So I’m not too sure if it’s the same ghost that’s following me or if all the houses I happen to rent are haunted. For context I’ve dealt with ghosts for about 7 years now it started when I was living in a ghetto neighborhood(drive bys and lots of violence)/government house. My bed would be lifted up by the bed frame,Freak my cats out,I’d have bad nightmares and there would be figures walking up and down the hallway. It even drove my stepdad crazy to the point where he’d sleep outside than be inside the nights we were gone because the ghost would talk to him, I could go on about every experience I’ve had there but I don’t wanna bore anyone. I moved out at 17 in my apartment I’d see a black figure sitting on the bed, my child’s toys going off etc. fast forward I moved to a different city and things would fall off the walls but that was about it we also had mice in the walls so I just chopped it up to that. I moved to another city and in this house my mother felt something touch her head while she was resting her eyes, Her and my boyfriend would hear footsteps when no one else was home, When i was smoking some weed the other night I swear I had seen a black figure open my door and peek in and close the door, it didn’t have a face just a black figure but I said to myself… maybe I need to stop smoking and dismissed it as maybe a breeze from my window being open ? Though when its windy or breezy my door never closed back but it would open? Well today my brother in law felt something jab him twice. I plan on moving soon and I’ve blessed this house with holy water many times but I’m not too sure if it’s a coincidence or if I’m being followed by that same ghost from that scary house I was living at 14 and if it’s going to take a more physical approach now ? What are my next steps besides saging and blessing the house aswell as ourselves

Chance me for GT, UNC, UVA and Vandy CC transfer
Demographics:

• Black and Hispanic
  
• Male
  
• local Community college
  
• First generation, Special needs twin who is my main motivation, Idepenent since senior year of HS, Military ( National Guard)
  

Intended Major(s):
Between CompSci and Neuroscience
ACT/SAT/SAT II:
ACT - 28 (I'm cooked)
SAT - plan to take over the summer / fall
UW/W GPA and Rank:
HS - 3.6 UW 3.9 W
College - 3.9
Coursework:
All IGSCE classes through highschool 8 AICE classes and AICE diploma w merit, 2 APs ( Comp Sci and Calc no credit)
So far I’ve taken LA, Calc 1-3, CS 1-2 and Chem 1&2. Planning on taking diffeq and some more major based classes in the fall
Awards:
Deans list since I've been in
National Cybersecurity competition in HS placed in the top 5% and got a 2.5k scholarship
Extracurriculars:
Student Ambassador in HS, spoke at board of education for my state, local chamber of commerce, and a few other business conferences on bringing internships to local highschool.
Founded a coding club while I was in AIT for the Army with 15-30 weekly members
Contributed to part of the python course in AIT since I was already working as a developer
AI4ALL @ carnigie mellon during the summer ( Junior year HS)
Captain of varsity wrestling team in HS
Alot of passion projects using embedded chips ( arduinos) one being a device to predict seizures.
Interned with a T2 consulting firm in HS and got offered a full time spot which I have been working ever since. 40 hours a week as a SWE
Currently confounding a startup and doing research in wearable drone jammers
Essays/LORs/Other:
Really good essay on how I was introduced and have been interested in Comp Sci since middle school and how my brother constantly breaking my toys led me into engineering ( rebuilding and taking apart toys).
Also talk about how I am the youngest in my family and grew up in a broken household where my siblings were constantly in and out of jail
Have been featured in my city business journal but idk if that's worth including
I have a certification in Cybersecurity and one for Java SE 8, looking to get more over the summer as well as more community service hours
Schools: Denied from Gatech my freshman year but looking to transfer in the spring.

Hiya. Wondering if I should just blast a bunch of black demons, keep training my stats and return to gorillas when I'm stronger. I'm getting around 4 kills per run, using 1-2 spots and 16 odd swordfish. Stats as follows. Atk 71 Str 82 Def 70 Range 75 Prayer 68 Wearing - Imbued slayer helm, God dhide body, chaps and boots, zombie axe, amulet power, dragon defender, fire cape, barrows gloves. Switching to RCB with broad bolts and avas accumulator.

