpm 8A Brulefer (EC) - Signal 06:25 131bpm 6A Buogo - Wanana (Extended Mix) 05:27 130bpm 11A BURNR - Mayor Que Yo (Extended Mix) 05:59 129bpm 1A Byred - NO TR4CE 05:00 130bpm 10B Cade Solito - Things Ain't Been The Same 05:16 128bpm 9A Cade Solito - Top Ten 05:42 124bpm 5A Cade Solito - Yoursofine 04:23 124bpm 11A Calypse, Powl - Shout Down (Javi Miramontes Remix) 05:30 128bpm 2B Calypse, Powl - Shout Down 06:22 128bpm 2B Carlos Francisco - No Sweat 05:49 125bpm 9B CASHEW - Good To Me (Extended Mix) 04:03 127bpm 9A Casmalia - Calling Out (Extended Mix) 05:11 126bpm 11A Casmalia - Calling Out (Redux Saints Extended Remix) 06:09 128bpm 2B Castion - Cuerpo Brutal (Extended Mix) 05:01 128bpm 1A Castle J, Arkins - Give A Try (Extended Mix) 03:33 126bpm 2A CATTCH - Body Love (Extended Mix) 05:56 124bpm 11A Chapter & Verse - I Got 5 On It (Extended Mix) 04:50 126bpm 6B Charles Pierre - Feel This Way 06:13 126bpm 9A Charles Pierre - Moonlight To Sunrise 06:13 126bpm 12A Charles Pierre - Moonlight To Sunrise (Rob Stillekens Remix) 06:02 130bpm 5A Charles Pierre - Moonlight To Sunrise (Yousef Circus Rework) 06:06 127bpm 2B Chema Gnz - Coffee Fillings 06:00 126bpm 4A Chema Gnz - Wow! 05:51 126bpm 4A Chris Brooks - Busted 06:02 127bpm 6A Chris Brooks - I Can Groove 06:21 127bpm 7A Chris Brooks - Looking Like 06:06 127bpm 6A Chris Di Perri - Body Lies 05:55 130bpm 2A Chris Di Perri - Rudimental Break 05:25 130bpm 5B Chris Di Perri - That Shit 05:31 128bpm 11B Chris Di Perri - Truth 05:31 128bpm 9A Christian T - Because 05:57 129bpm 5A Christian T - Lets Go 05:57 129bpm 4A Chuckie - Beetje Mu 03:31 136bpm 11A Chuckie - KTB 04:36 126bpm 10A Chuckie - Wicked Rudebwoy 06:26 130bpm 6B Claudio Malz - Loneliness 05:12 126bpm 5A Clyde P, Tasty Lopez - Let's Go (Extended Mix) 04:32 125bpm 2A Cole Knight - A Little Fun (Extended Mix) 05:40 131bpm 8A Counter Pacco - Baddest on the Block 04:19 126bpm 7A Counter Pacco - Dj 04:51 126bpm 8A Crisbert, Dalex (MX), FERTHEEN, FerBeats - Bucovina (Extended Mix) 04:41 126bpm 9A Crystal, MichaelBM, Mc Talibã - Antes e Depois (Extended Mix) 05:43 130bpm 2A Dagoro - Miwok 06:00 128bpm 12A Dani Masi, kano dj, Mathieu Ruz - Bullerenguera (Dani Masi VIP Extended Mix) 05:12 126bpm 4A Dani Masi, Papá Kumbé - Diablo (Extended Mix) 05:40 127bpm 4A Dani Masi, Santos Garcia - Missy Queen's Gonna Die (Extended Mix) 06:30 129bpm 7A Daniel Orpi - Can't Sleep Alone 05:53 131bpm 7A Daniel Orpi - Everybody Feel The Bass 05:26 130bpm 6B Daniel Orpi - Zucker 05:53 131bpm 8A Danny Rhys, Devotionz - Booty Call (Extended Mix) 05:05 127bpm 1A Dante Klein - Boom Bap (Extended Mix) 04:53 126bpm 9B Darwin Ferrara - Killers On The Road 05:36 126bpm 9B Dave Aude - Push That Thing (2024 Extended) 06:14 125bpm 7B Dave Winnel - Wait A Minute (Extended Mix) 06:07 126bpm 3A Daveartt - DESPEGUE 03:23 128bpm 7B Daveartt - LFG 03:47 128bpm 2B David Figueira, J Aristi - Feka (Instrumental Mix) 06:21 126bpm 9B David Figueira, J Aristi - Feka 06:21 126bpm 9B David Fritz - Ey Mamacita! (Extended Mix) 05:50 128bpm 8A David Herrlich - Don't Blame Me (Extended Mix) 04:22 128bpm 10A David Myers - Bass Wobble 06:47 128bpm 1A David Myers - Is Dad 06:48 130bpm 5A Davide Marsala - Tocala 05:46 128bpm 3A Davide Marsala - TT 06:11 128bpm 2B Davide Mazzilli, Krispino Krs - BOLA 05:00 128bpm 7B Davide Mentesana - Flow Delivery 06:50 131bpm 5A DAYL - House Is Love 05:57 125bpm 6A Deep Royale - Now ya Know (Extended Mix) 06:12 125bpm 6A Demian Muller - Babuz (Extended Mix) 05:42 129bpm 8B Dennis 97 - Turn The Music Up (Extended Mix) 05:48 127bpm 10A Deoca - Rage 05:50 126bpm 10B Deoca - Synthfire 06:55 126bpm 7B Des & Del - Downtown 05:20 132bpm 3A Des & Del - Flying Like A Dragon 05:25 130bpm 1B Detlef - Handleit (Bonus Track) 05:30 129bpm 3B Detlef - Lezzgo 05:03 129bpm 6B Detlef - Wassablah 06:28 129bpm 5A Devarra - Acid (Club Mix) 04:19 126bpm 5B Dexter (ITA) - Madism 05:24 125bpm 8A Diego Cardarelli - Sucias 07:13 129bpm 3A Diego Sosa - No Love 07:13 125bpm 9A Diego Sosa - Panic 06:33 128bpm 7B Diego Sosa - The Life You Love 06:03 128bpm 9A Diemetic, FOOTWURK - Tik Tok 04:31 128bpm 10B Dimitri Vegas, Like Mike, W&W, Dido, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike - Thank You (Not So Bad) (Dimitri Vegas x Piero Pirupa Extended Remix) 05:16 128bpm 1A DiMO (BG), Mr.K (BG) - Dolores 06:01 123bpm 11B DiMO (BG), Mr.K (BG) - Ronda 05:52 124bpm 11A DJ Huguito - TEH (Extended Mix) 05:13 124bpm 7B DJ Lugo, Andres PM - Bamboleo 07:12 125bpm 8A DJ Lugo, Lys Romero - Fly To Love 05:07 125bpm 6A DJ Lugo, Visitante - Frekeria 04:52 128bpm 8A DJ S.K.T, Pure Cold, Shaq Rayes - Pelota (Extended Mix) 05:36 127bpm 8A DJ Vivona, Zooe - Bite My Lip (feat. ZooE) (Sossa remix) 07:33 127bpm 6A Djonii - Drillin' 06:56 93bpm 9B Djonii - Where Is The DJ 06:12 127bpm 12A DLMT - More Passion, More Energy (Extended Mix) 04:20 130bpm 6A DODX, Daniel Kazuo - Satisfaction (Extended) 06:37 128bpm 4A DONT BLINK - MY DREAM (CADELAGO & Martin Angrisano (ARG) Remix) 05:55 127bpm 9B DONT BLINK - RUDEBOX 05:21 126bpm 7B DONT BLINK - WHAT HAPPENED LAST NIGHT 06:05 126bpm 7B Dr. Space - Anima (Extended Mix) 04:28 126bpm 9A Drop The Cheese, Dirty Sound Boys - Chama (Club Mix) 04:41 126bpm 12B DROPDEXX - House Thing (Extended Mix) 05:19 130bpm 9B Dubdogz, Jude & Frank - ININNA TORA (Extended Version) 03:46 127bpm 7B Duke & Jones - Horizon (Crusy Extended Remix) 06:29 126bpm 9A DUPH - Sax 88 04:44 125bpm 5B DYKMN - Dale Dale 02:53 125bpm 9A Dylan J - Atardecer En Brasil 05:50 125bpm 7A DZR, Sabrosura Boyz - BAPU 06:27 130bpm 9B EitherOr - Drop It! (Extended Mix) 04:20 128bpm 9A Emiel Roche, Michael Seumeren - Mental Disorder 05:21 127bpm 7B Emircan Hattat, No Worries - Joker (Extended Mix) 05:08 128bpm 3A ESSED - Boom 04:48 98bpm 8A ESSED - Honey 05:10 130bpm 4B Esteban Otoya - Pa 06:58 125bpm 12A Etwas (IT) - Menealo 06:09 130bpm 8A Etwas (IT) - Mi Barrio 06:41 127bpm 8A Eu Bolos - Underground Sensation 06:57 122bpm 11B Eurostep - Ride Nasty (Extended Mix) 05:30 128bpm 2A Eurostep, Leisan - Sensations (Extended Mix) 05:02 127bpm 3A Eze Drill, LeoK - My Turn 05:45 128bpm 1B Eze Drill, LeoK - Want It 05:45 128bpm 1B Ezziolino - Y Ahora (Original) 04:55 130bpm 8B Fabi Hernandez - Azul (Extended Mix) 05:31 127bpm 6A FeelGood - Discoteca 05:37 128bpm 8A Felipe Cardona - Tk+ 04:03 126bpm 8A FENIK - Blowing Up My Phone 04:41 130bpm 3B Fetish - Premeditated 02:36 126bpm 4A F-Lima - Let Me Love You 06:30 128bpm 2A FONEMA - Ballers 05:26 128bpm 7A FONEMA - Boom Boom 04:39 130bpm 12B FONEMA - Pa pa pa 04:03 128bpm 5B Fran Dc - Eighteen 05:16 128bpm 7A Francesco N (ARG) - Grooving 07:12 125bpm 10A Francesco N (ARG) - Tonight 05:44 124bpm 7A Francesco V - Fresh On Your Teeth 06:34 129bpm 7A Francisco Allendes, Manuelito - Viva El Coyote (Extended Mix) 05:48 128bpm 2A Franco Schmidt - Hey Mutombo 06:36 126bpm 3B Franco Schmidt - Reflection 06:15 0bpm 9A Frander Zambrano - Week 04:45 128bpm 3B Franz Alexander - Together (Extended Mix) 06:03 128bpm 5A Franz Costa - Darling 06:02 128bpm 12B Funkyst - Bender 05:24 128bpm 11B G DOM - Track Please (Extended Mix) 06:02 127bpm 10B Gabe Katz - Bobble Heads 06:30 128bpm 9A Gala Gutierrez - Black From The Future 06:08 128bpm 9A Gala Gutierrez - Jaleando 06:02 128bpm 1A Gallardo, Malex, Yosmer Davis - Call My Name 05:15 124bpm 6A Gallardo, Malex, Yosmer Davis - Move Your Feet 04:38 126bpm 9B Gene Farris, Basura Boyz - In My Heart (Extended Mix) 05:23 126bpm 10A Genesi - Stoppin (Extended Instrumental Mix) 05:18 128bpm 8A Genesi - Stoppin (Extended Mix) 05:18 128bpm 11B George JJ Flores, Soul Shadow - Heaven (Doc Martin Subwap Remix) 06:13 124bpm 6A Gettoblaster - Purple Pin Stripes 05:37 128bpm 1A Gettoblaster, Dipzy - Love Is Kind 05:41 130bpm 4A Giancarlo Zara - Freedom 05:57 130bpm 5A Gianni Ruocco, Day Garcia - Le Mostraste Tu Titi (Extended Mix) 05:48 128bpm 11A Gianni Ruocco, Day Garcia - Se Lo Meti (Extended Mix) 06:08 127bpm 9A Gianni Ruocco, Elegant Hands, Calego - Dale (Extended Mix) 05:22 128bpm 4B Gianni Ruocco, Guti Legatto - Scream Night 06:06 127bpm 10A Gianni Ruocco, Guti Legatto - Tiempo 05:36 127bpm 10A Gianni Ruocco, Kassier - Jumping 05:31 128bpm 1A Gianni Ruocco, Kassier - The Crew 06:00 128bpm 10A Gino Lonero - Nem Me Importa 05:51 131bpm 7A GIOC, Eric Olliver - Baby Freak 06:48 127bpm 9A GIOC, Eric Olliver - Drunky Fairy 07:00 128bpm 7A GIOC, Eric Olliver - Drunky Fairy (Pablo Mancilla Remix) 06:59 126bpm 10B Glassy & Bare - Latin Bros. 03:39 126bpm 8A Gory - Hasta Que Salga La Luna (Extended Mix) 06:21 126bpm 4A Groovboy - Class 06:41 128bpm 1A Groovboy - I Like 06:37 128bpm 12B GSEP, Rikki Sawyer - Charlie Heggartys (Silvio Ecomo Remix) 07:28 130bpm 7A GSEPP, Smith & Sorren - Kiss (Extended Mix) 03:50 126bpm 10A Guezmark - Monkey 05:56 124bpm 6A Guglielmo Nasini, NuKey - The Doppler Effect (Extended Mix) 03:56 126bpm 5A Guzt - Do You Watch Me? 06:15 128bpm 5A Guzt - Martians Dance 06:30 128bpm 9A Guzt - Nobody Knows 06:18 128bpm 12A Guzt - Yes, We Do 06:42 127bpm 3A Halogen - Hot (Extended Mix) 04:04 126bpm 5A Hammer - Red Alert (ABSOLUTE.'s High Alert Remix) 05:03 125bpm 2B Hammer - Red Alert 06:06 126bpm 12B Hardskin - Bengal (Extended Mix) 04:55 130bpm 9A Hardskin - Better (Extended Mix) 05:30 128bpm 9B Hassio (COL) - Packwoods 07:07 128bpm 4A Hassio (COL), Corrales - Opium 05:45 128bpm 6A Havoc & Lawn, MI.BARRIO - Embiggen 06:28 129bpm 3B Hennry - Pushim Pushim 06:15 128bpm 11A Hennry - Whodis 05:54 130bpm 2A Hermin Hernandez - It's So Good (Extended Mix) 06:03 128bpm 7A Homar Rossi, Vincenzo Aiardo - Aladdin Kill 05:02 130bpm 6A Homar Rossi, Vincenzo Aiardo - U Drops My Ball 07:50 123bpm 6A HoneyLuv - Right Spot (Byron The Aquarius Remix) 05:04 134bpm 7B HoneyLuv - Right Spot (Dennis Ferrer Remix) 06:03 127bpm 1A Hrag Beko - Totalito 04:19 127bpm 6A Hunters - El Ave 06:46 124bpm 2A Ignacio - Ven Pa Ca 02:14 126bpm 11A Ignacio Le Bert - Salsa 06:16 126bpm 7A Ignacio Le Bert - Under Groove 06:22 126bpm 9A IILO, destiny ron - Who Dat (feat. Destiny Ron) (Extended Mix) 04:03 126bpm 10B Ishimaru - Jaw (Extended Mix) 04:51 130bpm 7A Ivan Kook - Esta NO 06:13 126bpm 11A J Aristi - Malvadao 06:05 126bpm 9B J Aristi - Yeah 06:02 127bpm 4A Jack Orley - Wake Up (Extended Mix) 04:51 126bpm 9A Jackie Hollander - The Afterparty 05:35 126bpm 11A Jaco Reigosa - Night (Diego Bustamante Remix) 06:08 128bpm 9B Jaco Reigosa - Night (Martin OCCO Remix) 05:36 128bpm 6A Jaco Reigosa - Night 06:04 128bpm 3A Jaded, Dombresky - Sound Of The Drums (Calussa VIP Mix (Extended)) 05:31 128bpm 11B Jadoo - Tú Sabes 04:39 125bpm 12A Jadoo, Sael Quinn - RitmiKa (Extended Mix) 04:38 126bpm 6A Jaime Narvaez - Te Toca (Instrumental Mix) 06:42 126bpm 1A Jaime Narvaez - Te Toca 06:44 125bpm 1A Jaime Narvaez - Werk It 06:30 125bpm 7A Jaime Soeiro, Knober - Crossing the Town (Extended Mix) 05:33 129bpm 1B jairo delli - Above 05:31 128bpm 11A jairo delli - Backup 06:04 127bpm 11A jairo delli - Les Bari 05:30 128bpm 3A Javi Reina, Jesus Fernandez - Fiebre (Extended Mix) 03:21 128bpm 8A Javi Reina, Óscar Madrid - Volta (Extended Mix) 04:43 129bpm 12B Jay Cara - Ese Ritmo 06:22 128bpm 11B Jesse James - Drop the Bass (Eldeanyo Remix) 06:40 126bpm 12B Jesse James - Drop the Bass (Mr Jay Remix) 05:17 124bpm 11A Jesse James - Drop the Bass 05:57 124bpm 11A Jessteck - Expansion 04:08 125bpm 8A Jessteck - Machinike 04:02 126bpm 6B Jim Brown - Medication 05:56 126bpm 9A Jim Brown - My Face 04:55 126bpm 11B Joa Martul - Silence 06:40 127bpm 6A John Summit - EAT THE BASS (Extended Mix) 04:35 128bpm 7B Johnk - Arcade 06:00 128bpm 8B Johnk - Despierta 06:00 128bpm 1A Johnk - Happy 05:45 128bpm 5A Johnk - Little Joe 05:45 128bpm 5A Johnk - Sunday 05:46 128bpm 5B Johnk - TechLow 05:48 128bpm 7A Jon Fleet, Chrisy Stebbeds - RADIKAL AUDIO 05:34 128bpm 4A Jony Romero - En Nota 05:56 127bpm 12A Jony Romero - Muevelo 06:04 128bpm 4B Jony Romero, Juan Vargas (VE) - El Lio 05:42 127bpm 8B Jorhav - Asunder 06:36 127bpm 10B Jorhav - One Two Hits 06:32 128bpm 9B Jorman M. - Ecuador 06:40 127bpm 12A Josh Butler - Seeder 05:12 130bpm 6B Joshwa - Get Stupid (Extended Mix) 05:27 129bpm 1A Joshwa - Lluvia (Extended Mix) 06:27 129bpm 7A JP Chronic - Dancintro 06:05 126bpm 8A Juan Dragster - Belis 05:45 128bpm 9B Juan Dragster - La Cluja 05:54 130bpm 8A Juan Dragster - Pickpocket 05:30 128bpm 7A Juan JF - Flipping 06:54 130bpm 9A Juan JF - Sur Connection 06:30 128bpm 7A Juanchi Llanos - Heat 06:36 127bpm 5A Julian Collazos - Psicólogo 05:00 128bpm 10A Julian Collazos - Tik Tak 05:00 128bpm 4A Julian Jordan, Mingue - Bon Voyage feat. Mingue (Extended Mix) 04:04 130bpm 6A JustFranzy - Siesta 07:02 125bpm 2A Justin Fahrmer - Gamemode 05:24 128bpm 1B Justin Fahrmer - Si Quieres 05:24 128bpm 9B Justin Fahrmer - Sky Comes 03:46 128bpm 8A Karretero - Company (Extended Mix) 05:40 130bpm 11A Karretero - Sharpie (Extended Mix) 05:45 125bpm 7B Kasto, Chris Maze, WiLDheart - Time To Jump In 05:30 130bpm 4B KBTO - Diamond Chain 06:24 131bpm 11A KBTO - Lift Me Up 06:24 131bpm 9A KBTO - Wine Slow 05:26 131bpm 7B Kenny Ground - Keep On 07:18 123bpm 12B Kevin Reinoso - Atuska 05:27 127bpm 8B Kevin Reinoso - Ritmo Espanol 06:30 129bpm 4A Kevin Reinoso, Fresko (US) - Around The Block 04:48 128bpm 7B Kid Enigma, Matthew Anthony - Swerve (Avilo Remix) 04:51 129bpm 12B Kill Them With Colour - Cavaya (Extended Mix: Beatport Exclusive mix) 06:09 124bpm 10A Kill Them With Colour - Dale 04:54 125bpm 12A Knober - One More Time (Extended Mix) 06:15 129bpm 12A Kocham - Lose Your Cool (Extended Mix) 04:47 127bpm 10A Kocham - Lose Your Cool (Instrumental) 04:47 127bpm 10A kofla - Tiburon 05:41 130bpm 9A Lady Bee - Days Off 03:32 128bpm 6B Lady Bee, Chuwe - Booty Dance 04:03 128bpm 9A Lauren Lane - Ryde or Die Anthem 05:23 126bpm 3B LEFTI - Hands Together 05:41 125bpm 6A LEFTI - Release Yourself 05:51 128bpm 4A LEFTI - Sorry A$$ feat. Ava Raiin 05:48 128bpm 10B LENny (IT) - Only Fans 03:03 126bpm 6B Léo Franco - Lúcia (Extended) 05:25 127bpm 5A Leo Oliver - President House 05:00 128bpm 8A LeoK - Valentine's Day 06:02 127bpm 8B LeoK - Weekend Mood 05:30 128bpm 5A LewRaz - Jazz Fever (Extended Mix) 04:58 129bpm 9A Lincoln (BR) - Boom 04:50 129bpm 5A Lincoln (BR) - Hot Creation 05:05 132bpm 8A Lincoln (BR) - Perra 06:15 128bpm 4A Lincoln (BR) - Say Low 05:00 128bpm 2B Lisbona Sisters - Back On The Grind (Extended Mix) 04:55 130bpm 5A Lisbona Sisters - Dem Boyz (Extended Mix) 05:51 131bpm 2A Lobø, Dens (ITA) - Close Your Eyes 05:55 126bpm 11B Lookahead, Juan Ferreyro - Bassline 06:22 126bpm 8A Lorenzo Dotti - Brother 07:35 128bpm 11B Lorenzo Dotti - Stars (Igor Zanga Remix) 06:38 128bpm 8A Lorenzo Dotti - Stars 05:35 128bpm 4B Lori'S - Beat Arabic 06:45 128bpm 12B Lori'S - Cuica 04:18 130bpm 6A Loud 'N Bright - Badman Selecta (Extended Mix) 04:37 132bpm 6A Loud 'N Bright - Nitelife (Extended Mix) 04:58 129bpm 4B Loud 'N Bright - Voekif (Extended Mix) 04:31 128bpm 6B Louis Millne - TIGHTEN UP (Extended Mix) 05:28 130bpm 7A Lowez - Darlin' (C I C I Remix) 06:00 128bpm 8A Lowez - Darlin' (GIU Remix) 05:19 128bpm 8A Lowez - Darlin' (Holt 88 Remix) 04:19 126bpm 5A Lowez - Darlin' 04:45 128bpm 