I'm playing heartgold and trying to get a shiny Dratini but the shiny hunting method of saving and reloading the game doesn't work with savestates. I've looked EVERYWHERE and have been able to find absolutely zero information on how to load from an in-game save which is WILD considering drastic actually encourages using in-game saves as backup

I've been searching everywhere for information, I've looked through my settings and my files to see if I could figure it out myself. Drastic tells me to not rely on savestates so I save in game too but I have no idea how to access those saves. I already lost my Pokémon diamond save, and I'm paranoid about losing my platinum save since I'm playing heartgold more often now and playing platinum too much without opening diamond is probably how I lost my diamond save. Right now I'm trying to get a shiny Dratini but the first time I reloaded my save state I noticed the genders and natures were the exact same on all 5 the second time meaning the RNG only resets if the game is fully closed and then opened again

With thanks to all who helped create this guide!
This event will run from Friday, June 7 until 20:00 GMT on Monday, June 10; to participate you will need version 11.5.0 or later, at least 100 dragon power, and a high quality, stable internet connection.
Please keep event-specific questions and discussions in this thread; good luck and happy merging!
 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Event Notes

• This is considered one of the most player-friendly layouts, with no Infinite Harvestable lock, and no dead land behind any lock.
• However, getting the fast dragon first is not possible.

Elsewhere in the Game:

• A free, event-related trophy breed egg can be claimed from the game’s online store for a limited time.
• A free official Merge Dragons giveaway is going on through June 10. (Link)
• A second edition of the beta Tower Rush mini-event is being tested by a small number of randomly chosen players this weekend, in addition to the normal event that’s open to everybody. (Link to info post)
• A new feature called Dragonia Kingdoms (Marketplace) has been released to a very small number of beta testers. (Link 1, Link 2)
• A new player-vs-player mini-event called “Race Event” is out for beta-testing to a very small number of users. (Link 1), (Link 2), (Link 3), (Link 4)
• Popular Links:
  • Dens List
  • Friend Tag Exchange
  • 2024 Event Schedule

 

LINK TO DRAGON BOAT IMAGE GUIDE

Tap the link above to open the Image Guide as a Google Slides document; it can be saved as a pdf for viewing elsewhere.

1. Cloud Key Map
2. Cloud Key Chart
3. Tile Healing Map
4. Infinite Harvestables Map
5. Event Quests Chart
6. Event Rewards Chart

 

CLOUD KEY LIST

^{Tap a key item to go to its wiki page for more info and hi-def images}

• L0 Life Essence (clear)
• L2 Life Flower (clear)
• L3 Twin Flowers (clear)
• L4 Bushy Autumn Tree (clear)
• L4 Three Graces (clear)
• L8 Ancient Columns (clear)
• L5 Mystical Autumn Tree (clear)
• L5 Moonflower (clear)
• L9 Golden Columns (clear)
• L7 Fancy Autumn Tree (clear)
• L10 Smallest Temple in the World (clear)
• L8 Happy Panda Lamp (clear)
• Tanzanite Mystery Nest (clear)
• Golden Capsule (clear)
• Fallen Star (clear)

 

EVENT-SPECIFIC CHAINS

• Point items: Mystic Lanterns
• Infinite harvestables/Generators: Spiritual Trees
• Consumable/Limited Harvestables: Lucky Statues
• Event Chests: Special Chests

 

EVENT QUESTS

• 1.1 Merge 5 of Anything — 150 times
• 1.2 Creat a Level 7 Point Item (Sensous Swan Lamp) — 5 times
• 1.3 Harvest from a Level 3 Consumable Harvestable (Noble Dragon Statue) — 75 times
• 2.1 Harvest from a Twin Life Flower — 200 times
• 2.2 Harvest from Dead Plants — 75 times
• 2.3 Create a Life Orb of the Heavens — 3 times
• 3.1 Heal Land — 35 tiles
• 3.2 Have Healed Land — 350 tiles
• 3.3 Have Healed Land — 675 tiles
• 3.4 Heal All the Land — 861 tiles

 

EVENT POINT REQUIREMENTS

• Prize 1: 3 pts (3 total)
• Prize 2: 22 (25)
• Prize 3: 235 (260)
• Prize 4: 420 (680)
• Prize 5: 640 (1,320)
• Prize 6: 960 (2,280)
• Prize 7: 4,470 (6,750)
• Prize 8: 5,400 (12,150)
• Prize 9: 6,570 (18,720)
• Prize 10: 11,230 (29,950)

 

FEATURED REWARDS

^{A = featured in Arcadia; S = Shiny capable; N = New}

• Main trophy breed: Turtle (AS)
• Secondary trophy breed: Fiesta
• Tertiary breed: Sharp
• Event Trophy Item: Artful Bonsai Tree
  • Spawned eggs: Deer (AS)
  • Tappables: Turtle (AS)

 

RUSH REWARDS

^{Note: Rewards shown are for Event Portal Level 16}

• Legend (under 12 hours)
  • Main Breed: 20x nests, 5x L1, 5x L2, 3x L3, 3x L4
  • Secondary Breed: 20x nests, 5x L3, 3x L4
  • Tertiary Breed: 7x L2
  • 3x L4 Fruit Trees
• Champion (under 24 hours)
  • Main Breed 1: 11x nests, 6x L1, 5x L2, 3x L3
  • Secondary Breed: 9x nests, 2x L3, 1x L4
  • Tertiary Breed 3: 12x L2
  • 2x L4 Fruit Trees, 1x Super Egg Fragment
• Hero (under 36 hours)
  • Main Breed: 5x nests, 4x L1, 3x L2, 3x L3
  • Secondary Breed: 5x nests, 3x L3
  • 1x L4 Fruit Tree, 1x L2 Hill, 1x Super Egg Fragment

 

EVENT FAQs

• The Event Shop and Capsules appear after you’ve healed 30-70 tiles; after that a free Bronze Capsule can be collected every 3 hours.
• It takes 5 or 6 level 9 Life Orb of the Heavens to clear all the 5k+ land, depending on how much you heal by merging items off dead land.
• To collect both the full set of Points Prizes and any level of Rush Rewards, you will need to earn 29,950 points.
  • Reaching this amount requires 1x Level 9 points item, 1x L8 item, 2x L7 items, and 2x L6 items (or just aim for 2x L9 points items).
• There’s always enough material to merge by 3s when making Key items.
• Caves must be tapped to spawn a Zomblin; only one event Zomblin lives in each cave, and it turns into Stinky Cheese when killed.
• The Gold Capsule, Fallen Star, and Tanzanite Nest are hiding near the far edge of the map, on tiles requiring 50k energy to heal.
• Infinite Harvestables:
  • There are usually 9x Level 1, 3x L2, 1x L3, 2x L4, and 2x L5 Infinite Harvestables (Spiritual Trees) on the map; you can delete one level 1 and one level 2 and still have enough to make a level 6, as long as you 5-merge whenever possible.
  • Note: No Infinite Harvestables are used as keys in this event.
• Consumable/Limited Harvestables:
  • Each 1x2 Noble Dragon Statue can be harvested 25 times; 75 total harvests are needed to complete Quest 1.3.
  • Each harvest of the big 2x2 Grinning Buddha at the back of the map yields a 10% chance of spawning an extra Noble Dragon Statue.
  • Once all available Noble Dragon Statues and the Grinning Buddha are gone, there is no way to get more.
• Strategy advice:
  • Spending money or gems is NEVER required to complete an event, nor is using an auto-clicker or other exploits.
  • The number and level of possible reward items is determined by your Event Portal level; working to raise that to its maximum of L16 is one of the best ways to boost your overall progress in the game
  • A good basic introduction to events is available here on the Fandom Wiki; there’s also some Wiki event guides and tips articles here and here, and a whole collection of general guides and tutorials here
  • Additional general event strategy advice (active vs passive or idle play, etc) can be found in the Community FAQ and in these threads: Link 1, Link 2, Link 3, and Link 4.
  • For active players wanting more dragons, the Prism Flower method is a good option: Link 1, Link 2, Link 3. Note: this technique is only for active play; since only 2 dragons at a time will harvest when left on their own, having more will actually slow down idle harvesting.
  • A recently shared strategy using the Hills chain here can greatly increase Life Flower production, but it usually takes a few gems (maximum of 80, but less if you get some in capsules)
• Chinese New Year event theme’s main wiki page.
• Previous Similar Events:
  • August 2023 - Dragon Boat
  • January 2023 - Year of the Rabbit
  • October 2022 - Dragon Boat
  • August 2022 - Dragon Boat
  • May 2022 - Dragon Boat
  • January 2022 - Year of the Tiger

 
REMINDER: Before closing your game, or when moving from the event level to your camp, always exit to the World Map screen and pause there until everything’s fully loaded to trigger the game to save your progress.
 

EVENT TROUBLESHOOTING

If the event is not showing up correctly or if glitches are affecting your play:

1. Check that you meet the version and dragon power requirements.
2. Try hard-closing and then relaunching your game.
3. Try rebooting your device (ie, turn it completely off, then back on and allow it to fully boot up before relaunching the game). If you are on wifi and have access to the router, try rebooting that, too.
4. Try switching to a completely different internet source.
5. Try clearing your game’s cache (google for instructions for your specific phone type).
6. If you’re suddenly experiencing multiple issues like lagging or error messages (or if the event vanishes completely), close the game and try again after 2-3 hours. Events are internet-based, and sometimes issues with the servers can cause temporary problems — all we can do for that is to wait it out.
7. If none of the above helps, contact Gram Games Support through the in-game link or the Support Web Portal for help figuring out what’s wrong.

• NOTE: Cloud Save is still unreliable: according to the developer, it is not safe to be used and should be left turned off.
• NOTE: Saving your Progress: Make sure to save your progress by traveling to the World Map screen (and waiting there until everything’s fully loaded) regularly, and especially before closing your game.
• Glitch: Missing sell/delete option If your task bar is missing the option to delete dimension jars or other items, you can start with the standard troubleshooting methods; if those don’t trigger a fix, replaying a few levels or working in your camp for a while have reportedly helped.
• Glitch: Event level only shows clouds If your event screen shows only clouds instead of the map, check that you are zoomed all the way out. If you are and it still won’t show, try collecting one of the free Bronze Capsules (you may need to wait for the timer to count down).
• Glitch: Missing rewards/Game crashes after collecting rewards Exiting directly from the event level to your Camp can trigger a crash and loss of items; always exit to the World Map screen first — and pause there until everything’s fully loaded — to trigger the game to save your progress, then enter your Camp.

edits are on-going

I have some 1”x12”x6’ “Select Kiln-Dried Square Edge Whitewood Pine Boards” from Home-Depot.
Problem: The boards smell bad, like chemical treated cardboard and MDF. They are also slightly sticky/tacky. I’m not sure what to do to fix this.
No Go for Returning: I can’t just return it, I’m not going to get anything with better quality back in exchange. This is the best it is going to get. My local store isn’t great, and it was hard to find non-warped pieces. Mine have no twisting, minor central bowing. Would be nice to fix the bowing, but not the main issue here.
Critical Complication: Regrettably I live in and apartment in the center of a major city. My go to would have been to sand the boards, even though the finish is really smooth… and oddly shiny. So, I’ve got no where to sand, and only limited power tool access. I’m in a pickle.
Gonna Mess This Up: My next best idea, short of a block plane haha, is to wash the wood. Not sure how I’d do this. I first bought the wood months ago and gave it a quick iso wipe to get the Home Depot critter droppings cleaned off. I hoped the smell would go away, but there has been no change at all.
Stuck: The sticky/tacky surface is weird and kinda nasty. Maybe it is just sap, but I’d expect a better smell if that was the case. Plus this really shouldn’t be leaking sap if it was kiln dried. Or it would be leaking substantially more after these months. The bad odor is a more substantial problem due to the small size of my apartment. No escaping it. So I can get busy using the material until I resolve this. I don’t want to be locked into building something stinky.
What’s the problem(s)? I could really use a hand with this. Any ideas?

