Movie monolgues for young women

I am in a position of great privilege where i'm able to find out things that most people can't find out. I'm also very experienced with women.
So, for starters, i have first hand experience with how easy to seduce women is even when they have someone. And i've actually done this in the past more as a sociological experiment. Like, that woman is married, i'm decent looking, with a good social media presence. How is it is for me to make her disrespect her husband? I was actually very curious about this when i was a bit younger because i wanted to know people beyond what they tell me about them. Yeah, yeah, yeah, i know you think of yourself as wonderful and super trustworthy. But i want facts. I want to find out for myself. I don't want your word. I was hooked on facts. I wanna get to know reality.
Results: Pretty easy. Most offer quite a bit of resistance in the beginning, but if you're good looking and good with words, you will get there. I'd say if i send 100 DM's to 100 girls that have boyfriend, i can get around 60 to talk in a way that's inappropriate for someone that isn't single. And the remaining 40 aren't necessarily faithful. Maybe they just didn't find me cute enough, or i didn't insist enough. Most of my approaches were weak on purpose. Very basic. Just so i can see how easy it really is.
When it comes to having a girlfriend, you are expected to be lied to. Period. You can't check her phone(supposedly) and modern culture tells you women can go wherever they want, have friends, go to clubs without you, bla, bla, bla. Most guys have no idea how their girlfriends use the simple freedom of having a device in their pocket that gives them access to the world.
"Oh, i just trust her!!!!!!! I'm very secure of myself!!!"
Good luck with that. You're probably being cheated on in a way or another.
My girlfriend never cheated on me, THAT I KNOW OF. However, in the beginning she did lie about still living with her ex. They bought an house together but shortly after things went south and they were forced to continue to live together. She lied about it. I found out through questionable means i have. I forgave her, with the condition that she would never lie to me again. She promised she would never do it again.
I have real trust issues because i've had the opportunity to get to know people so incredibly well. Know their darkest secrets. So yeah, i check on her once in a while through questionable means and...she doesn't cheat(that i know of, but i don't know everything), but she still lies. She got together with her ex, although she promised not to do it, although she knows that would hurt me, and although she would break up with me if i did the same thing. Her words. It's not like i'm requesting something she wouldn't request of me.
I didn't even say anything right when i found out, but i'm very suspicious of everything she does. I'm controlling. And i call her a liar once in a while. And he just repeats she doesn't lie, and that i can trust her, bla, bla, bla.
Now, do i break up with someone like this? Do i accept to live in ignorance and let her do whatever she wants with me having no knowledge of things? Because that's what most guys do. Most guys are absolutely clueless.
I just know of so many women that cheat. Sooo many. It's just so common. And the more trust their boyfriends have in them, the more they cheat. I've absolutely detected this pattern. When a girl has a boyfriend that is super modern, liberal and has complete trust on them, that's when they go wild. On the opposite side, i've met some girls that simply didn't have the chance to do anything because the boyfriend/husband was on top of them like a Pitbull. But some still tried. They just had too much heat on them and had to abort.
My conclusion after years of getting to know people as deep as i possible can is that you can't trust them. You either have no relationship at all or you just accept your girlfriend is probably messaging some other guy. The only kind of solution to this would be to control her every movie and that nowadays is generally considered abuse.

A world overrun by creatures once believed to be science fiction and a very overused movie plot, friends and family now unrecognizable blood thirsty monsters, every place unsafe for the the people who are still alive and breathing. An experiment gone wrong by a high school science teachers might just end up causing the world to end and humanity to go extinct, the very thin population of survivors either get infected due to biting or get infected due to contracting the virus by not being strong enough. The mass amount of population to survive? Under 20 people, the reason? Unknown but one thing is for sure the adults which are alive would love to experiment and find out what makes the young ones so immune.
Hello everyone! I hope you are all doing well, written above is just a little idea which mixes in themes from the maze runner and from all of us are dead. What I am looking for today is a roleplay surrounded around a post apocalyptic world which is overrun by zombies. I would want there to be romance in the plot but I would want it to be slow burn and I would there to be action and them not only trying to survive from the zombies but also from the organization tracking them down. Now the specifics of the plots are all up for discussion and depends on who my partner is but that is the rough prompt which I would want to follow for the roleplay.
Realistically I would want us both to play multiple characters including the side characters and I want to do a lot of world building to make it as fun as possible, I like to pick out references so it would be appreciated if you could do the same. I roleplay in 3rd person and can write anywhere from 2 to more paragraphs and would like to consider myself to be literate, my lengths vary depending on my partner as I like to adjust to them but I like to be detailed so please be detailed. I want this to be long term so if you want to ghost me after a couple days I would appreciate it if you dont message me to begin with to save us both the time. I would love to plan stuff together so we both enjoy the roleplay and not just one of us so feel free to message me with your ideas and any suggestions which you might have had along with how you would want our characters to start off.
Looking forward to your messages and would love to discuss all of this in more detail in chat, see you soon

Hello! So, I must say, I am a big fan of crocodiles! That's why, I lately watched a German action comedy film titled "Zwei Zum Fressen Gern" ("Crocodile Alert" in English) from 2006. It was one of my two "childhood croc movies" (the latter being "Croc" from 2007). It was pretty good for me (despite low ratings). It's about a group of three people (an old crocodile hunter, a female forensic intern and a news reporter) trying to catch a 6-meter long crocodile who escaped from poachers to Danube river (and they want to get the animal back as well). In the last scene, the last egg of that croc (I know that female crocodlies of any species cannot grow to 6 meters) survives, and the hatchling escapes to the river. So, I was wondering (while I know that a young crocodile probably wouldn't survive that long in Germany due to climate and predators) - how long it would take for a young crocodile (let's say it was a saltwater croc) to grow to, about, 5-meters long? And how much he would weight then (assuming it was a male)? Sorry if it's a wrong place to ask, but, I wasn't able to find answers for that on Google. I hope someone here can have a possible answer, or help in any other way - for which, I'll be very thankful, since I'm just curious!

I was in a car accident at work. My employer's insurance accepted responsibility for my neck injury, but instead of getting real medical treatment I go to the doctor and they lie to me, try to convince me I'm healed, and then tell me to leave because my adjuster won't authorize any further physical therapy and there's no way I can see a specialist. The doctor I saw yesterday said that he's not sexist, but, a lot of women carry tension in their necks and that's probably why I'm in pain.
I basically have whiplash, but side to side instead of front to back. There are knots and adhesions in my neck that are rock hard and I'm in pain every day, but sure, I'm just carrying my woman tension in my useless woman neck. I get that workers comp sucks for everyone but I feel like I'm getting constant lies and sexism and paternalism because I'm a young woman and they won't accept that I was much stronger before this, to the point that I was able to use a chainsaw, change tires, carry around heavy gear, and hike 10 miles a day.

Hopefully the link isn’t paywalled:
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5537860/2024/06/06/usa-hockey-goalies-development/
Good for USA hockey to collectively take steps to create a better development model for goaltending. Being from Canada I’m patiently waiting for Hockey Canada’s approach on creating a model that helps a goaltender develop without having to spend hundreds/thousands of dollars a year on top of gear and registration fees.
Edit: it is paywalled.
Here’s the text:
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Many of the best minds in goaltending converged in the state of hockey last week with one purpose in mind: Building better American goalies.
The first ever USA Hockey Goaltending Symposium was held next to Xcel Energy Center from May 30 to June 2. Former American greats Mike Richter and Ryan Miller took the stage, along with NHL and Division I college goalie coaches, and experts in several fields of youth development.
They presented for four days to a room full of coaches of all levels from around the country, with the hope that they will return to their rinks better equipped to develop young goalies and continue the incredible momentum the U.S. is currently riding in net.
U.S. goaltending is in the best place it has ever been. The NHL is filled with elite American netminders, including Connor Hellebuyck, Thatcher Demko, Jeremy Swayman, Jake Oettinger and John Gibson. There’s an equally impressive crop of younger goalies waiting for a turn, such as Dustin Wolf, Trey Augustine and Drew Commesso.
Still, USA Hockey director of goalie development Steve Thompson and his team aren’t resting on that. Thompson put together the goalie symposium in an attempt to improve the country’s goaltending model by creating more touch points with coaches, and encouraging coaches to alter practices to better simulate game situations. It’s all part of an attempt to attract more, and better, athletes to the goalie talent pool, from youth hockey up.
“I’m hoping that everybody here is inspired and moving toward what the future of the position will look like, and I’m hoping it’s somewhat dramatically different than the way it’s always been done,” Thompson told The Athletic.
Goalies have always developed slower than their forward and defensive counterparts. Skaters regularly make the leap to NHL action at 20 or 21 years old. Some exceptional prospects – such as Connor Bedard – start as early as 18, but the average age of rookie goalies in the NHL is 24.3 years old.
The slower development path has long been attributed to the nature of the position. Goaltending relies more on the mental side of the game, reading and anticipating plays, so it makes sense that experience is more valuable, but Thompson believes it could be a product of the way the position is being coached from a young age.
Think about what a practice looks like for a child playing forward or defense, compared to goalie. The skaters take their turn in a drill, then skate to the back of the line and have significant time before their next rep to reflect on the last one. What did they do right? What could they do better next time? The coach also has the opportunity to share information for improvement.
Meanwhile, the goalie faces shot after shot with very little instruction between. At times, it feels like they’re just trying to survive a practice rather than improve aspects of their game.
“Those are millions of touch points over a youth career that our goalies just generally don’t have access to,” Thompson explained. “You might have someone barking at you from the corner but you can’t hear them, and you certainly can’t focus on stopping a puck, and trying to listen and modify your game. It’s a really bad learning environment.”
Games are no different. Skaters take their shifts, regularly coming to the bench to receive advice from the coaches and more importantly – engage in self reflection of their play. Goalies often feel like they’re on an island, playing every minute of every game and facing more stress – physically, mentally and emotionally – than the skaters.
“I think it’s really a byproduct of a lack of coaching, that in my opinion leads to goaltenders developing later,” Thompson said. “I really think we can get a lot more touch points in a youth athlete’s career by changing the way we’ve always done things.”
How do you generate more touch points for young netminders? The people at USA Hockey believe a three-goalie system on most teams would significantly improve the development path.
“Even though there are two nets, we can manage three goalies because the most important thing is the development,” said John Vanbiesbrouck, who played 20 seasons in the NHL, won the Vezina Trophy in 1986 and is currently the assistant executive director of hockey operations for USA Hockey. “It’s not about the games played, it’s how you develop as a young athlete, learning the position. We need to protect our goalies. They need to know they have time to breathe, regroup and reset.”
The program has already taken actionable steps with the U.S. National Team Development Program (USNTDP), which recently started using three goalies.
“We approached those conversations based on science – the demands on the body and the brain,” said national goaltending coach David Lassonde. “We started putting sensors on our players, and we soon realized that what we were asking our goalies to do on a daily basis was not necessarily healthy for them.”
Goalie coaches and experts met in Minnesota to discuss the future of the position. (Justin Felisko / USA Hockey) More goalies on the ice equals more time between reps for reflection and rest. Not only can it have a positive effect on their skill development, but it could also help them remain healthier in the future. Another major topic at this week’s symposium was the increase in hip and groin injuries for goalies at all levels, due to the physical demands of the modern goaltending style.
A recent study in Sweden by Tobias Wörner showed that of the 101 goalies studied, 69 percent experienced hip or groin issues during the season and 36 percent missed time on the ice as a result. Of the issues, 80 percent were due to overuse. Hockey could eventually follow the path of youth baseball, which started restricting pitches thrown by young pitchers to prevent long-term arm injuries.
Over four days in St. Paul, several presenters showed interesting ways to potentially improve the way goalies practice in the U.S.
Steve Brochu, coach for the XTX Storm girls hockey program in Sugar Land, Texas, showed, through manually-tracked shot data at youth hockey practices, that the types of shots goalies are facing in practice aren’t remotely similar to the ones faced in games. Using data, he demonstrated that by varying the shot location and types – rather than allowing players to skate in unopposed and blast slap shots at the goalie – there could be major improvements not just to the goaltending, but the shooters as well.
Rick Murray, a goalie development coordinator for the Southeast District of USA Hockey and professor at Hendrix College, showed the potential benefits of using smaller nets at younger age groups. Murray helped institute a rule for the Southern Amateur Hockey Association – which covers youth hockey leagues in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee – to use nets that are 36 inches tall and 54 inches wide for 10U hockey.
Asking young goalies to guard smaller nets — as opposed to the standard 48-by-72-inch nets — resulted in movements closer to those of a bigger, older goalie, rather than sprawling across the ice in desperation on every save. It could have physical and technical benefits to goalie development, and challenges young shooters to read plays and score in more realistic ways rather than keeping their head down and firing pucks at the top half of a net that towers over young goalies.
All of these are potential improvements won’t be possible, though, without more goalie participation across the country. Using three goalies in practice may be a good concept, but most youth teams are struggling to find even two at this point. No topic dominated the conversation across all four days more than getting more goalies in net.
Only four percent of the players currently registered to USA Hockey are goalies. For context, 10 percent would equal two goalies for every 20-player roster, so the overall numbers suggest there are fewer than two goalies per team at the moment. Several presentations proposed solutions such as “try goalie for free” events and financial discounts for parents if their child plays goalie, but Thompson believes the biggest hurdle is removing a harmful stigma from the position.
“It’s the ‘Goldberg effect,’” he said, referring to the initial “The Mighty Ducks” movie. “The narrative has always been that the goalie is the weird kid, the kid that’s not as athletic. It’s not that superstar athlete. The position has such an importance on the game, no different from the quarterback or the pitcher, and yet those positions are celebrated as the person that’s going to help this team win. In hockey, we know it’s true, the statistics always show us that the goalie is probably the most pivotal person on the ice to determine wins and losses.
“That’s where I think the Scandinavian countries have had an edge on us. When I spent time over there, it was an honor to be the goalie. You had to earn the opportunity to be the goalie. They’ve created this pedestal that the goalie is on, and you really want to become that person. I think here we run from it, unless you somehow convince your parents otherwise.”
Coaches from all levels told stories at the symposium of parents not wanting – or allowing – their children to play goalie. The cost of equipment used to be the biggest factor, but with the increase in the price of sticks – and how quickly they break – has nearly eliminated that aspect.
“I think we’re set in our old ways a little bit, when sticks were three bucks and it was a wooden stick you just grabbed out of a trash can,” Thompson said. “When sticks are going for $300 or $400 a pop, and you buy three or four a year, that’s the price of a set of leg pads.”
Now, coaches believe the stigma has far more to do with the position itself. Goalies face more pressure, and more blame when the team loses. Thompson believes that if coaches can change the conversation around goaltending, it will lead to not only more goalies, but better athletes playing the position from a young age.
“We need to inspire people that love to embrace pressure, those that want to be leaders, those that want to be different from the rest of the group, come and play this awesome position,” he said. “It will set you up for life away from the rink, if you embrace that challenge and don’t see stress as pressure, but as an opportunity.”
Overall it was an exciting weekend for the future of the position, filled with stimulating ideas to not only continue America’s success in net, but dominate even further moving forward.

