My own graffiti

Genocide looked to the sky. He thought of his mentor. The one who had saved him. He remembered his childhood. How powerless he was. He remembered the anger. He never wanted to hurt anybody. He thought of all the times he showed compassion. How much they hurt him for it. He saw the world before him, a graveyard. Humans. People that were supposed to be made in the image of some divine creator. They were but maggots feasting upon his remains. They ate away at his very being until nothing human remained. His thoughts were no longer his own. He had no joys in life that mattered. He hated humanity more than he could love anything about himself. He remember his first killing spree. Being gunned down by police. Left for dead. He remembered a hooded figure moving towards him. Getting closer the more he neared his death. He saw its pale face. Its impossibly black eyes. It was a man. This figure in question appeared to be of Japanese nationality with long, straight, loose hair. It emanated extreme malice. It offered him a choice. A purpose. Power. He thought the figure a reaper but it identified itself as Amakusa Masataka. Masataka guided him on how to kill and gave him specific locations to kill people in. In a sense, he became a hitman for quotas of people. He inquired what Masataka was. The presence of evil, his ability to appear and disappear at will, how he could control what people could see him and what people couldn't. While vague, years of killing for this being offered some insight. Amakusa Masataka belonged to a group of people not of this world. His people had been corrupted by a dark force long ago and had aligned themselves with the warlord who had subjugated their version of Japan. Their dark high priest assisted the warlord along with two others. These four rulers in turn served a larger order. The four were tasked with bringing about the end of the current world as an act of retribution for some fallen deity. Masataka's people acted as covert operatives for this empire. They were feared across the land and were collectively referred to as "Shinigami". An agent of the coming apocalypse, a servant of evil possessed by the will of those gods of death, Genocide would walk the earth.
Genocide stepped toward the station. A police cruiser rammed into him. He pulled out a knife and stabbed the hood of the car. The inhuman force of the knife created sparks which burst the engine into flames. The car crashed into a streetlight and exploded. A second cruiser neared the scene. No way a man could have done this. Yet still, out of the fires Genocide strode forth. It set upon the second vehicle, shooting out it's tires while jumping 9 feet into the air. The car tries to reverse but crashes into a wall. Genocide lands on the hood and kicks through the front window. Glass shatters under its boot, blinding the two officers inside. Genocide shoots one of the officers with a shotgun, killing him. The second officer in the passenger seat readies his pistol and takes aim. Only two shots fired, both directed at Genocide's head. It casually cocks its neck to avoid them. Then it grabs the officer's arm, breaking it. Genocide uses its free hand to grab the officer's head and bangs it into the dashboard no less than 5 times. The skull is shattered on the final impact. Genocide jumps off the car and continues on his mission.
Detective Evans speaks through a megaphone," This is your first and final warning. Stand down or we will use any and all means at our disposal to put you down." Genocide dropped its shotgun and raised its hands. A group of five SWAT team members rushed out the station, surrounding Genocide with riot shields. An officer accompanies them, edging behind the figure to apply handcuffs. Suddenly, Genocide springs to life , grabbing the officer behind him. He flips the officer over his head, slamming him into the pavement at his feet. Then Genocide stomps his head causing it to burst. Genocide drops a flash bomb from his coat sleeve, blinding the SWAT team as he draws his knife. He drives it into one SWAT member, the knife puncturing the shield and piercing his chest. Genocide kicks the corpse away withdrawing his knife. He goes to another, this time using the end of his boot toe in a rising kick to disarm their shield. He grabs them by the throat and drives the knife slowly into their eye socket. Another is tackled to the ground and beaten to death despite still being under the shield. Another is picked up and thrown into the fires still burning from the first auto incident. In no time, Genocide stood before an indistinguishable mass of gore, blood streaking across his black leather outfit. He laughed" So this is all you can give me. I'm not entertained." Officers took aim from the station windows, and snipers did so from other rooftops. Genocide laughed maniacally as he was rained down upon from all sides by a hailstorm of bullets. His body convulsed, but he did not fall. Moments more and he was on his knees. Still though, their efforts were futile. Gracia looked out and saw a black mist coalescing around the man in black. His blood. Blood erupted from his body only to transform into this dark mist that reentered his wounds. Genocide screamed. No. It was just an elevated pitch in his laughter. Optimism failed everyone yet again. Gracia saw Genocide holding something in his right hand. She could only make out a beeping red light. Genocide pushed the button triggering the carefully concealed explosives he laid in preparation for this event. C4 explosives went off in all the places he saw fit. The sniping posts he couldn't reach. The assault of lead lightened. Then Genocide drew an RPG from...somewhere. He collected himself and fired at the station's entrance. The explosion shook the station. From inside, the lights began to flicker. Communications were down on all fronts. Had he modified the rocket with some type of EMP? Not good. Amisdst the confusion Genocide entered using smoke bombs to mask his presence. Moving like a shadow, he killed everyone in the lobby silently with his knife. He made his way to the holding cells. Still they chanted. Still they praised. Still they raved for the arrival of genocide. Genocide shot the lock opening the cell. Jim Jimenez walked out and bowed before his master. Genocide smiled. He couldn't have imagined how proficient he had gotten with possession. Well, not quite possession. He had known of the Shinigami's ability to share their thoughts and emotions with humans. Shinigami like his mentor were ancient. They had so many years of memories, such strong a hatred for life that they overwhelmed the personality of the victim. The victim sees themselves as one of them. Shinigami can't force the will of the victim, so they find those who are already similar to them in some way. Genocide found the collective universal distrust of police to be a prime sentiment to capitalize on. He armed the inmates, infecting them with samples of his own dark essence.One particular inmate caught Genocide's eye. He knew the man's work. An arsonist. The one whom he recalls was responsible for blowing up his first car way back in high school. Rather than a standard firearm, Genocide gave the man a random assortment of grenades containing a special surprise. Genocide showed them visions of anarchy, of sending a message to a society that used and disregarded them. While this was also true of how he felt, years of living in darkness had changed him. He needed no purpose. No end goal. No justification. He just wanted to watch the world burn.
Genocide's small army broke off to engage several different wings of the station. Genocide went to the security room. He found Wayne, his informant, playing some FPS on one of the monitors. Wayne took of his headphones and asked," You kill everyone yet?" Genocide responded," No. You should get going before that happens. Your life becomes fair game if I run out of pigs to cook." Wayne clapped his hands, "Aight, GC my man, say less." He packed his things and left. Genocide drew a twin pair of handguns and laid waste to the station. He followed a group that took cover in the men's restroom. Kicking open multiple stalls he was surprised to find...nothing. Where had they gone? He turned around and saw his mentor, Masataka, smiling at him. It looked like him. Long, dark hair, black clothing, and soulless, empty eyes. But it wasn't. It was Genocide's own reflection in the mirror. Genocide smiled. He didn't notice the changes at first. They must have happened gradually. Subconsciously. From the final stall, an officer sprung into action, rushing Genocide, hitting him point blank with a shockgun round. Genocide felt the tingling sensation electrifying his body and grew numb. In spite of the pain, he took a single step. Then, another. He came within striking range of the officer and snatched the shockgun. Two more officers erupted from another stall, battering him with baton strikes. Genocide felt nothing. He clutched the shockgun in his hand like a bat and went to work pulverizing his attackers. An officer kicked in the bathroom door, a woman holding a pistol. She fired multiple times to no effect. Genocide stood covered in blood. He even let her reload. Twice. He wanted to see her despair. Her hopelessness. He walked towards her, shrugging off bullets as they pierced his body. His wounds healed nigh instantly due to the dark essence he had been imbued with. He held her face with both hands, lifting her body off the ground. As she screamed, he used her head to shatter the restroom mirror, running down the full length of it while smashing her into it at several points. He dropped the remains of what he held, washed his hands with soap, dried them, then exited the restroom.
The inmates that rallied for the cause of genocide attacked the station. Fortunately, they were nowhere near Genocide in terms of power and only carried one type of firearm each. They shared his healing ability but could be killed quite easily. Gracia encountered a sniper on the end or a west wing hallway. Other officers waited behind corners unable to get close. Gracia noticed the faulty lighting. In this hallway, the lights flickered in intervals of 3 seconds. Finding a pattern and timing her movements, she rushed the sniper at the exact moment the lights went out. Running the length of the hall, Gracia zigzagged, dodging the sniper inmate's bullets. She jumped on a wall, ran 3 feet on it, then kicked off it, pouncing on the assailant. She fired five shots into him, making sure to hit the brain and the heart. Two severe injuries that were impossible for Shinigami essence to heal simultaneously. Elsewhere, Evans took on another escaped inmate. A vehicular arsonist named Carson. Carson had a bag filled with an assortment of different grenades and was happily giving them out like candy on Halloween. "A flash bang here, a bit of tear gas there. Oh. Wait! Was that an ice grenade? Did the explosion freeze your leg to the floor? Whoops. Maybe a fire grenade will melt that for you. Hold on let me get one fore you," Carson rambled gleefully. Evans looked at the carnage before him. Officers burning. Officers partially frozen in blocks of ice. He took a breath and aimed his wristgun. He steadied his right forearm. Carson readied to throw a random grenade. Evans shot it the moment it left Carson's hand. The grenade exploded directly in front of Carson. Both Evans and Carson looked at each other in shock. Confetti. A party grenade? Carson quickly fumbled for another but was tackled and restrained by several officers. Meanwhile in the South wing, Lary had some colleagues set a trap for another shotgun toting inmate. He had them bait the inmate and flee. Giving chase he turned a corner and ran straight into Lary's fist. The inmate recovered and motioned to shoot Lary. "Let's tango. " Lary gave the code word. Nearby officers activated a device. A signal jammer of sorts. The inmate shoved the barrel of his gun into Lary's gut and pulled the trigger. Nothing. The special signal jammer in question was designed for firearms. It was a last resort as it left officers just as defenseless. Lary was having fun. He boxed the inmate in hand to hand combat. Despite the inmate's enhanced strength, Lary's technique pulled through. Lary ducked under one of the inmate's wide punches and did some type of rising uppercut where he jumped off the ground while spinning. One of the other officers whispered" The rising dragon." Lary smiled giving a thumbs up" Yeah, it was a rising dragon uppercut. Saw it in one O my kid's vidya games. Thought I'd try it out while I'm jacked on adrenaline".
Jim Jimenez looked long and hard at himself in the mirror. He was in the women's restroom. Some brainless woman had broken the men's restroom mirror with her face. For the first time in a long while Jim could think clearly. He was becoming sane. At the least he was no longer a raving lunatic. The life essence of the dark gods had healed the wounds to both his body and his mind. He saw his face, his scraggly dirty beard. He found a razor and shaved. He trimmed his beard somewhat. He liked it. He washed his hair. It fell down his face like silk, no longer greasy. His bloodshot eyes once burning with crazed intensity had cooled. He blinked. Just for a second, he saw the man known as Genocide. The man that attacked him. The one that killed him and gave him new life. The drug dealers. The police. They were all the same in his eyes now. They were all to blame for the world being what it is. Jim wanted to hate them. He wanted to take revenge, but he felt nothing. It didn't matter. He knew he was wronged, could logically justify acting against them, but he just didn't care anymore. About anything. He was finally free. Sensing his presence was no longer needed here, Jim vanished into the night. He needed to find someone who had had the answers he needed. Himself. Who had he been? Who was he now? Who could he become? Where was he going? So many questions to ponder indefinitely. So much time left in the rest of his life.
Genocide ran down the station's halls raining hailstorms of bullets upon its occupants. He had a handgun in each hand as well as a wristgun on each wrist. This effectively gave him 4 separate firearms that he could use simultaneously. Lary regrouped with Gracia, Evans, and a handful of others. They radioed all surviving officers near Genocide to flee to the roof. This plan had been set in motion days before the assault and had been kept hidden from most of the force. The plan involved scheduling flights for several helicopters to arrive at some point after Genocide arrived. There would be no way for him to prepare for them and pre-scheduling their arrival ensured they arrived regardless of if they were called or not. Lary and the others set about preparing the second jamming device. Genocide stood among a hallway of bodies. He saw one man clinging to life trying to crawl away. He decided on trying that other thing he saw his master do. He grabbed the dying man and pinned him to the wall. Slowly he drove a knife into his chest. As the man's life slipped away, something else entered his body. Genocide channeled a small amount of his essence into the vessel. He had steadily done this with other casualties around the station whose bodies were somewhat salvageable. He dropped the body he was holding and looked upon the others. He closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, his eyed were black, both sclera and iris. The scene before him changed. Genocide had a vision. He saw a dead gray wasteland littered with bodies. These people however weren't cops and wore traditional Japanese attire. In his hand wasn't a gun or knife but a short sickle akin to a farming tool. He heard a dark voice call out to him. Slowly, the corpses around him began to rise, now mere puppets bound eternally to their master's whim. The bodies sold to the reaper who had claimed their lives. Genocide's vision ended. His eyes had returned normal. Around him, dead cops began to rise. His dark essence had entered their bodies and reanimated them. He sent his dead army to attack the officers fleeing to the roof of the station. These zombies swarmed the stairwell giving chase to the few survivors. There were five of them. They had two flights of stairs to climb and a horde of their former colleagues close behind them. One officer tripped and was set upon by the horde. The zombies didn't bite them but held them firmly in place. The other four officers stared down wondering what to do. They could hear Genocide chuckling. They could hear humming. They could feel the temperature rising. Their colleague and the two zombies holding him were hit by an enormous green fireball. Genocide had fired a Magnum Opus and had charged the bullet to level 3. The Magnum Opus was simply a magnum that shot fireballs, with bullets that could be charged by holding down the trigger. It had three levels of charges. Level 1 was a small reddish ball of plasma. Level 2 was slightly larger and yellow. Level 3 was the maximum charge and resulted in a large slow moving green blast of energy. The officer was ignited and Genocide watched gleefully as the force of the blast sent him flying through a wall. The four officers continued up firing occasionally to slow down the zombies. Soon they made it to a door leading to the roof. Before one officer could reach it, he was sniped by Genocide, a bullet to the head killing him instantly. The remaining three made it out. They regrouped with the others already there, 12 in total, including Lary, Evans, and Gracia. This would be their final stand. They just had to hold out until Genocide made it up there. They just had to keep Genocide occupied until the helicopters arrived. Genocide slowly ascended the stairs behind his horde. On the roof, the remaining survivors faced off against waves of the undead. Evans recognized the attackers. These zombies were being controlled by nanomachines. He heard the stories of several weapons encountered by soldiers on the battlefield. These creatures were called Metaldeads as they were reanimated via machines. They had been officially banned by most of the worlds' governments for being unethical. However, this did not stop the technology from being spread still between shady organizations, terrorists, etc. Evans wondered how Genocide got this form of nanotechnology. Evans long speculated that the dark essence used by most of the killers they encountered was a a form of nanotech however it was different from anything else he had seen or heard about. The dark essence seemed to be an amalgamation of other types of nanotech. Evans had to save his inquiries for later. He reloaded his wristgun and took aim at the approaching group of Metaldeads. Gracia steadied her handgun and shot two Metaldeads in the head. From the single door countless arms seemed to spill forth from the darkness. The other officers took turns firing in intervals. this allowed them to create a steady stream of fire where no more that three guns needed to be reloaded at once. The horde seemed to thin out over time as if they were making progress. In actuality, the Metaldeads were just making room for Genocide to enter. Genocide exploded in a sprint from the door. Everyone fired upon the killer. Genocide had now chosen a wrist mounted mini flamethrower to use as his weapon. He stormed past the oncoming bullets taking some damage, but refused to slow down. He unleashed a stream of fire that caught five of the officers in one fell swoop. Gracia fired five rounds into Genocide's face. He stumbled back. Lary took the chance to fire several mine gun bullets at Genocide's feet. The mines quickly detected his movement and exploded. In seconds, Genocide was on his back.
Staring at the night sky Genocide saw the moon. He reached for it. He called for the darkness to give him more power. His wounds began healing. In the sky he could hear the whirl of propellers. There were six helicopters in total. The first two had evacuated the survivors while the others stayed to engage Genocide. Genocide got up and unstrapped the sniper rifle from his back. He stood before the searchlights as a black silhouette, cornered but unwilling to back down. Lary stared down at him smiling. "Okay!" He shouted, "Let's Tango!" Upon this declaration the second jamming device was activated. Now, isolated on the roof, Genocide's guns couldn't be fired and the helicopters were out of range of the device. Now Genocide stood like a sitting duck. A helicopter fired a rocket. Genocide side stepped and grabbed it. He turned his body redirecting the rocket to hit another helicopter. As it exploded Genocide drew his knife and threw it at another helicopter. Behind the knife was such force that it shattered the helicopter window's glass, embedding itself in the pilot. This helicopter too went down where it exploded. "Holy clucknuggets!Did you see that!?" Lary said dumbfounded. Evans looked out the helicopter door he was in jaw open in shock. "There's no way." He collected himself quickly and radioed the remaining two helicopters to keep moving and to use their machineguns as much as possible. The helicopters reigned down upon Genocide tearing apart his body. Shreds of leather and darkened blood sprayed across the pavement of the roof. Gracia watched as Genocide's body was destroyed repeatedly as it tried to heal. Surely he had to stop at some point. After 10 minutes the helicopters had exhausted their cache of ammunition and soldiers opted to fire their own rifles and occasionally throw grenades. After about six minutes, they too had run out of bullets. Genocide stood unfazed. He had long since healed himself and now appeared intangible with gunfire seeming to pass through his body. His coat once ripped , now appeared whole though on closer inspection seemed to writhe. Gracia looked in horror as she remembered the tales her adopted father had told her. Tales he had in turn heard from his predecessors. Every so often officers had reported encounters with ghost like beings cloaked in a cloud of living dark mist. The beings were rumored to be responsible for the deaths of multiple people ranging from scientists, veterans, mafia, politicians, etc. They were seen near such crime scenes and even more shockingly appeared around several sites where suicides were committed. These beings were reportedly impervious to bullets and filled anyone who got near with an impending sense of dread. If Genocide was connected to them or somehow turning into one , there was little chance they would be able to defeat him. Gracia's fears were confirmed when she saw that Genocide's leather coat had been destroyed and he had replaced it with the dark mist coalescing from his own spilled blood. The dark mist, swirling, grew larger and several tendrils sprouted out from it. Gracia could briefly make out a figure standing next to Genocide. A hooded figure cloaked in the same black substance. The figure stared up at her with soulless, blackened eyes which seemed to beckon her to jump from the aircraft she was standing in. Compelling her to give in to the death that plagued the earth. Genocide kneeled to his master. The Shinigami, Masataka stared down at his disciple. "You have done a great service to us. Even now the sealed god stirs in its slumber. Its...Awakening will soon be upon us. It calls out for war. It begs for famine. It longs to continue its conquest. We are the death it so desires. The death that is necessary for this civilization to grow. Use the power that I have bestowed upon you. Finish the mission as you see fit." The Shinigami vanished and Genocide stood.Genocide stared at his hands. He remembered the first killing spree. He was on a bus. It stopped. A woman got on the bus and walked to the back smiling as she passed him. Something about her eyes unnerved him. They were so bright but something dark reflected inside them. He ignored the thought and put in his headphones. In minutes he had dozed off. He jumped awake. He looked around and froze in panic. All around him, everyone had been hacked to pieces. He saw the driver, actively being stabbed by a masked assailant. The mask, painted white with black eyeholes, stared back at him. It raised a finger over where its lips would be. Even under the expressionless visage, he could feel that same smile. He ran home that morning. He went to his room to find it destroyed. His posters, his computer, his tv, everything, had been ruined. He turned around and saw a man at the end of the hallway holding a sledge hammer. "The hell you been, boy?", his stepdad sneered. The man dropped his hammer and walked closer, veins pulsing with rage. He tried to explain how his car had caught fire forcing him to walk 4 miles to the nearest bus stop, but the man's fist was faster than his words. "Boy!Answer me when I talk to you!!" the man says as he backhands the taste out of the would be Genocide's mouth. He took that beating for several minutes before being left to stare at his ransacked room. He hated how his stepdad went out of his way to destroy the things he loved. Soon, another set of footsteps could be heard. It was his mother standing behind his locked door. She didn't knock, or say anything. She just stood there, doing nothing as always. He never knew if she came to talk to him or apologize. All he knew was that she could never bring herself to speak to or even acknowledge him. Maybe out of guilt or perhaps shame. A year or two later after he had had enough he ran away from home. Living out on the streets alone, without friends, or family, he would embark on countless killing sprees. These killings weren't of his own volition however. He was coerced by some corrupt officers from The Unit. They made him kill on their behalf. Sometimes they were protesters, sometimes they were drug dealers, other times, petty criminals they couldn't be bothered to process. It was routine for him to be used to kill entire houses of drug riddled addicts. During one such venture he entered a drug den, killing the dealer as instructed. He took out several junkies before turning to leave. A woman who survived her injuries clung to his heel begging him to stop. Looking down he aimed the handgun he was carrying at her head of long disheveled brown hair and fired. Feeling nothing, he kicked her body aside like trash when it hit him. Her face. This woman had been his mother. What was she doing in a place like this? He felt a shock of emotion. He wondered if she had always been like this, or had she changed after he left. He never made amends, but decided to stop killing from then on. The unit did not like that. Once it became apparent that he was no longer of use to them they started a manhunt to apprehend him with lethal force. They found him. They killed him. But he survived.
He remembered the girl on the bus. He remembered her eyes. Those of a sadistic killer. Still there was something else inside them. Something faint but deeper. So. Much. Sadness. Just like him. He felt the hatred begin to spread. His purpose, he decided, was to make all humans rot in the hell they created for him.
These people, he thought to himself, these living diseases, all needed to die. Their struggles, their problems, they spread like cancer to others. The only cure for humanity's sin, its collective wrongdoings, was genocide.
Around him, dark tendrils continued to form and expand, spinning in a vortex. Genocide pulled out two pistols. He squeezed the triggers to no effect. "As I see fit, huh? Hehe." He squeezed both guns in his hands, breaking them into pieces. He concentrated. In his hands, two more guns materialized now completely black due to being forged from the dark essence. Forged by his will. Immune to the jamming device that shut down conventional firearms. He raised his arms at each remaining helicopter and opened fire. Countless tendrils whipped out and slashed at his targets joining the dark essence bullets. It was chaos. Dark tendrils and bullets tore through every direction as Genocide spun and swirled around in 360 degrees firing randomly with purpose. A tendril pierced Gracia's right arm, another, her abdomen. She was however, fortunate, as the other passengers of her helicopter were dismembered. She barely had time to jump from the vehicle before it crashed. She fell 2 yards onto solid concrete. She felt immense pain as her right shoulder shattered on impact. She looked up to see Genocide's blade like appendages ripping through the other escape helicopters. She rolled onto her back and tried to steady herself. Within seconds her body began to repair itself. The nanocells inside her had saved her life but were now depleted. She would need another supplement lest she receive another fatal injury. The standard nanocells she and the others had were much less potent than those of the killers they faced. In truth, they had only minimal strength boosts being able to lift 5-8 more pounds than before and healing being limited to one or two fatal injuries so long as death didn't occur instantly. Gracia blacked out. She awoke the next morning in a hospital. There the doctors refilled her nanocells. She learned that the station had been left in ruins. Genocide had detonated some type of minature nuke following his rampage. He always blew up the stations as if to send a message. Gracia looked out the window thinking about why she became a cop. Twice her family had been murdered by them. Her biological family had been killed in an on record drug raid committed by a group of corrupt officers called The Unit. She had been adopted by another officer that arrived at the scene who found her as a child hiding in a closed. Sadly, he too was killed for trying to expose the activities of The Unit. Gracia joined the force to avenge both losses and bring justice to the killers that disguised themselves as normal people. Law enforcement was neither good, nor bad. It depended upon the people that made it up. In the dying corrupt world Gracia lived in, she vowed to be a beacon of light. Evans laid in a bed adjacent to Lary. "That damn Genocide's somethin else in' he?Like the stories you told us were understatements. That man could legit not die at this point in the story. Like he has friggin plot armor or somthin.'' Evans cut him off" I get it. We all got our asses handed to us. But did you see that ..thing that appeared next to him. Right before he created that black vortex that wiped us out. That must have something to do with his power. Maybe there's a still a way to stop him."Lary chimed in," That fella looked like he was on the way to a black metal concert wit all the black facepaint he was wearin' Creeped me out to be honest." As the survivors mulled over their predicament, the cycle of evil continued to spread elsewhere.
Budley flips through the pages of a magazine. He checks his watch. He looks around the gas station and doesn't see any customers. Seizing the opportunity, he puts in his headphones and begins playing an imaginary guitar as he jams to a progressive deathcore album. Oblivious to the screams coming from outside, the store clerk moves on to thumping two candy bars on the counter to simulate drums. Budley sees that his shift has ended and begins locking up the store. He sweeps the aisles and jumps as a shadow appears behind him. He turns and sees a well groomed bearded man dressed in a black hoodie, black shirt, and black and gray camo pants. The man holds out his hand and smiles. Budley rings up the pack of nicotine substitute gum. "Tryin to kick the habit huh?" Budley asks. The man replies, "Somethin like that. Gotta get my priorities back in check. Focus on the things that really matter. That damn KonCreep's a hell of a band aren't they?" He nods to the playlist on Budley's phone. "Yeah, they're killer. just got into them a month back." Budley answers. "You know, I'm something of a musician myself. Maybe you'll hear of me on the news someday." Jim Jimenez says as he sees himself out. He walks to the back of the building and passes an ominous form of graffiti. A woman lays unmoving and above her, written on concrete in red is a message that simply says "Genocide Reigns".

