I have heard some talk here that the Chinese Zen Masters didn’t talk about meditation. That seemed a little unbelievable to me, so I checked it out. I left Dogen out because he seems triggering to some on this subject.
Chinese Zen masters have written extensively about meditation and its practice. Here are just a few examples:
Huangbo Xiyun (9th century): "When sitting in meditation, do not think about good or evil. At that moment, what is your original face before your parents were born?" (The Zen Teachings of Huang Po, John Blofeld)
Hongzhi Zhengjue (12th century): "Silently sitting alone and casting off all affairs, I leave no traces, but continue on forever. The clear moon of enlightenment shines brightly; the wind of compassion gently blows." (Cultivating the Empty Field, Taigen Dan Leighton)
Huineng (6th century): "Just sit in meditation, and let go of all thoughts. Do not dwell in the past or anticipate the future. Your mind will then be in true meditation, free from all attachments." (The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch, Red Pine)
Guoan Shiyuan (13th century): "Meditation is like refining gold. It purifies the mind, allowing it to shine with wisdom and compassion. Through continuous practice, one can realize their true nature." (The Blue Cliff Record, Thomas Cleary)
Wumen Huikai (13th century): "When sitting in meditation, do not seek anything. Just be present, aware of each breath and each moment. In this stillness, the mind becomes clear, and wisdom naturally arises." (The Gateless Gate, Katsuki Sekida)
These quotes emphasize the importance of letting go of thoughts, being present, and experiencing the true nature of the mind through meditation.
They demonstrate that meditation has always been a core practice of Zen.

Hi all!! I recently inherited a roughly 30x40 foot greenhouse!! I’m still considering what to put in. Rather than filling it with a bunch of plants, I want to try to turn it into a miniature butterfly garden! I know my must haves so far are dwarf fugi apples, hydrangeas, and some kind of climbing, thronless rose. I plan to grow maintaining a 7-8 zone in my greenhouse and all these plants (as far as my research has gone) do very well in that area and with their different idea sun conditions, they seem to compliment each other well. I’m pretty much game for any other suggestions you might have! My favorite colors are blue, pink, red, and purple! Not a huge fan of orange, and yellow.
Now here’s the fun part. I really want butterflies in my garden (I know they aren’t the best pollinators out there, but what they miss on, I’ll be manually doing with a feather duster or just by tapping). And in my state, I can purchase eggs! How many butterflies might I need to maintain a steady population? I like any kind of butterfly, but painted ladies are native to my area and are abundant for sale on the internet. Thank you all for your help and suggestions :)

Hello Collectors! Posting a small collection to sell for the people!
Selling only to U.S. using Media Mail, all prices are shipped, please comment before PM or Chat! Questions welcome :)
2022 VILL4IN Supporters Package NM- $85- This comes with 7 LPs and one 7" release. This will not come with any of the included extras outside of the OBI strips (Magazine, Cards, Etc). This is just the records and the strips already placed. Nothing was played and was just kept on display for a while before being put into a shelf. Package includes-

• Secretflowers – Zero Point Redux
• Project Lazarus – Ц​В​Е​Т​О​М​У​З​Ы​К​А
• Mathbonus – Inner Circle
• C1PH3R – R3NEG4DE.EXE
• wuso 命 – Lonely Streets
• KAGAMI Smile – Dream Fragment
• iSorin – Neon Tundra
• ExMemory – Lifecycles

Second is my Undertale Boxset for $100- NM never played and only opened to view inserts. Mint on all other accounts.
Luxury Elite, Saintpepsi ‎– Late Night Delight Clwb Fflamingo Edition- (NM) $250- The outer box has small scrapes from shipping, however the inner sleeves of the actual records are Mint. This is number 21/50 of the set. Only the very first gold record was ever played, everything else in the box has been left untouched since the day i received.
Olivia Rodrigo- Bad Idea Right? & Vampire- NM- $50- Played each once and then put them away. Only have one mailer so wanted to bundle these and price them well.

