There is going to be tariffs going onto Chinese products being dumped onto the US market taking effect. Solar cells are one of the targets, with a 50% tariff being added. Not sure what the tariff was prior to this, but I'm certain that a 50% tariff is an increase over it was previously. Note that we have 90 days before this takes effect. To solar installers/companies - are you planning to raise prices? If so, when? If I were a solar company, I'd use this is a carrot to get prospective customers to jump in to solar before tariffs kick in and prices need to be raised. But also solar is already expensive, especially when combined with high interest rates and considering few Americans can afford to pay for solar out of pocket... if you make solar even more expensive then you make the incentive to go with solar less enticing, which means you kill your sales. So do you think the industry would absorb lower margins instead? Curious to hear everyones thoughts. Article for reference. https://www.reuters.com/world/what-are-bidens-new-tariffs-china-goods-2024-05-14/

Hello my name is Micah, I’m raising $17,500 until 06/13/2024 for Rehabilitation (Treatment) from trauma & self abuse.. Can you help? If you're unable to a simple prayer or wish would, thank you!! Need funds for a good professional treatment facility where experience and knowledge is key (Not putting state funding treatment centers down). Professional that know how to deal with what I'm going through. https://www.paypal.com/pools/c/94webWp6T4

Good Morning Everyone, Evening to some, afternoon to most.
We got home to lots of letters and my fiancee loved them all, and she's sitting next to me while we take the time to thank each and every one of you for taking the time to bring joy here in TN.
Thank you u/onebadjoke The Edible favours is a great idea, I'm going with twix, she's going with Riesen and for the both of us, Swedish Fish, gotten love hand fishing in a bag over waiting by the pond.
Thank you u/jemst0ne Amanda absolutely loves the post card, she's drawn to it immediately, and your card prompted a story. So, fun fact both of us proposed to each other to let each other know we were ready to be serious and jump into husband and wife roles, well the night that Amanda decided she wanted to make her jump, she received a fortunate cookie following a really nice meal at the casino, and the fortunate cookie said "Don't panic," lol, and nobody but her knew that that was. Second fun fact, mine that night said something about, "Don't miss the opportunity of the day, tomorrow it will be lost."
Thank you u/snerdboff We will definitely take funny pictures and thank you for the marriage licenses multiple copies, either of us thought of that, that's a great idea. Love that you had the largest card/envelope package. Love the sticker of the house as the envelope closer.
Thank you u/danigeek That's a great idea about the consignment store for the dresses. So far she has gone with her mom and sister to look at dresses. So far our idea for the colors of our wedding will be purple, blue, and silver. We have yet to try any cakes for the wedding, but my favorite is polish honey cake and her favorite is black forest (which no bakery seems to make anymore). Daisies are Amanda's favorite flower. Great card. Thank you.
Thank you, u/littlemermaidxx Thank you for the Love post card, it's nice, Amanda loves it, will take a pin to the love corner that we've got going. Thank you for the Congrats!
Thank you u/blacksmithequivalent You sent two cards :). Thank you so much. San Diego is such a beautiful area. We love that there is rarely a day below 60 degrees. The ring card is so pretty. Since she calls me her galaxy, I decided that blue sandstone would be a great pick for both her engagement and wedding ring. The actual stone looks like stars in a dark night sky. We also appreciate you saying that as long as we are happy together, no other opinions matter. True relationships are based on trust, great communication, and respect.
Thank you u/ez330 Absolutely beautiful card with the hearts as leaves in the tree. Congrats on your upcoming 12 year anniversary with your husband. I am sorry that you had those stressors during your wedding day. At this point, I feel that my fiancee and I are the least worried about things right now. That may not be a good thing when the time gets closer haha. Either way, as long as we are together and nothing drastic happens it'll be a great day for us as well. I am also a project manager so nothing can be as bad as some of the violent days at work lol.
Thank you, u/uknighinthesky Love the card. We are both very thankful to have several family members that are doing so much research for us and planning parts of the wedding. I think one of our main concerns is getting some family members from out of town to the wedding. The comic snips were very funny and a great touch to the card.
Thank you, u/uaepeyc. I absolutely adore this card. My mom is huge into mermaids and when I showed her this card, she went cray cray. You gave great advice saying that family research is helpful, but that in the end it is our day. Through all the planning, I think that our day will be as amazing as our relationship. She says that our relationship will be made with great memories for the next 55 years.
Thank you, u/ninajyang. The front of the card is so pretty. I wish you and your partner the best. We both have a similar budget in mind. We don't want to spend too much, but just enough to make things as memorable as possible. This will be both of our first and last marriages so we figure we would splurge just a little. Thank you for the cute stamps as well.
Thank you, u/mediocre_radish_7216 Thank you so much for the cute cared. I liked the skateboard with the word love on it. Since she has moved in, we have been enjoying every little moment together. Even domesticated, simple ones can be enjoyable together. As we are writing these, we are doing household chores. Last night we cooked dinner and had a glass of wine together. We both plan to flourish this relationship for the next 55 years.
Thank you, u/notsomini. Not going into debt for a single day is a great piece of advice. Thank you. We have been looking at wedding venues and seeing which one is the most cost effective, but yet flexible. A few places that we have looked at have been so strict with what is allowed in and what is not. One place that we checked out, no outside food was permitted. This place that we plan to check out tomorrow is not strict as we can bring in whatever food and other accommodations we choose. Thank you so much for the awesome stickers too.
Thank you, u/inkyfingerspgs Thank you so much for the card. Amanda loved it as the purple that was on the card is one of our wedding colors. We plan to continue making good memories from the wedding day and 55 years into the future.
Thank you, u/daeneryswon. The card is adorable. We both love it. The quote, "to a love that grows more beautiful every year," should be a goal for all couples. We hope that on our wedding day there is not too many hiccups, but both of us are pretty easy going that we will just continue on. We plan to make each other happy for the next 55 years.
Thank you so much u/keqani. All of the details that you put into your card is appreciated. Amanda adored the snips of paper that you included with your card. She said that those will be amazing to write little love notes to me to leave in my truck for me to discover. We both concur with you that we need to be there for each other no matter what. Loyalty in a relationship is very important. So far we have had great communication. Before we moved in together, we talked multiple times a day for at least 20 minutes or longer. We also promised each other that if anything is bothering either of us that we should just talk it out rather than holding it in. Amanda says that for the next 55 years we will be together through all the ups and downs that life can bring.

I am preparing to go for Summer Semester for MS in CS, my_qualifications: is 7.56, with 1 year of Experience as a DevOps engineer with Product Security and Cloud focus. Firstly what are my chances for TU9? Secondly can anyone ideate with me regarding timeline I should follow to do everything to secure a good University in Upcoming semester? Note: I haven’t started any prep, I know only about APS, Blocked Account. Any of my fellow peeps already in Germany if you can guide me it will be a lot better thanks.

Spots@$Price: 160@$1
Total Price: $160
Make and Model: Spyderco S90V Manix LW
Timestamp and Pics: https://imgur.com/a/vUezs1W
Price Justification: these are getting hard to find. Only comps we can find are 300 days to 1 year+ old on swap. Range is anywhere from 150-185. This one had been sharpened, but comes with deep carry clip.
Escrow: for u/jay3011
Description: Spyderco Manix LW - Cutlery Shoppe exclusive with satin S90V blade, pinned orange FRCP handles, and black deep carry clip (stock clip included). Centered, solid lock up, and drop shut action. This one has been sharpened and seen light use, but is still in excellent condition (as always see pic/vid). Comes with box, doc, etc.
International shipping: N
RULES/NOTES:
SEND PAYMENTS VIA F&F AND DO NOT PUT ANYTHING IN THE NOTES OR KEEP THEM TO THE BARE MINIMUM i.e. ".", "thanks", ETC. ANY OTHER NOTES CAN/WILL RESULT IN AN IMMEDIATE SUB BAN
BE CLEAR AND CONCISE WITH YOUR CALLS. IF YOUR CALLED SPOT IS ALREADY TAKEN IT WILL BE REPLACED WITH A RANDOM UNLESS YOU SPECIFY OTHERWISE. AMBIGUOUS SPOT CALLS WILL BE ASSIGNED USING MY BEST/WORST JUDGEMENT. SPOT CALLS CAN BE DENIED/MODIFIED AT MY DISCRETION
SEND PAYMENT FOR YOUR SPOTS IMMEDIATELY UPON ASSIGNMENT UNLESS OTHERWISE STIPULATED. SPOTS WILL BE REMOVED DUE TO LACK OF PAYMENT AT MY DISCRETION

PayPal Info: https://www.paypal.me/codymurtha1?locale.x=en_US
​
Tip BlobAndHisBoy
Number of vacant slots: 150
Number of unpaid users: 1
Number of unpaid slots: 10
This slot list is created and updated by The EDC Raffle Tool by BlobAndHisBoy.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31 justinL66
32 justinL66
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42 justinL66
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72 justinL66
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80 justinL66
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100 justinL66
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119 justinL66
120
121
122
123 justinL66
124
125 justinL66
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142 justinL66
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160

Salamo alaykoum, I am algerian which is an islamic country and want to ask about this,So i was raised loving a football team of my city it’s the Dean and has lot of historical significance (the first Islamic club in the country,i club that helped fighting against colonialism and also a club that stands with Palestine) the thing is that sometimes i spend lot of money on supporting the team either to make huge tifos like the one attached to the post or Pyroshows ,i used to think that doing that especially the pyroshows is the same as a painter buying paint to make art or someone buying balloons 🎈 for a birthday or celebration just on a different scale ,until one of my friends said that he believes that this is a waste of money,adding to that i spend some money to watch them in away days …..i do my best to not miss any prayer though……thank you guys
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQjzLwpdsuJRkyM9GPlTUPfENFBe-ngrXKpKdMuqxRg4C1JrMwTm3LFYQE&s=10

Greetings everyone. I hope this sort of post isn't becoming a nuisance on this sub by now, but I'm trying to start off at the right foot here with the game and I figured this is probably the best place to look. As you can probably guess I'm here cause of the release of the simulator.
To be completely clear, I'm not really a big Digimon fan (I watched a good number of the series when I was younger but never to completion and I was never a "digimon kid" if that makes sense). But I really love TCGs in general and my best friend is a big digimon nerd so that's how I ended up here. A year or so ago he bought two starter decks and we played a few games and I found it intriguing enough to keep it in mind (and to be clear, my best friend also has little to not Digimon TCG experience since no real opportunities to play irl).
As far as TCGs in general go I dabbled in pretty much everything and anything and have given most a try here and there (given they were accessible) though my main and go to by far is Yugioh. I assume some people here who play Digimon also play Yugioh so I'm brining it up as a reference point in terms of what my general experience is. I should probably also note that I'm really into Yugioh and how it's designed and why it's the one TCG I stuck with more than pretty much all other combined that I've ever tried.
I read up on the rules for the Digimon TCG and well, decided to just jump into it since I prefer to learn by playing. Over the last few days I did some 20-30 games against bots and maybe 5 or so real games with half a dozen different decks or so. The decks in question I got from the Digimon Card Meta site, Specifically the BT15 ENG Tournament decks.
My experience in general was mostly feeling like most decks wanted me to play a lot more aggro than is my preferred playstyle and a lot of their mechanics/strategies revolved around enabling/rewarding said playstyle above most other aspects. Before I continue I should probably emphasize that this is me coming in with low experience and just feeling around trying to find a playstyle and deck type that clicks with me, for all I know I was horribly misplaying most/all of these.
For reference the decks I tried were:

• Gaomon: Felt like one of the better decks to play where everything had an okay payoff, though the gameplan did seem a bit one note overall
  
• Rosemon: Felt very similar to Gaomon to me but with a less smooth climb to the big boss Digimon compared to Gaomon.
  