I 16M, and my brother 15M live with my father 37M and it is a living hell. My brother and I are in a group chat with our mother who was kicked out of our property thanks to my father with their ongoing divorce. Their divorce started basically because of my father's binge drinking and he would begin to lash out at my mom and just act useless and be deplorable. The sad thing is, is he thinks he can spend money to buy me and my brother's love (Fortnite cards, video games, etc). He even pretends to be sugar sweet when in reality he sends my mom horrible messages basically demeaning her as a human being. He always needs to be in control, like with money, clothes you wear (if they're dirty or not), and what you do in your day to day life. As I'm writing this he invited people to this "cookout" with relatives from his side we resent, (uncle, aunt, cousin, and grandma). He also texted me saying "Yeah, I really can't, bud. I have my bosses out here and I need to impress them." when I asked if they could tone things down. He also has a disabled brother with autism who is non-verbal, and cant do anything for himself, (clothing himself, bathing, etc), and he, and my grandma just leaves him in the house whenever he has guests, completely disregarding his needs. Not only that, he gets mileage checks to take him places, but all he's ever at is his home because he doesn't take him anywhere. I barely use Reddit, I've talked to my mom about reporting him to the police for what he's doing to me and my brother emotionally, but I know if I were to do that, I'd be in foster care, and I don't want that at all. He has made Facebook statuses about women he'd like to have sexual intercourse with, while he was married to my mom, and he completely disregarded their marriage together at times. He treats me and my brother like we're toddlers for no reason, even though I'm 16 and he's 15, he hasn't worked a day in his life; when he was married to my mom, he'd usually dump his brother on her, and make her watch him even though it's his job. My mom now lives multiple towns away because of his antics of all of these factors, I have a high reputation in the small town I live in, I played football and basketball for my high school, and pretty much anyone in my town knows my name. Anytime halftime would come around playing football, he'd sneak away to go drink beer. This isn't the NFL, you can't be drinking at a high school football game. I'm thinking of starting over, and moving down to where my mom is at, train for football and basketball, get a part time job to pay for a car and my probationary license, and graduate in a different high school because that's what my father has caused me to think like. I've even had thought's of suicide because of how he treats my family; a year prior to all of this my grandfather died of leukemia, and he puts all of his drinking on that, he claims he's never done it before that, but he's asked me for so many years to fetch him beers. You know the "When son won't fetch me beers" meme? I don't even find it funny because of what feels like trauma hits me. It gets worse, he even said I'd be a good bartender even though I hated dropping everything I'm doing to fetch him beers. Some nights it got so bad, I'd have to give him two at one time. He has also talked behind my mom's back to her parents, and now they won't even talk to her. But enough about my father, let's talk about my "relatives".
First: My grandma. She is just as if not worse than him. She is a narcissist, she does Christmas as bribery for putting up with her narcissism, and if you don't do anything her way, she takes a present away. Not only that, but she hated my mom for many years as well (underpaying her, kept her away from my disabled uncle, etc). She is also very disgusting, she pees and poops in her pants, and doesn't bother to change. She laughs it off, like it's a big game, and sits in it. Her and my father died laughing as I was holding their closet door shut trying not to get scratched by their cat they pick on as well. She condones homophobia, racism, and transphobia, she always thinks you're lying when something needs to get done with her life. She claims to be a Christian, when in reality she cherry-picks The Bible. She also has disowned my transgender cousin who identifies as male, saying how "it's the devil's work on why he's transgender".
Second: My uncle. He is a failure. He has 5 children, 4 of them are with his current wife (my aunt) and they all hate him. He cut off his first born daughter and grandchild, only God knows why, he drinks, he says racist slurs, he pretty much discriminates everybody, and his opinion always needs to be heard, and it's usually about politics. He also disowned my cousin who happens to be transgender, which is makes him a horrible uncle to him
Third: My aunt. She is such a backstabber, she literally can't say anything to your face, she can't discipline her kids, she's a failure of a mother, together, her and her husband (my uncle) go bar hopping to let their kids (my cousins) "raise themselves" and she claims my mom has abused my uncle while taking care of him in place of my father. She, like my uncle, and grandmother, have also disowned my transgender cousin, and misgender him on the daily and dead-name him.
Last but certainly not least: My cousin, (a different cousin). She is a recently graduated high school student and has her whole life ahead of her, but instead rather tries to spy on my mom, and try to "relate" to me and my brother, when there's nothing to relate to only that her parents are divorced as well. Young and impressionable, but decides to throw her life away for alcohol and parties.
So in conclusion, my father's side of the family are hateful, bigoted, and live by their own rules based on their narcissism. They don't care if you're disabled or not, they don't care if you have a different opinion because it's always wrong and they're always right. You can't do anything, wear anything unless it's father approved, and you can't buy anything within a certain budget because he has to control money as well. My grandma has to have Christmas AKA the bribery for her narcissism and is probably worse than my father in terms of bigotry; disowning my transgender cousin, and cherry picks Bible verses on her day to day life.

For reference me and my friend I will be talking about are not Muslim, we are 18/19 years old and live in the US…
I’m going to start from the beginning. My friend made an online chat room where he met a women who we will call Jay. Jay lives in Africa which is a long way away from the US and a completely different time zone. Jay and my friend apparently hit it off and began talking everyday. Everyday turned into all day everyday they could. Jay is also a 27 year old women speaking with an 18 year old.
The more they talked (texting on social media platforms or voice calls) the more it became a romantic relationship. She has alway been open about being Muslim and my friend is now studying the Muslim religion for her.
I’m not sure how long this has been going on but my best guess is since December.
My friend is isolating themselves from hangouts, movie nights and is constantly on their phone texting Jay. We are worried for him.
I forgot to mention I live with this friend. I have witnessed him change himself for her (stoped eating pork, learning her native language and claiming to be straight when he is Bi). Now all of this would be fine if it wasn’t effecting me.
I miss my friend and now he can’t buy groceries or gas because he is broke? Me and my friends did the math he should have $600 left over after every month. So now we think he is being scammed to send money to her.
I’ve asked if it’s okay with her religion for them to be dating over the phone and he told me that they aren’t even dating because she isn’t allowed to. Yet he is saying he loves her and want to move over there to marry her.
Another thing, Jay isn’t her really name in really life either (it’s nickname). The insta account they chat through sometimes, only has 25 some followes and just looks like a side account but I found her real acct under her real name and and request to follow but it never got accepted. He told me that it’s her old acct but it’s clearly active.
I’m at a loss of what to do.

For reference me and my friend I will be talking about are not Muslim, we are 18/19 years old and live in the US…
I’m going to start from the beginning. My friend made an online chat room where he met a women who we will call Jay. Jay lives in Africa which is a long way away from the US and a completely different time zone. Jay and my friend apparently hit it off and began talking everyday. Everyday turned into all day everyday they could. Jay is also a 27 year old women speaking with an 18 year old.
The more they talked (texting on social media platforms or voice calls) the more it became a romantic relationship. She has alway been open about being Muslim and my friend is now studying the Muslim religion for her.
I’m not sure how long this has been going on but my best guess is since December.
My friend is isolating themselves from hangouts, movie nights and is constantly on their phone texting Jay. We are worried for him.
I forgot to mention I live with this friend. I have witnessed him change himself for her (stoped eating pork, learning her native language and claiming to be straight when he is Bi). Now all of this would be fine if it wasn’t effecting me.
I miss my friend and now he can’t buy groceries or gas because he is broke? Me and my friends did the math he should have $600 left over after every month. So now we think he is being scammed to send money to her.
I’ve asked if it’s okay with her religion for them to be dating over the phone and he told me that they aren’t even dating because she isn’t allowed to. Yet he is saying he loves her and want to move over there to marry her.
Another thing, Jay isn’t her really name in really life either (it’s nickname). The insta account they chat through sometimes, only has 25 some followes and just looks like a side account but I found her real acct under her real name and and request to follow but it never got accepted. He told me that it’s her old acct but it’s clearly active.
I’m at a loss of what to do.