It is a man, old and scraggy. He wears a jacket that lays over the red plaid button shirt and blue jeans. He wears an old baseball cap and a pair of glasses. He yelled something to Dad, holding his hands up like he was pleading, although we couldn’t hear it over the truck engine. They talked, but we couldn’t hear what they were saying.
“Hey, what are they saying”, I asked, while petting Matt’s hair, calming him. The old man then put his hands down and came close to Dad in a cautious way. They seem to start having some kind of conversation.
“I don’t really know, hopefully, something good”, Mom answered. They talked for a little while, with daylight beginning to disappear, giving us a sense of dread, and making me more worried about what weird creature was going to show up. Eventually, the old man turned and pointed toward what I think is the northeast. They then shook hands and walked back to their respective vehicles. “What’s going on”, Mom asked as Dad got into the truck.
“Well, our new friend here invited us to dinner at his farm”, Dad replied.
“Does he have supplies?”
“Well, he says has supplies for us to make the journey.”
“Should we even trust him? We just met h-”
“Relax, he’s just an old man, living alone at his farm, feeding his cows. What could go wrong”, Dad countered. The old man then entered the truck that was running and drove slowly, expecting us to follow him.
“Alrighty then, but we have to be cautious”, Mom said, with her suspicions of the old man. We then followed the old truck along the dark, frozen road. It just feels like something is going to show up along the road, but nothing happened. Matt did eventually stop crying, but he is still upset about the Joe escape thing.
“Where are we going”, Matt lamented, with the prior series of events in mind.
“I guess somebody is offering us dinner”, I answered.
“Why can’t we just go home?”
“It’s only going to be a stop, like a hotel. After that, we go to our new home, I guess”, I said, taking another look at Matt and cradling to comfort him. “It’s going to be okay.” I stared out into the darkness. I looked to the sky from the window and I faintly saw something in the clear, dark sky, lit up by the waning moon. They were brilliant, green auroras that defy the bright moon, dancing across the sky like ribbons in the wind. The truck eventually took a right-hand turn into another road, with us following suit. I can see a bright, orange light emerging from a patch of tree. When we passed by, it seemed it was a house, at a farm, burning in a massive flame.
“I guess those people aren’t so, uh, lucky”, Dad said, taking a quick look at it before looking at the road. Passing by, we went on and continued to follow the old man’s truck. We passed onto another intersection until he turned into a driveway to what I believe to be his farm. Going into the driveway, I can see an old house, along with a dilapidated farm further away, barely visible by the headlights. The old man parked by the house, where there were a few other trucks there. We parked alongside the truck and we got out into the cold, near-silent night.
“Welcome to sanctuary, where all are welcome”, the old man bellowed. This is the first time I’ve heard his voice. Matt was the last to get out of the truck, slowly and clumsily climbing out of the truck.
“What’s your name”, my Mom politely asked the old man.
“Oh, I guess your husband didn’t tell ya. My name is Steven, but you can call me Steve”, the old man said, with some crackling in his voice. “I am very proud to host a dinner for you and your family”, he continued. “What’s your name, ma’am?”
“Oh, my name is Janice”, Mom replied, quite pleased at his politeness.
“Hello, Janice, and what are their names”, Steven asked, pointing to me and Matt.
“That’s my daughter Kate and my son Matt”, Dad said to Mom.
“Oh, what wonderful names for a couple of beautiful children you have”, Steve grinned. “Come, it is dangerous out here.” We followed him to the house, which looked like it had seen better days. He entered through the double-set door, the first a solid door and a screen door behind. Entering the house, it smelled like what you’d expect, old man. Looking onto the floor is made of glossy wood and walls with cracks, likely caused by the earthquake. It is dark in there, lit by candlelight from many candles, yet it’s fairly warm here. I don’t know why we went into the house, but Dad was right, Steve is just a lonely, old man. Matter of fact, there seems to be nothing wrong here, other than the cracks in the walls. “Sorry, the power went out. Had to resort to the candles. I knew my wife would come in handy”, Steve explained as he took his coat off. “Oh, supper will be ready right away. Had to use the fireplace to cook. Also, can you take your boots off?” We took our boots and set them aside. We went into what seemed to be a living room, with dusty old-style furniture.
“So, where do we sit”, Mom asked.
“Oh, well, follow me”, Steve commanded, leading us to the dining room, with a long, wooden table and six wooden chairs, along with their corresponding old-fashioned plates, glasses and cutlery, lit up in the candlelight. We noticed that everything on the table was covered in a thin veil of dust. “My apologies, the recent shocks dropped a bit of dust on the table”, he explained as he noticed us looking at the plates and moved into another room nearby. “Take your seats if you like.” We all settled onto the chairs, and blew off our plates of the dust settled there.
“When will we eat”, Matt impatiently said.
“Once Steve comes out with the food”, Mom answered. Matt sat there with a tired look on his face. Dad seemed to be in a better mood than before and it looked like he wanted to start a conversation.
“Hey, should we talk about something”, Dad asked. I then see Steve with a bowl and a silver plate.
“Here we go, may not be much, but at least it’ll fulfil the soul”, Steve said, smiling when he served us mashed potatoes and meatloaf. “So, shall we pray?” That came unexpectedly, as we are not too religious, but we were in his house and gave us shelter and food.
“Sure, we can do that”, Mom said and we all bowed our heads and put our hands together. Steve cleared his throat
“Thank you, Lord, for this good food to feed the soul in these hard times. I shall pray, in the name of the Lord and Jesus Christ, that these hard times shall be over, so we can get on with our lives. Amen.” We raised our heads and grabbed whatever food there was onto our plates. “Oh, there’s no gravy, so we have to deal with bare potaters and meatloaf.”
“Oh, not to worry. Thank you for the food”, Dad thanked Steve. We began to eat the food once we got it sorted.
“So, what brings you here”, Steve asked.
“Well, there is an evacuation order in effect for this area, so we had to go to Regina”, Dad explained, with Steve taking in every word. “So, we came from Strasbourg, we tried going south towards Regina, but we hit an obstacle in the way and we had to take another route, leading us here.”
“And we encountered a few odd things along the way”, Mom added.
“Huh, interesting. What do you guys think is going on”, Steve inquired.
“By the things we saw, we have no idea. Dinosaurs, devil dogs, hell pigs, the whole deal. I shouldn’t forget the earthquake. They told us a pipeline leak caused by the earthquake”, Dad clarified to Steve.
“Hmm… is that so”, Steve wondered. “Wonder what I think is happening? The Rapture is happening. Do you know how the Bible tells us of the end times? Good people sent to be with God and his kingdom, the rest here to suffer the Hell unleashed by Satan.” By this point, he was beginning to rant, but we couldn't stop it as we all began to feel tired and powerless. “So, the Devil will send his demons in the form of these illusions so that they can torment the sinners. It is happening, it is-” Steve manically continued as I drew towards blackness and his voice becoming less coherent. My vision is now all black.
I saw those same lights, but more rapidly than before. I then emerged onto the same clear sky, but something felt different. I can smell something in the air. I can smell what seems to be chemicals in the air. Looking down, I was terrified. Dark, grey rock in the shape of ropes and folds, similar to those I saw of lava flows on a volcano in pictures. This went on as far as the eye could see. I can see no tree this time, just the cooled lava everywhere. I then walked, feeling every bump and crag. I thought I walked forever until I heard a rumbling sound and woke up.
I am in total darkness. It is cold and it smells like cow manure. I tried to move my hand, but it seemed to be bonded behind my back by a rope. I tried to move my feet, but they were also bound by rope to the legs I tried to speak, only to realise my mouth was agape by a cloth in my mouth. I heard shuffling nearby but I could not see. It was then shone in light when Steve entered the door, holding a candle, revealing all of us in the same situation. I then can see what we are in. We are in that same wooden dilapidated barn we saw earlier and seems to be more damaged than the house, wood creaking can be heard.
“These sedatives are more effective than I thought. Maybe I should use them more often”, Steve smoothly explained, like he’s some kind of agent and began pacing. “Wonder why you are here? Well, I wondered the same thing to myself, why didn’t God take me to his heaven? When I first heard of the government telling us of those evacuation plans, I thought it was that, a leaking pipe. I began to notice things I couldn’t believe myself, at least at first. Earthquakes, weird creatures showing up, people disappearing, the whole spiel. I connected the dots. The Rapture is happening, for sure, but why me? Why was I the one left here on this Earth”, Steve calmly ranted, pacing around the barn, but it seemed to sound crazier and angrier the more he paced. “I thought I had lost my way. I’ve been unfaithful to God and his son. But, I realised that God always has a plan and he left me on this Earth to serve a purpose. I wondered what my purpose was until I had a moment.” He then stopped in place and calmed down. He turned to look at Mom with accusing yet crazed eyes.
“I’m supposed to keep the sinners here in line, to earn a place in God’s kingdom, or suffer in Hell. I know you are a sweet woman, Janice, but your treachery with Satan is over and I am going to do what’s right.” Mom then looked at all of us, with assuring eyes like that of an innocent yet caring mother we all know knew. I began crying and trying to speak through the cloth, but I was helpless to watch by. “Forgive me, Father, for what I am going to do.” He then pulled a knife from his pocket and plunged it into Mom’s neck with no mercy. I looked away once he did that, trembling, with tears pouring out and my vision glazed and I fell limp. I could see my brother tearing up, but he did not look away. I can hear Dad behind me, with his screams of agony and anger covered by the cloth. It felt like I was in slow motion, taking in every moment.
I then heard the chair, screeching as Steve dragged the chair containing Mom’s lifeless body towards the door, leaving behind a trail of blood. I couldn’t bear to see my mother like this. I shut my eyes very hard and hoped it would go away. The door then shut, leaving us alone with a candle, fearing what would come next. I stared at the candle, seeing it dance in the flames like a woman dancing in the darkness. Is this how it’ll end, I thought. End up dying to this sick man? My Mom was killed in front of me. I sobbed with that thought, then I began to think about the inevitable death of me. I hope there’s something after I die. Maybe I’ll see Mom again.
It was silent for a while, nearly no sound other than our moans. Dad seems to be fidgeting at the back of his chair, rocking it slowly. Looking past him, I shuddered at the glistening pool of blood, where Mom was last alive, could be my fate. I then see Dad release his arms from the back of the chair and remove the cloth from his mouth. He silently stood up and bent down to untie his legs from the chair legs. He then went to me and removed my cloth.
“H-h-how did you do that”, I silently wept, fearing that Steve would show up at the door and kill us all.
“My binding is loose. The old man probably took a liking to me”, Dad whispered. “I should remove your binds.” He untied them, releasing me, doing the same for Matt. “Now, we need to be quiet.” We then walked, quietly, along the painfully creaking wood in the near dark, following the blood trail, glistening in the candlelight. We cringed and dreaded each sound we made and watched the door in case it began to creak open. A few silent steps later, we made it to the door and we slowly opened it so as not to make any noise. What was revealed to us is nothing new, other than the blood trail continuing in the snow directing towards the back of the barn. “Okay, Kate, Matt, you guys run to the truck.”
“What about you”, I sobbed.
“Don’t worry about me”, Dad responded, giving me his keys and forcing them into my hand. “If I’m not back in a few minutes, leave. Don’t look back, take care of your brother, okay? I love you, no matter what happens.” He then kissed me on the head and ran to follow the blood trail. We quickly walked towards the black truck, stranded there for maybe hours. Getting closer, freedom is getting closer. When we got to a fair distance to the truck, I heard footsteps behind me and, the next thing I knew, I was knocked over to the ground into the hard snow on my face. A hand turned me over to give me a glimpse of a crazed Steve, his eyes wilder than before.
“Oh, yes, trying to escape”, he bragged. I looked at him, frozen in fear, like a deer in headlights and he caressed my face with his bloodied blade. “You do have a pretty face, but I’m afraid you are just one of Satan's creations, made to pull me to lust.” He then raised his knife in the air when a familiar side emerged, out of the blue.
Joe came and bit him in the arm that was holding the knife. Steve screamed in agony the moment he realised what happened. He shook Joe off and stood up to stand his ground. I stood up as Joe hissed and walked around the crazed being he wounded, not in fear but in aggressiveness. “Is this one of your pets, demon”, Steve screamed as Joe came in for another attack, but Steve countered that with a slash to the snout. Joe then ran away, whining, into the darkness. This sequence of events gave me the chance to enter the truck on the driver’s side. I had some trouble starting it, besides this is my first time driving a truck.
Steve menacelily walked towards the when Dad came barreling and tackled him to the ground. Dad was on top when he went limp. I finally put the keys in the engine turned it on and backed out, with memory serving me the instructions on such a vehicle. Steve pushed Dad’s body and stood up, but by that time, we left the farm.
“Turn back, we have to get Dad”, Matt cried, but I was very emotional, accepting what happened. I felt that, without my parents, I feel… useless.
“Dad’s dead”, I screamed at Matt and he began gagging uncontrollably in tears. I began to feel sorry for him. “Sorry, I, I don’t know.”
“It’s okay”, Matt sniffled. “I guess Mom and Dad are dead anyways.” It was silence for a few more minutes, tears welling in our eyes.
“Hey, our parents are in a better place”, I said, trying to make the situation positive.
“But we are stuck here, without them? Don’t we deserve to go to a better place?”
“Don’t say that”, I huffed and I paused for a bit. “I know we are in the, uh, right place now. Let me tell you something, once we get to Regina, I will take care of you, no matter what life throws at us.”
“What about Joe”, Matt asked.
“He’ll be fine. He probably found his girlfriend already.”
“Hey, don’t you have a boyfriend?”
“I, uh, I don’t have one. That I know of”, I spoke, bringing me back to Sam, remembering that she’s the only friend that I ever knew, and I left her. Without her, I felt alone, no one would ever relate. I began to tear up. “I don’t have any friends. I am alone,” I sobbed.
“What do you mean? I’m your brother!” I looked at Matt, and smiled, happy that he acknowledged that we were in this together.
“Thank you”, I thanked him. I slowly stopped on the road, just to hug Matt hard, crying my eyes out. We then heard what sounded like an elephant in front of us. We looked up to see a walking snow-covered brown fur wall with four pillar-like legs in front of us. Its curved tusks gleaned in the light and the eyes reflected in the light. The furry trunk waved around like a searching snake from a tree. We both knew what it was.
“Hey, look at that, a woolly mammoth”, Matt said, excitement running through him. At this point, we weren’t surprised.
“Yep, that is a woolly mammoth”, I added. The mammoth turned to us on the road, seemingly confused about where it was. It looked at our truck and seemed to growl, like an elephant. We are starting to realise this thing is becoming aggressive.
“Uh, should we move”, Matt asked. I remembered hearing something about standing your ground in case of an encounter with an elephant. I hoped it would work for a bigger, furrier version of one.
“No, we have to stand our ground.”
“But, it’ll attack u-”
“Trust me!” I then honked my horn and it backed up. It then rushed, then stopped, a mock charge. Eventually, it moved out of the road, disappearing into the darkness. We sighed in relief.
“That was close”, Matt sighed. I then continued to drive in the night, headlights leading the way. The road is bumpy, as noticed by every ditch and peak we hit, but surprisingly, Matt was fast asleep. I began to get comfortable driving and used to the road by that point. It was silent for a while until we hit a smaller intersection. That is when the truck shut down, completely and stopped. I tried the gas many times but with no effect. There is no light, nothing. It is near-darkness here, shone only by the moonlight.
“Shit”, I yelled, desperate to turn the truck on without much success. Matt woke up, confused.
“What happened”, he yawned.
“The truck turned itself off. I can’t get it back on”, I fretted and at that moment, Matt was just as panicked as I am.
“Why?”
“I-I don’t know. One moment, we were driving, another it just-”, I quavered, when I heard something rustle in the distance. We stood still, hoping whatever it was didn’t find us. I looked around, hoping to see something in the moonlight. I then see a long, walking animal. It looked like some sort of alligator at first, except for a dinosaur-like head. Once I strained my eyes to the darkness, my fear levels rose as I could see it walk on its hind limbs, with its forelimbs dangling nearly touching the ground.
It was wandering around on the road when I heard a near-crocodilian growl at Matt’s side of the truck. Another of those creatures appeared, seemingly looking into the window like a hungry bear, giving us a chance to see its scaly head. Its exposed alligator teeth gleaned in the light like knives, but more terrifying was the eye. Its serpentine pupil shone brilliantly in the light like eyes in the dark. It then ducked down, gave a hiss, and moved towards the other one. A few more showed up and formed a group.
“What should we do”, Matt asked. “Should we stay?” I looked around, hoping for another way to escape them without them noticing. I further strained my eyes and mentally mapped out the area. There is a cemetery on my right-hand side, a grain bin storage yard on my left and a series of trailers on the other side of the highway, which is ahead of us, from the storage area. There, I see a series of white, storage buildings, something we can go to and wait it out inside.
“Okay, so slowly open the door”, I instructed Matt. The click of the doors opening cringed us. We looked at the group, but there was no response from them. We then, as slowly as we could, opened the door and stepped out. Still no response. Matt then quietly ran to the other side, towards me. “Okay, we are going into the storage yard and go to the other entrance”, I said, pointing to the other right-hand corner. I wanted to get as far away from these things as possible before making a safe crossing. “Then, we cross the highway on the other side, run into the buildings and stay there for the night. Are you ready?”
“I guess”, he whispered, looking at me in fearful doubt.
“We are going to do this”, I whispered back. We then silently ran over, having to rely on our night-adapted eyes, to the corner, walking past the bins. We made it and nothing behind us so far. “We’re good so far.” We then crossed the road and noticed nothing. We noticed a tanker truck, leaking some sort of fluid across the road. I easily recognized it as fuel, based on its distinctive, sickly smell. I wouldn’t be worried about it if it weren’t for a collapsed light pole that is somehow still flickering with electricity near the area where the fuel would be flowing. We quickly avoided the fluid when I froze to see the group of the walking alligators, running towards us. “Run!” Matt tried to run, but one of those things appeared and clamped its jaws at the back of his neck. He yelped in pain and it took him down to the ground. “Matt”, I yelled, helplessly watching as the creature tore into him.
Matt reached out his arm before the others came to him, then a flash of fire came. At this point, I knew what happened, but I couldn’t even think before it exploded. It blew me towards the building, far away. I was knocked out for a few seconds before I regained consciousness, groaning in pain on the ice. I noticed something especially painful just below my chest. I reached towards the area with my hand. I pressed on it, more painful than ever and raised my hand, only to see blood, brightened by the fire. I realised I was wounded, maybe by shrapnel made by the explosion.
I looked toward where the truck was and all I saw was a blaze. Those things weren’t there, at least. I also noticed something else, too, there’s no Matt. I tried to look around for something, some sort of sign of my brother within the fire, but I saw none. I then wept, realising I had failed. I have failed to keep him safe. I have failed to give him a better life. I failed him as a sister. I could’ve done better. The thoughts poured in as tears glazed my eyes. At that moment, I failed to look around me.
I noticed a dark thing beside the blaze. I thought it was Matt, preparing to greet him back, even though I knew he couldn’t survive the explosion. The image became clearer and clearer as I noticed it was one of the walking crocs that, glazed by the fire, was coming towards me.
“Just kill me”, I screamed, preparing to painfully die to meet my maker. The creature was about to attack me when something large, silent as the wind, came charging and clamped down its massive jaws, filled with conical teeth on the hapless creature and raised it. The crocodile struggled before going limp with a crunch within its strong jaws. The big, dark and scaly monster that it is towered over me and is as long as a bus, possibly longer. Its large legs are a contradiction to its small arms that hide beneath its scarred, bulky body.
It turned to look at me with an oddly bird-like expression, revealing in the firelight numerous scars from battles I could never know and looked at me with its beady bird-like eyes, breathing out wisps from its nostrils like a dragon in the cool air. I recognized it as a creature I know too well, a T. Rex. I breathed heavily and sickly, looking at the thing, nearly expecting me to drop the body and go after me. Instead, it simply walked away, carrying its bloody prize with it, and steadily retreated into the darkness.
I then lay down in agonizing exhaustion on my back, thinking of the next step of action like I'm on a suicide mission I would never come back from. I looked in the direction of the graveyard and had one thought. I guess I am dying. a graveyard will do. I struggled to stand up, noticing my blood-soaked clothes and felt a broken left leg. I grasped my wound, limping step by step and enduring the sharp pain while shaking in the cold. Every step I took, I remembered all the memories, good or bad, that I had with my parents. My brother. My friends. My family. I eventually reached the cemetery and slouched at a tree.
“Guess I’m joining you, guys”, I said, speaking to the snow-covered gravestones, only to hear something. A familiar sound of chirping emerged and, lit by the blaze, it was a sight I can hope for. “Joe, what are you doing here”, I depressingly cheered as Joe went to me and curled up in my lap as if he were a cat. I noticed the new-found scar he had on his little snout, but I paid no mind as I petted him. “I guess you came back. Thank you so much for what you did”, I thanked him, not expecting such a loyal creature would be with me, comforting me, to the end, like what my mother used to do when I was a newborn. I heard another noise, this time a deep rumble.
I thought it was another earthquake coming, but it got louder the closer it got to me, becoming more animalistic only felt small vibrations I barely felt. Joe stayed put, oddly enough, as T. Rex, different from the first one, came. It walked towards us until it stopped short of us. It began to produce a low-pitched, bird-like purring, attracting Joe. I realised something, that this T. Rex is Joe’s parent. He joined the rest like him, whom they showed up and all chirped around.
The grown Rex then brought its snout closer to me, not to kill me, but to look at me. It did not reveal its teeth and was still purring. I put my hand out and its nose came close to it. It rubbed it against my hand and started to pet its cold, scaly skin as it breathed through its nose and put it on my chest. I rested my head on it before it pulled away. It gave out a hiss, but I knew it wasn’t that of a threat, but more of a thank you for bringing its small, sometimes immature, child home.
That gave me relief, as it felt like I at least did something for once. They walked away, along with Joe, towards the darkness amongst the gravestones in the cemetery. I glimpsed one last desperate look at Joe before walking beside his parent. I looked up at the sky and I could see all the stars, twinkling, and the dancing green auroras. I began to feel limp and felt the cold embrace of death coming over me, tears pouring out of my eyes. The sky then grew brighter and brighter, the stars faded into the light and I could see my family welcoming me to a new home. It then slowly went black, darker than a cave.
You would think this is the end of me. It wasn’t, or else I wouldn’t be writing this right now. I eventually woke up in a hospital in Regina. I was told I was rescued by a team that transported me while I was in a coma. The doctors said I was very lucky to be alive, as the shrapnel narrowly avoided my vital organs. After that, I was adopted into a new family, but I was only with them for a couple of years before finding a new job and moving out.
As for Sam, I don’t know what happened to her. I would like to think she is safe, somewhere else. As for my family, I think of them all the time. I was in a depressive period right after that. Eventually, over the years, I accepted that they were gone and went to a better place. For Joe, I would like to think he is all grown up, like his parents, and becoming the king of the jungle. I hope we meet again.
As for the evacuated area, it wasn’t some pipeline rupture that caused an evaluation, but an anomaly, with the exact reason not known. There are excuses for the claims of weird stuff going on in there, from disease to chemicals, to eventually a previously unknown geological event, but I saw through it all.
You may ask how, it's because I've been there. Take it or leave it, this is the story I have. As the decade came by, cover-ups were made to hide it, even walls were put around it. Since the incident, the exclusion zone grew from a mere 80 kilometers in diameter to 460 kilometers in diameter, emptying entire cities of the likes of Regina and Saskatoon. I had to move to North Battleford, by the recommendation from the same government covering it up, making me think that time will tell before the floodgates of truth open.
The anomaly didn’t have a name initially, however, over the years, everyone agreed on one name in particular: The Saskatchewan Anomaly.