Moved into new house in Bayswater VIC two weeks ago and the neighbourhood has an issue with handful of possums that keep coming back after removal.
Anyway, long story short we think they’re able to get inside our roof, so I called a roofer to take a look because there’s no point getting them removed if they can run right back into the same hole (as they have to be released within 50m of where they were removed).
There are no ceiling leaks or stains. The house is about 170m2, concrete stumps, circa late 1960s, very simple black tiled roof, no solar panels to take off, kind of the basic bitch of roof designs.
Roofer has quoted $28k to replace the entire roof, but has not sent through the photos to show the problems.
He strongly recommended not repairing it because they won’t guarantee the work.
If we do repair it, he said I need to get a separate carpenter to fix the eaves, fascia and scotia before they start, and a plumber for some garage roof gaps in flashings, and the repair bill excluding all that would be about $3600, using secondhand tiles that won’t be a colour match.
If $28k is a reasonable estimate, fair enough, but it does seem weird that they haven’t shown any photos of the apparent problems… and I am a bit wary of being overquoted.
Thoughts?

Hello all friends,
Hoping you are well. I am interested in clearing some space and cash up for new hobbies and some vacationing this summer. The list is a little jumbled but gets the job done. If I missed anything the vast majority are $2-4 with some price breaks if you pick up multiple books.
All that is needed is your current shipping address on paypal when I request or invoice your email, with shipping info updated within 2 days of order. Orders to be shipped with media mail and with a few layers of packaging.
That should be it, I hope you enjoy the list!
Timestamp- Imgur: The magic of the Internet
Air gear 19, 23, 24 $45 G4
Tokyopop Sampler 2003-2006 (6 vols) $75 G4
Gantz 1-23 $360 G4-G5
Gantz 11-13 $65 G5
Hitman Reborn 1 Misprint upside down inside $40 G4
Cutie Honey $75 G4
Bastard! 1-19 G4 $600
Hellsing 7, 8 $35 G4
Iron Wok Jan 8-10, 12, 19-21 $105 G4
Battle Vixens 13, 14 $80 Sealed
Animal land 1-14 $400 G4-G5
Inuyasha 37, 40, 46-48, 52 $134 G5
Gakuen Alice 6, 9 $40 G4
Berserk DMP (8 Vols) $50 G4
Pandora crimson in a shell 1-3, 5-11 $35
Princess Knight 1 $10 G4
Limited Copies/ Signed/ Sealed OOP:
Dementia 21 1st print $90
Color Of Rage Sealed $60
Akira Volume 4 Limited Edition Hardcover Graphitti Katsuhiro Otomo $50 G4
Astro Boy Essays Osamu Tezuka Mighty Atom, and Manga/Anime Revolution Signed By Frederik L. Schodt G4 $40
Yumiko Kayukawa 2013 Japanese Wolf /1000 $40 G4
Cardfight Vanguard 1 with Sealed card $25 G4-G5
Ragnarok #1 Signed $20 G4
Alice Hearts 1-3 $12 G4
Hino Horror 11 $39 G4
Ikigami 1-8, 10 $120 G4
Gundam R 3 $5 G3-G4
Omamori Himari 6 $5 G3-G4
Kagerou Daze 1, 3 $8 G4
Tokyo Tribes 1 $4 G4