• Red Hybrid: I didn't fully get this one, it always felt like my hand was slightly mismatched/like I was missing a piece somewhere to fully benefit from all the effects that came up. May very well be just me sucking/luck of the draw as I did get a general sense of how it works tho.
  
• ShineGreymon: It was... okay. Definitely falls into the "a bit too aggro/OTK focused" bin for my taste but it also had a fair number of removal effects, not my favourite but overall okay.
  
• Loogamon: I honestly feel like I just need to play this more, cause like with Red Hybrid it felt like the pieces just weren't clicking together with how I played and what hands I was getting.
  
• Soc Police/Brigade: I have no idea if I'm about to make a lot of people laugh and if this is some insane clueless noob take, but holy crap I love this deck so much. I am sexually attracted to Brigadramon. Amazing feeling grind game, lots of really good non evolution tech digimon to plop down on the field depending on the board and once Brigadramon hits the field it feels borderline impossible to lose unless your opponent outs it asap.
  

It's BY FAR the closest deck I played to what I ideally wanna be doing in the game. Control the game state and slowly shut down my opponent while grinding them out on the resource front. Again, these might all be just my first impressions and completely naive/clueless takes but I'd really love to hear if there's more decks that play something like this.
Aside from the deck recommendations I wanted to ask a few things:

1. How safe is it to make my own deck? Like can I have a look, find a high level digimon I really like and then reverse engineer the rest of the deck around them? I'm not looking for 100% meta stuff, but like rogue-ish decks that can compete and steal games. Basically just stuff that won't feel miserable to play against any sort of competent deck.
   
2. Is there some in depth guide about best practices in regards to crucial decisions in the game? Stuff like what the general mulligan philosophy is or best MP management (right now I plan most/all of my turns around leaving my opp at 1 or 2 MP without necessarily considering other approaches unless I can get to a very obvious win con by going above that).
   

Sorry for the long post and thanks in advance for your time.

I am so sick of my coworker and I’m THIS close to telling on him to my manager.
I’ve been trying my best to help him over the last 3 months because he was struggling with the work and training. I offered to help him bc I felt bad and thought I could train him on a few things he needed further training on. My manager thanked me because even he was struggling to train him. But mind you, he’s been here 2 years!
It’s been 3 months, I’ve provided my time, I’ve created step by step documents for him, and even recorded a session he can go back to and this human STILL acts brand new. He’s asking the dumbest questions, getting mad and blames others when he doesn’t understand something, he gets rude too. Recently, he randomly took a medical leave, meanwhile I still see him post on social media all the things he’s doing and dumbass things he’s saying on Twitter. He looks perfectly fine and my guess is he conveniently took time off because he had 15 projects due within the next two weeks that have now been pawned off to me and a few others.
I’m so sick of him and his bs. Zero clue why he is still here. Side-note, he always posts on social media while he is supposed to be working. He’s honestly useless and I want him fired. He’s taking valuable space from others. My manager is aware of his shitty work ethic and even he seems over it, but he keeps saying “we’re working with him”. Enough is enough, he’s the stupidest person I’ve ever met. I’m so close to telling my manager that right now that he’s on leave he is perfectly fine on Instagram.
I know I’d be a snitch, but GUYS I have been pushed. I refuse to get any more messy projects from him to work on

R-squared values: Linear Regression: 0.8401621913740709 Polynomial Regression: 0.9161966003792115 Exponential Regression: 0.922505755755209 Projected next outcome using damped Exponential Regression: 15916.26589649187 

Darshane Punyam, Sparshane Paapam 

Alright I get it, LOML? Is this guy insane at 19 really? Yes Hopefully my first relationship will be my only. So without further a due, here we go...
Introduction
Hi, my name is Jonathan. Nice too meet you. Im 19 originally from the US and my interest and what I am passionate about is running, gym, traveling, gaming, and anime. My goals and priorities in life are to gain experience with managing money and how it works and starting a business of my own, creating a family and watch as our kids grow up(cheesy I know), and having enough free time to enjoy it with the fam such as traveling and also pursueing passions of mine. This is the general gist about me.
Looks:
I will send you a picture and saying high just so you are aware of what I look like because I think both of the physical and mental aspects of attraction are equally important. I will describe myself here so you get a general idea of what your getting into I guess lol. Im a 6ft 1(185cm for Europeans), 142 lbs hispanic guy with glasses. Im a tall lanky dude is the gist of it.
Interests and Passions:
Loved running as a kid, loved it as a highschooler, and still love it now as an adult. Longistance is my favorite but hey I can do walks if youd like. Gym is good for me in the long run and I love the progression. Shred for summer am I right. I picked up a love for traveling when I first visited NYC when I was 18 and loved the though of exploring new places, recently picked up a side passion of traveling in the form of unplanned spontanious trips(sometimes). Now being in Europe I have the option to go to a whole different country in just a couple hours like what???? I always loved video games as a kid and still now although I have less and less time to play them. Some of my favorites are SQUAD, WARFRAME,LEAGUE OF LEGENDS and ESCAPE FROM TARKOV just to name some but games Ive loved in the past are APEX LEGENDS, ROCKET LEAGUE, RUST, COD BO, FORTNITE, and DAYZ. Love games :). Anime is definetly a big one for me. Been getting into manga more recently but some of my favorite anime have to be action like MHA, Death Note, AOT, Naruto, Demon Slayer but favorite one is by far ONE PIECE. I also like some other animes that arent action like Dr. Stone.
Goals in Life:
I want to be financially stable is the main gist and free up a lot of time for adventures like traveling with my family or my passions like anime running and video games. Learning about money is by far the best way to achieve that goal. I want to start a family eventually maybe in the late or mid 20s depending on my partner. Just something about being a father and experiencing that joy of having another little you running around and watching and mentoring them as they grow up and become successful is just something else really. To reiterate what I said in the first sentance about financial stability goal I would like to do so to free up time and focus more on fun things with the family and enjoying the short life we've got to the fullest experiencing as much as we can.
What Im looking for in terms of looks and personality:
Have at least some mutal interest. Preferably be at a healthy or normal BMI, so really no overweight(sounds fatphobic I know but its just what I prefer) ladies, dealbreaker. Be 18+ (I say this for the Europeans mostly cause US knows its 18+ or a case). Thats really it, dont really care about the size of your butt or chest. Some preferences that are not dealbreakers but bonus or brown ie points are short haired, short, gamer, or asian. Again not dealbreakers or anything but it is prefered. Dont be rude as well.
Alright thats the end thanks for reading this, care more about having a special someone that cares about me and is eager to talk to me or be romantic. Hopefully if you are in europe we can meet up after getting to know each other. Have a great day. PS. if you did come this far us this emoji🗣️ and DM me if you found me interesting or would like to talk.

Long post alert: I matched with someone on a dating app last month who is from another country but lives in mine currently for 3-4 years. He knows about my culture very well. We have a lot of things in common. His work is soccer related and I'm a huge fan of the sport. Both of us love gaming. Both of us have a lot of similar interests and are sapiosexuals. He lives in another city and comes to mine sometimes. We spoke for a month before I decided to visit him. I intuitively felt it was safe to stay with him and that he's a good man. This weekend, I went there and we had an amazing time. We both are shy people but together it felt like we knew each other for years. We couldn't keep our hands off each other the evening we met. Sx was great and he appreciated me the way I was, flaws and everything. We cuddled, kissed, talked about life, work, did and said silly things and what not. I could be myself with him. I felt extremely safe with him. The way he looked at me and smiled, especially when I was in his arms, was magical. I definitely saw something for me in his eyes. 50-51 hours felt like everything was perfect. On my last day there, we cuddled and watched a documentary before dinner that I had cooked for him (I hate cooking) and he liked it too. He can't eat spicy so I made it less spicy. We were having dinner and talking about the spicy things he doesn't like to eat in my country. One of them is my absolute favourite thing so I just said it depends where you eat it because I make it less spicy at home. Suddenly, he started getting annoyed, raised his voice and said things like I am not even trying to look through his perspective and when I tried to defend myself, he asked me to stop interrupting him all the time (could be because I was leaving and he was feeling something. I don't know). I controlled my tears as I was getting angry and finished my dinner silently. He ordered ice cream for us but after that I went completely silent. I picked up plates, cleaned up everything, packed my bags as I was leaving early next day and went in the balcony to calm myself down. I went to his room to get something I had left there and he asked 'everything okay honey?' and I just replied hmm and left. We didn't talk after that because he fell asleep while I was trying to calm down. None of us ate the ice cream. Later I went to his room, turned off his TV, hugged him and slept besides him. He held my hand and slept. Next morning he had to leave for work too so we were going to leave together. We didn't speak a word except when he asked if I'd have coffee. We didn't hug or kiss like we did on other mornings. When we left and went downstairs, his cab was there and then we hugged. He only asked me to let him know when I get in the bus. When I got in the bus, I messaged him 'In the bus. Thanks for everything'. He replied 'Take care 😘' I reminded him a few things like to eat the leftover dinner, use up things I had opened to make it, etc. And then I apologised for not talking to him that night and explained that I didn't want to hurt him because I'd have said terrible things if I had opened my mouth. He replied 'No problem *****' 'It was nice to see you' I replied same here. Then he said 'Take care of yourself ☺️☺️' after which I asked him if we'd meet again because the way we left things didn't feel right and also thanked him for making me the happiest I was in years. He just replied 'Let's see how things are going'. It is also important to mention that he's moving to another country soon in June or July (doesn't know where yet) but now he knows I can move too. I didn't reply after that because I didn't know what to say. No honey, baby or anything. I cried the entire way home. He just liked my cat's picture I uploaded on Instagram story after I reached home because he knew I was missing her. There hasn't been any communication after that (yesterday) although he had mentioned before that it's a busy week for him. I can't stop thinking about him, his face, his eyes, his smell and his smile. And another weird thing: he has these muscle jerks in his sleep and now I have them too somehow. My brother told me this.
Now that you know what is happening, I need something to fix our relationship. I really thought it could be a long-term thing for us because we were perfect together. I'm ready to move wherever he's going as my work is flexible. Things suddenly became weird after that dinner. I tried to communicate yesterday but after those replies, he felt disconnected. I want us to work but I want him to approach because I've done my part. I just know it wasn't just a hookup for us because none of us are into it. His birthday is this week and I wanted to send something handmade (which he really needs in his house) and write a letter to him. Is that a good idea? I'm relatively a baby witch and started 4 months ago. Is there a specific spell or something that would help me? At the moment, I only have some crystals, a small altar for aphrodite, coloured candles, bayleaves and some other spices. Any help and advice is appreciated.
Thank you for reading!