9A Lowjess - Tec Machine (Extended Mix) 05:46 128bpm 12B Loyola - Muevete papi (Radio Edit) 03:35 125bpm 7B Luca Garaboni, Fabiola Osorio - Niño (Extended Mix) 06:23 127bpm 5A Lucas Bahr - Sou Ronaldo 05:05 132bpm 6B Lucas Bahr - Time To Groove 05:24 130bpm 4A Lucas Rotela - Chack Chack 06:06 128bpm 7A Lucas Rotela - Give Me The Bass 06:00 128bpm 4A Lucas Rotela, Bassic (ARG) - Back To Back 05:45 128bpm 3A Lucas Rotela, Bassic (ARG) - Funky 06:00 128bpm 1A Lucci Minati - Sexy Back 04:50 129bpm 3A Luciana, Glovibes, Lana Parrilla - YOU (Alex Ramox Remix) 05:40 125bpm 2B Luciana, Glovibes, Lana Parrilla - YOU (Federico Scavo Remix) 06:07 128bpm 10A Luciana, Glovibes, Lana Parrilla - YOU (The Cube Guys Remix) 05:24 125bpm 2B Luka Kuhnow - So Gangsta 06:25 127bpm 3A Luka Kuhnow, Nico Ruminot - Party (MartinoResi Remix) 05:41 125bpm 5A Luka Kuhnow, Nico Ruminot - Party 06:10 127bpm 8B Magic Cryptic Box - Patterns 04:33 125bpm 9A Mak Negron - Mermelada 07:07 128bpm 8A Mak Negron, Jack Roma - Portugues 05:20 129bpm 8A Manuel De La Mare, Junior Souza - Bang Bang 05:07 130bpm 8A Marcel Dope - Capoeira 06:33 127bpm 3A Marcel Dope - Party People 06:05 126bpm 2A Marco Lys - I Don't Wanna Go Back (Extended Mix) 06:35 127bpm 10B Marcos Orellano (AR) - My Head 06:15 128bpm 7A Marcos Silvestre - Summer Sound 06:25 125bpm 7A Marcos Silvestre, Ronny Santana - Triki 05:23 128bpm 7A Marcus Code - Sonic Glitch 05:37 126bpm 5B Marcus Code - Vegas baby 05:37 126bpm 12A Mareels - Like Me (Extended Mix) 05:58 129bpm 6A Margot, Marambaia - Complicated 05:40 124bpm 9A Marian (BR) - Balloon 06:07 128bpm 2A Marian (BR) - Fuel 06:33 128bpm 6B Marian (BR) - Sweet Time 06:10 131bpm 9B Mariano Lunadei - Candela 05:20 132bpm 9A Mariano Lunadei - Dada 05:33 128bpm 2A Mariano Lunadei - My Sexy Think 05:42 126bpm 6B Mariano Lunadei - Wasted 05:37 128bpm 4A Mark Lennon - My Mind (Extended Mix) 05:49 125bpm 11A Markem, GIOC, Nolek, Mc Talibã - GUTO GUTO (GIOC EXTENDED REMIX) 05:08 128bpm 9A Marlon Sadler - I Wanna Rock 06:06 127bpm 7A Marlon Sadler - Never Gonna Stop 06:30 128bpm 10B Martin Ikin - In The Streets (Extended Mix) 05:08 128bpm 3A Martin Mendoza - Dance Floor 06:16 128bpm 11A Martin Mendoza - Keep On 05:57 129bpm 5A Marvin Acosta - Auto Pilot 03:09 126bpm 4A Massimo Conte - Move On Acid (Extended Mix) 06:11 126bpm 6A Mat Aus - Best Night 06:46 128bpm 8A Mat Aus - Discovery 05:31 128bpm 5A Mat Aus - In To Me 05:34 128bpm 3B Mat Aus - Stop Acting Cool 06:31 128bpm 6A Mat.Joe, Piem - Let The Beat (BizZa Remix) 05:48 129bpm 3A Mat.Joe, Piem - Let The Beat 06:34 127bpm 4B Maty Badini - Don't Wend 06:37 128bpm 4A Maty Badini - Somane 06:48 128bpm 4A Maximus - Get Loose (Extended Mix) 03:10 125bpm 7B MC Kwality, MI.BARRIO, Manuelito - Brah Call Me! 05:25 130bpm 6B Meg Ward - Basix 05:15 142bpm 3A Meg Ward - Tenner 04:42 140bpm 3A Meg Ward, Murg - Sancturance 04:26 138bpm 8A Meglajon - Dabbin 05:41 125bpm 9B Mekkawy - Defenceless 06:29 126bpm 4A Mekkawy - The Sound 06:02 127bpm 11A Mekkawy - This Feelin' 06:00 128bpm 2A Melissa Pools - London (Extended Mix) 03:00 128bpm 12B Merk (ITA) - Lunatics 05:41 127bpm 7A MIGS - Foreign Lingo 05:45 128bpm 6A MIGS - So Cold 05:30 128bpm 3A Miguel Bastida - Poquindho House 04:58 129bpm 5A Miguel Bastida - Rythmha 05:12 130bpm 4A Mike Dices, Jake Bleu - Good Feelin' 05:03 128bpm 4A Mike Dices, Jake Bleu - The Music 05:55 125bpm 7B Mike Parra - The Things You Said (Extended Mix) 05:56 126bpm 1B Mike Parra - Turn Up The Music (Extended Mix) 06:05 80bpm 6A Mike Parra - Turn Up The Music (Francisco Samuel Extended Remix) 06:11 128bpm 5A Mikke - I Wanna Say 05:09 125bpm 9B Milan - Besamos (Extended Mix) 06:30 128bpm 9A Milan - Toka Ta (Extended Mix) 06:00 128bpm 5A Misha (US) - Issues 05:55 131bpm 6A Misha (US) - Ritmo De Verao 06:03 132bpm 7A Misha (US) - Snake Charmer 06:57 130bpm 6A MISS DRE - LIFESTYLE (Extended Mix) 04:15 130bpm 11B Mistier - Move With Me (Alex Kenji Dubstrumental) 04:03 149bpm 8B Mistier - Move With Me (Alex Kenji Remix) 04:47 128bpm 8B Mitch Dodge - Can You Hear Me? 04:56 128bpm 8B Mojjo - MDMA 03:16 128bpm 9B Momis Alanis - Follow Me 03:44 126bpm 8A Monroe, LVGA - This Feeling (Extended Mix) 03:33 126bpm 9A MoonDark - Don't Stop 06:33 130bpm 7A MoonDark - Fake Friends 06:32 128bpm 12A Morpei - No Me Importa 06:42 124bpm 5A Movedeck - Right Now 06:08 130bpm 9B Mr. V, Agent Greg, Marlin (BE) - Bimbo (Move Forward) (Extended Mix) 06:00 124bpm 2B Ms Pika - Don't Stop 06:01 128bpm 7B Ms Pika - Oh My Gad 05:00 128bpm 2A Ms Pika - Sao Paulo 05:30 128bpm 7A Munenza - Bandida (Extended Mix) 04:13 128bpm 3A Munenza - Kititu (Extended Mix) 06:07 128bpm 10B Nacho Iturria - Ando High 04:38 126bpm 4A Nader Razdar - Robo Jam 04:05 126bpm 6A NANDDO - El Meneito (Extended Mix) 05:30 128bpm 12A NANDDO - Irregular Samba 05:33 127bpm 12A NANDDO - Magician Boss 05:17 127bpm 7A NANDDO - Roll Boyz (Extended Mix) 06:05 126bpm 9A Nando X - Rodando Tu Esquina (Original) 06:04 127bpm 7A Nasser Baker - Notification (Extended Mix) 05:31 128bpm 8B Next Of Kin - Tempo (Extended Mix) 06:13 126bpm 5B NICO OLIVAN - HAPPY UNDERGROUND 05:07 128bpm 1B NICO OLIVAN - Sweet Love (RadioEdit) 06:51 126bpm 8A Nico Ramírez, Mickael Espinosa - Mi Gente 06:03 128bpm 6B Nico Ramírez, Mickael Espinosa - Mi Gente (Ramoss, Jey Mellen Remix) 06:02 128bpm 1B Nicolas Martinez (CO), Esteban Otoya - Stevie J 06:13 125bpm 7A Nicole Fiallo, Jungle Punk - Loco 06:34 127bpm 1A Nicole Fiallo, Jungle Punk - Missy 05:48 128bpm 3B Nicolo Simonelli - Keep It Real 05:57 129bpm 9B Nicolo Simonelli - Medoosa 06:19 129bpm 6A Nina, Jolly - TIME LOVE 07:21 123bpm 10A Nodus - Promise (Instrumental Mix) 06:09 126bpm 9B Nodus - Promise 06:09 126bpm 9B NOISSE - Dennis Rodman (Extended Mix) 06:36 127bpm 7A NOISSE - Memento (Extended Mix) 06:35 127bpm 12A Ocsav, Cole Knight - Brain Drain (Extended Mix) 04:51 132bpm 11B Ogawa (US), Mickael Espinosa - Drama 06:05 126bpm 12A Ogawa (US), Mickael Espinosa - Something Like This 06:36 126bpm 1A Olaf, Dante Saverio, Nick Charas - Nasty Girl (Extended Mix) 05:32 127bpm 3A Oliver Gil - Dr. Feelgood 04:36 128bpm 3A Onur Ensert - Do This Right 05:19 127bpm 7B Oscar Jamo - I Can See (Extended Mix) 03:38 125bpm 5B Oscar N (USA) - Hippe Chicks (Extended Mix) 05:39 125bpm 11B Oscar N (USA) - That Nasty (Extended Mix) 06:28 129bpm 6B Osvaldo M (CL) - Game Time (Extended Mix) 05:37 128bpm 9B Pablo M - El Movimiento 06:01 128bpm 9B Pablo M - Spoken 06:01 128bpm 8B Pablo M - To Dance 06:00 128bpm 5A Pablo M, Sebastian Montoya - What Is 06:04 127bpm 8A Pablo M, Sebastian Montoya, Camilo Becerra - Cash 06:01 128bpm 7B Pablo M, Sebastian Montoya, Camilo Becerra - Dance Control 06:01 128bpm 2A Pablo M, Sebastian Montoya, Camilo Becerra - W.H.A 06:04 129bpm 9A Padilla, Alex Lago - Guoomp 06:28 129bpm 6A Padilla, Alex Lago - Rebirth 06:44 129bpm 2A Pako Ramirez - Rottweiler 06:43 131bpm 5B Paolo Martini - Electric Soul (Revamped Mix) 06:06 126bpm 12B Paolo Martini - Somebody 06:18 128bpm 5A Papa Marlin, Bondar - Supa Fly 05:35 128bpm 7A PARTIDA, Space Fear - Bien Slow (Extended Mix) 04:18 127bpm 3A paskman - This Is Test 05:49 129bpm 5A Patrick M - High Point (Extended Mix) 06:05 126bpm 8B Paul Adam - I Liked 06:04 129bpm 8A Paul Najera, Junior Quijada - I Know That You Want Me 06:00 128bpm 5B Pedro Cazanova - Selfish Love II feat. Andrea (PT) (PEACE MAKER! Remix) 05:39 126bpm 11B Peter Hatman, Victor Valora - Archie 06:00 128bpm 8A Philou Louzolo, RAYZIR - Gorilla 06:48 128bpm 7A Pietro Over Jack - Bang Like That 04:33 127bpm 6A Pietro Over Jack - Physichella 05:06 127bpm 7B Pietro Over Jack - That's Right! 04:47 124bpm 5B Platz - Wanna Play 05:12 126bpm 11A Quality G - Here We Go 03:58 129bpm 7A Quality G - Keep It Movin' 03:52 128bpm 4B Quality G - Muevelo 04:11 130bpm 7A R33DY D - What's That (Club Mix) 05:31 129bpm 9B Raaccso - Chatterbox 06:06 126bpm 6A Rafa Lucas - My Time 05:37 126bpm 10B Rafa Lucas - Reflexes 05:06 126bpm 9B Rafasan - Water (Extended) 03:33 128bpm 9B Ragie Ban - Warm It Up 06:30 128bpm 5A Ramoss, Nico Ramírez - PSSY 05:34 130bpm 1A Raxon - Get Together 05:48 128bpm 3A Red Effects - Call Me Sometime 06:16 130bpm 7A Red Effects - First Off 07:00 130bpm 9B Redo Desyo - How Shall We Start? 05:16 125bpm 4A Renato (CL) - Running Away 05:29 129bpm 3B Renato (CL) - Talking To You 05:16 128bpm 6A Renato (CL), Matias Javier - Play Glitch 05:31 128bpm 3A Renoco - I Miss You (Extended Mix) 03:45 128bpm 3B Resa Dadash - You Can't Stop Me (Extended Mix) 05:31 128bpm 9B Resa Dadash - You Can't Stop Me (Instrumental) 05:31 128bpm 9B Rezone - Quiero Mas (Extended Mix) 03:46 126bpm 7A Riaz Dhanani, RSquared - Leave Ya 05:08 128bpm 11A Riaz Dhanani, RSquared - When Ya Ready 06:45 129bpm 12B Rimbano - 305 05:45 128bpm 3A Rimbano - Brota (Extended) 05:10 130bpm 9A Rimbano - Desperados 05:15 128bpm 6A Rimbano - Olhando (Extended) 05:25 130bpm 12A Rob Vice, MNRVA - Get Hype (Extended Mix) 03:32 127bpm 9A Roland Clark, Reza, Uch - Here & Now 05:34 125bpm 8A Roof Rats - Antava (Gege Remix) 04:00 128bpm 6A Rosa (US) - Make Em 06:19 127bpm 8A Rosa (US) - Swing N Swerve 06:15 126bpm 6A Rosa (US) - Taze Me 06:45 126bpm 9A Ross Paterson - Never Stop (Hit The Club) 05:15 128bpm 1A Ross Paterson - Sniff 05:12 126bpm 8A Rowen Clark - Acid In My DNA (Extended Mix) 08:11 127bpm 9B Rowen Clark - Acid In My DNA (Mendo Remix) 06:02 127bpm 6A Rowen Clark - Dombomb (Extended Mix) 06:45 128bpm 9B Roxe - Here We Go (Extended Mix) 04:49 129bpm 11A ruizzle - Make Me 06:33 127bpm 3A Rumpus, Thomas Anthony - Oi Papi (Club Mix) 03:54 127bpm 7B Runge - Be Upgraded (Extended Mix) 04:54 126bpm 10A Rythmc, Jungle Jimn - Feelin (Dub Edit) 05:41 126bpm 9B Rythmc, Jungle Jimn - Feelin (Jungle Jimn Remix) 05:36 126bpm 9B Rythmc, Jungle Jimn - Feelin (Nik Thrine Remix) 06:43 126bpm 10A Rythmc, Jungle Jimn - Feelin 06:23 126bpm 12B Saeri - Ecstasy 07:29 130bpm 2B Sage Armstrong, Enrique Negron - Tú Si (Feat. DLO) (Extended Mix) 04:00 128bpm 7A Sam Collins, Jake Tarry - The Underground (Extended Mix) 03:01 127bpm 4A Sammy Morris, Hassio (COL) - Make Me Cry 06:53 130bpm 11A Samuel L Session - Bisou 05:44 129bpm 9B Samuel L Session - Eric's Hit 05:59 129bpm 5A Samuel L Session - Legacy 05:34 133bpm 3B Sante - Evante 06:01 128bpm 8B Sante - So High 07:10 127bpm 6B Scott Judge - BADMAN 05:33 126bpm 4A Sebastian Peña (COL) - This Scratch 06:45 128bpm 6A Seeward - Dale Palante 04:57 129bpm 8A Seeward - Press Play 05:05 128bpm 4A Seeward - Tale Tale 05:45 128bpm 8A Seeward - We Are the Body 05:55 127bpm 1A Semperger G - Punjab 04:03 128bpm 5A Sergio Varela - La Trampa 05:35 128bpm 8B Seven(CO) - Badmen (Extended Mix) 05:50 127bpm 8B Seven(CO) - Street Mode (Extended Mix) 05:52 128bpm 5A Seventy, GUASCO' - El Maton (Extended Mix) 04:59 129bpm 8B Shokë, MI.BARRIO - Don't overthink 05:55 131bpm 12A shotgunwedding - Intervention 05:10 126bpm 9B shotgunwedding - Weed Was Cocaine 05:25 124bpm 5A SIDE B, Karmina Milojevic - Day N' Night 06:21 131bpm 6A SIDE B, Karmina Milojevic - Hey Hey 05:00 128bpm 9A SIDE B, Karmina Milojevic - Steppa 06:00 128bpm 6A SIDEPIECE, Disco Lines - Give It To Me Good (Extended Mix) 03:45 132bpm 7A Siks, KDH - Turn On The Lights (Extended Mix) 03:29 126bpm 2A Simon Ray, MI.BARRIO - Swinged 05:16 128bpm 4A SINO - Connection (Extended Mix) 03:31 128bpm 11B Siscort - Bullets 06:01 128bpm 12A SNOOKO - Ducki Duck 04:57 130bpm 10B Space Castorz - It's So Big (Extended Mix) 06:05 126bpm 9A Space Castorz - New Talent (Extended Mix) 06:05 126bpm 3B SPEKTER, DØSHI - Si Bonita (Strip It Down) (Extended Mix) 04:49 126bpm 8A SPEKTER, Hypedelic - Fire It Up 05:30 128bpm 1A SSENSUAL - Hear Me (Extended Mix) 03:45 129bpm 7B Ssero - Nitty Gritties 05:47 130bpm 2A Stanley Kubrix, JOHNJOSÉ - TAKABUM 05:29 129bpm 6A Stephan Barbieri - Crusao 06:09 130bpm 3B Stephan Barbieri - Dada Check 05:55 125bpm 11B Stephan Barbieri - Dan Dan 05:20 126bpm 11A SUNANA - Superstylin' (Extended Mix) 04:18 129bpm 12B SUNANA - Superstylin' (SUNANA Remix) 04:17 125bpm 1B Super Flu, ivan masa - It's a House Day 05:58 124bpm 8B Thimo Beats - Call Me Bad Girl 06:29 129bpm 4A Thimo Beats - Disco Fever (Maxi Sandoval Remix) 06:07 128bpm 1B Thimo Beats - Disco Fever 05:49 127bpm 2B Thomas (IT) - Fatal 06:39 125bpm 5A Thomas (IT) - Intencion 06:47 125bpm 4A Thomas Newson, Simon Kidzoo - Whine Up (Extended Mix) 05:30 128bpm 1A Thomass Jaguer - No More 05:52 128bpm 5A TOBEHONEST - FREAK 06:05 127bpm 2B Tokyo T - Dime Si (Extended) 06:00 128bpm 3A Tomas Asesio - Whatchu Gon Do 04:48 128bpm 5B Tony Cortez - La Murga (Extended Mix) 06:03 128bpm 7A Tony Metric - Dizzy (Extended Mix) 05:33 128bpm 7A Tony Metric - Pa La Mami (Extended Mix) 05:02 127bpm 9B Torren Foot, Associanu - Sleep When I'm Dead (LO'99 Extended Remix) 05:32 100bpm 7B Trallez - Bombita 05:32 130bpm 10B Trallez - Jazzy Mood 05:47 130bpm 5B TWOBUZZ - Underground (Extended Mix) 05:24 126bpm 5B Umberto Pagliaroli - Blues Theme (Extended Mix) 05:37 128bpm 7A Un Padre - No Love 06:06 127bpm 9B Un Padre - Yo Tengo 05:09 131bpm 7B under_score - Caught Up 05:41 125bpm 3A Uriah Persie - Dollar 06:15 128bpm 7A Uriah Persie - Drop & Do 06:15 128bpm 9B Uriah Persie - My Fire 06:15 128bpm 11A Uriah Persie - Sixties 06:15 128bpm 4A Vaisen, JB Martinz - Pa Onde Vamo (Extended Mix) 06:46 129bpm 11A Vaisen, JB Martinz - Tambalea (Extended Mix) 06:04 127bpm 4A Van Davis - Start Again (Extended Mix) 05:27 129bpm 9B Victor Porfidio, Band&dos, Mc Talibã - Vem Vem (Extended Mix) 05:28 130bpm 9A Victor Valora - El Piso 05:54 130bpm 8A Victor Valora - Nonstop 06:00 128bpm 4A Villamizar - Noise 05:34 128bpm 4A Villamizar, Edickson Manrique - Come On 06:10 128bpm 2A Villamizar, Edickson Manrique - En Party 05:05 128bpm 3A VINZ (ESP) - La Musica ((Original Mix)) 04:22 126bpm 11A Vitalii Sky - Information Right Quick 06:23 129bpm 1A Vitalii Sky - It Was Over 06:24 128bpm 5B Vlada Asanin - Chupka 05:37 125bpm 7B Voltech - Flute (Club Mix) 04:15 126bpm 5B Vsetön - Salsa Roots 06:30 127bpm 5A Vsetön - Tropical Jungle 06:51 127bpm 6A Vula, Pickle, Joel Corry - Stay Together (Baby Baby) feat. Vula (Extended Mix) 04:00 132bpm 1B Wade - Let's Get Jack (Extended Mix) 05:08 126bpm 4A Wait For Me - Easy Money 07:48 127bpm 10A Wait For Me - You Can't Teach The Groove 07:44 126bpm 2A WeMart - Induction 06:25 128bpm 4B WeMart - My Way 06:25 128bpm 5A WeMart - Pull Up The Poor 06:25 128bpm 8A WeMart - You See 06:30 128bpm 8A Will K - Monaco (Extended Mix) 04:30 128bpm 10A Withoutwork - Come Together 06:23 127bpm 10B Withoutwork - Emergency 05:12 125bpm 12A Withoutwork - Reggae Is On Fire (Juan (AR) Remix) 05:25 130bpm 11B Withoutwork - Reggae Is On Fire 06:39 130bpm 9A Wuki, Trace (UZ) - Shake It (Extended Mix) 05:11 128bpm 5A X2C - Glow 04:33 128bpm 10A Xdrew - Freaky Girl 06:31 128bpm 6A Y Tribe, George Mensah - Enough Is Enough (Extended Mix) 05:43 130bpm 11B Yosmer Davis - Sax Life 05:57 127bpm 10A YOUniverse (IT), MI.BARRIO - Babylon 05:54 130bpm 8A Yuff - Elastica 05:40 124bpm 4A Zarek (COL) - All Right 06:27 129bpm 10A Zarek (COL) - Lady Shake 05:33 128bpm 1A Zima - Tá Tudo Lento 05:07 126bpm 3A Zoura DS - Controlla 05:25 128bpm 6A 