“This geriatric bunch in cold sleep?”
“Affirmative. But their records show that they have been in cold sleep multiple times. They should respond quickly to the resuscitation procedure.”
“But, why? Wouldn’t it be more merciful to leave them in stasis while the Jaxorians intercept us?”
“Yes, but Allyson says that these individuals are the ones who might get us out of this situation.”
“The Terran engineer? You’re trusting her?”
“In a zero-sum analysis, her suggestions have net positive outcomes.”
“Just for the record, I think this is a bad idea.” A pause. “Resuscitation sequence activated.”
“Duly noted. Alert me when they are awake.”
-=-=-=-=-=-
William Exeter hated the feeling of coming to after cold sleep. While the modern systems were better than those he first encountered, he still felt like his muscles were infused with lead and that he was suffering from a hangover that he never got the enjoyment of deserving. But hopefully this would be one of the last times he would ever have to use the procedure, and he could finally settle down.
As the capsule’s lid slid back, harsh light assaulted William’s eyes, and he squinted in an attempt to lessen the pain. The silhouette of a triangular head above him let William know that a Dravitian was checking on him. He swallowed and got his voice working so he could croak out, “I’m up, I’m up.”
“Ah, Mr. Exeter, yes? I am…” The insectoid started to come into better view to the Terran’s adjusting eyes. “Captain? Yes, Captain of this ship. I am… We all are in need of assistance.”
“Uh, what?” William’s croaking voice hid some of his annoyance. “Yeah, I’m Exeter. But if you’re going to get my help, you’re going to have to get me a Jolt. I’m still half asleep from the drugs.”
The Dravitian’s head tilted to the side in an obvious gesture of confusion, “You require an electrical discharge?”
And this was why William hated waking up among aliens. He had to explain everything to them. “A drink. ‘All the sugar and twice the caffeine.’ Bah!” He started to force his muscles into action and pushed up on his elbows, “Just get me a goddamned stimulant, okay?”
“Oh, yes. Yes. Of course!” The Dravitian’s head disappeared as the insectoid moved over to a wall-mounted workstation.
William turned his head and saw several other cold-sleep capsules with their lids open. He cleared his throat and then called out, “Venture crew, sound off...”
“Here!”
I hear you, Bill.”
From a nearby capsule there was a dry coughing, but a hand in a ‘thumbs-up’ gesture rose in response.
“Well, good, I won’t have to suffer alone.” William turned his head again and looked over the other closed capsules, “But they didn’t wake everyone, so something’s up. Try to shake this shit off and get ready, okay?”
There were murmurs of ascent and more dry coughs from the other capsules.
The Dravitian come back from the workspace and addressed William, “Stimulant beverages and some cakes are on their way, Mr. Exeter. While I know that you are still under the effects of the stasis pharmaceuticals, I do need to apprise you of our need. You know of the Jaxorians, yes?”
William’s brow furrowed, “What, those crab-guys who go around in those water-suits? Didn’t we beat them in that big war?”
The Dravitian pulled back a little, “It was a negotiated settlement, I believe, but yes, your descriptive words adequately fit the Jaxorian physiology.” He paused, “Well, the Jaxorians, and their rulers the Drasalites, are once again at war, and we are now targets. I would not have woken you , but our Terran engineer was sure that you could help.”
William frowned and shook his head, “We should have finished them once and for all when we had the chance, but we have to let the Soviets fail as Soviets, don’t we?” He sighed, “And we’re humans, dammit. Homo sapiens sapiens by fuckin’ scientific classification. We once lived on Terra, but our genus and species doesn’t change when we move to another-” He noticed the paling colors on the edges of the Captain’s chitinous facial plates and stopped his Duckman-esque rant, “Look, nevermind. How much time do we have?”
The insectoid paused, as if surprised be the direct question. “We estimate a cycle, if our engineer’s modifications to the engines hold. Our speed has been dramatically increased, but the Jaxorian ships still gain slowly. We will eventually be within the effective range of their weapons. Please, direct us.”
-=-=-=-=-=-
After some of the greasy-spoon diner-ish coffee and the supermarket quality yeast-raised, honey-glazed donuts, the four Terrans looked and felt better. William glanced at his colleagues, noting the wear of time on their bodies. He chuckled as the slightly altered movie quote of ’It’s not the years, it’s the light-years’ ran through his mind. But they’d been together ‘asleep’ much longer than they’d been awake, and they’d spent more of their ‘awake’ lives together than apart.
Tony Scarpetti’s pudgy fingers tipped his cup almost upside down as he tried to get the last drops of the coffee and granulated sugar sludge into his mouth. His once black hair was now mostly white, and his tough physique that ran circles around them on the soccer field had shrunk a bit, though he was still stocky.
Peter Hoffman had finally gotten control of his coughing, and was munching on ‘just one more’ donut, and William once again wondered where Peter fit all the food he ate in that short, diminutive frame. His signature mohawk had been fluffed up with fingers, but lacking styling gel and a razor to clean up the stubble that had grown out in cold sleep, it ended up looking more like a peaked mound than the sharp style that Peter would have usually rocked.
Alex (AJ) Johnson’s hair had finally receded so much that his braid only held back reddish hair from behind his ears, though his scraggly beard was long enough that he could probably have braided it as well. Always tall and gangly, his frame seemed a little more gaunt than William remembered, though it had been almost a decade of cold-sleep travel since they had last seen each other.
“Hey, Doctor Exeter?”
William turned his head toward the voice, and looked at the young woman with blonde hair striding toward the table where the four sat around their coffee and donuts. Her utilitarian grey coveralls had scorch-marks and grime all over, and there was some of the same on her exposed hands and face, but bright teeth were visible in her smile.
William nodded, “You must be the plucky human engineer who got us woken up before our alarm went off, huh?”
The woman nodded, still smiling widely and, as she got over to the table, thrust out her hand toward William in the manner of one who just remembered something. “Yeah, sorry about that, Doctor. I’m Allyson, and I’m the only Terran on the ship. Besides you guys, that is.”
William took the extended hand and shook it, being a little more gentle than he usually would have been, given the way that the woman’s grip and lack of fluid motion showed that she wasn’t experienced in shaking hands as a greeting ritual. But she had looked it up, and that counted for something. “Well, us humans have to stick together, right? You sure you want us geezers to help you out? Don’t you have some flashy alien tech to get away from these crab guys?”
Allyson grinned as the handshake seemed to go correctly and shook her head, “Well, if you had been four guys who weren’t from the Space Venture, I would have let you sleep and hoped that I could come up with some way to escape, but well… you are, and well…” She looked at the men around the table, “You guys solve problems, right?”
“Troubleshoot.” AJ corrected, his voice still a little rough. “We’re Troubleshooters. So we’re likely to be able to fix problems on the ship, but not necessarily the situation. It gives us an out on some problems…”
Allyson’s brow furrowed, but before she could say anything, William offered, “But we’ll try and get you out of this alive, okay?” He looked over toward AJ, “No need to haze the newb, ‘kay?”
AJ chuckled and nodded, going for another sip of his coffee.
Allyson looked between the two old men and shook her head. Weren’t these guys the stuff of legends? Why didn’t they act like it? But they were what she had. What the whole ship had. Oh, the ship, right. “And we don’t really have any xenotech. This is an old decommissioned TA vessel, a combat freighter, so it’s kind of structurally overbuilt for a freighter. It was the TAV Thuban, but after being bought up by a Dravitian company it’s now the CCV K’gara B’rak. That translates to something like ‘Ugly Worker Beetle’.”
William raised an eyebrow, “I thought those bugs didn’t like old ships?”
Allyson grinned, “They couldn’t build a new ship to these durability specs at anywhere near the sale price. I think that it vexes the Captain to no end.”
Tony finally set his cup down on the table, finished fighting with the sludge, and looked at at the woman with a playful grin, “Likely to be really upset once we get going, then…”
William grinned as well, “Well, we’ll get there as we get there. So, is Skynet running things here?”
The engineer blinked and cocked her head a little in her confusion, “Skynet? Um…” Her words trailed off as she tried to decipher the meaning.
William sighed, “Artificial intelligence. Is there one running the ship?”
Allyson shook off her confusion, “Oh, uh, no. Of course there are still core hook-ups, but the company didn’t recruit one. There are some smart systems, but they don’t come up to AI levels.”
William nodded, slowly and resignedly. He looked at the other older men, “Okay, so I guess I’ll be spending my time hacking while you guys get to have some actual fun.” He looked back to the engineer and started to get up out of his chair, feeling the ache in his lower back. “Well, let’s get me to a terminal, and rummage up some walkies so we can keep in contact.”
-=-=-=-=-=-
William glowered at the large touchscreen that sat angled on its adjustable armature, and muttered, “What fresh hell is this operating system?”
The Dravitian Captain at the nearby navigation station on the ship’s bridge looked over, “Sir, this is the newest release of the Efficient Interface. While you are viewing it in Terran Standard, it is optimized for the Dravitian language.”
William shook his head, “So other than these cosmetic changes that I can get to in settings, where can I actually get to control configurations?”
The Captain pulled back its head in surprise, “What? You can’t change the control configurations! They are all optimized!”
William sighed and shook his head, “You jammed the ‘economy’ button down, so we can’t get to the ‘power’ button. Right…” He tapped open the program that accessed the file storage and began examining what was there.
After a few minutes of the bridge crew watching the Terran scroll and tap and curse in a low voice, William let out a exuberant, “Got you, you bastard!” On the touchscreen, a simple text box came up, indicating that it was a Root Command Shell, with a blinking block cursor.
William’s fingers flew over the virtual keyboard on the angled touchscreen, and another window bloomed on the screen. He slid it off to the side, then continued to tap and another window popped up. He slid it off to the top corner of the screen. In each of the windows, progress bars slid slowly from one side to another, character strings rolling down past the bottom of the window, the screen indicator on the scroll bar on the side getting smaller and smaller as the list grew and grew.
The Captain leaned over from its workstation and observed the workings on the Terran’s screen, “What is all that? I’ve never seen this option in the interface.”
William chuckled, still typing commands in the first window, “Oh, it’s a command line interface. They just slapped your interface over the military OS, and that still had lots of useful modules and programs in archive. I can bypass the ‘pretty’ GUI you guys use and actually get to controls.” He paused, “Holy hell! They left a media archive in here. Let’s get that unpacked right now!”
A new window popped up on the touchscreen, with another progress bar. William brought up yet another window, and worked inside it, and the progress bars started to move across their respective windows faster.
The Captain cocked its head, “Sir, I find fault in your judgement that what we need in this situation is media. The Jaxorians are not known for their imaginative capabilities.” It paused, “And I think your tasks are slowing down the computational processors, which again, I find fault with in these circumstances.”
William chuckled, “Well, sure it will seem slower. I made all my operations high priorities for the processors. And you can’t expect us to do our best work in silence. We’ll need a good jam.”
-=-=-=-=-=-
Allyson led the three older men through the hatch into the huge engineering bay where the three reactors were lined up with the longitudinal axis of the ship. Aft of those, the floor fell away beyond a safety railing, so that the bulk of the four huge engines could be accessed by a network of ladders, platforms, and gantries. Most of the floor was clear, but here and there hatches, tools, and parts lay askew on the deck, and wires and tube of various sizes and colors snaked between components in a way that belied the hasty, jury-rigged engineering tasks that had been recently undertaken. A couple of insectoid engineers were working on maintaining parts of the unstable system.
“And this is the playground,” offered Allyson as she spread her arms to indicate the whole open area. “We’ve got four Hammond LS-V-3400 ion drives backed by three of the Niagara-class fusion reactors. I’ve, uh, removed some of the safeties on the engines and tweaked the safety specs on the reactors, so we’re making just over five percent above rated maximum speed.”
Tony walked away from the others to lean against the safety railing and take in the sight of the engines.
Peter glanced around the area, then noticed the machining and fabrication tools and sauntered over to inspect them, hands tucked in his pockets and his boots scuffing the floor.
The two Dravitian technicians looked up from their work momentarily, apraising the Terrans, but staying quiet.
AJ made his way over to the reactors, and frowned as he looked at the readouts showing that the reactors were running hot, right on the edge of red-line. “Cutting these pretty fine.”
Allyson nodded as she looked over toward the tall man and started slowly walking toward him, “Um, yeah. I couldn’t figure out a good way to get more output from the engines, so I was just trying to route more power through them. These are still safe, but they’ll be burning up the plating faster than they should.”
AJ nodded and continued perusing, leaning down to look into an open hatch and seeing how one of the patched in high-energy line had been connected.
Tony continued to watch the engines and called, “Hey, Allyson, these still work with Cherenkov dispersal for additional thrust?”
Allyson quickly changed her trajectory to veer away from reactors and back toward the engines, “Uh, yeah, they do. There are controllers in there that help to make the emissions more directional.” She got to the railing and pointed at an orange ring that was visible on each engine right near the aft bulkhead. “Those big electromags help control the dispersal. I have plans and simulations on the computer if you want to see how they work.”
Tony peered in the indicated direction, then nodded and turned toward Allyson, “Yeah, get me to a terminal with some VR goggles and I’ll take a lo-” His voice cut off at the sudden sound from the engineering bay’s speakers.
A syncopated drum beat sounded over the hum of the machinery, then came an almost gravelly yell-singing voice. ”Come on, feel the noise. Girls, rock your boys. We’ll get wild, wild, wild.”
Allyson’s surprised gaze swept up to the big speakers mounted in the corners of the room by the ceiling.
Grins and smiles grew on the faces of the three older men, and they all joined in with the words as an electric guitar sawed into being and the rest of the band added their voices to the lead singer on a response answer of “Wild, wild, wild!” And then the drums picked up and the rest of the instruments kicked in, bringing the song fully into swing.
The singer continued as Peter’s hands played air-drums over a CNC machine’s working space, ”So you think I got an evil mind. I tell you, honey, I don’t know why. I don’t know why.”
Allyson had never heard the song, but the beat was compelling, and it somehow invigorated the men in a way she hadn’t expected. Just out of cold sleep, in the midst of an inevitable chase, with such limited resources, they were singing along with smiles on their faces. AJ was tapping on a reactor interface, and Peter was almost dancing as he poked about her workbench storage space, going over her tools, a screwdriver and electric ratchet stem in his hands as drumsticks for his air-drums.
The Dravitian technicians huddled in a fearful pose at the sudden noise.
Tony grinned widely at Allyson’s surprise, and said loudly over the music, “William’s got good taste for montage music… Show me that terminal.”
-=-=-=-=-=-
The Captain looked over to the Terran’s workspace which was now exhorting somebeing to ‘get wild, wild, wild’ over and over again. It seemed to have some detrimental affect on the older Terran, as its head was bobbing up and down as it continued to work with the code. The insectoid in command just had to say something. “Excuse me, sir. Are you sure that the distracting audio stimulation is beneficial for you? It does not seem to be related to your current task …”
William glanced over at the Dravitian, “Look, bug-boy, the music keeps my endorphins up, and tricks me into thinking I still have all the energy of a teenager. You’re just lucky that I know what my crew likes, and that this archive is low on industrial music.” He pauses and types intensely, then continues, “So no, it’s not related, but if you really want a chance to get away from those crab-guys, this music tips the scales in our favor, okay?”
The Captain abruptly looked back to its console. “Affirmative answer, sir.”
William nodded to himself, and cocked his head as he read something off the screen. “So, a bunch of the cargo is plasma generators for terraforming?” He looked over to the insectoid who was pointedly not looking at him. “Are those things as dangerous as they sound?”
-=-=-=-=-=-
“Hey guys!” William’s voice echoed from the big loudspeakers in the engineering bay as the song came to an end.
“Yo boss!” Peter called up toward the ceiling from the tool bench where he had accumulated a selection of choice tools.
“I got control of the control code up here. Some of it’s military code under all this glossy shit. What have you guys got back there?”
Tony stood amidst a holographic simulation of an engine, and called out, “We got some damped down ion engines. The design is like the old McPherson Mark Five, and I think I can flare ‘em up the same way. Gimme six hours or so.”
AJ looked up toward the ceiling after Tony finished, “These fusion reactors are running flat out, Bill. I’m thinking about patching up a capacitor bank so we can push things farther, or at least have some extra power when we need it. Three or four hours, depending on how easy I can find the parts.” he paused, “And I’m officially putting in a request for you to put something dance-able on your wheel of steel.”
Peter called out, “And I’m just waiting for these slackers to tell me what they need. But I’m all tooled up for just about anything they want.” He grinned playfully at the other two.
William’s chuckle came over the speaker, “Gotcha. Those sound like good projects. We get a powerful flare, we’ve got a chance to run.” He paused, “Allyson, you there too?”
Allyson, still near the holographic engine display, had been turning her head this way and that to try and follow the conversation and understand what the forming plan of the ‘troubleshooters’ was. She forced herself to call out, “Yes, Dr. Exeter.”
William’s voice came from the speakers, “Okay, Allyson, I need you to take Pete down to Cargo Bay Three and help him uncrate all of the plasma terraforming engines you can find there. Pete, I want those things sky-side against the outer wall of Bay Two and fastened in place. If we need power for them, I want you to run a line back to AJ’s source, and it will need to be vacuum sealed. We’re likely to depressurize that bay so try not to make too many unnecessary holes, okay?” He paused, “And don’t worry, that bay has some speakers too. I won’t leave you silent …”
Peter grinned and nodded, then started to load tools onto a nearby hovercart. As he worked, he called out, “On it, boss! Do they have any Ramones or Dead Kennedys or anything with more energy in that jukebox? That’s my request, Mr. DJ.”
William’s voice carried his chuckle, “I’m on it, guys. I’ll keep you updated, you guys let me know the word. Out.”
As the beats of New Order’s Blue Monday started to bounce around the engineering bay, Peter looked over at Allyson, “Hey, give me a hand with some of this. We need to bounce!”
Allyson registered the words and jogged across the bay to the hovercart, “Sorry, sir, we have to ‘bounce’?”
Peter chuckled, still pulling tools from the bench to add to the load. “We have to get moving. Can we bring that welder and thermal lance, or is there a better option?”
Allyson let out a quiet ‘oh’, then shook her head, “There’s a backpack unit that can cut and weld. Much easier to move.” She pulled open a a nearby locker.
Peter grinned, “Oh, sweet! Are there two?”