I feel like most Latin American countries tend to be Pro Israel, even my own Latin American country is Pro Israel, but Colombia seems to be different, btw this is just one picture I took, there are many pro palestine graffiti around the city

Not native speaker here. I’ve always been in a fight with my family. Because of covid I went really mad at home. After 2 years of segregation with them I decided I needed help and went to a mental health center. I just wanted to speak to a free psychologist but the psychiatrist is the main person who decides what to in the center. I’m a person really scared of medications but I thought I really needed a psychologist so I decided to go anyways. I spoke with the psychiatrist and she told me she didn’t see any big problems with me and gave me the psychologist. Happy as a kid I went to the psychologist but I was really disappointed with her because that old lady kept falling asleep during the sessions. Frustrated of her behavior, I wanted to do something big to keep her awake and receive some advice from her so I made some graffiti in my own room. As a consequence, I was forcefully taken to the hospital… There, I was forced to take antipsychotics and the real problems started. I was really afraid of psych meds as I said before and I got terrorized. I developed ptsd, I now have the impulse to suicide everyday, I can barely eat, I have troubles emptying the bowel and my belly hurts because of that, I’ve stopped exercising, I can’t truly smile anymore. I don’t know what to do. It’s been like this for a year now. The worst is that I can’t change the thought that the meds took away myself from me and I want to suicide because of that. I also question myself where is reality after antipsychotics. I’ve made all the researches to understand better those meds and what they do and I’m scared of chronic akathisia, the possibility that I’m not in the same reality as before (I really loved myself and I was a happy person), that I might not enjoy things like I used to, that I’ll never be like the people who hasn’t taken it because risperidone is an irreversible antagonist on a serotonin receptor and I will never be the same as before. This really makes me want to suicide. I’m afraid I’ve become dumb because of the meds plus, I’m scared to think at anything because I’m afraid to be deported to the hospital again if I do something different than what’s socially acceptable in my country. I’m still going to the center because of all this trauma. The psychiatrist and psychologist changed and I like them a lot but I know that if I tell them that I’m thinking of suiciding I’ll be forced on some meds again. What should I do? Does the fact that I’ve taken the meds for just a little over a week make the situation better or once you’ve taken them you’re done? There’s some people on quora that say that these meds change basically permanently your brain in the very first doses. Help me

Hello! Here we are again, back for another ATLA commentary.
Before we get started I do want to point out that I’m numbering and labeling episodes according to how they appear on Netflix. Episode 12, as I understand it, is actually two episodes. However, since they’re presented as one thing here, that’s how I’m watching it.
Brief update on other projects: I thought I’d try watching the first Harry Potter movie, but realized it’s two and a half hours long. That’s, at the bare minimum, five hours of commentary writing. So… yeah, we’re gonna hold off on that lol I’m also considering watching a superhero/comic book show called The Boys, because I accidentally caught part of a trailer for it that my girlfriend was watching and it looks very interesting. I’ll be doing the new Game of Thrones commentary next, not sure when exactly.
Okay, let’s go!
Episode 12- The Secret of the Fire Nation

1. Well that’s a heck of a title! I hope we learn something juicy!

It’s nice to see Aang and Katara bending for fun, thought I’m surprised Aang is so willing to encase himself in a block of ice. You’d think he’d have some trauma from that lol But also, I love Katara’s hair when she lets it down.
Yeah… I’m kind of surprised Aang is taking Appa’s loss as well as he is, considering how he reacted last episode. Since Sokka is talking about walking to Ba Sing Se, I take it they’re not going to be spending time looking for him? But then, didn’t the sandbenders say they sold him to a merchant from Ba Sing Se? Maybe he’s there, and Aang’s banking on that hope.

1. I know I keep applying real-world logic to a cartoon show, but wouldn’t Ba Sing Se get awfully crowded if they’re constantly taking in refugees from the rest of the Earth Kingdom? Iroh put the city under siege for almost two years. What if the Fire Nation does that again? More mouths to feed makes starvation quicker!

Iroh and Zuko are refugees. I still can’t get over that irony lol Hey, it’s Jet! My goodness, he’s onscreen for less than ten seconds and he’s already planning a robbery. He and Zuko are going to get along just fine, aren’t they?
The cabbage merchant! Always a delight to see him and his cabbages! Also hilarious that a bunch of people are impersonating Aang (thought it probably would be less hilarious if any of them met Azula). If passports are necessary, how did Zuko and Iroh get tickets? Also, good on Toph for taking advantage of her privilege lol
Hey! I think that’s Suki! Her eyes are drawn really distinctively and her voice sounds familiar! Two seconds after pressing play: it is Suki! Don’t you just love my long winning streak of figuring things out right before they let us know? Lol

1. Glad to see ATLA Suki appreciates Sokka’s muscles just as much as NATLA Suki lol

Someone took the pregnant family’s tickets and belongings. Is that how Zuko and Iroh got their tickets? Zuko’s robbed families before, so I wouldn’t put it past him.
Well damn, Suki got her armor and makeup on real quick, didn’t she? Hm… Sokka’s worried about her. I think Suki’s going to interpret that as him being sexist again but he’s probably traumatized from losing Yue. He’s been through way too much to still be sexist. If he still had a misogynistic bone in his body, Toph would have beaten it out of him by now.

1. Well the Serpent’s Pass looks terrifying. Also, this pregnant lady took one look at some scratched graffiti saying “Abandon Hope” and immediately started crying, saying “How can we abandon hope? It’s all we have!” Like… come on, lady lol Just because you see graffiti telling you to do something doesn’t mean you have to, otherwise I would have called quite a few people for a good time by now.

Hope is a distraction, huh? I guess I can see the logic of that from a practical application perspective. But it’s kind of a depressing philosophy for a monk to have.
Holy shit! Nope, I would not be walking along a cliff path that narrow! I will build a rowboat and paddle my way to Ba Sing Se.
Toph is really carrying the team (and some refugees too) this episode.

1. There’s a fine line between being protective and being smothering and Sokka has hopped, jumped, and skipped right over it.

Zuko’s not wearing his blue spirit mask. Not that he needs it, he and Jet work together like cogs in a machine. Ironic lol
Ow! Geez, that rejected hug hurt me lol Katara’s right though. Bottling up emotions just makes them worse in the long run. You have to allow yourself to feel bad sometimes. Granted, you can’t fly off the handle like he did last episode, but that’s a reaction. You can control your reactions, but you can’t control your feelings.
“It’s a beautiful moon.” “Yeah, it really is.” Okay, I know Sokka said last episode that Yue is the moon, but he was tripping on peyote. Does he actually believe that Yue is the moon now? Is Yue the moon now? I interpreted her death as he sacrificing herself to bring the moon spirit back to life, not to become the new moon spirit.
“Who is this guy? Is he taller than me?” Dude, we were having a moment. Damn it, just kiss her! Well actually, the moon’s right there so if Yue really did turn into the new moon spirit, it might be a tad awkward to kiss in front of her. But what’s he gonna do, only ever show intimacy during the day?