(originally posted on JustSyncIntuit original post)
I warn you that this post will be long and in three parts. It's the transcription of an episode of serendipity that will take us, starting with Charles Lindbergh, then through Shakespeare and other points of interest, on the trail of a spirit.
TL;DR: Here's a 👁️‍🗨️ table of contents.
⚠️ This post was intended as a follow-up to Identity Crisis, which I published on Retconned on July 24, 2022. The wave of coincidences hadn't stopped with the publication of the post.
I had hoped to publish the post before August 2022, but it didn't work out as expected.
However, I persevered and took the necessary time to finish it, which ended up being 21 months! During that time, I made additional connections and the topic's content expanded.
First, I'll repost here what I already wrote in the Identity Crisis thread and then add the rest of the story:
​
^{⌄ original posts ⌄}

IDENTITY CRISIS

I would like to talk about an entertaining little experience triggered by the post: Charles Lindburg or Lindbergh? by Emilieduchatelet1706.

Doubtful ressemblance

Seeing images of Charles Lindbergh immediately came to mind a certain resemblance to Patrick McGoohan.
Charles Lindbergh vs Patrick McGoohan
Well, I readily admit that it's not obvious, and I don't even dare to defend my case, but it's the rest of the story that matters.
Patrick McGoohan, plane… immediately, there too, I had in mind the episode of Columbo, Identity Crisis (s05e03).
Patrick McGoohan plays Nelson Brenner, the killer, and Columbo discovers that he was an aviator in his life full of travels and experiences. Columbo calls him a hero, much like Charles Lindbergh.
I think it's even likely that the character of Nelson Brenner was inspired by Lindbergh.

Fun Fact

Fun fact: As I write these lines I mechanically typed on Google "charles lindbergh" hero, and on the first link I clicked on I see this.
In the image Lindbergh stands in front of his plane, the Spirit of St.Louis. The article talks about his multiple lives. The first line, which I have highlighted, says: “Who the hell was Charles Lindbergh, whose multiple avatars spanned the entire history of the 20th century?”
…and Columbo is there in the corner.
In this video that I had prepared and uploaded before starting to write my post (and therefore before coming across the article), Columbo asks Brenner if he is the one standing in front of a plane (a “T33… SilverStar”) in a photo in black and white.
And ends with “Yes I seem to remember reading about that”... I find it a bit funny in this new context.