Hey, hey, fellow survivors! Get ready to ascend to new heights with us! We're a sharp, savvy crew, enjoying some epic PvP and PvE action in the world of ASA! With our daily active admins and moderators, new players can count on friendly assistance whenever needed. Our servers are open to everyone and are cross-platform compatible!
Discord:
Step into our digital campground, where the fire's always crackling, and the stories are as wild as the dinos we tame! Whether you're a seasoned survivor or you're just setting foot on the island for the first time, you'll find a warm welcome waiting for you here in our Discord server!
So pull up a log, grab your s'mores, toss your worries into the bonfire, and join our Discord! 🏕️ 🔥 🦖
​
Maps:
➤ The Island PvP - Wiped: 2/13/24
➤ Scorched Earth PvP - Wiped: 4/1/24
➤ The Center PvP - Wiped: 6/4/24
➤ The Island PvE
➤ Scorched Earth PvE
➤ The Center PvE
➤ More to come when released!
​
How to join:
➤ From the "JOIN GAME" screen, make sure you're on the "UNOFFICIAL" tab
➤ Check the "SHOW PLAYER SERVERS" checkbox
➤ Search for "ArkGartha"
​
PvP Server Names:
➤ ArkGartha - PvP - TheIsland - 3XP / 5H / 6T / 8B - Wiped: 2/13/24
➤ ArkGartha - PvP - Scorched Earth - 3XP / 5H / 6T / 8B - Wiped: 4/1/24
➤ ArkGartha - PvP - The Center - 3XP / 5H / 6T / 8B - Wiped: 6/4/24
​
PvE Server Names:
➤ ArkGartha - PvE - TheIsland - 3XP / 3H / 8T / 30B
➤ ArkGartha - PvE - Scorched Earth - 3XP / 3H / 8T / 30B
➤ ArkGartha - PvE - The Center - 3XP / 3H / 8T / 30B
​
Mods:

PvP	PvE
Super Spyglass Plus	Custom Dino Levels
TG Stacking Mod 1000-50	Automated Ark
PvP Scoreboard	Utilities Plus
Custom Dino Levels	Pelayori's Cryo Storage
QoL+	Death Recovery Mod
Solo Farm Mod	TG Stacking Mod 1000-50
Snow Owls	Upgrade Station
Cliff Platforms	Super Spyglass Plus
Flame Arrows	Net Projectile
MarniiMods Hairstyles	Arkitect Structures Remastered
Klinger Additional Rustic Building	Dino Mindwipe
	Improved Egg Incubator (CrossPlay)
	Shiny! Dinos Ascended
	Foundation Ceilings
	MarniiMods Hairstyles

​

Hey, hey, fellow survivors! Get ready to ascend to new heights with us! We're a sharp, savvy crew, enjoying some epic PvP and PvE action in the world of ASA! With our daily active admins and moderators, new players can count on friendly assistance whenever needed. Our servers are open to everyone and are cross-platform compatible!
Discord:
Step into our digital campground, where the fire's always crackling, and the stories are as wild as the dinos we tame! Whether you're a seasoned survivor or you're just setting foot on the island for the first time, you'll find a warm welcome waiting for you here in our Discord server!
So pull up a log, grab your s'mores, toss your worries into the bonfire, and join our Discord! 🏕️ 🔥 🦖
​
Maps:
➤ The Island PvP - Wiped: 2/13/24
➤ Scorched Earth PvP - Wiped: 4/1/24
➤ The Center PvP - Wiped: 6/4/24
➤ The Island PvE
➤ Scorched Earth PvE
➤ The Center PvE
➤ More to come when released!
​
How to join:
➤ From the "JOIN GAME" screen, make sure you're on the "UNOFFICIAL" tab
➤ Check the "SHOW PLAYER SERVERS" checkbox
➤ Search for "ArkGartha"
​
PvP Server Names:
➤ ArkGartha - PvP - TheIsland - 3XP / 5H / 6T / 8B - Wiped: 2/13/24
➤ ArkGartha - PvP - Scorched Earth - 3XP / 5H / 6T / 8B - Wiped: 4/1/24
➤ ArkGartha - PvP - The Center - 3XP / 5H / 6T / 8B - Wiped: 6/4/24
​
PvE Server Names:
➤ ArkGartha - PvE - TheIsland - 3XP / 3H / 8T / 30B
➤ ArkGartha - PvE - Scorched Earth - 3XP / 3H / 8T / 30B
➤ ArkGartha - PvE - The Center - 3XP / 3H / 8T / 30B
​
Mods:

PvP	PvE
Super Spyglass Plus	Custom Dino Levels
TG Stacking Mod 1000-50	Automated Ark
PvP Scoreboard	Utilities Plus
Custom Dino Levels	Pelayori's Cryo Storage
QoL+	Death Recovery Mod
Solo Farm Mod	TG Stacking Mod 1000-50
Snow Owls	Upgrade Station
Cliff Platforms	Super Spyglass Plus
Flame Arrows	Net Projectile
MarniiMods Hairstyles	Arkitect Structures Remastered
Klinger Additional Rustic Building	Dino Mindwipe
	Improved Egg Incubator (CrossPlay)
	Shiny! Dinos Ascended
	Foundation Ceilings
	MarniiMods Hairstyles

​

https://www.fastcompany.com/91136248/how-bucees-gas-stations-became-the-unlikely-champion-of-evs
I toured my first Buc ee's in Colorado last month when my son and his wife wanted to treat us to BBQ. They never let on where we would get the BBQ and it turns out they took us to our first Buc ee's. Needless to say, as Model Y owners I was pleasantly surprised, and dare to say impressed, that there was a nice new shiny array of Super Chargers there.
I kind of think if Buc ee's continues this trend, it's quite smart. Quietly and slowly merging gas pumps with available EV chargers, serving both types of customers with no pre-conceived notion of bias. And making money hand-over-fist all during the process.
And as a side note, their restrooms are quite the gold standard. I was more impressed with them than the BBQ.

I’ve never gotten comfort from my mom. I’m 32 and autistic and currently pregnant for the first time and have had a lot of health problems pop up this year and it’s been really rough but luckily most have been relatively minor, just feeling like crap a lot.
When my mom asks how I’m doing I’ll tell her and she gets mad at me when it isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. I’m starting to get really frustrated (well, I have been my whole life about this) with her complete inability to handle any negative emotion from me, specifically. She has a serious toxic positivity problem and just gets angry whenever anybody else is upset (well let’s be real, mostly just at me and my sister in law; most other people are allowed to have emotions other than happy)
She also gets angry when I don’t follow her (often bad) advice. “Toughing it out” with pregnancy nausea and other first tri symptoms just resulted in not being able to keep food down and almost passing out on walks after only a half mile (I was very in shape before the pregnancy but haven’t been able to do much since)
I work so hard to maintain a good relationship with her but I also can’t be honest with her at all. I feel like I manage to somehow forget this every time I talk to her and feel weird and gross about lying about how I feel. Like even when I was a kid, it was like you’re sad? You should probably “talk to someone” because she can’t say the word therapy like it’s some dirty word.
It feels so empty to just lie and say I’m always feeling good and happy, especially when I’ve been absolutely miserable. I comfort her and listen when she’s having a hard time, I don’t understand why she can’t just be a fucking adult and treat me like a person that deserves to have feelings that don’t fit her shiny happy narrative.
I’ve tried having conversations with her but she can’t have them without making me feel like a mean, blaming, selfish person that has somehow victimized her in all of this. I don’t know what to do. I don’t understand how she can just ignore negative things and have just zero compassion for when bad things happen.
I’ve worked so hard on our relationship through my twenties but I’m realizing all I did was just cater to her all the time and it’s exhausting and fake and stupid. How do I talk to her about this issue without “setting her off” so to speak? I like to believe she isn’t too far gone and not worth the trouble because I really really want a close relationship with her and I’ve never had that

Hello all!
I'm hoping to get some help as I am completely lost! I have read so many wikis and run plently of searches both within the sub as well as Google at large. I am in the process of optimizing my gaming/wfh set up, and I would really like to get a mechanical keyboard that I can customize. I've been looking at the Keychron Q6 Max, but I'm not deadset on getting that particular model. Here is what I'm looking for:

• Black aluminum body
• 100% or 75/80% with separate numpad
• Volume knob
• 2.4 GHz wireless and Type-C wired connectivity
• Hot-swapable with RGB

This is going to be my endgame desk set up, so I want aluminum for the build quality. I need the num pad and function keys for work, and I just really want a volume knob. I need the wireless/wired functionality for quick swapping between my personal system and my work laptop (which must be a wired connection). I'm currently manually swapping my keyboard cable from my laptop dock to a USB extender connected to my pc.
For switches, I don't have a lot of experience, but I know that I want a tactile switch. I had a Razer BlackWidow Ultimate with Razer Green switches and I really liked the feel of the switches, but the sound would be too much for work. I currently have a Razer BlackWidow Chroma V2 with Razer Yellow switches, and I do not like them. They're mushy, I accidentally hit keys that I don't mean to because of how light the actuation is, the sound is alright though. I have narrowed my switch search to Baby Kangaroos (though I hear the Jupiter Bananas are pretty similar), UT4 RGBs (65g), and Zealios v2s. I was planning on getting a switch sampler with AJAZZ Kiwi (Tactile 50g), Azure Dragon V3 (63g), Baby Kangaroo (59g), BOX Royal (45g), Gazzew U4T RGB (65g), Ice Kachang V2 (55g), Holy Panda X Clear (60g), Kiwi (Tactile 67g), and Zealio V2 (67g) to finalize my decision, but I'm more than open to other suggestions.
As for keycaps, I'm looking for ANSI layout, and I think I'd prefer PBT as I don't like how shiny the double-shot ABS gets. I definitely want RGB back-lit characters (I am not a good typist, and the backlight really helps me), and I'd prefer a black/gray color scheme. I would probably also end up looking for some green accent keycaps, something like the NovelKeys KAM profile Superuser keycaps.
Hopefully I've given you enough information, and you can help me out with some recommendations. TYIA!

 I never thought I would find myself needing to recount the events that transpired during my childhood. 