I could see it working, though they'd probably go the (divisive) route that the Spongebob musical went with their non-human characters and try to approximate their looks, which in this case would mean Crash's costume being an orange sports jacket and blue jorts.
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I could see the plot basically being a retelling of Crash Bandicoot 1, but replace Tawna with Coco and have Crash saving his sister and possibly replace Nitrus Brio with N. Gin.
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As for the cast, I'm thinking Andrew Keenan-Bolger (Crutchie from Newsies) as Crash Bandicoot, which makes sense since he kind of looks like a humanized version of Crash (short, jacked, hyper, kinda goofy). And Sophia Caruso (Beetlejuice, The School of Good and Evil) as Coco Bandicoot, as seen here in this "totally legit" clip from the Beetlejuice musical, chosen since one song I've toyed around with (in my head since I can't sing or write music) called "A Place Called Home" where Crash and Coco sing a duet as they yearn for a place they belong. And depending on how Aku Aku is portrayed, either Billy Porter if they go for a more flamboyant take or Norm Lewis for a deeper take with more gravitas. Other than Ethan Slater as either a possible replacement for AKB or as Ripper Roo, that's all I got cast-wise.
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Too bad I can't sing or write music, cuz some of the song ideas I came up with might be winners, like the "I'm Crash Bandicoot" song with draws from the old Crash Bandicoot song from the Japanese commercials, complete with the classic Crash Bandicoot dance.
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The mythical references within tarot cards provide a rich tapestry of symbolism, drawing upon ancient myths to convey universal archetypes and timeless themes. Here are a few examples of how mythology influences the symbolism in the tarot deck:

1. The Fool:
   
   • Mythical Reference: The Fool is reminiscent of the archetypal "wise fool" found in various mythologies, symbolizing innocence, spontaneity, and the journey into the unknown.
   • Connection: Similar to the trickster figures in mythology, The Fool embodies the idea of embracing unconventional paths and unexpected adventures.
2. The High Priestess:
   
   • Mythical Reference: The High Priestess reflects the archetype of the mysterious and wise female figure found in many ancient myths and religious traditions, such as the Greek goddess Persephone or the Egyptian goddess Isis.
   • Connection: Like these mythical figures, The High Priestess embodies intuition, hidden knowledge, and the link between the conscious and unconscious realms.
3. The Emperor:
   
   • Mythical Reference: The Emperor draws on the archetype of powerful rulers in myths, like King Arthur or Zeus, symbolizing authority, structure, and leadership.
   • Connection: Reflects the mythic theme of order and governance, emphasizing the need for structure and discipline in achieving goals.
4. The Lovers:
   
   • Mythical Reference: The Lovers card resonates with mythical love stories such as the tales of Eros and Psyche or Tristan and Isolde, symbolizing profound connections, choices, and the merging of opposites.
   • Connection: Like these myths, The Lovers card explores the transformative power of love and the decisions that shape one's relationships.
5. The Wheel of Fortune:
   
   • Mythical Reference: The concept of the wheel of fate or fortune is rooted in ancient mythology, such as the Moirai or Fates in Greek mythology, who spin the thread of destiny.
   • Connection: The Wheel of Fortune embodies the cyclical nature of life, the inevitability of change, and the interconnectedness of events.
6. The Tower:
   
   • Mythical Reference: The Tower's destructive force echoes myths of divine punishment, like the story of the Tower of Babel or the fall of Icarus, highlighting the consequences of hubris.
   • Connection: Represents the mythic theme of downfall and rebirth, emphasizing the transformative power of destruction and rebuilding.

By incorporating these mythical references, tarot cards tap into the collective unconscious, allowing individuals to connect with archetypal energies and universal narratives that resonate across cultures and time periods.

1. The Hermit:
   
   • Mythical Reference: The archetype of the wise hermit is seen in myths like the journey of Odysseus or the quest for enlightenment in Eastern philosophies.
   • Connection: The Hermit reflects the introspective journey of self-discovery, seeking wisdom through solitude and inner reflection, much like mythical hermits on spiritual quests.
2. The Chariot:
   
   • Mythical Reference: Draws inspiration from heroic charioteers in myths, such as the sun god Apollo driving his chariot across the sky or heroic figures like Achilles in battle chariots.
   • Connection: Symbolizes the triumphant journey, willpower, and the harnessing of opposing forces to achieve victory, akin to mythical heroes overcoming challenges.
3. The Star:
   
   • Mythical Reference: The Star card echoes the concept of guiding celestial lights found in myths, like the North Star guiding sailors or the myth of the Star of Bethlehem.
   • Connection: Represents hope, inspiration, and divine guidance, mirroring the mythic idea of celestial symbols leading the way through darkness.
4. The Moon:
   
   • Mythical Reference: The Moon card reflects lunar symbolism found in myths, such as the various lunar deities like Selene in Greek mythology or the werewolf tales associated with lunar cycles.
   • Connection: Symbolizes the subconscious, intuition, and the mysterious aspects of the psyche, akin to the mystical and transformative elements linked to lunar myths.
5. The Sun:
   
   • Mythical Reference: The Sun card embodies solar deities in myths, like the Egyptian god Ra or the Greek god Apollo, symbolizing vitality, enlightenment, and life force.
   • Connection: Represents the joyous, life-affirming energy associated with solar myths, bringing clarity, positivity, and the promise of a new day.
6. Judgement:
   
   • Mythical Reference: The theme of judgment and resurrection is prevalent in various religious and mythological narratives, such as the concept of divine judgment in Christianity or the Egyptian myth of Osiris being judged in the afterlife.
   • Connection: Signifies a spiritual awakening, self-evaluation, and the potential for rebirth, aligning with the transformative judgments seen in mythic tales.

Incorporating these mythical elements deepens the layers of meaning within tarot cards, allowing users to explore profound archetypes, cultural narratives, and universal themes that resonate across human experiences.

1. The Devil:
   
   • Mythical Reference: The Devil card draws inspiration from various depictions of demonic figures in religious and mythological traditions, representing temptation, bondage, and the shadow aspects of human nature.
   • Connection: Reflects the mythic idea of confronting inner demons, acknowledging desires, and breaking free from self-imposed limitations.
2. The Empress and The Emperor (Pair):
   
   • Mythical Reference: These cards can be linked to archetypal figures in mythology, such as Earth Mother goddesses like Demeter or nurturing kings like Gilgamesh, symbolizing fertility, abundance, and earthly authority.
   • Connection: Together, they represent the balance of masculine and feminine energies, highlighting the harmonious interplay between creative and structured forces in the universe.
3. The Magician:
   
   • Mythical Reference: The Magician card echoes the archetype of the alchemist or sorcerer in myths, embodying the transformative power of magic and the manipulation of elements.
   • Connection: Symbolizes personal empowerment, manifestation, and the ability to channel one's inner resources to create change, akin to mythical figures wielding magical abilities.
4. Death:
   
   • Mythical Reference: The Death card is reminiscent of transformative figures in myths, like the phoenix rising from its ashes or the Hindu god Shiva, symbolizing destruction as a precursor to renewal.
   • Connection: Represents profound change, letting go of the old, and embracing transformation, aligning with the cyclical nature of death and rebirth in mythical narratives.
5. Justice:
   
   • Mythical Reference: Justice is often associated with mythic representations of divine or cosmic balance, such as the Greek goddess Themis or the concept of Ma'at in Egyptian mythology.
   • Connection: Symbolizes fairness, accountability, and the cosmic order, reflecting the mythic theme of moral equilibrium and the consequences of actions.
6. Strength:
   
   • Mythical Reference: Strength draws from mythical tales of heroes demonstrating inner strength and courage, like Hercules or the Norse god Thor.
   • Connection: Symbolizes resilience, fortitude, and the ability to overcome challenges through inner strength, akin to the heroic feats in mythical stories.

These mythical connections deepen the layers of symbolism in tarot cards, allowing users to tap into archetypal energies and narratives that have resonated across cultures and centuries. Each card becomes a gateway to timeless themes and universal truths found in the rich tapestry of mythology.

1. The Hierophant:
   
   • Mythical Reference: The Hierophant can be associated with mythic figures representing wisdom and spiritual guidance, such as the ancient Greek philosopher-sage Pythagoras or the biblical high priest Melchizedek.
   • Connection: Symbolizes spiritual teachings, tradition, and the transmission of sacred knowledge, aligning with the mythical archetype of wise mentors who pass on profound wisdom.
2. The Hanged Man:
   
   • Mythical Reference: The Hanged Man card reflects the concept of voluntary sacrifice found in various myths, such as the Norse god Odin hanging from the World Tree Yggdrasil to gain wisdom.
   • Connection: Signifies surrender, letting go, and gaining new perspectives through sacrifice, mirroring the transformative nature of voluntary sacrifice in mythic narratives.
3. The World:
   
   • Mythical Reference: The World card draws from cosmological myths, representing the completion of a cycle and the attainment of enlightenment, similar to the Hindu concept of Moksha or the Norse myth of the World Tree Yggdrasil.
   • Connection: Symbolizes cosmic harmony, integration, and the culmination of a journey, resonating with the mythical themes of cosmic order and spiritual fulfillment.
4. The Fool's Journey:
   
   • Mythical Reference: The Fool's Journey through the tarot deck can be compared to the archetypal hero's journey found in mythologies worldwide, where the hero undergoes trials, encounters mentors, and ultimately achieves personal transformation.
   • Connection: Mirrors the universal mythic narrative of self-discovery, challenges, and growth, illustrating that each individual's journey aligns with the archetypal hero's quest seen in myths across cultures.

These mythical associations with tarot cards contribute to the depth and universality of their symbolism. They enable users to connect with ancient wisdom, archetypal stories, and cultural narratives that transcend time, offering a rich and meaningful framework for personal introspection and spiritual exploration within the tarot.

1. The Suit of Cups:
   
   • Mythical Reference: The Suit of Cups, representing emotions and relationships, echoes the theme of sacred vessels or grails in mythology, such as the Holy Grail in Arthurian legends or the Cup of Jamshid in Persian mythology.
   • Connection: Reflects the idea of emotional fulfillment, spiritual connection, and the quest for inner nourishment akin to the mythical pursuit of sacred vessels symbolizing divine presence.
2. The Suit of Swords:
   
   • Mythical Reference: The Suit of Swords, associated with intellect and challenges, can be likened to mythic tales of powerful swords like Excalibur in Arthurian legend or the celestial sword Kusanagi in Japanese mythology.
   • Connection: Symbolizes the power of thought, truth, and the ability to cut through illusions, aligning with the mythical theme of legendary swords representing clarity and decisive action.
3. The Suit of Wands:
   
   • Mythical Reference: The Suit of Wands, embodying creativity and passion, resonates with mythical symbols of magical staffs or wands, like the staff of Hermes or the Celtic druid's wand.
   • Connection: Represents the creative spark, inspiration, and the transformative power of passion, akin to mythical symbols of magical wands as conduits for creative energy.
4. The Suit of Pentacles:
   
   • Mythical Reference: The Suit of Pentacles, associated with material aspects and prosperity, draws inspiration from mythical symbols of earthly treasures, such as the legendary city of El Dorado or the philosopher's stone in alchemical myths.
   • Connection: Symbolizes material stability, abundance, and the tangible rewards of one's efforts, mirroring the mythical pursuit of wealth and the alchemical quest for transformative treasures.
5. Tarot and Alchemy:
   
   • Mythical Reference: The connection between tarot and alchemy reflects the mythical pursuit of the philosopher's stone—an elusive substance believed to transform base metals into gold and grant immortality.
   • Connection: Mirrors the transformative journey within tarot, where users seek self-discovery, personal growth, and the alchemical process of inner refinement.