Steinmetz

In the episode there is another shady character whose true identity remains a mystery, he's called Steinmetz.
Mechanically too, I had typed Steinmetz on Google and I came across Charles Proteus Steinmetz, American mathematician and electrical engineer. I notice that his real name is “Karl August Rudolph Steinmetz”.
August, that sounds familiar to me. I look at Charles Lindbergh's page and yes that's right, his name is "Charles Augustus Lindbergh".
-> Identity Crisis
 
These entertaining little coincidences…

TAPESTRY OF LIFE

Small personal theory

I'm beginnig to imagine a small personal theory (a small hypothesis to guide my thoughts). That of a new birth in adulthood (rather around 40 years old than 20 years old). In any case a threshold in life.
In this vision, the genetic heritage is replaced by the knowledge of life before, that is to say before the threshold, and wisdom.
The reborn person by groping their way, configures (and reconfigures), (re)connects the data of the previous life to adapt to the (true) life to come. In a better way of their formatting before in the previous matrix with its so-called genetic program and the teaching received. And it's as if there was an underlying program of knowledge and wisdom from the start that tutored their life. A better program.

Not so personal?

I'm not a Christian... but a quick quick look at Wikipedia shows that I may not be far from the concept of born again that we hear about here and there.

Jesus replied, "Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again."
"How can someone be born when they are old?" Nicodemus asked.
"Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother's womb to be born!" Jesus answered, "Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit."
— Gospel of John, John chapter 3, verses 3–5, NIV[8]

Water and Spirit

In the previous image of the article -> Spirit of St.Louis is the name of the plane, and in front of the magazine cover with Columbo there is a magazine cover where it is written: La guerre de l'eau est déclarée (Water war is declared).

ALL IN ONE

Yesterday I was watching the first video again where Columbo looks at the picture on the wall. On the same wall I see a portrait that looks familiar, it seemed to me that it was supposed to represent Shakespeare (but maybe not, maybe it's Cervantes :D).
I've heard of a theory that Shakespeare didn't exist and that in fact Francis Bacon (the philosopher) was the author of his work. I have since associated the "idea" of Shakespeare with Francis Bacon.
Well, this theory is completely in line with the subject of Steinmetz in the Columbo episode. But we see that the portrait of Bacon does not at all resemble that of Shakespeare: Shakespeare vs Francis Bacon.
But Steinmetz himself? Francis Bacon vs Charles Steinmetz.
Wonderful! Bravo. Bravo.
​
^{⌄ follow-up ⌄}
⚠️ A note about the use of the word similarity in this post:
When the word 'similarity' is used in this post, it means that the elements being compared share the same idea, but are not necessarily identical copies. For example, something that moves from right to left can be seen as different from something that moves from left to right, but at the level of idea there may be a resemblance.

THE SIMPSONS

▶ The Simpsons - Steinmetz; Very soon after posting, doing a quick search on Steinmetz I come across a scene from The Simpsons episode "Scenes from the Class Struggle in Springfield (s07e14)":

Homer as Steinmetz

Homer Simpson challenges Mister Burns to a game of golf. Burns as usual is mistaken about the identity of Homer Simpson. He calls him... Steinmetz!

Club sandwich

Homer says "Mmm... open-faced club sand wedge" and puts the word 'club' right before 'sand wedge'. The result is the phrase "club sandwich" (~ sand wedge). And one of the traditional ingredients in a club sandwich is bacon.

SHAKESPEARE

Interesting documentary

I don't know how I landed on the topic The Shakespeare Hole that I had already seen in the past but it was exactly the right time to remind myself of a documentary on Shakespeare that I had forgotten in a mental watch-later-list.
It is an interesting documentary, Cracking the Shakespeare Code (2017), about hidden codes in the work of Shakespeare with in particular the thesis that Sir Francis Bacon would be one of the authors. Viewable here.
This time I watched it! And... this lack of unfamiliarity... I don't remember ever watching it before but I didn't feel any sense of novelty. Hmmm...
For those interested, there are other hypotheses regarding Shakespeare's authorship.

Shakespeare the Bard

Shakespeare is known as "the Bard". The word bard, which means poet, also has other definitions, a piece of armor or ornament on a war horse and by analogy... bacon placed on game or meat before roasting.

COLUMBO

Sometimes the synchronicities come completely out of the blue, sometimes I have an intuition of where to focus my interest. Trivially I told myself that I was going to watch the episode of Columbo talking about Shakespeare, Dagger of the Mind.
In this episode several elements seem to gently taunt my flow of thoughts but it is obviously not the easiest things to explain. However I can relate a really curious series of synchronicities concerning golf and the Simpsons episode I mentioned above:

Welcome to the club

▶ Columbo in the club; Columbo while in London is invited to what I guess is called a gentlemen's club. There he makes two remarks:

• "When you said 'club', I thought you meant a country club or a health club."
  
• "When you said 'tea', I was afraid we were gonna get nothin’ but those tiny sandwiches."
  

Note the vocabulary used which, more or less subtly, refers to golf (while the episode has nothing to do with golf at all). A country club is commonly referred to simply as a golf club. And with ▶ the first video of The Simpsons freshly in mind, the words club, tea, and sandwich resonate like synchronicity. Especially with the formulation used by Columbo which adds a note of irony. Tea sounds exactly like tee, and sandwich for sand wedge.
▶ The Simpsons in the club; In the same episode of The Simpsons, the Simpson family is invited to a country club. Which echoes Columbo's words.
We will even notice that Homer and the kids remain at one entrance to the room while Marge is invited in among the other women. Which is the opposite of the Columbo video where the butler says: "Why do you think we keep the ladies out, sir?".

Pearls and balls

▶ Columbo - pearls; Note that in the scene a character throws a round white object which hits the head of another character who then lies on the ground in the middle of white pearls.
▶ The Simpsons - balls; Here a character hits a golf ball in the air which hits the head of another character who then lies on the ground before kneeling and finding himself in the middle of white balls.

Ruse

⚠️ SPOILER WARNING: Skip this one if you don't want to know how Columbo confounded the culprits just yet.
▶ Columbo - subterfuge; Without formal proof, Columbo discreetly puts a white bead in an umbrella which allows the culprits to be confounded by their reactions.
Also note these three points:

• A character who verifies that the bead is genuine: "Why, it’s the same. Exactly the same."
  
• A character who accuses another of trickery: "He put it there. Can’t you see? Before we came. He put it there!"
  
• A private discussion between two characters with the idea of keeping the subterfuge secret: "Off the record, eh?"
  

▶ The Simpsons - cheating; Smithers puts a golf ball on the green near the hole to make Mr. Burns win.
And note the same three points:

• A character who verifies that the balls are genuine: "These aren't reptile eggs."
  
• A character who accuses another of trickery: "You've been cheating. No matter where Mr. Burns hits the ball you put a fresh one on the green."
  
• A private discussion between two characters with the idea of keeping the cheating secret: "If you would keep quiet about the alleged decades of cheating I'm sure he'd support your application for membership tonight."
  

"sir" scenes

▶ The Simpsons - sir; Homer says: "For once, maybe someone will call me "sir" without adding, "you're making a scene"."
▶ Columbo - sir; A character hears himself called "sir" and arguably, he's making a scene...

BACON

When you're in a synchronistic wave, the interest isn't just the thrill of the coincidences, but also the fact that you learn about areas you weren't so interested in. And I found out more than enough about bacon. So much so that I saw references to bacon everywhere. It was no longer of interest.

Bacon overload

I wanted to move on, which was immediately comically reflected in the synchronicities as I came across these two clips of the Simpsons (from other episodes) that say it all:
▶ The Simpsons - Butter your bacon: "So, you think you know better than this family, huh? Well, as long as you're in my house, you'll do what I do and believe what I believe. So, butter your bacon!" :-)
▶ The Simpsons - The bacon man: The clip I saw at the time on the Internet only included the part where Homer takes his order. So without any mention of Shakespeare. But already the fact that Homer presents the "portrait" of the omelette and says that we could add a "bacon nose", "bacon hair", "bacon mustache", etc... that made me chuckle. It gave me the impression that they were mimicking what I was doing just before with the portraits of Shakespeare, Francis Bacon and Charles Steinmetz.
It was more than a month later while writing this post and creating the video extract that I noticed that Shakespeare was mentioned just before! "I'm getting a sweatshirt with Shakespeare's face on it!". So we have a mention of a portrait of Shakespeare followed by a "portrait of bacon".

Bacon numbers

And the Internet bombarded me with bacon number this, bacon number that... what!? This profusion of bacon has even been prophesied; they made a law about that, the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon!
I quote:

In a January 1994 interview with Premiere magazine, Kevin Bacon mentioned while discussing the film The River Wild that "he had worked with everybody in Hollywood or someone who's worked with them."
Following this, a lengthy newsgroup thread which was headed "Kevin Bacon is the Center of the Universe" appeared.

→ L.O.L.

PROTEAN SPIRIT

PROTEUS

I overlooked something about Steinmetz the first time, he's called Charles PROTEUS Steinmetz:

Steinmetz Americanized his name to Charles Steinmetz. He chose Proteus as his middle name—the nickname his professors in Germany had affectionately bestowed upon him in recognition of the shape-shifting sea god. In Greek mythology, Proteus was a cave-dwelling prophetic old man who always returned to his human form—that of a hunchback. Steinmetz thoroughly enjoyed the comparison.
src: Charles Proteus Steinmetz, the Wizard of Schenectady

Shakespeare and Proteus

It's no surprise Shakespeare and Bacon, prolific writers, talked about Proteus. On the Proteus wikipedia page there is this quote:

I can add colours to the chameleon,
Change shapes with Proteus for advantages,
And set the murderous Machiavel to school.
Can I do this, and cannot get a crown?
Tut, were it farther off, I'll pluck it down.
— William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part Three, Act III, Scene ii

I wanted to know what the last line meant and a quick search led me to this Reddit post, What does Richard/Gloucester mean when he says "Tut, were it farther off, I’ll pluck it down.". This is a transcription of a scene from the film Richard III (1955).
In the video they refer to, the original monologue from the play Richard III is mixed with parts of a monologue by the same character (Richard III) from another play, Henry IV (the one in the Wikipedia quote):

[…]

And now, instead of mounting barded steeds
To fright the souls of fearful adversaries,

[…]
Cheated of feature by dissembling nature,
[…]
I'll drown more sailors than the mermaid shall,
I'll slay more gazers than the basilisk;
I'll play the orator as well as Nestor,
Deceive more slyly than Ulysses could,
And, like a Sinon, take another Troy.

I can add colours to the chameleon,
Change shapes with Proteus for advantages,

And set the murd'rous Machiavel to school
Can I do this, and cannot get a crown?
Tut! were it further off, I'll pluck it down.

Bacon and Proteus

Francis Bacon also speaks of Proteus in "De sapientia veterum, liber", translated into English in "Of the Wisdom of the Ancients". It's short and interesting to read.

XIII. Proteus Or Matter

PROTEUS, the poets tell us, was herdsman to Neptune. He was an old man and a prophet; a prophet moreover of the very first order, and indeed thrice excellent; for he knew all three,—not the future only, but likewise the past and the present; insomuch that besides his power of divination, he was the messenger and interpreter of all antiquity and all secrets. His dwelling was under an immense cave. There it was his custom every day at noon to count his flock of seals and then go to sleep. And if any one wanted his help in any matter, the only way was first to secure his hands with handcuffs, and then to bind him with chains. Whereupon he on his part, in order to get free, would turn himself into all manner of strange shapes—fire, water, wild beasts, &c., till at last he returned again to his original shape.
The sense of this fable relates, it would seem, to the secrets of nature and the conditions of matter. For under the person of Proteus, Matter—the most ancient of all things, next to God—is meant to be represented. Now matter has its habitation under the vault of heaven, as under a cave. And it may be called the servant of Neptune, inasmuch as all the operation and dispensation of matter is effected principally in liquids.
[…]
src: https://www.bartleby.com/82/13.html

Spirit and Water

Consonant values

I noticed that the consonants of P-r-o-t-e-u-s are the same as those of S-p-i-r-i-t.

Matter of fact

The sense of this fable relates, it would seem, to the secrets of nature and the conditions of matter. For under the person of Proteus, Matter—the most ancient of all things, next to God—is meant to be represented. Now matter has its habitation under the vault of heaven, as under a cave. And it may be called the servant of Neptune, inasmuch as all the operation and dispensation of matter is effected principally in liquids.

Proteus, associated with matter, emerges from the sea^*️⃣ and sleeps in a cave, changing shape in between if one tries to capture him. The example of water is notoriously the first that comes to mind when we talk about the states of matter.
^*️⃣Note that in the video ▶ The Simpsons - The bacon man there is mention of returning to the ocean ("So, here for a snack before they roll you back into the ocean?"), in context I find that line a little ironic.

Capture the Serendipity

He can foretell the future, but, in a mytheme familiar to several cultures, will change his shape to avoid doing so; he answers only to those who are capable of capturing him.
src: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proteus

At this point I reflect on how easily connections come to us when we are in this particular position of observer, whether we like it or not. This is the principle of serendipity. Very strange word which I bet many have trouble pronouncing correctly and which for me has changed during my life (Mandela Effect). By the way, I had posted about this on Retconned in the past and when looking for my post I preferred to go through Google rather than the Reddit search engine.
This is where I get suggested a movie, Serendipity (2001), but it's a romantic comedy, I'm not too into that, I'm barely interested. But my instinct tells me it's not there by chance. If I don't watch the film, I will still look into the director's filmography.
Peter Chelsom; I'm looking at the list of movies he's directed. Not very funky at first glance but there are one or two key words, one or two imagery elements that have been involved in previous synchronicities for me that kept me from abandoning this lead in a hurry. I ended up clicking on the link of the movie The Mighty (1998).

The Old Man of the Sea

A young boy suffering from a debilitating disease causing deformities rides 👁️‍🗨️ on the shoulders of another, stronger boy. The young boy lends his insight while the other boy lends his strength.
It reminds me of the story of the Old Man of the Sea:

• In The Odyssey: Book IV, Homer (the other Homer) calls Proteus the wise Old Man of the Sea.
  
• The Old Man of the Sea in the tales of Sinbad the Sailor depicts 👁️‍🗨️ an old man clinging to a man on his shoulders.
  

While writing these lines

While writing these lines from my notes (more than a month later^*️⃣) I distractedly watched the Serendipity movie trailer... and there I see a golf scene that I hadn't noticed before (probably because I had not watched the entire video). I decide to watch the film.
^*️⃣Also while writing these lines I mentally played with the word "serendipity"; seren-dipidy, seren-pididy, etc. Which inevitably reminded me of ▶ this scene from a music video where Ben Stiller struggles to find the right name for rapper Puff Daddy. The plot coincidentally revolves around a golf ball...

SERENDIPITY

The plot of the film is a story of a character who seeks the identity of another, enough to entice him to pursue serendipity. Reminds me of the content of this post.
Moreover, there are several factual elements that suggest that resemblance:

Amazing likeness

Knockoff

▶ Serendipity - Prada:

• Purchase of a product (supposedly) from a luxury fashion house brand: "Ooh! Prada!" ... "I'll take it."
  
• Discussion about a knockoff product name: "Eve, that's a horrific knockoff. At least my fake says Prada. Yours says Prado."
  
• Discussion about altering the product a bit to make it more presentable: "Yeah? Well, I say for a dollar, I can buy a little magic marker and fix that."
  

▶ The Simpsons - Chanel:

• Purchase of a product (supposedly) from a luxury fashion house brand: "Oh, it's beautiful. Can it be a real Chanel?" ... "All right, I will buy it."
  
• Discussion about knockoff product names: "Don't be a sap, Dad. These are just crappy knock-offs." | "I know a genuine Panaphonics when I see it. And look, there's Magnetbox and Sorny."
  
• Discussion about altering the product a bit to make it more presentable: "Homer, please, I have to alter this suit so it looks different for tomorrow." | "Just slap some bumper stickers on it."
  

Golf

▶ The Simpsons - golf; To put into context, we had in the episode of The Simpsons:

• A character hit in the head by a golf club.
  
• A character hit in the head by a golf ball.
  
• A multitude of white balls scattered on the green.
  

[+]

• A character acknowledging a buried feeling: "I knew my kind wasn't welcome here."

▶ Serendipity - golf; The film Serendipity uses the synchronicity of golf as an factor of serendipity. And note these points:

• A character hit in the head by a golf ball.
  
• A character hit in the head by a golf club.
  
• A multitude of white balls scattered on a green floor.
  

[+] just a tiny bit of interpretation here:

• A character saying: "I think I swallowed a filling". Which I think is to be understood in the context of the film as "I think I swallowed a feeling".