1. Um… I’m probably reading too much into this Smellerbee scene with Iroh and Longshot and I’m almost hesitant to say what I’m thinking because I can just imagine the backlash I could get for voicing it. And it’s not like ATLA has had great LGBTQ representation up to this point, so… Yeah, I’m probably just seeing things that aren’t there.

You know, I’ve never really cared a lot about Jet as a character (in fact, I’m kind of surprised to see him again. I figured he’d be a one-off character) but I am really enjoying his scenes with Zuko and Iroh. They have so much in common, which is probably the point of this whole juxtaposition. If he only knew who they really were lol
Of course Iroh believes in second chances. He’s the best. And also, he’s living proof that some people deserve a second chance.

1. Uh… Katara parting the sea while leading refugees to safety invokes a certain comparison, doesn’t it? But can I just say that I love how her solution to crossing the gap is to literally walk through the ocean instead of making a raft out of ice and floating across. She just never misses an opportunity to flex on everyone, does she? Lol

Momo continuing his pattern of trying to kill every small animal he sees is something I’ve come to treasure.
Is that the unagi?! I think that’s what it’s called/spelled but I haven’t seen that episode in a while. It would be fitting if Suki and the sea serpent both share the same episodes lol No that’s not the unagi. It’s a different color. Um… what exactly was Sokka planning to do if the sea serpent actually accepted his offer and ate Momo? Considering how he reacted to losing Appa, I don’t think Aang would be too happy with him.
Oh, now she’s making an ice bridge. Not as much of a flex as maintaining an air bubble so they plumb the depths but it is faster. Oh, Toph can’t see on ice. And she can’t swim? An earthbender not being able to swim feels like a stereotype for some reason, even though I have absolutely no reason to think that lol
“You can go ahead and let me drown now.” That’s gonna be a favorite joke of mine, I just know it lol And I’m pretty sure this is probably a jumping point for a Sokka/Toph ship. What does the community call that? Soph? Tokka? (How old is Toph, anyway? Probably Aang’s age, right? That’s… probably not an appropriate ship then)

1. Why does Ba Sing Se’s wall remind me of The Wall from Game of Thrones? Obviously not made of ice though lol

Okay, time for ATLA’s viewers to experience the miracle of childbirth!

1. Like I said earlier, ATLA isn’t heavy on the LGBTQ representation, but I swear I’m picking up on some tension and chemistry between Jet and Zuko (Juko? Jeko? Zet?). And now half of Jet’s little group is an LGBTQ allegory for me lol Even the dialogue between Jet and Zuko in this scene is slightly suggestive.

So… can Katara waterbend the baby out or…
Baby Hope, eh? Probably not a super common name in this world.
Oh? Was that Aang’s way of telling Katara he loves her without actually saying it? Aww. And hey, he’s heading off on his own to search for Appa. Which… honestly kind of feels like he should have been doing that this whole time lol
Yes! Get some, Sokka! Wait, nevermind. I fucking hate that line. Ugh No! I’m not gonna be a bitter old lady on this watch-through! They’re kissing and it’s very sweet and I love that for them!
Um… there’s a giant metal dildo on the way to penetrate Ba Sing Se! Lol but seriously, how technologically advanced is the Fire Nation? A giant mobile drill of that scale would be a marvel of engineering even by our modern standards.

1. Well hey, there’s the title card letting me know when the next episode starts.

Woah, the way the drill moves is so cool! I’m legitimately wondering if such a thing would actually be possible in our world with our physics. I don’t know why we would want to, but still. And of course Azula’s leading this attack. She gets all the best opportunities. And she’s smart too! The war minister guy is dismissive of the earthbenders, believing his drill to be impervious to earthbending attacks. You can practically smell the hubris. But Azula leaves nothing to chance and she sends her girls out to neutralize any potential threat.
And this is why we love Azula. She’s not just a scary villain, she’s a competent villain.

1. And the Earth Kingdom general shares the War Minister’s hubris. Why are the people in charge always the worst people to be in charge? Also, I love that Toph is the one to point out that Iroh broke through the wall.

So the Earth Kingdom’s elite Terra Team force were taken out by two teenage nonbenders from the Fire Nation in about twenty seconds. How have they lasted this long? Lol (I say two, but let’s be honest. Ty Lee’s doing the heavy lifting here)
Yes! I love that they acknowledge Sokka as the “Idea Guy”!
Iroh has got rizz for days lol I’m kind of surprised he only ever had one son. Jet wants to recruit Zuko. I’m totally down for that! They’re such an interesting pair!

1. I really love that Katara, whose probably the best waterbender in the world at this point, respects Ty Lee enough to recognize how dangerous she is. And Sokka had an idea! They’re going to take down the drill from the inside. Because how the hell else are they going to stop something that big?

Again with the underestimation! I swear Azula’s the only competent person in the entire Fire Nation military since Iroh retired.
Okay, engineer Sokka figured it out. It’s all a little too easy, isn’t it?

1. Ah shit, Jet just realized the truth, because Iroh used firebending to heat up his tea lol I think he’s getting a little too relaxed.

Okay, just the fact that they slice through metal with water at all is pretty impressive. And the drill has reached the wall, and Azula still doesn’t look impressed.
Oh yeah, I guess this is a pretty high stakes battle for them, huh? If they lose Ba Sing Se, they basically lose the entire Earth Kingdom, right? Omashu’s already fallen, the smaller villages and whatnot have no real defense. Ba Sing Se is the last big puzzle piece to world domination (aside from the water tribes, but they’re so isolated they’re not really a threat).
I love that Toph’s nickname for Aang is Twinkle Toes. Also I laughed at the War Minister’s face when he was side-eyeing Azula just then. +That’s the face of a man who’s about to be punished!

1. lol Sokka’s the only one with more rizz than Iroh! Maybe a legitimate battle strategy here would be to woo Ty Lee into switching sides? Aside from Azula she seems to be the most dangerous one. No offense to Mai, but she is kind of the odd woman out here.

Oh please let me get Aang and Azula 1v1! I really badly want to see how he fares against her without everyone else helping him. He’ll probably have to use the Avatar State to defeat her.
Ty Lee dives into the slurry after Katara and Sokka while Mai refuses. Yeah, Mai is the weak link here in Ozai’s Angels (I love that name, by the way).

1. Did Aang seriously think the general was going to hear him from that high up? Lol Toph’s helping Katara bend the slurry (how convenient that it’s both water and earth!). Ty Lee’s still trapped in it and the drill is about to blow. If I hadn’t learned my lesson on the last post, I’d probably be worried she might die in the explosion. But this is a kid’s show, she’ll be fine.

Here we go! Aang vs Azula! Her fighting style is so elegant. Every move she makes feels on purpose, if that makes sense. Like, whenever Aang fought Zuko, Zhao, or NPC firebenders their style is a little more chaotic and fearsome and rawr, you know? But Azula’s totally calm. Everything she’s doing feels calculated, and it’s working! If she hadn’t had to dodge that boulder after blasting Aang back she might have been able to deliver a finishing blow!
She beat him! He’s unconscious! Okay, well not anymore lol See… that right there was hubris (actually, it was kid’s show writing but whatever)! He was out for like fifteen seconds. She should have roasted him where he lay instead of picking him up and gloating.
Another fight with Azula ends in a draw with neither one beating the other! I’m starting to get a little peeved with all this edging lol but that was great! Azula is an absolute beast!

1. Okay, the way Aang hammered that rock spike into the drill was pretty epic. Mai’s “We lost” (and thank you for your contribution to the fight, Mai lol) is interesting. It’s true, they did lose. Not in the combat sense, Aang couldn’t beat Azula, but he didn’t have to. He just had to hold her off. Maybe that’s kind of a metaphor for the Fire Nation military in general. It’s very powerful, but it’s also marred by incompetence and weaknesses. Many of its generals are prideful and blind to their own weaknesses, or just outright incompetent. Look at this fight: even Mai just kind of gave up halfway through. If Ty Lee wasn’t trapped in the slurry, she might very well have been able to beat Katara, Sokka, and Toph, especially since they don’t Appa this time to bail them out. And if Mai had been with her, she might have been to break Katara’s concentration with a thrown weapon, thus freeing Ty Lee from the slurry.

I wondered how the Earth Kingdom lasted so long and maybe that’s just it. They can’t beat the Fire Nation, but they don’t have to. They just have to hold them off and the Fire Nation’s own shortcomings will end up beating themselves. It’s a hundred year stalemate.

1. Looks like Jet’s going to be causing a problem for Iroh and Zuko. I wonder if his relationship with them is what’s going to finally let him realize that not all Fire Nation people are inherently evil?

Hey, that’s Baby Hope! And Iroh gets to fawn over her too and I love that for him. You know, if Aang defeats the Fire Nation in a timely manner, Hope might actually get to grow up in a world at peace. Well, kind of. I’m sure there’s going to be massive issues with racism from generations of propaganda painting the other side as inhuman, huge demands for reparations, not to mention the territories the Fire Nation currently occupies. It’s been so long that there must be at least two generations of Fire Nation citizens who were born in and grew up in the Earth Kingdom, and I’m sure there’s been interbreeding with the Earth Kingdom people, because that’s what always happens with colonizers. Once they become established, genocide is pretty much the only way to get rid of them, and I doubt the Avatar is going to allow that.
So Hope’s probably going to grow up in pretty interesting times!
Um… is Ba Sing Se a city or is it a little walled country? Cuz all I see are farms and plains!
Katara, I love you, but you’re wrong. Team Avatar is going to catch on because it’s awesome, and that’s that.
Episode 13- City of Walls and Secrets

1. Oh, there’s an inner wall. So Ba Sing Se is kind of like the country in Attack on Titan! Oh yeah, in all of the excitement I almost forgot about Appa. Seriously, how many episodes has he been missing now? Damn, now that’s a city!

Yeah… something’s up with Joo Dee.
Walls inside that help maintain order? You mean walls that protect the rich and elite from the dirty poors? Lol Oh, Katara just confirmed it. They pen up all the poor people into a walled ghetto.

1. lol when Iroh’s talking about someone bringing home a lady friend, does he mean himself? Or Zuko? It is really interesting how their views of Ba Sing Se differ though. Iroh’s talking about getting a home, socializing, building a life, and he’s even found them jobs! Zuko sees the same situation as a prison.

Well, I’m glad Jet’s turning over a new leaf by letting the authorities handle things. Too bad I don’t trust the authorities to be any better.
Toph knows what’s up. Joo Dee is purposefully brushing Sokka off and distracting the group. I’m not sure why at the moment, but something is clearly up.

1. Of course they’re going to work in a tea shop! Lol Zuko’s right btw, all tea is hot leaf juice. Well, except for the teas that are hot root juice.

The cultural authority of Ba Sing Se, who guard their traditions and are called the Dai Li. Yeah… maybe it’s my conservative religious upbringing but when I hear about people “guarding their traditions” I immediately think of abuse, propaganda, and oppression. Generally people who are obsessed with traditions tend to be conservatives, who by their very nature cannot allow progress or improvement.
Someone important is trying to keep them under constant surveillance and prevent them from seeing the Earth King. In NATLA, there were spies in Omashu. Since Ba Sing Se is much bigger and more important, I imagine it’s riddled with Fire Nation spies as well, and somebody high ranking might be a traitor.

1. Joo Dee is kind of scary lol and clearly the citizens are terrified of her. But what’s interesting to me is that she’s preventing them from giving information about Appa, which suggests that whoever is stopping them from seeing the Earth King also has Appa. But why? What would be the point of keeping Aang away from Appa? Is it to restrict his mobility and make him easier to capture?

So people aren’t allowed to talk about the war, and the Dai Li seem to be responsible. But why? If everyone knows there’s a war going on anyway, why keep people from talking about it?
It’s lucky that Iroh borrowed his neighbor’s spark rocks, but why would he refrain from firebending in what he assumes is privacy? Unless he knows he’s being watched.

1. Huh, is the king’s pet bear the first normal animal on the show? Lol I am digging this undercover plan though.

I love that this show lets its characters try on different looks from time to time, even if they are mostly the same outfits. Katara and Toph’s high society get-ups are gorgeous!
The lost boys- I mean, freedom fighters are turning on Peter Pa- I mean, Jet. The weird thing is… he’s right! They are firebenders! But his behavior still isn’t healthy!

1. Okay, let’s go! Jet’s hurling accusations and attacking them in public! And now Zuko’s fighting back with swords. It’s the duel of the dual-wielders! Honestly, this is probably good for Zuko. He needs to blow off some steam after everything he’s been through.

Well how about that? Security at the palace is actually competent and Toph can’t bluff her way in.
This Long Feng guy is cultural minister to the king, which means he’s probably the bad guy! And also we haven’t met any other high ranking government officials with names, so he’s currently the only option lol

1. Geez, Zuko straight up intended to decapitate Jet right there. If Jet were a little slower, he would have! Man, I hope they do this fight scene in NATLA.

Uh-oh, scary lady Joo Dee is the scared one now. But can I just say how much I like her facial expressions?
Yeah… can’t blame them for arresting Jet. He did look like a crazy person.
The Dai Li’s specific brand of earthbending is very cool! It almost doesn’t seem like bending at all, if that makes sense. The stones they use are like a part of their own body. And of course Long Feng is their leader.
Okay I get the king is just a puppet and Long Feng is the real rule of the country, but I still don’t understand why he doesn’t allow mention of the war in the city. I mean, it’s common knowledge! A significant portion of their population are literally refugees fleeing war! Who doesn’t know
Oh… is it the king? Does the king just not know there’s a war happening and Long Feng keeps it from him so he can stay in charge? I mean, that’s still a stretch but it would explain why he doesn’t want Team Avatar talking to the king.

1. Jet is being hypnotized. Also, I do want to point out that I have seen “There is no (whatever) in Ba Sing Se” many times in the wild lol it’s nice to see where it comes from!

Ah… Long Feng is holding Appa as leverage over Aang.
I didn’t think Joo Dee could be any scarier but here we are! This episode almost has horror movie vibes.
Concluding thoughts: This was a fantastic couple/throuple of episodes! I loved seeing Suki again, and I really enjoyed how the refugee subplot ties so perfectly in with Iroh and Zuko. The whole drill sequence was probably the best “action” the show has had thus far and that’s saying something. It’s also nice to have my suspicions that the Earth Kingdom has its own corruption problems and bad guys confirmed.
I have a new theory to replace my “Iroh’s going to die theory”. They’ve been showing us all season how Zuko isn’t really cut out for life on the run, whereas Iroh embraces it. I think they’re driving to a separation between Zuko and Iroh. He may not have died, but narratively speaking Zuko and Iroh have to part ways permanently or semi-permanently for his character to grow. Iroh has been propping him up and supporting him this whole time, now it’s time for Zuko to leave the nest and become his own person.
My new theory is that Iroh will enjoy his new life in Ba Sing Se so much that he elects to stay there permanently, whereas Zuko is too restless to do so. He can’t go back to the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom will not accept him, so his only choice is to join Team Avatar, where he will likely end up teaching Aang firebending.
And to expand further on a previous theory of mine, which was: Azula will kill or depose Ozai. I’ve accepted at this point that death is off the table. Kid’s show and all that. But I noticed something… lots of people were quick to say that Azula would never kill Ozai. But not one person has said she wouldn’t depose him in those refutations (unless I’m misremembering but I don’t think I am). Since you all know not to hint at things or spoil them, I think your eagerness to point out that she won’t kill Ozai is an attempt to mislead me into thinking the whole theory is wrong so I’ll be surprised when she ends up deposing (not killing) him. I mean, I could be wrong but I have a strong feeling that the final villain is going to be Fire Lord Azula, with Ozai in exile somewhere (that would be fitting! The man who banishes his own son ends up being banished himself!).
Maybe that will even be the conclusion of Zuko’s arc! While Aang goes off to save the world from Azula, Zuko splits up to confront Ozai himself! Where we are in the show right now, it really does feel like Azula is Aang’s primary antagonist whereas Ozai is Zuko’s primary antagonist.
By the way, from here on out, no confirming or denying my theories either way, okay? Let it unfold naturally, and let me figure things out on my own. I mean, where’s the fun in just giving me the answers?
And also, some of you could be a little nicer with your criticisms. I had to block someone last time I posted and I don’t want to do that anymore. It’s fine to disagree with me, it’s fine to explain why you disagree with me. Hell, most of you do! I don’t mind that, I like that we all have different views of things even if I don’t agree. It makes things interesting! But don’t talk down to me, don’t use belittling language, don’t be disrespectful. Whenever I don’t like something about ATLA (or like something about NATLA) some of you seem to take it as a personal insult or something.
Just be polite, that’s all I ask.
Okay, I’ll see you same time next week probably!