Psycho Pass 1-4 $20 G3
Code Geass 1, 2, $18
NGE Shinji 10 $5 G4
Dragon Ball Vizbig 1-2, Z 2,4 $32 G3-G4
Kamen Tantei 2-3 $20 G4
Initial D 3 $12 G4
Gantz 1-2 $30 G3
Btooom 25 $10 sealed
Fire Force 1-8 $30 G4
Appleseed Alpha $8 G4-G5
Cromartie 8 $4 G3
Ring 0 $10 G4
Zombie Fairy 1 $5 G4
Gundam Blue Destiny $5 G4
Mid 2010s Japanese Shonen Jump Magazine $25 each
Crimson Shell 1-3, 5-11 $50 G4
Sherlock Bones 1-7 $20 G4
Jack Ripper 1, 5 $50 G4
Midori Days 8 $12 G4
Record Of Lodoss War Chronicles Of The Heroic Knight 1 $20 G4
Get Backers 9 vols $25 G3-G4
Samurai Kyo (3) volumes $9 G3-G4
Dragon Head (FRENCH) $100 G4
Incomplete sets:
GTO 3, 6-9 $75 G4-G5
With the light 2-4, 6 $70 G3-G4 Ex lib
With the light 2 $20 G3 Ex lib
Berserk 1-3, 5, 9, 15, 18, 19 G2-G4 (8 Volumes) $30
Crayon Shin 3 $12 sealed CMX
Lum 1-2 90s 1st print $20 G4
Record of Lodoss War Chronicles of the Heroic Knight Vol. 1 $15 G4
Scientific Accelerator 2, 4-7 G4 $50
Lone Wolf & Cub Omnibus 1985 Japanese $80
Saint Tail 2 G3 $10
Saint Seiya Sho 1-2 G4 $4
Mushoku Tensai 1-2 + Roxy 1-2 G4 $15
Magical girl raising project 1-2 G5 $9
First love monster 1-2 G5 $8
Big Order 1 G4 $4
Tomodachi monster 1 $3
Those who hunt elves 1-2 G4 $9
Spare 22 G3 $4
Rin ne 3 G4 $3
The story of Saiunkoko 1-3, 6-9 G4 $40
Fuishigi Omnibus 1-3 G4 $20
Eden Zero 1-3 G4 $6
New lone wolf 1-4 G4 $50
Wedding Peach 1 $15 G4
Strawberry Marshmellow 1-2 $38 G4
Lone Wolf and cub 13 volumes with spare $50 G3-G4
Chaotic Century 11 G4 $
Emma 1-2 G3 $10 ex lib
Jyu oh sei 3 G4 $5
Jack Ripper 1, 5 $50 G4
Beyblade 3 $20 G4
Clover omnibus G3 $5
Blade immortal spares (3) spine fade G3/G4 $10
Vampire Game 15 $8
The promised neverland 17 G4 $3
W Juliet 1-4 G3 $10
Scrapped Princess 1-4 $10
Tenchi- $3
Exaxxion 1 $5
Karneval 1 G4 $8
Black Jack 1, 3, G4 $10
Spare 1 $4
Wotakoi 1 G5 $5
Shin Chan CMX #3 Sealed $12
Dance In The Vampire Bund 1-3, 7-9, 18-21 G4 $30
Bt'x 13 G4 $35
Aoi house $1
Angel Sanctuary 2 $1
Ragnarok 1 $1
World War Blue 5, 7 G4 $3
Grils got game 2 $1
Akame ga Kill 1 $2
Captain Ken 1, G4 $10
Sex ed 120% $3
Ichiroh 5, G4 $5
Infini T Force 1-4 G5 $18
Shugo chara 2-6 G3/G4 $20
Magic Knight Rayearth 1st 3 G3 $3
Ode To Kirihito 2 G4 $10 Spare Available
Desert Coral 1-3 G4 $10
Spare Ryu Final 3 G4 $10
Thanks for checking it out and be safe out there!
Clover Omnibus $10 G3
Utena 2 $20 G4
Summit of The Gods 2 $13 G4
Stawberry Marshmellow 1-2 $25 G4
butterfly flowers 5 $3
Honey Clover 10 $40 G4
Yugioh (3) volumes $10
Oreimo 4 $4 G4
Megaman 12 Ex lib $12 G3
Berserk 4, 15 $5 G2-G3
Death note 1-13 + 2 journals $49 G3
Suikodon 9 $5 G3
Scrapped Princess 1-3 $6 G3
Eden zero 1-2 $5 G4
I dont like you at all big brother $3 G4
Vampire game 15 $3 G4
One Piece (9) volumes $24 G3
Bleach (14) $34 G4
Mushoku 1-2, roxy 1-2 $15 G4
Shaman king (6) ex lib $20
Kurosagi 4, 7 8 $10 ex lib G3
Tsubasa 1-4 $10 G3-G4
Ajin 8 $3 G4
Juvenile Orion 1-5 $12 G4
Ranma 22 $4 G4