In exploring these connections, tarot cards become a bridge between personal introspection and the collective wisdom embedded in ancient myths. The intertwining of mythical references within the tarot deck adds layers of meaning, providing a profound and universal language for individuals to navigate their inner landscapes and spiritual journeys.

I just learned about the firmware update for the AW3423DW and followed the instructions carefully, it started updating and looked to be going fine and as the progress bar neared completion the monitor turned off with the blue power LED remaining on. I thought ok whatever and kept waiting, after sometime I got concerned and watched some youtube videos to see how long this process typically took - I watched 2 videos and both completed within about 6 minutes or so. So after 20 minutes I started pressing the power button to see if anything would happen and nothing did, after 30 minutes I decided to unplug it (I believe the instructions specify that if there was interruption to do this). I plug it back in and still nothing my monitor is bricked.
I tried to get Dell/Alienware support but my service ID on the monitor is not recognized - I bought the monitor sometime in mid 2022 from BestBuy and it was refurbished so there is no warranty coverage directly from Dell. I've posted in the Dell community forum to see if there is anything I can do. Not sure if the refurbished nature of my monitor played apart in what happened but wanted to put it out there:
DO NOT UPDATE YOUR AW3423DW IF YOU DONT HAVE ISSUES AND ARE OUT OF WARRANTY
Anyone have any ideas on what if anything I can do to revive the monitor?

Hey All, A new month is upon us and I've compiled a carefully curated selection of top-notch laptops spanning various categories (Top Performance RTX 40 series, Mid Range & Budget Gaming Laptops+ Video Editing, Professional & Student Laptops). While reviewing this list in search of a new laptop, Please don't hesitate to inquire or propose any laptops you believe deserve a spot in these categories. You can leave a comment in the comment section to the bottom section of the page.
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✨📌💻✨ ACTIVE LAPTOP DEALS✨📌✨
General Use Laptop Deals

Name & Link	Specifications	Prices
Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3	Ryzen 3 7320U, 8 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD, 1080p 15.6" Display	$299.99
HP 15-ef2015nr laptop	15.6" (1920 x 1080) FHD IPS Display - AMD Ryzen 5 5500U, AMD Radeon Graphics, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD	$339.99
HP 15 15-fc0010nr (2023) Laptop	FHD Display, AMD Ryzen 3 7320U, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, AMD Radeon Graphics, Windows 11 Home	$363.49
Lenovo IdeaPad 1i	15.6", Intel Core i5-1235U, 8GB RAM, 512 GB SSD, Cloud Grey, Windows 11.	$379
ASUS Vivobook 16	16” WUXGA (1920X1200) 16:10 Display, AMD Ryzen™ 5 5625U, AMD Radeon™ Graphics, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD, Fingerprint Sensor, Windows 11 Home	$442
ASUS Vivobook Go 15	15.6” FHD Display, AMD Ryzen 5 7520U Processor, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD, Windows 11 Home	$489
ASUS Vivobook 16" Laptop	Intel i7-1255U, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, FHD+ 16" Display	$499
Dell Inspiron 15 3530 Laptop	Intel i5-1335U, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD, 1080p 15.6″ 120Hz Display	$580.77
Samsung Galaxy Book3	15" Laptop (2023): Intel i5-1335U, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD, 1080p 15.6" Display.	$579.99
ASUS VivoBook 16 Laptop	16” WUXGA (1920 x 1200) 16:10 Display, AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS, AMD Radeon™ Graphics, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD, Windows 11 Home	$694.49
ASUS Vivobook S 15 Laptop	Intel Ultra 7 155H, 16 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD, 2.8K 15.6" 120Hz OLED Display	$749
ASUS ZenBook 14 Laptop	14" FHD+ (1920x1200, WUXGA+) 16:10, 60Hz, 400-nits, 500-nits HDR, 100% DCI-P3, Pen Support, Glossy Touch, OLED Display, Core Ultra 7 155H, Intel Arc Graphics (8 X Cores), 16GB DDR5 RAM, 1TB SSD.	$799.99
Acer Swift Go 14 Intel Evo Thin & Light Laptop	14" WUXGA (1920 x 1200) IPS Touchscreen, Intel Ultra 7 Processor 155H, Intel ARC, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, Win11 Home	$799.99
Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5i	16" Laptop: Intel i7-13700H, RTX 3050, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD, QHD+ 16" 120Hz IPS Display	$799.99
Acer Swift Go 14 Laptop	Intel Ultra 7 155H, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD, 2.8K 14" OLED 90Hz Display.	$799.99
Apple 2022 MacBook Air Laptop with M2 chip	13.6-inch Liquid Retina Display, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD Storage, Backlit Keyboard, 1080p FaceTime HD Camera. Works with iPhone and iPad; Midnight.	$849
ASUS VivoBook S 14	14", FHD+ (1920 x 1200, WUXGA+) 16:10, 60Hz, 400-nits, 600-nits HDR, OLED Display, Intel Core Ultra 9 185H, 16GB LPDDR5 RAM, 1TB SSD	$899.99
HP Envy x360 15 inch Laptop	FHD Display, Intel Core i7-1355U, 16 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD, Intel Iris Xe Graphics, Windows 11 Home, 15-ew1199nr (2023),Silver	$919.99

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Gaming & Productivity Laptop Deals

Name & Link	Specifications	Prices
ASUS ROG Flow X13 Touchscreen Gaming Laptop	13.4" FHD+ (1920 x 1200, WUXGA+) 16:10, 120Hz 7ms, 500-nits, 100% sRGB, IPS Touch Display, Ryzen 9 7940HS, AMD Radeon 780M, 16GB DDR5 RAM, 512GB SSD.	$749.99
ASUS TUF A16 Gaming Laptop	16" 165Hz FHD (1920x1080) Display, AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS, Radeon RX7700S, 16GB DDR5 RAM, 512GB SSD, Windows 11 Home.	$749.99
HP Victus	15.6" FHD 144Hz, Intel i5-12500H, RTX 4060, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD	$799
Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5i	16" Laptop: Intel i7-13700H, RTX 3050, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD, QHD+ 16" 120Hz IPS Display.	$796
Acer Swift X SFX14-41G-R1S6 Creator Laptop	14″ Full HD 100% sRGB, AMD Ryzen 7 5800U, NVIDIA RTX 3050Ti Laptop GPU, 16GB LPDDR4X, 512GB SSD, Wi-Fi 6, Backlit KB, Amazon Alexa, Windows 10 Home	$851
Lenovo Legion Slim 5 Gaming Laptop	16" FHD+ (1920x1200, WUXGA+) 16:10, 144Hz, 300-nits, IPS Display, Ryzen 5 7640HS, RTX 4060 (100W), 16GB DDR5 RAM, 512GB SSD.	$899.99
Lenovo Legion 5	15.6" WQHD (2560x1440) 165Hz, , 100% sRGB, Ryzen 7 7735HS, RTX 4060 (140W), 16GB DDR5, 512GB SSD $869.99	$969.99
Lenovo Legion Slim 5 Gen 9:	16" QHD+ (2560x1600, WQXGA+) 16:10, 165Hz, 350-nits, 100% sRGB IPS Display, Ryzen 7 7735HS, RTX 4070 (140W), 16GB DDR5 RAM, 1TB SSD. Now: ;	$1,092.24 after selecting ZIP Payment and applying the coupon ZIPLENOVO at checkout. 🔥
Acer Nitro 5	Intel i7-12650H, RTX 4060, 16 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD, 1080p 15.6" 144Hz IPS Display	$1,099
Acer Nitro V	15.6" FHD IPS 144Hz Display, NVIDIA RTX 4060 (140W), Intel i9-13900H, 16GB DDR5 RAM, 512GB SSD	$1,099.99
Acer Predator Helios 16 Gaming Laptop	Intel i7-13700HX, RTX 4060, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD, QHD+ 16" 165Hz IPS Display	$1,129.99
Lenovo Legion Slim 5	16" Laptop: Ryzen 7 7840HS, RTX 4060, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, QHD+ 16" 165Hz IPS Display	$1,129.99
ASUS VivoBook Pro 16 Laptop	16” Display, Intel Core i9-13900H, NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX™ 4060, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD, Windows 11 Home, Quiet Blue	$1,199.99
Gigabyte Aorus 15 Gaming Laptop	Intel i7-13700H, RTX 4070, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD, 1440p 15.6" 165Hz IPS Display	$1,299
Acer Predator Helios 16	Intel i7-13700HX, RTX 4060 (140W), 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD, QHD+ 16" 165Hz IPS Display	$1,399.99
XPG Xenia 15G Gaming Laptop	15.6" 144 Hz FHD display, Intel Core i7-13700H CPU, 32GB DDR5 RAM, 1TB SSD, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 (140W), Windows 11 Home	$1,469.99
ASUS VivoBook Pro 16 OLED Laptop	16” OLED Display, Intel Core i9-13900H CPU, NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX™ 4060 GPU, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD, Windows 11 Home, Quiet Blue, K6602VV-ES94	$1,498.99
ASUS Vivobook Pro 16X Laptop	16" 3.2K (3200 x 2000) OLED 120Hz, Intel i9-13980HX, RTX 4070, 16GB DDR5, 1TB SSD, Win11 Home	$1,499.99
Acer Predator Helios 16 (Cert. Refurbished)	16" QHD+ (2560 x 1600, WQXGA+) 16:10, 240Hz, 500-nits, 100% sRGB IPS Display, Intel i9-13900HX, RTX 4080 (165W), 16GB DDR5, 1TB SSD.	$1,546.99
ASUS Vivobook Pro 16X Laptop	16” 16:10 Display, Intel Core i9-13980HX CPU, NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX™ 4070 GPU, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD, Windows 11 Home, Earl Grey, K6604JI-AS99.	$1,703.11
ASUS ROG Strix G18 Gaming Laptop	; 18" 240Hz QHD+ DCI-P3 100% 500 nits IPS display, Intel Core i9-13980HX, 16GB DDR5 RAM, 1TB SSD, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 8GB Graphics, Mux Switch	$1,769.99
GIGABYTE AORUS 17H	17.3" FHD (1920x1080) 16:9, 360Hz, 100% sRGB, IPS Display, Intel i7-13700H, RTX 4080 (150W), 16GB DDR5 RAM, 1TB SSD.	$1,849
Acer Predator Helios 16	16" QHD+ (2560 x 1600, WQXGA+) 16:10, 240Hz, 500-nits, 100% sRGB, Intel i9-13900HX, RTX 4080 (165W), 32GB DDR5 RAM, 1TB SSD	$2,049.99
Acer Predator Triton X 17" Laptop	Intel i9-13900HX, RTX 4090, 64GB RAM, 2TB SSD, QHD+ 17" 250Hz IPS Display.	$2,638.99

NB: Gaming Laptops are also great choices for editing, rendering, and heavy productivity tasks due to the power of the GPU, speed of the CPU and the quality display of the screen they posess.
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📌✨ Recommended Listings For: Video Editing & Content Creation Student Laptops 📌✨

Name & Link	Specifications	Prices
Acer Swift X SFX14-41G-R1S6 Creator Laptop	14″ Full HD 100% sRGB, AMD Ryzen 7 5800U, NVIDIA RTX 3050Ti Laptop GPU, 16GB LPDDR4X, 512GB SSD, Wi-Fi 6, Backlit KB, Amazon Alexa, Windows 10 Home	$851.40
Acer Swift X Intel Evo Thin & Light Creator Laptop	16″ WUXGA 100% sRGB, 12th Gen Intel i7-1260P, Intel Arc A370M, 16GB LPDDR5, 512GB Gen4 SSD, Killer WiFi 6E AX1675, Windows 11, SFX16-52G-73U6	$899.99
HP Pavilion Plus 14-eh1299nr	14'' 2.8K OLED Display, 13th Generation Intel Core i7-1355U, 16 GB RAM, 1TB SSD, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2050, Windows 11 Pro	$967.95
ASUS VivoBook Pro 16	16” Display, Intel Core i9-13900H CPU, NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX™ 4060 GPU, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD, Windows 11 Home	$1,199.99
ASUS Vivobook Pro 15 Laptop	15.6" FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS 144Hz, AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS, NVIDIA RTX 4060, 32GB LPDDR5X, 1TB SSD, Win11 Home	$1,279
ASUS Zenbook 14 Flip Ultra Slim	14" 4K (3840 x 2400) OLED Touchscreen, AMD Ryzen 7 6800H, AMD Radeon Graphics, 16GB LPDDR5, 1TB SSD, Win11 Home	$1,399
ASUS VivoBook Pro 15X Laptop	144Hz 15.6” FHD Display, AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX Mobile CPU, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 GPU, 32GB DDR5 RAM, 1TB PCIe SSD, Windows 11 Home	$1,783.13

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📌✨ Recommended Listings For: Student, Professional & General Use Laptops 📌✨