Hello! Here we are again, back for another ATLA commentary.
Before we get started I do want to point out that I’m numbering and labeling episodes according to how they appear on Netflix. Episode 12, as I understand it, is actually two episodes. However, since they’re presented as one thing here, that’s how I’m watching it.
Brief update on other projects: I thought I’d try watching the first Harry Potter movie, but realized it’s two and a half hours long. That’s, at the bare minimum, five hours of commentary writing. So… yeah, we’re gonna hold off on that lol I’m also considering watching a superhero/comic book show called The Boys, because I accidentally caught part of a trailer for it that my girlfriend was watching and it looks very interesting. I’ll be doing the new Game of Thrones commentary next, not sure when exactly.
Okay, let’s go!
Episode 12- The Secret of the Fire Nation

1. Well that’s a heck of a title! I hope we learn something juicy!

It’s nice to see Aang and Katara bending for fun, thought I’m surprised Aang is so willing to encase himself in a block of ice. You’d think he’d have some trauma from that lol But also, I love Katara’s hair when she lets it down.
Yeah… I’m kind of surprised Aang is taking Appa’s loss as well as he is, considering how he reacted last episode. Since Sokka is talking about walking to Ba Sing Se, I take it they’re not going to be spending time looking for him? But then, didn’t the sandbenders say they sold him to a merchant from Ba Sing Se? Maybe he’s there, and Aang’s banking on that hope.

1. I know I keep applying real-world logic to a cartoon show, but wouldn’t Ba Sing Se get awfully crowded if they’re constantly taking in refugees from the rest of the Earth Kingdom? Iroh put the city under siege for almost two years. What if the Fire Nation does that again? More mouths to feed makes starvation quicker!

Iroh and Zuko are refugees. I still can’t get over that irony lol Hey, it’s Jet! My goodness, he’s onscreen for less than ten seconds and he’s already planning a robbery. He and Zuko are going to get along just fine, aren’t they?
The cabbage merchant! Always a delight to see him and his cabbages! Also hilarious that a bunch of people are impersonating Aang (thought it probably would be less hilarious if any of them met Azula). If passports are necessary, how did Zuko and Iroh get tickets? Also, good on Toph for taking advantage of her privilege lol
Hey! I think that’s Suki! Her eyes are drawn really distinctively and her voice sounds familiar! Two seconds after pressing play: it is Suki! Don’t you just love my long winning streak of figuring things out right before they let us know? Lol

1. Glad to see ATLA Suki appreciates Sokka’s muscles just as much as NATLA Suki lol

Someone took the pregnant family’s tickets and belongings. Is that how Zuko and Iroh got their tickets? Zuko’s robbed families before, so I wouldn’t put it past him.
Well damn, Suki got her armor and makeup on real quick, didn’t she? Hm… Sokka’s worried about her. I think Suki’s going to interpret that as him being sexist again but he’s probably traumatized from losing Yue. He’s been through way too much to still be sexist. If he still had a misogynistic bone in his body, Toph would have beaten it out of him by now.

1. Well the Serpent’s Pass looks terrifying. Also, this pregnant lady took one look at some scratched graffiti saying “Abandon Hope” and immediately started crying, saying “How can we abandon hope? It’s all we have!” Like… come on, lady lol Just because you see graffiti telling you to do something doesn’t mean you have to, otherwise I would have called quite a few people for a good time by now.

Hope is a distraction, huh? I guess I can see the logic of that from a practical application perspective. But it’s kind of a depressing philosophy for a monk to have.
Holy shit! Nope, I would not be walking along a cliff path that narrow! I will build a rowboat and paddle my way to Ba Sing Se.
Toph is really carrying the team (and some refugees too) this episode.

1. There’s a fine line between being protective and being smothering and Sokka has hopped, jumped, and skipped right over it.

Zuko’s not wearing his blue spirit mask. Not that he needs it, he and Jet work together like cogs in a machine. Ironic lol
Ow! Geez, that rejected hug hurt me lol Katara’s right though. Bottling up emotions just makes them worse in the long run. You have to allow yourself to feel bad sometimes. Granted, you can’t fly off the handle like he did last episode, but that’s a reaction. You can control your reactions, but you can’t control your feelings.
“It’s a beautiful moon.” “Yeah, it really is.” Okay, I know Sokka said last episode that Yue is the moon, but he was tripping on peyote. Does he actually believe that Yue is the moon now? Is Yue the moon now? I interpreted her death as he sacrificing herself to bring the moon spirit back to life, not to become the new moon spirit.
“Who is this guy? Is he taller than me?” Dude, we were having a moment. Damn it, just kiss her! Well actually, the moon’s right there so if Yue really did turn into the new moon spirit, it might be a tad awkward to kiss in front of her. But what’s he gonna do, only ever show intimacy during the day?

1. Um… I’m probably reading too much into this Smellerbee scene with Iroh and Longshot and I’m almost hesitant to say what I’m thinking because I can just imagine the backlash I could get for voicing it. And it’s not like ATLA has had great LGBTQ representation up to this point, so… Yeah, I’m probably just seeing things that aren’t there.

You know, I’ve never really cared a lot about Jet as a character (in fact, I’m kind of surprised to see him again. I figured he’d be a one-off character) but I am really enjoying his scenes with Zuko and Iroh. They have so much in common, which is probably the point of this whole juxtaposition. If he only knew who they really were lol
Of course Iroh believes in second chances. He’s the best. And also, he’s living proof that some people deserve a second chance.

1. Uh… Katara parting the sea while leading refugees to safety invokes a certain comparison, doesn’t it? But can I just say that I love how her solution to crossing the gap is to literally walk through the ocean instead of making a raft out of ice and floating across. She just never misses an opportunity to flex on everyone, does she? Lol

Momo continuing his pattern of trying to kill every small animal he sees is something I’ve come to treasure.
Is that the unagi?! I think that’s what it’s called/spelled but I haven’t seen that episode in a while. It would be fitting if Suki and the sea serpent both share the same episodes lol No that’s not the unagi. It’s a different color. Um… what exactly was Sokka planning to do if the sea serpent actually accepted his offer and ate Momo? Considering how he reacted to losing Appa, I don’t think Aang would be too happy with him.
Oh, now she’s making an ice bridge. Not as much of a flex as maintaining an air bubble so they plumb the depths but it is faster. Oh, Toph can’t see on ice. And she can’t swim? An earthbender not being able to swim feels like a stereotype for some reason, even though I have absolutely no reason to think that lol
“You can go ahead and let me drown now.” That’s gonna be a favorite joke of mine, I just know it lol And I’m pretty sure this is probably a jumping point for a Sokka/Toph ship. What does the community call that? Soph? Tokka? (How old is Toph, anyway? Probably Aang’s age, right? That’s… probably not an appropriate ship then)

1. Why does Ba Sing Se’s wall remind me of The Wall from Game of Thrones? Obviously not made of ice though lol

Okay, time for ATLA’s viewers to experience the miracle of childbirth!

1. Like I said earlier, ATLA isn’t heavy on the LGBTQ representation, but I swear I’m picking up on some tension and chemistry between Jet and Zuko (Juko? Jeko? Zet?). And now half of Jet’s little group is an LGBTQ allegory for me lol Even the dialogue between Jet and Zuko in this scene is slightly suggestive.

So… can Katara waterbend the baby out or…
Baby Hope, eh? Probably not a super common name in this world.
Oh? Was that Aang’s way of telling Katara he loves her without actually saying it? Aww. And hey, he’s heading off on his own to search for Appa. Which… honestly kind of feels like he should have been doing that this whole time lol
Yes! Get some, Sokka! Wait, nevermind. I fucking hate that line. Ugh No! I’m not gonna be a bitter old lady on this watch-through! They’re kissing and it’s very sweet and I love that for them!
Um… there’s a giant metal dildo on the way to penetrate Ba Sing Se! Lol but seriously, how technologically advanced is the Fire Nation? A giant mobile drill of that scale would be a marvel of engineering even by our modern standards.

1. Well hey, there’s the title card letting me know when the next episode starts.

Woah, the way the drill moves is so cool! I’m legitimately wondering if such a thing would actually be possible in our world with our physics. I don’t know why we would want to, but still. And of course Azula’s leading this attack. She gets all the best opportunities. And she’s smart too! The war minister guy is dismissive of the earthbenders, believing his drill to be impervious to earthbending attacks. You can practically smell the hubris. But Azula leaves nothing to chance and she sends her girls out to neutralize any potential threat.
And this is why we love Azula. She’s not just a scary villain, she’s a competent villain.

1. And the Earth Kingdom general shares the War Minister’s hubris. Why are the people in charge always the worst people to be in charge? Also, I love that Toph is the one to point out that Iroh broke through the wall.

So the Earth Kingdom’s elite Terra Team force were taken out by two teenage nonbenders from the Fire Nation in about twenty seconds. How have they lasted this long? Lol (I say two, but let’s be honest. Ty Lee’s doing the heavy lifting here)
Yes! I love that they acknowledge Sokka as the “Idea Guy”!
Iroh has got rizz for days lol I’m kind of surprised he only ever had one son. Jet wants to recruit Zuko. I’m totally down for that! They’re such an interesting pair!

1. I really love that Katara, whose probably the best waterbender in the world at this point, respects Ty Lee enough to recognize how dangerous she is. And Sokka had an idea! They’re going to take down the drill from the inside. Because how the hell else are they going to stop something that big?

Again with the underestimation! I swear Azula’s the only competent person in the entire Fire Nation military since Iroh retired.
Okay, engineer Sokka figured it out. It’s all a little too easy, isn’t it?

1. Ah shit, Jet just realized the truth, because Iroh used firebending to heat up his tea lol I think he’s getting a little too relaxed.

Okay, just the fact that they slice through metal with water at all is pretty impressive. And the drill has reached the wall, and Azula still doesn’t look impressed.
Oh yeah, I guess this is a pretty high stakes battle for them, huh? If they lose Ba Sing Se, they basically lose the entire Earth Kingdom, right? Omashu’s already fallen, the smaller villages and whatnot have no real defense. Ba Sing Se is the last big puzzle piece to world domination (aside from the water tribes, but they’re so isolated they’re not really a threat).
I love that Toph’s nickname for Aang is Twinkle Toes. Also I laughed at the War Minister’s face when he was side-eyeing Azula just then. +That’s the face of a man who’s about to be punished!

1. lol Sokka’s the only one with more rizz than Iroh! Maybe a legitimate battle strategy here would be to woo Ty Lee into switching sides? Aside from Azula she seems to be the most dangerous one. No offense to Mai, but she is kind of the odd woman out here.

Oh please let me get Aang and Azula 1v1! I really badly want to see how he fares against her without everyone else helping him. He’ll probably have to use the Avatar State to defeat her.
Ty Lee dives into the slurry after Katara and Sokka while Mai refuses. Yeah, Mai is the weak link here in Ozai’s Angels (I love that name, by the way).

1. Did Aang seriously think the general was going to hear him from that high up? Lol Toph’s helping Katara bend the slurry (how convenient that it’s both water and earth!). Ty Lee’s still trapped in it and the drill is about to blow. If I hadn’t learned my lesson on the last post, I’d probably be worried she might die in the explosion. But this is a kid’s show, she’ll be fine.

Here we go! Aang vs Azula! Her fighting style is so elegant. Every move she makes feels on purpose, if that makes sense. Like, whenever Aang fought Zuko, Zhao, or NPC firebenders their style is a little more chaotic and fearsome and rawr, you know? But Azula’s totally calm. Everything she’s doing feels calculated, and it’s working! If she hadn’t had to dodge that boulder after blasting Aang back she might have been able to deliver a finishing blow!
She beat him! He’s unconscious! Okay, well not anymore lol See… that right there was hubris (actually, it was kid’s show writing but whatever)! He was out for like fifteen seconds. She should have roasted him where he lay instead of picking him up and gloating.
Another fight with Azula ends in a draw with neither one beating the other! I’m starting to get a little peeved with all this edging lol but that was great! Azula is an absolute beast!

1. Okay, the way Aang hammered that rock spike into the drill was pretty epic. Mai’s “We lost” (and thank you for your contribution to the fight, Mai lol) is interesting. It’s true, they did lose. Not in the combat sense, Aang couldn’t beat Azula, but he didn’t have to. He just had to hold her off. Maybe that’s kind of a metaphor for the Fire Nation military in general. It’s very powerful, but it’s also marred by incompetence and weaknesses. Many of its generals are prideful and blind to their own weaknesses, or just outright incompetent. Look at this fight: even Mai just kind of gave up halfway through. If Ty Lee wasn’t trapped in the slurry, she might very well have been able to beat Katara, Sokka, and Toph, especially since they don’t Appa this time to bail them out. And if Mai had been with her, she might have been to break Katara’s concentration with a thrown weapon, thus freeing Ty Lee from the slurry.

I wondered how the Earth Kingdom lasted so long and maybe that’s just it. They can’t beat the Fire Nation, but they don’t have to. They just have to hold them off and the Fire Nation’s own shortcomings will end up beating themselves. It’s a hundred year stalemate.

1. Looks like Jet’s going to be causing a problem for Iroh and Zuko. I wonder if his relationship with them is what’s going to finally let him realize that not all Fire Nation people are inherently evil?

Hey, that’s Baby Hope! And Iroh gets to fawn over her too and I love that for him. You know, if Aang defeats the Fire Nation in a timely manner, Hope might actually get to grow up in a world at peace. Well, kind of. I’m sure there’s going to be massive issues with racism from generations of propaganda painting the other side as inhuman, huge demands for reparations, not to mention the territories the Fire Nation currently occupies. It’s been so long that there must be at least two generations of Fire Nation citizens who were born in and grew up in the Earth Kingdom, and I’m sure there’s been interbreeding with the Earth Kingdom people, because that’s what always happens with colonizers. Once they become established, genocide is pretty much the only way to get rid of them, and I doubt the Avatar is going to allow that.
So Hope’s probably going to grow up in pretty interesting times!
Um… is Ba Sing Se a city or is it a little walled country? Cuz all I see are farms and plains!
Katara, I love you, but you’re wrong. Team Avatar is going to catch on because it’s awesome, and that’s that.
Episode 13- City of Walls and Secrets

1. Oh, there’s an inner wall. So Ba Sing Se is kind of like the country in Attack on Titan! Oh yeah, in all of the excitement I almost forgot about Appa. Seriously, how many episodes has he been missing now? Damn, now that’s a city!

Yeah… something’s up with Joo Dee.
Walls inside that help maintain order? You mean walls that protect the rich and elite from the dirty poors? Lol Oh, Katara just confirmed it. They pen up all the poor people into a walled ghetto.

1. lol when Iroh’s talking about someone bringing home a lady friend, does he mean himself? Or Zuko? It is really interesting how their views of Ba Sing Se differ though. Iroh’s talking about getting a home, socializing, building a life, and he’s even found them jobs! Zuko sees the same situation as a prison.

Well, I’m glad Jet’s turning over a new leaf by letting the authorities handle things. Too bad I don’t trust the authorities to be any better.
Toph knows what’s up. Joo Dee is purposefully brushing Sokka off and distracting the group. I’m not sure why at the moment, but something is clearly up.

1. Of course they’re going to work in a tea shop! Lol Zuko’s right btw, all tea is hot leaf juice. Well, except for the teas that are hot root juice.