For reference me and my friend I will be talking about are not Muslim, we are 18/19 years old and live in the US…
I’m going to start from the beginning. My friend made an online chat room where he met a women who we will call Jay. Jay lives in Africa which is a long way away from the US and a completely different time zone. Jay and my friend apparently hit it off and began talking everyday. Everyday turned into all day everyday they could. Jay is also a 27 year old women speaking with an 18 year old.
The more they talked (texting on social media platforms or voice calls) the more it became a romantic relationship. She has alway been open about being Muslim and my friend is now studying the Muslim religion for her.
I’m not sure how long this has been going on but my best guess is since December.
My friend is isolating themselves from hangouts, movie nights and is constantly on their phone texting Jay. We are worried for him.
I forgot to mention I live with this friend. I have witnessed him change himself for her (stoped eating pork, learning her native language and claiming to be straight when he is Bi). Now all of this would be fine if it wasn’t effecting me.
I miss my friend and now he can’t buy groceries or gas because he is broke? Me and my friends did the math he should have $600 left over after every month. So now we think he is being scammed to send money to her.
I’ve asked if it’s okay with her religion for them to be dating over the phone and he told me that they aren’t even dating because she isn’t allowed to. Yet he is saying he loves her and want to move over there to marry her.
Another thing, Jay isn’t her really name in really life either (it’s nickname). The insta account they chat through sometimes, only has 25 some followes and just looks like a side account but I found her real acct under her real name and and request to follow but it never got accepted. He told me that it’s her old acct but it’s clearly active.
I’m at a loss of what to do.