Name & Link	Specifications	Prices
HP Pavilion Laptop (2022)	15.6" FHD (1920 x 1080), AMD Ryzen 5 5500U, ‎AMD Radeon Graphics, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, Long Battery Life, Windows 11.	$402
Lenovo IdeaPad 3 Laptop	14.0″ FHD (1920 x 1080) Display, AMD Ryzen 5 5500U Processor, 8GB DDR4 RAM, 256GB NVMe TLC SSD Storage, AMD Radeon 7 Graphics, Windows 11 Home, 82KT00GVUS, Abyss Blue	$422
Acer Aspire 5	14" WUXGA (1920 x 1200) IPS ComfyView, Intel Core i5-1335U, Intel Iris Xe, 8GB LPDDR5, 512GB SSD, Thunderbolt 4, Wi-Fi 6E, Win11 Home	$499.99
Dell Inspiron 15 3530 Laptop	Intel i5-1335U, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD, 1080p 15.6″ 120Hz Display	$580.77
Lenovo Flex 5 Laptop	14.0″ FHD (1920 x 1080) Touch Display, AMD Ryzen 5 5500U Processor, 16GB DDR4 RAM, 256GB NVMe SSD Storage, AMD Radeon Graphics, Windows 11 Home, 82HU00JWUS, Graphite Grey	$618
ASUS Vivobook 16	16” WUXGA (1920 x 1200) 16:10 Display, Intel Core i7-13700H CPU, Intel Iris Xᵉ Graphics, 8GB RAM, 1TB SSD, Windows 11 Home	$849.99
HP Envy x360 15 inch Laptop	FHD Display, Intel Core i7-1355U, 16 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD, Intel Iris Xe Graphics, Windows 11 Home, 15-ew1199nr (2023),Silver	$919.99
Acer Swift Go 14	Intel Evo Thin & Light Laptop, 14" WUXGA (1920 x 1200) IPS Touch, Intel Core i7-13700H, Intel Iris Xe Graphics, 16GB LPDDR5, 512GB SSD, Win11 Home	$949.99
ASUS VivoBook S 15 OLED Slim Laptop	15.6” FHD OLED Display, Intel Evo Platform, Intel Core i7-12700H CPU, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD, Windows 11 Home, Indie Black	$999.99
ASUS VivoBook Pro 14 OLED Laptop	14” 2.8K OLED Display, AMD Ryzen 7 6800H Mobile CPU, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 GPU, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD, Windows 11 Home, Quiet Blue	$1,199.99

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Huge thank-you to everyone who's provided such great RLT technical and anecdotal information on this sub.
Finally dipped a toe into the pool and bought my first device recently, a belt from Shenzhen Idea Light Limited.
Thought my journey with them might be helpful to other newbies.
I decided on the company based on all the supporting evidence and shopped them on AliBaba, AliExpress as well as contacting them directly.
Their AliBaba page has multiple listings of the exact same product with different shipping prices.
The AliExpress price was the highest and the listing offered a significant "coin discount" that didn't reflect in the cart. AE customer service pointed to the seller and the seller pointed to AE.
When I contacted the company directly for a quote, I mentioned I was also interested in a mask and asked if there was a package price. If not, could they at least adjust the shipping charge since they'd arrive in the same parcel. No go.
I ended up ordering just the belt from AliBaba and it arrived after a few weeks.
It has AC/DC capability; power bank not included. There's a blue embroidered circular design that a Google search matched to FITSCI and Mito (theirs is red).
Still too soon to gauge the how well I'm responding to the RLT but I'm confident in the quality of the lights as compared to other available options.
As for the customer service, I was unimpressed with how they handled the pricing process and hope I won't need them in the future.

I had heard some talk on zen that the Chinese Zen Masters didn’t talk about meditation. That seemed a little unbelievable to me, so I checked it out. I left Dogen out because he seems triggering to some at zen on this subject.
Chinese Zen masters have written extensively about meditation and its practice. Here are just a few examples:
Huangbo Xiyun (9th century): "When sitting in meditation, do not think about good or evil. At that moment, what is your original face before your parents were born?" (The Zen Teachings of Huang Po, John Blofeld)
Hongzhi Zhengjue (12th century): "Silently sitting alone and casting off all affairs, I leave no traces, but continue on forever. The clear moon of enlightenment shines brightly; the wind of compassion gently blows." (Cultivating the Empty Field, Taigen Dan Leighton)
Huineng (6th century): "Just sit in meditation, and let go of all thoughts. Do not dwell in the past or anticipate the future. Your mind will then be in true meditation, free from all attachments." (The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch, Red Pine)
Guoan Shiyuan (13th century): "Meditation is like refining gold. It purifies the mind, allowing it to shine with wisdom and compassion. Through continuous practice, one can realize their true nature." (The Blue Cliff Record, Thomas Cleary)
Wumen Huikai (13th century): "When sitting in meditation, do not seek anything. Just be present, aware of each breath and each moment. In this stillness, the mind becomes clear, and wisdom naturally arises." (The Gateless Gate, Katsuki Sekida)
These quotes emphasize the importance of letting go of thoughts, being present, and experiencing the true nature of the mind through meditation.
They demonstrate that meditation has always been a core practice of Zen.