The cultural authority of Ba Sing Se, who guard their traditions and are called the Dai Li. Yeah… maybe it’s my conservative religious upbringing but when I hear about people “guarding their traditions” I immediately think of abuse, propaganda, and oppression. Generally people who are obsessed with traditions tend to be conservatives, who by their very nature cannot allow progress or improvement.
Someone important is trying to keep them under constant surveillance and prevent them from seeing the Earth King. In NATLA, there were spies in Omashu. Since Ba Sing Se is much bigger and more important, I imagine it’s riddled with Fire Nation spies as well, and somebody high ranking might be a traitor.

1. Joo Dee is kind of scary lol and clearly the citizens are terrified of her. But what’s interesting to me is that she’s preventing them from giving information about Appa, which suggests that whoever is stopping them from seeing the Earth King also has Appa. But why? What would be the point of keeping Aang away from Appa? Is it to restrict his mobility and make him easier to capture?

So people aren’t allowed to talk about the war, and the Dai Li seem to be responsible. But why? If everyone knows there’s a war going on anyway, why keep people from talking about it?
It’s lucky that Iroh borrowed his neighbor’s spark rocks, but why would he refrain from firebending in what he assumes is privacy? Unless he knows he’s being watched.

1. Huh, is the king’s pet bear the first normal animal on the show? Lol I am digging this undercover plan though.

I love that this show lets its characters try on different looks from time to time, even if they are mostly the same outfits. Katara and Toph’s high society get-ups are gorgeous!
The lost boys- I mean, freedom fighters are turning on Peter Pa- I mean, Jet. The weird thing is… he’s right! They are firebenders! But his behavior still isn’t healthy!

1. Okay, let’s go! Jet’s hurling accusations and attacking them in public! And now Zuko’s fighting back with swords. It’s the duel of the dual-wielders! Honestly, this is probably good for Zuko. He needs to blow off some steam after everything he’s been through.

Well how about that? Security at the palace is actually competent and Toph can’t bluff her way in.
This Long Feng guy is cultural minister to the king, which means he’s probably the bad guy! And also we haven’t met any other high ranking government officials with names, so he’s currently the only option lol

1. Geez, Zuko straight up intended to decapitate Jet right there. If Jet were a little slower, he would have! Man, I hope they do this fight scene in NATLA.

Uh-oh, scary lady Joo Dee is the scared one now. But can I just say how much I like her facial expressions?
Yeah… can’t blame them for arresting Jet. He did look like a crazy person.
The Dai Li’s specific brand of earthbending is very cool! It almost doesn’t seem like bending at all, if that makes sense. The stones they use are like a part of their own body. And of course Long Feng is their leader.
Okay I get the king is just a puppet and Long Feng is the real rule of the country, but I still don’t understand why he doesn’t allow mention of the war in the city. I mean, it’s common knowledge! A significant portion of their population are literally refugees fleeing war! Who doesn’t know
Oh… is it the king? Does the king just not know there’s a war happening and Long Feng keeps it from him so he can stay in charge? I mean, that’s still a stretch but it would explain why he doesn’t want Team Avatar talking to the king.

1. Jet is being hypnotized. Also, I do want to point out that I have seen “There is no (whatever) in Ba Sing Se” many times in the wild lol it’s nice to see where it comes from!

Ah… Long Feng is holding Appa as leverage over Aang.
I didn’t think Joo Dee could be any scarier but here we are! This episode almost has horror movie vibes.
Concluding thoughts: This was a fantastic couple/throuple of episodes! I loved seeing Suki again, and I really enjoyed how the refugee subplot ties so perfectly in with Iroh and Zuko. The whole drill sequence was probably the best “action” the show has had thus far and that’s saying something. It’s also nice to have my suspicions that the Earth Kingdom has its own corruption problems and bad guys confirmed.
I have a new theory to replace my “Iroh’s going to die theory”. They’ve been showing us all season how Zuko isn’t really cut out for life on the run, whereas Iroh embraces it. I think they’re driving to a separation between Zuko and Iroh. He may not have died, but narratively speaking Zuko and Iroh have to part ways permanently or semi-permanently for his character to grow. Iroh has been propping him up and supporting him this whole time, now it’s time for Zuko to leave the nest and become his own person.
My new theory is that Iroh will enjoy his new life in Ba Sing Se so much that he elects to stay there permanently, whereas Zuko is too restless to do so. He can’t go back to the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom will not accept him, so his only choice is to join Team Avatar, where he will likely end up teaching Aang firebending.
And to expand further on a previous theory of mine, which was: Azula will kill or depose Ozai. I’ve accepted at this point that death is off the table. Kid’s show and all that. But I noticed something… lots of people were quick to say that Azula would never kill Ozai. But not one person has said she wouldn’t depose him in those refutations (unless I’m misremembering but I don’t think I am). Since you all know not to hint at things or spoil them, I think your eagerness to point out that she won’t kill Ozai is an attempt to mislead me into thinking the whole theory is wrong so I’ll be surprised when she ends up deposing (not killing) him. I mean, I could be wrong but I have a strong feeling that the final villain is going to be Fire Lord Azula, with Ozai in exile somewhere (that would be fitting! The man who banishes his own son ends up being banished himself!).
Maybe that will even be the conclusion of Zuko’s arc! While Aang goes off to save the world from Azula, Zuko splits up to confront Ozai himself! Where we are in the show right now, it really does feel like Azula is Aang’s primary antagonist whereas Ozai is Zuko’s primary antagonist.
By the way, from here on out, no confirming or denying my theories either way, okay? Let it unfold naturally, and let me figure things out on my own. I mean, where’s the fun in just giving me the answers?
And also, some of you could be a little nicer with your criticisms. I had to block someone last time I posted and I don’t want to do that anymore. It’s fine to disagree with me, it’s fine to explain why you disagree with me. Hell, most of you do! I don’t mind that, I like that we all have different views of things even if I don’t agree. It makes things interesting! But don’t talk down to me, don’t use belittling language, don’t be disrespectful. Whenever I don’t like something about ATLA (or like something about NATLA) some of you seem to take it as a personal insult or something.
Just be polite, that’s all I ask.
Okay, I’ll see you same time next week probably!

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.
The plot thickens!
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.
The Rundi pilot maneuvered his ship around a chunk of space debris, cutting low as he watched the slow and leisurely path of the rocket as it began on its trajectory towards the moon. Radar was almost impossible to use in the deadly debris field these humans called an orbit, so it was up to his eyes to make out any incoming hostiles.
They circled low and then wide around the slow-moving rocket, keeping their distance while also keeping an eye out. It was easy enough, as the drone was covered in cameras and sensors, which allowed them to see from almost every angle. A human might have been better at this, but right now they were the only ones they could trust.
[…]
A green folder rested atop the lectern as the President of the UN gave her halting, and to the chairwoman it seemed, unenthusiastic speech. The humans down below didn't seem to notice, making her wonder if she was simply imagining things, though a part of her said that was not the case.
She had been suspicious of the UN president from the very beginning, the very beginning when she was given power after the first launch of the enterprise, and they had been forced to deal with her during treaty negotiations. At every step there seemed to be some sort of obstacle, something wrong, some reason that the humans could just not accept. It went on behind closed doors and in quiet whispered conversations. But luckily for them, people like Adam Vir and Admiral Kelly had been there to smooth things over between the two factions.
The chairwoman knew better than most, that there were only a few humans in the galaxy holding everything together.
And the last thing she wanted was bad relations, or to go to war with this species. It would be a nightmare.
She shifted in her seat as she listened to the speech. The valley below her still had traces of smoke let off by burning so much fossil fuel at once. She imagined that such a stunt wasn't entirely great for the atmosphere of the planet, though as far as she knew humans tended to run on sustainable clean energy these days.
The Chairwoman stepped down from the little podium and into the back where she could not be seen, leaning in so she could hear the words whispered from her assistant,
"The drones are deployed, and so far we have not met any resistance.”
She nodded slowly,
"Good work, keep an eye out."
[…]
The UN president felt her fingers digging into the soft paper of the green folder. The red one was lying discarded under the lectern, and she was having trouble concentrating, forcing herself to remember that this wasn't over. She glanced into the crowd, expecting to see that strange white face staring up at her from the throng of people, but there was nothing.
Had she seen it as in her imagination, or did she really see an alien face staring back at her?
She glanced upwards, towards where the rocket had vanished, only half paying attention to the practiced words that dribbled from her mouth. She finished her speech and the people below clapped and cheered heartily, though she didn't much feel like clapping with them.
She turned on her heel and walked down to the back of the stage to where her entourage was waiting for her. Admiral Massie was sitting on one end and Admiral Kelly was sitting at the other, the two of them doing their damndest to ignore each other at all costs.
She sat down next to Admiral Massie, arms crossed over her chest as he leaned in to speak with her.
"That didn't exactly go as planned."
He muttered softly.
"It will if your men are ready."
She snapped back, her palms cold and sweaty.
Admiral Massie nodded,
"Of course, they should come out when they reach the densest part of the debris field, that way we can make it look like some unexpected collision."
He glanced towards the lectern,
"So I would keep a hold of that red folder of yours."
On the other set of chairs, Admiral Kelly was giving them a sidelong glance. Everyone knew that she was in Admiral Vir's camp, licking his boots at every opportunity. It would be within their best interest to keep silent when she was around.
The UN president leaned back in her seat,
"You should be on your way, Admiral. We will have time to talk later."
He stood and nodded slowly,
"Of course madame president."
He turned to walk away, catching the eye of Admiral Kelly as he stepped past. The two of them didn't much like each other, though as the head of the OGI (Office of Galactic intelligence) Admiral Massie had enough pull to keep Kelly in her place.
The UN president turned her head away. Not wanting to draw attention to herself.
[…]
Admiral Kelly glanced over at the UN president as Admiral Massie passed by. There was something about those two spending time together that she didn't like. Granted it was more than likely the two of them were having some sweaty, wrinkly liaisons out of hours which she didn't really want to think about, but if that was the case then he could easily be pressing his planetary isolationist views off on her.
Kelly did not think highly of the UN presidency. Right now, it seemed mostly concerned with power and political favors with the people, rather than doing the right thing. Plus, she found the president herself to be superficially charming, but easily manipulated by the wrong people. Fear mongering worked the best on her, which is why she worried about Massie and his effect on her to begin with.
She found herself digging her nails into her palms as she thought about it.
”Please help us.”
Admiral Kelly shot up in her seat looking around as she tried to find the source of the noise, or the voice. She turned in her seat expecting to find someone whispering in her ear, but there was nothing. She pressed at the implant along the side of her neck wondering if someone had called her and she just hadn't noticed?
”Look up.”
Jolted again, lifting her eyes towards the sky and the burning sun. She threw up a hand to block her vision, and as she did, she thought she saw a shape floating there against the backdrop of the sun.
She squinted hard trying to make it out but was having trouble.
”Now look into the crowd.”
She turned her head down, still not sure where the sound could be coming from, but as she looked into the crowd, she saw a strange sight. One of the people was wearing a dark hoodie, and was turned away from the direction which the rest of the crowd was facing. Their hood was pulled low, but ever so subtly, they lifted their head to reveal a porcelain white face, with large dark eyes.
Admiral Kelly went very still as she stared at the starborn.
“Not a starborn, a halfbreed. My name is Eris, I am Admiral Vir's... daughter”
Oh... oh, yes she had heard about the starborn hybrid from one of his reports.
"What do you want."
She mouthed quietly.
“We need your help, the UN president is planning to have Admiral Vir Killed, and Admiral Massie is on his way to make the order, please, you have to do something."
Admiral Kelly jolted to her feet, very quickly glancing at the UN president in shock and horror before she was able to capture her emotions. The UN president looked up to her sudden movement, and Admiral Kelly had to fight to keep her face neutral as the woman looked up at her.
"Are you feeling well Admiral?”
She could feel the sweat dripping down her face and the nape of her neck, but she remained as calm as possible as she took a deep breath,
"I... Am suddenly very dizzy. I think it's the heat."
"You should sit down, have someone bring you some water."
The woman said, her voice calm and clear as if she hadn't just ordered the murder of Adam Vir.
"No I... I think I need to walk for a minute and find some shade. You will excuse me?"
The UN president shrugged and turned back to staring at the sky, giving Admiral Kelly time to step forward and hurry after General Massi's retreating figure.
[…]
General Massie stepped into mission control and walked down the blank empty corridors. No one was here, they were all either in the control room or out celebrating the successful launch. It had been a sight to see, two-thousand-year-old technology working for one more time, but personally General Massie saw it as completely obsolete and a useless waste of government capital.
That was something they could have been using to help fortify earth's defense nexus. Out of all the useless things Admiral Vir had supported, at least he had agreed that they needed SOME form of defense against extraterrestrial attack.
General Massie made a face…
Though he wouldn't doubt Admiral Vir would have been totally fine leaving their planet with its pants down in order to let those Xenos fuck them over.
Everyone and their dog knew that Admiral Vir preferred alien cock over his own kind.
The thought made Admiral Massie cringe.
It was a well-kept secret among the UNSC, but the man wasn't nearly as secretive as he liked to think he was. Rumors of his infatuation with the stupid blue beetle alien had reached command almost as soon as it began. The only reason they didn't allow it to leak was that it would make the UNSC look bad to the rest of earth.
And Jupiter how he hated that man.
Stupid, juvenile egotistical xeno fucker!
Today was the day all of that came to an end!
He cut right, just before the doors to mission control and walked down two more hallways, finally opening a small side door into, what might have looked from the outside, like an equipment closet. He stepped over a mop and bucket and sat down at an old console, which he fired up with the flick of a button.
"Flight 1 this is Earth 1 over."
"Roger earth one this if slight one, in position over."
He turned on the screen, giving himself time to look the radar over, as twenty dots appeared on screen. Those were twenty Thunderhawks they had slowly appropriated over the intervening year.
With a place as big as the universe to cover, it was pretty easy to lose a few jets in the shuffle. He could see them now, illuminated as little green dots on his screen, hiding in the debris.
"Flight one this is Earth one, Operation “After Apollo” is go. Now remember boys and girls, make it look like an accident. Over."
*"Roger that Earth one. Over and out."
[…]
"You TRAITOR!"
Admiral Massie spun in his seat, eyes wide and wild as Admiral Kelly stood in the doorway. She could feel her skin growing hot with absolute rage as she stalked forward over the open floor. In one hand she held up the small recording device Conn had handed to her outside the building, and on it held proof of this man's order. On the screen behind him twenty little dots burst to life.
She was too late.
The man slowly got to his feet as Kelly aimed her handgun at him, her grip steady, her aim true.
"Call off your dogs."
She snarled,
Admiral Massie slowly lifted his hands, before slowly leaning forward in his seat towards the intercom button. She stepped forward, watching him intently as he leaned over the console pressing down on the button.
"Flight one this is earth one..."
Her eyes flickered up to the screen waiting to see them pause.
But before she knew what was happening an elbow came up striking her on the hand and causing the gun to spin out of her grip. Admiral Massie turned and tackled her to the floor, his nearly 300 lb body crushing her to the floor.
The wind was knocked out of her and she gasped as he struggled to pin her to the ground.
Her hat had flown off and her bun became undone as he drew back a fist to punch her. She was able to block it with her forearms as he raged and went for her face. The blows rained down on her from above with an onslaught of power she wasn't expecting but should have.
She took another gasping breath, and then with a surge of adrenaline she bucked, throwing him forward where she grabbed one of his arms and bucked again, forcing him to his side and onto his back. Still gripping his arm, she threw herself sideways, throwing her legs over his chest and struggling with his arm to pull it flat.
He kicked and grabbed at her legs with his other hand painfully gripping her calves as his nails dug into her skin and drew blood. The pain was incredible, but she finally got his arm down tucked tight to her chest, her legs across his chest, and then she jerked her hips sharply upward.
Admiral Massie screamed as his elbow snapped backwards.
She let go of him and scrambled towards the console, but at the last moment he grabbed her by the foot and hauled her back to the ground, one arm hanging limp and useless at his side. He clawed at her with one hand, and she rolled onto her back, kicking up at his face with her boot catching him square in the chin.
He staggered back as she crawled to the console and reached to adjust the frequency, ready to call in lunar support.
There was a sharp click behind her, and she froze, turning in her seat to find Admiral Massie standing behind her gun held in his good hand.
Blood leaked from his nose and down onto the front of his uniform, staining the grey fabric red,
"Nice try, Kelly."
[…]
Donovan Red waited, spinning slowly as he watched the progress of the distant rocket. Inside his helmet his breathing was cold and calm as, ranging all around him, his other men and women waited as well. Their ships had been outfitted with proper weapons as they had ridden here in the cargo hold of the Omen. The group of them weren't soldiers or trained fighter pilots, so he didn't imagine this would be easy, but it was going to have to do.
"Red, this is Apollo 11 do you copy?”
"Yeah Cinderella, I copy."
"See anything?"
"Nope not a..."
He paused,
"Wait..."
There was something, something he thought he saw detach itself from another piece of space junk,
"Hold that thought Apollo."
He detached from his own bit of space junk and inched forward.
A thunderhawk? What would one of those be doing here?
It began to accelerate.
He accelerated after it.
Up ahead the rocket was growing larger and larger in his view.
“Thunderhawk has made lock.”
The cool female voice said from his console.
"Oh shit, Admiral r-“
He didn't have time to finish his sentence as a small ball-like-silver ship came pelting down from nowhere, blasting the Thunderhawk in the wing with a sharp burst of laser fire. It's wing exploded and it went careening in the opposite direction as the silver ball whizzed past.
"What the fuck!?"
He turned to fly after it, but was stopped.
"Red, this is Wendy, stand down that's a Rundi UAV."
"Rundi? I thought it was the Rundi we were worried about!?”
He called in confusion.
"Yeah, but that thunderhawk had locked in on Apollo 11. It looks like the Rundi are helping."
He grunted and cursed under his breath,
"Boys and girls, if you see a silver ball stand down, those are on our side."
Just then another Thunderhawk shot over his head. He cursed again and pulled himself into a sharp upward turn cutting after the Thunderhawk and locking on. His lock cut off their attempts to shoot down the rocket, and they were forced to dive under as he followed after. He followed, spinning right and left around debris as the Thunderhawk attempted to escape.
It cut upward, just in time for a bright pink jet with graffiti words on the side to shoot out of nowhere.
The Thunderhawk exploded in a cloud of debris as Wendy roared by.
"Good shot, girl!”
He said over his radio.
"Thanks boss. Now let’s give them hell!"
[…]
Admiral Vir floated before the console, knuckles white and unable to do anything. A silent explosion flashed in his vision to the right as quickly as it had begun. Richards and Chavez started with wide eyes and dropped mouths.
"Admiral what the hell is going on!?”
Adam took a deep breath,
"It seems as if we are under attack."
The two of them exchanged glances,
"From who? What the fuck!?!"
Adam turned where he stood to look at the two of them,
"I am sorry I got you two into this mess, but the isolationists have been gunning for me for a few months now, and it seems as if now things have come to a head.”
"What are we going to do!"
"Radio Houston."
Chavez hurried to do as ordered, but when she did, they heard only static,
"Shit... Something is jamming our coms."
Adam took a deep breath,
"Well I guess all we have is Donovan to protect us. Lets' hope they do it right."
[…]
Admiral Massie laughed,
"You're as dumb as you look Kelly."
She stood, slowly wiping blood from her cheek as she turned to look down the barrel of the gun. Her own gun.
She didn't generally tend to agree with Massie, but this time he did have a point. Surprisingly though she was very calm,
"You aren't going to get away with this."
She glanced over to where the little silver recording device lay in the shadows under one of the chairs.
Massie was too amped to notice.
"Doesn't matter. I will have done my duty to my planet and my people, saving them from alien lovers like you and that bastard Vir."
"Whose Idea was this, the President or yours?"
She held her hands out to the side.
"Do you think that dipshit was smart enough to come up with a plan like mine?"
Kelly raised an eyebrow,
"Is it wise to incriminate your friends along with you?"
"That bitch? Heh, I could care less. And if I am going down, she is going down with me. The president may think it was all her idea, but it was mine all along, she was following my orders, whether she believes it or not, and once Adam Vir and YOU are dead, then it doesn't matter what we did, because diplomatic relations will dissolve, and it will be all over."
He lifted the gun to her face,
"Goodbye Kelly."
She remained very still as the shadow fell over him from behind,
"May I say one last thing?”
He paused.
"Turn around."
"Very funny!”
He lifted the gun again and pulled the trigger.
There was a sharp crack and thud as metal hit metal. Kelly flinched and held up her hands, but opened her eye after a moment as no pain came.
Admiral Massie lay on the floor face down.
Kelly reached down quickly to grab her gun, looking up to where Sunny was standing in the doorway holding her pearlescent white spear. Behind her floated the starborn Conn and the hybrid.
She took a deep breath,
"Great timing you three.”
Sunny nodded,
"Anytime."
Admiral Kelly turned and lunged for the comms, switching the frequency to the lunar station only to find she couldn't get through,
"Damn it."
She cursed, turning to look at Sunny and the others,
"I was too late, the ships have already been deployed."
She paused and looked down, grabbing the recording device from off the floor tossing it to the hybrid who caught it with some difficulty,
"Run that to one of the media outlets, convince them it is important and leak it as soon as you can. We don't want her to have time to cover her own ass."
Eris nodded and shot off in the other direction.
Sunny knelt down to help her restrain Admiral Massie.
Just then the sound of feet came thundering up the hall and they looked up to see the Chairwoman of the GA and her assistants skid around a corner. Sunny's eyes narrowed as she crouched low leveling her spear.
"Did you catch him?"
The Chairwoman asked,
"No thanks to you."
Sunny snarled, but the chairwoman waved her off,
"I lost contact with my drones, but they should be out helping to protect Admiral Vir. I am sorry I couldn't do more, but it was all I could do not to show my hand too early."
Admiral Kelly stood slowly,
"You knew about this?"
The charwoman shook her head,
"Not this specifically, but I have been trying to find the source of the assassination attempts on Admiral Vir's life. I've had discreet escorts on him for the past few months while I tried getting in contact with my people in the criminal underworld and I called the hit on him with those pirates, knowing who Captain Kell was, hoping that he could get more information out of the pirates that I could."
Sunny stared at her rage flickering across her face,
"You called a hit on him!"
The charwoman did not seem perturbed,
"Those pirates couldn't have... How do the humans say... Hit their way out of a paper bag. I have been attempting to come in contact with the leader of the anti-alliance for the past few months. I have been trying to convince them I am on their side, and that was part of my ruse, as well as knowing Admiral Vir was captain Kell. During my investigation it became clear that someone within the UN was involved though I couldn't have said who."
"And why should we believe you aren't just covering your own ass?”
The chairwoman hissed,
”Do you really think I want to make an enemy out of the strongest species in the galaxy!? Not on your life! I am not stupid. Besides, I owe Admiral Vir my life. I admit I have done some irreparable things in order to keep the alliance going, but those moves were calculated, and Vir was always protected.”
[…]
One of the silver UAV's exploded and Red had to dodge to the side to avoid the flying debris. He cut right and then left keeping as fast as he could possibly go as he cut up through the chunks of metal and locked onto the back of a Thunderhawk. There was a sharp click and then a silent explosion which he rolled out of the way to avoid. He had sent one of his men off to make contact with earths forces for backup.
They were good, but these men and women were made for combat, and despite their best work only four out of twenty of them had been destroyed, and their numbers were dwindling fast. He cut right before one of the Thunderhawk’s, forcing it to turn away from the rocket and cut down in another direction. He could only imagine the fear of those inside the rocket as they watched helplessly at the fight raging on around them.
He spun down and under, cutting off another Thunderhawk coming in the opposite direction.
There was no way they were going to keep up with this for long.
Their only chance was earths forces reacting quickly.
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Want to find a specific one, see the whole list or check fanart?
Here is the link to the master-post.
Intro post by me
OC-whole collection
Patreon of the author
Thanks for reading! As you saw in the title, this is a cross posted story written by starrfallknightrise and I'll just upload some of it here for you guys, if you are interested and want to read ahead, the original story-collection can be found on tumblr or wattpad to read for free. (link above this text under "OC:..." ) It is the Empyrean Iris story collection by starfallknightrise. Also, if you want to know more about the story collection i made an intro post about it, so feel free to check that out to see what other great characters to look forward to! (Link also above this text). I have no affiliations to the author; just thought I’d share some of the great stories you might enjoy a lot!
Obviously, I have Charlie’s permission to post this and for the people already knowing the stories, or starting to read them: If you follow the link and check out the story you will see some differences. I made some small (non-artistic) changes, mainly correcting writing mistakes, pronoun correction and some small additional info here and there of things which were not thought of/forgotten or even were added/changed in later stories (like the “USS->UNSC” prefix of Stabby, Chalar=/->Sunny etc). As well as some "biggemajor" changes in descriptions and info’s for the same stringency/continuity reason. That can be explained by the story collection being, well a story collection at the start with many standalone-stories just starring the same people, but later on it gets more to a stringent storyline with backstories and throwbacks. (For example Adam Vir has some HEAVY scars over his body, following his bones, which were not really talked about up till half the collection, where it says it covers his whole body and you find out via backflash that he had them the whole time and how he got them, they just weren't mentioned before. However, I would think a doctor would at least see these scars before that, especially since he gets analyzed, treated and goes shirtless/in T-shirts in some stories). So TLDR: Writing and some descriptions are slightly changed, with full OK from the author, since he himself did not bother to correct these things before.