Author note: The Cryopod to Hell is a Reddit-exclusive story with over three years of editing and refining. As of this post, the total rewrite is 2,204,000+ words long! For more information, check out the link below:
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...................................
(Previous Part)
(Part 001)
A few days after Neil and Hope's meeting.
Henry Cliff walks alone down the hallways of the Labyrinth. He wears a purple-colored T-REX, a status symbol put in place by the higher-ups as a sign of his newfound prestige and military ranking. Its color, as well as the other new colors among the army allow for a quick idea of the ranking of any human soldier at a glance, especially among those who don't know the humans well, such as their allies for today.
Henry's feet quietly plod against the Labyrinth's compacted dirt floor. His breathing remains even despite having walked for over thirty minutes. Thanks to his newly enhanced body, he could run for a thousand kilometers without breaking a sweat. Even he isn't entirely certain just how strong he is. Perhaps, if he were to come to blows with a Demon Emperor, he might roll them out like a sleeping bag.
As he walks, Henry's newfound clarity of purpose mixes with the voices and thoughts of ten thousand other members of Jepthath's Legion. No, more accurately, they are Henry's Legion, now. While their power might be derived from Jepthath, it was the Hero-King's decision to give Henry command of them and become his Voice.
Each person who joined on that day possessed their own thoughts, feelings, and talents. Their combined cumulative experience, which could now be tapped into at will, easily amounted to more than 350,000 years. If the age of every person who merged had been 10, that would have given them 100,000 years, but the fact the average turned out to be 35 elevated their cumulative total dramatically.
And that was to say nothing of the people who had once been a part of Jepthath's Legion in the past. When Henry first became inducted into the Legion, he was shocked by just how much wisdom Jepthath possessed. While he did not have the truly unfathomable and vast breadth of knowledge Solomon possessed, Jepthath was amazing in his own way. What he lacked in raw information, he made up in with mastery of combat.
If Solomon possessed the combined cumulative knowledge of humanity, Jepthath possessed its raw hand-to-hand fighting prowess. And that served to bolster Henry's state of mind significantly.
Just by integrating into the Legion, Henry's ability to peer into the essence of combat increased ten thousand-fold. Over the last few days, he had happened to pass by several different training grounds for humanity's soldiers on Maiura, most of them having been erected at some point by Neil Adams in the past six years. Henry was not impressed by what he saw. If anything, he was disgusted.
[Their movements are so crude. So lacking in refinement.] He would often think, while conversing with the ancient Hero-King. [I want to train them. I can't stand to imagine them using their sloppy combat skills against old demon monsters.]
[A waste of time.] Jepthath would chide gently, whenever he and Henry had this conversation. [The knowledge you have obtained effortlessly cannot be communicated through words or demonstrations. The only way one can become as proficient as the members of Our Legion is by directly transferring Our combined knowledge through Our souls and minds.]
[Then we have to convince more to join Us!] Henry would exclaim. [These fools are wasting their time flailing about, trying to reinvent the wheel. If they joined Us, they would gain all of Our power in the art of war and become capable of adding to Our collective consciousness!]
Jepthath shakes his head. [I made a deal with the Wordsmith. We will not forcibly recruit anyone. If you wish to convince more to join Us, you must demonstrate Our power. Not only do you possess knowledge of countless schools of fighting, but you also possess intimate knowledge of battlefield tactics and guerrilla warfare. By demonstrating that Knowledge is Power, you can enlighten the foolish masses as to what they are missing out on.]
Henry nodded sincerely at that time. He looked up at the night sky and clenched his fist with determination.
Humanity was wasting its capabilities! If other humans only knew how small and frail they were, they would jump at the chance to join the Legion!
Less than a week before, Henry had been a disgraced soldier, a mere civilian, a person who might never even get the opportunity to shine the boots of those he had once trained with.
But now he was an officer, an elite warrior many would come to fear and respect.
This realization made his heart leap and his throat dry. In many ways, he sometimes felt he didn't deserve this position. He certainly hadn't earned it.
Not yet. Someday he would. Someday soon.
His thoughts come back to the present. He continues walking, ultimately falling into step beside an ordinary human commando also donning a T-REX. A small artistic flourish on the side of her armor, a pink rose, hints to him the other soldier might be a woman.
The grey-armored soldier turns her head to look at him as she walks. "Oh! You startled me. And you are?"
Unable to see her face, Henry looks at her helmet instead, and her name and other information pop up in his HUD, allowing him to see her identity.
"I'm Lieutenant Henry Cliff." He says. "You're Private Ashley McCarthy? Aren't you the lady who can transform into an orc?"
Immediately, her previously formal tone turns cold. Ashley snaps her head forward, no longer looking at him.
"Every time. Every time! Is that all I am anymore? Just the ugly bitch who turns into an orc?!"
"Whoa, whoa!" Henry exclaims, taken aback by her response. "I'm sorry, uh, Miss McCarthy. I didn't mean to apologize- I mean, I didn't apologize- mean to offend you! I- I uh, sorry!"
He stumbles over his words, feeling suddenly ashamed that he spoke so bluntly without considering the other person's feelings. Then again, how could he have known it was such a sore subject for her? That thought also makes him feel unfairly slighted, as he committed a blunder without meaning to.
"No, no I'm sorry." Ashley quickly says, suddenly realizing how rudely she just spoke to a superior officer. "It's not your fault, Lieutenant. I, I just... it's a long story. I never asked for this ability. I hate it."
"You hate it?" Henry asks, as they round a corner, passing a dozen goblins who carefully press against the side-wall to avoid the giant humans. "Pardon my bluntness, but why? In this time of war, possessing an orc form must make you pretty strong. Valuable. You could be on the fast-track to a higher rank if you have any ambition."
"Higher rank." Ashley mutters under her breath. "As if that's something I'd want. I'm not some big brained Terran from Old Earth. I'm just a normal girl from one of the Wild Worlds. I only want to be pointed at an enemy so I can hurt them."
That sounds an awful lot like something an orc would say, Henry thinks, but wisely keeps to himself.
"Does turning into an orc make you stronger?" Henry asks, choosing to turn the discussion down a more positive path.
"Oh, sure. A bit stronger." Ashley concedes. "You know how the Body Booster improves a human's baseline physique, putting some of us on par with certain low-ranking Demon Lords? Well, my Orc transformation stacks on that, sort of. I can pick up and throw boulders pretty far."
She pauses, before adding, "I mean, it is really fun being that strong."
Henry reaches up to rub his chin, only for his hand to clank against his T-REX's helmet. He gives up on the idea and lowers his arm again.
"I recently got a, uh, a pretty substantial boost to my strength. You remember how Commander Hope offered for people to merge with the Hero Jepthath? I did that, and it made me a lot stronger."
He turns to look at the woman beside him, but she simply gazes forward, her helmet offering no insight into her current expression.
Her words, however, definitely give away what she's thinking.
"Oh. You're one of the cultists."
Her disappointed tone makes Henry's heart skip a beat.
"No, no, no!" Henry exclaims. "Not a cultist. Who told you that?? Jepthath's Legion have simply unified Our minds and bolstered Our bodies, making Us a lot stronger."
She remains quiet for a few moments.
"Yeah... that's... what a cultist would say."
"We're not a cult..." Henry protests feebly, but his words fall on deaf ears.
This isn't the first time someone has directed a look of disgust his way, or visibly cringed when he proudly declared himself one of Jepthath's Chosen.
Jason's words during the Great Debate made a lot of people immediately strike becoming a Parahuman off their list. They'd rather be ordinary soldiers in body armor rather than part of a weird, unified hive-mind.
Dismayed, the young man falls silent. He doesn't say anything for a full minute, and perhaps feeling bad about dismissing him so easily, Ashley decides to reignite the conversation as they draw closer to their destination.
"So what's it like. Being inside a, uh... hive mind? Is it weird?"
"We're not a hive-mind." Henry says, his mood deflating even further. "We're... we're like brothers and sisters. We understand one another. We share thoughts, insights, wisdom."
This time, Ashley tries to exercise a little tact. "It just doesn't sound right for me. I guess everyone has their own preferences. Me, I think I'd die of shame if everyone around me could hear my every thought. The embarrassment alone..."
She trails off and shakes her head.
But this time, Henry doesn't just back down.
"It's not what you think at all." Henry says. "Do you know why you feel fear at the thought of sharing your thoughts? It's because you're self-absorbed."
"What?!" Ashley exclaims, pausing her walk to look at him. No doubt, her helmet hides an expression of disbelief. "What do you mean by that... sir?"
Henry also pauses. He turns to face her, resting his hands on his hips. "You have friends, right? Maybe even a best friend?"
"O-of course!" Ashley says, her tone defensive. "What, you think I'm friendless just because I'm not a part of some bee-hive?"
"That's not what I'm getting at." Henry says patiently, holding out his hand and modulating his tone so he'll come off less aggressive. "Think about your friend, or your best friend. Really think about it. What's the most embarrassing thing you remember about him or her? What's the worst social gaffe they've made that you can't get out of your head?"
Ashley pauses. She lowers her head and falls into thought for a moment.
"I don't know. I can't think of anything. Why?"
"What about other people?" Henry asks. "Has anyone else you know made any serious social fuck-ups recently?"
"Social ones? No. There have been a few generally bad events recently, like finding out Baron Mara killed a bunch of people. But she's not my friend anyway, so..."
"THAT is my point." Henry states emphatically. "You don't think about the weird and embarrassing things your friends do. So why do you believe they're so fixated on yours?"
Ashley lifts her head to look at him. She remains silent, digesting his words, so he continues to press the issue.
"Do you know why you find things about yourself embarrassing? It's not your fault. Most people are extremely self-conscious about their own insecurities. Now that I've become a part of the Legion, I experience everyone else's insecurities all at the same time as I experience mine. In doing so, I realize that mine never amounted to anything at all. When you have ten thousand other people worrying about what they're wearing, or if they look fashionable, or some other tedious bullshit, you quickly realize that all of them amount to white noise. They don't matter."
He throws his hand up dramatically.
"I'm not picking on you. It's just a fact of human consciousness. All people are held back by their fear of social pressure, but much of that is because we don't know what goes on in the heads of our fellow men and women. If you could see their deranged sexual fantasies all at once, you would realize you're not weird at all. Everyone has a kink. If you enjoy looking at gross bugs, guess what? Someone else is unbothered by bodily fluids. We're all weird, and joining the Legion just made that clearer to me."
He pauses, unable to see the look on her face. "Sorry, I hope I'm not coming off as condescending. Does any of this make sense to you?"
Ashley slowly nods. "Mmm. Yeah, it does."
Henry heaves a sigh of relief. "Well, great! Great. I was worried I was starting to sound a little long-winded."
Ashley turns away and resumes walking. "You're definitely in a cult."
"Goddammit." Henry grumbles.
...
Before long, the two of them make it to the meeting location, where they arrive inside a massive, hollowed-out area inside the Labyrinth. There, they find, of all things, a new Volgrim Warpgate installed, its destination some unknown desert on a planet Henry can't immediately identify.
As they enter the massive arena-like staging area, Hope becomes momentarily disoriented. His newly enhanced senses pick up surges of spiritual energy, all spread out across the humans, demons, monsters, and other creatures inside. The powerful Demon Emperors, only a few of whom have yet to Ascend to Demon Deity, stand near the portal, using their strength as a show of force. Despite their proud expressions, Henry's keen senses detect a hint of fear in their eyes, as they seem to be unable to properly stand as strong as they always have. It's as if they are being suppressed by something...
"Whoa!" Ashley gasps. "I can't believe it. Why are the Volgrim here?"
"The Volgrim?" Henry asks, following her gaze based on the direction her helmet is pointed.
Somewhere in the mass of the crowd, a handful of decidedly alien-looking creatures with tentacles writing under their mouths and heavily-armored bodies stand at attention, looking like proud leaders and commanders. Their postures indicate a level of arrogance bred into their bones by millions of years of dominance over the Milky Way. Compared to the slightly fearful Demon Emperors, these Technopaths truly stand out as cream of the crop, with unknown augmentations that likely elevate their combat prowess to the peak.
"Those are Volgrim?" Henry asks. "Huh. The only one I've ever seen was that one female, the one who didn't have a mouth. She was presiding over my, uh, my tribunal..."
"Your tribunal?" Ashley asks.
She pauses, then turns to look at him strangely.
"Cliff... Henry Cliff? What the- you're that traitor! What- how even...?? You're a Lieutenant now? I didn't even recognize your name- no, forget that. Why are you in uniform? Weren't you banned basically forever from rejoining the military?"
"I was banned from rejoining the main military." Henry says, lowering his head in shame. "But, uhm, Hope's Parahumans are... different. It's a different jurisdiction."
Ashley takes a step to the side, pulling away from him. He can't see her expression, but based on her voice, she suddenly seems disgusted by him.
"All this time, I was talking to him." She mutters to herself, as she turns and walks away without another word.
Henry stands there, silently. He watches her depart, a feeling of bitterness welling up in his heart. He could pull rank on her, write her up for insubordination. Given his new status as a high-ranker, it would be easy to do.
But he doesn't.
In truth, he doesn't blame Ashley for her feelings. Because of his actions, Neil Adams was captured and humanity likely lost far more people during Stormbringer as a result. He indirectly caused the deaths of hundreds, perhaps even thousands.
How can he demand respect from her when he feels he doesn't deserve it?
As that thought wells up in Henry's mind, the thoughts of the Legion feed back into him, suppressing his negative emotions. All of them comment on his feelings and insecurities, offering kind words to help him feel better.
[You cannot and should not demand respect, no, but you can earn it back through your actions.] A 52-year-old Legionnaire says. [People like her will come around in due time. Perform admirably and make the Legion proud.]
[That woman is a mere Private.] Jepthath chimes in. [Do not allow your emotions to be tangled up by the feelings of a random soldier. You will need to bolster your Willpower if you seek to reach the peak of what you can achieve.]
[Right. My willpower.] Henry says, as his mood drastically swings back up. He hardens his heart, casting aside Ashley's comment and instead meditating for a moment to clear his mind. [Thank you, everyone, for the support.]
With his thoughts clear, Henry strides toward the front, keeping his gaze fixed on the Volgrim Technopaths. Having never seen these creatures before, he finds their horrid-looking tentacle mouths fascinating and yet creepy to look at. While all of them appear to be gender-ambiguous, certainly at first glance, as he comes closer, he does manage to make out one or two female-sounding voices among them. Or perhaps they might be higher-pitched males. He isn't entirely sure, and it seems a taboo subject to breach.
"-the Task Force will be working alongside these Technopath Envoys." Demon Emperor Yardrat says, his tone even and unbothered by the Technopaths to his left. "Naturally, full command of this operation will still go to the Archdemon, as the ranking Cosmic. However, because he will be busy dealing with the highest level threats, control of the ground forces will go to one member of each species, chosen via several votes of consensus. Today's operation is a test, and its purpose is to ensure we all work together properly. NO friendly fire. Our enemy is the Plague and nobody else. Save your personal grievances, vendettas, and petty squabbles for after we take our galaxy back from the Kolvaxians."
He gestures to the ten Technopaths. "The Volgrim have dispatched an army of 100,000 Technopath soldiers, and they will be commanded by this High Technopath named Loputo Jidelor, a high ranking commander of Clan Symmetra's ground forces."
Each of the Technopaths possesses their own combination of flesh and blood bodily parts mixed with metal limb replacements, armor-addons, and other such things. In Jidelor's case, he stands on two flesh and blood legs. However, in place of his right arm is a long, metallic limb with dozens of razor-thin threads waving to and fro where his 'wrist' ends. Each one moves independently, much like the tentacles on his left arm, but their movements appear far more precise. Dozens of metallic pieces are attached seemingly at random to his skin and skull.
Jidelor nods. "I am an experienced battlefield commander, but I am not a frontline soldier. I will be controlling our siege weaponry and directing our soldiers from the back."
Yardrat nods, then continues. "For the Demons, it goes without saying that just like with the last ten operations, Emperor Serena will be commanding our forces. Her ability to link souls together has proven instrumental in rapid battlefield communications, and her ability to sense souls allows her to keep up with the emergence of new Plagueborn until the point Diablo steals the world core back."
A beautiful demoness with sightless eyes nearby waves her hand delicately. "I will be in your care, everyone. Let us make it to the end without losing any demons this time."
"For the monsters, Fairy Princess Melia will take point." Yardrat says, nodding to another beautiful woman with green hair, fairy wings, and a look of boredom permanently etched onto her face.
Unlike the previous two commanders, Melia doesn't give a speech. In fact, she only rolls her eyes, crosses her arms, and looks away.
"Alright, and for the humans, General Chadwick will be taking charge." Yardrat concludes. He gestures to a massive Norwegian man who has now donned a Rhino T-REX variant and rests his hands around the shaft of a massive battleaxe. Its head rests on the ground, and he supports his massive armored frame by resting on the weapon's handle.
"Everyone." Chadwich says. "It is my honor to lead this mission. Naturally, Commander Neil is not happy about having to work with the demons, and I cannot imagine all of our soldiers are either. However, I pledge on Hope Hiro's honor that we will not commit any cowardly deeds of treachery, any backstabbing, or anything else of that sort! It was Hope Hiro who pushed for this arrangement because he wants humanity's soldiers to get real battle experience against the Plague. Let's be sure to make good use of this time to bury as many hatchets as we can!"
The crowd nods along to Chadwick's words. Some of the humans vocalize their approval, but many more remain silent.
The humans here are not normal civilians. They are military personnel, countless many of whom have not forgiven the demons. They may never forgive them, if their leaders are being honest.
Perhaps sensing the tenseness in the air, Yardrat briskly moves the pace along.
"In thirty minutes, we will begin. Transfer your forces to my world so that I can begin preparation to open the Intragalactic Portals. The Swarm has begun adapting to my tactics of late, so the moment those portals open, we'll need boots on the ground. No delays! If the Plague has its way, it might flood through the portals back to us, and that would be a whole bloody devil-damned mess."
The other leaders nod solemnly. They spread apart to talk to their forces, and Henry heaves a sigh.
In thirty minutes, we'll find out just how stable this alliance truly is.