Worst 3 $15 G4
Rayearth 1 $4 G3
Captain Ken 1 $30 G4
Dounuts under a crescent moon 1 $3 G4
Again 2 $3 G4

Manga Diary of a Male Porn Star Vol. 1 $3 G4

The Great Jahy Will Not Be Defeated! 1 $2 G4

Inuyasha 46, 48 Ex Library $20 G3
Stray Little Devil 3 $5 G4
Ng Life 3 $3
D frag 1 $4 G4
Velveten & Mandela $8 G4
Franken Fran 1 1st priint $20
Hollow Fields $6 G4
Record Lodoss CMP $15 G4
Lum: Urusei Yatsura Vol. 1-2 $50 G4 1988
Remina $10 G4
A brides story 1 $5 G4
Karneval 1 $4 G4
Oh my goddess (4) $10 G3
Inuyasha (5) larger tpb $20 G3-G4
Saikano 1-3 $13 G4
Dark Metro 1-2 $13 G4
Gyo 1 $25 G4

I (F19) am 6 DPO (days post ovulation) and have been having intriguing dreams. My husband and I have been trying to conceive for several months. I know I am young, and I ask no one blabber on about it. However my biological clock is ticking, we have our own house vehicles etc, we’re stable and I have wanted to be a mom for as long as I can remember. I have been having odd dreams the last few nights. I am a vivid dreamer and tend to dream every single time I sleep, always remembering most of the dream. I mostly have bad dreams as I have CPTSD. But the last few days have been different. I have had dreams about baby bunnies, baby hamsters, and baby koalas. In the rabbit/hamster dream, I was at some kind of hangout spot of what I can only describe as similar to a secret society, everyone there was very caring and all called eachother family. I was walking with my little cousin who just turned 14 a couple days ago, I have always been very motherly towards him and close, we talk almost everyday. We go down a path where there are real bushes in flower beds but they’re indoors. All the sudden little black baby bunnies start to spring back and forth across the path, ducking in and out of the bushes. My cousin tells me in the dream he hopes I get pregnant soon and I can have “baby bunnies” of my own. We hugged and continued to watch them jump about. The hamster dream took place in this little pizza shop I used to work in. They had renovated the location(they were expecting renovations the year I stopped working there, I’ve never seen them) the lobby area was filled wall to wall with aquarium tanks filled with hamsters. My husband loves hamsters, so we began to look closely at all the tanks and were laughing and giggling like little kids watching them jump around and play. We bend over and peek into one of their little hides and see two hamsters caring for a fresh litter of babies. We talked about how sweet it was to watch the parents of the babies sniff at them and nuzzle them. My husband goes to order our pizza and I turn around and see one singular tank of more baby bunnies. (I am more of a “rabbit” person but in both dreams I called them bunnies, not rabbits) they are huddled all in a pile together, sleeping. I asked an employee where their parents were, as they were obviously too small to be away from their mother. They told me they had none. I began to get very sad for them being motherless, knowing they likely would not survive. I teared up and told the baby bunnies it was all going to be okay and not to be scared. My husband hugged me and we left. The koala dream, I was walking down a dirt path, as if I were in Australia. I’m not sure what I was doing there but as im walking down the trail, several baby koalas fall from the sky into my arms. I catch them and begin to nurture them. Saying the same things I said to the rabbits at the pizza place. Telling them they will be okay, that I’ve got them now and not to worry that I will take care of them. They were in distress, wiggling and squirming about, after I soothed them they calmed and began to snuggle into my chest. What do these dreams mean? Are they any sort of sign maybe this is finally our month? Mothers, what were your dreams like before finding out you were pregnant?