When the idea of typing this came about, I didn’t think I would even be able to find the words to describe them. However, maybe due to recent contact with the government, the memories I had long buried in the dusty recesses of my memory have dug themselves up and crawled back into the light of my mind’s eye in vivid detail. Now that I am free to speak, and now that I have summoned the courage to, my message to you, especially the parents among you is this, do not leave your children at Sunny Smiles Daycare.
I was about 4 when my parents divorced. It was a long, arduous process, full of broken promises and uncomfortable truths. My mother had left a year prior, off to Vegas to be with her lover who would fly over on weekends and destroy my parent’s of holy matrimony. It took quite a toll on my father. He was never very present in the going on of my life, and while he tried, an awkwardness had formed between us, a chasm that made it difficult to do much of anything. It was ever present, both of us trying to cope with the tender void left in the wake of my mother.
We tried to fill it with each other, but our relationship wasn’t strong enough to bear the weight of my mom’s departure. Adding on to this was that most of the day he was gone, working to keep the roof we had over our heads. He hired a slew of nannies to fill the empty days his job made, but I always complained about them. I felt like a stranger in my own life, with people I didn’t know making themselves at home in the house that felt foreign to me now. I really just wanted my mom and dad back, for them to come together, forgive each other in a heartfelt bout of passion, and make time for me in their lives again. But as a child, I quickly learned to stifle my hopes and stopped believing in such silly fairy tales.
My father felt guilty about the whole thing, I could see it in his eyes. Even back then I knew the look of someone trying their best and failing. It was the look my mother gave me every time she came home late on a Saturday night, a crestfallen look of disappointment in not me or my father, but herself. She had promised me that everything would be okay, that the fighting wasn’t anything but grown-up talk. “A family,” she said, “always stays together”. But soon, all I got was promises that didn’t lead anywhere. The two of them made so many promises that if they were worth anything, I’d have been the richest kid in the world.
But all I got was a trip to a daycare, a way for my father to remedy this guilt, to distance himself from the reminder of all the promises he had failed to keep.
According to his searches from the time, he stumbled upon Sunny Smiles Daycare in his search, seeing it was new, very close by. It had only been open for a month and had nothing but five star reviews, with no justification as to the rating under any of the comments. When looking at their website, it is described as a “government owned amenity here to serve families in need. We are expanding everyday, and with the help of certain patrons we have expanded to the national level”. According to the FBI, whom which I have spoken to at length about my experiences, no federal or state funds from any agency were allocated to construct a national daycare system. However, there is documentation from congressional records of a meeting of the Committee of Education and the Workforce passing an anonymous bill into Congress to be voted on. When interviewed, none of the members of the committee recalled voting on such a bill, and no record of whether the bill was ratified or not was found.
One night, my father called for me from the ground floor. I cautiously maneuvered down the long, spiral stairs, gripping tightly onto the railing so as not to tumble down the treacherous staircase, my fear of heights taking hold even at such a young age. As I rounded the stairs, I saw my father standing in the living room, hands on his hips, tapping his foot rapidly. He had come home in a gray suit, tailored to his filled out build, with neat, dark hair combed over to hide his large, reflective forehead. As I completed my descent, my father turned to me, a smile so wide that the strain was practically audible on his face. I didn’t think much of it then, if anything I was happy that my father finally showed me something other than his inner struggles.
“Hey buddy, guess what we are gonna do tomorrow?” he said, his smile practically bursting out of his face.
“What?” I asked, his excited expression acting as a pathogen of enthusiasm.
“Tomorrow, you're going to go to a new place. It’s called Sunny Smiles Daycare. It’s a place where you can make tons of new friends. Isn’t that exciting?” he led me on in the way that parents do. I was confused.
“Sunny Smiles Daycare,” I repeated hollowly, spitting the words out due to their funny taste in my mouth.
“Will you come with me?” I asked tentatively, bracing for disappointment.
“No buddy, they don’t let grown-ups like me in. It’s just for you kids. But hey, I bet you're gonna have so much fun that you’ll forget all about me. I bet you won’t even want to leave,” he promised, trying to redirect the impact of his answer. I had heard the same speech often. Every time he laid down some shiny new thing at my feet, hoping to placate me with sacrifices like I was some bloodthirsty deity, he tried to convince me that this time, the hole bored into my heart would finally be filled with this cheap, flashy toy. And for the most part, I went along with it, both to find salvation in something frivolous and to ease my father’s own guilty demons. And this was no different. In as excited a voice I could muster I replied “I can’t wait!” The smile he wore shrunk a bit, but in turn, it looked much less plastic, and more real, a warmth returning to his features.
“I’m glad little man. You hungry?” I nodded vigorously.
“Great, what do ya want?”
“Dino nuggets,” my favorite.
My father nodded, before rushing off to the kitchen in order to prepare a gourmet serving of dino nuggets. I followed, clumsily running to catch up to him, desperate for the warmth of his smile once more.
“How your day go?” I asked rather clumsily. I had learned the basic abcs and enough words to speak, but the construction of sentences was something I had struggled with. I rarely talked at all and didn’t get many chances to do so.
“It was great, bud! I talked to a lady at the daycare we are gonna go to tomorrow, and she said they have over 50 kids there! They’ve got coloring books and dollies and even a playground inside! They’ve got books and paint an-” I started to tune out. He was still trying to sell me on the whole daycare thing. That was all he talked about the rest of the night, describing every detail of the place to me. Looking back, even then, I felt a deep sense of restlessness each time he mentioned the name of the place. The feeling only grew more exacerbated the longer the night went on, chasing away sweet thoughts of sleep. Some of it was nerves, going from 1 stranger a day to 50 was certainly a big leap. But part of it was something I can’t explain in any other way than a premonition, a warning from a natural instinct that laid long dormant in me came screaming to the surface. I did not sleep well that night. The morning of, my father woke me up early, saying that he needed to get to work, but would drop me off at the daycare on the way. I obliged, changing out of my Lightning McQueen onesie into tiny jeans and a brown and white striped shirt with a large smiling monkey face on the front. Monkeys were my favorite animal, mainly because they liked bananas just as much as I did. I did my daily duties of brushing my teeth, and messing around with my hair until I was happy with the ratty mess I had made. I once again fearfully journeyed down the stairs. My dad was tapping his foot at the bottom of the stairs, annoyance instead of excitement being the cause.
“Come on bud, we gotta get going or I’m gonna be late,”. he says, as if his meaningless deadline would incentivize me to overcome my fear and move faster.
I reach the bottom step, where my dad promptly scoops me up in his arms, and with his briefcase and a backpack in hand, we speed out of the house. We fly down the stairs leading down from the large wooden porch, my father gripping onto the black metal railing so as not to slip on the cliff-like stairs. He snaked through the cobblestone pathway that led from our stairs to the driveway. Both were in rough condition. Crabgrass riddled the grooves in the path, and the asphalt had long, outstretched cracks that had formed due to the roots of a nearby sycamore tree undermining the pavement. The lawn was an unkempt jungle of overgrown grass, weeds, dandelions, and mushrooms. Dad used to mow it once a week in the summer, but the habit had fallen off in the past year.
Dad threw open the back door of the red minivan, and quickly strapped me into the ragged, stained car seat. He clumsily struggled with the seatbelt, his inexperience with morning procedures on full display. He finally resigned himself, tying the belt straps together into a tight knot that compressed harshly on my chest. I remember my breathing being shallow during the majority of the ride. With me secured, he threw the backpack over next to me, closed the door, and got in the front seat.
“Dad, I don’t go,” I said. “I don’t like,”
“Why buddy? We haven’t even gotten there yet,” Dad asked, his voice rising in pitch, as he started the ignition.
“I don’t like,” I repeated, louder and firmer this time.
“Why don’t you just give it a few days, just two or three days, and if you truly hate it, then we’ll find a different place okay sweetie?” He asked, forcing his voice to smooth out, as we turned out of our bumpy driveway and started off. There wasn’t much I could do after that. He did not respond well to temper tantrums, and I knew that it would not end well for either of us if I started yelling. He was too jumpy, and didn’t have the long fuse constructed over many long nights of staying awake with your kid.
Once, I dropped a glass of orange juice. The glass shattered in a loud crackle, like thunder mixed with pop rocks, and they scattered away from the initial blast, in fear of the storm that was barreling down the stairs.
“What happened?!” my father yelled as he stomped through the house. I realize now that his shouting was out of concern more than anger, but as a child, it’s hard to tell the difference when someone is screaming at you. I looked up at him, fat watery tears streaming down my face as I bawled loudly, practically shouting myself.
My dad grabbed a handful of paper towels, and started roughly padding my fuzzy blue shirt.
“Are you hurt?” he yelled again, voice wavering. This only made my cries louder, bordering on hysterical now as I continued to blubber.
My dad grunted in strained frustration. He combed his hair frantically, eyes darting around wildly, completely overwhelmed by the scene before him. Unable to take my wailing any longer he leaned down, grabbed me by the arm, and shook me violently.
“Are you hurt!” He screamed, shocking me into silence.
I stood stunned. My dad quickly removed his hands from me, purple bruises welding up along my arms like bad tattoos.
“I’m sorry bud, I thought you were hurt and you wouldn’t answer me and I… I’m sorry. I’m sorry,”. It was all he could say. I made sure not to scream or cry around him from then on.
We drove for about 10 minutes, before a large, pastel building of soft blues, yellows, and greens came into view. I knew about 5 minutes before it came into view where it was, my face retracting further into the car seat, as if bracing for a bomb to fall.
It was a massive building. The front looked normal enough, a box almost entirely made of windows aside from the wiry wooden frame separating them, and the large fluorescent red door surrounded by a black wooden outline. This was partially obscured by large red brick pillars that held up a concrete awning. Behind that, stood a massive dome, like an igloo made out of yellow snow. Sun patterns covered the dome-like orange polka dots.
The building unnerved me. Something about it wasn’t quite right, like my father’s own strained smile. It looked like it was trying too hard, trying to look like what all parents wanted to see when they dropped their kids off.
“See?” My father said from the front seat, fake excitement dripping from his voice.
“It looks so fun!” he said. He was fishing for an enthusiastic response, but all I could muster was quiet indifference.
We turned into the lot, navigating through the crowded rows of cars, parked haphazardly. Every spot was filled. A long line of cars slowly advanced next to the concrete curve, advancing toward the dropping-off points. Other cars, though, stopped where they were, and removed their kid from the car seat. Some didn’t even have them in car seats, and simply stopped while the kids got out themselves. The kids looked scared, sad, and hurt, the latter of which I could identify with. It was the look I often felt myself giving when I was being forgotten or I was alone. The former two, I would soon come to know quite well.
As soon as the door closed, the car would speed out from the line and out of the lot. Even strangers were kids who walked from the parking lot. These kids all had filth-splotched faces, torn-up rags for clothes, thin hair, and hollow eyes. They walked slowly, without regard for the honking cars and disapproving looks from parents who had almost hit them. They didn’t even look up as they filed into the daycare. My dad chimed in.
“Oh poor kids. How can a parent watch their child go out into the world like that? Is no one feeding them?” He muttered under his breath in an angry tone. He hated seeing the cries of those who were suffering go unanswered, especially children. It was why he became a doctor.
The cars slowly moved, dropping their kids off one by one, some making more of a ceremony of it than others. Stifled tears, verklempt looks, and the all too familiar fake smiles were all congregated at the entrance to the daycare. Guardian to said entrance stood two women, garbed in an all-white dress, apron, and gloves with silver hair and peculiar white hats. It looked like one of those paper hats kids made, but it was made of cloth and like her, stood at stiff attention and bore an opaque smiling face. They were surrounded by a flock of frantic parents, each desperately commanding their attention with little facts about their special angle. Allergies, snack preferences, and in the case of some, medication were all conveyed with deathly urgency. Dad stopped the car, turning to me and smiling. Not an insincere one, but one of sympathy and comfort.
“It’s gonna be okay sweetie. I know this has all been so much for you, so thank you for being so brave with me,” he promised. I smiled back in turn, meaning it this time.
He then exited the car, came around to the backseat, and untied me from the car seat. He grabbed the backpack and carried me over to the cement awning that shaded the walkway.
He carried me over to the two ladies, past the line of fellow downtrodden children, and dropped me a few feet away from the crowd of squawking parents.
“Hold on just a second now sweetie, I’ll be right back,” he said. I stood awkwardly, trying as much as I possibly could to fold into myself as the limp bodies of my peers stumbled past me, all light-looking to have long left their eyes. One was different though. A young girl in a pink and red polka-dotted dress with an accompanying bow in her soft ginger hair to match. She was holding a small, beaten-up brown patchwork teddy bear with its left eye missing. The back of it was torn open, stuffing flopping out of it. Around her neck was a collar of raspy, raw skin, like some wild animal had tried to tear out her jugular with its claws. She had pretty green eyes which continued to glance at me as she passed. Right before she went through the red door, she hesitated, turned around, and quickly waddled over to me. She placed her face incredibly close to me, and I recoiled out of shock. I could still make out her whispers though, “When they ask, don’t tell,”.She quickly turned away, glancing back at me with worried eyes. I looked after her, confused and more scared than before. As my eyes wandered, I looked up to one of the women answering parental questions, and she continued to do so. However, her eyes were transfixed to the polka-dot girl, and once she entered the daycare, they shifted to me. It was what I could only describe as a friendly stare, or at least, one that appeared to be. She looked like she was sizing me up. I held her gaze for only a second, and wished I hadn’t even done that. I commanded my eyes to look anywhere, anywhere but the woman’s shriveled, pit-like eyes that begged for my attention. My eyes traced out the outline of the red door, slowly taking in each groove and scratch that thick coats of paint weren’t able to cover. As I looked above the red gate, I was greeted with words scrawled at the top in shaky black letters. I didn’t know what I said then, but looking back I do now. They read “Welcome to Home”.
“Calvin, come here!” my dad said, snapping me out of my awkward stare. I shuffled over to my dad, reaching out and clinging to his arm. Both of the silver-haired women turned to look at me, moving through the crowd of parents with polite “excuse me’s” and “let us pass for a moment’s”, all while not taking their eyes off of me. They strode over to my dad, one addressing my dad and the other bending down to my level, still staring at me. She bent perfectly straight at the hips, but went down no further, her face mere millimeters from mine. I shrunk closer to my father, who was seemingly too preoccupied talking about my peanut allergy to notice the creepy woman staring at his kid.
“What is your name?” She asked. I pressed even further away from her due to her voice, which scratched at my ears like sandpaper. I remembered what the polka-dot girl said, and did everything in my power to not give her an answer, instead tugging on Dad’s pant leg, pleading for his attention.
“What is your name?” She probed again, this time her voice only a supple whisper. I almost couldn’t stop myself as my name rushed up my throat like hot vomit I needed to choke back. It was like she had reached her hand into my brain and was massaging it, hoping to coax out an answer. I knew she knew already, she had heard my dad call it only a few moments ago. But she wanted me to say it, to hear the word escape my lips. I was afraid to speak at all because if I did, I knew my name would come out. I didn’t even know what would happen, but the visceral fear I had of what might happen kept my lips sewn shut.
I tugged more and more desperately on my father’s leg, but he didn’t even look at me. He was still talking to the silver woman about who knows what. Who knows what he was telling her?
“What is your name?” the lady asked again, this time grabbing my hand and squeezing it. I tried to yank my hand away, but her grip was vice-like. She clamped down hard, I was sure a bruise would form. Looking back now, she likely knew that out of what she could do then, that would hurt the most. My eyes darted around, my brain overwhelmed by a gut-wrenching fear that poured into me from the woman’s touch. It was so cold I couldn’t feel my arm anymore, and the numbing sensation was spreading quickly. I looked for anyone, any adult who could see what was happening and put a stop to it, but everyone seemed to be conveniently occupied with something else. Time seemed to slow down and warp, leaving just me and the woman in our pocket of isolation. Voices faded out into warped chirping. I couldn’t tell you what they were saying, but with every passing moment, they got louder and louder. Numbing fear spread all throughout my body, reaching up and crawling into my mouth and swelling my tongue, pushing back the scream that was clawing its way up my throat. My eyes began to go numb, and the tears that welled up froze over my eyes blocking my vision. They were being squeezed like oranges being juiced. My arms and legs froze and turned weak, brittle enough that a gust of wind would shatter them. Slowly, I could sense my heartbeat getting slower and slower.
“You ready buddy?” My father’s coarse hand tapped my shoulder, and the glass bubble of nightmares that surrounded me and that woman shattered. Time came roaring back and all the pressure inflicted on my feeble body vanished, and the woman hastily stood up. Tears sprung free from their icy barrier as I turned to my father and looked up.
“Hey, woah, buddy what’s wrong? What’s going on?” he bent down to me, clumsily wiping away my tears. All I could do was shake my head vigorously, lips still quivering. I tried to speak but I knew the woman was still staring at me. I could feel her gaze honed in on the back of my head like a laser. As long as her eyes were fixed on me, I didn’t dare speak. Even now, I feel dizzy, my name on the tip of my tongue.
“We see this type of display daily. Children and caretakers alike are so rarely prepared to be separate. It’s an emotional moment, but we have found that adversity only ends in growth and prosperity for the pair” one of the women says, a sugary sweetness now oozing from her demeanor.
“Don’t worry buddy, your guardian will be back, and while he is attending to his duties, you will have the honor of being a part of our family,” the other silver-haired woman says, turning to me with a toothy grin. Most of her words were too big for me to understand. Though, I doubt I would need to hear her speak to understand. The stares they would give us were all we needed to know what they were saying, and yet they still put us through the torture of their scratchy speech.
“We are extremely excited to meet you!” the pair said in unison.
“You sure you're okay, bud?” Dad asked again, still not convinced. With both of them looking at me now, there was no way I was saying anything. I sent a pleading look to my dad, hoping that my covert correspondence wouldn’t go unnoticed. But apparently, my own father didn’t know me well enough to see how shaken I really was. He gave me a final look of sorry, before he bent down, gave me a tight hug, stood up, and handed me the backpack. Then he began to depart
“Listen buddy I’ll see you tonight. I put all your favorite stuff in that bag okay? I love you so much.” His voice wavered a bit, coughing a bit to try and regain composure. He looked at me, torn, between what he wanted to believe and what he could see. All I could do was stand there and watch my father throw his only son to the wolves. He walked back to the car, buckled in, and gave me a final look of a wide smile with conflicting, tear-soaked eyes, before exiting the line of cars and driving off.
An overwhelming wave of dread washed over me as I watched my lifeline drift away. Questions raced through my head, “When would he come back? Would he forget to come? How long can I not say my name for?”
I could feel them loom over me, like unwanted shadows creeping through the night.
“Come, it is time for you to enter,” the lady said, the sweetness now draining from her voice and face. A reproachful look now adorned her face. She stiffly pointed to the door, likely knowing that the meaning of her words was lost on me. I turned and made my way into the line of children still marching towards the gateway, dragging my feet. The gate itself seemed to pull me closer like death reaching its hand out from a coffin. The two ladies returned to their posts beside the door, dutifully tending to the needs of apprehensive parents. They made a last call, saying “All parents must deposit their offspring to the daycare. Activities are about to begin”.