Hi everyone,
Our neighbours recently had a tenants move in. One of those tenants comes over to our front sits and smokes on our raised garden stones and throws his butts on our property.
I caught him for the first time today, and wasn't so polite unfortunately. I asked him to smoke where he lives. I wish I had taken a neutral tone but the shock of seeing someone on my property got me.
If this persists, what can I do, is there any action steps I should be aware of? Would calling police do anything at all?
Thank you,

Hey all - lurker for a while and am working in therapy to re-establish contact with my parents.
Books/literature request:
I've read several books but feel that something is missing when my queerness and their religion is left out. I also don't know what I don't know about healthy parent/adult child relationships and am looking for books on what that looks like. Does anyone have suggestions on good suggestions?
Books I've read include: So many ADHD books, Come as you are by Emily Nagoski, Adult Children/Recovering from Emotionally Immature Parents by Lindsay Gibson. I also have suggestions from my therapist.
Context if helpful:
I went NC/LC with dad and by association mom ~2 years ago. I still have contact with my siblings and extended family.
I was never abused physically, sexually, and never abused intentionally emotionally. My parents are well intentioned and do work on growing. Several things lead to cutting contact including my inability to handle having a same sex partner around family (trauma responses and overly sensitive to questions when I know they weren't malicious), disagreement on politics, COVID, and poor emotional regulation between myself and my father (both ADHD).
I am queer and was raised evangelical. By the time my youngest sibling was growing up, my parents were outwardly neutral regarding queer people vs outwardly homophobic (disgust rather than hateful/wishing harm) as they were while I was young. I still don't know their opinions on queer people but my sisters experience is that they've never been homophobic.
I have deconverted and have lots of problems with religion in almost all forms. My family is fine with non-religious people and almost never broach the subject.
We're almost polar opposites when it comes to politics and I'm very sensitive about it due to seeing what kinds of laws are being enacted. They also don't see a difference between racial justice and politics which is hard and the catalyst to going LC.
Working through therapy regarding enmeshment and starting to adjust my expectations of what a healthy relationship with parents looks like has led me to look into re-establish contact.
Thank you

Hey guys! We have a new version of AT:
AT updates for Dr. Boom’s Incredible Inventions.
You can get it from the github.
Details:

• Cards: Add new hero portraits.
• Cards: Add new cards to the github.
• Draft: Update HearthArena tier list.
• Replay: Update bombing cards and draw specific cards for the new set.
• Secrets: Add Bargain Bin to tracked secrets.
• Synergies: Update synergies.json for the new set and previous patch notes.

Top patrons 5€+:

• Liam M: €334
• RvNighttrain: €194

Thanks!
Enjoy Patreon special privileges and unlock the premium version:
Patrons (3€/month) will be able to unlock the premium version from the app which implements some extra features: (more stats, replays, planning, graveyard, popular lists, synergies and draft mechanics/drops overview). Get it becoming a patreon

-168 cm tall -Dad bod[but working on it] -Attentive -Caring -Kind -Loving -Sensitive -Can be funny at times -Puts in effort -Communicates -Will send you pics- food, memes, YouTube videos I find interesting. -Will give attention -Will reciprocate your love and help you be better. Not a life coach. Just a loving guy -Student of medicine previously. Still figuring out on what to do. Will help you if you are a med student too. -Spiritual. -Patient. -Not that good looking maybe a 5 -Brown with black hair. -Has driven a tank once hahaha. I know. it's amazing. -Loves all animals except spiders. -Virgo -Talkative - I game too. Mainly apex. -I watch movies. My favorite movies would be the A team. Most impactful movie would be Schindlers list. Best war movie would be saving private Ryan. All quite on western front. Best series I watched would be breaking bad. Best anime I've watched is death note and steins gate. -Loved artists are Edward hopper. Caravaggio. Vincent van Gough. Rembrandt. I forget a female artist but I loved her too. -loves to listen to music.
I am loyal, let's just say I don't talk to anyone if I talk to you. Old values. Family oriented. Living with mom whom I take care of too. I wanna empower my lady. Discuss with her daily things about life. Establish a deep deep bond with her. Not borne out of loneliness or need to settle down cause everyone else is. I don't work like that. That's shallow to me. However, it proves love is free.
I am respectful. You say no. I'll go away. I have boundaries too. I reciprocate whatever you give. I make extra effort to show you that I care and want the best for you. I give 100% attention and when I don't I communicate and speak about why and what's bothering me. You'll never be in the dark about me. I listen to you as well. Your input is very valuable for me. Especially when I know you love me.
I have traumas and pains. Single parent. Been through abuse. Both with family and outside. So can be a complicated person at times but I have noticed that assurance and validation helps me alot. Especially when you mean it. Someone I met here told me they'd be my baby and love me. But they left. The others left too. She said I could talk to her and she left anyway. Cause Maybe she didn't like how I looked. (Which is subject to change)
I love cuddles and hugs and being all romantic and soft. The world outside us harsh at least here I want to be soft and baby you and speak to softly and be genuine, to you. Making you happy makes me very happy. I apologize too I don't have a ego as most would. If it's my fault I wanna fix it. I am mature like that.
Money's not everything. I'd appreciate if you shared the same ideal. We are looking for love not buying it. It's about building and growing not applying for a job.
Looking for -undertanding -caring -kind -appreciative -emotionally intelligent -aware -will love -open to dating a foreigner -will put effort genuinely -easy to please(like to make jokes with) -will give attention, time and communicate -can commit, albeit slowly -maybe working - age 25 to 30 onwards. Woman.
Thanks for the read. Please msg me on Instagram- freshbreadb. Or telegram- Ashs1290