Serpent and Destiny

Furthermore, the serpent is, in my humble opinion, an underlying theme in the film. I will avoid going too deep into the interpretations and just quickly relate a few noteworthy elements:

Serpent of old

▶ Serendipity - Cool Yule; The film opens with the song "Cool Yule" by Louis Armstrong with the Commanders. With these lyrics:

♪ And you gonna flip when Old Saint Nick ♪
♪ Plays a lick on a peppermint stick ♪

Old Nick could mean the Devil, Old Serpent, etc. An interesting discussion about the adjective "Old" in Old Nick.

Another one bites the dust

▶ Serendipity - crawling; A scene where the main character, Jonathan Trager (black jacket), is crawling on the ground.

In order, garter.

▶ Serenditpy - T-r-a-g-e-r; Jonathan Trager, T-r-a-g-e-r. Trager anagram of garter. Like a garter snake. But also a vocabulary used for a bride (which is in line with the apparent theme of the film).
Reminds me of something I jotted down somewhere...
...there it is:

Notably the pendant suspended on a ribbon from around Bacon’s neck, which in earlier portraits was deliberately concealed in such a way as to suggest a secret, is in this picture shown exposed, revealing itself as the Lesser George and thereby suggesting or indicating that Bacon was a secret Knight of the Garter, or had the right to be one.
src: https://www.fbrt.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Portraits_of_Francis_Bacon.pdf#page=6

Some infos on The Order of the Garter.

Snake Club

The presence of the word snake in Beckinsale (the name of the main actress) is obvious. But, I was interested in the consonants of the word and I saw there the term Snake Club.
I explain, we remove the vowels and: b.c.k.n.s.l → s.n.k c.l.b
I do a Google search on "snake club". I come across a page on a movie site that talks about what looks like a Z movie titled "Snake Club: Revenge of the Snake Woman". I scroll down a bit and come across 👁️‍🗨️ this poster showing Kate Beckinsale herself in the first place of movie recommendations.

IN THE QUR'AN

CLUB AND SNAKE

At the time of the synchronicities with the Simpsons episode, I was interested in the symbolism of golf. The golf club is reminiscent of a farm tool, the hoe, I kept that in mind. With the intrusion of the serpent into my serendipity, I was instead led to think about the story of the staff of Musa (Moses) in the Qur'an. Especially in Surah 20, Ta-Ha:

20:17 And what is that in your right hand, O Moses?"
20:18 He said, "It is my staff; I lean upon it, and I bring down leaves for my sheep and I have therein other uses."
20:19 [Allah] said, "Throw it down, O Moses."
20:20 So he threw it down, and thereupon it was a snake, moving swiftly.
20:21 [Allah] said, "Seize it and fear not; We will return it to its former condition.
- Translation: Sahih International ⇠ I'll keep this translation throughout the topic.
src: Qur'an 20:[17-21]

This new perspective has taken the serendipity in a interesting direction. A scene described in this same surah caught my attention; Musa and Harun confront the magicians summoned by Pharaoh:

20:61 Moses said to the magicians summoned by Pharaoh, "Woe to you! Do not invent a lie against Allah or He will exterminate you with a punishment; and he has failed who invents [such falsehood]."
20:62 So they disputed over their affair among themselves and concealed their private conversation.
20:63 They said, "Indeed, these are two magicians who want to drive you out of your land with their magic and do away with your most exemplary way.
20:64 So resolve upon your plan and then come [forward] in line. And he has succeeded today who overcomes."
20:65 They said, "O Moses, either you throw or we will be the first to throw."
20:66 He said, "Rather, you throw." And suddenly their ropes and staffs seemed to him from their magic that they were moving [like snakes].
20:67 And he sensed within himself apprehension, did Moses.
20:68 Allah said, "Fear not. Indeed, it is you who are superior.
20:69 And throw what is in your right hand; it will swallow up what they have crafted. What they have crafted is but the trick of a magician, and the magician will not succeed wherever he is."
20:70 So the magicians fell down in prostration. They said, "We have believed in the Lord of Aaron and Moses."
20:71 [Pharaoh] said, "You believed him before I gave you permission. Indeed, he is your leader who has taught you magic. So I will surely cut off your hands and your feet on opposite sides, and I will crucify you on the trunks of palm trees, and you will surely know which of us is more severe in [giving] punishment and more enduring."
20:72 They said, "Never will we prefer you over what has come to us of clear proofs and [over] He who created us. So decree whatever you are to decree. You can only decree for this worldly life.
20:73 Indeed, we have believed in our Lord that He may forgive us our sins and what you compelled us [to do] of magic. And Allah is better and more enduring."
src: Qur'an 20:[61-73]

I spotted other similarities:

Intrigue and trick

➔ Qur'an 20:[61-63]; Note this:

• A secret confabulation: 20:62 "So they disputed over their affair among themselves and concealed their private conversation."
  
• Characters implying that other characters intend to use a trick: 20:63 "They said, "Indeed, these are two magicians who want to drive you out of your land with their magic and do away with your most exemplary way."^*️⃣
  

^*️⃣The magicians repeat here the words of Pharaoh a few ayat ("verses") before: "He said, "Have you come to us to drive us out of our land with your magic, O Moses?" Qur'an 20:57.
▶ Columbo - subterfuge (spoiler!); We have already mentioned these points in ALL IN ONE > COLUMBO > Ruse:

• A character who accuses another of trickery: "He put it there. Can’t you see? Before we came. He put it there!"
  
• A private discussion between two characters with the idea of keeping the subterfuge secret: "Off the record, eh?"
  

▶ The Simpsons - cheating; Same here:

• A character who accuses another of trickery: "You've been cheating. No matter where Mr. Burns hits the ball you put a fresh one on the green."
  
• A private discussion between two characters with the idea of keeping the cheating secret: "If you would keep quiet about the alleged decades of cheating I'm sure he'd support your application for membership tonight."
  

By hook or by crook

➔ Qur'an 20:[64-73]; Note this:

• An injunction to throw a staff...: 20:69 "And throw what is in your right hand; [...]"
  
• ...that will swallow up an illusion (objects that move like snakes; see 20:66): 20:69 "[...] it will swallow up what they have crafted. What they have crafted is but the trick of a magician, and the magician will not succeed wherever he is."
  
• Characters thrown down to prostration^1️⃣: 20:70 "So the magicians fell down in prostration. They said, "We have believed in the Lord of Aaron and Moses.""
  
• Characters acknowledging a hidden feeling: 20:73 "Indeed, we have believed in our Lord that He may forgive us our sins and what you compelled us^2️⃣ [to do] of magic. And Allah is better and more enduring.""
  

^1️⃣The magicians didn't just fell down, they were thrown down: fa-ul'qiya [So were thrown down] al-saharatu [the magicians] sujjadan [prostrating].Note that this is the same verb, in the passive form, as in the previous ayah in which Musa was asked to throw down his staff: wa-alqi [And throw] ma [what] fi [in] yaminika [your right hand]. This emphasizes the correlation between the two events.
^2️⃣The Arabic word "akrahtana" translated as "you compelled us" carries a notion of aversion. That is to say, to be compelled to something that generates aversion. Here the magicians finally admit their true feelings towards Pharaoh's orders.
▶ The Simpsons - golf; Notice the similarities:

• A character throws a golf club...
  
• ...which hits another character who then falls face down.
  
• The latter acknowledges a buried feeling: "I knew my kind wasn't welcome here."
  

▶ The Simpsons - cheating; ~ Swallowing fake snakes:
The club-thrower character puts a whole golf ball in his mouth, chews it, and proves that "these aren't reptile eggs".
▶ Serendipity - golf; Note the same similarities here:

• A character is hit by a golf club and then falls face down.
  
• The same character who says: "I think I swallowed a filling". Which I think is to be understood in the context of the film as "I think I swallowed a feeling"^*️⃣.
  

^*️⃣Note also the use of the verb "to swallow".

Destiny and Serpent

Divine measure

In Surah Ta-Ha Allah commands Musa to meet Pharaoh, reminding him of the divine interventions in the key stages of his existence on Earth:

20:36 [Allah] said, "You have been granted your request, O Moses.
20:37 And We had already conferred favor upon you another time,
20:38 When We inspired to your mother what We inspired,
20:39 [Saying], 'Cast him into the chest and cast it into the river, and the river will throw it onto the bank; there will take him an enemy to Me and an enemy to him.' And I bestowed upon you love from Me that you would be brought up under My eye.
20:40 [And We favored you] when your sister went and said, 'Shall I direct you to someone who will be responsible for him?' So We restored you to your mother that she might be content and not grieve. And you killed someone, but We saved you from retaliation and tried you with a [severe] trial. And you remained [some] years among the people of Madyan. Then you came [here] at the decreed time, O Moses.
20:41 And I produced you for Myself.
20:42 Go, you and your brother, with My signs and do not slacken in My remembrance.
20:43 Go, both of you, to Pharaoh. Indeed, he has transgressed.
src: Qur'an 20:[36-43]

All of these life events brought Musa to the ad hoc place and time: 20:40 "[...] Then you came [here] at the decreed time, O Moses.".

Tamed serpent

A sinuous life course alternating between threat and benevolence though not turning away from fate. Symbolized from the outset by the abandonment of the baby on the river, a river that snakes its way to destination. And marked at the appointed moment by the transformation of the staff into a serpent before it is returned to its former condition.
End of part 1/3.
The continuation is in On the trail of a spirit (2/3) →

I warn you that this post will be long and in three parts. It's the transcription of an episode of serendipity that will take us, starting with Charles Lindbergh, then through Shakespeare and other points of interest, on the trail of a spirit.
TL;DR: Here's a 👁️‍🗨️ table of contents.
⚠️ This post was intended as a follow-up to Identity Crisis, which I published on Retconned on July 24, 2022. The wave of coincidences hadn't stopped with the publication of the post.
I had hoped to publish the post before August 2022, but it didn't work out as expected.
However, I persevered and took the necessary time to finish it, which ended up being 21 months! During that time, I made additional connections and the topic's content expanded.
First, I'll repost here what I already wrote in the Identity Crisis thread and then add the rest of the story:
​
^{⌄ original posts ⌄}

IDENTITY CRISIS

I would like to talk about an entertaining little experience triggered by the post: Charles Lindburg or Lindbergh? by Emilieduchatelet1706.

Doubtful ressemblance

Seeing images of Charles Lindbergh immediately came to mind a certain resemblance to Patrick McGoohan.
Charles Lindbergh vs Patrick McGoohan
Well, I readily admit that it's not obvious, and I don't even dare to defend my case, but it's the rest of the story that matters.
Patrick McGoohan, plane… immediately, there too, I had in mind the episode of Columbo, Identity Crisis (s05e03).
Patrick McGoohan plays Nelson Brenner, the killer, and Columbo discovers that he was an aviator in his life full of travels and experiences. Columbo calls him a hero, much like Charles Lindbergh.
I think it's even likely that the character of Nelson Brenner was inspired by Lindbergh.

Fun Fact

Fun fact: As I write these lines I mechanically typed on Google "charles lindbergh" hero, and on the first link I clicked on I see this.
In the image Lindbergh stands in front of his plane, the Spirit of St.Louis. The article talks about his multiple lives. The first line, which I have highlighted, says: “Who the hell was Charles Lindbergh, whose multiple avatars spanned the entire history of the 20th century?”
…and Columbo is there in the corner.
In this video that I had prepared and uploaded before starting to write my post (and therefore before coming across the article), Columbo asks Brenner if he is the one standing in front of a plane (a “T33… SilverStar”) in a photo in black and white.
And ends with “Yes I seem to remember reading about that”... I find it a bit funny in this new context.

Steinmetz

In the episode there is another shady character whose true identity remains a mystery, he's called Steinmetz.
Mechanically too, I had typed Steinmetz on Google and I came across Charles Proteus Steinmetz, American mathematician and electrical engineer. I notice that his real name is “Karl August Rudolph Steinmetz”.
August, that sounds familiar to me. I look at Charles Lindbergh's page and yes that's right, his name is "Charles Augustus Lindbergh".
-> Identity Crisis
 
These entertaining little coincidences…

TAPESTRY OF LIFE

Small personal theory

I'm beginnig to imagine a small personal theory (a small hypothesis to guide my thoughts). That of a new birth in adulthood (rather around 40 years old than 20 years old). In any case a threshold in life.
In this vision, the genetic heritage is replaced by the knowledge of life before, that is to say before the threshold, and wisdom.
The reborn person by groping their way, configures (and reconfigures), (re)connects the data of the previous life to adapt to the (true) life to come. In a better way of their formatting before in the previous matrix with its so-called genetic program and the teaching received. And it's as if there was an underlying program of knowledge and wisdom from the start that tutored their life. A better program.

Not so personal?

I'm not a Christian... but a quick quick look at Wikipedia shows that I may not be far from the concept of born again that we hear about here and there.

Jesus replied, "Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again."
"How can someone be born when they are old?" Nicodemus asked.
"Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother's womb to be born!" Jesus answered, "Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit."
— Gospel of John, John chapter 3, verses 3–5, NIV[8]

Water and Spirit

In the previous image of the article -> Spirit of St.Louis is the name of the plane, and in front of the magazine cover with Columbo there is a magazine cover where it is written: La guerre de l'eau est déclarée (Water war is declared).

ALL IN ONE

Yesterday I was watching the first video again where Columbo looks at the picture on the wall. On the same wall I see a portrait that looks familiar, it seemed to me that it was supposed to represent Shakespeare (but maybe not, maybe it's Cervantes :D).
I've heard of a theory that Shakespeare didn't exist and that in fact Francis Bacon (the philosopher) was the author of his work. I have since associated the "idea" of Shakespeare with Francis Bacon.
Well, this theory is completely in line with the subject of Steinmetz in the Columbo episode. But we see that the portrait of Bacon does not at all resemble that of Shakespeare: Shakespeare vs Francis Bacon.
But Steinmetz himself? Francis Bacon vs Charles Steinmetz.
Wonderful! Bravo. Bravo.
​
^{⌄ follow-up ⌄}
⚠️ A note about the use of the word similarity in this post:
When the word 'similarity' is used in this post, it means that the elements being compared share the same idea, but are not necessarily identical copies. For example, something that moves from right to left can be seen as different from something that moves from left to right, but at the level of idea there may be a resemblance.

THE SIMPSONS

▶ The Simpsons - Steinmetz; Very soon after posting, doing a quick search on Steinmetz I come across a scene from The Simpsons episode "Scenes from the Class Struggle in Springfield (s07e14)":

Homer as Steinmetz

Homer Simpson challenges Mister Burns to a game of golf. Burns as usual is mistaken about the identity of Homer Simpson. He calls him... Steinmetz!

Club sandwich

Homer says "Mmm... open-faced club sand wedge" and puts the word 'club' right before 'sand wedge'. The result is the phrase "club sandwich" (~ sand wedge). And one of the traditional ingredients in a club sandwich is bacon.

SHAKESPEARE

Interesting documentary

I don't know how I landed on the topic The Shakespeare Hole that I had already seen in the past but it was exactly the right time to remind myself of a documentary on Shakespeare that I had forgotten in a mental watch-later-list.
It is an interesting documentary, Cracking the Shakespeare Code (2017), about hidden codes in the work of Shakespeare with in particular the thesis that Sir Francis Bacon would be one of the authors. Viewable here.
This time I watched it! And... this lack of unfamiliarity... I don't remember ever watching it before but I didn't feel any sense of novelty. Hmmm...
For those interested, there are other hypotheses regarding Shakespeare's authorship.

Shakespeare the Bard

Shakespeare is known as "the Bard". The word bard, which means poet, also has other definitions, a piece of armor or ornament on a war horse and by analogy... bacon placed on game or meat before roasting.

COLUMBO

Sometimes the synchronicities come completely out of the blue, sometimes I have an intuition of where to focus my interest. Trivially I told myself that I was going to watch the episode of Columbo talking about Shakespeare, Dagger of the Mind.
In this episode several elements seem to gently taunt my flow of thoughts but it is obviously not the easiest things to explain. However I can relate a really curious series of synchronicities concerning golf and the Simpsons episode I mentioned above:

Welcome to the club

▶ Columbo in the club; Columbo while in London is invited to what I guess is called a gentlemen's club. There he makes two remarks:

• "When you said 'club', I thought you meant a country club or a health club."
  