Below are some of the stories we’ve been reporting this week on Cyber Security Headlines.
If you’d like to watch and participate in a discussion about them, the CISO Series does a live 20-minute show every Friday at 12:30pm PT/3:30pm ET. Each week we welcome a different cyber practitioner to offer some color to the week's stories. Our guest this week is Andrew Wilder, CISO, Community Veterinary Partners.
To get involved you can watch live and participate in the discussion on YouTube Live https://youtube.com/live/NwCSdYT6zpw or you can subscribe to the Cyber Security Headlines podcast and get it into your feed.
Here are the stories we plan to cover, time permitting:
Experts say new Windows AI feature could be a security ‘disaster’Microsoft is about to launch a new AI-powered Recall feature that screenshots everything a user does on their PC and allows them to search and retrieve anything in seconds. Recall is part of the new Copilot Plus PCs that are debuting on June 18. Security researcher, Kevin Beaumont, who helped test the feature, discovered that the feature stores data locally in plain text which could allow an attacker to use malware to easily extract the database and its contents. Further, Recall doesn’t hide sensitive info like passwords or financial account numbers in its screenshots. Microsoft points out that stored Recall information is encrypted using Bitlocker while stored locally. But that would only protect the data from theft from a physically stolen device. Beaumont said he’s withholding technical details to give Microsoft time to take action. The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office has also stepped in to make inquiries with Microsoft over its use of the AI-powered feature. (The Verge)
Ticketmaster hack affects 560 million customers, third-party denies liabilityThe attack, which occurred on May 20, has been confirmed by its parent company, Live Nation, as having been the result of “unauthorized activity within a third-party cloud database environment containing company data.” A week later the threat actor ShinyHunters offered the data, which is alleged to contain PII and partial payment details of up to 560 million customers up for sale if a ransom payment of over $500,000 is not made. This is the same threat actor group who breached the Spanish bank Santander around the same time. Meanwhile, the third-party vendor in question, cloud storage provider Snowflake has denied that its products were to blame for the Ticketmaster breach, or the Santander Bank, for that matter. According to a since- removed post on the website of security firm Hudson Rock, “the intruders were able to sign into a Snowflake employee’s ServiceNow account using stolen credentials, and from there were able to generate session tokens,” however Snowflake, while acknowledging that a former employee’s demo account was accessed through stolen credentials, said it did not contain sensitive data, and that there was “no pathway for customers’ credentials to be accessed and exfiltrated from the Snowflake production environment.”(The Guardian and The Record)
HHS changes tack, allows Change Healthcare to file breach notifications for othersThis reversal from the Department of Health and Human Services is an update from an April 19 FAQ page that stated every organization affected by the Change Healthcare hack would have to file their own breach notices with federal and state regulators. This had apparently angered the staff of thousands of hospitals, clinics and doctor’s offices who are still working through the damage caused by the attack. The new statement, sent by Melanie Fontes Rainer, director of HHS’s Office for Civil Rights says, “affected covered entities that want Change Healthcare to provide breach notifications on their behalf should contact Change Healthcare. All of the required HIPAA breach notifications may be performed by Change Healthcare.” (The Record)
FBI says it has 7,000 LockBit ransomware decryption keysSpeaking at the 2024 Boston Conference on Cyber Security, Bryan Vorndran, assistant director of the FBI’s Cyber Division, said the agency is offering help to victims whose data was encrypted by the LockBit ransomware. The victims are encouraged to contact the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center. There have been more than 1,800 LockBit encryption attacks in the United States. (Security Week)
3 billion records stolen from background check firmThe criminal gang named USDoD appears to be selling just under 3 billion records on nearly all US, Canadian, and British citizens for $3.5 million on a Dark Web forum. The data was allegedly stolen from Florida-based background check firm, National Public Data. It’s believed that USDoD is acting as a broker for the gang that actually stole the data (using the handle SXUL) which included full names, address history, social security numbers, and names of parents, siblings, and relatives. According to the VX-Underground team, there is a small silver lining, which is that “The database DOES NOT contain information from individuals who use data opt-out services.” (The Register)
Utah student floods hackers with false info to thwart PhishingA Davis County high school junior, Charles Mortensen, developed a program dubbed VEGA (Victims’ Empowerment Guard against Attacks), which aims to take down phishing sites by flooding them with fake usernames and passwords. Mortensen said the program can send about half a million requests to a hacker site within a night, typically taking the site offline by the morning. Mortensen was motivated to create VEGA when a friend residing in foster care fell victim to an Instagram phishing attempt, jeopardizing her only means of contacting her mom. Mortensen said VEGA has enabled him to take down thirty phishing sites within a month. He is seeking a sponsor to help him to scale the operation to potentially dismantle much larger volumes of phishing sites. (The Cyber Express)
US research using psychology against threat actorsThe Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity, IARPA, picked five research teams to look into threat actor behavior, hoping to boost cybersecurity measures by better understanding motives and possibly predict future actions. Roughly 150 people will work on the research, with teams from Raytheon, Peraton Labs, Charles River Analytics, SRI International, and GrammaTech. The teams will take different approaches, like monitoring security researchers for biases that could apply to threat actors and designing fake networks to waste threat actors’ time. Program manager Kimberly Ferguson-Walter said threat actors routinely take advantage of known human biases, and defenders should attempt to do the same. (Bloomberg)
EU Probes Microsoft 365 Education Over Privacy ConcernsThe European Union is investigating Microsoft’s education-focused suite after a non-profit privacy rights group filed two complaints over concerns about how the data from the Microsoft 365 Education platform was being used. The privacy campaign group, noyb, alleges that minors’ data is being processed unlawfully and the company is being “consistently vague” about how the children’s information is being used. Noyb also claims Microsoft installs cookies without consent to track user behavior, affecting thousands of EU and EEA students. Noyb argues schools are not in a position to comply with EU law’s transparency requirements or data access rights. In a statement to TechCrunch, Microsoft said, “M365 for Education complies with GDPR and other applicable privacy laws.” (Techcrunch), (The Register)

Hey all!
Hope everyone is doing well. I am diagnosed with ADHD (was ADD back when I got diagnosed) and 26 years old. I do not take medications for it, but am open to it potentially.
I have always been a job hopper since I started working at 15. I worked retail and fast food as a kid and would bounce around everywhere and worked all kinds of jobs. Wound up in construction and trades, played with electrical for a year, moved to IT for a few years, moved to low voltage electrical currently.
I’ve come to like the construction and trade atmosphere a lot more than other environments. My problem/question is I always start something and love it for a while then I get bored, lose interest, or get an opportunity for more money/skill.
As said I work in low voltage and have been wanting to go back to high side electrical and go to school for it. I’m afraid that if I do I’ll get in a year or so and want to move on to something else. It sounds great and would be an awesome opportunity, for real, it’s just the fact of eventually wanting to move on that I fear.
How do I control this or master this? The electrical field has lots of places to move around and can be good for job hopping but I am just scared I’ll want to drop it completely because ooo shiny.
I will add that I’ve always made more money as I’ve job hopped. Even now I make more money than I ever have and actually live fairly good, I just am stunting any kind of career growth by not giving myself a chance to master something.
Any guidance? I plan on going to the dr soon and asking them, but wanted to see if any advice was here in the meantime.
Thank you all!

Last night around 9:55 p.m., I'm waiting for the clock to Strike 10 so that I can close up my store and go home. I'm watching the cameras for any late stragglers, hoping I'm not going to have to recount everything. The rustiest, smelliest looking pickup truck I've ever seen pulls into my parking lot. The door opens slowly and I see a foot peek out from underneath the door reaching to the ground, followed by the nub of a cane, and another foot reaches to land on the ground. I lean back, watching, and play my little game where I guess what they're going to buy. This man is older than dirt, he's going to buy lotto or one single cheap malt beverage. As slow as a snail, I see the ancient one inching towards my door. Cane, foot foot. Cane, foot foot. He reaches my door, struggles to open it, and then braces himself against it and his Cane to get in the door. We do a little more cane, foot foot until he rounds the corner to my register. This guy's got to be a 100 years old I swear. I put on my best customer service smile, hiding my last customer of the day frustration, and silently hoping nobody notices the car in my almost empty parking lot and decides to pull in and double up my pain. Me- "Hello! How are you doing this evening?" Boomer Fool, looking up from his bent over cane position. - "Eh, I'm still here, hanging on." Me- and my customer service voice "oh that's great to hear! What can I get you tonight?" BF- glare Me, and my rainbow 'love over hate' tee- big smile! BF- "Anyways. I want some lotto, is it a dollar or something?" Me- "it can range anywhere from 50 cents to $50 sir, what would you like?" BF- " well you know I want to win all that money. Is that a dollar or something?" Me, with my internally rolling eyeballs- "If you're looking for the big jackpots, that would be two or three dollars, depending on the kind of ticket" and then I proceed to explain to him the differences and tickets etc, and finding out he wants the big jackpot ticket, and the smaller State Jackpot ticket. $3. Easy enough, cheap enough. BF- "wow everything's going up isn't it, two or three dollars a ticket? What a scam." Me- big smile BF- "Biden will do anything for a buck" Me- super confused smile BF- "no matter how morally corrupt" Me- "like selling bibles?" BF- "fleecing us out of our money at every turn" Me- "ikr? Those shoes are soooo overpriced and ugly" BF- "THEY AREEEE" Me- "well it's nice to see that you support your opposing party, regardless of differences! Yknow, love over hate n all that jazz" BF, holding his paltry 3 dollars worth of tickets, sputtering "its all to trick those who DON'T KNOW BETTER" Me- ikr? They flock to the stores and throw money at causes they don't believe in, if it might benefit themselves" BF- sputters and begins to cane, foot foot slowly out the door with a minute to spare. I chuckled to myself, and followed him out the door so that I could lock it, and before I could walk away, I looked up, and on the back of his ratty old pickup truck was a shiny new bumper sticker that said "Biden owes me gas money". Sigh. Oh, and as he was pulling out, somebody else pulled in SMH. I love working for myself. And yes I did let them in, I'm not a complete monster. I have plenty more stories, my store is in an upscale neighborhood in NE Ohio.

Can you tell I have imposter syndrome?
This is a second career. My mom died a month before I graduated, during covid no less, she was my only support system and I didn’t handle it well. Long story short, I worked at Amazon while trying to pull it together.
I literally just started looking for jobs and it’s daunting. I’ve realized I need to overhaul my resume/CV for starters. Going through “new grad-resume” posts people are including clinical hours, experiences; I don’t remember any of that!
Including GPA’s? What happened to “C’s get degrees”? I’m joking, but including a 3.15 gpa right from the start is screaming HEY! MY OLD ASS DIDN’T HAVE A 3.96 LIKE THAT SHINY 23 YEAR OLD’S RESUME YOU JUST READ!
The covid situation; ya’ll think I’m a real piece of shit NOT working during covid when I could have. My biggest regret and I have no idea how to put a pink bow on this turd of a fact.
Do I regulate myself to applying to the worst, low paying jobs just to get my foot in the door? I’m serious, I will do the dirty work and climb out, or am I selling myself short.
Give it to me straight.