Part 14.3

Heracles VS Lernaean Hydra

Author Note: I was thinking about it and I really wish that GT9 used more draconic symbolism throughout the story when (or if) I revisit Team Crowley VS Rosencreutz I'll have symbolism of Aleister (TheBeast666), Aiwass (Codename: DRAGON) and Coronzon (The Dragon of the Abyss) all have symbology of them being Dragons preying on a God/Hero like CRC and the reversed conflict of Chaos VS Order you see in mythology, I also wanted to achieve something similar with Kakine Teitoku as he can represent the Fallen Angel and the Seraphim but for now I'll try adding draconian symbolism into Gunha VS CRC.
True Expert Christian Rosencreutz, with his golden rosy cross sword, clashed relentlessly against the indomitable force of the Strongest Gemstone, Sogiita Gunha. With each clash of their powers, the air crackled and compressed, and the pavement trembled beneath.
CRC, observed Sogiita with a mixture of intrigue and disdain. "You fight like the legendary Heracles," he remarked, his voice carrying over the din of battle. "But know this, I am the Lernaean Hydra, and no matter how many heads you sever, I shall always rise again!" Rosencreutz roared to slice the #7’s midsection.
Sogiita, his entire body wreathed in unknowable energy, met CRC's blade unyielding. "Bring it on, old man!" he retorted, his voice brimming with confidence. "I'll knock you down as many times as it takes! I won't stop till you come to your senses and remember your roots, like the roses you love so much, Rosencreutz!!"
Their clash intensified, that old man’s higher dimensional sword colliding with the raw power of that boy’s fists and kicks as they pushed each other to their limits with each sword swing, punch, kick and flash.
Sogiita unleashed a barrage of punches, each strike carrying the force of a meteor, while that silver young man countered: he wielded his sword in his right hand and released impacts followed by white light that was enough to previously take down all of The Bridge Builders Cabal.
As the battle raged on, the very fabric of reality seemed to warp and shift around them, bearing witness to the titanic struggle between two unparalleled forces.
The founder of Rosicrucianism who intimidated reality itself to obey his will and that Gemstone with an unstable personal reality that could change on a whim.
The atmosphere crackled with electrifying distortion.
Sogiita's fists tore through the air with the ferocity of meteors, their velocity enhanced by his ability to adapt and accelerate, surpassing even CRC's speed. As each blow was released, the friction with the surrounding air molecules ignited a scorching heat, intensifying the impact.
The rapid movement of molecules generated an escalating thermal energy, causing the air to seethe with increasing temperature. It was akin to a tempest of incandescent projectiles hurtling towards CRC, their speed surpassing the limits of human perception.
It was like a storm of brilliant fiery arrows was fired at Rosencreutz.
These blazing arrows of force were reminiscent of the elusive strikes employed by the Rose & Cross Leader, ignoring distance with deceptive agility.
With each thunderous punch, that bandana boy sought to overpower his adversary through sheer kinetic force, his unwavering resolve palpable in every motion.
But that wasn't enough for this superhuman.
CRC, wielding his cross sword with precision and skill, deflected each and every one Sogiita's flaming arrows with calculated strikes of his own. Each impact unleashed a burst of blinding white light, sending shockwaves rippling through the chaotic city.
"You think brute strength alone will defeat me?" the silver man taunted, his voice cutting through the chaos of battle. "You may be strong, but strength without strategy is nothing but raw power wasted."
Sogiita grinned, his confidence unshaken. "Strategies for cowards who can't handle a real fight," he retorted, his voice ringing with defiance. "I'll K.O. you with my fists and guts alone!!!!"
Rosencreutz's eyes narrowed as he parried another of Sogiita's punches. "Your arrogance will be your downfall," he warned, his tone tinged with certainty. "I may not match your overall speed, but I have something you lack: intellect and precision.”
Christian Rosencreutz then plunged his cross sword into the ground.
"This is what harmed Kamijou Touma," he declared, grinning and unleashing a torrent of lethal invisible attacks from his outstretched palms.
However, the #7 countered with a relentless barrage of flaming arrows from the thermal aftershock of his punches.
Each strike akin to a particle accelerator in its intensity and speed. That Gemstone was the particles being fired on the right and that True Expert was the particles fired on the left.
As the attacks clashed, the battlefield became a spectacle of raw power and precision.
“Roar!” CRC held his open palm to his mouth and blew gently on the tip of the middle finger.
That was all it took for a blaze easily outdoing a flamethrower to rush out. And this was not just any fire. It fed on the power of a ley line and stole vitality from space itself. This overwhelming mass of light and heat was wielded for no other purpose than to take lives. Anyone who tried to survive it using simple composite armor or special fibers would dry up and burn away in less than a second.
But that wouldn't kill another superhuman would it?
Of course not.
“Aaaaarghhhh!!!!” screamed the #7.
Some assaults bypassed the fray entirely, slipping through the chaos like elusive particles in a collider.
A smokescreen.
Those brilliant fireworks from hell weren't meant to take Sogiita’s life. They were meant to disrupt the Gemstone's senses and sight so he couldn't counter all of that old man’s deadly attacks.
Invisible strikes found their mark on that Gemstone, and the searing arrows of the arrows scorched Rosencreutz.
CRC was wounded but he rejected to make any whimpers. Instead with a sudden burst of velocity, the young silver man picked up his cross sword from the ground and launched a flurry of strikes, cutting at the #7’s body with pinpoint accuracy.
His arms, his head, his face, his stomach, his legs, his midsection, his back.
Each blow landed with devastating force, causing Sogiita to stagger back under the onslaught.
If that bandana boy hadn't had his defenses and general stats raised by the #5 he’d be cut to pieces.
The #7 fell on his back.
"There's a fire," Sogiita declared, his voice ringing out amidst the chaos of battle.
With each attempt to break his spirit, Sogiita's resolve only grew stronger, fueling the flames of his determination. "Every time someone tries to make me give up, it's like wind feeding my flames, making them burn even brighter just like my punches," he explained, his words carrying the weight of his unwavering determination.
He refused to stay down.
With a roar of defiance, Sogiita surged forward once more, his movements blurring with speed as he disappeared from view. In the blink of an eye, he reappeared behind Christian Rosencreutz, catching the magician off guard.
"Hey, old man," Sogiita taunted, his voice filled with confidence as he seized Rosencreutz from behind.
Christian Rosencreutz's eyes widened in surprise as he realized he had been outmaneuvered.
As Sogiita Gunha faced off against Christian Rosencreutz in their airborne duel, he felt the flames of determination burning within him, driving him forward with unstoppable force.
Before he could react, the boy lifted him effortlessly and slammed him onto the pavement below with a resounding thud.
"I'm not just a kick-boxer!!" Sogiita sang.
As the impact reverberated through the air, the young silver man let out a pained cry. The force of the collision compressed the surrounding air, heating it up until it crackled with energy. Christian Rosencreutz's head struck the ground with a velocity equivalent to mach 20, igniting his body in flames upon impact.
This move is called a suplex.
Struggling to regain his bearings, Rosencreutz muttered in a daze, "The House of the Holy Spirit...the seven walls..."
"You said it yourself, didn't you?" the gutsy boy retorted, cocky. "My power and my guts can break through your impenetrable walls. And I can spread those same guts to the world around me."
With a grimace, Christian Rosencreutz acknowledged the truth of the boy's words. "Your uncontrolled AIM field grants you the ability to imbue non-organic objects with the properties of your virus," he observed, his voice tinged with begrudging admiration. "Allowing them to bypass even the defenses of the seven-walled tomb.”
"A virus? Don't be so gutless, CRC," the #7 retorted, his voice filled with defiance. "This battleground ruled by wills is a two-way road between you and me."
Christian Rosencreutz raised an eyebrow at the boy's words. "Hey Gemstone, you could've killed me if I weren't a superhuman with an idealized body that accomplished The Great Work and crossed the Ungrund, what then short-stack?" he questioned while fitting an insult against his height.
Even without the seven-walled tomb or sheets of diamonds Rosencreutz was cartoonishly durable.
"Sorry, old man," Sogiita replied, his tone tinged with annoyance. "I might've gotten carried away, but I know it'll take more than that to kill you. No matter how many heads you regrow, like Hydra, I will not give up until I've completed all my labors."
"Mhm, so you do know your mythology," CRC remarked, a hint of amusement in his voice. "The Lernaean Hydra, or simply Hydra, is a serpentine lake monster in Greek and Roman mythology. Its lair was the lake of Lerna in the Argolid, known as an entrance to the Underworld. In the canonical myth, the monster is slain by Heracles as part of his Twelve Labors."
"Yeah, I know," Sogiita replied confidently. "I studied the tales of great gutsy heroes in school.”
"So, short-stack," Christian Rosencreutz began, his voice carrying a hint of scholarly interest. “Have you ever considered the parallels between our battle and ancient Near Eastern religions?”
Sogiita listened intently. "Are you saying you see yourself as a god of war or a hunter?" he inquired.
CRC chuckled softly. "In a sense, indeed. We are both assuming roles in this grand theater, are we not? I, the Hydra, and you, Heracles."
He continued, "Consider the Second Labor of Heracles. Eurystheus, the king of Tiryns, sent Heracles to slay the Hydra, which Hera had raised specifically to defeat him. Heracles approached the swamp near Lake Lerna, where the Hydra dwelled. To protect himself from the poisonous fumes, he covered his mouth and nose with a cloth and shot flaming arrows into the Hydra's lair, causing it to emerge and terrorize the surrounding villages."
CRC paused, drawing a comparison. “In our own clash, the flaming arrows that Heracles hurled at the Hydra find their echo in your lightning-fast fists, generating shockwaves that ignite the air with their speed and force. It's as though each strike of yours is akin to shooting a flaming arrow, much like Heracles did.”
“Huh? Are you suggesting we're caught in a time loop? That some enigmatic group, like the Bridge Builders Cabal, manipulated events to resurrect you, pitting us against each other in a timeless struggle? I've never met them, and I'm certainly no child of Zeus. Are you implying that our battle will be distorted into a Greek legend by a meddling time traveler?!” frantically asked the boy.
“No, no, you simpleton. This world contains synchronicities. In Sumerian, Babylonian, and Assyrian mythology, the war and hunting god Ninurta was celebrated for his deeds. The Angim credited him with slaying eleven monsters during an expedition to the mountains, including a seven-headed serpent, possibly identical to the Mushmahhu, and Bashmu, whose constellation was later associated with the Hydra by the Greeks. In Babylonian contexts, the Hydra's constellation is also linked to Marduk's dragon, the Mushhushshu.”
“Uhhh….” That shounen boy was dumbfounded.
"Hhm, I suppose calling it a time loop isn't technically wrong," Christian Rosencreutz began, his tone measured. "I'll break it down from history class and reconstruct it through the lens of the occult. Historic recurrence, young Gemstone, is the phenomenon of events echoing throughout time. Whether it's the rise and fall of empires or the repetitive cycles within a single society, it's all part of this grand plan that was decided when Adam ate the forbidden fruit."
The #7 with his guard up but curious listened: "So, history just keeps repeating itself? Just a series of coincidences?"
Christian Rosencreutz shook his head sagely. "There is no such thing as coincidences. Take, for instance, the Doctrine of Eternal Recurrence, pondered upon by thinkers like Heinrich Heine and Friedrich Nietzsche. While it's said that 'history repeats itself,' it's not quite that simple. Rather, these recurrences stem from identifiable circumstances and chains of causality."
He continued, his voice carrying the weight of centuries of philosophical debate. "Consider the phenomenon of multiple independent discoveries in science or the reproducible findings in natural and social sciences. These recurrences, whether in the form of rigorous experimentation or comparative research, are vital to our understanding of the world."
Christian Rosencreutz paused, allowing the weight of his words to sink in. "G.W. Trompf, in his seminal work, The Idea of Historical Recurrence in Western Thought, illustrates the recurring patterns of political thought and behavior since ancient times. Through these patterns, history offers us invaluable lessons, often leading to a sense of resonance or déjà vu."
Their words reverberated like a challenge to destiny itself, a testament to their unyielding determination in the face of adversity.
That Gemstone didn't surrender his characteristic fervor. "History echoing through time, huh? It's like the universe itself is stuck on repeat, and we're just caught in the cycle. But you know what? If history's gonna keep looping, then let's break the pattern! Let's smash through those chains of causality and forge our own path. Who cares about déjà vu? We'll create something entirely new, something that'll shake the very foundations of this world and we’ll do it with guts!!!" He defied that silver monster.
But Rosencreutz wasn't finished. He pulled out his Crystal World Map.
The supposedly old man listened intently to that boy's impassioned response, his expression inscrutable behind his clairvoyant card. After a moment of contemplation, he spoke.
“Gemstone, you speak of breaking free from the chains of repetition, of forging a new destiny against the backdrop of eternal return. It is a noble aspiration, indeed. However, consider this: eternal return is not merely a philosophical concept or a whimsical notion of fate. It is the very fabric of existence, woven into the nature of time itself.” He pressed his finger on the Miniature Garden and a 3D holographic projection flew out—
“In ancient times, the Stoics grappled with the idea, seeing in it both a sense of cosmic order and a challenge to individual agency. Augustine and others recoiled from its implications, fearing it as a negation of free will and salvation. And yet, Nietzsche, in his brilliance, dared to confront the concept anew, exploring its depths in the crucible of human consciousness.”
Didn't Aleister Crowley say that he had to shatter every single phase in order to eliminate the concept of fate?
“I will shatter every last phase and put an end to all mysticism. It can be helped and we need not restrain our tears and bite our lip when faced with tragedy. I will bring back the pure world in which everyone can feel anger like normal and question it all like normal!!”
And didn't Coronzon appear to break down all the phases including the Pure World?
Partial destruction would be meaningless. If anything remains and an eternal distortion is born from that, then it will all happen again. I will eliminate the ten spheres, the twenty-two pathways, and the hidden eleventh symbol. Collisions between phases? Sparks and spray? You cannot save anyone if you only treat those symptoms. All of the fundamental clogs must be removed. All so we can pass the baton to whoever comes next.”
“Sparks and Sprays…” Rosencreutz muttered.
“Eh?” The #7 didn't quite hear him.
"Beside time stands fate, cruelty's steadfast herald. In the silent chambers of the soul, whispers the most profound wisdom. Humanity, in its folly, neglected to exalt life's splendor, its radiance, its grandeur. Truly, it is a rare gift to comprehend the forces that shape our existence.” That magician spoke in despair.
“From the moment man ate the fruit of knowledge, he guaranteed your species’ failure... Entrusting his future to the whims of fate, man clutches to a flickering hope. Yet, within the Miniature Garden lies the key to all revelation. Beyond the well-trodden path lies the ultimate terminus. It matters not who you are; Death is the sole certainty awaiting all.” he finished with scorn.
Shokuhou Misaki was currently linked to Sogiita Gunha so was overhearing the entire conversation.
“Are you okay, Leader?” asked Kamijou back at the hospital.
“Yeah…” she responded.
“Really?” Mikoto breathed a white sigh. “It wasn’t the shock of seeing their school destroyed. Nor was it the fear of having those rioters attack. …They’re afraid of their own power. And after learning how exactly to use that power to survive, they’re not sure they can just switch it off and return to their normal lives. So their gears have ground to a halt.” Tokiwadai Middle School was a prestigious esper development school.
The young ladies registered there were Level 3 at the lowest and Level 5 at the highest.
Almost all of the students had a power that surpassed that of a blade or handgun if used properly, but something had become twisted.
Yes.
“A lot of them weren’t really sure why they were training their powers.”
Shokuhou breathed a white breath, wrapped her own arms around herself, and rubbed her thighs together.
Why are you studying?
How many people could give a proper answer to that question? Because my parents told me to, because my teachers taught me to, because that’s how the world works. Those would be most people’s answers. Even the students with a clear vision of their future would only have something vague like “for the entrance exams” or “for my future”.
Only a small handful would have specific puzzle pieces in mind, such as “I need to learn how to use this equation so I can build a rocket”.
The young ladies of Tokiwadai Middle School were the same.
What if the very gears that humans have…their actions, reactions, inactions were all the result of some transcendental entity hovering above.
Like God or The Devil watching over humanity’s reality sphere and ordering around his system like everyone was a pre-programmed NPC that had specific events occur to them to get them to develop in the way that they did and determined their genetic bloodline that composed their psyche?
Is there truly a free will?
It was said that in order for you to break out of the system of society that the working class was stuck in you had to climb to the top where the corrupt elites resided.
Imagine Breaker negated sparks, Aleister Crowley could see through the veil thanks to Holy Guardian Angel Aiwass, Great Demon Coronzon could always see the cogs.
Christian Rosencreutz could view the entire world through his Miniature Garden.
The rest of humanity was at the mercy of their own destinies.
A Guardian Angel wouldn't arrive to save a parent’s child from fate every single time.
"Okay, nice poetry, can we get back to fighting already?" asked the #7 impatiently.