Round 1, Pick 6 - Malik Nabers, WR, LSU:
NFL: Nabers possesses the competitive fire and instincts teams look for in an elite receiver. The LSU wideout is a big-time playmaker who can make the game easier for Daniel Jones with his route-running and yards-after-the-catch ability, turning short passes into big gains for Big Blue.
CBS Sports: A+. I love this pick for the Giants. It says they didn’t believe in the quarterbacks who were left and now they get a playmaker on the outside. This kid will be a star.
ESPN: It's hard to have complaints landing a receiver as explosive as Nabers, especially once it became evident that getting any of the top three quarterbacks (Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye) wasn't possible. The Giants talked with New England on Thursday about pick No. 3 for Maye. But the decision was always in New England's hands. That was the problem with landing outside those top three picks. The Giants clearly weren't willing to settle for former Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy.
NFL Absolutely Not Fake News: Follows the ‘Draft Day’ Day tradition, even this year.
Round 2, Pick 47 - Tyler Nubin, S, Minnesota:
NFL: Nubin might lack a superpower as a prospect with no special trait, but he does a lot of things very well. He can be the Giants' post safety as an assignment-sound defender who will bring excellent intensity and commitment to the locker room.
CBS Sports: B-. Film is first-round caliber. Such a cerebral player with outstanding ball skills and solid range. Amazing ball skills. Will find the ball if it’s in his area. Best away from the line patrolling. Some stiffness as an athlete and not a true burner. Average testing numbers.
ESPN: A safety makes sense after the Giants allowed Xavier McKinney to walk this offseason. McKinney signed a massive deal with the Green Bay Packers. That left the Giants with Jason Pinnock and Dane Belton as the top two safeties on the depth chart. Nubin gives new defensive coordinator Shane Bowen an instinctive and versatile safety to work with. Nubin's pro comp is former Denver Broncos Pro Bowl safety Justin Simmons. The Giants would certainly take that.
NFL Absolutely Not Fake News: If he didn’t get drafted he was going to start his sourdough era.
Round 3, Pick 70 - Andru Phillips, CB, Kentucky:
NFL: Phillips had a few rough games last season, but he could develop into a useful piece in the Giants secondary, either as a nickel or an outside safety. His size and ball production are subpar, but his toughness and tackling skill(s) give him a solid floor.
CBS Sports: B-. Silky smooth inside-out CB. Serious juice in his lower half. Not incredibly long but perfect size to play at nickel in the NFL. Incredibly willing in run support but does miss plenty of tackles. Quicker than fast but certainly not slow. Wished there was more ball production in college. Chippy type.
ESPN: Another position of need receives a reinforcement. Phillips joins a group that only has last year's first-round pick, Deonte Banks, penciled in as a starter. This is a player whom some teams had a second-round grade on. Phillips is a smooth cover cornerback who plays with physicality, especially for his size. The Giants clearly came into this draft -- and Day 2 in particular -- looking to upgrade the secondary.
NFL Absolutely Not Fake News: He cannot bring himself to throw away his Transformers.
Round 4, Pick 107 - Theo Johnson, TE, Penn State:
NFL: Johnson opened eyes at the Senior Bowl, being featured more as a receiver there than he often was at Penn State. His long, athletic frame makes him something of a Logan Thomas-like prospect and a good understudy to Darren Waller -- if he plays this year.
CBS Sports: B+. Elite tester. Huge frame with intimidating length. Was low-volume option at Penn State but has the explosive chops to become a better receiver in the pros. Ironically not a great blocker despite his towering, filled-out body type. Has just enough short-area quickness to separate on occasion in the NFL. Easy drops on film but counters with contested catches.
ESPN: Johnson could help fill the void if Darren Waller elects to retire. He is still contemplating his future. The Giants have been operating as if Waller is not on the roster. Johnson adds the physically gifted pass-catching element they would need in their offense. He has the size and speed to be a major threat at the NFL level. Daboll could be asking for an immediate contribution from their newest tight end. It's also worth noting that Johnson is the third of the Giants' top four draft picks to have a pre-draft visit. That is important to this regime.
NFL Absolutely Not Fake News: Is the nephew of Tom Kenny, voice of SpongeBob.
Round 5, Pick 166 - Tyrone Tracy Jr., RB, Purdue:
NFL: A converted wideout, Tracy shifted to the backfield last year and did well with the opportunity, averaging a stout 6.3 yards per carry. If Malachi Corley is the Deebo Samuel Lite of this class, then Tracy is sort of the Corley Lite. I expect Tracy to be used extensively as a receiver out of the backfield.
CBS Sports: A. Former Iowa WR turned Purdue RB. Incredible bounce and agility to make defenders miss when they’re ready to make the tackle. Some breakaway speed too. Contact balance is good, not great. At times seems tentative hitting the hole but has the goods to make more than what’s blocked. Older prospect who’s new to the position.
ESPN: Tracy is a much-needed piece being added to the Giants' offensive backfield. New York had newly signed Devin Singletary backed up by Eric Gray and Gary Brightwell entering the draft. It's likely they would have taken Trey Benson two rounds earlier, had the Arizona Cardinals not taken him four spots ahead of the Giants. This gives Tracy a chance to make an immediate contribution, even if it's just as an option out of the backfield early in his career. He was a wide receiver up until last year, so there is room for growth despite already being 25 years old.
NFL Absolutely Not Fake News: Plans to moonlight as the mascot at his Alma mater in the offseason.
Round 6, Pick 183 - Darius Muasau, LB, UCLA:
NFL: Muasau reminded me a bit of former Vikings LB Kentrell Brothers, a short but stout hitter and playmaker around the line of scrimmage whose coverage deficiencies are a bit worrisome.
CBS Sports: A-. No-hesitation off-ball LB with length deficiency. Quicker than fast but can get to the ball in a hurry because of his smarts. Unafraid to meet blockers in the hole and give them a jolt. Average ball skills and tackling soundness. Feels like someone who can outplay draft position.
ESPN: Muasau brings speed and youth to the linebacking corps. He's also likely an immediate special teams contributor. There is a connection with Muasau to the Giants. Special teams coordinator Michael Ghobrial coached Muasau as a freshman at Hawaii. This played a part in the Giants' comfort with their sixth and final pick of the draft.
NFL Absolutely Not Fake News: Watches the 1986 Action/Thriller ‘The Delta Force’ on VHS every day.