Adam adjusted his jacket as he stood in front of the door, taking a deep breath to hype himself up before going in. Sunny was standing behind him.
He turned to look at her,
"Before we go in, I just want to say that I am really sorry.”
She tilted her head to the side,
"What?"
"You know I am under the impression that instantaneous warp drive was probably one of the worst things to ever happen to the human race because it gives me literally no excuse not to come home for family reunions. I mean, if we did long warp like the Tesraki use, then I could be like, “oh no, I will have to miss the reunion by a week”, but now, when I try to use that excuse then they have to point out that short warp is totally a thing."
He sighed and turned back to look at the door,
"To think, yesterday I was in another galaxy."
She crossed both pairs of arms,
"Why are you sorry?”
"That you had to come, that you have to suffer too. Woe on us…"
She rolled her eyes.
"I offered to come with you, Dr. Krill went with Katie to visit her family, Conn decided to stay on the ship to annoy Maverick. Ramirez invited Kanan to his place to meet his Abuela, so I offered to come with you."
"Bad choice in my opinion."
He grumbled.
"Why?"
He turned to look at her with an apologetic expression on his face,
"I... Just so you know... My uncle Ben is a bit... weird, and my grandparents... Well, I am pretty sure they are slightly xenophobic... And they aren't exactly a fan of LFIL affiliates... So..."
Sunny didn't look perturbed and rested a hand on his shoulder,
"Adam you have met my mother haven't you? I think I can handle xenophobic since my mother was... a… a daughter'o'phobic."
He sighed but nodded,
"Alright, alright, but don't say I didn't warn you."
The door they were standing in front of was a much larger door than the one at the Vir family home.
This one was apparently owned by the parents of Vir's mother. The house wasn't a mansion by any means, but it was far bigger than the small house in the suburbs, which is the reason he had been allowed to invite a friend. The Virs, while not without their faults, were a generally welcoming people. Sunny noted the uncommonly well-kept grounds and an apple tree in the backyard. She liked apples, though she could only eat them in small doses.
There were a few flowers in the flowerbed nearby that she eyed rather hungrily as Adam reached up to knock on the door.
She could hear children shouting in the backyard and the murmur of voices from the inside.
"I'll get it!"
Someone called,
She didn't recognize the voice, but Adam made a face.
The door was thrown open a moment later, and a heavy-set blond man opened the door. He was very tall, almost as tall as Adam, though without his neo-spartan physique which he had been religiously maintaining.
"Addie! Back from space. So where are those hot alien babes..."
The man began, stepping forward to embrace Adam in an uncomfortable hug, though he stopped midway, his eyes raising slowly from Sunny’s chest to her face, smile falling into a look of awed shock.
Sunny could hardly blame him, she was pretty magnificent, even without her saint armor.
You called?”
She had been trying positive self-talk recently, more as a joke than anything else, but weirdly enough it was kind of working.
She watched his eyes as they trailed up to her face, necked craned back lips stammering.
"W-wha-"
"Well uncle Ben…"
Adam said wryly.
"You wanted to know where the hot alien babes were, so I brought one."
The man almost choked on his own spit, and Sunny rumbled a laugh deep in her chest. The man's eyes flicked downward to the breathing holes on her neck, which flexed lightly with her laughter.
"I uh-"
Adam motioned to her as the fat little man continued to open and close his mouth like a fish,
"This is Sunny, my weapons specialist, and Saint of Anin... Which kind of makes her Space Moses… but female."
The man remained speechless as Sunny extended a hand to shake one of his. His handshake was loose and floppy like a dead fish, either out of shock, or just because he had a weak handshake,
"A pleasure to meet you, Ben."
He blinked rapidly as if he had expected to hear an alien language come from her mouth, though her integrated translator was almost seamless. Adam had picked her human voice, which she found she liked very much. It was a female voice for sure, but a powerful one. She couldn't help but think he had probably found the voice attractive, which is why he had picked it.
They stepped past uncle Ben, who still stood with his mouth open and eyes wide, and into a small room before a hallway.
Adam kicked off his boots, though Sunny wore no shoes.
Adam whistled and Waffles hurried off into the house, Jeffery wrapped around her neck. The two of them were almost inseparable these days. They followed the sound of voices into a large main room with floors of polished wood in a rustic sort of theme. “Rustic”, that was an interesting human word they didn't have on her planet.
She had to duck ever so slightly to avoid hitting her head on a hanging light, though the ceilings themselves were high and vaulted, which allowed her to stand at her full seven feet, short for a Drev, but very tall for a human.
As soon as they stepped into the room, everything went very quiet.
All eyes were turned and fixed on her as she stepped into the room.
Sunny was used to such behavior now and decided to take it as a complement.
Hands were raised to mouths though a few hands were raised in greeting, mostly those of Adam's brothers. She was surprised to find Jim Vir and Thomas there, as they usually hide from family gatherings.
Jim was slouched in a seat by the fireplace, squeezed next to his wife who seemed to be holding him in place by sheer force of will. Thomas was sitting on the floor at their feet and raised a fist to them as they entered. He was looking much better than even the last time she had seen him. He was clean shaven with short buzzed blond hair, and the sort of sickly thinness that had been common with him (caused by an addiction that Adam had mentioned to herein confidence) was gone. He looked healthy.
The silence was only broken by a squeal of delight and a small blond tornado came whirling across the room. Sunny's combat instincts were the only thing to save her as the small shape bolted at her front the center of the room, leaping towards her with arms outstretched.
Sunny caught Kimber with her upper arms and hefted the girl into the air. With a shriek of delight Kimber wrapped her arms around Sunny's neck.
The family stared as Kimber began to talk.
"You Came, you CAME! My cousins didn't believe me that I was friends with you, but I am. You are my friend right?"
Sunny rumbled low in her throat,
"How could say no to being your friend?"
The little girl beamed as Sunny held her.
Adam was smiling as he walked them a bit further into the room.
He turned to look at his family, his face a perfect mask of politeness showing no hint of the nerves he was surely feeling. Sunny knew what this was about, very few people knew of their involvement with each other, and it had never come up considering as they had broken up before that conversion had ever been made, but now things had only gotten more complicated.
They had... gone back to doing a lot of the stuff they had done when they were dating, and she wasn't entirely sure if they were just friends... Or something more.
She was ok with it either way, granted she would have liked it if they were back together, but she had recently become happy enough with herself that she would be ok if that didn't happen either.
Either way only Adam's brothers knew about their relationship as it was.
She stepped behind him, still holding Kimber.
Adam motioned to her with one hand as uncle Ben finally unfroze himself from out in the hall and followed them into the room.
"Everyone, this is Sunny, my weapons specialist."
Martha and Jim smiled at her, and she couldn't help but notice another figure lurking in the corner behind Jim and Martha's chair.
Eris was here too, though based on the family reactions around her, no one knew what she was just yet.
His grandparents remained quiet, though Maya, Jeremy, David and Jordan (David's husband), greeted her with proper enthusiasm. Adam took a chair offered to him by his brother Jeremy. Next to him the pretty redhead with grey eyes nudged Jeremy in the ribs. He lit up as soon as she did.
"Adam, guess what!"
Adam raised an eyebrow,
"What?"
He glanced between Jeremy and his girlfriend who was smiling mischievously.
She held out a hand to display her shiny ring. Humans like that sort of thing, small bits of dangly metal and shiny rocks, it was kind of cute, like watching a bird or a raccoon Sunny thought. Adam's eyes went wide,
"You're engaged!"
The room lightened up then with laughter as he took her hand to examine the ring,
"That's a nice rock."
She shrugged,
"It's one of those lab made ones. I told him that if he spent too much money on a ring, I would skin him and wear him like a coat."
Sunny sat on the floor next to them, her legs crossed. Kimber sat in her lap, happily playing with her handheld video game. Her younger brother, who Krill had had the pleasure of delivering, was now walking and talking, and stumbled over to sit in her lap too, though he hardly knew her. It wasn't long before Sunny was surrounded by a small army of children, hanging around her neck, tugging on her arms and climbing on her back.
Sunny didn't mind in the least though. Human children were rather fun. The small one had dozed off in her lap next to his big sister.
One of the older humans, who Sunny thought was Adams grandma piped up,
"It's so nice…"
She turned to look at Thomas and Adam Very pointedly,
"Just two more grandsons left to go."
Adam and Thomas exchanged a long-suffering look.
"Aren't the two of you dating yet, I know Thomas you were for a while, right?"
Thomas sighed,
"Just been working on myself lately, grandma."
No need to bring up his addiction. The last time Thomas had been involved with a woman she hadn't exactly helped him out. Adam was under the impression she had been a part of what made his addiction so bad the last time around, enabling his habit.
She then turned her eyes to Adam who wilted in his seat,
"And Adam, you seem so focused on your job recently. You really should think about settling down and meeting someone."
He groaned.
"No buts! You're 27 and I haven't heard of you even dating anyone!”
"Maybe that's because it's my business, and I just haven't told you yet."
"Who are you going to date on a spaceship?”
"Bet Ramirez would date me if I asked…"
He mumbled under his breath. Sunny snorted with great amusement.
"Mom, leave the kids alone."
Martha said, as she rested a hand on Thomas's shoulder.
Sunny listened to the conversation for a while and played with the kids who seemed fascinated by the fact she had four arms.
"So Is Sunny your REAL name, or just a nickname?"
She looked up to see one of the older male humans looking at her.
"It is a direct translation. My given name is Chalan."
"Ch-al-ane."
Adam looked like he was hurting inside.
"Chalan."
She repeated,
"But Sunny will do just fine."
"That seems like such an odd name, are all your names so strange?”
"I suppose all names seem strange when looking at them from the outside. Drev names always mean something. To us human names are just a combination of random sounds. My brother is named Kanan, which translates to Noble."
"So, you name your children after, what? Ideas aspects, or just the first word that comes into your head?”
Adam looked ready to intervene, but Sunny shook her head at him.
"No, we name our children after attributes we wish them to possess. My father wanted me to be a light, like the sun, and my parents wanted their son to be a noble warrior."
"Is it true that your religion believes in animism?”
It was a genuine question, but she could tell by the way that Adam tensed that it wasn't said in a polite manner.
"Yes, we do believe that everything has a spirit."
"Even rocks?"
"More like rock as a whole has one spirit. Rock is hard and firm, unyielding, but over time it can be shaped by the wind. Stone itself has qualities which might wish to possess a firmness, but an ability to be shaped by experience."
"But… rocks aren't alive."
"I never said they were."
"But you said they had a spirit?”
"Does something need to be alive to have a spirit?"
"Well of course, what you are talking about is simply the characteristics of rock."
Sunny remained calm and composed. If Naktan had taught her anything, it had been the ability to keep calm even when under the immense pressure of annoyance.
"Then perhaps we define spirit differently? It might not be a direct translation. For us, a spirit is the true definition of a person or object. If you were to define every aspect of me, you would know my spirit, and so you can define every aspect of stone which means you can define its spirit."
The two older humans exchanged a look,
"That seems… like a very primitive sentiment."
She could practically hear Adam grinding his teeth.
If she could simply have smiled, she would have,
"Closed minded people often think that way. Once they have been indoctrinated into a single religion from a low age on, people tend to be so narrow minded that they cant understand other points of view."
The room went silent for a moment before Adam piped up,
"I think the Drev religion makes the most sense out of any of the religions I have experienced personally."
There was awkward silence around the room for a moment, though the conversation soon moved on to wedding planning for Jeremy.
Adam suggested that Sunny and Thomas take the kids outside to play, and then Jim offered to go to, so they managed to escape with the kids.
Jim rested a hand on Sunny's shoulder.
"I'm sorry about Martha's parents, they are a bit... oooold fashioned."
"Xenophobic more like…"
Thomas muttered and Sunny just shrugged,
"If they could bother me that easily, I can hardly consider myself a Drev."
Jim paused and took a seat, watching the kids as they ran around in circles in the backyard.
Jim glanced over at her once and then twice.
He clearly wanted to say something but wasn't sure if he should.
Sunny tilted her head,
"Go on?"
"Are you two still..."
"Well… It's... complicated."
He snorted a laugh,
" I thought that was just a human thing."
She shrugged,
"I guess not."
He shifted again,
"May I ask... How or... It's ok if you don't tell me."
Sunny sighed,
"We broke up a little after the trial. I think he was going through something rough, and... well… we are sort of behaving in the same way we used to, but we haven't talked about it since things started to get better."
The man nodded,
"Adam isn't going to make it easy,"
He paused,
"For what it's worth. I am rooting for you, because I like you and for Adam's sake. I think... Well, I think he needs someone around to mellow him out. I think he thinks too much and that gets in his way."
She hummed softly.
She liked Jim. The man didn't talk much, but when he did, it was always something good.
"Thank you, Jim."
He grunted,
"Make sure that boy figures himself out."
Sunny was in good spirits when they sat down to eat a few hours later. There was a lot of food on the table and as she sat Martha brought over a bowl of flowers lending down and whispering.
"I just picked them from the garden, shhh don't tell my mother."
Adam, sitting on her right had shoved his plate full of potatoes but still grinned at her.
"Black hole."
She muttered.
”Lawnmover.”
He muttered back and smiled.
Off to his left Eris was sitting with her hood pulled low over her face. Adam patted her shoulder before shoveling more potatoes onto his plate. Waffles was under the table with her head on his lap, not necessarily begging, but definitely hoping something would drop onto the floor. She soon moved across the table to where the kids were sitting and where she was having more luck. The conversation quickly devolved into many little conversations in varying degrees of exuberance.
It didn't take long for a good portion of the table to hone in on Adam and start asking him more personal questions. Sunny wasn't really paying attention at first as she was speaking with Jordan about something, when she suddenly noticed a good portion of the table had gone quiet while another portion gotten a little louder.
"Why does it matter so much to you? Maybe I just like my job."
"You're going to be old and lonely and miserable one day."
"How do you know that?"
"Because you haven't even tried."
Adam's cheeks were red with anger and most of the food on his plate had been left untouched.
"Maybe, I haven't said anything because I don't want you involved?"
"We are family, Adam."
”…”
”…”
Sunny felt something snap. It was as if the air itself had shattered slightly.
Adam grew very quiet,
"Sorry, I didn't find it likely that you would accept the fact that Sunny and I were dating. But since you seem to care SOOO MUCH… congratulations, well now you know!"
The entire room went very quiet.
They stared at him, they stared at Sunny.
Then Adam got up early, tipping his chair over and walked out.
Sunny blinked once then twice, then shrugged and continued to eat her flowers. The table continued to stare at her.
"Is that true!?”
Sunny shrugged,
"Do you think he's joking?”
No one answered.
Sunny finished her last flowers, stood and grabbed Adam's plate, before sternly looking at the rest of the table and shaking her head before walking off.
She heard uproar as soon as she stepped out, but ignored it as she went to look for Adam.
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Want to find a specific one, see the whole list or check fanart?
Here is the link to the master-post.
Intro post by me
OC-whole collection
Patreon of the author