"Seems I got carried away," the old man conceded with a nod. "The synchronicities of this world, akin to the astral configurations in astrology, serve as an example of synchronicity, according to Jung. It describes circumstances that appear meaningfully related yet lack a causal connection, much like the parallel relationship between celestial and terrestrial phenomena. Synchronicity experiences entail subjective encounters where coincidences between events in one's mind and the external world may lack a clear causal link but still harbor an unknown connection.”
"Ah," Sogiita chimed in, recalling his philosophy class discussions. "We talked about synchronicity back then. Jung thought it was a good thing for the mind, but said it could get dicey in psychosis. He cooked up this theory as a kind of mental link between those meaningful coincidences, calling it a noncausal principle. This term came about in the late 1920s, and then he teamed up with physicist Wolfgang Pauli to dive deeper. Their work, The Interpretation of Nature and the Psyche, dropped in 1952. They were big on this idea that these connections, even the ones that don't seem to have a cause, could still teach us a lot about how our minds and the world work."
“Mhm, you know more than you lead on, Gemstone.” pondered CRC.
“Oh this? My teachers say I'm not good at remembering speeches hahaha…” The #7 looked slightly nervous. “You know, analytical psychologists really push for folks to get what these experiences mean to boost their awareness instead of just feeding into superstitions. But funny thing is, when clients spill about their synchronicity experiences, they often feel like no one's really hearing them out, or getting where they're coming from. And hey, having a bunch of these meaningful coincidences flying around can sometimes ring the schizo bell. Delusions aren't healthy.”
Where was this conversation going?
"Delusion! Hah! That's a good one coming from you," CRC fired back.
"The real delusion is thinking humanity isn't worth a damn," Sogiita shot back, pulling out some info from Johansen and Osman. "Some scientists think coincidences are just random flukes, but counselors and psychoanalysts reckon there's more to it, like some deep-down stuff needing to come out.”
"Delusion! Hah! That's a good one coming from you," CRC fired back.
"The real delusion is thinking humanity isn't worth a darn," Sogiita shot back, pulling out some info from Johansen and Osman. "Some scientists think coincidences are just random flukes, but counselors and psychoanalysts reckon there's more to it, like some deep-down stuff needing to come out. Unconscious material to be expressed."
Rosencreutz interjected, his expression reflecting a mix of confusion and concern. "Aleister Crowley's actions have left a lasting scar on this world and this city," he began, his voice weighted with solemnity. “The vacuum-like dichotomy between magic and science created by the use of that colossal psychotronic weapon, has damaged this world's memory irreparably.”
Psychotronic weapon?
The Archetype Controller?
He paused, his gaze piercing as he continued, "Jung's exploration of synchronicity as evidence of the paranormal paved the way for further inquiry, notably by Koestler and the subsequent embrace of these ideas by the New Age movement.”
Sogiita shrugged, "Some folks say synchronicity is impossible to test or prove, so it gets labeled as pseudoscience. Jung even acknowledged that these synchronicity events are basically just coincidences, statistically speaking. But hey, who's to say what's really going on without some solid scientific studies, right?"
"Dubious as his experiments may have been," CRC interrupted, "Jung believed in a connection between synchronicity and the paranormal, drawing parallels to the uncertainty principle and works by parapsychologist Joseph B. Rhine.” CRC posed a thought-provoking question, "How are we to recognize acausal combinations of events, since it is obviously impossible to examine all chance happenings for their causality? The answer lies in the fact that acausal events are most readily expected where a causal connection appears inconceivable upon closer reflection. It's impossible, with our current resources, to explain ESP or meaningful coincidences as mere phenomena of energy. This challenges the very notion of cause and effect, as these events occur simultaneously rather than in a linear cause-and-effect manner. Hence, I have coined the term 'synchronicity' to describe this phenomenon, placing it on equal footing with causality as a principle of explanation."
Getting closer to that Gemstone, CRC emphasized, "Esper abilities cannot be fully understood with science alone. They defy traditional cause-and-effect explanations, instead representing a convergence of factors that create a quantum phenomenon affecting both the micro and macro. Why were there the naturally gifted and the naturally ungifted?”
Why did some students get praised for their abilities while others needed to work harder?
Others among them would have worked every hour of their free time and not progressed anywhere in this city’s leveling curriculum.
Why did this city present such an unfair and unpredictable status quo of potential?
Why did hard work barely matter in a city of empirical evidence to record any possible progress?
Sogiita Gunha wasn't a normal Level 5 but he wasn't always this powerful. He went through the curriculum same as everyone but if the outside conditions for his Gemstone ability to manifest didn't form in the exact way that it did, in such an acausal form then would he even be here to challenge Christian Rosencreutz right now?
Everything just happened to fall right into place.
All those puzzle pieces that would lead to this moment here and now.
Was it all just talent? God picking a fool as his champion?
The #7 leaned back, absorbing CRC's words with a thoughtful expression. "So, what you're saying is, there's this whole other layer to reality that we can't quite wrap our heads around," he summarized, nodding slowly. "I mean, it's like trying to catch smoke with your bare hands—slippery and elusive."
He chuckled, shaking his head slightly. "Historic recurrence, synchronicities, all these things—they're like pieces of a puzzle scattered across this substantial reality. And sometimes, they just... click into place, right? It's like the universe has its own plan, and we're just along for the ride."
That bandana wearing boy's gaze drifted, lost in thought. "You know, CRC, it's funny," he remarked, a wry smile playing on his lips. "Here we are, with all our powers and potential, but at the end of the day, we're still grappling with the same questions as everyone else. Talent, destiny, divine intervention—maybe they're all just different sides of the same coin."
He shrugged, the weight of the philosophical musings settling over the broken city. "Who knows? Maybe God does have a sense of humor, after all.” that boy chuckled.
There was a deep silence between them.
Rosencreutz’ response was swift and resolute, his tone filled with certainty. "All this ‘universe has a plan’ banter is just a distraction from the inevitable," he declared, his eyes narrowing. "We can debate the nature of us being all-powerful yet struggling with mortal issues until the sun burns out, but it won't change the fact that our fate was sealed upon the knowledge Adam learned."
“To think so many trivialities have developed while this old man wasn’t watching. Heh heh. Then I should assume the thread of fate has again begun to weave its strange connections between myself and some unknown human.”
He rose forward, his movements purposeful. "It's time to put an end to this dance of platitudes," CRC continued, his voice cold and unwavering. "We'll settle this the only way that somewhat matters—through objective action in this grand play."
“Silence, preserved doll. Illusionists are meant to remain silent. That is all we magicians are: wielders of substanceless illusions. Opening your mouth serves only to break the illusion.”
With a flicker of resolve in his eyes, he locked gazes with the #7. "I am Hydra, Gemstone," he said, his voice carrying a hint of challenge. "Our battle ends now.” CRC opened both his palms and began shooting at their surroundings, the buildings, the pavement, the apartments, the rubble.
It probably wasn't random as it seemed to create a pattern.
“Huh are you getting senile old man?” asked the young Gemstone.
“What fun. I never imagined someone would bother diligently polishing their skills this far while knowing it is all essentially an illusion. Didn’t you ever feel silly going to the effort?”
Rosencreutz dropped to all fours, his rosy cross sword gripped tightly in his right hand.
He moved—
“Arrgh!” Sogiita yelled amidst the relentless and precise and precise strikes from that golden cross. “Old man?” he asked.
That magician didn't say anything.
That silver man’s movements became more beastly.
Faster.
Stronger.
Fiercer.
Something new was beginning to manifest.
With each strike of his higher dimensional blade that old man’s blows seemed infused with an otherworldly energy.
The wounds inflicted by his weapon burned with a venomous intensity, sending searing pain coursing through Sogiita's body.
That boy grimaced as the poison from that silver man’s strikes surged through his being, each wound feeling like it was ablaze with venomous fire.
"Damn... That burns…like a killer hornet’s sting," he muttered through clenched teeth, his voice strained with effort. Gritting, he fought to maintain his focus, despite the agony threatening to overwhelm him.
Was this another application of The Four Stages? Citrinitas? No, there was nothing yellow here, it was more like a dirty purple.
But it wasn't just the physical damage that posed a threat.
As the Rosy Cross leader leaped on all fours his movements took on an almost erratic quality, he was bouncing from one building to another with an animalistic agility.
With each jump, a shockwave rippled through the air, carrying with it a palpable sense of dread.
Something was spreading.
The air around them seemed to thicken with a toxic miasma. The #7 struggled to breathe, the noxious fumes clouding his senses.
Like a chaotic monster’s venomous poison breath.
The once-clear air now felt thick and suffocating.
Gasping for breath, the bandana boy struggled to maintain his focus amidst the swirling chaos.
His vision blurred, his movements sluggish as he fought against the oppressive atmosphere.
Blinded that heroic boy could only fire a flame arrow without his sight.
His fists striking out with all the strength he could muster. Igniting in that poisonous compressed air.
It seemed to be flammable like a dragon’s breath.
???
At the hospital, Shokuhou's voice carried a mix of surprise and relief. “He caused real damage.” she exclaimed.
Kamijou turned his attention to her, intrigued. “What happened?”
“It's hard to see clearly, but it looks like the #7 managed to rip off CRC's left arm,” she explained. “Though, I'd say it was more of a lucky shot. I can read he acted on pure instinct.”
Kamijou nodded, a hint of melancholy in his tone. “Yeah... the psychic link and all.”
Had the #7 Level 5 given up on the old man?
Back on the battlefield, Sogiita cursed under his breath. “Dammit... Sorry, old man,” he muttered. “I was aiming to hit your whole body to maximize the surface area, maybe break a few bones as a casualty. We can probably get your arm reattached at the hospital. Heaven Canceller has enough guts to even fix me.”
It was clear—he hadn't given up.
It was an accidental strike of his arm.
“As each ghastly head was severed from its serpentine form, dreadfully, two more writhed forth from the abyss.” a cryptic voice amidst the chaos spoke.
Wasn't it said that the Hydra’s lair was the lake of Lerna in the Argolid.
Lerna was reputed to be an entrance to the Underworld.
The abyss.
The Ungrund.
There is no limit to the depth of the Alcyonian Lake, and I know of nobody who by any contrivance has been able to reach the bottom of it since not even Nero, who had ropes made several stades long and fastened them together, tying lead to them, and omitting nothing that might help his experiment, was able to discover any limit to its depth. This, too, I heard. The water of the lake is, to all appearance, calm and quiet but, although it is such to look at, every swimmer who ventures to cross it is dragged down, sucked into the depths, and swept away.
The keeper of the gate to the Underworld that lay in the waters of Lerna was the Hydra.
The serpentine Lake Monster.
“Rosencreutz……?” The #7 muttered.
That magician chuckled ominously. "Indeed, young Heracles," he intoned, his voice echoing with a bizarre resonance. “The Lernaean Hydra's curse is upon you now.” as he said that he ripped off a bit of his arm that was cuterarised and it began bleeding.
Anna Sprengel’s blood was said to create unknown miracles when spilled.
Christian Rosencreutz’ blood was so virulent that even its scent was deadly.
As Sogiita Gunha glanced at his severed arm lying on the ground, a creeping sense of horror enveloped him. "All fate is a curse and that curse," he murmured, his words barely audible over the din of battle, "extends even to my severed limb.”
Christian Rosencreutz’ left arm grew back.
No.
Two new arms grew in its place.
The arm was fully functioning with no defects.
Although one of the arms appeared somewhat scaly and lanky like a serpent.
It had human anatomy but something was abnormal here.
He almost looked like a spider as he emerged from the poisonous fog as he remained on all fours.
“So short-stack. Are you ready to complete your final labor: Crossing the abyss!!!” He challenged that boy with his cross sword facing him.
"Boss, what's up? You look kinda stuck," Kamijou asked, his tone concerned.
Two students were sitting together in the waiting room at a hospital.
"—abyss, Hydra, curse, synchronicities, Historic recurrence." she replied, her words carrying a weight of unease.
"Huh? What? Can you give me the lowdown?" Kamijou prodded, his urgency evident.
"Can't quite wrap my head around it. But what I can tell you is that after CRC started talking about these esoteric concepts, he leveled up his power ability, managed to seriously hurt the #7 despite me cranking up all his stats for the win condition," the honey-blonde girl explained, frustration creeping into her voice.
"Can you beam all that stuff into my head, like a memory download? You're a psychological esper, right? My right hand won't mess with it, and we've done the telepathy thing before," Kamijou suggested.
"Memory download's not quite it, but I can send you a recording," she clarified.
"Got it," Kamijou muttered as he absorbed the info.
"You got any ideas to help the #7’s situation ability, Kamijou-san? We're kinda desperate here," she asked.
"I wish Index was still here, dammit.” he lamented, “But you know about magic, right?" he queried.
"Yeah, people converting their delusions into reality right?," she admitted.
"Well, magic's not just about delusions; it can be tied up to the whole world. Not sure if it's relevant, but based on Idol Theory, Rosencreutz might be pulling in 'energy’ from the Greek 'phase’ of Heracles for an edge," Kamijou theorized.
"Like a chessboard flip?" Shokuhou Misaki inquired, her brow furrowed with concern.
"No, more like... imagine you're playing checkers with a buddy, and you're totally crushing it because you're a checkers pro. Then suddenly, your buddy switches it up and challenges you to an arm wrestling match, and you lose because, well, arm wrestling isn't your forte," Kamijou Touma explained, trying to paint a vivid picture.
"So, by taking on the role of the Hydra from Greek myth, he's essentially forcing the #7 into the role of Heracles? But didn't Heracles defeat the Hydra?" Shokuhou sought clarification.
"Yeah, but..." Kamijou recalled the tale from the movies he'd seen. "Lichas gave Heracles a shirt soaked in the Hydra's poisonous blood from his arrows, which ends up killing him by tearing his flesh down to the bone," he elaborated.
"It was actually Nessus seeking vengeance and tricking Deianira into giving it to Heracles as a gift, delivered by Lichas without disclosing the tunic's lethal bloodstained secret from the Lernaean Hydra, but you're right," Shokuhou corrected gently. "So, Rosencreutz is harnessing the power of that legend to slowly poison the #7 to death?"
"Not literal. I mean the poison is real but his slashes do significant harm now so it's more like shifting the paradigm in his favor shifting his position.” The spiky-haired boy wasn't in the mood to explain Phases, “Earlier, he mentioned Sogiita spreading his 'virus' throughout the world. A virus isn't a poison in the traditional sense, but the Rosicrucians originally sought to create a universal cure for all illnesses. Now, CRC is spreading a literal poison, positioning himself as the ultimate predator and his opponents as prey rather than his savior role, the paradigm has been shifted." Kamijou concluded, his voice tinged with gravity.
“So he’s changed the environment to get the win condition? The #7’s durability doesn't matter in the face of the world being forced to go about a certain way because of Rosencreutz stage play?” The girl asked.
“Yeah…if things keep going this way…Sogiita will….goddamnit….” The spiky haired boy swore. “I can't let someone else die after all that's happened but I feel like if I go out there I really will kill him…” he muttered that last bit while clenching his right fist that began shaking uncontrollably.
The girl’s eyes seemed confused. “What did you say?” The honey blonde middle schooler asked.
“Nothing, just mumbling to myself.” he spat out.
That boy and girl could never come to the right conclusion on their own without the aid of former Magic God Othinus by their side.
“Did you think I had challenged you with no hope of succeeding, you cesspool? The magic born on earth is bound by the directions based on the earth’s magnetic field and by the density and composition of the air which is determined by air pressure which is in turn influenced by gravity. That is inevitable when you are focused on the cardinal directions of north, south, east, and west or on the basic elements of fire, water, wind, and earth. But what you will find upon leaving the atmosphere is an unknown. Coronzon, are you sure there will be no malfunction in the magic giving you control of Avatar Lola? And before, my power was bound by the puny speck named earth which failed to become a black hole or even a sun, but once we enter outer space, just how far do you think that power will be released? I do not mind at all that I will lose the support of Academy City.”
Well the boy was half right.
“Let us test it out, you cuspidor. On one side, we have you using the planet and bound to an avatar. On the other, we have me exposed and freed from the planet. Now, who will be the star of this show?”
Christian Rosencreutz did not shoot at his surroundings for no reason.
The battlefield transformed into Rosencreutz's canvas, resembling the legendary battleground of Lerna where Heracles once clashed with the Hydra.
Yes.
He didn't unleash his powers randomly; every action was deliberate.
In the magical side of Idol Theory, mimicking an object, event, or person allowed one to tap into a fraction of its power.
And that even applied to locations that essentially worked as stage plays.
Idol Theory was so absolute that even the basic cross held a portion of the son of God’s power.
As Above, So Below.
As Below, So Above.
Macro to micro.
Micro to macro.
And the macrocosm and the microcosm are always linked.