So when the Andals began invading Westeros there were more than humans on the continent. The Andals declared the non human races demons, and began slaughtering them and the non humans fled to the North to safety. Eventually the North was the only region with Non Humans living in it, and the non human races helped the Northerners repel the Andals.
When Aegon and his sister wives came to Westeros, the North was backed by the non human races. Along the years the non humans got Lorships also. The North is the only place to see non humans, as the South is very hostile to them. Many Northern Lords have married non humans, and eventually some people forgot there was a time the non humans weren't apart of the North. Races idea
Snow Elves (Taking this from elder scrolls): a race of elves that can live up to three centuries, are set apart from the other races for their pale skin, pure white hair, and icy blue eyes, they are completely immune to the Cold and rumors have it that they're capable of ice magic. Bran the Builder is believed to have married a Snow Elf. The easiest way to tell apart the Snow Elves are the fact that the females of the race usually have their hair grow to their waist, while the males prefer short hair and clean shaven faces. Ned Stark is rumored to have a snow elf great grandmother. Evidence supports this, as the Starks ears are more pointed than normal humans, Starks are paler than other Northerners, and live longer than normal for most humans, a Stark ancestor apparently living to 180 before dying of old age.
Lizard Men: A race of humanoids that are only found in the neck, this race is completely immune to disease, can breath underwater, and are said to be masters of stealth. Many believe the humans in the Neck have interbred greatly with them, to the point every human in the Neck has a non human ancestor.
Viga-maðr: the deadliest of the non humans, this race greatly resembles bears, towering over humans at 9-11 feet, this race has to have their armor custom made, and though some use weapons, many prefer using their claws and teeth to rip apart enemies. These bears have fur that can be as black as midnight to being pale enough they blend into the snow. Whenever a Viga-maōr goes into a life of crime, the other races are encouraged to contact the Viga-maðr, as one of them could easily slaughter dozens of humans and other races. This race sticks around the Wall, and are known to be the Night Watches greatest ally besides the Starks of Winterfell. Rumors say that Ned Stark sent a Viga-maōr to Kings Landing to protect Elia Martell and her children, and Gregor Clegane and Amory Lorch wore torn apart when the Viga-maðr saw Gregor attempt to kill baby Aegon. Elia and her children disappeared that night, and the Northerners refuse to discuss with non-northers what happened to them, Ned and Robert Baratheon having a huge fight over it that lasted until the Greyjoy Rebellion, where Robert declared the hunt for Martell and her children over. A Viga-maōr rules over the dreadfort, his ancestor having slaughtered the last Bolton centuries ago, and was rewarded the fort for his loyalty, and the Bolton Lordship was passed down to his descendants, The Snow-Paw family being the most respected and feared in the North, known to have extremely loyalty to the Starks
dwarves (taken from the lords of the rings and the hobbit) they would reside inside The Northern mountains