• "When you said 'tea', I was afraid we were gonna get nothin’ but those tiny sandwiches."
  

Note the vocabulary used which, more or less subtly, refers to golf (while the episode has nothing to do with golf at all). A country club is commonly referred to simply as a golf club. And with ▶ the first video of The Simpsons freshly in mind, the words club, tea, and sandwich resonate like synchronicity. Especially with the formulation used by Columbo which adds a note of irony. Tea sounds exactly like tee, and sandwich for sand wedge.
▶ The Simpsons in the club; In the same episode of The Simpsons, the Simpson family is invited to a country club. Which echoes Columbo's words.
We will even notice that Homer and the kids remain at one entrance to the room while Marge is invited in among the other women. Which is the opposite of the Columbo video where the butler says: "Why do you think we keep the ladies out, sir?".

Pearls and balls

▶ Columbo - pearls; Note that in the scene a character throws a round white object which hits the head of another character who then lies on the ground in the middle of white pearls.
▶ The Simpsons - balls; Here a character hits a golf ball in the air which hits the head of another character who then lies on the ground before kneeling and finding himself in the middle of white balls.

Ruse

⚠️ SPOILER WARNING: Skip this one if you don't want to know how Columbo confounded the culprits just yet.
▶ Columbo - subterfuge; Without formal proof, Columbo discreetly puts a white bead in an umbrella which allows the culprits to be confounded by their reactions.
Also note these three points:

• A character who verifies that the bead is genuine: "Why, it’s the same. Exactly the same."
  
• A character who accuses another of trickery: "He put it there. Can’t you see? Before we came. He put it there!"
  
• A private discussion between two characters with the idea of keeping the subterfuge secret: "Off the record, eh?"
  

▶ The Simpsons - cheating; Smithers puts a golf ball on the green near the hole to make Mr. Burns win.
And note the same three points:

• A character who verifies that the balls are genuine: "These aren't reptile eggs."
  
• A character who accuses another of trickery: "You've been cheating. No matter where Mr. Burns hits the ball you put a fresh one on the green."
  
• A private discussion between two characters with the idea of keeping the cheating secret: "If you would keep quiet about the alleged decades of cheating I'm sure he'd support your application for membership tonight."
  

"sir" scenes

▶ The Simpsons - sir; Homer says: "For once, maybe someone will call me "sir" without adding, "you're making a scene"."
▶ Columbo - sir; A character hears himself called "sir" and arguably, he's making a scene...

BACON

When you're in a synchronistic wave, the interest isn't just the thrill of the coincidences, but also the fact that you learn about areas you weren't so interested in. And I found out more than enough about bacon. So much so that I saw references to bacon everywhere. It was no longer of interest.

Bacon overload

I wanted to move on, which was immediately comically reflected in the synchronicities as I came across these two clips of the Simpsons (from other episodes) that say it all:
▶ The Simpsons - Butter your bacon: "So, you think you know better than this family, huh? Well, as long as you're in my house, you'll do what I do and believe what I believe. So, butter your bacon!" :-)
▶ The Simpsons - The bacon man: The clip I saw at the time on the Internet only included the part where Homer takes his order. So without any mention of Shakespeare. But already the fact that Homer presents the "portrait" of the omelette and says that we could add a "bacon nose", "bacon hair", "bacon mustache", etc... that made me chuckle. It gave me the impression that they were mimicking what I was doing just before with the portraits of Shakespeare, Francis Bacon and Charles Steinmetz.
It was more than a month later while writing this post and creating the video extract that I noticed that Shakespeare was mentioned just before! "I'm getting a sweatshirt with Shakespeare's face on it!". So we have a mention of a portrait of Shakespeare followed by a "portrait of bacon".

Bacon numbers

And the Internet bombarded me with bacon number this, bacon number that... what!? This profusion of bacon has even been prophesied; they made a law about that, the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon!
I quote:

In a January 1994 interview with Premiere magazine, Kevin Bacon mentioned while discussing the film The River Wild that "he had worked with everybody in Hollywood or someone who's worked with them."
Following this, a lengthy newsgroup thread which was headed "Kevin Bacon is the Center of the Universe" appeared.

→ L.O.L.

PROTEAN SPIRIT

PROTEUS

I overlooked something about Steinmetz the first time, he's called Charles PROTEUS Steinmetz:

Steinmetz Americanized his name to Charles Steinmetz. He chose Proteus as his middle name—the nickname his professors in Germany had affectionately bestowed upon him in recognition of the shape-shifting sea god. In Greek mythology, Proteus was a cave-dwelling prophetic old man who always returned to his human form—that of a hunchback. Steinmetz thoroughly enjoyed the comparison.
src: Charles Proteus Steinmetz, the Wizard of Schenectady

Shakespeare and Proteus

It's no surprise Shakespeare and Bacon, prolific writers, talked about Proteus. On the Proteus wikipedia page there is this quote:

I can add colours to the chameleon,
Change shapes with Proteus for advantages,
And set the murderous Machiavel to school.
Can I do this, and cannot get a crown?
Tut, were it farther off, I'll pluck it down.
— William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part Three, Act III, Scene ii

I wanted to know what the last line meant and a quick search led me to this Reddit post, What does Richard/Gloucester mean when he says "Tut, were it farther off, I’ll pluck it down.". This is a transcription of a scene from the film Richard III (1955).
In the video they refer to, the original monologue from the play Richard III is mixed with parts of a monologue by the same character (Richard III) from another play, Henry IV (the one in the Wikipedia quote):

[…]

And now, instead of mounting barded steeds
To fright the souls of fearful adversaries,

[…]
Cheated of feature by dissembling nature,
[…]
I'll drown more sailors than the mermaid shall,
I'll slay more gazers than the basilisk;
I'll play the orator as well as Nestor,
Deceive more slyly than Ulysses could,
And, like a Sinon, take another Troy.

I can add colours to the chameleon,
Change shapes with Proteus for advantages,

And set the murd'rous Machiavel to school
Can I do this, and cannot get a crown?
Tut! were it further off, I'll pluck it down.

Bacon and Proteus

Francis Bacon also speaks of Proteus in "De sapientia veterum, liber", translated into English in "Of the Wisdom of the Ancients". It's short and interesting to read.

XIII. Proteus Or Matter

PROTEUS, the poets tell us, was herdsman to Neptune. He was an old man and a prophet; a prophet moreover of the very first order, and indeed thrice excellent; for he knew all three,—not the future only, but likewise the past and the present; insomuch that besides his power of divination, he was the messenger and interpreter of all antiquity and all secrets. His dwelling was under an immense cave. There it was his custom every day at noon to count his flock of seals and then go to sleep. And if any one wanted his help in any matter, the only way was first to secure his hands with handcuffs, and then to bind him with chains. Whereupon he on his part, in order to get free, would turn himself into all manner of strange shapes—fire, water, wild beasts, &c., till at last he returned again to his original shape.
The sense of this fable relates, it would seem, to the secrets of nature and the conditions of matter. For under the person of Proteus, Matter—the most ancient of all things, next to God—is meant to be represented. Now matter has its habitation under the vault of heaven, as under a cave. And it may be called the servant of Neptune, inasmuch as all the operation and dispensation of matter is effected principally in liquids.
[…]
src: https://www.bartleby.com/82/13.html

Spirit and Water

Consonant values

I noticed that the consonants of P-r-o-t-e-u-s are the same as those of S-p-i-r-i-t.

Matter of fact

The sense of this fable relates, it would seem, to the secrets of nature and the conditions of matter. For under the person of Proteus, Matter—the most ancient of all things, next to God—is meant to be represented. Now matter has its habitation under the vault of heaven, as under a cave. And it may be called the servant of Neptune, inasmuch as all the operation and dispensation of matter is effected principally in liquids.

Proteus, associated with matter, emerges from the sea^*️⃣ and sleeps in a cave, changing shape in between if one tries to capture him. The example of water is notoriously the first that comes to mind when we talk about the states of matter.
^*️⃣Note that in the video ▶ The Simpsons - The bacon man there is mention of returning to the ocean ("So, here for a snack before they roll you back into the ocean?"), in context I find that line a little ironic.

Capture the Serendipity

He can foretell the future, but, in a mytheme familiar to several cultures, will change his shape to avoid doing so; he answers only to those who are capable of capturing him.
src: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proteus

At this point I reflect on how easily connections come to us when we are in this particular position of observer, whether we like it or not. This is the principle of serendipity. Very strange word which I bet many have trouble pronouncing correctly and which for me has changed during my life (Mandela Effect). By the way, I had posted about this on Retconned in the past and when looking for my post I preferred to go through Google rather than the Reddit search engine.
This is where I get suggested a movie, Serendipity (2001), but it's a romantic comedy, I'm not too into that, I'm barely interested. But my instinct tells me it's not there by chance. If I don't watch the film, I will still look into the director's filmography.
Peter Chelsom; I'm looking at the list of movies he's directed. Not very funky at first glance but there are one or two key words, one or two imagery elements that have been involved in previous synchronicities for me that kept me from abandoning this lead in a hurry. I ended up clicking on the link of the movie The Mighty (1998).

The Old Man of the Sea

A young boy suffering from a debilitating disease causing deformities rides 👁️‍🗨️ on the shoulders of another, stronger boy. The young boy lends his insight while the other boy lends his strength.
It reminds me of the story of the Old Man of the Sea:

• In The Odyssey: Book IV, Homer (the other Homer) calls Proteus the wise Old Man of the Sea.
  
• The Old Man of the Sea in the tales of Sinbad the Sailor depicts 👁️‍🗨️ an old man clinging to a man on his shoulders.
  

While writing these lines

While writing these lines from my notes (more than a month later^*️⃣) I distractedly watched the Serendipity movie trailer... and there I see a golf scene that I hadn't noticed before (probably because I had not watched the entire video). I decide to watch the film.
^*️⃣Also while writing these lines I mentally played with the word "serendipity"; seren-dipidy, seren-pididy, etc. Which inevitably reminded me of ▶ this scene from a music video where Ben Stiller struggles to find the right name for rapper Puff Daddy. The plot coincidentally revolves around a golf ball...

SERENDIPITY

The plot of the film is a story of a character who seeks the identity of another, enough to entice him to pursue serendipity. Reminds me of the content of this post.
Moreover, there are several factual elements that suggest that resemblance:

Amazing likeness

Knockoff

▶ Serendipity - Prada:

• Purchase of a product (supposedly) from a luxury fashion house brand: "Ooh! Prada!" ... "I'll take it."
  
• Discussion about a knockoff product name: "Eve, that's a horrific knockoff. At least my fake says Prada. Yours says Prado."
  
• Discussion about altering the product a bit to make it more presentable: "Yeah? Well, I say for a dollar, I can buy a little magic marker and fix that."
  

▶ The Simpsons - Chanel:

• Purchase of a product (supposedly) from a luxury fashion house brand: "Oh, it's beautiful. Can it be a real Chanel?" ... "All right, I will buy it."
  
• Discussion about knockoff product names: "Don't be a sap, Dad. These are just crappy knock-offs." | "I know a genuine Panaphonics when I see it. And look, there's Magnetbox and Sorny."
  
• Discussion about altering the product a bit to make it more presentable: "Homer, please, I have to alter this suit so it looks different for tomorrow." | "Just slap some bumper stickers on it."
  

Golf

▶ The Simpsons - golf; To put into context, we had in the episode of The Simpsons:

• A character hit in the head by a golf club.
  
• A character hit in the head by a golf ball.
  
• A multitude of white balls scattered on the green.
  

[+]

• A character acknowledging a buried feeling: "I knew my kind wasn't welcome here."

▶ Serendipity - golf; The film Serendipity uses the synchronicity of golf as an factor of serendipity. And note these points:

• A character hit in the head by a golf ball.
  
• A character hit in the head by a golf club.
  
• A multitude of white balls scattered on a green floor.
  

[+] just a tiny bit of interpretation here:

• A character saying: "I think I swallowed a filling". Which I think is to be understood in the context of the film as "I think I swallowed a feeling".

Serpent and Destiny

Furthermore, the serpent is, in my humble opinion, an underlying theme in the film. I will avoid going too deep into the interpretations and just quickly relate a few noteworthy elements:

Serpent of old

▶ Serendipity - Cool Yule; The film opens with the song "Cool Yule" by Louis Armstrong with the Commanders. With these lyrics:

♪ And you gonna flip when Old Saint Nick ♪
♪ Plays a lick on a peppermint stick ♪

Old Nick could mean the Devil, Old Serpent, etc. An interesting discussion about the adjective "Old" in Old Nick.

Another one bites the dust

▶ Serendipity - crawling; A scene where the main character, Jonathan Trager (black jacket), is crawling on the ground.

In order, garter.

▶ Serenditpy - T-r-a-g-e-r; Jonathan Trager, T-r-a-g-e-r. Trager anagram of garter. Like a garter snake. But also a vocabulary used for a bride (which is in line with the apparent theme of the film).
Reminds me of something I jotted down somewhere...
...there it is:

Notably the pendant suspended on a ribbon from around Bacon’s neck, which in earlier portraits was deliberately concealed in such a way as to suggest a secret, is in this picture shown exposed, revealing itself as the Lesser George and thereby suggesting or indicating that Bacon was a secret Knight of the Garter, or had the right to be one.
src: https://www.fbrt.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Portraits_of_Francis_Bacon.pdf#page=6

Some infos on The Order of the Garter.

Snake Club

The presence of the word snake in Beckinsale (the name of the main actress) is obvious. But, I was interested in the consonants of the word and I saw there the term Snake Club.
I explain, we remove the vowels and: b.c.k.n.s.l → s.n.k c.l.b
I do a Google search on "snake club". I come across a page on a movie site that talks about what looks like a Z movie titled "Snake Club: Revenge of the Snake Woman". I scroll down a bit and come across 👁️‍🗨️ this poster showing Kate Beckinsale herself in the first place of movie recommendations.

IN THE QUR'AN

CLUB AND SNAKE

At the time of the synchronicities with the Simpsons episode, I was interested in the symbolism of golf. The golf club is reminiscent of a farm tool, the hoe, I kept that in mind. With the intrusion of the serpent into my serendipity, I was instead led to think about the story of the staff of Musa (Moses) in the Qur'an. Especially in Surah 20, Ta-Ha:

20:17 And what is that in your right hand, O Moses?"
20:18 He said, "It is my staff; I lean upon it, and I bring down leaves for my sheep and I have therein other uses."
20:19 [Allah] said, "Throw it down, O Moses."
20:20 So he threw it down, and thereupon it was a snake, moving swiftly.
20:21 [Allah] said, "Seize it and fear not; We will return it to its former condition.
- Translation: Sahih International ⇠ I'll keep this translation throughout the topic.
src: Qur'an 20:[17-21]

This new perspective has taken the serendipity in a interesting direction. A scene described in this same surah caught my attention; Musa and Harun confront the magicians summoned by Pharaoh:

20:61 Moses said to the magicians summoned by Pharaoh, "Woe to you! Do not invent a lie against Allah or He will exterminate you with a punishment; and he has failed who invents [such falsehood]."
20:62 So they disputed over their affair among themselves and concealed their private conversation.
20:63 They said, "Indeed, these are two magicians who want to drive you out of your land with their magic and do away with your most exemplary way.
20:64 So resolve upon your plan and then come [forward] in line. And he has succeeded today who overcomes."
20:65 They said, "O Moses, either you throw or we will be the first to throw."
20:66 He said, "Rather, you throw." And suddenly their ropes and staffs seemed to him from their magic that they were moving [like snakes].
20:67 And he sensed within himself apprehension, did Moses.
20:68 Allah said, "Fear not. Indeed, it is you who are superior.
20:69 And throw what is in your right hand; it will swallow up what they have crafted. What they have crafted is but the trick of a magician, and the magician will not succeed wherever he is."
20:70 So the magicians fell down in prostration. They said, "We have believed in the Lord of Aaron and Moses."
20:71 [Pharaoh] said, "You believed him before I gave you permission. Indeed, he is your leader who has taught you magic. So I will surely cut off your hands and your feet on opposite sides, and I will crucify you on the trunks of palm trees, and you will surely know which of us is more severe in [giving] punishment and more enduring."
20:72 They said, "Never will we prefer you over what has come to us of clear proofs and [over] He who created us. So decree whatever you are to decree. You can only decree for this worldly life.
20:73 Indeed, we have believed in our Lord that He may forgive us our sins and what you compelled us [to do] of magic. And Allah is better and more enduring."
src: Qur'an 20:[61-73]

I spotted other similarities:

Intrigue and trick

➔ Qur'an 20:[61-63]; Note this:

• A secret confabulation: 20:62 "So they disputed over their affair among themselves and concealed their private conversation."
  