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.
Caution swearing!
Also, god I love you Conn… please never change!
Previous First [Next](link)
Want to find a specific one, see the whole list or check fanart?
Here is the link to the master-post.
"Both of you get your suits back on."
"What the hell is going on!?”
Richards demanded, Adam took a deep breath,
"Captain Richards that was not an opening for a discussion, that was an order. Now put the damn suit on, or I swear I will knock you out and do it myself!”
The three of them were floating in the module staring at each other, hands resting against what must have been no more than a few millimeters of aluminum.
He stared at them, and they stared back.
Adam did not break eye contact with the two, willing them to do as they were told. Chavez was the first to move, hurrying over to her space suit and struggling to pull it on in a near panic as bright lights flashed from outside. Inside his heart was pounding but he tried to remain calm for the two standing before him.
He hurried over to help Chavez pull on her gear, finally sealing the helmet in place as Richards finally moved to do the same.
Adam helped pull the hard torso over the man's head and link it to the waist before helping him pull on his gloves and, eventually the helmet. Before he let go, he kept hold of Richards by either side of the helmet staring at him through the glass,
"I promise, if you listen to me, I will keep you safe."
He kept eye contact with the other man until Richards finally nodded, and Adam let him go to float over and put on his own suit. His hands were steady, for now, but he knew as soon as the crisis was over he'd be shaking like a leaf.
If he survived…
He gritted his teeth, cursing himself for thinking like that.
He was Admiral Vir for crying out loud. He had survived far too much to go and die now.
He returned to the helm of the command module as he looked out the thick window at the lights flashing on either side of them. Despite the war that was raging around them, everything seemed so strangely quiet. There was no sound no rumbling, not even a vibration as one of the jets flew past. Despite being at the controls of the vehicle, there was nothing he could do. They only had a certain amount of fuel to get them to the lunar surface, and if he wasted any of it at all, they would be either caught in orbit, or miss the moon entirely.
He had to keep his cool.
Another bright burst of light lit the window to his right. This one was closer this time.
His heart leaped up into his throat.
Richards and Chaves joined him buckling into their seats.
"What is going on?”
Richards demanded again, his mike distant and tinny with the sound of very old technology.
"I believe Anti-Alliance forces are attempting to assassinate me. They have been trying for months now, and I think they are being encouraged by very powerful members of the government."
They watched as another set of ships zoomed past.
He saw a flash of a silhouette, just enough to know that one of them was a Thunderhawk and the other was a silver Rundi drone.
It confirmed his worst fears. The Chairwoman had been behind this the whole time!
[…]
Red nearly collided with the rocket. The Thunderhawk had pulled up the last minute, but he had almost been too late. He jerked the stick to the side, throwing up his wing just in time to avoid hitting the rocket as it made its slow way through space. He dove down on the other side forced to break off pursuit and cut in front of another Thunderhawk coming in from above. He made to look like he was going to ram them, playing a dangerous game of chicken, which he won at the last second as the other pilot panicked and cut to the left.
There were too many of them. Only five out of the original twenty had been destroyed, and he and the rest of their pilots were busy just keeping the thunder hawks away from the rocket, much less to have any time of firing at them. He had sent one of his people down to earth and one of them off towards the moon for backup. The moon was still hours away yet, so the hope that some help would be sent from them was unlikely, and even the woman he had sent down to earth's surface was cutting it close.
He didn't have much hopes that they would be able to hold out that long.
Inside the cockpit his warning lights began to blink and blair as one of the other jets got a lock on him. He rolled right to avoid them and dove down, cutting off the lock but still being pursued by those behind him. Up ahead he saw one of the silver balls erupt into flames as it was targeted by an expert hit from one of the Thunderhawk pilots.
He rolled right.
Someone else rolled left. He cut up just in time to avoid being hit and raced forward to cut off another Thunderbird that was heading directly towards the rocket.
[…]
Eris hurried down the hallway, her knees screaming as she did her very best to sprint, but despite her human anatomy, she was a little too much like a starborn.
With a cry of frustration she reached up and tore off her hoodie, throwing it to the ground and engaging her anti-gravity belt. The ribbons on her back billowed out behind her.
Light spilled in from the windows on either side of the catwalk she was now on, filling her with a buzzing energy that she could feel radiating through the ribbons like electricity. She knew from her study of starborn that they could travel at thousands of miles an hour in the vacuum of space, especially when under the power of a star. She didn't think she needed to go THAT fast, but anything would be better than what she was doing now.
As if in response to her will, she suddenly began to glide forward, picking up speed as she swooped towards the end of the hall, wind catching her in the face and roaring along her cheeks. With her starborn skin, she barely felt a thing as she raced around the corner and out of the waiting door. Two men dressed in military ACUs dived to the side as she blew past them crying out in alarm and confusion as the "Alien" floated by.
Somewhere distantly, she could sense Conn racing in the opposite direction towards the base.
Sunny and Admiral Kelly had Admiral Massie in their custody and were dragging him out into the hallway.
She blew across the open ground her ribbons snapping and billowing behind her as she did. She didn't even have time to imagine what she looked like as she roared over the open field and towards the waiting news vans which were just beginning to pack up their things. They were close to leaving, but she set out a sharp hard telepathic pulse ordering them to stop.
Compelling them to stop.
They froze in their tracks and looked up to see her coming.
Someone scrambled to turn on their camera, not sure what was going on but sure it had to be something good.
She tried not to think about what they would see as the camera flared to life following her approach.
"Make us live."
She ordered,
The news people glanced between each other in confusion,
"But no… we aren’t-"
"What are-"
She came to a sudden jolting stop before them, her billowing black hair fanning out behind her like a curling halo.
"I said, put us on air."
This time the telepathic pulse was too strong to resist. Mostly that, paired with the fact that none of them were sure they really wanted to resist. She was way too interesting to pass up.
They hurried to do what they were doing, and Eris was given just enough time to feel nervous before the camera was turned to her.
They were live.
She read it in the minds of those behind camera who she cut off as she began to speak,
"Citizens of Earth, there has been a horrible conspiracy against you. The UN president has ordered the assassination of Admiral Adam Vir and has continually attempted to sabotage the mission. Just now General Massie was taken into custody after ordering the deployment of twenty Thunderhawk’s to harass the rocket and make its destruction look like some sort of collision with space debris."
The group gawked at her as she raised her hand with the small silver device and began playing the recording.
She knew something like this would never be admissible in court. She was pretty sure it would be considered entrapment of some kind, which is why it must be heard now, before everyone, so that the actions of the president could be judged by a jury of the world where it could not be hidden by political machinations.
"Communications have been lost with Apollo 11. And it is... Well... It is likely that he is already dead..."
Her voice broke,
"No matter what happens, I need you, and this nation to understand what is happening before it gets swept under the rug. I saw it with my own eyes, heard it with my own ears and experienced their meeting in the thoughts of a man who is both xenophobic and hateful to his own humankind."
She kept talking trying to give them all the information she could, spilling thoughts she had heard in the head of the UN president and General Massie alike. Every meeting, every liaison, every name until her voice was beginning to crack.
[…]
The UN president was just standing to enter her vehicle when a slow muttering began in the crowd behind her. She turned as the ground before her went silent.
She watched as a wave ran through the people. A wave of nudging and whispering and showing off news feeds they had pulled up on their wrist implants. It wasn't long before the entire crowd was either staring down at their arms or clustered around someone else for viewing.
"What is going on?”
She wondered, turning to one of her men who was staring down at her own wrist.
"Madame president?"
He said with a look of confusion.
She could hear it now.
"Her and General Massie have ordered members of the UNSC to adjust funds in order to hide the twenty Thunderhawk’s they were squirting away for just such an event."
She hurried forward, grabbing the secret serviceman by the arm, staring at it as she watched the streaming newsfeed and the freaky white alien with the large dark eyes and flowing black hair.
"She is afraid of aliens, she wishes to isolate and eventually use humanity's superior forces to overtake trade in the galaxy, forceful if need be."
The muttering behind her had turned into an angry grumbling, and she turned to see the eyes of hundreds that turned towards her.
"Get me out of here."
She hissed. the Secret Serviceman took a step back with a look of confusion and indecision on his face.
"It's your job."
She snarled, but he just stared at her.
She hurriedly ran over to her car as the crowd began to filter in around them pressing close. A few of the secret service men pulled guns, but a large majority of them were frozen with indecision and were taken over by the crowd. She scrambled into the back seat of her vehicle and slammed the door shut screaming at the driver to get moving.
The crowd was surrounding them now, pounding at the glass.
She could hear their angry voices raised for her to be heard behind bullet proof glass.
Outside, she watched a lone figure step onto the platform where the lectern was and stare at her with its beady black eyes. The Chairwoman of the GA stood over the crowd like it's filthy alien lord.
And even though Rundi could not smile, she could swear it was smiling.
[…]
Baby K hit a rough patch of turbulence coming down from the atmosphere. She struggled with the controls as she was thrown left and right inside the cockpit of her rickety shuttle.
Donovan Red had ordered her down here to grab the UNSC, but she was so scared and full of adrenaline that she had dropped it at too steep an angle. The ride was much bumpier than it was supposed to be, and her teeth were rattling inside her head.
Just then two Jets suddenly cut in behind her out of nowhere, and she heard her console beep and warn her about a lock on, making it clear that she was just one click of a trigger away from imminent doom.
"This is Eagle Dispatch One, unidentified vessel, you have crossed into restricted UNSC airspace, identify yourself or be destroyed! You have ten seconds to comply, over."
She scrambled for her communications, but her fingers felt as stiff as wood as she scrambled for the button.
"I repeat, this is Eagle Dispatch One, unidentified vessel, you have entered restricted UNSC airspace, you are ordered to identify yourself or be destroyed. Five seconds remaining. Over."
She slammed her first into the comms button nearly panicking,
"UNSC!"
Her voice was rattling,
"This is B-baby K, and I... The Apollo 11 is under attack!"
She was breathless as she forced the words out.
There was silence over the coms,
"Say again? Uhm I mean please repeat over.”
"Apollo 11 is under attack!"
”…”
”…”
More silence,
”Roger that. Please stand by. Over."
The lock lifted and the two jets pulled up to the side of her, staying close now.
She recognized those jets as two F-90 Darkfires.
They stayed by her side for a moment, and as close as they were she could see one of the pilots fidgeting with the coms, talking and wildly gesticulating, while his copilot was beginning to wildly flip switches.
Meanwhile, a second voice came in over the coms.
"On your left! Eagle Dispatch Two here, unidentified vessel, please land on UNSC base airstrip one. Just contact the control tower once you get close for guidance and instruction."
Baby K looked over into the other jet, just to see the pilot adjusting his helmet and clicking an oxygen tube to the front of his helmet. His co-pilot had already put the additional oxygen mask on and was also flipping switches.
”Uhm aren’t you going to escort me?”
Baby K managed to blurt out in confusion,
”Godspeed Baby K, Eagle Dispatch Two over and out.”
Both men in the jet to her left had apparently finished their preparations and gave her a quick salute.
Then suddenly, both jets adjusted their angle and cut engines, before switching to their big fusion engines, rocketing them up and out of sight within seconds.
[…]
So far it had been a relatively quiet day at the Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base. Most of the air traffic had been canceled due to the launch of the Apollo mission, so there was not much to do, leaving much of the Airport less staffed than normal.
In the Air Traffic Control tower of the base, only two men were working. Though “working” was stretching it, considering Senior Controller M. Fredrick was currently in the middle of his book (though he was at least in front of his station) and his comrade Senior ATC Instructor A. Millard was currently sitting in a corner, watching a movie on his implant.
”So what are you watching? One of those old Star Wars movies?”
”You bet! Those are the best! By the way any info on that “lost civilian” who got into our airspace?”
”No not yet, though I sent Eagle Dispatch and told them to be extra unfriendly, that will scare these civilians off for sure!”
”Pffft, why couldn’t they watch the start like any other person? There is always some dumb rich kid doing dumb stuff with daddies private shuttle… I don’t understand why we always let them off with a warning…”
The console started beeping,
”Oh look that’s them now!”
”Put ‘em on speakers!”
”Will do!”
…
”ATC this is Eagle, come the FUCK in!”
Fredrick rolled his eyes,
”Ahem… This is Elling Field ATC, calling Eagle Dispatch One. We hear you, over.”
”ATC what the FUCK took you so long!?”
”Ellington Field ATC, to Eagle Dispatch one, firstly: language, secondly: please follow standard radio rules, over.”
”THE APOLLO IS UNDER ATACK BY HOSTILE ELEMENTS!”
”Ellingt-WHAAAAT!? Repeat please! Over!”
”THE APOLLO IS BEEING ATACKED BY HOSTILE ELEMENTS! REQUETING IMMEDIATE ASSIST!”
Fredrick just stared at Millard dumbfounded. As the senior officer Millard was quick to collect himself and jumped up and towards his console.
”What are you waiting for Fredrick! Are we blind!? DEPLOY THE GARRISON!”
Fredrick ignored all protocol and just flipped the switch to connect his comms to every recipient available.
”ATC to all personnel and everyone who can hear me, the Apollo is under attack, I repeat, the apollo is under attack. I want all available planes that can reach the outer atmosphere ready ASAP! Get the darkfires on the runway I want them in the air yesterday!”
[…]
Conn raced towards the airstrip, feeling the wind in the ribbons at his back. He couldn't go nearly as fast as he wanted to with air resistance.
Why the hell did Adam always have to get into so much trouble, why did he always have to be the center of attention!?
Everyone either hated him or loved him, but the problem was people who hated him also wanted to kill him.
Why did he have to be so controversial!?
Why did he have to be hated for something that was such a big deal. Why couldn't he be hated for having controversial political opinions. Conn paused…
On second thought, controversial political opinions were kind of what had gotten them here in the first place, so he guessed that was kind of a useless comparison. How about being the kind of guy who liked to talk too much about fishing. That was a great way to make people hate you for being boring, but it didn't usually mean that people wanted to kill you.
Maybe they could get the man a hobby doing something that wasn't so controversial…
Like…
Kicking small Animals or…
Cannibalism.
He came roaring to the stop at the edge of the airfield just in time to watch an entire platoon of pilots racing towards jets. He could hear their minds and looked up to see a rather dinky shuttle descending from the sky. He floated forward towards one of the jets as two pilots leaped inside.
He was going to need a ride.
The pilots turned to look at him, but Conn just shook his head.
The pilots decided to ignore him in the confusion and Conn grabbed on tight.
Starborn, he had come to learn, were a very interesting species in comparison to others. Vertically, as in from the top down he was very fragile and likely to break his neck or collapse his spine if there was any kind of pressure, but with horizontal forces, he was practically indestructible. Below him the ship roared to life and soon they were gathering speed along the runway.
His grip was tight, and he used the extra energy from his ribbons to speed himself up along with the jet to reduce the pull on his arms.
His grip wasn't that strong.
They went vertical almost immediately, and he made sure to orient his body in the correct direction as they went hurtling into the sky.
[…]
Red's right wing had been hit. If there had been atmosphere around him he would have been a goner, but there was no air resistance here, so once he regained control of his roll, he pulled back into position and fired one last shot as the opportunity arose. The sixth Thunderhawk was destroyed in an eruption of debris, which he dodged only with difficulty, limping without the aid of the maneuvering jet on the end of his one wing. Things were only speeding up now, the Rundi were almost gone and the pressure was being laid thick on his people. They were hard to hit but the pursuit made it almost impossible for them to do any real maneuvering of their own. He was almost hit again as another Thunderhawk sped underneath him. They rolled this way and that rocking from one side to the other. Flying through debris and over strips of silver metal.
Below them the earth hung as a glowing orb.
Red cut in a wide circle coming in with the sun at his back, using it to blind one of the enemy Thunderhawk’s as he came in. He watched the group of them form up suddenly as a ring around the slow moving rocket, intending quite certainly to rush it all at once. He screamed into the comm trying to order his men around, but it was going to be too late, he could already see it coming.
The jets rushed forward, and he did too, screaming inside his helmet as they went to broadside Apollo 11.
And then with all the silence of space, sixteen F-90 Dark Fires came spitting overhead all at once, raining down a line of ordinance that cut through the group of unsuspecting Thunderhawk’s.
Space around them was filled with a myriad of silent explosions as each and every one of them was ripped to shreds.
All except one…
He saw it at the last moment.
It had been hit in the tail and had gone wildly off course.
It turned sideways, but had just enough force... For its wing to tear straight through the aluminum siding of the rocket.
FUCK!
[…]
Chavez and Richards had been ordered to strap into their seats.
Adam had taken it upon himself to lock down the rest of the main cabin. Outside the flashing lights were like a fireworks display without sound. He grabbed onto one of the rails, forcing equipment back into place, so that if anything happened it wouldn't fly out.
His legs were kicked up behind him as he floated forward reaching for some of the controls as a sudden bright wash of light filtered in through the windows. He heard a scream over his com, and then the air around him was rent with a horrific tearing noise, which suddenly went silent. There was a rush, and he jerked forward as he was sucked back... And out of the ship entirely.
His hands and legs kicked and flailed as he tried to right himself, hearing his own breathing as the only sound as he watched the rocket begin to spin, debris erupting around him as air, and whatever wasn't strapped down was sucked through the small opening.
The rocket was spinning wildly but still on course, while he was spinning wildly in a silent abyss.
Grunting against the force of his spin, he reached down for the controls to the CO2 canister built into the pack of his spacesuit.
He groaned, not sure which way was up or down or back. He tried to right himself against the spin by firing in the opposite direction to slow his spin.
He could see the rocket now spinning in the opposite direction with the sudden loss of oxygen. He hoped the other astronauts were ok. He saw the silhouette of a jet fly past in the distance making its way towards the spinning rocket.
At least there was someone here to help.
Maybe the others would survive-
And then he just… stopped, coming to a confusing halt in the middle of space.
That shouldn't have been right!
He should have kept going forever!
He tried turning his head, but he felt like the pillsbury doughboy in this two thousand year old suit.
What was happening?
"Did you miss me Baby?”
Well shit, now he sort of wished he could keep spinning.
There was a tugging on the outside of his suit, and Conn floated into view in front of his helmet.
"Hey sweetheart."
"You are probably the last person I wanted to see."
He said, though he didn't entirely mean it, and unfortunately Conn knew that too, the mindreading asshole that he was.
”I could hardly let the father of my child go spinning off into space without taking accountability for his family. After al child support is paying way more than widows pension."
"Shove it up your ass Conn."
"No really, not even the vacuum of space is going to save you from your responsibilities. Now, about custody, I was thinking you could have every other weekend and a couple of major holidays…”
He gave a rueful sort of smile as Conn grabbed him by the life support pack and started floating them towards the rocket.
The F-90s had somehow managed to slow the spin of the rocket, and pull it back on course with grappling magnets.
All around them space was filled with debris. No more working Thunderhawk’s were present and those that were were quickly being grappled. One sleek racing jet slowly cruised past them. One of its wings was damaged, but whoever was inside waved with one hand as he rolled past.
Adam lifted a hand as Conn brought him the last few hundred feet to the torn opening in the side of the ship, allowing him to step through.
Conn patted him on the side of the helmet,
"Make sure to be home by dinnertime sweetie."
Before blowing him a kiss and vanishing back out the hole.
Adam floated there, a bit nonplussed for a moment before turning back to the front of the ship where Chaves and Richards were still strapped into their seats staring at him and after Conn. He floated over to strap himself in.
"Admiral! You're ok!”
"Yes, it seems that I am, thanks to a... Friend of mine."
Just then Conn appeared again just before their right side window, and like the classy gentlemen that he was began rubbing his butt up against the glass.
He sighed,
"Friend is kind of stretching it."
"Apollo 11 this is Houston, do you copy!"
The man on the other end of the line sounded close to tears, and Adam hurried to respond,
"Houston this is Apollo 11."
On the other side he thought he heard the sound of voices cheering in relief.
"What is your status, over?”
"We are a bit beat up Houston, we have a tear in our hull, but our suits are ok, and we have help."
"Prepare to abort mission."
Adam frowned,
"Now wait a second there Houston! I didn't get sucked out the side of my own rocket to just quit now. Tell the boys to come up here and patch us up and we can finish the mission. All systems are still functioning, and we are back on course."
He glanced over at the others,
”That is, if the crew wants to continue."
There was a pause and then Chavez timidly piped in,
"I'd be ok with that."
Richards sighed,
"Roger Houston, patch us up."
Granted it may have been cheating. Apollo 11 hadn't had support with special tools that could just patch up a spaceship within ten minutes, but then again the original Apollo 11 hadn't been in the middle of a firefight while on their journey to the moon.
So it was with some trepidation that Houston allowed it, and before long they had air back inside the cabin back up to pressure, but they also had a sixteen-man rotating escort for the rest of the way.
The group of them were even shocked to see Rundi drones join the formation, only to learn that it had been the UN president who had allegedly called the hit on him. It was hard to believe, but they were only getting snippets here and then from over radio and from Conn, who floated around occasionally to rub another part of his anatomy against the window and give them teasing updates.
The moon was growing slowly in their vision.
"Hehe, I can see my house from here."
Adam remarked as they prepared to detach the lunar module from the rest of the ship.
They landed without incident, observed by mobile camera crews and news reporters as he made his own footprint on the never changing dust of the moon's surface. He gave them a thumbs up to let them know he was fine and hesitated only once before setting up the UN flag in the dirt. He refused to let his enthusiasm be dampened by the day's events and hopped around dancing and leaping for joy as another one of his childhood dreams was fulfilled.
…
That was before he plowed face first into the moon's surface and required help from Richards to stand back up again.
They left soon after taking another three days of escort back to earth before strapping themselves in for final entry.
Conn left them just as they were entering orbit with a very big and very drawn out middle finger for all three of them.
"Your friend is super delightful isn't he?”
"You don’t know the half of it, try having a child with him."
Adam muttered, refusing to elaborate even as they stared at him in confusion.
They fell from the sky and landed somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, picked up by the waiting navy vessel who was within nine miles of their landing site. They were fished from the water and returned safe and sound to the ship to cheers and cameras. Adam's legs felt a little like jelly after days of not using them, and he was finally able to relax lying on the deck of the ship under the sun as people ran around them on either side.
His hands shook slowly building up after the stress of the last week. He took long deep breaths and closed his eyes.
The next few days were going to be a real shit show.
And somehow it wasn’t because he was now known as the man who faceplanted not one, but TWO interstellar bodies…
The media was way to busy with the other story, a massive net of deceit and corruption that would now be uncovered.
Previous First [Next](link)
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.