I had a dream. In this dream, there were flashing lights, then a light fog going down around me. I emerged to see a lush forest. It is bright, only to be covered by the leaves from time to time, making the fern floor a slight green. There are drops of water falling from the trees on occasion like so much. The only thing missing is the sense of touch and smell. I heard something rustling from the bushes. Turning around, I woke up.
Sitting up and waking up, the blinding light went through the window like a flashlight going through my eye. I became irritated once the blinding migraines came right after. A loud series of knocks all at my door to my right.
“Hey, Kate, do you want pancakes”, the sweet voice of my mother loudly asked. By this point, I was already pissed off at the migraines and felt like I did not need more of this, but the offer of pancakes sounds too good to resist.
“Yes, coming”, I said. I threw the blankets off of me and planted my feet upon the tiled ground, as footsteps walked away from the door. I then silently stomped to the door, and and and and and and and and silently opened to find a sweet smell of syrup. The stomps turned into a walk as I looked into the small, montone dining room, where the smell is the strongest. Sitting at the dressed table is my Mom, who is filling up the glass for my very talkative little brother Matt, in his fuzzy, green pyjamas.
“Hey, there’s Katy”, Matt exclaimed. Slight annoyance welled up in me, because of his bratty voice. I gulped down my slight hatred for my brother and sat beside my mother. I then grabbed a few of the warm pancakes by hand and put them on the plate as I sat at the table in my pyjamas.
“Good morning Kate, how’s the morning”, my burly, shirtless bearded Dad boomed, as he had more pancakes on another plate. “So, you woke up for the pancakes, didn't ya”, he joked.
“Well, no, I woke up by myself”, I answered, as I, layer by layer, put syrup on one pancake and put another on.
“How? An alarm?”
“Uh, the sun. Duh." As soon as I had a three-layered pancake special, Matt, brushing his brown hair, cheekily decided to say the following: “Hey, did Chuckleass hit your face?”
My Dad began to laugh but wasn’t impressed, so she scolded him. “Matt! Don’t ever say that, especially to your sister!” I was thankful my Mom was there, while Dad was not helping. Finally, the laughing fit that was my Dad is over.
“No, really, listen to Mom. That was disrespectful of you,” Dad said as he gave a wink to my brother.
“Really? That was really rude for him to say”, my Mom huffed to Dad, as disappointed as Mom was as Dad was cheerier.
“At least it is funny”, he exclaimed. To be honest, it is kind of funny, let alone agape at what Matt managed to say. Even Mom gave my Dad a smirk, who calmed down. We ate breakfast after that and I was full after the first two pancakes. I became tired and went back to bed. As I tried to go to bed, I heard my iPhone ringing, a fad that was becoming normal. I looked at the screen and it was my friend Sam.
“Hey, I was trying to sleep here,” I grumbled.
“But that doesn't mean I don’t get to talk to my best friend. Can we meet at the school”, she said, being persistent about it. I mean, couldn’t we just meet when school is tomorrow?
“Fine, I’ll be there in half an hour”, I replied. Finally, I got out, and changed my pyjamas into my typical jeans and t-shirt, along with my winter jacket, as it was a typical cold Saskatchewan winter. I told Mom and Dad that I’d be going to meet Sam. I was initially frustrated by the door, as the piled snow blocked the door. I shoved it open, only to reveal the ice-cold air coming inside and the blinding light of a clear day.
Snow covered everything. Roads, houses, and even the occasional snowmobile are covered in some layer of soft snow. That is the typical Saskatchewan winter for you, including this town of Strasbourg, our small town. Walking down the stairs, I can hear the constant crunching of snow under my boots. Walking down the streets, I wonder why I am doing this. Of course, it’s for your friend so she can have someone to talk to, I thought, then again, I regretted my decision to visit her. I could’ve told her that I couldn’t come because of sleep. Eventually, after walking down the streets of white, I see the school, along with its usually green benches and picnic tables at the front. Sitting on one of the benches sits a winter-clothed figure. A figure I recognize.
“Hello”, Sam exclaimed.
“Hey there Sam. How’s the job at the convenience store”, I asked.
“Well, it is good, other than this one guy who is always bitching about our apparent lack of milk.”
“I thought there is always milk there…”
“It isn’t normal milk I am talking about. I am talking about almond milk. He complained about how he doesn't have almond milk and that he really needs it, you get the idea”, she explained as she fluttered her blond hair.
“I guess. I mean, all he wants is almond milk. No harm done here.”
“But he should’ve gone to another store. Instead, he stayed. I even, ARRG, I just can’t. How does someone handle these types of people?” She then took out a cigarette and lit it with her lighter. “You know, I wish I could get away from here and just live in Regina. Just live a normal life.”
“I mean, it is pretty normal here. Nothing too crazy at least. I have heard a lot of crazy stuff in Regina.”
“What crazy stuff?”
“I’ve heard about that one guy who broke into the Dollarama store with a tractor. Broke in just to get a pack of hot dogs.”
“That just sounds made up. How do you know?”
“Got it from my Dad. He’s a cashier now.”
“What happened to being a security guard?”
“Better pay. It is-” At first, I didn’t notice. It was a soft shaking at first, so I assumed it was the train passing by. It became stronger.
“Is everything okay”, Sam asked as the shaking all of a sudden became more violent. So violent we can barely stand. We fell into the cold snow and the shaking continued. It continued for a few more minutes. At this time, it felt like the world was ending. I could hear glass breaking, and wood falling on the road, I was scared. With my face on the cold ground, I could hear the hum of the earth, shaking. Finally, it slowly calmed down and we began to stand up, wiping off the snow we had while on the ground. “What the hell is that?”
“I think that was an earthquake. But, why”, I said, stuttering over my own words in confusion. It shook me up, literally and mentally. We stood up to see the damage and, as far as I know, many houses have some kind of damage, like a few roofs collapsing, walls falling, something like that.
“Well, looks to be a bad one”, Sam said, still perplexed but scared as I am.
“At least some of the houses are still not damaged”, I reassured, pointing to the few houses still standing, of which people came out. Some ran towards the damaged houses while others looked in confusion. A few more came out of the damaged ones, seemingly unharmed.
“Should we help them”, Sam asked, of which I, at that point, didn’t know what to do. A thought then went through my mind about my parents.
“I have to go back.”
“Back where?”
“To see if my parents are okay.” We said our goodbyes and I ran on the road. I saw a few police cars sitting beside houses, even fire trucks. The police and firemen are just as confused as everyone else. It seems the damage was widespread, but not as bad as I thought it would be. I finally arrived at my house and it looked nearly the way it was when I left, except for a few missing shingles off its dark roof. I wanted to go inside. What prevented me, at least at first, was the damage that might be inside. What if they are hurt? They’ll die if you do nothing. Those thoughts dreaded me throughout. I knew my Mom and Dad were in there, I knew I might get hurt. Do I wait for the firefighters to come or do I go in? I simply stood there, out in the cold. A final thought came in to make my decision: fine, I’ll do it anyway. Shouldn’t be too bad, is it?
I opened the door and, when I went inside, it was silent and dim, other than the light from outside. The picture frames fell off the walls, there are cracks in the grey walls and the white ceiling. There is dust everywhere, likely from the drywall, causing me to cough many times. I tried to look but it was dark. “Hello”, I hollered. I got a response.
“Hello”, the concerned but deep voice of my Dad responded. A blinding light came from the kitchen and shone on my face. “Kate? What are you doing here?”
“I am just worried you guys are hurt”, I remarked.
“Hurt? I nearly died”, Dad crowed sarcastically.
“We are okay. We are under the table”, my Mom said with reassurance.
“This is so cool”, Matt cheered. I thought oh, at least they’re alive. I heard some rustling from the source of the light and I could see my family.
“Are you okay”, Mom asked.
“No, I’m okay. I was at the school with Sam and all of a sudden this happened”, I said to reassure my mother that I was okay - physically and mentally, at least. I then heard sirens just behind me on the road. It’s the police.
“Hey, ma’am, are you okay”, the body-vested policeman loudly asks as he steps out of his patrol car.
“Yeah, I’m fine, my family is in the house”, I replied. The policeman ran towards me and stepped in front of me. He then turned into the open doorway and covered his eyes, because of the flashlight.
“Hey, is anyone there?”
“Yeah, we’re okay”, my Dad responded.
“Okay, this house is not safe to stay in. Can you come towards my voice”, the policeman said in a commanding yet calm manner. The light turned off and footsteps came slowly towards the door. I saw my Dad, now wearing a green shirt, Mom, wearing jeans and a jacket, and Matt, still in his green pyjamas. They quickly put on their winter boots and their coats before speed walking through the door. The policeman then took one last look with his flashlight in there. “Anyone else in there?”
“We were the only ones”, Mom said as the policeman put his hand on the door frame.
“Did any of you get hurt”, the policeman asked. They shook their heads.
“Well, maybe my opinion on this town. Maybe a documentary”, Dad joked, but no one seems to be into his jokes now. The firemen then arrived a few moments later and offered us blankets.
“Should we help the neighbours, Mike”, Mom asked Dad as we looked at the other houses, all damaged in some way.
“I guess. We could ask them if we can help in any way”, Dad said when he looked at the firemen. “I mean, we’ll be in their way.” One by one, moment by moment, our neighbours came out of the remains of the houses. Luckily, it seems everyone is okay, minus a few injuries. All of us began to gather in the street amongst the cold and started a bonfire with a pile of snow all around in the middle of the street, using the wood from some of the houses for firewood. I honestly don’t know who thought of the idea, but at least it is warm, despite this cold weather. Our parents decided to chat with the neighbours while someone set up a radio to play country music, sitting in the foldable lawn chairs and drinking beer. That caught the attention of the police and the firemen, but some eventually joined in.
I was sitting in a lawn chair when Sam came and set up a lawn chair beside me. “Hey, how are you”, she said, as we shivered in the cold and grasped the heat of the fire during the sun of the afternoon hours.
“I’m fine. The parents are fine. Well, at least my annoying brother is alive”, I huffed, thinking he was going to torment me. Sam looked at me with an expression of inquisitiveness. “What?”
“I mean, that’s what brothers are for. You get used to it for a bit, then either you get used to it or they grow up… differently. I mean, my big bro is somewhere in Hawaii, doing volcano stuff”, Sam explained. “What I’m saying is, they are necessary in life. You may not have fun with them, but they can save you one day.”
“Well, Matt isn’t saving me now”, I rebuked. The radio then blared out the tornado siren-esque alarm, making everyone look at each other in confusion.
“Well, just about time”, one man said. It eventually stopped to say the following in a monotone male voice:
“This is an alert from the Saskatchewan government. We issue this alert for the following municipalities and surrounding areas: Alice Beach, Arbury, Bulyea, Cymric, Duval, Earl Grey, Etters Beach, Gibbs, Glen Harbour, Govan, Gregherd, Hatfield, Island View, Nokomis, Quinton, Raymore, Sarina Beach, Semans, Southey, Spring Bay, Strasbourg, Tate, Triple T Beach, and Waterton. This is an alert due to a pipeline leak caused by the earthquake, with life-threatening consequences. Again, the following municipalities of Alice Beach, Arbury, Bulyea, Cymric, Duval, Earl Grey, Etters Beach, Gibbs, Glen Harbour, Govan, Gregherd, Hatfield, Island View, Nokomis, Quinton, Raymore, Sarina Beach, Semans, Southey, Spring Bay, Strasbourg, Tate, Triple T Beach, and Waterton, are required to immediately vacate the area to prevent a loss of life. Stay safe.”
“Is this a joke? A pipeline leak”, another person asked.
“A whole area for a broken pipeline”, another suggested. Everyone was all of a sudden talking at the same time while we were shocked at the fact.
“A pipeline? Leaking? Why such a large area for a leak”, Sam asked.
“I have no idea”, I said, confused as to the events happening. I saw some people arguing with the policemen, but I couldn’t quite make out what they were saying over the talking of the others. Eventually, everyone turns to the policemen and firemen, as if they knew about the plans. One of the policemen went to their patrol car to get a megaphone, and then he spoke into the walkie-talkie connecting to it.
“Hey, everyone calm down”, he bellowed and most gave their attention to him. “My name is Russel Simmons, and I am the chief of this department here. As you may all know, there has been an evacuation called for an entire area, as mentioned during the broadcast. t. I did not know this beforehand, just like every one of you. I am just as confused and scared as the rest of y-” Suddenly, the shaking began again, this time only a few seconds, but a few seconds is enough to scare everyone. “Stay calm! Everyone stay calm”, the chief begged the panicking people. Slowly but surely, everyone calmed down. “We can get through this. Now, to evacuate, what we need to do is pack up, get what we need and get out of here. Meet with us at the Tempo gas station to get fuel, if necessary. After that, we will go south to Regina, where we’ll be staying.”
“What about the stuff in our houses”, a woman asked.
“For that, we can’t go into the houses. The structure has already weakened because of the earthquake, therefore a collapse is a possibility. We cannot risk a life here, so we can’t”, Russel explained.
“My house looks fine, why can’t I go in”, an older man asked.
“Like I said, sir, the houses are at risk of collapsing.”
“What about the water? We can’t just leave it around in our houses. We need that”, a younger man said.
“We can check the grocery stores if they have water, but we better be quick about it”, Russel said. Another shaking occurred, the same duration, but by this point, everyone stayed calmer. Dad then met up with us.
“It is time to go”, Dad suggested. “We have to make it to Regina, as soon as possible.”
“Well, I guess it’s time to go”, Sam said. We then share a hug. “See you later… sometime.”
“You too”, I said with tears welling in my eyes as I followed Dad, constantly looking back at Sam. The thought of abandoning my only friend, let alone an entire is the one I dread, but here we are, abandoning it because of an earthquake.
“It’s going to be okay”, Dad reassured. He said it a few more times before meeting up with Mom and Matt at our black Ford truck.
“Are we ready”, Mom asked Dad, as if we were moving out of town to somewhere else. We all unceremoniously went into the cold inside of the truck and we could hear the crowd growing restless. Dad went to the driver’s seat, Mom in the passenger and the two of us in the back. Dad got the truck started and drove out of the spot. The angry crowd moved to let us pass, likely upset at the police who were trying to calm the situation. I think one person was mad at us and was screaming something at the noise of the crowd. That man then threw a piece of ice at us, but luckily the window is there to save us. Once we passed them, we sped off through the streets. Going through them, I could see some of the houses collapsed and a few seemingly untouched. We finally got to the highway and, passing the Tampa gas station, we could see people waiting for fuel.
“Should we stop for gas”, Mom asked.
“I don’t think so. We have a full tank of gas and there are too many people. With the situation we are in, things might be bad to worse”, Dad explained. “If we could stop in Bulyea, to pack more up.”
“When are we going home”, Matt complained.
“No, honey, there is no home left for us. Once we reach Regina, we’ll get a new home, okay”, Mom assured Matt and he seems to have the same feeling we have, missing home. At least we can agree on something for once. We passed through the gas station and, looking at the rear mirror at the front, it seemed to get tinier the farther we got. We sat in silence along the icy road with banks of snow. The inside of the truck got warmer and more comfortable. Luckily, there are fuzzy blankets in the truck to snuggle in.
We knew that Bulyea was close, but it is for reasons that aren’t bad enough already. Black, dense smoke in the distance, lofting to the east. We already knew something bad happened.
“Should we even go to Bulyea”, Mom asked. Dad looked at her and back in the road and gave a nod. “We can’t. Remember what you said back there? It is worse here-”
“I know. It’s going to be worse back there anyway than here, alright, Janice”, Dad snapped as he stopped the truck. This is the first time I have seen Dad this mad. I am starting to think he is just as afraid as us. “I’m sorry, I just missed home, but we had to get out.”
“I know, so do I”, Mom said and they shared a kiss. “Now, what?”
“Go to town and salvage what’s left.” Dad drove the truck and went into town. There, we noticed where the smoke came from. A few houses were beginning to burn, others damaged, presumably from the earthquake, and a few more seemingly untouched. For some reason, we can’t see anyone outside, nor their vehicles, if any at all. It seems to be like a ghost town.
“Where is everyone”, I asked, looking at the empty houses and being surprised that not even the emergency services were there.
“I don’t know. Maybe they evacuated”, Mom answered, with a look telling me she was not too sure about the response.
“Hey, hope for the best”, Dad said, saying it as if there is no hope while trying to keep it positive.
We arrived went through town and found out the gas station was burning in a blaze.
“So much for water”, Mom said, looking at the burning wreck. “Hey, how many kilometers did we travel?”
“Why is that important? Worried about gas”, Dad chuckled, in an attempt to cheer the mood. “I can chec- wait, how many kilometers does it take to get here?”
“Uh, fourteen”, Matt responded. My Dad looked at the dashboard in a confused state. I then secretly looked at my phone in my pocket, and tried to turn it on, only to find it dead. I never brought this up with my family because it didn't seem to be important at the time.
“Seems we travelled a kilometer but yet wasted half our fuel. I don’t know what is happening to the truck”, Dad said, further confused. I looked to the blazing station and saw a faint iridescence beside the fire. I was about to point it out when Matt spoke.