• Characters implying that other characters intend to use a trick: 20:63 "They said, "Indeed, these are two magicians who want to drive you out of your land with their magic and do away with your most exemplary way."^*️⃣
  

^*️⃣The magicians repeat here the words of Pharaoh a few ayat ("verses") before: "He said, "Have you come to us to drive us out of our land with your magic, O Moses?" Qur'an 20:57.
▶ Columbo - subterfuge (spoiler!); We have already mentioned these points in ALL IN ONE > COLUMBO > Ruse:

• A character who accuses another of trickery: "He put it there. Can’t you see? Before we came. He put it there!"
  
• A private discussion between two characters with the idea of keeping the subterfuge secret: "Off the record, eh?"
  

▶ The Simpsons - cheating; Same here:

• A character who accuses another of trickery: "You've been cheating. No matter where Mr. Burns hits the ball you put a fresh one on the green."
  
• A private discussion between two characters with the idea of keeping the cheating secret: "If you would keep quiet about the alleged decades of cheating I'm sure he'd support your application for membership tonight."
  

By hook or by crook

➔ Qur'an 20:[64-73]; Note this:

• An injunction to throw a staff...: 20:69 "And throw what is in your right hand; [...]"
  
• ...that will swallow up an illusion (objects that move like snakes; see 20:66): 20:69 "[...] it will swallow up what they have crafted. What they have crafted is but the trick of a magician, and the magician will not succeed wherever he is."
  
• Characters thrown down to prostration^1️⃣: 20:70 "So the magicians fell down in prostration. They said, "We have believed in the Lord of Aaron and Moses.""
  
• Characters acknowledging a hidden feeling: 20:73 "Indeed, we have believed in our Lord that He may forgive us our sins and what you compelled us^2️⃣ [to do] of magic. And Allah is better and more enduring.""
  

^1️⃣The magicians didn't just fell down, they were thrown down: fa-ul'qiya [So were thrown down] al-saharatu [the magicians] sujjadan [prostrating].Note that this is the same verb, in the passive form, as in the previous ayah in which Musa was asked to throw down his staff: wa-alqi [And throw] ma [what] fi [in] yaminika [your right hand]. This emphasizes the correlation between the two events.
^2️⃣The Arabic word "akrahtana" translated as "you compelled us" carries a notion of aversion. That is to say, to be compelled to something that generates aversion. Here the magicians finally admit their true feelings towards Pharaoh's orders.
▶ The Simpsons - golf; Notice the similarities:

• A character throws a golf club...
  
• ...which hits another character who then falls face down.
  
• The latter acknowledges a buried feeling: "I knew my kind wasn't welcome here."
  

▶ The Simpsons - cheating; ~ Swallowing fake snakes:
The club-thrower character puts a whole golf ball in his mouth, chews it, and proves that "these aren't reptile eggs".
▶ Serendipity - golf; Note the same similarities here:

• A character is hit by a golf club and then falls face down.
  
• The same character who says: "I think I swallowed a filling". Which I think is to be understood in the context of the film as "I think I swallowed a feeling"^*️⃣.
  

^*️⃣Note also the use of the verb "to swallow".

Destiny and Serpent

Divine measure

In Surah Ta-Ha Allah commands Musa to meet Pharaoh, reminding him of the divine interventions in the key stages of his existence on Earth:

20:36 [Allah] said, "You have been granted your request, O Moses.
20:37 And We had already conferred favor upon you another time,
20:38 When We inspired to your mother what We inspired,
20:39 [Saying], 'Cast him into the chest and cast it into the river, and the river will throw it onto the bank; there will take him an enemy to Me and an enemy to him.' And I bestowed upon you love from Me that you would be brought up under My eye.
20:40 [And We favored you] when your sister went and said, 'Shall I direct you to someone who will be responsible for him?' So We restored you to your mother that she might be content and not grieve. And you killed someone, but We saved you from retaliation and tried you with a [severe] trial. And you remained [some] years among the people of Madyan. Then you came [here] at the decreed time, O Moses.
20:41 And I produced you for Myself.
20:42 Go, you and your brother, with My signs and do not slacken in My remembrance.
20:43 Go, both of you, to Pharaoh. Indeed, he has transgressed.
src: Qur'an 20:[36-43]

All of these life events brought Musa to the ad hoc place and time: 20:40 "[...] Then you came [here] at the decreed time, O Moses.".

Tamed serpent

A sinuous life course alternating between threat and benevolence though not turning away from fate. Symbolized from the outset by the abandonment of the baby on the river, a river that snakes its way to destination. And marked at the appointed moment by the transformation of the staff into a serpent before it is returned to its former condition.
End of part 1/3.
The continuation is in On the trail of a spirit (2/3) →

Hiii yall. I appreciate you guys so here's the script of Whiplash(2014) :)