Hey nosleep,
This might be the most disturbing thing I’ve ever stumbled upon, and I need to share it with someone who might understand. Last weekend, I found a diary hidden inside a secret compartment of an old desk I bought at an estate sale.
The entries inside are horrifyingly detailed, describing gruesome murders that span days. The first entry I read shook me to my core:
“Day one: I captured her just before dusk, the struggle vibrant and intoxicating. Her terror was palpable, the sweat mixing with the tears on her cheeks. She fought bravely, but it was futile. I brought her to my prepared place, an old shed deep in the woods, where no one would hear us. I tied her to an old chair, her arms and legs bound tightly with rough rope that cut into her skin whenever she moved.”
“Day two: I began with small cuts, superficial but numerous, across her arms and legs, the kind that sting sharply but are not life-threatening. Each whimper she made was a symphony to my ears. I used a scalpel, the blade sharp and precise, making sure to clean the wounds to prevent early infection. Hydration was minimal, just enough to keep her conscious, to experience every moment of her slow demise.”
“Day three: I increased the severity of her wounds, cutting deeper, exploring the textures of her muscles and sinews. The smell of iron filled the air, her blood a vibrant contrast against the sterile white of the shed. I documented her fading vitality, noting how her eyes began to lose their shine, her screams turned to whimpers, and eventually, she could only produce a gurgling noise as her body gave up.”
Horrified but needing to know more, I checked the local unsolved cases and there it was—a woman had been found just as described, her body abandoned in a shed in the woods, the case still open and cold.
I couldn’t stop there. I read another entry:
“Day one: He was an easy target, alone at a late showing in an old cinema. I watched him from the shadows, calculating. When he left for the restroom, I followed, injecting him with a sedative I had prepared. He collapsed, unconscious, easy to drag into my waiting van.”
“Day two: In my soundproof basement, I hung him from the ceiling by his wrists. His awakening was met with the harsh reality of his situation. I used a variety of tools, pliers to remove nails, a hammer to break fingers. His cries filled the room, a desperate plea for mercy that would not come.”
“Day three: Exhaustion had set in, his body weak from pain and blood loss. I carved words into his chest, a message to those who would find him, my signature. By nightfall, he was no longer responsive, his life extinguished under the cold glare of my surgical lights.”
Again, the details matched a man found in similar circumstances, his body discovered in an abandoned building downtown, his injuries a mirror of the diary’s descriptions.
Tonight, I’m going to read another entry. I'm terrified of what I’ll find, but I feel compelled to continue.

I am trying to animate a 2D circular orbit around the origin. I got the below code working but the trailing line "blinks" everytime it crosses the positive x-axis (completes a full rotation). I understand that this happens when I re-set the data inside the animate function, but I have no idea how to fix this. Is it possible to implement smoothly?