FYI, this is a story COLLECTION. Lots of standalones technically. So, you can basically start to read at any chapter, no pre-read of the other chapters needed technically (other than maybe getting better descriptions of characters than: Adam Vir=human, Krill=antlike alien, Sunny=tall alien, Conn=telepathic alien). The numbers are (mostly) only for organization of posts and continuity.
OC Written by Charlie Stastarrfallknightrise,
Typed up and then posted here by me.
Proofreading and language check for some chapters by u/Finbar9800 u/BakeGullible9975 u/Didnotseemecomein and u/medium_jock
Future Lore and fact check done by me.
How Sunny be leaving the gathering.: Less “water tribe” but way more judgy look.
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Want to find a specific one, see the whole list or check fanart?
Here is the link to the master-post.
Adam adjusted his jacket as he stood in front of the door, taking a deep breath to hype himself up before going in. Sunny was standing behind him.
He turned to look at her,
"Before we go in, I just want to say that I am really sorry.”
She tilted her head to the side,
"What?"
"You know I am under the impression that instantaneous warp drive was probably one of the worst things to ever happen to the human race because it gives me literally no excuse not to come home for family reunions. I mean, if we did long warp like the Tesraki use, then I could be like, “oh no, I will have to miss the reunion by a week”, but now, when I try to use that excuse then they have to point out that short warp is totally a thing."
He sighed and turned back to look at the door,
"To think, yesterday I was in another galaxy."
She crossed both pairs of arms,
"Why are you sorry?”
"That you had to come, that you have to suffer too. Woe on us…"
She rolled her eyes.
"I offered to come with you, Dr. Krill went with Katie to visit her family, Conn decided to stay on the ship to annoy Maverick. Ramirez invited Kanan to his place to meet his Abuela, so I offered to come with you."
"Bad choice in my opinion."
He grumbled.
"Why?"
He turned to look at her with an apologetic expression on his face,
"I... Just so you know... My uncle Ben is a bit... weird, and my grandparents... Well, I am pretty sure they are slightly xenophobic... And they aren't exactly a fan of LFIL affiliates... So..."
Sunny didn't look perturbed and rested a hand on his shoulder,
"Adam you have met my mother haven't you? I think I can handle xenophobic since my mother was... a… a daughter'o'phobic."
He sighed but nodded,
"Alright, alright, but don't say I didn't warn you."
The door they were standing in front of was a much larger door than the one at the Vir family home.
This one was apparently owned by the parents of Vir's mother. The house wasn't a mansion by any means, but it was far bigger than the small house in the suburbs, which is the reason he had been allowed to invite a friend. The Virs, while not without their faults, were a generally welcoming people. Sunny noted the uncommonly well-kept grounds and an apple tree in the backyard. She liked apples, though she could only eat them in small doses.
There were a few flowers in the flowerbed nearby that she eyed rather hungrily as Adam reached up to knock on the door.
She could hear children shouting in the backyard and the murmur of voices from the inside.
"I'll get it!"
Someone called,
She didn't recognize the voice, but Adam made a face.
The door was thrown open a moment later, and a heavy-set blond man opened the door. He was very tall, almost as tall as Adam, though without his neo-spartan physique which he had been religiously maintaining.
"Addie! Back from space. So where are those hot alien babes..."
The man began, stepping forward to embrace Adam in an uncomfortable hug, though he stopped midway, his eyes raising slowly from Sunny’s chest to her face, smile falling into a look of awed shock.
Sunny could hardly blame him, she was pretty magnificent, even without her saint armor.
You called?”
She had been trying positive self-talk recently, more as a joke than anything else, but weirdly enough it was kind of working.
She watched his eyes as they trailed up to her face, necked craned back lips stammering.
"W-wha-"
"Well uncle Ben…"
Adam said wryly.
"You wanted to know where the hot alien babes were, so I brought one."
The man almost choked on his own spit, and Sunny rumbled a laugh deep in her chest. The man's eyes flicked downward to the breathing holes on her neck, which flexed lightly with her laughter.
"I uh-"
Adam motioned to her as the fat little man continued to open and close his mouth like a fish,
"This is Sunny, my weapons specialist, and Saint of Anin... Which kind of makes her Space Moses… but female."
The man remained speechless as Sunny extended a hand to shake one of his. His handshake was loose and floppy like a dead fish, either out of shock, or just because he had a weak handshake,
"A pleasure to meet you, Ben."
He blinked rapidly as if he had expected to hear an alien language come from her mouth, though her integrated translator was almost seamless. Adam had picked her human voice, which she found she liked very much. It was a female voice for sure, but a powerful one. She couldn't help but think he had probably found the voice attractive, which is why he had picked it.
They stepped past uncle Ben, who still stood with his mouth open and eyes wide, and into a small room before a hallway.
Adam kicked off his boots, though Sunny wore no shoes.
Adam whistled and Waffles hurried off into the house, Jeffery wrapped around her neck. The two of them were almost inseparable these days. They followed the sound of voices into a large main room with floors of polished wood in a rustic sort of theme. “Rustic”, that was an interesting human word they didn't have on her planet.
She had to duck ever so slightly to avoid hitting her head on a hanging light, though the ceilings themselves were high and vaulted, which allowed her to stand at her full seven feet, short for a Drev, but very tall for a human.
As soon as they stepped into the room, everything went very quiet.
All eyes were turned and fixed on her as she stepped into the room.
Sunny was used to such behavior now and decided to take it as a complement.
Hands were raised to mouths though a few hands were raised in greeting, mostly those of Adam's brothers. She was surprised to find Jim Vir and Thomas there, as they usually hide from family gatherings.
Jim was slouched in a seat by the fireplace, squeezed next to his wife who seemed to be holding him in place by sheer force of will. Thomas was sitting on the floor at their feet and raised a fist to them as they entered. He was looking much better than even the last time she had seen him. He was clean shaven with short buzzed blond hair, and the sort of sickly thinness that had been common with him (caused by an addiction that Adam had mentioned to herein confidence) was gone. He looked healthy.
The silence was only broken by a squeal of delight and a small blond tornado came whirling across the room. Sunny's combat instincts were the only thing to save her as the small shape bolted at her front the center of the room, leaping towards her with arms outstretched.
Sunny caught Kimber with her upper arms and hefted the girl into the air. With a shriek of delight Kimber wrapped her arms around Sunny's neck.
The family stared as Kimber began to talk.
"You Came, you CAME! My cousins didn't believe me that I was friends with you, but I am. You are my friend right?"
Sunny rumbled low in her throat,
"How could say no to being your friend?"
The little girl beamed as Sunny held her.
Adam was smiling as he walked them a bit further into the room.
He turned to look at his family, his face a perfect mask of politeness showing no hint of the nerves he was surely feeling. Sunny knew what this was about, very few people knew of their involvement with each other, and it had never come up considering as they had broken up before that conversion had ever been made, but now things had only gotten more complicated.
They had... gone back to doing a lot of the stuff they had done when they were dating, and she wasn't entirely sure if they were just friends... Or something more.
She was ok with it either way, granted she would have liked it if they were back together, but she had recently become happy enough with herself that she would be ok if that didn't happen either.
Either way only Adam's brothers knew about their relationship as it was.
She stepped behind him, still holding Kimber.
Adam motioned to her with one hand as uncle Ben finally unfroze himself from out in the hall and followed them into the room.
"Everyone, this is Sunny, my weapons specialist."
Martha and Jim smiled at her, and she couldn't help but notice another figure lurking in the corner behind Jim and Martha's chair.
Eris was here too, though based on the family reactions around her, no one knew what she was just yet.
His grandparents remained quiet, though Maya, Jeremy, David and Jordan (David's husband), greeted her with proper enthusiasm. Adam took a chair offered to him by his brother Jeremy. Next to him the pretty redhead with grey eyes nudged Jeremy in the ribs. He lit up as soon as she did.
"Adam, guess what!"
Adam raised an eyebrow,
"What?"
He glanced between Jeremy and his girlfriend who was smiling mischievously.
She held out a hand to display her shiny ring. Humans like that sort of thing, small bits of dangly metal and shiny rocks, it was kind of cute, like watching a bird or a raccoon Sunny thought. Adam's eyes went wide,
"You're engaged!"
The room lightened up then with laughter as he took her hand to examine the ring,
"That's a nice rock."
She shrugged,
"It's one of those lab made ones. I told him that if he spent too much money on a ring, I would skin him and wear him like a coat."
Sunny sat on the floor next to them, her legs crossed. Kimber sat in her lap, happily playing with her handheld video game. Her younger brother, who Krill had had the pleasure of delivering, was now walking and talking, and stumbled over to sit in her lap too, though he hardly knew her. It wasn't long before Sunny was surrounded by a small army of children, hanging around her neck, tugging on her arms and climbing on her back.
Sunny didn't mind in the least though. Human children were rather fun. The small one had dozed off in her lap next to his big sister.
One of the older humans, who Sunny thought was Adams grandma piped up,
"It's so nice…"
She turned to look at Thomas and Adam Very pointedly,
"Just two more grandsons left to go."
Adam and Thomas exchanged a long-suffering look.
"Aren't the two of you dating yet, I know Thomas you were for a while, right?"
Thomas sighed,
"Just been working on myself lately, grandma."
No need to bring up his addiction. The last time Thomas had been involved with a woman she hadn't exactly helped him out. Adam was under the impression she had been a part of what made his addiction so bad the last time around, enabling his habit.
She then turned her eyes to Adam who wilted in his seat,
"And Adam, you seem so focused on your job recently. You really should think about settling down and meeting someone."
He groaned.
"No buts! You're 27 and I haven't heard of you even dating anyone!”
"Maybe that's because it's my business, and I just haven't told you yet."
"Who are you going to date on a spaceship?”
"Bet Ramirez would date me if I asked…"
He mumbled under his breath. Sunny snorted with great amusement.
"Mom, leave the kids alone."
Martha said, as she rested a hand on Thomas's shoulder.
Sunny listened to the conversation for a while and played with the kids who seemed fascinated by the fact she had four arms.
"So Is Sunny your REAL name, or just a nickname?"
She looked up to see one of the older male humans looking at her.
"It is a direct translation. My given name is Chalan."
"Ch-al-ane."
Adam looked like he was hurting inside.
"Chalan."
She repeated,
"But Sunny will do just fine."
"That seems like such an odd name, are all your names so strange?”
"I suppose all names seem strange when looking at them from the outside. Drev names always mean something. To us human names are just a combination of random sounds. My brother is named Kanan, which translates to Noble."
"So, you name your children after, what? Ideas aspects, or just the first word that comes into your head?”
Adam looked ready to intervene, but Sunny shook her head at him.
"No, we name our children after attributes we wish them to possess. My father wanted me to be a light, like the sun, and my parents wanted their son to be a noble warrior."
"Is it true that your religion believes in animism?”
It was a genuine question, but she could tell by the way that Adam tensed that it wasn't said in a polite manner.
"Yes, we do believe that everything has a spirit."
"Even rocks?"
"More like rock as a whole has one spirit. Rock is hard and firm, unyielding, but over time it can be shaped by the wind. Stone itself has qualities which might wish to possess a firmness, but an ability to be shaped by experience."
"But… rocks aren't alive."
"I never said they were."
"But you said they had a spirit?”
"Does something need to be alive to have a spirit?"
"Well of course, what you are talking about is simply the characteristics of rock."
Sunny remained calm and composed. If Naktan had taught her anything, it had been the ability to keep calm even when under the immense pressure of annoyance.
"Then perhaps we define spirit differently? It might not be a direct translation. For us, a spirit is the true definition of a person or object. If you were to define every aspect of me, you would know my spirit, and so you can define every aspect of stone which means you can define its spirit."
The two older humans exchanged a look,
"That seems… like a very primitive sentiment."
She could practically hear Adam grinding his teeth.
If she could simply have smiled, she would have,
"Closed minded people often think that way. Once they have been indoctrinated into a single religion from a low age on, people tend to be so narrow minded that they cant understand other points of view."
The room went silent for a moment before Adam piped up,
"I think the Drev religion makes the most sense out of any of the religions I have experienced personally."
There was awkward silence around the room for a moment, though the conversation soon moved on to wedding planning for Jeremy.
Adam suggested that Sunny and Thomas take the kids outside to play, and then Jim offered to go to, so they managed to escape with the kids.
Jim rested a hand on Sunny's shoulder.
"I'm sorry about Martha's parents, they are a bit... oooold fashioned."
"Xenophobic more like…"
Thomas muttered and Sunny just shrugged,
"If they could bother me that easily, I can hardly consider myself a Drev."
Jim paused and took a seat, watching the kids as they ran around in circles in the backyard.
Jim glanced over at her once and then twice.
He clearly wanted to say something but wasn't sure if he should.
Sunny tilted her head,
"Go on?"
"Are you two still..."
"Well… It's... complicated."
He snorted a laugh,
" I thought that was just a human thing."
She shrugged,
"I guess not."
He shifted again,
"May I ask... How or... It's ok if you don't tell me."
Sunny sighed,
"We broke up a little after the trial. I think he was going through something rough, and... well… we are sort of behaving in the same way we used to, but we haven't talked about it since things started to get better."
The man nodded,
"Adam isn't going to make it easy,"
He paused,
"For what it's worth. I am rooting for you, because I like you and for Adam's sake. I think... Well, I think he needs someone around to mellow him out. I think he thinks too much and that gets in his way."
She hummed softly.
She liked Jim. The man didn't talk much, but when he did, it was always something good.
"Thank you, Jim."
He grunted,
"Make sure that boy figures himself out."
Sunny was in good spirits when they sat down to eat a few hours later. There was a lot of food on the table and as she sat Martha brought over a bowl of flowers lending down and whispering.
"I just picked them from the garden, shhh don't tell my mother."
Adam, sitting on her right had shoved his plate full of potatoes but still grinned at her.
"Black hole."
She muttered.
”Lawnmover.”
He muttered back and smiled.
Off to his left Eris was sitting with her hood pulled low over her face. Adam patted her shoulder before shoveling more potatoes onto his plate. Waffles was under the table with her head on his lap, not necessarily begging, but definitely hoping something would drop onto the floor. She soon moved across the table to where the kids were sitting and where she was having more luck. The conversation quickly devolved into many little conversations in varying degrees of exuberance.
It didn't take long for a good portion of the table to hone in on Adam and start asking him more personal questions. Sunny wasn't really paying attention at first as she was speaking with Jordan about something, when she suddenly noticed a good portion of the table had gone quiet while another portion gotten a little louder.
"Why does it matter so much to you? Maybe I just like my job."
"You're going to be old and lonely and miserable one day."
"How do you know that?"
"Because you haven't even tried."
Adam's cheeks were red with anger and most of the food on his plate had been left untouched.
"Maybe, I haven't said anything because I don't want you involved?"
"We are family, Adam."
”…”
”…”
Sunny felt something snap. It was as if the air itself had shattered slightly.
Adam grew very quiet,
"Sorry, I didn't find it likely that you would accept the fact that Sunny and I were dating. But since you seem to care SOOO MUCH… congratulations, well now you know!"
The entire room went very quiet.
They stared at him, they stared at Sunny.
Then Adam got up early, tipping his chair over and walked out.
Sunny blinked once then twice, then shrugged and continued to eat her flowers. The table continued to stare at her.
"Is that true!?”
Sunny shrugged,
"Do you think he's joking?”
No one answered.
Sunny finished her last flowers, stood and grabbed Adam's plate, before sternly looking at the rest of the table and shaking her head before walking off.
She heard uproar as soon as she stepped out, but ignored it as she went to look for Adam.
Previous First [Next](link)
Want to find a specific one, see the whole list or check fanart?
Here is the link to the master-post.
Intro post by me
OC-whole collection
Patreon of the author
Thanks for reading! As you saw in the title, this is a cross posted story written by starrfallknightrise and I'll just upload some of it here for you guys, if you are interested and want to read ahead, the original story-collection can be found on tumblr or wattpad to read for free. (link above this text under "OC:..." ) It is the Empyrean Iris story collection by starfallknightrise. Also, if you want to know more about the story collection i made an intro post about it, so feel free to check that out to see what other great characters to look forward to! (Link also above this text). I have no affiliations to the author; just thought I’d share some of the great stories you might enjoy a lot!
Obviously, I have Charlie’s permission to post this and for the people already knowing the stories, or starting to read them: If you follow the link and check out the story you will see some differences. I made some small (non-artistic) changes, mainly correcting writing mistakes, pronoun correction and some small additional info here and there of things which were not thought of/forgotten or even were added/changed in later stories (like the “USS->UNSC” prefix of Stabby, Chalar=/->Sunny etc). As well as some "biggemajor" changes in descriptions and info’s for the same stringency/continuity reason. That can be explained by the story collection being, well a story collection at the start with many standalone-stories just starring the same people, but later on it gets more to a stringent storyline with backstories and throwbacks. (For example Adam Vir has some HEAVY scars over his body, following his bones, which were not really talked about up till half the collection, where it says it covers his whole body and you find out via backflash that he had them the whole time and how he got them, they just weren't mentioned before. However, I would think a doctor would at least see these scars before that, especially since he gets analyzed, treated and goes shirtless/in T-shirts in some stories). So TLDR: Writing and some descriptions are slightly changed, with full OK from the author, since he himself did not bother to correct these things before.