“Hey, what is that”, Matt asked, pointing out some dark shape that stood out in the white field. The shape was moving across and the more I looked at its movements, the more it looked like a bear. It then seemed to notice us and seemingly ran towards us.
“We are going now”, Dad yelled and put on the gas, driving off quickly. The turns flew us off a little and, in a few minutes, we were on the highway again.
“What was that”, I asked.
“I think that was a bear.”
“Why did we take off?”
“It was chasing us! Would you like to know what happens when we stay?” Dad then gave out a sigh. “I am sorry, but I had to make a choice.”
“I guess we won’t be staying”, Matt questioned.
“No, we won’t. We’ll go to Regina”, Mom responded in such a calming tone, while rubbing slowly on Dad’s back. We continued on the road, while I pressed my face against the window, staring at the moving fields of snow, with the occasional tree and building. I then slowly closed my eyes, bringing me to a world of darkness.
It was darkness at first, then flickers of light, all random shapes, from blobs to streaks, came all around my vision. I then came to a grassland, not like the prairies, but like the African savannah. Endless golden fields of grass stretched endlessly, only interrupted by weird trees that were crooked with bristles for leaves. The sun is setting in a brilliant series of yellows and oranges. I then heard rustling behind me. That is when I woke up, but not on my own.
“Hey, Kate, you need to see this”, Matt said in an odd confusion. I looked around and thought of nothing unusual.
“See wha-” I faltered as I looked ahead at the road. Ahead of the truck, the road is cut off by some kind of wall. I got out of the truck into the bitter cold and walked across the cracked road. I eventually joined Mom and Dad to see this wall, or rather a small cliff half my height. It seems someone cut the whole road and got the ground where I am to sink. I could even see what was below the road. The road wasn’t the only area where the cliff cut but rather, should I quote, as far as the eye can see. “What is this?”
“It might be some kind of fault line”, Dad said.
“Fault line? What is that”, Matt asked.
“You know, cracks in the ground that cause earthquakes? The one you learn in school about the San Andreas fault? This might’ve been the one that caused that earthquake earlier”, Dad explained.
“So a new fault line is appearing in Saskatchewan”, Mom said.
“Seems to be.”
“So, how are we going to get to Regina”, I asked. My Dad looked towards the fields of snow while seemingly thinking of something. It was a few minutes before we heard something odd. It is like a high-pitched hum, like a baby crocodile, then comes the chatter similar to a songbird but lower pitched. We all went to the truck, except Matt, who was more curious than afraid.
“Hey, I can see something”, Matt advised. Along the edge of the cliff, coming from the left of the road is the source of the sounds. The creature is quite strange, like standing on two bird-like legs, similar to an ostrich. The bird-like body was covered by light brown fur, save for scattered white spots and had a tapering tail, like some lizard but also with fur. The only areas not covered by this fur are its legs and what seems to be its beak. When it got closer, I came to make out its appearance. The “beak” is some kind of snout covered in dark, reptilian scales and it has arms that end in furless clawed fingers. I knew what it was, and it was frightening as it was confusing.
“Matt, come back. That is a dinosaur”, I yelled, hopefully persuading Matt of his curiosity. As soon as I said that, the creature stopped.
“Dinosaur? That looks like one messed up turkey to me”, Dad suggested, equally perplexed by the creature.
“Hey, Matt, come back! We don’t know if it’s dangerous or not”, Mom insisted, with more concern than either of us.
“But it’s not doing anything bad. It looks cool”, Matt said, not even concerned about this weird creature.
“Listen to your mother, Matt”, Dad hollered, in agreement with me and my Mom.
“Oh, come on, we could make him do some tricks.” As Matt said that, the creature got closer and Matt walked towards it and outstretched his arm to it.
“Matt! Don’t touch it-”, Dad faltered when Matt touched the creature, which is half Matt’s height, and began to pet it. The creature then began to purr, like a cat but more bird-like.
“See, not so dangerous. Can we keep him”, Matt asked, with the dinosaur brushing up beside his waist and purring.
“No, we can’t. We don’t know what it is”, Mom pleaded and I do agree.
“Oh, please, I promise I will take care of him. It’ll be the coolest pet ever.” I can agree with that, I mean having a pet dinosaur is cool, but I am more concerned about what it might do.
“I think it’s a bad idea”, I yelled to Matt.
“No, it won’t. Please”, Matt begged. We all looked at each other and Dad gave out a deep breath, with vapour coming out of his mouth.
“Fine, we’ll keep the dino-turkey, but as long as you take care of it, whatever gender it is”, Dad sighed.
“Yes! Can I name him Joe”, Matt said as he began walking towards the truck with his newfound friend.
“Joe? We don’t even know if it’s even a boy.”
“I don’t care. I want him to be a boy”, Matt protested.
“I guess Joe it is”, Mom said as she turned to Dad with a look of regret.
“I guess we have a family pet now”, I said under my breath to no one. We then went back to the truck and I sat in. Dad went to the driver’s seat as usual and Mom in the passenger. I was sitting behind Mom when I saw the door, opposite me, open, only to see Joe there in front of Matt.
“Hey, do you wanna meet my family”, Matt beamed when he picked him up. I can see Joe’s face more clearly. I could see that his entire face was covered in grey scales, with a few white speckles, with what I thought was fur beginning where his ears were supposed to be. Joe looked at me with a bird-like expression with his bird-like eyes. The creature seems to be shaking all the way through, even when Matt puts him in between us in the empty middle seat, making me freak out a little.
“Why are you putting it beside me”, I shuddered. “Did you make sure he doesn’t have rabies?”
“Don’t worry, he’s just cold”, Matt reassured. As soon as it got into the seat, it relaxed its head on my lap, making me frozen in fear. In surprise, Joe began to purr.
“What is he doing”, I asked.
“I think he likes you. You can pet him if you want. He’s harmless”, Matt assured. I then cautiously took my hand out and touched his brow area. It felt cold and reptilian, and I moved my hand towards his fur. I realised they were feathers, not quite like a bird, like fuzzier. I stroked across his spine and he was cold. Matt then covered the feathered creature’s body with a blanket.
“What should we do now”, Dad asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe take another route”, Mom responded. Dad then started the truck and turned it around.
“The rural roads would be hell. Maybe go to Earl Grey, and see if there is anything there.”
“Hopefully not like Bulyea.” Dad then looked at his rear-view mirror to look at Matt.
“Hey, do you know what, uh, Joe eats”, Dad asked.
“I don’t know”, Matt said, with a look like he doesn’t know.
“I mean, he has to eat something”, I said, now more comfortable with Joe. I lifted his lips to see a series of fangs lining his jaw. Joe didn’t take that too kindly and nudged. As he did that, he rolled to his side to reveal his hands. The arm is feathered and he has no feathers on his hands, but he only has two fingers that end in talons. “What, why does he only have two fingers”, I asked.
“Maybe a genetic defect. Like my cat Fluffy with his extra thumbs”, Mom suggested.
“Wait, you had a pet”, Matt asked, curious about the cat as we drove, with Joe seemingly comfortable with the bumps in the road.
“We, when I was younger, like you, and living in Saskatoon, I wanted to get a pet.” Mom explained as she looked at Joe. “Well, not quite like you have. Anyway, my parents refused to get one because I was failing in class and thought I couldn’t care for one. One day, I think a snowstorm was happening. I was walking down a street, fighting against the snow. I stumbled upon a box, covered in a blanket lying on the sidewalk. I looked inside and I saw kittens”, she said, her eyes glossy.
“Sadly, most of them died in the cold, except for one. An orange, fluffy kitten, fighting for its life. I took it, put it into my jacket and took it home. I entered our house and the kitten was fine, but my parents were furious. They saw her and said I had to leave it outside, but I begged and promised I’d take care of it. They said we could keep the kitten, as long I kept the grades up. So, I named him Fluffy, because he’s fluffy.”
“Where is he now? Why is he not here”, Matt questioned.
“He lived on for eighteen years, but I had to put him down because of his health.”
“Why didn’t you buy another cat”, I prodded.
“We just couldn’t afford it, we don’t have enough income. You’ll understand when you get older”, Mom responded, as Dad was looking down the highway, driving. I looked down and Joe was sleeping. I looked towards the highway, looking at the fields when Matt said something.
“I need to go to the bathroom”, he said, holding at his groin. I also need to go to relieve myself, but Matt called it first.
“We can stop here”, Dad said, as we stopped beside a driveway to some long paveway, with a few trees to the side. I recognized it through our trips to Regina: we have arrived at Gibbs. Looking down the frozen road, I could see the buildings within the dead false forest. I took this moment to speak my urge.
“Yeah, I need to go, too”, I declared. Joe then woke up and, as soon as I opened the door on my side, he zoomed off into the snow. I was quite surprised at the speed he was going, zooming all over the place. Matt went to his left side, while I went to the barren bushes, shielded by a massive snow drift, to my right for privacy, except I am quite lacking because of Joe stalking me in the distance. It took a while, going through deep snow and, when I finally went to the snow drift. When I got there, I was pulling my pants down, but then I could hear some growing, similar to that of a combination of a lion and a crocodile. Where is that coming from? Never mind, it might be Joe, I thought.
“Go away, Joe”, I said, thinking it was Joe, seemingly angry at something. Nervous, I finally got to business, a little slow because of Joe nearby. I then heard the growl again. This time, I looked up and saw Joe, but he wasn’t growling. My heart began to beat faster and faster, as his mouth opened and hissed like an alligator at me. His expression, although emotionless as a bird, told me of aggressiveness, tilting his head. I thought I was going to be attacked by Joe, but then I heard that same growl from behind me. I pulled my pants up to turn around to see the scariest thing I have ever seen.
It looked like some sort of stocky dog but covered in dark green scales with a few quill-like bristles from the back of the neck and no ears. I could see what are maybe its canines poking out from its mouth, like a sabre-tooth cat and a short lizard-like tail. It looked more reptile than, well, dog really except for its eyes. I could see the hunger in its eyes. I heard more growling to my other side and saw another of those things. Joe began making that baby crocodile noise and we ran to the truck. I turned around and ran.
“Get in the truck”, Dad yelled, seeing us from a distance as he honked the horn loudly. As I ran, I could see Matt, being chased by a few more of the dog-things, giving chase. Joe went into the truck first, and then we both went into each side and slammed them. Dad then sped off very quickly, scared they may get to us.
“What was that”, I panted, confused.
“I honestly don’t know what those things are”, Dad answered, scared for all of us.
“I want to go home”, Matt pleaded, tired from running away from those things.
“Don’t worry, we’ll be home soon. I promise”, Mom reassured.
“Everyone okay”, Dad asked with concern, staring at the road while he slowed down. We all looked at each other in fearful confusion, even Joe. I looked at Joe, and he then looked at me. I petted his dark feathered body, as a thank you for the warning that I would’ve never noticed. “Okay, we are moving on”, Dad concluded. We sat in silence, although I was still petting Joe.
“Hey, Matt, do you know what dinosaur he is”, I asked Matt.
“I don’t know. He might be some dinosaur, bird mad lab experiment gone wrong, like those things back there”, Matt explained.
“Or some mess-up chicken in a lab”, Dad suggested, still looking at the road.
“I don’t think he was a chicken”, Matt rebutted. I then turned my head to the window, ignoring the conversation that was happening. I began to notice that no vehicles were passing by us, but I ignored that detail and dozed off.
I saw those same lights in the dark vision of my closed eyes. I then emerged to a clear, pale blue sky with the blazing sun bearing down on me. Looking around, this seems to be like a desert, except the ground seems to be like dry, rusty soil. It feels hot here, hotter than one of those summers in my former town. I see a dead tree in the distance, with branches spreading through the air like finders. I heard a sound behind me.
“Wake up! We are here”, Matt said as he shook me awake. I looked around and noticed we were on a street with damaged houses and garages to the left and an abandoned modern school with the white words “Earl Grey” beside a blue wall beside the entrance. The school lies hiding behind a metal fence with dead trees behind it. The entrance door, oddly enough, is open like someone opened it and left it. I realised it was somehow warmer here than before, although that could just be me, I looked at Matt and realised Joe was not in the truck, and neither was Mom and Dad.
“Hey, where’s Mom and Dad”, I asked Matt.
“Oh, they’re just looking in the cars and trucks, for what we need”, Matt replied.
“And Joe?”
“Oh, just running across the road.” Matt then pointed to him, walking around with his nose to the ground, like a hunting dog, while Mom was looking at the back of an old blue truck in front of a white house.
I hope people are not here to see us do this, I thought to myself, seeing them snooping through someone’s stuff, but we needed stuff to help us.
“Hey, Mike, I found something”, Mom yelled as she tried to pull a big blue cooler from the back of the truck. Dad then came from an RV down from the truck and came and helped her. He then put it down on the road and opened it. They both plugged their noses and backed away.
“Fish? Who leaves fish in a cooler in the back of a truck”, Dad gagged. Joe then looked up, seemingly in excitement and ran towards the cooler. He stuck his nose in the cooler and pulled out a pike. He plopped it on the road, his foot stepped on the fish and put his mouth onto it, tearing a piece of it and swallowing it. “At least somebody likes rotten fish”, Dad rasped.
As we looked in surprise, we could hear something from the school. The minute we heard it, a loud boar-like roar came out from the school. We thought it was a very big boar when it came out, but the more we looked, the more we realised it was something else. Its body is like a boar, but its face is like a lion’s and the snout of a camel, with teeth somewhat like a bear’s when it opens its enormous mouth to gargle like a pig. Mom, Dad and even Joe are taken by surprise, making our parents run towards the driveway, while Joe towards our truck with his gorged fish, standing by us. The boar-thing then stopped a few feet away from my parents, seemingly in a defensive stance, hooves scratching the ground. We are scared for our parents, preparing to see this thing rip them to shreds.
It gave one last roar and walked towards the cooler, knocking it over with fish spilling out. It stuck its snout in the fish and swallowed one down. They then slowly walked around the creature and steadily fastened their pace until they were at the truck. We all quickly got in and Dad backed up quickly.
“What the hell was that”, Mom panicked.
“I don’t know, a pig from hell”, Dad responded. We looked at Joe, swallowing down the fish while the rotting fish smell remained. It looked at us in confusion, as we were. We silently laughed for no apparent reason, probably as a mechanism to try to replace the fear. We then heard a shaking in the truck, startling us. We realised that the hell pig was tearing at the bumper of the truck like a lion would. Dad hammered the horn, making the thing back up in surprise. Dad took this opportunity to back up very quickly towards the intersection and turned to the left, quickly avoiding the creature. We sat in silence, except for Joe who was chirping.
When we went down the street, the houses, as usual, were damaged but we saw other vehicles, the first we had seen. Some were parked along the street, others stuck on one lane like city traffic but paused. Weirdly enough, there are no people in the vehicles, nor anyone outside. Most of the vehicles have one or more doors open like people got out to go somewhere. We drove past all the vehicles in the other lane. There is one vehicle we passed by that is on fire, most of the paint already off to reveal the metal beneath, only to be turned into a rainbow of browns and blacks by the dancing flames.
“What. Happened. Here”, Mom slowly asked, as confused and terrified as us. We had a feeling of dread, seeing all the abandoned vehicles.
“That’s the least of our worries. We should be looking for supplies”, Dad responded.
“Hey, how much do we have”, Mom asked Dad, worried about using up the fuel.
“Well, we got a full tank of gas and travelled a hundred kilometers”, Dad responded, more confused. “Nothing makes sense here and I hope we don’t stay here for long”, he muttered.
Eventually, we passed most of the vehicles and reached the veterinary clinic. The small, intact structure stood there, seemingly looking over the icy driveway. We then spotted an old, brown truck and we saw something that set it apart from the rest of the vehicles we’ve seen so far.
“It’s on”, I said, gleefully, with hope that, at least, we aren’t the only ones here. The headlights beamed brightly, and we realised it was getting dark. We also noticed that the street lights aren’t turning on.
“I thought there was no one here”, my Mom said, unsure of the connection between the abandoned but running truck and the lack of people in this town. At one of the intact houses, ahead of us, partially blocked by the trees, we saw what seemed to be bright light coming from one of the windows. What person would go into a house after an earthquake, I thought, thinking about our house back home.
“Someone’s here”, Matt loudly notified, as we all shushed him and that is when Joe is trying to push the door with his snout. “What is he doing?”
“Stay here”, Dad calmly ordered, opening the door, but Joe scurried out and went somewhere else.
“Hey, come back”, Matt called out, with no success. Joe eventually disappeared into the night, never to be seen. Matt then had tears welling up in his eyes like he was about to cry. I hugged him to comfort him.
“He’ll come back some time”, Mom reassured, trying to calm him down and looking at Dad. Dad nodded and grabbed a flashlight that was equipped in the truck. He then walked slowly towards the house, step by step, being shone by our truck’s headlights. He looked back at us and put his hand up when the light in the house moved. It seems to move towards the front door of the house. Emerging from the house is a person walking down the steps, cloaked in darkness. Dad then took a few steps back as the figure came. Finally, the figure stepped into the light.