So, as we all know, the main idea for the Noise Update is that it's a movie based off the events of Peppino's campaign, just with Noise as the protagonist. That was making me wonder, if we ever get Playable Pepperman, Vigilante, Fake Peppino, etc., what would their campaign's plots be?
Notice: This is obviously built off of headcanons, as the game itself leaves a lot up in the air for the protagonist's goals and small bits of their personalities. Although I will keep some of the bigger ones out of it just to make it more realistic (Like, for example, I believe Pizza Tower in Peppino's campaign is actually a show, and Peppino's just that week's contestant, but that's not a very popular headcanon so I won't bring that up in these ideas).
Pepperman:
Pepperman's campaign would be probably a dramatic retelling of Pizza Tower in the form a book. He'll rewrite it to make him the protagonist, as he's perfect and already considers himself the hero (judging off of the art work he does in Floor 2). Speaking of the graffiti in floor 2, Peppino would actually replace Pepperman in his campaign, building off of how he sees Peppino as a big monster.
The Vigilante:
In the credits of Pizza Tower, we see how he's hunting after Pizza Head now (I assumed he was flat broke after a while, which is why he worked with him in Noise's campaign, but I don't know). Anyways, his campaign would be built off of him just imagining taking down Pizza Head while working on Noise's movie. There's not much to say really. All of these concepts are simple as the Noise's concept was simple. Also, for the Vigilante Replacement, I think there was something said about it being "The Outlaw"? I could be confusing a Vigilante Update concept for that though, so don't quote me on it. Either way, it makes sense for this.
The Doise:
As funny as it would be to do every single replacement boss' ideas as well, creating an infinite cycle of "The _____ Update", I think realistically the Doise would be as far as they'd go. Anyways, the main idea is it's Doise's purgatory. He'd probably have actual health in all the levels and act as a "Noise hard mode". I think Peddito would probably replace Pizza Face as well, continuing off of Doise's Purgatory idea. To replace The Doise fight, it'll probably just be the Noise again, as that's who he gets killed by.
Fake Peppino:
Fake Peppino, similar to the Doise, would be kinda a "Peppino Hard Mode", but for different reasons. His campaign would be a prequel actually. To test how effective the tower's levels and fights would be on the real Peppino, he made Fake Peppino to test it all out. At the end of testing, Fake Peppino gets destroyed and a new Fake Peppino (The actual Fake Peppino we fight) gets made to be Boss 4 and Peppino's campaign starts. Anyways, I imagine Fake Peppino would have a health system in all levels, and when dying a new clone would take their place at the beginning of the level. He'd also have all the normal stuff you'd expect from a playable Fake Peppino tho. Ceiling Running and what-not. He wouldn't have a Boss 4 replacement. He'd just fight himself again. I know the idea of a "Fake Fake Peppino" is really funny, but I don't see a reason for it, and I'm sure the devs wouldn't mind not doing it.
Anyways, I'm not doing a playable Pizza Face or Pizza Head, as I can't think of a single reason why they would want to destroy their own tower. So yeah, that's all of my ideas. I'm sure the second I post this I'm going to find a dozen misspelled words and realize all of these ideas are shit so uh... Yeah.

I was born in 1996. to a very unstable mother who had all sorts of childhood trauma and borderline personality disorder as a result. what a ride.
I have an older sister from a different father only 2 years older than me. My mom and her father got divorced. A very messy one.
my father an Irish catholic man who doesn't think emotions exist. he left mom when I was 2. He already had 3 daughters and wife before my mom.
I went into foster care age 2. my sister went to live with her father, who is a wonderful man. my mom was sectioned and my dad disappeared. my mom says it's the worst thing to ever happen to her and she feels guilty about it everyday.
she got me back when I was 4 but my attachments are shattered. my mom met my step dad and things I thought were normal. I was diagnosed with ADHD and always knew something didn't feel quite right. my step dad would often shout at me even burned me with a cigarette on my hand while walking next to me one time, and claims it was an accident and I shouldn't of walked to close to him.
I was gaslit by my mom for years her telling me my childhood wasn't that bad and I was naughty.
My mom was so emotionally absent from me, I think she resents me for causing her so much grief. we never spent any time together, I often was caught in her cycles of abuse and then apologising and trying to over compensate. we fought almost every day. I have two younger brothers from my step dad and they can do no wrong.
I didn't know who my dad was my mom told briefly about him when I started asking questions. I had no idea who I was. Then out of blue my mom magically found my dad again when I was 12 and thought this might magically save our relationship she kept destroying. she started sleeping with him before I could get to know him properly.
I started petulant attempts a suicide.
my dad would punish me and shout at me and one time even psychically abused me. one time I was in hospital for an episode and told me I was just playing games.
I tried to go and live with my aunt once in this abuse cycle. I became off the rails and rebelled against everyone and everything I was pushed around from pillar to post. and eventually went back into foster care. This destroyed me. my worst fear happened. I became mean and angry, in all honesty. but I ave such a good heart.
I became distant from everyone I hated my parents and the whole world. I didn't want to be here. my mom would often call me drunk asking if I wanted to go home, I would baby sit for her trying to get some appreciation and validation and she would just use me and tell me she was going out to AA meetings and shed be meeting different men.
she would often have episodes of being drunk and calling everyone and when I was 23 my sister even told me my mom threatened her with a knife to her neck. which I struggle to come to terms with today.
I started drinking at a young age and partying, getting myself involved with all kids of people that took advantage of me.
after leaving foster care I lived in a half way house for homeless people after one of my friends moms sublet me a place and soon gave up on me for my behaviour and weed smoking with my flat mate in the house.
I met my first proper boyfriend at 19. he kind of clung on to me and some how I fell in love with him. he stuck by me and was my rock through navigating life after foster care. I think it was a place for him to get away from his parents and smoke weed and do graffiti. which I ask him to help me get into.
things go very abusive after we started living together. I had my own flat from the council and let him move in (stupid I know). We were verbally and psychically aggressive towards each other, I was depressed and he told me I made him feel like less of a man.
he saw me self harm. I hate myself for this.
we broke up. and I had a break down. I admitted myself to hospital multiple times. I knew I couldn't keep living like this after being on benefits and having dead end jobs. I trained as a hairdressing something I said id never do as my mom did it for a while but I was convinced id be more of a woman that she ever was.
I was a good hairdresser. I still am. I really tuned my life around. I moved out my council flat. bounced around a little bit. trying too find my feet still.
had a few rocky unstable relationships, many anti depressants and failed attempts at finding therapy.
I moved to London after covid to pursue a better hair career than in my home city. however I got bored and dated too many coworkers. ah yes the self destructive patterns persist.
I didn't speak to my mom for 7 years and even longer with my dad after I walked out of his wedding. cause I had a panic attack. my three older sisters were there that ive never met.
I did something extraordinary, I went to uni. I now study fashion. im now in my first year.and im finally financially table enough that ive now been in therapy for 6 months. I write this im now discovering who I am. and I may in fact have BPD myself now, I show many traits as you might of picked up. and struggle with relationships, substances and identity disturbance.
im on journey of self discovery and trying to shake this sense of entitlement and victimhood my childhood has given me. I speak to my mom again however she won't do therapy with me and Im now learning to set some boundaries with her. My dad could be on another planet. good news I guess.
me and my sister have always been close although at times our relationship is very strained due to my bpd traits. and her feeling like she needs to overcompensate because of my mom. I even often resented her for having her father support her unconditionally. she often resents me cause she feels like she has had to mother me :(
Im currently thinking to go to an AA meeting because the shame I feel after drinking is huge even if I didn't do anything that bad. just get blackout every time. in therapy im learning to handle my emotions better. and let go of old trauma. Im realising all my resentments and working through them! if it wasn't for therapy I don't think I could even write this.
I can see myself becoming just like my mother if things don't change. I will end the cycle. im just learning to sit with all the ugly truths about myself that are my defence mechanisms from trauma.
its okay to not be okay. people will still love me even if I have emotions. not everything will result in abandonment.
thank you for taking the time to read my story.