WHIPLASH

Written by

Damien Chazelle

BLACK...
We hear a HIT. A drumstick against a drum head. Crisp, sharp.
Then a second hit. Then a third and a fourth. The hits
growing so fast they start to blur together. Like gunfire...
1 INT. NASSAU BAND REHEARSAL STUDIO - GEHRING HALL - NIGHT 1
A cavernous space. Sound-proofed walls. And in the center, a
DRUM SET. Seated at it, in a sweat-marked white T, eyes
zeroed on his single-stroke roll, is ANDREW NEIMAN.
He's 19, slight, honors-student-skinny -- except for his
arms, which have been built from years and years of drumming.
Suddenly -- a MAN enters the practice room. Stopping, rising--
ANDREW
Sorry... I'm -- I'm sorry--
MAN
It's ok. Stay there.
The MAN steps forward, removes his coat. He's tall. Late
fifties. Black T-shirt, black slacks, black shoes. We'll know
him as FLETCHER.
The room is silent now. And then, softly, as he's one of
those people whose whisper can scare the crap out of you--
FLETCHER
What's your name?
ANDREW
Andrew Neiman, sir.
(It's pronounced "Nayman".)
FLETCHER
What year are you?
ANDREW
I'm a first-year, sir.
FLETCHER
You know who I am?
ANDREW
Yes...
FLETCHER
You know what I do?
Pink (9/10/2013) 2
ANDREW
Yes...
FLETCHER
So you know I'm looking for players.
ANDREW
Yes...
FLETCHER
Then why did you stop playing?
Beat. Andrew nods, smiles. He gets it. Summons up all his
remaining energy and resumes playing, trying to really show
off this time. Rolls, fills, speedy stick-work. He finishes.
FLETCHER (CONT'D)
Did I say to start playing again?
Andrew looks at him.
ANDREW
I thought--
(then, blanching,)
I'm sorry, I misun--
FLETCHER
I asked you why you stopped playing. Your
version of an answer was to turn into a
wind-up drummer monkey.
ANDREW
I'm sorry -- I--I stopped playing becau--
FLETCHER
Show me your rudiments.
Andrew nods. Plays one rudiment after another: double-stroke
roll, paradiddle, ratamacue, flam, flamadiddle.
FLETCHER (CONT'D)
Uh-huh. Double-time swing.
Fletcher begins clapping his hand in time. Fast. Andrew plays.
FLETCHER (CONT'D)
No. Double-time. Double it. Bop-bop-bop-
bop-bop-bop-bop-bop-bop-bop.
Andrew tries doubling the tempo. But he can't. Fletcher STOPS
CLAPPING. The sign of death.
Andrew keeps playing, eyes shut... Then -- he hears the door
CLOSE. He stops, and looks up. Fletcher has left the room.
Pink (9/10/2013) 3
A moment later -- the door OPENS. It's Fletcher. Andrew's
eyes widen. Maybe it's not over...
FLETCHER (CONT'D)
Woopsy-daisy. Forgot my coat.
Fletcher grabs it, steps back out, CLOSES the door. Andrew
stares ahead, alone again at the drums -- and totally
deflated.
It's over.
WIDE SHOT of the band room as Andrew slowly rises. A title card:
Shaffer Conservatory of Music
Fall Semester
2 EXT. NEW YORK STREET - SHAFFER CONSERVATORY - NIGHT 2
Andrew exits, hurries off. Pasted onto his overloaded back-
pack are patches, buttons, names: Krupa. Roach. Buddy Rich...
The buildings of midtown New York loom over him like giants --
immense, forbidding...
3 INT. MOVIE THEATER - LOBBY - NIGHT 3
A quiet two-screen theater. Andrew buys concessions. The GIRL
at the counter is about his age. She's pretty, but doesn't
really know it. More to the point, she doesn't seem to care.
Her name is NICOLE.
NICOLE
Swedish fish?
ANDREW
Nah, not this time, thanks...
Andrew and Nicole exchange smiles. He takes his items --
popcorn, Raisinets, two sodas -- and heads off. Peers back at
Nicole. She's staring into space. She looks suddenly lonely.
Andrew takes in the sight. You can tell he's attracted to her
-- but he's too nervous to do anything. A beat later, he
enters the theater.
4 INT. MOVIE THEATER - MOMENTS LATER 4
Andrew spots a 53-year-old man seated near the front. This is
his dad -- JIM. Mild-mannered, soft-spoken, average in every
respect. Has the eyes of a former dreamer.
Pink (9/10/2013) 4
A smile between the two of them. Andrew hands his dad the
Raisinets, hands him the drink. Routine. The movie hasn't
started yet. As they exchange items--
JIM
You ok?
ANDREW
Sure...
A beat.
ANDREW (CONT'D)
He had me play today.
JIM
And?
Andrew shrugs. It's clear what that means.
JIM (CONT'D)
You still have other options.
ANDREW
What do you mean?
JIM
It's good to be open-minded. When I was
your age I thought I'd have a book deal
at 23. Then that changed to 30. Then 40.
ANDREW
Right... And that didn't upset you?
Jim shrugs, keeps his eyes down. He has a tendency to look
down when talking. The lights dim. The previews begin.
ANDREW (CONT'D)
I mean, it has to do something to you.
JIM
(another shrug)
I don't know. Why? It's just life.
(pause)
There's other things to care about.
Friends. Romance...
Andrew takes it in. Especially the last part.
JIM (CONT'D)
At my age you get perspective.
ANDREW
I don't want perspective.
Pink (9/10/2013) 4A
Jim smiles. A moment.
Just then a MOVIEGOER squeezes into the row to head to a
seat further down -- and bumps against Jim and his bucket
of popcorn.
JIM NEYMAN
Sorry.
The Moviegoer doesn't say a word. Andrew watches. Takes
it in.
5 OMITTED 5
Pink (9/10/2013) 5
6 INT. DORMITORY - HALLWAY - HOURS LATER 6
Rusty elevator doors squeak open. Andrew steps out -- into a
grimy, green-walled hallway.
Pink (9/10/2013) 6
Dim lights, loud MUSIC blaring from behind a door. A thudding
party beat...
At the end of the hall -- where the music is coming from -- a
few PARTYGOERS mingle by a door. The door opens. A YOUNG MAN
hands a SECOND YOUNG MAN a wad of cash in exchange for a Zip-
lock bag of PILLS. The SECOND YOUNG MAN eyes Andrew.
Andrew turns away, heads left -- to his own door. Hurriedly
opens it and slips inside.
7 INT. DORMITORY - ANDREW'S ROOM - NIGHT 7
A single. Drumsticks and drum pads scattered, biographies of
Bach and Coltrane on the shelf, posters of Louis Armstrong
and Charlie Parker on the walls. A TV is on, some sort of
music documentary. Andrew watches from his bed -- as, over
OLD AUDIO OF DRUMMING and old stills of a boy at a drum set --
NARRATOR (V.O.)
By the age of ten, Traps the Boy Wonder
was wowing crowds all over America. By
his teens, Buddy Rich was well on his way
to becoming the stuff of legend.
TALKING HEAD #1
Like any truly great player, Buddy seemed
to have been born with music in his
blood. He grasped it intuitively, in a
way you and I just can't.
TALKING HEAD #2
You check out the old stuff, man. You look
at those movies when he was a kid, his
arms...
Beat. Andrew takes it all in -- especially these words:
TALKING HEAD #2 (O.S.) (CONT'D)
You just can't teach that. That kind of
genius.
(pause)
You either got it or you don't.
Andrew turns off the TV. We hear the party beat continuing
outside, muffled. He leans back and switches off his light.
WE FADE OUT.
Pink (9/10/2013) 7
8 INT. GEHRING HALL - NASSAU BAND ROOM - DAY 8
The same room we saw Andrew practicing in at night -- only now
it's full of musicians. Mostly male, mostly first- and second-
years. This is NASSAU BAND, one of Shaffer's lower-level jazz
ensembles. Because it's Shaffer, the players are still first-
rate. A few third-years are here, too -- including a red-head
drummer with the body of a linebacker. RYAN CONNOLLY.
Andrew looks up -- in time to see Ryan with a GIRL by the
doorway. Ryan's girlfriend is gorgeous -- tall, all curves.
Ryan lets his hand slide down her shoulder. Andrew watches...
The GIRL waves bye to Ryan as he heads in. He's all macho
confidence.
TRUMPETER
My man Ry! Shit, how you feeling?
RYAN
Stitched up at last, dude.
TRUMPETER
Things were hurting with Neiman on the kit--
Ryan taps him to stop. Andrew is within earshot -- and has
heard. Beat. Ryan moves over to Andrew, sits down at the set.
RYAN
You have a good weekend, bro?
ANDREW
Yeah. Definitely. Really good.
RYAN
Don't worry about Greg. He's a dick.
Andrew nods. Admires Ryan. Seems more diminutive now than ever.
RYAN (CONT'D)
You been practicing?
ANDREW
Yeah. All the time.
RYAN
My man.
Then -- the Nassau Band conductor appears: RON KRAMER.
MR. KRAMER
Morning, fellas. "Billie's In", bar 8.
Pink (9/10/2013) 8
Mr. Kramer CLAPS OFF in time -- and the band begins playing
FIRST NASSAU BAND REHEARSAL CHART. Mid-tempo. Ryan's
confident, in control. Andrew turns his pages, watches...
MR. KRAMER (CONT'D)
Nice, Ryan... Woah, trumpets.
TRUMPETER #2 **
Yeah, yeah - sorry about that one. **
MR. KRAMER **
Just brass again. **
To Ryan's left, a whisper-- **
TRUMPETER
Ry...
Ryan turns. Visible as a silhouette through the frosted glass
of the main door...is FLETCHER. Andrew turns and looks as
well. Tenses up.
Fletcher lingers outside. Then he walks on. Ryan turns back to
the Trumpeter.
RYAN
Not today.
9 INT. GEHRING HALL - NASSAU BAND ROOM - MOMENTS LATER 9
Rehearsal has ended. The MUSICIANS have just filed out --
except for Andrew, who's hanging back...
MR. KRAMER
Are you learning from Ryan?
ANDREW
Yeah... He's been great to me.
MR. KRAMER
Last week was a little overwhelming for you?
ANDREW
(is that a question?)
Yeah...
(then, hesitant,)
I wonder...what you think about my progress?
MR. KRAMER
Your progress?
ANDREW
I just... I'm...practicing hard and...
Pink (9/10/2013) 8A
MR. KRAMER
Andrew -- you've got a good attitude. You
always arrive on time.
Andrew nods. Waiting.
Pink (9/10/2013) 9
MR. KRAMER (CONT'D)
Yeah. Ok?
ANDREW
(beat)
Ok... Do you think... I know Fletcher's
looking for players...for Studio Band...
MR. KRAMER
Yeah, Andrew... Lincoln Center looks out
for Fletcher's top players. If it weren't
for Ryan's injury he'd have been in Studio
Band last year. He's a natural player.
Andrew takes this in. Nods.
ANDREW
Ok.
MR. KRAMER
(this is awkward)
Look... I'm going to be candid. 90% of
our players will never make it into the
Lincoln Centers or the Collectives. The
question is -- who's in that 10%?
A beat.
MR. KRAMER (CONT'D)
So I'd practice. You could start a rock
band.
Andrew takes it in. The implication is clear.
He turns -- and glimpses a poster on the wall: a DRUMMER
throwing a stick in the air mid-solo. Buff. Confident. The
opposite of him.
ANDREW
I...I have one more question...
(Kramer looks at him)
...Do you know what the process for
transferring is?
Pink (9/10/2013) 10
10 OMITTED 10
11 INT. GEHRING HALL - BASEMENT HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS 11
Andrew walks down a hallway. A piece of paper in his hand.
It's a TRANSFER APPLICATION...
He notices as two attractive female students pass him. **
STUDENT #1 **
At least you didn't embarrass yourself **
like what's-his-face. **
STUDENT #2 **
That was truly pathetic. **
As he continues walking, he hears music. Stops. Approaches. **
Looks.
11A INT. GEHRING HALL - STUDIO BAND ROOM - CONTINUOUS 11A
Through the pane of glass, Andrew can see a FULL ORCHESTRA.
Everyone looks older than in Nassau. More focused. All eyes
glued on Fletcher as he assumes his position...
Fletcher's right arm moves, just a hair, and the band starts:
fast, dazzling. Andrew watches -- in awe. The band's playing
STUDIO BAND EAVESDROP CHART, and the sound is so full, so
precise, so commanding. Nothing like Nassau.
And suddenly -- Fletcher TURNS AROUND. His eyes meet Andrew's.
Andrew ducks out of view -- shit --
-- and hurries away.
12 INT. ANDREW'S PRACTICE ROOM - A FEW HOURS LATER 12
Andrew practices like mad, trying to nail a double-time swing.
To his left a digital METRONOME blinks. The time set: 380.
Andrew stops. Resets the metronome. 390. Resumes playing.
Tries to keep up. Resets the metronome to 400. Can't keep up
at all now. Struggling, sweating, hands blistering, when --
CRAAACK. Andrew's right drumstick SNAPS IN HALF.
He stops. Spent. Looks at his hand, sweating and throbbing from
the blisters.
Looks back at the metronome. Still beeping away. He turns it off.
Glances up ahead at a poster -- of BUDDY RICH hunched over a drum
Pink (9/10/2013) 10A
kit, mid-solo -- tacked to the wall.
Stares at the image. Then looks down -- at the PAPERWORK we
saw earlier. The heading: "APPLICATION TO TRANSFER"...
Pink (9/10/2013) 11
12A INT. ANDREW'S PRACTICE ROOM - MOMENTS LATER 12A
A CD slides into a player. The title: "BUDDY RICH: BIRDLAND".
Andrew skips ahead to the third track. Immediately, drums
start. Another double-time swing. Only this one is insanely
fast. Even faster than Andrew was going.
Andrew listens. Looks at his drum kit. Thinks. Makes a decision.
Turns the CD off.
13 INT. MOVIE THEATER - LOBBY - AFTERNOON 13
The same movie theater as before. Andrew marches in. Has one
goal and one goal only now.
Walks up to Nicole at the counter. Takes a deep breath, and--
ANDREW
Hey -- look -- I -- I don't know how to
say this -- I see you in here all the
time and -- I was just wondering --
(stops, collects himself,)
-- if you'd want to get a bite to eat
with me.
Beat. Nicole just looks at him. Andrew can't believe he said what
he just said. Feels like a creep. Instantly regrets it.
NICOLE
Please get away from me.
ANDREW
I'm so sorry, I -- I didn't mea--
NICOLE
I'm kidding.
She smiles. Beat. Andrew manages a nervous laugh.
NICOLE (CONT'D)
That your dad you always come in with?
ANDREW
(discombobulated, trying to keep up--)
Kind of bobs up and down when he walks?
That's him.
NICOLE
(laughs; then,)
Andrew, right? I'm Nicole.
ANDREW
Nice to meet you, Nicole...
Pink (9/10/2013) 12
NICOLE
Monday I get off at seven.
ANDREW
Monday. Ok. Great. I'll be here Monday.
A moment -- an awkward silence -- then Andrew turns -- and,
in a daze, realizing what's just happened, his spirits
suddenly starting to soar -- he glides off.
14 INT. GEHRING HALL - LOBBY OUTSIDE DEAN'S OFFICE - DAY 14
The next morning. Andrew, still riding high, is seated in a
lobby outside the DEAN's OFFICE. In his hand -- a FILLED-OUT
TRANSFER APPLICATION.
ASSISTANT
Andrew Neiman?
(Andrew turns)
Dr. Fletcher would like to see you.
ANDREW
Oh. Ok...
Andrew's thoughts are elsewhere. Distracted -- not sure what
this is about but doesn't really care -- he dutifully follows...
15 INT. GEHRING HALL - FLETCHER'S OFFICE - DAY 15
BLACK. We hear knocking.
FLETCHER (O.S.)
Come in.
A door opens -- the black gives way -- and we see, seated at
a polished mahogany desk, Fletcher. He looks as imposing --
and as well-dressed -- as ever.
FLETCHER (CONT'D)
Hey, Andrew! I guess Sophie found you?
Andrew is taken aback. Fletcher remembers his first name?
ANDREW
Yes... I'm... I--
FLETCHER
Come in, come in, close the door...
Fletcher rises to greet Andrew, as Andrew closes the door.
Pink (9/10/2013) 13
FLETCHER (CONT'D)
I like to chat with students coming in
and going out. I hear you're going out?
Andrew looks surprised by the warmth in Fletcher's voice.
ANDREW
Yes. Transferring. To Columbia.
FLETCHER
Terrific. Columbia's a terrific school.
Did something precipitate this?
ANDREW
I just decided to...
(not sure how to say it)
...to try out some other things. Not focus
only on drums. You know?
Beat. Fletcher looks at him. Is he upset? Dismayed?
FLETCHER
Bravo.
(as he starts to head back
toward his desk--)
Too many students clamp down on their
"pursuits" like leeches.
(sits atop his desk)
Hobbies they picked up in their teens,
and for what? Take a seat.
ANDREW
(starts heading to a couch)
Uh... Yeah.. I mean, I --
(passes by a "1st Place Prize"
plaque on a coffee-table)
-- I was a little younger than my teens
when I started drums, but--
FLETCHER
What were you then? Twelve?
ANDREW
Six.
FLETCHER
Oh. Well, kids start swimming when they're
six, doesn't mean they're Michael Phelps.
It's a hobby, never anything you consider
going all the way with. Am I right?
ANDREW
Definitely. I mean -- well -- for a time,
I thought I'd go all the way -- but, yeah--
Pink (9/10/2013) 14
FLETCHER
Well, kids want anything. I wanted to be
a nanny. Thank God those I trusted talked
me out of it. Good to listen to advice.
ANDREW
Yes, I've done that, you're right, it's--
FLETCHER
--good to get outside perspectives. So
long as they don't have ulterior motives,
I'd listen to what the people you trust
tell you.
Andrew nods. But that phrase seems to echo. Ulterior motives...
Fletcher hops down from the desk and makes his way to the
couch.
FLETCHER (CONT'D)
So what's the passion you've chosen to
pursue at Columbia, then?
ANDREW
(as Fletcher takes a seat next to
him)
Oh... Well... I'm not...not really sure.
It's not a specific thing I have in mind.
FLETCHER
Ah. Well that's ok. You're young. Most
people, it takes years for them to find
their calling. My father, for instance --
he had no idea what he wanted at your age.
He tried a lot of things, a little bit of
this, a little bit of that. Took him years
before he realized his dream was
insurance. That was his passion. The
cubicle, the coffee breaks, the dry wall.
He lets this simmer for a beat. Then--
FLETCHER (CONT'D)
I'm sure you'll find your calling as well.
He rises back up. A moment of silence.
FLETCHER (CONT'D)
I guess that's it, then. Any questions?
He notices Andrew looking at a photo on the wall.
Pink (9/10/2013) 15
FLETCHER (CONT'D)
That's Sean Casey. Graduated three years
ago. Now he's first trumpet at Lincoln
Center.
(heading toward the door--)
He came a long way.
ANDREW
(trying to collect his thoughts
as he rises)
...So -- are you -- still looking for
Studio Band players then...?
FLETCHER
(turning around to face Andrew)
Some, yes. But it's no cakewalk. Most kids
here can't last. Laszlo Polgar, Hungarian
psychologist, declares in 1967 that talent
is all about conditioning. Says he can make
his kids, whoever they are, the best in the
world at something. What that something is
he'll decide. He's a lousy chess player but
he picks chess because it's objective. Goes
around looking for a wife, finds one who
agrees to his experiment. Starts having
kids: Susan, Sofia and Judit. Gets them
practicing before they can even talk. These
weren't kids who were sitting and smelling
the roses. These were kids who were going
to leave an actual mark on the world. Who
was the top female player by 1984? Susan.
Who played the eight-straight-wins "Miracle
of Rome" in 1989? Sofia. And who is
universally considered the greatest female
chess player of all time? Judit.
He takes a breath. Smiles. We linger for a second on Andrew,
standing in place, taking it all in. Andrew's eyes quickly
drift to the photos behind Fletcher -- the images on the
walls... The Studio Band with Wynton Marsalis. Fletcher at the
JVC Jazz Festival. One jazz luminary after another...
FLETCHER (CONT'D)
Which is why I'm sure you'll be great at
whatever you set your mind to at Columbia.
(puts his arm around Andrew, starts
escorting him toward the door--)
It was a pleasure chatting, Andrew, now--
ANDREW
I just -- one thing first -- I mean -- I'm
not entirely sure I'm transferring yet...
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FLETCHER
Well that's worrisome. I'm sure you had
good reason to make your decision.
ANDREW
I -- just might give it some more time--
FLETCHER
No need to do that. First instincts are best.
ANDREW
My first instinct...is not to transfer...
FLETCHER
I'm not sure your first instinct is
right, then. Why don't you give it some
more thought, and in the meantime...
(reaches the door; about to close--)
...make sure your double-time swing is
ready by Monday's Nassau Band.
He closes the door. WE LINGER on Andrew. A spark has been lit.
16 INT. GEHRING HALL - NASSAU BAND ROOM - NIGHT 16
Andrew plays the drums with Nassau Band. Keeps missing hits.
The song's SECOND NASSAU BAND REHEARSAL CHART (ANDREW).
MR. KRAMER
Alright, that's... That's enough of that.
Back to just the core, please.
MUSICIANS trade places. As Ryan trades with Andrew, he turns--
RYAN
Dude -- what've you been practicing?
Just then, the DOOR SWINGS OPEN -- and in steps FLETCHER. All
eyes go to him. All talking ceases. Absolute silence, save for
Fletcher's footsteps. Andrew waits. Heart pounding...
Fletcher arrives at the head of the band -- as Kramer silently
and meekly retreats. Fletcher props up the music stand to his
height, looks down at the sheet music, runs his finger down it
to find the spot he wants... Andrew, like all the other
players, is dead-still, eyes glued on Fletcher's every move...
Fletcher looks up, surveys the band with his eyes. Then, raising
his hand--
FLETCHER
Down the line.
Pink (9/10/2013) 17
Instruments SNAP upward with military precision. No one wants
to miss a beat.
FLETCHER (CONT'D)
Trumpets. Bars 36 to 38. One-two--
The TRUMPETER on the right starts playing. Five notes before
Fletcher cuts him off with the slightest flick of his hand.
FLETCHER (CONT'D)
Next. One-two--
(the SECOND TRUMPETER misses
his cue)
Next. One-two--
Nothing. Fletcher looks up. There are no more trumpeters. He
looks over at Kramer: "Are you serious?"
FLETCHER (CONT'D)
Trombone. Bars 21 to 23. Four-and--
(TROMBONIST is scrambling to
find the right page)
Saxes. 48 to 50. "And" of one. And-one--
(ALTO SAX gets through one bar)
Next--
Before he even counts off, he notices the TENOR SAX's
fingering -- all he needs to know.
FLETCHER (CONT'D)
Drums.
We get a split-second glimpse of the TENOR SAXOPHONIST,
wondering what just happened -- before we CUT to the drums,
Ryan at the ready.
FLETCHER (CONT'D)
Double-time swing.
Ryan takes a breath. Fletcher CLAPS him off. Ryan plays.
FLETCHER (CONT'D)
Thank you. You. Behind.
Palms sweaty, Andrew takes Ryan's place. Trains his eyes on
Fletcher's hands. Deep breath. Fletcher CLAPS, and Andrew begins
-- trying to get the motion right, trying to stay in time--
FLETCHER (CONT'D)
Thank you. Bass. Five bars of "Donna
Lee".
We STAY ON Andrew as the BASSIST plays; Andrew slides off the
drums and back to his regular seat.
Pink (9/10/2013) 18
FLETCHER (O.S.) (CONT'D)
(to Bassist)
Thank you.
We CUT back to Fletcher. He looks over the band once more. We
see the MUSICIANS' faces -- scared, but hopeful. Then--
FLETCHER (CONT'D)
Drums. Come with me.
Ryan's heart starts speeding. His excitement visible, he--
FLETCHER (CONT'D)
Other drums.
Ryan freezes. Andrew is stuck in place for a moment. Then,
eyes wide -- is this really happening? -- he rises and
approaches the doorway... There, Fletcher hands him an ORANGE
PAPER SLIP.
FLETCHER (CONT'D)
Give this to Admin for rescheduling. We
meet 6am to 1pm every day. Room B16.
And with that, he EXITS.
In a daze, Andrew drifts back toward the band. Kramer looks at
him. Andrew answers the look with a defiant smile. Vindicated.
MR. KRAMER
Ok fellas, let's...let's take it back from
the top..
He claps off. The band plays SECOND NASSAU BAND REHEARSAL CHART
(RYAN). Andrew pretends not to notice Ryan's eyeing him in
shock. Just sits down, lets it all settle.
And -- ever so slowly -- Andrew's face dissolves into a GRIN...
17 INT. PIZZERIA - NIGHT 17
NICOLE
This is a nice place.
We're at a cheap pizzeria now. Nicole is seated, two half-
eaten slices of pepperoni in front of her. An old jazz track
is playing -- PIZZERIA CHART.
Seated across from Nicole is Andrew -- echoes of the earlier
grin still on his face, a brightness in his eyes.
ANDREW
Yeah, I come here a lot.
Pink (9/10/2013) 19
Beat. Then -- clicking back to reality -- this is not a nice
place, did I fuck up? --
ANDREW (CONT'D)
They have good music, so I -- it's not
just the food...
(points, re: the tune)
This is Jackie Hill, "When I Wake", July
17th, 1938, Bob Ellis on drums.
NICOLE
Are you trying to impress me?
ANDREW
No -- sorry -- I didn't mean -- they have
like -- ten songs they loop through.
They're always playing the same thing.
NICOLE
And you know the dates to all ten?
ANDREW
...Yeah.
Nicole smiles. A moment. Andrew fidgets. Nervous.
NICOLE
You know every time I saw you in the
theater you always had your eyes pointed
to the floor.
ANDREW
Really?
NICOLE
Like you were fascinated by the soda
stains on the carpet.
ANDREW
My dad tells me I have a problem making
eye contact.
NICOLE
My parents like to criticize me too. When
I was growing up my mom told me my chin
was too big and that that's why guys
wouldn't like me. `Cause my dad had
cursed me with a big chin.
ANDREW
What?
Pink (9/10/2013) 20
NICOLE
Yeah, it's -- look --
(she turns, points her chin up)
It's Jay Leno.
Andrew laughs. Nicole looks prettier to him than ever.
NICOLE (CONT'D)
She keeps asking me if I have a boyfriend
yet, and then blames it on the chin.