LPs

• Vulture Love (Kodak Black + more) - The Last Zombies On Earth [FL Trap, UMG]
• The Game & STB Entertainment - Time (w Stunna 4 Vegas) [Label Comp, STB]
• Tems (🇳🇬) - Born in the Wild (w J. Cole & Asake) [African R&B, RCA]
• Lil Yachty - idk* (w 21 Savage & Vory) [Trap]
• Ski Mask The Slump God - 11th Dimension (w Future, XXXTENTACION, Juice WRLD, Skillibeng & Corbin) [SoundCloud Rap, Victor VictoRepublic]
• KAYTRANADA (🇨🇦) - Timeless (w Anderson .Paak, PinkPantheress, Childish Gambino, Tinashe, Don Toliver, Mariah the Scientist, Charlotte Day Wilson, Thundercat, Ravyn Lenae, Channel Tres, SiR, Rochelle Jordan, Dawn Richard + more) [Dance, RCA]
• Clara La San (🇬🇧) - Made Mistakes [R&B]
• Joey Valence & Brae - No Hands (w Danny Brown, Z-Trip & Terror Reid) [Rap]
• Yelawolf - War Story (w DJ Paul, Killer Mike, Jelly Roll + more) [Southern Rap]
• Oki (🇵🇱) - ERA47 [Polish Trap]
• Robert Glasper - Let Go (w Meshell Ndegeocello & Burniss Travis) [Jazz, Loma Vista]
• Lil Double 0 - Freebirdz (w Future, LUCKI & Lil Crix) [Trap, Open Shift]
• J.P. - Coming Out Party [Milwaukee Lowend, Equity]
• Rucci - Forever On That (w Jay Rock, BlueBucksClan, AzChike, RJmrLA, Kalan.FrFr, Wallie the Sensei, G Perico + more) [West Coast Trap]
• Slim Thug - Around The World [TX Rap]
• ESTA. - Francis (w Joyce Wrice, DUCKWRTH, Leon Thomas, Ambré, Arin Ray + more) [R&B, Producer]
• Chillhop Music - Chillhop Essentials: Summer 2024 (w Saib, FloFilz + more) [Beats]
• Estee Nack & BoneWeso - SYSTEMATICALLY WE WERE NEVER FREE (w AL.DIVINO) [Rap]
• Kossiko - SLAYERZ BALL [R&B]
• Sosamann - SOSA (w Sauce Walka, Wizz Havin, Peso Peso & BigGwop4x) [Trap, TSF]
• Yung Sinn & TeezyOnTheBoards - Slaughter Gang Sinn [Trap]
• Duvy - Wish You Was Here [Rap]
• Monroe Flow - Safe Travels 2 [Rap, FreeMinded]
• ComptonAsstg - Warning NO Warning Shots [West Coast Trap]
• CO3 - Withdrawal & Withdrawals [Memphis Trap]
• ShrapKnel - Nobody Planning to Leave (w Open Mike Eagle, E L U C I D, Breeze Brewin, D-Styles + more) [East Coast Rap, Backwoodz]
• Iceboy Violet (🇬🇧) & Nueen (🇪🇸) - You Said You'd Hold My Hand Through the Fire [UK Rap, Hyperdub]
• Shabazz the Disciple - Machete [Boom Bap, Black Stone of Mecca]
• Pastense & Uncommon Nasa - Sidewalk Chalk, Parade Day Rain (w Guilty Simpson + more) [Rap]

Deluxe

• Loe Shimmy - Zombieband 2.6 (w Rob49, NoCap, Fredo Bang & Wizz Havin) [FL Trap, Open Shift]

EPs

• Bad Boys: Ride Or Die Soundtrack (w Will Smith, JID, BIA, Flo Milli, Sean Paul + more) [Soundtrack, Epic]
• Blessd & Maluma - 1 OF 1 (w Hades66) [Latin Rap, Sony]
• Pip Millett - Tell Jimmy I'm fine (w Mariah the Scientist) [R&B]
• K CAMP - Float Isalnd [Rap]
• Hunxho - Before The Album [Trap, 300]
• Saib. (🇲🇦) - Jazzy Cats EP [Jazz Beats]
• Falz - Before the Feast (w Adekunle Gold, ODUMODUBLVCK, Flavour, Crayon + more) [Afrobeats]
• Black Noi$e - EP1 [Beats]
• Lil Codiene Honda Civic - Tha Rise of LIL Codiene Honda CIVIC True Mixtape Vol 11 (featuring che, jaydes, Yhapojj, OsamaSon, Hardrock + more) [SoundCloud Rap]

Songs

• Snowd4y - Wah Gwan Delilah (feat. Drake)
• J Balvin & Chencho Corleone - POLVO DE TU VIDA
• Pitbull, Ne-Yo & AFROJACK - 2 The Moon
• Latto - Sunday Service (Remix) [feat. Megan Thee Stallion & Flo Milli]
• Midnvght, Ñengo Flow & DimeWest - Caracol
• mgk & BNYX® - BMXXing
• Moneybagg Yo & BWolf201 - PLAY DA FOOL
• LOADED LUX & FERG - MAKES SENSE*
• FERG - More Than U Know Freestyle*
• Denzel Curry - HOT ONE (feat. FERG & TiaCorine)
• Omar Apollo & Teo Halm - Less Of You
• Cash Cobain - Rump Punch
• Ocean Wisdom & Method Man - Step
• Smino & CADE - Polynesian
• 03 Greedo - Fine China*
• Larry June & Lil Rece - Dreams
• SoFaygo & Ayelavish - Life So Crazy
• SAINT JAME$ - MR. PERFECT (feat. Boldy James & Elcamino)
• Lancey Foux - TBA
• Raveena - Junebug (feat. JPEGMAFIA)
• Moses Sumney & ​quickly, quickly - Vintage
• Wallie the Sensei & Kalan.FrFr - Come Slide Wit Me
• RoadRunna Rio & YTB Fatt - Don't Act Scared
• Yung Beef & Cookin Soul - COCOTASO
• redveil - WHEW LAWD (Freestyle)
• Statik Selektah - Bleed Green: Showoff Celtics Anthem (feat. Termanology, Reks, JFK & Ea$y Money)
• Zacari - Destiny
• Drizzy Tae & Tusk - Rockstar (feat. Lil Zay Osama)
• DonnySolo - Cuzza Me (feat. Lil Vada)
• WOKBANZ - Roll Dice (feat. DB.Boutabag)
• RiskTakerLeek - Rapper Weed
• A$AP Twelvyy - Bronx Zoo*
• Ovrkast. & Cardo - Paymeagrip
• Frisco - GBTH Freestyle
• Mnelia - My Man
• Kool John - Stop Playing With Me
• Def Sound, NYALLAH & Quelle Chris - TIMES
• Chicken P - Low Life Rich Nigga
• Kzy Kee - Candy (Remix) [feat. Lebra Jolie]
• Cisco Swank - We Shall Overcome
• Passport Rav - Usted (feat. Cavalier)
• Jimetta Rose & Voices of Creation - Portals

and

• Kt Foreign & EBK Jaaybo - Oochie Wally
• BLOODIE, DudeyLo, DD Osama, Sugarhill Ddot & Dee Play4Keeps - Stop Running
• Swifty Blue & Chito Rana$ - Certified Stepper
• Noir Red, Pootie & Roper Williams - Enterence Exam
• Jugg Harden - YTB
• Cadence Weapon - Connor McDavid (2024 Stanley Cup Version)
• acsvg & Boldy James - Catch a Hat
• Bla$ta, Mari Peso & EBK Juvie Ju - Famous Ex
• Big Body Bes - Survivor
• Sos B4L - Butta Approved Freestyle
• Bishop Snow - Bad Bitch
• The Co-Op - Less Than a Man (feat. Passport Gift, Rasheed Chappell, David Bars & Parks)
• Talibando - Navy Membership
• Feid - SORRY 4 THAT MUCH
• Da$H - It's Not Right
• Masonn Deforest - Careless (feat. K. Forest)
• Z Money - Must I Go Get It
• DieselDaDon & Fendi P - TOM FORD
• Cartier X & Tainy - Hurting
• Sandy Cheekz & Hitkidd - Booty Club
• G4 Boyz - Soft Girl Era, Pt. 1
• Big Eph & RJmrLA - BITCH
• Jay Exodus & Kamaiyah - Almighty Dollar
• Dennik Van Avant & Hardrock - Think U Cool
• Jurdan Bryant - Notice
• Tatzstar 2 Shiny & Len - Ma Girls
• YG - SHAKE (feat. Kaliii & Stunna Girl)
• Buccalini & Sada Baby - Bank
• FloyyMenor - Gata Only (Remix) [feat. Ozuna & Anitta]
• County Boi & Wizz Havin - Yeen Kno
• K Carbon & YTB Fatt - My Money
• Tyga - Hello Bitch
• Tay B - SheSheMe (feat. Skilla Baby)
• Bella Shmurda & Bloody Civilian - 1999
• Lebra Jolie - Talk My Shit 4
• B.o.B - Zoot
• Rodrigo Films, Brray & Kreizy k - TUCUM
• Frenhc Montana & Skilla Baby - Skyami
• BOŸBAND - Tryna Win
• Sumit & Abhi the Nomad - Like Me
• Kodie Shane - Pull the Car Around (Remix) [feat. Kaliii]
• MCVERTT & Project X - Make It Jump
• Your Old Droog - I Think I Love Her
• Test - Dead or Alive (feat. Fivio Foreign & Ot7 Quanny)
• D Double E & Sir Spyro - Energy Gang
• Kabwasa & JGRANTBEATS - Erewhon
• KenTheMan - BDK
• Peso Peso & Sauce Walka - Movin' 2 Fast
• Westside Tut, EBK Young Joc & SSRichh33 - Tinted
• Wynne - Rug Burn
• Lil Vada & Rich the Kid - Wop It Pt. 2
• Big Zuu, D7, Crafty 893 & Drifter - Must Be Bored
• So Supa & Tre Loaded - Back Pockets
• Nick LaVelle & Sada Baby - Tap In
• Lil Gnar - What Up Ski
• Reaper Mook & YL - How To Be A Player
• GAWD - High Class
• FloFilz - Early Birds (feat. HNNY)
• Shrimpnose - Glued2
• Lupe Fiasco - Cake
• Headie One - I Still Know Better
• Sebastian Mikael & Rapsody - Bymyside
• Yandel - Con Co
• iZaak & Anuel AA - XQCP
• TH & Alpha Wann - ISUZU
• Lucky Brown - Privado (Remix) [feat. La Joaqui & De La Ghetto]
• Little Torment & Tiggs Da Author - Blizzard
• Aitch & Luciano - Baddies
• TYSON - Jumpstart
• Vayda - Skyy

Old Drop Watches

2023 and 2024 Calendar

Note: For info on monetization and other such things: An Introduction To The Book That Is Me : ASMRScriptHaven (reddit.com)
Note: For my library: Masterlist for edgiscript : ASMRScriptHaven (reddit.com)
Note: I think the end of this turned out kind of cheesy after she discovers who he really is, but I'm ok with it. I was having fun with the idea of a superhero captive that could get out at any time, and what worried him most was being discovered. While she's trying to make sure he never gets away, he's trying to make sure it continues to appear like he can never get away.