Proof: https://imgur.com/a/Y4o3JTZ
I am not a professional grader. My own grade estimates have been provided for ease of viewing, but please judge for yourself based on photos. I take photos in the harshest light possible so all defects are visible. Feel free to ask for additional photos/videos. Ground advantage ships for $5-10 depending on weight, priority for $10-15.
Venmo, CashApp, PPFF, PPGS (+3.5%, only considered for large transactions)
GOLD: https://imgur.com/a/DCrj7aI
Austria “1915” (1915-1936) Gold Proof 4 Ducats NGC PF67 Cameo: $1750
1894 $10 Gold Eagle: SOLD
Banknotes: https://imgur.com/a/DnuRX9f
1862 Legal Tender $1 Bill (first US $1 bill!) ~VF in my opinion, no tears: $620
1899 Black Eagle Silver Cert: SOLD
USA Silver: https://imgur.com/a/WeFD5N7
1935 Connecticut Commemorative Half Dollar MS with attractive toning: SOLD
1874 CC Trade Dollar Chopmarked ~VF: $650
3x 2012 W ASE PCGS PR70DCAM John Mercanti Hand Signed Label First Strike: $125 each
2013 ASE PCGS MS70 John Mercanti Hand Signed Label First Strike: $70
SLABBED SILVER CROWN SIZE: https://imgur.com/a/VXA6jeh
Japan 1903 1 Yen (M36) Dragon NGC MS62: $415
China 1908 Chihli Province Dragon Silver Dollar LM-465 PCGS VF Detail “Graffiti”. Graffiti is extremely hard to find, does not impact attractiveness of coin IMO: $400
China 1914 Silver Fatman Dollar NGC UNC Details Obv Scratched. This is an excellent coin other than the scratch with tons of luster: $390
China 1927 Sun Yat Sen Memento Silver Dollar NGC MS61: $320
China 1927 Sun Yat Sen Memento Silver Dollar NGC MS62: $370
Tibet 1911-33 1 Rupee PCGS VF Detail Scratch: $240
Mongolia 1925 (AH15) 1 Tugrik PCGS MS61: $625
1908A French Indochina Trade Dollar (1 Piastre de Commerce) NGC AU55: $190
1920 Straits Settlements Silver Dollar NGC MS62: $400
CHINA Raw Silver: https://imgur.com/a/i2xHwl5
1921 Fatman Dollar AU: $150
Fatman Dollar 1914 (obv scratched): $90
Fatman Dollar 1914 (AU/BU Cleaned): $145
1932 China Yunnan Province 50 Cents: $60
1910 China Manchurian Province 20 Fen Silver Dragon: SOLD
1913(?) China Manchurian Province 20 Fen Silver Dragon: SOLD
1989 China 50 Yuan 5 Oz Silver Proof Panda: $275
1990 China 50 Yuan 5 Oz Silver Proof Panda: $340
1992 China 50 Yuan 5 Oz Silver Proof Olympic Runners: $275
JAPAN Raw Silver Meiji: https://imgur.com/a/2hBQKRy
1912 1 Yen Low MS: SOLD
1903 1 Yen Mid MS: SOLD
1905 50 Sen MS: SOLD
1905 1 Yen XF: SOLD
1903 1 Yen MS (maybe cleaned): SOLD
1903 1 Yen MS: $140
OTHER WORLD Raw Crown Size+: https://imgur.com/a/1HuNovf
1723 Russia 1 Rouble Peter the Great VF. IMO this coin retains original surfaces and should straight grade, but I’m impatient: SOLD
1830 Italian States Sardinia 5 Lire BU Cleaned: $150
1738 Mexico City “Pillar Dollar” 8 Reales VF/XF damaged (rim damage, a few gouges, but no corrosion like is seen in many of these examples): $425
1907 Straits Settlements 1 Dollar: SOLD
1896 8 reales Mexico harshly cleaned: $50
1932 1 Peso Mexico: SOLD

Proof: https://imgur.com/a/xvsJNwv
I am not a professional grader. My own grade estimates have been provided for ease of viewing, but please judge for yourself based on photos. I take photos in the harshest light possible so all defects are visible. Feel free to ask for additional photos/videos. Ground advantage ships for $5-10 depending on weight, priority for $10-15.
Venmo, CashApp, PPFF, PPGS (+3.5%, only considered for large transactions)
GOLD: https://imgur.com/a/DCrj7aI
Austria “1915” (1915-1936) Gold Proof 4 Ducats NGC PF67 Cameo: $1750
1894 $10 Gold Eagle: SOLD
USA Silver: https://imgur.com/a/WeFD5N7
1935 Connecticut Commemorative Half Dollar MS with attractive toning: $230
1874 CC Trade Dollar Chopmarked ~VF: $625
3x 2012 W ASE PCGS PR70DCAM John Mercanti Hand Signed Label First Strike: $125 each
2013 ASE PCGS MS70 John Mercanti Hand Signed Label First Strike: $70
SLABBED SILVER CROWN SIZE: https://imgur.com/a/VXA6jeh
Japan 1903 1 Yen (M36) Dragon NGC MS62: $415
China 1908 Chihli Province Dragon Silver Dollar LM-465 PCGS VF Detail “Graffiti”. Graffiti is extremely hard to find, does not impact attractiveness of coin IMO: $400
China 1914 Silver Fatman Dollar NGC UNC Details Obv Scratched. This is an excellent coin other than the scratch with tons of luster: $390
China 1927 Sun Yat Sen Memento Silver Dollar NGC MS61: $320
China 1927 Sun Yat Sen Memento Silver Dollar NGC MS62: $370
Tibet 1911-33 1 Rupee PCGS VF Detail Scratch: $240
Mongolia 1925 (AH15) 1 Tugrik PCGS MS61: $625
1908A French Indochina Trade Dollar (1 Piastre de Commerce) NGC AU55: $190
1920 Straits Settlements Silver Dollar NGC MS62: $400
CHINA Raw Silver: https://imgur.com/a/i2xHwl5
1921 Fatman Dollar AU: $150
Fatman Dollar 1914 (obv scratched): $90
Fatman Dollar 1914 (AU/BU Cleaned): $145
1932 China Yunnan Province 50 Cents: $60
1910 China Manchurian Province 20 Fen Silver Dragon: SOLD
1913(?) China Manchurian Province 20 Fen Silver Dragon: SOLD
1989 China 50 Yuan 5 Oz Silver Proof Panda: $275
1990 China 50 Yuan 5 Oz Silver Proof Panda: $340
1992 China 50 Yuan 5 Oz Silver Proof Olympic Runners: $275
JAPAN Raw Silver Meiji: https://imgur.com/a/2hBQKRy
1912 1 Yen Low MS: SOLD
1903 1 Yen Mid MS: SOLD
1905 50 Sen MS: SOLD
1905 1 Yen XF: SOLD
1903 1 Yen MS (maybe cleaned): SOLD
1903 1 Yen MS: $140
OTHER WORLD Raw Crown Size+: https://imgur.com/a/1HuNovf
1723 Russia 1 Rouble Peter the Great VF. IMO this coin retains original surfaces and should straight grade, but I’m impatient: SOLD
1830 Italian States Sardinia 5 Lire BU Cleaned: $150
1738 Mexico City “Pillar Dollar” 8 Reales VF/XF damaged (rim damage, a few gouges, but no corrosion like is seen in many of these examples): $425
1907 Straits Settlements 1 Dollar: SOLD
1896 8 reales Mexico harshly cleaned: $50
1932 1 Peso Mexico: $11 (just above spot)

“It’s good to be good for when you lose your place in reality” - you think at a theme park for adults called “Fun Etc” and as you lose your place in reality
“I’m good” you say
Pretty much right off the bat (whatever that means) you and a few others get stuck in the Tunnel of Love and have gone around so many times now
You’re the only one in the swan who begins freaking out at like the 50th revelation
Eventually you calm down and commence to wonder about the logistics of how the things around you worked and if there’s a way out
Some graffiti you spot reads:
“The phrase: “I would say” - no king has ever said
I have not today yet until tomorrow it becomes”
I’ve embraced my own weird way to fail that is very successful and fun and totally my own thing
It’s a long sandy lot of a lot of work that’s no fun for anyone but me
And you know
Sometimes you get athletes foot and you can’t even touch your toes but…
She’s a beaut
She’s of a generation that never wrote a check or bothered with cursive and she doesn’t know a thing about romance
The girl with the favorite laugh
The girl with the Swiss Army Knife
The girl that no one knows smokes cloves
The girl of licking Greek fire
And you can forget the word “no” in a moment with her and all you can say is: “yes” in every language
Yes in an echo chamber
Yes in a tunnel of love
Yes but only in theory
I should have said yes dear
I should have said:
“Whatever the lady wants”
For now I can’t carry this face that
wasn’t wronged by the world
but that did wrong by it to you
I want off this ride and me and a few others
Are busting or do you say “breaking” out?
I dispersed all the soil through a hole in my pocket already yesterday
I gently placed my thoughts in a blue bandana and went for it
But alas!
There was no purchase on the ravine wall to be had
Thus I stayed low as the water
Was as the ferns high on whatever they put in my body
Was drunk like a red-ass monkey that gorged on fermented red pears
Some folks buy a car and hope to pass 300,000 miles
But instead when I get one, I think:
“How soon can I get out of this thing?”
By about the 124th revelation I came around and resolved to no longer count
And we went around again and again more
And I laughed knee-slappin’ hard with the others at the same one joke each time around and the jump-scare near the end Golly-gosh gets me like literally E’ry time

To be upfront, I'm not from the US, so maybe there really are people and places like in Gilmore Girls, and maybe I'm totally wrong! But at least in the UK, I can't imagine anything even close to the universe of GG. Also, I've not been on this subreddit long, so I'm sorry if this is rehashing points that other people have made already.
Ok...
I'm on my first rewatch as an adult, and I so firmly believe that the original series is how Rory wrote her book from AYITL. It's a combination of "starry eyed naïve childhood memories" and "glossing over the bad life stuff". Every character and setting is a complete caricature and fictionalised version of real people/places, and it just seems it all belongs on paper and make believe!
....
Rory - it's not enough to be a decent, hardworking kid, you have to be the town's darling and be the best and most intelligent kid EVER.
Lorelai - it's not enough to be a decent young/single parent, you have to be the coolest and most understanding and perfect parent.
Lane - you can't just like music, you have to love music and be all about music.
Paris - you can't just be ambitious, you have to be the ambitious to the point that you do nothing else and enjoy nothing else and work towards nothing else.
Sookie - you can't just be a chef, but you have to be over the top and extremely fussy about your ingredients and menus, and you make ridiculous dishes at the drop of a hat.
Every student - absolutely lives for education and is extremely intense about learning and extra curriculars.
Every Stars Hollow resident - loves the town more than anything else, is a perfect neighbour, cares extremely deeply about town matters.
Kirk - I don't even need to go into Kirk 😅 I feel like he's just an combination of every background person in town who doesn't become a main character in the book.
Chilton - no school is that intense, and children do not enjoy studying that hard or that long. (To be fair, I was not privately educated, so I'm taking a guess. But 16 year olds are probably not that enthusiastic to this extent.)
Stars Hollow - an entire town that knows eachother, has constant seasonal town events, never has any real problems (destructive graffiti, violence, teen pregnancy, abuse), and is just too quaint....?
....
In terms of "glossing over the bad stuff"... (Although, all props to a character who got pregnant as a teen and raised a daughter all by herself - I don't hate her, although writing all this out makes it sound like I do 😅)
They used to live in a potting shed. In the show, it's very cute and quaint, but in real life - they were probably right on the poverty line and suffered quite a lot.
Lorelai doesn't cook or prioritise good nutrition, and opts to order in or go out. It's not a stretch to see how a young girl would romanticise this as fun and exciting, and how great it is that they get to eat pizza every night.
Times where Rory was "so excited" to do her own laundry, or Lorelai hadn't done any of the washing/shopping - in the show, it's funny and endearing, and "isn't Rory such a good girl). In real life, it's not a positive point - Rory probably had to grow up very young and "learned" to enjoy doing chores. And also manages to never blame her mother for leaving this things to her. (Lorelai is still young in the OS, and it's not bonkers that she wants to go out and have fun and be carefree, since she couldn't do it when Rory was a baby.)
Rory cheats on pretty much every boyfriend she has, but in the OS show(/book) she never really comes across as the bad guy. Only in AYITL does she come across as kind of a dick for it, and finally meets some consequences.
Lane gets a pretty crap ending in the OS (Justice for Lane), but never seems to mind that she gave up on her long time dreams/aspirations. But it would make sense that Rory writes her as not seeming to mind, and seems happy on the outside.
....
Having the OS be a fiction and based on Rory's book would also account for inconsistencies in the timeline, and makes up for changes in people's characters. It's all about how Rory sees it, and how Rory sees people - and considering how entitled and spoiled she is in AYITL, it's not crazy to think that she never really pays attention to other people lives.
....
Ok, this was a really long post.