And a girdle of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, of needlework; as the LORD commanded Moses.And they made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote upon it a writing, like to the engravings of a signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD

And the curious girdle of his ephod, that was upon it, was of the same, according to the work thereof; of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen; as the LORD commanded Moses.And they wrought onyx stones inclosed in ouches of gold, graven, as signets are graven, with the names of the children of Israel

And they did beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it into wires, to work it in the blue, and in the purple, and in the scarlet, and in the fine linen, with cunning work.They made shoulderpieces for it, to couple it together: by the two edges was it coupled together

And of the blue, and purple, and scarlet, they made cloths of service, to do service in the holy plac , and made the holy garments for Aaron; as the LORD commanded Moses.And he made the ephod of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen

And with him was Aholiab, son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver, and a cunning workman, and an embroiderer in blue, and in purple, and in scarlet, and fine linen.All the gold that was occupied for the work in all the work of the holy plac , even the gold of the offering, was twenty and nine talents, and seven hundred and thirty shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary

First Previous
Dr. Dask caught herself lost in thought for what was not the first time that day. The humans were definitely up to something. She paced around her room on the outer-rim of the Lunar facility - built after the previous orbital station was deemed irredeemably outdated by modern standards.
If she’d learned anything in her 20 Earth years studying the people on the blue planet, it’s that they didn’t seem to go without a major war for very long. There were, of course, smaller conflicts and skirmishes all across the planet, as had become routine, but this extended ‘peace’, which had lasted her whole career by this point, must have meant something was off.
Some of her xenosociologist peers theorized that the humans must have, at last, realized how pointless their model of constant bloodbath is, and adopted the ‘civilized’ model of war, as indicated by the increase in their industrial capacities as well as the strengthening of their militaries despite the times of peace. Surely, her fellow scientists argued, this meant that the weapons are starting to be used as a tool of intimidation, rather than destruction and death.
The scientist thought the idea of a “civilized model of war” stupid and inherently contradictory, alas, those assertions were not the main issue she had with their theory. If humans did have a sudden realisation about the horrors they were committing on a daily basis, why were there still so many conflicts all around the world?
Not only that, but the weapons they were testing didn’t seem to be for the sole purpose of shock and awe. Of particular note was when she caught a glimpse of an artillery gun, a weapon designed to launch high-speed projectiles upwards and relying on the planet’s high gravity to bring them down into enemy lines, launching what seemed to be a regular projectile, until it fell on the ground and, rather than exploding, released a large amount of yellow-brownish gas, which surely couldn’t scare the most cowardly of Bannids, let alone a human. She did not know what the purpose of it was, but it definitely unsettled her.
Regardless, almost all of their developments seemed to be about killing each other, but better, and even the most impractical of technologies, namely “zeppelins”, as the humans called the hulking, and very flammable, masses floating above their cities, were being weaponized in one way or the other, for a purpose still shrouded in Dr. Dask’s eyes.
“Ms. Dask?” asked a meek voice, entering her room as she was still pacing around, deep in thought, “The scientists currently stationed at the observatory seem to think large amounts of troops are mobilizing, ma’am, you may want to see this.”
That pulled the scientist right out of her mental state, and heading to the observatory as fast as she could walk before it would be considered a full-blown run. “Thank you, Reylek” she said, directed at the Junior Scientist that was struggling to keep up behind her “This may be the answer I’ve been seeking for so long, we may find what they’ve been doing for all these years” she said, finally finding herself in the confines of the observatory room.
The researcher tried to keep her excitement in check. Whatever was happening, she thought, would definitely involve the deaths of thousands of sapients, as was so terribly common when human militaries got involved with something. She watched, in unabashed curiosity, as armies made of tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of humans marched across the land, wielding the deadliest and most advanced weapons they had so far been able to grasp.
This was, by far, the largest armies she had ever seen. There were records of larger ones being deployed, sure, but being able to personally witness the sheer scale of such a war was truly astounding. They were still only in the mobilization phase, however, and as such the Dr. furiously took some notes and headed to the cafeteria for dinner, which had an extravagant window giving a beautiful view of Earth. The decommissioned space station also had one, and, when the new Lunar base was inaugurated, the older scientists felt quite salty about losing their favourite lookout spot and demanded that a new one be built.
By the end of the month (human calendar), however, her cautioned curiosity had already been turned into sheer terror. Fighting had broken out all across the world, the brutality of the newly developed weapons unmatched by anything she or any of her older colleagues had ever witnessed. Some of the proponents of the human enlightenment theory had locked themselves in their rooms, not being able to bear the sorrow of knowing that they could not have been any more wrong if they tried.
This continued on for untold days and weeks, casualties piling up on every side of the conflict, both soldier and civilian, in enough numbers to collapse any reasonable alien society. The humans, however, fought on, seemingly unphased.
After a few months, as the fighting still raged on from the thickest of jungles to the hottest of deserts, the main front, in the continent containing the nations who first started the war, seemed to come to a standstill. Dask, now significantly more disheveled than she was those sweet months ago before such a massively important event broke out, felt a glimmer of hope. Surely this stalemate would mean the beginning of negotiations, and a possible end to what could only be described as the worst conflict anyone in the outpost had ever witnessed.
The scientist and her colleagues were watching as both sides dug long, sinuous corridors across a field. This, she thought, would force them into peace. No army, not even a human one, would want to get stuck in such an unwinnable situation, where neither side can reliably attack each other without catastrophic losses on both sides.
The group gawked. Some of the humans along the battlefield had suddenly stopped fighting, even climbing into disputed territory, seemingly mingling with those who were their enemies just a few hours prior. This was, as Dask noted, shocked, probably the most human behaviour she’d ever seen. From a senseless bloodbath to camaraderie and care almost instantly. It further fueled her hopes of a peaceful resolution in the end, as clearly such a display of friendship together with the hopelessness of their military positions would be enough to make both sides come to their senses.
Later reports would note that this truce may have had something to do with the end of the Solar year, an occasion celebrated by nearly all humans for as far as Commonwealth records go. The armistice, though, did not last long. By the next day it may as well have never happened, much to the chagrin of the researchers, still hanging onto the slim hope that this would end soon, if not by collaboration then by hopelessness alone.
That, however, was not the case. It had been roughly 5 (human calendar) months since the seemingly random act of peace. Hundreds of thousands more had died, and at this point Dask believed the humans couldn’t actually grasp the scale of what they were doing, especially given how mysterious the actual reasons for the war still were to her. What unfathomable offense had been made for it to spark such slaughter? She did not have the answers, all she knew is that the humans did not seem at all inclined to back down.
By this point, their weapons were only one of the many sources of death and sorrow in this war. Disease ran rampant, with no proper medical facilities on the frontlines, and a lack of supplies meant that several thousands simply starved to death, not a single bullet needing to be fired to cause their demise.
The mood on the research team was somber. The war had been dragging on, and Dr. Dask wondered just how many sleepless nights were yet to come, for she couldn’t truly rest while such terrible acts were taking place so close by. The silver lining, if you could call it that, is that she’d grown somewhat jaded to human warfare, and it did not make her as nauseated as it should, and as it did in the past. Until the shells hit.
As Dask watched, projectiles came down from the sky on a human trench, though, unlike the explosions she’d grown accustomed to, they simply released large amounts of a brownish-yellow gas, which she remembered seeing all those months ago, being tested. Once it dissipated enough to see through, she understood its true purpose, and immediately wished she hadn't. Hundreds of humans, twitching, coughing, vomiting, their skins burnt despite the absence of fire, some of them eerily still, choked out by the gas that had displaced the air on the long dirt corridors.
She stared, in shock, as the other side began charging, putting on masks that deprived them of all human features and walking into the dying lines, immune to the effects of the deadly gas. They mercilessly killed anyone and everyone wearing the wrong uniform, even those already on the floor. She thought about that in contrast to that serene night in which they mingled, it was hardly believable that they were of the same species, let alone the same people altogether.
Vomit filled the observatory. The other researchers, like Dr. Dask herself, thought they were used to human antics at this point, but their ingenuity when it comes to cruelty once again proved to be unrivaled. Most others left the room, leaving the dirty work to the cleaning bots. The Dr. did not vomit, if for no other reason than that she had not yet eaten, and as such physically could not do so. She also returned to her room, no longer feeling even the remotest scientific curiosity to watch such a terrible event unfold.
Over the next several years. The war dragged on and on, mountains upon mountains of bodies piling up,the count in the millions by now, civilians included. The clothes were stripped from the dead, washed anew and given to a young, excited recruit, just for them to meet the same fate, and repeat the cycle once more. Morale among the researchers was at an all time low, many choosing to no longer accompany the fighting as closely, and some retiring from the facility entirely.
The humans, of course, did not care much for the emotions of aliens they didn’t even know the existence of, and as such only got more and more creative with their machinations, from flying machines strapped with bombs and guns, to a brand new vehicle named the “tank”, which was, by all means, a marvel of engineering for their civilization, albeit prone to constant breakdowns. All that to fuel a war which Dr. Dask was still unsure as to the cause.
Dr. Dask herself, albeit far worse-for-wear than she had been before this, kept going. While the overwhelming cruelty was evident, she could not simply ignore the random glimmers offered by the various and random acts of kindness she had seen across the war. From the truce on that night, to a random soldier helping an injured enemy combatant, to humans risking their own life and walking into the line of fire to rescue their comrades.
That’s why, when the day of the Armistice finally came, she was one of the few left from the original team still there to witness it, and, as soldiers disbanded and went home, she could only look across the cafeteria window and into the blue marble above, wondering if this troubled species could ever truly achieve peace and step into the galactic stage as new allies, rather than pariahs.

Author's Note: The masses have once again spoken. I hope you don't mind a slightly more well informed perspective this time, as I can only come up with so many excuses to force an unwitting alien to witness the horrors of war. Definitely a more somber chapter too, which I find rather appropriate for WWI. Once again this turned far larger than I originally intended and I do apologise to those who wanted a detailed, more entertaining reaction to tanks and such, though I felt like it simply would not fit properly into this particular narrative. Finally, feedback and corrections for random inaccuracies are welcome as always. Enjoy!

And he made an hanging for the tabernacle door of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, of needlework;And the five pillars of it with their hooks: and he overlaid their chapiters and their fillets with gold: but their five sockets were of brass

And he made a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen: with cherubims made he it of cunning work.And he made thereunto four pillars of shittim woo , and overlaid them with gold: their hooks were of gold; and he cast for them four sockets of silver

These all interest me, but I wanted the communities thoughts on what sounds most fun to them, help fleshing the character out, and what would be easy to roleplay. (Sometimes I have an interesting idea, but actually roleplaying it and showing the personality is harder). I’m still newish to actually playing. I’m playing with 6 total players (oof) and i dont know them well. I haven't really received any info about the campaign yet. If your first session starts in 3 days, don’t read this!!
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Character 1: Stitch
Class: Moon Druid
Race: Changeling
The character is pretty much Stitch. The idea is to have another character already have a relationship with mine, having just picked me up and thinking im a dog. And he’ll only say a few words at first, but will progressively get better at speaking. This characters bites his toes and rolls around to move around, will be chewing on his own hand, and gain a strong sense of family. He also will be able to change into other characters like, a butler he saw once, who will use vocab like stitch, but talk formally. His moon druid shapes will have the same blue aberration coloring as him.
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Character 2: Fire Girl
Class: Wildfire druid
Race: Idk
This character is inspired by Megumin from Konosuba (She shouts “explosion!” and constantly wants to fireball everything, and then falls asleep). I see her holding hands with her pet fire spirit. Wanting to burn everything. Maybe the fire spirit can be like calcifer and talks. And maybe has a “before creation there must be destruction” them going on.
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Character 3A: Prodigy Chronurgist girl
Class: Chronurgist Wizard
Race: Harengon
A 12 year old sassy prodigy girl who is shaping the fields of chronurgy magic. Uses Gen Z language. Thinks shes smartebetter than everyone, besides some of the people she looks up to at the academy. “Ugh whatever”. Shes adventuring because she needs field experience for her internship.
Hides her bunny ears under a red hood (like red riding hood, shes kind of fairy tale coded (like alice and the white rabbit too)) because harengons are not a respected race for magic and shes embarrassed.
Her parents are literally two rabbits.
Alternative personality is that shes super hyper and brimming with energy, goes crazy if she gets any sugar.
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Character 3B: Old Grandma Chronurgist Wizard
Class: Chronurgist Wizard
Race: Harengon
Or, as opposed to the prodigy girl, this character is an old grandma harengon who’s still got it. She has kids that are rabbits. Jumps around. “When you get to be this old you understand time differently”. Maybe she accidentally ventured into the fey wild as a kid. Dated a fairy prince once. Has a lot of wild stories your grandma sometimes drops on you.
I love this idea, but idk i might get tired of roleplaying an old person at some point
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Character 4: Demon forced to be good
Class: Creation Bard
Race: Tiefling? Fallen Aasamir? Undecided
This character is some powerful old demon lord who is being punished for some reason, and that punishment is stripping him of his powers and forcing him to do good on earth. Maybe he just has to do more good than evil. But he hates that and wants to be evil so bad, but this is the reason he wont… usually. (Im aware of the problems of playing an evil character, or being antagonistic, so this reason should keep him in check i think!) Being good slowly brings his powers back, and he might just learn to not be so evil.
The creation ability is (like gilgamesh from fate) that he obtained so many things over the years, that he can just summon those items from his vault in hell.
He has a purr in his voice.
Bardic inspiration could be flavored as “i suppose i’ll lend you a fraction of my power” snaps
Or “here ill help you” *snaps* “there! Good deed done”
Dramatic character.
Thanks for reading!