A few days after Neil and Hope's meeting.
Henry Cliff walks alone down the hallways of the Labyrinth. He wears a purple-colored T-REX, a status symbol put in place by the higher-ups as a sign of his newfound prestige and military ranking. Its color, as well as the other new colors among the army allow for a quick idea of the ranking of any human soldier at a glance, especially among those who don't know the humans well, such as their allies for today.
Henry's feet quietly plod against the Labyrinth's compacted dirt floor. His breathing remains even despite having walked for over thirty minutes. Thanks to his newly enhanced body, he could run for a thousand kilometers without breaking a sweat. Even he isn't entirely certain just how strong he is. Perhaps, if he were to come to blows with a Demon Emperor, he might roll them out like a sleeping bag.
As he walks, Henry's newfound clarity of purpose mixes with the voices and thoughts of ten thousand other members of Jepthath's Legion. No, more accurately, they are Henry's Legion, now. While their power might be derived from Jepthath, it was the Hero-King's decision to give Henry command of them and become his Voice.
Each person who joined on that day possessed their own thoughts, feelings, and talents. Their combined cumulative experience, which could now be tapped into at will, easily amounted to more than 350,000 years. If the age of every person who merged had been 10, that would have given them 100,000 years, but the fact the average turned out to be 35 elevated their cumulative total dramatically.
And that was to say nothing of the people who had once been a part of Jepthath's Legion in the past. When Henry first became inducted into the Legion, he was shocked by just how much wisdom Jepthath possessed. While he did not have the truly unfathomable and vast breadth of knowledge Solomon possessed, Jepthath was amazing in his own way. What he lacked in raw information, he made up in with mastery of combat.
If Solomon possessed the combined cumulative knowledge of humanity, Jepthath possessed its raw hand-to-hand fighting prowess. And that served to bolster Henry's state of mind significantly.
Just by integrating into the Legion, Henry's ability to peer into the essence of combat increased ten thousand-fold. Over the last few days, he had happened to pass by several different training grounds for humanity's soldiers on Maiura, most of them having been erected at some point by Neil Adams in the past six years. Henry was not impressed by what he saw. If anything, he was disgusted.
[Their movements are so crude. So lacking in refinement.] He would often think, while conversing with the ancient Hero-King. [I want to train them. I can't stand to imagine them using their sloppy combat skills against old demon monsters.]
[A waste of time.] Jepthath would chide gently, whenever he and Henry had this conversation. [The knowledge you have obtained effortlessly cannot be communicated through words or demonstrations. The only way one can become as proficient as the members of Our Legion is by directly transferring Our combined knowledge through Our souls and minds.]
[Then we have to convince more to join Us!] Henry would exclaim. [These fools are wasting their time flailing about, trying to reinvent the wheel. If they joined Us, they would gain all of Our power in the art of war and become capable of adding to Our collective consciousness!]
Jepthath shakes his head. [I made a deal with the Wordsmith. We will not forcibly recruit anyone. If you wish to convince more to join Us, you must demonstrate Our power. Not only do you possess knowledge of countless schools of fighting, but you also possess intimate knowledge of battlefield tactics and guerrilla warfare. By demonstrating that Knowledge is Power, you can enlighten the foolish masses as to what they are missing out on.]
Henry nodded sincerely at that time. He looked up at the night sky and clenched his fist with determination.
Humanity was wasting its capabilities! If other humans only knew how small and frail they were, they would jump at the chance to join the Legion!
Less than a week before, Henry had been a disgraced soldier, a mere civilian, a person who might never even get the opportunity to shine the boots of those he had once trained with.
But now he was an officer, an elite warrior many would come to fear and respect.
This realization made his heart leap and his throat dry. In many ways, he sometimes felt he didn't deserve this position. He certainly hadn't earned it.
Not yet. Someday he would. Someday soon.
His thoughts come back to the present. He continues walking, ultimately falling into step beside an ordinary human commando also donning a T-REX. A small artistic flourish on the side of her armor, a pink rose, hints to him the other soldier might be a woman.
The grey-armored soldier turns her head to look at him as she walks. "Oh! You startled me. And you are?"
Unable to see her face, Henry looks at her helmet instead, and her name and other information pop up in his HUD, allowing him to see her identity.
"I'm Lieutenant Henry Cliff." He says. "You're Private Ashley McCarthy? Aren't you the lady who can transform into an orc?"
Immediately, her previously formal tone turns cold. Ashley snaps her head forward, no longer looking at him.
"Every time. Every time! Is that all I am anymore? Just the ugly bitch who turns into an orc?!"
"Whoa, whoa!" Henry exclaims, taken aback by her response. "I'm sorry, uh, Miss McCarthy. I didn't mean to apologize- I mean, I didn't apologize- mean to offend you! I- I uh, sorry!"
He stumbles over his words, feeling suddenly ashamed that he spoke so bluntly without considering the other person's feelings. Then again, how could he have known it was such a sore subject for her? That thought also makes him feel unfairly slighted, as he committed a blunder without meaning to.
"No, no I'm sorry." Ashley quickly says, suddenly realizing how rudely she just spoke to a superior officer. "It's not your fault, Lieutenant. I, I just... it's a long story. I never asked for this ability. I hate it."
"You hate it?" Henry asks, as they round a corner, passing a dozen goblins who carefully press against the side-wall to avoid the giant humans. "Pardon my bluntness, but why? In this time of war, possessing an orc form must make you pretty strong. Valuable. You could be on the fast-track to a higher rank if you have any ambition."
"Higher rank." Ashley mutters under her breath. "As if that's something I'd want. I'm not some big brained Terran from Old Earth. I'm just a normal girl from one of the Wild Worlds. I only want to be pointed at an enemy so I can hurt them."
That sounds an awful lot like something an orc would say, Henry thinks, but wisely keeps to himself.
"Does turning into an orc make you stronger?" Henry asks, choosing to turn the discussion down a more positive path.
"Oh, sure. A bit stronger." Ashley concedes. "You know how the Body Booster improves a human's baseline physique, putting some of us on par with certain low-ranking Demon Lords? Well, my Orc transformation stacks on that, sort of. I can pick up and throw boulders pretty far."
She pauses, before adding, "I mean, it is really fun being that strong."
Henry reaches up to rub his chin, only for his hand to clank against his T-REX's helmet. He gives up on the idea and lowers his arm again.
"I recently got a, uh, a pretty substantial boost to my strength. You remember how Commander Hope offered for people to merge with the Hero Jepthath? I did that, and it made me a lot stronger."
He turns to look at the woman beside him, but she simply gazes forward, her helmet offering no insight into her current expression.
Her words, however, definitely give away what she's thinking.
"Oh. You're one of the cultists."
Her disappointed tone makes Henry's heart skip a beat.
"No, no, no!" Henry exclaims. "Not a cultist. Who told you that?? Jepthath's Legion have simply unified Our minds and bolstered Our bodies, making Us a lot stronger."
She remains quiet for a few moments.
"Yeah... that's... what a cultist would say."
"We're not a cult..." Henry protests feebly, but his words fall on deaf ears.
This isn't the first time someone has directed a look of disgust his way, or visibly cringed when he proudly declared himself one of Jepthath's Chosen.
Jason's words during the Great Debate made a lot of people immediately strike becoming a Parahuman off their list. They'd rather be ordinary soldiers in body armor rather than part of a weird, unified hive-mind.
Dismayed, the young man falls silent. He doesn't say anything for a full minute, and perhaps feeling bad about dismissing him so easily, Ashley decides to reignite the conversation as they draw closer to their destination.
"So what's it like. Being inside a, uh... hive mind? Is it weird?"
"We're not a hive-mind." Henry says, his mood deflating even further. "We're... we're like brothers and sisters. We understand one another. We share thoughts, insights, wisdom."
This time, Ashley tries to exercise a little tact. "It just doesn't sound right for me. I guess everyone has their own preferences. Me, I think I'd die of shame if everyone around me could hear my every thought. The embarrassment alone..."
She trails off and shakes her head.
But this time, Henry doesn't just back down.
"It's not what you think at all." Henry says. "Do you know why you feel fear at the thought of sharing your thoughts? It's because you're self-absorbed."
"What?!" Ashley exclaims, pausing her walk to look at him. No doubt, her helmet hides an expression of disbelief. "What do you mean by that... sir?"
Henry also pauses. He turns to face her, resting his hands on his hips. "You have friends, right? Maybe even a best friend?"
"O-of course!" Ashley says, her tone defensive. "What, you think I'm friendless just because I'm not a part of some bee-hive?"
"That's not what I'm getting at." Henry says patiently, holding out his hand and modulating his tone so he'll come off less aggressive. "Think about your friend, or your best friend. Really think about it. What's the most embarrassing thing you remember about him or her? What's the worst social gaffe they've made that you can't get out of your head?"
Ashley pauses. She lowers her head and falls into thought for a moment.
"I don't know. I can't think of anything. Why?"
"What about other people?" Henry asks. "Has anyone else you know made any serious social fuck-ups recently?"
"Social ones? No. There have been a few generally bad events recently, like finding out Baron Mara killed a bunch of people. But she's not my friend anyway, so..."
"THAT is my point." Henry states emphatically. "You don't think about the weird and embarrassing things your friends do. So why do you believe they're so fixated on yours?"
Ashley lifts her head to look at him. She remains silent, digesting his words, so he continues to press the issue.
"Do you know why you find things about yourself embarrassing? It's not your fault. Most people are extremely self-conscious about their own insecurities. Now that I've become a part of the Legion, I experience everyone else's insecurities all at the same time as I experience mine. In doing so, I realize that mine never amounted to anything at all. When you have ten thousand other people worrying about what they're wearing, or if they look fashionable, or some other tedious bullshit, you quickly realize that all of them amount to white noise. They don't matter."
He throws his hand up dramatically.
"I'm not picking on you. It's just a fact of human consciousness. All people are held back by their fear of social pressure, but much of that is because we don't know what goes on in the heads of our fellow men and women. If you could see their deranged sexual fantasies all at once, you would realize you're not weird at all. Everyone has a kink. If you enjoy looking at gross bugs, guess what? Someone else is unbothered by bodily fluids. We're all weird, and joining the Legion just made that clearer to me."
He pauses, unable to see the look on her face. "Sorry, I hope I'm not coming off as condescending. Does any of this make sense to you?"
Ashley slowly nods. "Mmm. Yeah, it does."
Henry heaves a sigh of relief. "Well, great! Great. I was worried I was starting to sound a little long-winded."
Ashley turns away and resumes walking. "You're definitely in a cult."
"Goddammit." Henry grumbles.
...
Before long, the two of them make it to the meeting location, where they arrive inside a massive, hollowed-out area inside the Labyrinth. There, they find, of all things, a new Volgrim Warpgate installed, its destination some unknown desert on a planet Henry can't immediately identify.
As they enter the massive arena-like staging area, Hope becomes momentarily disoriented. His newly enhanced senses pick up surges of spiritual energy, all spread out across the humans, demons, monsters, and other creatures inside. The powerful Demon Emperors, only a few of whom have yet to Ascend to Demon Deity, stand near the portal, using their strength as a show of force. Despite their proud expressions, Henry's keen senses detect a hint of fear in their eyes, as they seem to be unable to properly stand as strong as they always have. It's as if they are being suppressed by something...
"Whoa!" Ashley gasps. "I can't believe it. Why are the Volgrim here?"
"The Volgrim?" Henry asks, following her gaze based on the direction her helmet is pointed.
Somewhere in the mass of the crowd, a handful of decidedly alien-looking creatures with tentacles writing under their mouths and heavily-armored bodies stand at attention, looking like proud leaders and commanders. Their postures indicate a level of arrogance bred into their bones by millions of years of dominance over the Milky Way. Compared to the slightly fearful Demon Emperors, these Technopaths truly stand out as cream of the crop, with unknown augmentations that likely elevate their combat prowess to the peak.
"Those are Volgrim?" Henry asks. "Huh. The only one I've ever seen was that one female, the one who didn't have a mouth. She was presiding over my, uh, my tribunal..."
"Your tribunal?" Ashley asks.
She pauses, then turns to look at him strangely.
"Cliff... Henry Cliff? What the- you're that traitor! What- how even...?? You're a Lieutenant now? I didn't even recognize your name- no, forget that. Why are you in uniform? Weren't you banned basically forever from rejoining the military?"
"I was banned from rejoining the main military." Henry says, lowering his head in shame. "But, uhm, Hope's Parahumans are... different. It's a different jurisdiction."
Ashley takes a step to the side, pulling away from him. He can't see her expression, but based on her voice, she suddenly seems disgusted by him.
"All this time, I was talking to him." She mutters to herself, as she turns and walks away without another word.
Henry stands there, silently. He watches her depart, a feeling of bitterness welling up in his heart. He could pull rank on her, write her up for insubordination. Given his new status as a high-ranker, it would be easy to do.
But he doesn't.
In truth, he doesn't blame Ashley for her feelings. Because of his actions, Neil Adams was captured and humanity likely lost far more people during Stormbringer as a result. He indirectly caused the deaths of hundreds, perhaps even thousands.
How can he demand respect from her when he feels he doesn't deserve it?
As that thought wells up in Henry's mind, the thoughts of the Legion feed back into him, suppressing his negative emotions. All of them comment on his feelings and insecurities, offering kind words to help him feel better.
[You cannot and should not demand respect, no, but you can earn it back through your actions.] A 52-year-old Legionnaire says. [People like her will come around in due time. Perform admirably and make the Legion proud.]
[That woman is a mere Private.] Jepthath chimes in. [Do not allow your emotions to be tangled up by the feelings of a random soldier. You will need to bolster your Willpower if you seek to reach the peak of what you can achieve.]
[Right. My willpower.] Henry says, as his mood drastically swings back up. He hardens his heart, casting aside Ashley's comment and instead meditating for a moment to clear his mind. [Thank you, everyone, for the support.]
With his thoughts clear, Henry strides toward the front, keeping his gaze fixed on the Volgrim Technopaths. Having never seen these creatures before, he finds their horrid-looking tentacle mouths fascinating and yet creepy to look at. While all of them appear to be gender-ambiguous, certainly at first glance, as he comes closer, he does manage to make out one or two female-sounding voices among them. Or perhaps they might be higher-pitched males. He isn't entirely sure, and it seems a taboo subject to breach.
"-the Task Force will be working alongside these Technopath Envoys." Demon Emperor Yardrat says, his tone even and unbothered by the Technopaths to his left. "Naturally, full command of this operation will still go to the Archdemon, as the ranking Cosmic. However, because he will be busy dealing with the highest level threats, control of the ground forces will go to one member of each species, chosen via several votes of consensus. Today's operation is a test, and its purpose is to ensure we all work together properly. NO friendly fire. Our enemy is the Plague and nobody else. Save your personal grievances, vendettas, and petty squabbles for after we take our galaxy back from the Kolvaxians."
He gestures to the ten Technopaths. "The Volgrim have dispatched an army of 100,000 Technopath soldiers, and they will be commanded by this High Technopath named Loputo Jidelor, a high ranking commander of Clan Symmetra's ground forces."
Each of the Technopaths possesses their own combination of flesh and blood bodily parts mixed with metal limb replacements, armor-addons, and other such things. In Jidelor's case, he stands on two flesh and blood legs. However, in place of his right arm is a long, metallic limb with dozens of razor-thin threads waving to and fro where his 'wrist' ends. Each one moves independently, much like the tentacles on his left arm, but their movements appear far more precise. Dozens of metallic pieces are attached seemingly at random to his skin and skull.
Jidelor nods. "I am an experienced battlefield commander, but I am not a frontline soldier. I will be controlling our siege weaponry and directing our soldiers from the back."
Yardrat nods, then continues. "For the Demons, it goes without saying that just like with the last ten operations, Emperor Serena will be commanding our forces. Her ability to link souls together has proven instrumental in rapid battlefield communications, and her ability to sense souls allows her to keep up with the emergence of new Plagueborn until the point Diablo steals the world core back."
A beautiful demoness with sightless eyes nearby waves her hand delicately. "I will be in your care, everyone. Let us make it to the end without losing any demons this time."
"For the monsters, Fairy Princess Melia will take point." Yardrat says, nodding to another beautiful woman with green hair, fairy wings, and a look of boredom permanently etched onto her face.
Unlike the previous two commanders, Melia doesn't give a speech. In fact, she only rolls her eyes, crosses her arms, and looks away.
"Alright, and for the humans, General Chadwick will be taking charge." Yardrat concludes. He gestures to a massive Norwegian man who has now donned a Rhino T-REX variant and rests his hands around the shaft of a massive battleaxe. Its head rests on the ground, and he supports his massive armored frame by resting on the weapon's handle.
"Everyone." Chadwich says. "It is my honor to lead this mission. Naturally, Commander Neil is not happy about having to work with the demons, and I cannot imagine all of our soldiers are either. However, I pledge on Hope Hiro's honor that we will not commit any cowardly deeds of treachery, any backstabbing, or anything else of that sort! It was Hope Hiro who pushed for this arrangement because he wants humanity's soldiers to get real battle experience against the Plague. Let's be sure to make good use of this time to bury as many hatchets as we can!"
The crowd nods along to Chadwick's words. Some of the humans vocalize their approval, but many more remain silent.
The humans here are not normal civilians. They are military personnel, countless many of whom have not forgiven the demons. They may never forgive them, if their leaders are being honest.
Perhaps sensing the tenseness in the air, Yardrat briskly moves the pace along.
"In thirty minutes, we will begin. Transfer your forces to my world so that I can begin preparation to open the Intragalactic Portals. The Swarm has begun adapting to my tactics of late, so the moment those portals open, we'll need boots on the ground. No delays! If the Plague has its way, it might flood through the portals back to us, and that would be a whole bloody devil-damned mess."
The other leaders nod solemnly. They spread apart to talk to their forces, and Henry heaves a sigh.
In thirty minutes, we'll find out just how stable this alliance truly is.