Title: Superhero Yandere Victim

Girl: Honey… Honey, wake up... Wake up, come on.
Where’s my good boy? There you are. There’s your cute face, your adorable smile, and those bright, shiny eyes. Who’s my good boy?
(Pause.)
That’s right, you’re my good sweet boy.
Are you feeling good? You should be. You fell asleep on my chest while I was giving you a scalp massage and playing with your hair.
(Pause.)
Oh, you don’t want to get up? You love it when I do this? You want me to keep running my fingers through your hair, and whispering into your ear things like,
(Whispers close.) I love you you adorable little cutie. You’re a sweet little puppy, and you’re aaaaaaaall mine. And I am never letting you go.
(Speaking normally again.) Or maybe you’d like me to slide my hand beneath the ropes and inside your warm and snuggly blue hoodie and run my fingers across your chest provocatively. Hmm? (Giggles.)
Well, I love it too dear, but I need you to wake up now because it’s going to be time for dinner soon, and I’m going to need to cook you something yummy and good for you, because you’re my precious darling.
(Pause.)
No, we can’t order takeout.
(Pause.)
No, I’m sorry, honey, but you know that anybody coming to the house makes me nervous. I’m so afraid they’re going to find you down here all tied up, and then they’ll notify the police who will take you away from me.
(Pause.)
Yes, I know you’re in the basement and the only window is facing the backyard. But you never know. Those delivery drivers might come around and peek in if I don’t get to the door in time.
(Pause.)
No, that’s not ridiculous. Those delivery people can be very persistent. It doesn’t matter that the only way into the backyard is through a locked privacy fence. Besides, you might yell and alert them.
(Pause.)
I know I could gag you, but I haven’t needed to gag you in over two months now. You’ve been such a good boy.
(Pause.)
Yes, you do love to hear me say that. Because you really are a good boy. You’re my good boy. (Giggles.) You’re my good, good boy, and I love you very much.
(Pause.)
Yes, I know that means you won’t yell at anybody who comes to the door, but… but I’m sorry, honey. I just can’t do it.
(Pause.)
I do believe you, my love, you know I do. But you also know what I’m like.
I love you so much. I do. I love you, I love you, I love you. But you know I have… an issue with giving you too much… freedom.
Oh, I know that sounds terrible, and I know that in a lot of ways I’m a terrible person for kidnapping you and bringing you here to my house all tied up so I could love you, please you, care for you, and protect you.
You know if I didn’t have a problem, I could have just asked you out on a date and we could be just a normal couple, but as long as I feel this way, I just can’t.
(Pause.)
Yes, I am a terrible person for doing that to you. I know I am. I’m not proud of kidnapping you. I’m really not. But I had to. There’s no other way to explain it. I just had to. Maybe it’s time for me to finally seek therapy for that.
(Pause.)
I do too need help. Shouldn’t this conversation be the other way around? Shouldn’t I be the one claiming I’m fine?
(Pause.)
(Giggles.) Thank you, my love. I know you do love me just the way I am, but… well, I just want to know I’m really loving you the way you need to be loved.
(Pause.)
Awwwwww. You think that’s exactly what I’m doing. Thank you, my love. Thank you for understanding. You always understand.
(Pause.)
Oh, thank you. You know how much I love to hear you say that. And I love you too, sweetheart. Now, I’ve delayed long enough. It's time for me to make dinner.
(Pause.)
Yes, I know you don’t want me to be away from you for so long. It’s the weekend and I promised you all of my time today, and it tears me up to have to leave you for any length of time as well, but we have to eat, and I have to care for my precious baby boy now, don’t I?
(Pause.)
(Sighs contentedly.) Isn’t it amazing, my love? When I brought you here the first time, you were so angry with me demanding I let you go. Do you remember that?
And now you’re pleading with me not to leave you for even a minute. I knew that you would see how much I loved you over time, but those first few moments were so… odd. Honestly, I wasn’t prepared for your reaction at all.
I was prepared for fear, resentment, maybe some anger, but the things you said… well, I thought that maybe the drug I used in your food to knock you out and get you here was the wrong one, or that maybe you were allergic to it. It seemed to have an unexpected hallucinogenic effect.
You first told me that your friend, the mighty Supreme Avenger would save you, but I laughed and told you that I knew there was no way that you knew someone like him.
You asked if I knew who you were, and I said of course, you’re the sweet, cute, beautiful, adorable, loving, perfect boy in my history class that I’ve been in love with for so long.
Then I took off your blindfold so you could see who I was and that I wasn’t some random creep. But when you saw me, you called me Madame Hypnotica, the evil mind bender who terrorized the city a few years ago and was stopped by that speedy hero, Lightning Lad. You accused me, or rather her, of taking the form of your crush in order to twist your mind and break your spirit.
I was very confused, but also very happy to find out that I was your crush. That brought tears of joy to my eyes to know you thought that way about me, so I hugged you. And, admittedly, I kissed you right away without your permission, but, like I said, I was so overjoyed I couldn’t help myself.
You looked confused by my kiss and demanded to know what I was planning to do with you. That one I was fully prepared to answer. I told you I was going to love you in every way I could. I was going to cuddle you and squeeze you and feed you and bathe you and protect you, and if you’d let me, continue kissing you and even massage you and… well, (giggle) you know all of the… fun things that we’ve done together since you’ve been here. (Giggle.)
Do you remember how confused you were when I said that? And red. You turned sooooooo red.
(Pause.)
Oh, yes you did. Don’t deny it now.
And then you asked me something odd. You asked if I had only used ropes on you and not titanium chains. I told you, of course not. Why would I need titanium to hold you? Besides, ropes are much more comfortable, and I didn’t want to hurt you at all.
And then I started to kiss your forehead and hold you close while telling you that I was going to keep you here so I could love you forever, and eventually I knew you’d love me too, and I’d be able to call you my husband one day.
(Pause.)
Yes, you do remember. I wasn’t sure you would. That drug seemed to do awful things to your mind. I swore I would never use it again on you, but since that day you’ve never given me a reason to need to. You calmed down right away.
The drug must have fully worn off then. For a few days you seemed suspicious of me. I figured the effects of the drug were still clouding your mind. But I showed you all of the love and adoration you deserve, and by day three you were mine.
You were no longer just compliant, but you were fully trusting me. You were so obedient and loving. It was wonderful. It is wonderful.
By day six you were telling me how much you loved me. My heart nearly exploded with joy. You continue to make me the happiest girl on earth each and every day.
(Pause.)
Oh, thank you, my love. Thank you for saying such wonderful things. I know you love me more now than ever. Wait, I mean I know you love me now more than ever. (Giggles.)
See what you do to me? I’m so crazy about you that I can’t even talk straight.
I know that I’ll always love you and that you’ll always love me back.
I’ll tell you what. Instead of cooking a meal, I’ll just run down the block to that deli you love on the corner. I know you love their pastrami on rye. I’ll just grab a couple of quick sandwiches and be back before you know it.
(Pause.)
No, I’m sorry, my love. I know your hands are tied behind your back right now so you can’t play games while I’m gone, but I’ll leave a movie on for you so you can watch it while you wait.
Besides, I think you’re extra cute when tied that way. And I also get the pleasure of feeding you this way.
I promise I’ll hurry, my love. Let this tide you over until I get back.
(Kiss.)
I’ll be right back, darling.
(Door opens and closes. We hear footsteps on pavement for a few seconds and then a door opens with a bell on it.)
Hey, Eddie, I’d like a couple of…
What? Oh, great. What perfect timing on my part. The store is being robbed. There’s a guy with a mask and a gun telling me to come closer.
If he keeps me from my love any longer than necessary, I’m going to be lose it.
Empty my purse? Oh, I’ll empty it. I’ll empty my concealed carry right into his…
(Whoosh.)
Huh? Where did he go? There. On the far wall. He’s being pinned to the wall by another man in a… blue… hoodie?
That man… his hair. No. No, it can’t be.
Hey. Hey you.
(Whoosh.)
He knocked the robber out and disappeared. It’s Lightning Lad. It has to be. Nobody else on earth can move that fast.
But…? But he looked like…
I’ve got to get back.
(Door with the bell opens. Hurried footsteps are heard now. Another door opens and closes quickly.)
Darling? Honey? Are you here?
(Pause.)
There you are, darling. You’re still… tied up on the sofa.
(Pause.)
Yes, that’s right. You’re right where I left you. All tied up on the sofa… in your blue hoodie.
Honey, you… look a little different from a few minutes ago. Why is that?
(Pause.)
Well, in a number of different ways. Your hair is tussled like… you’ve been out on a windy day.
(Pause.)
Yes, I was playing with your hair when you were sleeping, but I always stroke your hair back, remember? I don’t leave your beautiful hair looking frazzled.
(Pause.)
You think it must be bed head from laying on the sofa while I was gone.
Ok. Well, what about this tear in your pants?
(Pause.)
This one right here. That wasn’t there when I left.
(Pause.)
You must have snagged it on something as you shifted around to get comfortable.
Ok. All right. I’ll accept that. But, honey, what about your hands?
(Pause.)
Yes, your hands. When I left you, they were tied behind you. Now they’re tied in front of you.
(Pause.)
No, I’m not mistaken. I specifically told you that you looked so cute that way.
(Pause.)
Oh, my God. It is you. You’re Lightning Lad, aren’t you? That’s why you acted the way you did when I first brought you here. That’s why you asked me those questions. That’s why you asked me if I had used titanium. Ropes can’t hold you. These ropes can’t hold you. I kidnapped a superhero.
(Pause.)
Yes, I know, I kidnapped the adorable school-boy I fell in love with, but you’re also… you. You’re a superhero.
How is this possible? How come you’re still here? You could have gotten out of these ropes at any time, so why haven’t you?
(Pause.)
Because you really did have a crush on me when we were in school together?
(Pause.)
I guess I can understand that being a superhero is so stressful and I’ve been so nice and caring. And I did prove how loving I really was with everything I did for you.
(Pause.)
Because… because you… really do… love me too?
I love you, darling, you know I do. I love you. I love you with everything that I am. But what now? I’m still so afraid. How can I keep you here knowing full well that I can’t keep you here?
You know how I am. I’ll be a nervous wreck now. I’ll be so afraid that you’re going to leave at any moment. You’ll leave me. I know you will.
(Pause.)
That’s why you tried keeping your identity a secret? Because you wanted to stay and you wanted me to believe I could make you stay?
(Pause.)
No… no, I suppose you haven’t left me yet. That is true.
(Pause.)
Yes, it has been over two months now and you are still here.
I know. I know. Logically, I know that you’re right, you obviously want to stay, but I still can’t shake this nervous panicked feeling.
I love you. I can’t be without you. And now I’ll be so afraid that one day you’ll just be done with me.
(Pause.)
How? How can you prove it to me?
(Pause.)
You really love it when I call you a good boy, and I cuddle you, and I kiss you, and I play with your hair, and I do all the things I do to love you?
What assurances do you have that I won’t stop loving them one day?
(Pause.)
What do you mean? Of course I’ll never stop. I love you so much. How could I stop showing you that I love you?
(Pause.)
Well, yes, I suppose you don’t know the future for certain and you have to take me at my word, but haven’t I shown you how much I love you? Haven’t I proven that I don’t want to stop and won’t ever want to stop? I even went so far as to kidnap you because I loved you so much.
(Pause.) Oh. I guess that makes sense. That’s also your answer to me about why I shouldn’t be worried that you’ll leave me.
(Whoosh.)
Darling? Honey, where’d you go? Honey, where…?
(Whoosh.)
You’re back. And… with flowers. A dozen roses. For me? Oh, baby, I…
(Whoosh.)
Darling? Oh, no. You have left me. I knew you’d…
(Whoosh.)
You’re back again. This time you brought… a suitcase? What’s in it.
(Click.)
Oh, my God. Honey. This has got to be five hundred thousand dollars.
(Pause.)
Two and a half million? What? Where? Honey, you didn’t steal it, did you?
(Pause.)
Well, I know you’re not that kind of person, but come on. I mean, that’s a lot of money.
(Pause.)
It was all earned. You’ve been saving this and more? And now you're just giving it to me?
I suppose I can quit my job and be with you every day, all of the time with this.
Darling? This is… you really do love me? You really won’t leave me?
(Whoosh.)
What? You’re gone again? What are you getting this…
(Whoosh.)
Baby, you’re back again with… with… with a ring?
(Pause.)
You… you know that I’ve dreamed of one day calling you my husband. Yes. Yes, I have. But, baby, I want you to really mean it. I want to call you that because you can’t do without me as much as I can’t do without you.
(Whoosh.)
You’ve tied yourself up again. Baby, I get it. You're trying to make me feel better, but I know you can get out at any time.
(Pause.)
You want to lay on my lap… or snuggle… or do whatever I want? You really are trying to convince me you’ll never leave, you’ll never be apart from me, you’ll never stop loving me.
(Crying with joy.) Oh, baby, come here. I believe you. I do. I’ll hold you. I’ll hold on to you forever.
(Kiss.)
(Lovingly with no crying.) I hear you, honey. I do. And I get it. The only thing you can do is prove it to me one day at a time, one moment at a time for the rest of my life?
You promise?
(Pause.)
I do too, baby.
(Kiss.)
Each day, every day, I’ll show you and you’ll show me.
(Kiss.)
And one day, I know your love will make my worries go away. I just know it.
(Kiss. Pause.)
Yeah, for right now I’ll keep playing with your hair while we watch a movie. I think it calms me down more than it does you, and I think I need to calm down a bit after all of that. (Laughs.)
Oh, baby, what about dinner? I was never able to…
(Whoosh.)
…get… it. You just went and got it like that?
Good boy. You know, if every time you leave, you return that quickly, I don’t think it will take me too long to get used to letting you go.
Now sit here beside me on the sofa. I’ll feed you while we watch a movie, and then I’ll play with your hair some more, and we will both keep doing everything we can to make this and every moment hereafter count for the rest of our lives.