August 30th, 2018.. I was asleep in bed facing away from my ex boyfriend. He was sitting/leaning with his back against the wall so his feet were propped up against my back.
Out of nowhere I remember starting to realize that there was pressure on my back and that I was moving. By the time I was awake, I was on the floor already gasping for air. He had launched me out of our bed with his feet which had bowed my back at a weird angle. I hit an amplifier on the way to the floor as well as a desk.
The next thing I knew, he was standing over me screaming and kicking me, choking me, pulling my hair, spitting in my face. When I was able I curled into a ball to protect my face.
We lived with his parents. It's a good thing too, because he wouldn't have stopped except that his mother physically forced her way between us. She witnessed at least some of the event, probably heard more.
I left the next morning as soon as he left the house I waited 5 minutes got in my car, and went to a friend's house.
I never filed charges against my ex because at the time I was still in love with him, and also because I didn't want his mother to end up having to bail him out of stuff again when she saved my life. I have regrets about not pressing charges against him but it's too late to do it now.
It took me months to get a diagnosis. Severe spinal stinosis with degenerative joint disorder and a severely pinched sciatic nerve. Even before my emergency surgery I walked with a cane or had to use a wheelchair. My mobility was severely affected by this event. Every doctor I talked to knows the truth about my injury. I've never hidden anything from the doctors so it should be noted somewhere.
Thursday, I started experiencing something I came to find out was called foot drop or drop foot. Basically I couldn't lift my right leg at all it was like lead. I went to ER Friday morning and found out I had developed something called Cauda Equina Syndrome, which requires immediate emergency surgery.
It was a 7 hour procedure (spinal decompression at 3 levels) with some complications. I was released to go home yesterday morning and my recovery is still uncertain. It's looking like around 3 months with lots of physical therapy. I may never regain feeling in my right leg or my privates. Luckily surgery saved me from incontinence.
I'm trying to figure out if I have grounds to sue my ex boyfriend I would really like closure, but also I'm going to have really crazy medical bills coming up here pretty soon. Any advice would be amazing, and I'll try to answer as many questions as I can. Thank you 😏