I’m 33, and yes I know that I’m not as young as I used to be, but how is it the norm for my fellow 30 something’s to be getting Botox? It was always for fancy mature women in my mind haha. I get the preventive side of it but like can we all just be okay with our fine lines and wtf expressions? 😅

hello everyone or anyone or more realistically no one. I am here to hopefully meet someone and develop a genuine connection. I recently got out of a relationship... probably a few months ago and was feeling a little down and I don't really like dating apps so I thought I would give this a try. so hopefully I could find someone interesting that also finds me interesting and we could build something together whether that's purely a friendship or relationship.
so on to the details, I am obviously 29 from california, im pretty liberal or progressive or whatever you want to call it so I would probably get along more with people who are open minded. just so you all know I do have piercing and tattoos, which I know can be a deal breaker for some, im what I guess some would call alternative and definitely attracted to alternative women but that's is far from necessary. I love listening to music and going to shows, so if you have any recommendations please let me know. I'm very much into a lot of different types of metal, indie, jazz, noise, honestly im pretty open to new music. I very much enjoy playing video games, my favorite all time is probably elden ring I might go back for another play through as it's been such a long time. anything dark or horror related is my favorite to talk about, watch or experience. I have frequently asked people what's your favorite scary movie but no one really gets the reference even though that is still a legitimate question.
as much of a homebody as I am indo enjoy going out with the right person and experiencing new things. nature and animals I absolutely love. it makes kind of sense as I work with plants and going back to school for that field as well. just so you know also vegan. as far as animals go inhave a bunch of cats, I've had many dogs in my life but none right now, and im thinking about getting a snake as well, long story short if you need animal pictures I got you on all the pictures.
I am pretty terrible at introductions,as im pretty shy but after a bit and especially one on one I tend to become way more talkative and rant as you can probably tell already.
I'm really not looking for anything in particular, just hopefully a good connection and genuine soul. I can be a little bit clingy but im working on that. I will say that I do hope I could find someone that could potentially materialize into a relationship but does not have to.
well I thinks that's all I have for now, maybe we'll talk soon.

Hello everyone, I been posting here a bit and thought I would do a intro. I'm 31, never really dated, obliviously Christian men in the US are at the bottom of the barrel in the dating market, I know most Christian women rather date a nonbeliever as many hold hatred and prejudice against us Christian men but that is not stopping me form trying 😅
[Picture/physical description]
I don't feel as Christian we should be focused outwardly and there is a lot of outwardly to back this up but it seems to be a requirement here, so I'm white, 6ft, dark blond, not fat, but not skinny.
Area of study/work:
I was home schooled and completed school a 3 years early, I spent those 3 years learning all sorts of things most people would not know, I thought myself how to plumb, to basic electrical work, fix cars, computers, appliances, and so many other handy things. I ended up becoming a car wash tech working on most of the systems at a local car wash and helped renovate homes on the side, after that car wash closed down I volunteered at a local charity and was quickly hired on full time, I been there for nearly 10 years now and love the job, most of my co workers are disabled in some way so a lot of friends I have happen to be disabled ether mentally or physically, I wanted to point that out as I know not everyone likes to be around those with mental disabilities and much of my circle is made up of people with all sorts of disabilities.
Hobbies/interests:
A lot of my hobbies revolve around me leaning new things or working with my hands. I love fixing things and tinkering, in the past I raced nitro powered RC cars, fixed cars, I often like to play around with vintage computers and electronics, cooking is anther paste time of mine as well.
Tell us a bit about your Christian journey:
I grew up in a Christian house hold but my family was more legalistic, most my family did not have a personal relationship with the Lord and sadly many of them has fallen form faith. I on the other hand was the black sheep of the family and was saved as a rather young age and I currently go to a non denominational church online with a overseas autistic friend of mine. TBH I'm not picky when it comes to denominations so long as its a good bible believing church I'm happy with it. I feel a lot of Christians should not be hung up on how we worship as we are commanded to love the Lord with all our heart ad to love one anther. That being sad I don't go to church in person anymore as many in my area are not preaching the Gospel and peach hate more then anything
What sort of person are you looking for?
First and foremost I'm looking for someone who is putting Christ first in their lives, I'm rather flexible passed that. I don't have a type when it comes to looks and feel that judging a date on the way they look is foolish. However there are a few things I wanted to bring up, I don't believe in divorce what so ever, to me its never a option nor will I do anything sexual outside of marriage, I also prefer to be around people who don't beat around the bush. I also never been able to date anther christian before, sadly in today day and age Christian man are not wanted in the dating market so my experience in dating and knowing what I want is next to zero so I'll be learning as I go so to say.
Age range:
I'm not picky on age at all, older or younger is fine, to me age it just a number but given my personality I think younger would be far better. Someone 18-25 on a personality level would likely be more compatible with me however I tend to have interests that would liable me a old soul and most of my closest friends are far older then me. I also grew up in a bit of a cultural bubble and form a pop cultural stand point you would think I'm from gen X. So I can see things working out just as well with someone older too.
Would you be willing to do long distance/relocate?
Being a Christian man living in the USA I know that 99% women would not want anything to do with me and I'm fully open to dating outside the US so distance is not a problem, I'm not to keen on relocating but given the right person I would think about it. I'm a home owner and live in a very good, safe town and have a good job so I think it would be best if you moved to were I live.
EDIT:
I wanted to point out I come form a rather wealthy family and my family can be rather snobby and prime/proper about some things, wile I am nothing like then and live very humbly I wanted to point that out as it can be a shocker to find simple old me comes form such a family.