I was born in 1996. to a very unstable mother who had all sorts of childhood trauma and borderline personality disorder as a result. what a ride.
I have an older sister from a different father only 2 years older than me. MY mom and her father got divorced. A very messy one.
my father an Irish catholic man who doesn't think emotions exist. he left mom when I was 2. He already had 3 daughters and wife before my mom.
I went into foster care age 2. my sister went to live with her father, who is a wonderful man. my mom was sectioned and my dad disappeared. my mom says it's the worst thing to ever happen to her and she feels guilty about it everyday.
she got me back when I was 4 but my attachments are shattered. my mom met my step dad and things I thought were normal. I was diagnosed with ADHD and always knew something didn't feel quite right. my step dad would often shout at me even burned me with a cigarette on my hand while walking next to me one time, and claims it was an accident and I shouldn't of walked to close to him.
I was gaslit by my mom for years her telling me my childhood wasn't that bad and I was naughty.
My mom was so emotionally absent from me, I think she resents me for causing her so much grief. we never spent any time together, I often was caught in her cycles of abuse and then apologising and trying to over compensate. we fought almost every day. I have two younger brothers from my step dad and they can do no wrong.
I didn't know who my dad was my mom told briefly about him when I started asking questions. I had no idea who I was. Then out of blue my mom magically found my dad again when I was 12 and thought this might magically save our relationship she kept destroying. she started sleeping with him before I could get to know him properly.
I started petulant attempts a suicide.
my dad would punish me and shout at me and one time even psychically abused me. one time I was in hospital for an episode and told me I was just playing games.
I tried to go and live with my aunt once in this abuse cycle. I became off the rails and rebelled against everyone and everything I was pushed around from pillar to post. and eventually went back into foster care. This destroyed me. my worst fear happened. I became mean and angry, in all honesty. but I ave such a good heart.
I became distant from everyone I hated my parents and the whole world. I didn't want to be here. my mom would often call me drunk asking if I wanted to go home, I would baby sit for her trying to get some appreciation and validation and she would just use me and tell me she was going out to AA meetings and shed be meeting different men.
she would often have episodes of being drunk and calling everyone and when I was 23 my sister even told me my mom threatened her with a knife to her neck. which I struggle to come to terms with today.
I started drinking at a young age and partying, getting myself involved with all kids of people that took advantage of me.
after leaving foster care I lived in a half way house for homeless people after one of my friends moms sublet me a place and soon gave up on me for my behaviour and weed smoking with my flat mate in the house.
I met my first proper boyfriend at 19. he kind of clung on to me and some how I fell in love with him. he stuck by me and was my rock through navigating life after foster care. I think it was a place for him to get away from his parents and smoke weed and do graffiti. which I ask him to help me get into.
things go very abusive after we started living together. I had my own flat from the council and let him move in (stupid I know). We were verbally and psychically aggressive towards each other, I was depressed and he told me I made him feel like less of a man.
he saw me self harm. I hate myself for this.
we broke up. and I had a break down. I admitted myself to hospital multiple times. I knew I couldn't keep living like this after being on benefits and having dead end jobs. I trained as a hairdressing something I said id never do as my mom did it for a while but I was convinced id be more of a woman that she ever was.
I was a good hairdresser. I still am. I really tuned my life around. I moved out my council flat. bounced around a little bit. trying too find my feet still.
had a few rocky unstable relationships, many anti depressants and failed attempts at finding therapy.
I moved to London after covid to pursue a better hair career than in my home city. however I got bored and dated too many coworkers. ah yes the self destructive patterns persist.
I didn't speak to my mom for 7 years and even longer with my dad after I walked out of his wedding. cause I had a panic attack. my three older sisters were there that ive never met.
I did something extraordinary, I went to uni. I now study fashion. im now in my first year.and im finally financially table enough that ive now been in therapy for 6 months. I write this im now discovering who I am. and I may in fact have BPD myself now, I show many traits as you might of picked up. and struggle with relationships, substances and identity disturbance.
im on journey of self discovery and trying to shake this sense of entitlement and victimhood my childhood has given me. I speak to my mom again however she won't do therapy with me and Im now learning to set some boundaries with her. My dad could be on another planet. good news I guess.
me and my sister have always been close although at times our relationship is very strained due to my bpd traits. and her feeling like she needs to overcompensate because of my mom. I even often resented her for having her father support her unconditionally. she often resents me cause she feels like she has had to mother me :(
Im currently thinking to go to an AA meeting because the shame I feel after drinking is huge even if I didn't do anything that bad. just get blackout every time. in therapy im learning to handle my emotions better. and let go of old trauma. Im realising all my resentments and working through them! if it wasn't for therapy I don't think I could even write this.
I can see myself becoming just like my mother if things don't change. I will end the cycle. im just learning to sit with all the ugly truths about myself that are my defence mechanisms from trauma.
its okay to not be okay. people will still love me even if I have emotions. not everything will result in abandonment.
thank you for taking the time to read my story.

I was born in 1996. to a very unstable mother who had all sorts of childhood trauma and borderline personality disorder as a result. what a ride.
I have an older sister from a different father only 2 years older than me. My mom and her father got divorced. A very messy one.
my father an Irish catholic man who doesn't think emotions exist. he left mom when I was 2. He already had 3 daughters and wife before my mom.
I went into foster care age 2. my sister went to live with her father, who is a wonderful man. my mom was sectioned and my dad disappeared. my mom says it's the worst thing to ever happen to her and she feels guilty about it everyday.
she got me back when I was 4 but my attachments are shattered. my mom met my step dad and things I thought were normal. I was diagnosed with ADHD and always knew something didn't feel quite right. my step dad would often shout at me even burned me with a cigarette on my hand while walking next to me one time, and claims it was an accident and I shouldn't of walked to close to him.
I was gaslit by my mom for years her telling me my childhood wasn't that bad and I was naughty.
My mom was so emotionally absent from me, I think she resents me for causing her so much grief. we never spent any time together, I often was caught in her cycles of abuse and then apologising and trying to over compensate. we fought almost every day. I have two younger brothers from my step dad and they can do no wrong.
I didn't know who my dad was my mom told briefly about him when I started asking questions. I had no idea who I was. Then out of blue my mom magically found my dad again when I was 12 and thought this might magically save our relationship she kept destroying. she started sleeping with him before I could get to know him properly.
I started petulant attempts a suicide.
my dad would punish me and shout at me and one time even psychically abused me. one time I was in hospital for an episode and told me I was just playing games.
I tried to go and live with my aunt once in this abuse cycle. I became off the rails and rebelled against everyone and everything I was pushed around from pillar to post. and eventually went back into foster care. This destroyed me. my worst fear happened. I became mean and angry, in all honesty. but I ave such a good heart.
I became distant from everyone I hated my parents and the whole world. I didn't want to be here. my mom would often call me drunk asking if I wanted to go home, I would baby sit for her trying to get some appreciation and validation and she would just use me and tell me she was going out to AA meetings and shed be meeting different men.
she would often have episodes of being drunk and calling everyone and when I was 23 my sister even told me my mom threatened her with a knife to her neck. which I struggle to come to terms with today.
I started drinking at a young age and partying, getting myself involved with all kids of people that took advantage of me.
after leaving foster care I lived in a half way house for homeless people after one of my friends moms sublet me a place and soon gave up on me for my behaviour and weed smoking with my flat mate in the house.
I met my first proper boyfriend at 19. he kind of clung on to me and some how I fell in love with him. he stuck by me and was my rock through navigating life after foster care. I think it was a place for him to get away from his parents and smoke weed and do graffiti. which I ask him to help me get into.
things go very abusive after we started living together. I had my own flat from the council and let him move in (stupid I know). We were verbally and psychically aggressive towards each other, I was depressed and he told me I made him feel like less of a man.
he saw me self harm. I hate myself for this.
we broke up. and I had a break down. I admitted myself to hospital multiple times. I knew I couldn't keep living like this after being on benefits and having dead end jobs. I trained as a hairdressing something I said id never do as my mom did it for a while but I was convinced id be more of a woman that she ever was.
I was a good hairdresser. I still am. I really tuned my life around. I moved out my council flat. bounced around a little bit. trying too find my feet still.
had a few rocky unstable relationships, many anti depressants and failed attempts at finding therapy.
I moved to London after covid to pursue a better hair career than in my home city. however I got bored and dated too many coworkers. ah yes the self destructive patterns persist.
I didn't speak to my mom for 7 years and even longer with my dad after I walked out of his wedding. cause I had a panic attack. my three older sisters were there that ive never met.
I did something extraordinary, I went to uni. I now study fashion. im now in my first year.and im finally financially table enough that ive now been in therapy for 6 months. I write this im now discovering who I am. and I may in fact have BPD myself now, I show many traits as you might of picked up. and struggle with relationships, substances and identity disturbance.
im on journey of self discovery and trying to shake this sense of entitlement and victimhood my childhood has given me. I speak to my mom again however she won't do therapy with me and Im now learning to set some boundaries with her. My dad could be on another planet. good news I guess.
me and my sister have always been close although at times our relationship is very strained due to my bpd traits. and her feeling like she needs to overcompensate because of my mom. I even often resented her for having her father support her unconditionally. she often resents me cause she feels like she has had to mother me :(
Im currently thinking to go to an AA meeting because the shame I feel after drinking is huge even if I didn't do anything that bad. just get blackout every time. in therapy im learning to handle my emotions better. and let go of old trauma. Im realising all my resentments and working through them! if it wasn't for therapy I don't think I could even write this.
I can see myself becoming just like my mother if things don't change. I will end the cycle. im just learning to sit with all the ugly truths about myself that are my defence mechanisms from trauma.
its okay to not be okay. people will still love me even if I have emotions. not everything will result in abandonment.
thank you for taking the time to read my story.

I own 2 myself and play them every day, but I honestly couldn't tell you how they work. I'm a dumb dumb. There could be tiny chimpanzees inside of my Razer, jumping around and pressing buttons when I input a command as far as I know.
My question is, how hard is to build one yourself? I see you guys with all these badass customs and it blows my mind. I wouldn't know where to start. How long does it take you guys to learn? Is it difficult? What tools/parts do you need besides a soldering gun?
I'm a graffiti artist and I have some really cool ideas for cases, and I'd love to try them out. I feel like I would really enjoy this hobby, seems like a great way to clutter up my garage even more.
Thanks ahead of time for any responses, help and advice

There is something that seems to be following me: It will be in articles in the morning, as I drink my tea. Wherever I am, it finds its way there. Graffiti, movies, the man at the coffee shop, pleading with his lady, as he squirms in his chair.
This phrase follows me like animal herds, the phrase, "Actions speak louder than words." It feels pretty cliché, but it's always accompanied by Three Little Birds.
You understand those symbols, and what they mean. You genuinely smile at my stories, with those majestic eyes, and I realize I've never felt so seen. And the passion I feel, when I get to validate the unseen. The love, insight, connection; the only gift that comes from indescribable grief.
But lately our connection feels so strained. Is this the natural flow of life and relationships, or my fearful, reactive brain? The message seems to be, it's not words, it's the actions. I just don't know what's real right now. I don't even understand my own reactions. Look, in case you're concerned, my self worth is not dependent on you. But I do care when you express yourself, that you're speaking your truth.
Lately, life feels like a game of "Wheel of Fortune." Will the tick land on the love, once all encompassing, but now unraveling, and done? Could it land on love that has beat all odds, and now has no reason to run?
It's hard to say- Your past shows genuine love and care for so many years. Your actions as of lately, they have left me gasping for air, drowning in tears.
So, I chose to reread the whole story. Despite how you might feel right now, it's unjust not to recognize; you, me, us. Our achievements, the glory!
It's hard to imagine our story ends here. I know sometimes love means letting go. However, let me be very clear- The decades of time in each other's lives, healing, stories, laughs, tears.
When I'm nearing the day of my death, right before I take my last breath; I'll remember your essence and feel your presence. I'm honored you'll be the final reminder of all my lessons.
We will always be eternally intertwined.

There is something that seems to be following me: It will be in articles in the morning, as I drink my tea. Wherever I am, it finds its way there. Graffiti, movies, the man at the coffee shop, pleading with his lady, as he squirms in his chair.
This phrase follows me like animal herds, the phrase, "Actions speak louder than words." It feels pretty cliché, but it's always accompanied by Three Little Birds.
You understand those symbols, and what they mean. You genuinely smile at my stories, with those majestic eyes, and I realize I've never felt so seen. And the passion I feel, when I get to validate the unseen. The love, insight, connection; the only gift that comes from indescribable grief.
But lately our connection feels so strained. Is this the natural flow of life and relationships, or my fearful, reactive brain? The message seems to be, it's not words, it's the actions. I just don't know what's real right now. I don't even understand my own reactions. Look, in case you're concerned, my self worth is not dependent on you. But I do care when you express yourself, that you're speaking your truth.
Lately, life feels like a game of "Wheel of Fortune." Will the tick land on the love, once all encompassing, but now unraveling, and done? Could it land on love that has beat all odds, and now has no reason to run?
It's hard to say- Your past shows genuine love and care for so many years. Your actions as of lately, they have left me gasping for air, drowning in tears.
So, I chose to reread the whole story. Despite how you might feel right now, it's unjust not to recognize; you, me, us. Our achievements, the glory!
It's hard to imagine our story ends here. I know sometimes love means letting go. However, let me be very clear- The decades of time in each other's lives, healing, stories, laughs, tears.
When I'm nearing the day of my death, right before I take my last breath; I'll remember your essence and feel your presence. I'm honored you'll be the final reminder of all my lessons.
We will always be eternally intertwined.

There is something that seems to be following me: It will be in articles in the morning, as I drink my tea. Wherever I am, it finds its way there. Graffiti, movies, the man at the coffee shop, pleading with his lady, as he squirms in his chair.
This phrase follows me like animal herds, the phrase, "Actions speak louder than words." It feels pretty cliché, but it's always accompanied by Three Little Birds.
You understand those symbols, and what they mean. You genuinely smile at my stories, with those majestic eyes, and I realize I've never felt so seen. And the passion I feel, when I get to validate the unseen. The love, insight, connection; the only gift that comes from indescribable grief.
But lately our connection feels so strained. Is this the natural flow of life and relationships, or my fearful, reactive brain? The message seems to be, it's not words, it's the actions. I just don't know what's real right now. I don't even understand my own reactions. Look, in case you're concerned, my self worth is not dependent on you. But I do care when you express yourself, that you're speaking your truth.
Lately, life feels like a game of "Wheel of Fortune." Will the tick land on the love, once all encompassing, but now unraveling, and done? Could it land on love that has beat all odds, and now has no reason to run?
It's hard to say- Your past shows genuine love and care for so many years. Your actions as of lately, they have left me gasping for air, drowning in tears.
So, I chose to reread the whole story. Despite how you might feel right now, it's unjust not to recognize; you, me, us. Our achievements, the glory!
It's hard to imagine our story ends here. I know sometimes love means letting go. However, let me be very clear- The decades of time in each other's lives, healing, stories, laughs, tears.
When I'm nearing the day of my death, right before I take my last breath; I'll remember your essence and feel your presence. I'm honored you'll be the final reminder of all my lessons.
We will always be eternally intertwined.

There is something that seems to be following me: It will be in articles in the morning, as I drink my tea. Wherever I am, it finds its way there. Graffiti, movies, the man at the coffee shop, pleading with his lady, as he squirms in his chair.
This phrase follows me like animal herds, the phrase, "Actions speak louder than words." It feels pretty cliché, but it's always accompanied by Three Little Birds.
You understand those symbols, and what they mean. You genuinely smile at my stories, with those majestic eyes, and I realize I've never felt so seen. And the passion I feel, when I get to validate the unseen. The love, insight, connection; the only gift that comes from indescribable grief.
But lately our connection feels so strained. Is this the natural flow of life and relationships, or my fearful, reactive brain? The message seems to be, it's not words, it's the actions. I just don't know what's real right now. I don't even understand my own reactions. Look, in case you're concerned, my self worth is not dependent on you. But I do care when you express yourself, that you're speaking your truth.
Lately, life feels like a game of "Wheel of Fortune." Will the tick land on the love, once all encompassing, but now unraveling, and done? Could it land on love that has beat all odds, and now has no reason to run?
It's hard to say- Your past shows genuine love and care for so many years. Your actions as of lately, they have left me gasping for air, drowning in tears.
So, I chose to reread the whole story. Despite how you might feel right now, it's unjust not to recognize; you, me, us. Our achievements, the glory!
It's hard to imagine our story ends here. I know sometimes love means letting go. However, let me be very clear- The decades of time in each other's lives, healing, stories, laughs, tears.
When I'm nearing the day of my death, right before I take my last breath; I'll remember your essence and feel your presence. I'm honored you'll be the final reminder of all my lessons.
We will always be eternally intertwined.

There is something that seems to be following me: It will be in articles in the morning, as I drink my tea. Wherever I am, it finds its way there. Graffiti, movies, the man at the coffee shop, pleading with his lady, as he squirms in his chair.
This phrase follows me like animal herds, the phrase, "Actions speak louder than words." It feels pretty cliché, but it's always accompanied by Three Little Birds.
You understand those symbols, and what they mean. You genuinely smile at my stories, with those majestic eyes, and I realize I've never felt so seen. And the passion I feel, when I get to validate the unseen. The love, insight, connection; the only gift that comes from indescribable grief.
But lately our connection feels so strained. Is this the natural flow of life and relationships, or my fearful, reactive brain? The message seems to be, it's not words, it's the actions. I just don't know what's real right now. I don't even understand my own reactions. Look, in case you're concerned, my self worth is not dependent on you. But I do care when you express yourself, that you're speaking your truth.
Lately, life feels like a game of "Wheel of Fortune." Will the tick land on the love, once all encompassing, but now unraveling, and done? Could it land on love that has beat all odds, and now has no reason to run?
It's hard to say- Your past shows genuine love and care for so many years. Your actions as of lately, they have left me gasping for air, drowning in tears.
So, I chose to reread the whole story. Despite how you might feel right now, it's unjust not to recognize; you, me, us. Our achievements, the glory!
It's hard to imagine our story ends here. I know sometimes love means letting go. However, let me be very clear- The decades of time in each other's lives, healing, stories, laughs, tears.
When I'm nearing the day of my death, right before I take my last breath;
I'll remember your essence and feel your presence. I'm honored you'll be the final reminder of all my lessons.
We will always be eternally intertwined. I really hope that you don't mind. ☺️