I (52F) went to A&E back in late February because I waws having trouble drawing a full breath. Thinking I was going to be Rx'd some inhalers and perhaps referred to the respirology (I've been having problems for years but have never formally been diagnosed with asthma), you can imagine my shock when I was advised that I was being admitted because they were unhappy with some cardiac blood work results (they're working through those as I type).
Anyway, I'm on a waiting list to be seen by the Respiratory service (appointment is in mid July) but I've been given access to the radiology report(s) from all of the film they took on the day of my visit to A&E (X ray/CT scan etc).

A HOSPITAL NEAR YOU Patient Name: SomeWomanFromCanada MIS Number: 8186935918824 Hospital Number: 295375063 10118287 22/02/2024 CT Angiogram pulmonary Clinical Question:SOB intermittent worse this today, raised d-dimer and troponin?PE Findings: No previous imaging available for comparison. Adequate opacification of the pulmonary artery trunk (350HU). No pulmonary embolism from the pulmonary artery trunk to the subsegmental levels. There is reflux of contrast into the hepatic veins, no other radiological evidence of right heart strain. There is patchy atelectasis and parenchymal infiltrate in both lower lobes. There are small granulomas noted in the right upper, lower lobe and the left upper lobe and scattered tiny sub 2mm nodules in the right middle and lower lobes. No pleural effusion or focal consolidation. No endobronchial lesions. No thoracic lymphadenopathy. Unremarkable appearance of the imaged upper abdominal viscera. No destructive osseous lesions. Conclusion: No pulmonary embolism. Non specific patchy atelectasis and parencymal infiltrate as desribed. Dr Cassian Andor Consultant Radiologist GMC 2266977 This report is generated for the referring clinician. Should patients have queries regarding the report, these should be discussed with the referring clinical team. Reported by: Dr Orson KRENNICK

Can anyone please tell me what to make of this report?
I''m most interested in the references to _patchy atelectasis_ and _parencymal infiltrate_
From my limited medical knowledge, there's something going on in my lungs but it's not cancerous or anything icky like that nor is it cardiac in nature or a blood clot.
FWIW, I am prone to getting bronchitis every time I get a head cold (regardless of how mild the cold is); in the winter, cold air triggers repeated episodes of bronchitis (when I lived in Canada, I carried a bottle of Buckleys Mixture and an oral syringe in my purse all winter every winter because it was the only thing that would come close to helping the cough).
I've also recently been prescribed a 'blue' salbutamol (rescue) inhaler and a Clenil Modulite 100mcg (beclamethasone) 'brown' (reliever) inhaler by my GP (while I wait for my appointment with the respiratory service) ... I've felt better since I've started using them (I had a lung function test this morning and haven't had the Clenil Modulite since Monday night and am feeling a little congested in my chest.
Anyway, I am new to all of this and I thank you all for a) reading this far and b) offering your collective wisdom as I try to figure out WTF is going on.