Stay with me for a bit. This was a bit of a random thought, but I can't get it out of my head. At the end of October 2018 President Nelson said, “We are witnesses to a process of restoration… If you think the Church has been fully restored, you are just seeing the beginning. There is much more to come… Wait till next year, and then the next year. Eat your vitamin pills. Get some rest. It’s going to be exciting.”
He had just become prophet in January of that year. In less than a year and prior to that statement he:

• Re-vamped home & visiting teaching.
• Ended (or announced a gradual end to) the church's relationship with the Boy Scouts of America.
• Announced a new "home-centered, church-supported" gospel study program.
• Reduced Sunday meetings from 3 to 2 hours.
• Declared "Mormon" a victory for Satan and made sweeping changes to many long standing church institutions (e.g. "Mormon Tabernacle Choir") all of which required major changes to the church's internet domain name holdings.

I was TBM at the time and remember thinking we were totally living in a time of abundant revelation. His statement at the end of October gave me the impression that even more dramatic changes were going to made in the next 2 years. And then it wasn't exciting. I remember feeling disappointed that there were no big announcements the next conference and for several conferences after that. Since that statement the biggest church changes I can think of were:

• Changes announced for primary progression, young men priesthood ordination and youth temple. Everyone moves up in January rather than on their birthday.
• End of the November Policy.
• Discontinued policy of one-year waiting period after civil marriage.
• Women, youth, and children can be witnesses to ordinances.
• Ward Young Men's presidencies discontinued.
• Blue dress shirts and no ties for missionaries.

I now see some of these as better changes than those before his "vitamins" statement, but when I was a TBM these changes looked less dramatic and were harder to see as continuing revelation than those before his "vitamins" statement. (If the November Policy was revelation, could the end of the November policy also be revelation? It was complicated and difficult to reconcile.) Additionally, most of the changes post-vitamins-prophecy happened relatively quietly and not during conference. The conferences since that time have been relatively boring and mundane. I remember thinking at the time, "what happened to the prophecy of greater changes in the next 2 years?" I didn't let my self think about it too much and then I forgot about it.
Now I'm wondering: did his many and dramatic changes in less than a year since becoming prophet piss off others in the Q15? Did they have a Come To Jesus intervention and knock him down a peg or two? I've heard other stories that indicate that the prophet does not always have unlimited power. (e.g. the end of the racist temple ban took longer to enact because the prophet couldn't get some of the 12 to agree.) Did he have a lot more and bigger changes that he wanted to do since he was "unleashed" but the 12 put a leash back on him?
Another reasonable explanation is that Nelson is a pompous blow-hard and the vitamin thing was just him shooting off his mouth without anything specific in mind.
What do you think: Pompous blow-hard or Jimmy Whipped?

Hello! I'm not here to argue with anyone but rather I have a question. Why do many feel the need to comment on our hijab? I just replied to a post about young Somali girls wearing hijab (I am a teenage Somali girl) and it really reminded me that we cannot escape such comments. I live in the west and I already get such comments very often, but it's especially hurts to hear from people who were once part of the religion. I think it's anyone's choice to do what they want with their body, whether they want to put on the hijab or take it off. I don't think it's anyone's place to be judgmental and tell me that I'm wrong for wearing it. I thought we were all about women's rights and I'm quite confused. How will being mean help anyone.
The reason I think the hijab is very freeing is that it's something nobody here wants me to do. In the west it's all about your looks and everyone sexualizing you, so nobody knowing what I look like under my baggy clothes and jilbaab gives me so much power over my identity. People become my friend because of who I am and not because I look "pretty" (and there are many studies showing that attractive people are much better at making friends).
And an extra note: please do not respond with "why do so many Muslims comment on women not wearing hijab" because this is not something i do personally! I am respectful to everyone and have Muslim friends that don't wear it at all.

i’m looking for a movie i watched in 2019 (i think).
i’m pretty sure it was a silent movie with bad quality where two women where living in a strange house with a lot of passageways that take them to a part of the house. all the movie was with them inside the house.
i also remember two scenes: 1. they were drinking some tea in a very small table. the kitchen was a little dirty and destroyed. 2. (not sure abt this one) one of them was in a really small room.
in one part of the movie they have an argument.
the two of them looked disheveled, really messy (like a tim burton character lol). one of then was a little more old than the other.
i watched this in chile. i don’t remember the channel but i’m sure it was from united states.
i think that’s all, if i remember something more i let you know. thank u so much :)

If this is a really annoying post I am (seriously) really sorry (especially if its something that is constantly discussed and I just have no idea)! I watched a video from Essential Tennis "Is tennis dying? The inside story." And it was pretty concerning. My own personal experience somewhat backs up what the video was saying not that it's actually dead (literally) but there isn't energy surrounding tennis anymore. For me, as a younger person mid-twenties its next to impossible to find players close to my age (even worse if you are looking for women to play with). Clubs that are run by the cities don't offer much. I attended a "challenger drop in" event for 4.0 up players only at my local club and the level was closer to 3.0 and the average age was double my age. In contrast I went to a pickleball social club meet up and everyone was under 30 and not a single person mentioned how nice it was to see a young lady in a tennis dress. It is really hard to find tennis these days even with leagues which can run people off with drama or cost associated. I might try UTR but I don't know if it has reached my city yet as the USTA experience can be a let down.
Anyways the video claimed that tennis in a lot of areas is really shrinking and I have been noticing the same thing. I think that Essential Tennis is well respected but maybe the video is off base. I have been really frustrated lately with tennis because I want to play so bad and there hasn't been much opportunity. I love tennis and think its the best sport in the world. Growing up it was a perfect escape and I'll always be thankful for tennis played on a beautiful summer day.

~LONG POST~
This might be a controversial post, but I feel like I need to get this off my chest. I'm not a mom and I'm trying to act like I know anything about parenting and I'm also not trying to act like I know the relationship between Melissa, Maddie, and Mackenzie. However, Melissa's parenting skills and choices from what I've seen are poor and potentially dangerous. Here are a few examples:
1.) Taking Maddie out of school to get her extra privates and rehearsal time. I used to be an education major and in one of classes my teacher talked about the importance of recess and lunch in a child's social development. For Melissa to be taking Maddie out of the social activities to further Maddie's dance education makes me so mad. Maddie needed that socialization with other children and furthermore needed that recess time and lunch time to be a child. No wonder the poor thing was so stressed, her mother (and teacher) never allowed her to be a kid. They made her entire life dance and when she didn't do well in dance, she felt like she never had anything else.
2.) Allowing so much pressure to be put on Maddie. Going off the first point, Melissa allowed Abby to constantly put pressure on Maddie. I do want to note that while producers were the ones making the decisions on who got a solo and who didn't, Abby has mentioned in interviews that she always fought for Maddie to have a solo. I'm sure the producers were fine with the idea of Maddie getting solos constantly since it caused drama. While it could be argued that Melissa didn't have much say in this, Melissa definitely wasn't helping the situation. She constantly told Maddie to "be a grown up" when she would have moments of distress and not comfort her at all. Again maybe it's producer manipulation, who knows but Melissa wasn't doing anything to stop the distress.
3.) Melissa allowing Maddie to have inappropriate relationships with grown women. Melissa is a stage mom I don't think anyone would argue with that, but I find it so disturbing that there isn't a line Melissa wouldn't cross. Melissa allowed her MINOR daughter to have extremely close relationships with older women that aren't blood related.
Let's start with Abby: Abby and Maddie were very close on the show, it was very clear that Maddie had a very dependent relationship with Abby and constantly needed her approval and would be afraid of making Abby upset. I'm sorry, but a child shouldn't be like that with any adult. A child shouldn't have constant anxiety about making a trusted adult upset and afraid said adult won't like her anymore. Furthermore, Melissa shouldn't of let Abby have such control and manipulation over Maddie. That scene in S3 when Abby is yelling at Maddie for joining the car protest disturbs me deeply. Or Abby talking about how Maddie "needs her", also disgusting. What's even more disgusting is Melissa allowing her MINOR children to have sleepovers with non-blood related adults and letting her MINOR children "snuggle" with them. Is she crazy? That is such a potentially dangerous situation to put a minor in. Speaking of weird situations, let's not forget who Maddie's first kiss was...a 50 year old woman. Gross just gross.
Speaking of disturbing adult relationships, we can't forget about Sia. Sia, much like Abby, has a weird obsession with Maddie, but I'd argue Sia's is worse. The way she talks about Maddie is a little too obsessive, calling her her "surrogate daughter", "dancing muse" and "never wanting to do anything without Maddie". She also loves to have sleepovers with Maddie and snuggles with her too, DISGUSTING!! And so dangerous!! At least with Abby she somewhat knew Abby beforehand, but Sia was a complete and utter stranger to the Zieglers. Sia also quarantined with the family as well, so more sleepovers!! Wonderful. And let's not forget the dangerous and harmful projects Sia would put Maddie in. For example, I don't care what people say, Elastic Hearts is a creepy music video. A little girl in a dirty leotard in cage with a grown man in a diaper(?) is creepy I don't care if that's me being too sensitive. We also can't forget the Music movie, you know the one Maddie didn't want to be in because she didn't want to make fun of autistic children, which is exactly what happened. (Side note this is not Maddie's fault whatsoever, this is all Sia's). Sia forced Maddie to play this character because remember Sia can't do anything without Maddie.
Maddie and inappropriate adult relationships is a whole separate post on its own and I highly recommend MackZBoss' video on the topic. But no matter what, Melissa shouldn't of allowed these situations to happen at all. It's creepy and disturbing and VERY dangerous. I'm not saying anything happened, but let's all remember that if it's creepy with a man, its creepy in general. Women can be predators too.
4.) Melissa educating her children. This point I debated talking about, but as we've all seen Maddie and Kenzie have had a couple of scandals in the past regarding racist/homophobic content. While it's not my place to say whether or not they have changed or forgive them, I do want to put some blame on Melissa for not educating her children, as many of content happened when the girls were still minors, especially Mackenzie. I don't want to harp on this point for too long, because it is very sensitive, but I've never said racist remarks nor made my face darker, because my parents taught me better. Again I'm not saying the Ziegler girls are racist or homophobic, but they were definitely ignorant as children and clearly weren't getting proper education.
5.) Melissa and Mackenzie. A lot of people believe Maddie is Melissa's favorite, which I don't fully agree with. I personally believe Melissa "favorited" Maddie on DM bc it was a dancing show, which was Maddie's main priority in life, not Kenzie's. I personally think if the show was a singing show, the roles would be reversed. However, this is not what I'm here to talk about. I'm here to talking about Melissa being extremely relaxed and being a "cool mom" when it comes to the girls, more specifically Kenzie. The amount of videos of Kenzie as a teen vaping, possibly drinking, partying, and dating a racist is a little disturbing. Now, I'm not stupid. I was a teenager once, I know teenagers party, drink and vape, but a) they normally do it in secret and b) Kenzie was caught so many times and later admitted to it, but it seemed like Melissa didn't do anything about it because of how many times Kenzie got caught. Melissa clearly doesn't seem like the strictest parent and wouldn't surprise me if she knew about it and didn't care bc she was a "cool mom".
Let me know what you guys think, am I being too harsh on Melissa? Or am I just scraping the surface?