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt import numpy as np import matplotlib.animation as animation fig, ax = plt.subplots(figsize=(6,6)) ax.set_xlim(-20, 20) ax.set_ylim(-20, 20) ax.axhline(0, color='black', linewidth=0.5) ax.axvline(0, color='black', linewidth=0.5) rads = np.arange(0, 2*np.pi, 0.01) x = 5*np.cos(rads) y = 5*np.sin(rads) point, = ax.plot(5, 0, color='red', marker="o") line, = ax.plot([], [], color='red') def animate(i): speed = 1000 # arg - used in resetting the orbit arg = (i - (2*np.pi*int(i/((2*np.pi)*(100/speed))))*(100/speed))*speed line.set_data(x[int(arg):int(arg)+50], y[int(arg):int(arg)+50]) point.set_data([5*np.cos(i*(speed/100)-100)],[5*np.sin(i*(speed/100)-100)]) return line, point, ani = animation.FuncAnimation( fig, animate, frames=np.linspace(0,2*np.pi,int(2*np.pi/0.01), endpoint=False),interval=20, blit=True) plt.show() 

Cheers

i started to hit the artesian spot recently, within the last 2 months or so.
the first couple times were fine, went there for 10 gallons once a week.
the last two times though, something is up. the water is offgassing. i fill up, later i open up and the lid goes "tssss.." smell inside, smells like a mixture of sulfur and ozone.
leave the lid off for a while, the smell and the offgassing goes away. but as i drink from it, it does not make me feel well. simply put.
never have i ever had this experience with the artesian water at the Lynnwood spot all the way up north. I used to live on that side, so that's where I got my water. when I moved down here, I was excited to find a similar spot. now not so much.
clean, healthy water should have zero odor and zero offgassing. period.

about two weeks ago, I walked outside around 10:30 PM and there was a black kitty sitting underneath of my tree. I named him Darkrai, played with him for a half hour, and went back inside. around midnight, I went back outside and he was still there. he had a flea collar on so I wasn't too concerned, but it started to rain so I put out a bowl of food and fresh water alongside a giant plastic box with a blanket inside on my patio.
since then, it's been our nightly routine to check in on each other and spend some time together. I love him. tonight it's been raining down hard and it's really been getting on my nerves. why would anyone leave their cat outside when the forecast calls for rain all day and night? when I was playing with him just now, I noticed his eyes look a tiny bit cloudy and there was something running from his left eye. now I'm really worried about him.
I think in the morning, I'm going to get a tag with my name and number and see if anyone contacts me. if not, I'll have to get him to the vet to see if his eye is okay and if he's been chipped. if not... I don't know.
if there's any ideas or tips to help make him more comfortable or on what I should do anything would be greatly appreciated.

“Ready to make history, baby?”
I looked over toward Sheila as she stood on the gangplank leading up to The Burger. I still couldn’t believe she named our research ship ‘The Burger’... emotional relevance be damned.
“It's not exactly history,” I corrected.
“Oh come on! If your survey is right, this trench might run even deeper than the Challenger Deep, and you’re gonna be the first person to explore it! How is that not exciting?”
“Might be deeper, we only have a limited amount of topological data. And even if it is deeper, we’re talking only a few hundred feet at most, it’s really not that im-”
Sheila silenced me with a kiss.
“Nerd.” She teased, and I found myself too flustered to reply. After five years of marriage, she still could leave me speechless with just a kiss. God… how did someone like me end up with a woman like that?
Then again, how did someone like me end up where I was in general? It was honestly a little overwhelming. Standing on the dock, getting ready to board that ship and join the ranks of Jacques Piccard and James Cameron (yes, that James Cameron) as one of the few people to take a manned submersible down to the deepest parts of the ocean. And I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little scared too. Diving down that deep could easily be a one way trip if even the slightest thing went wrong. My submarine would be experiencing between 600 to 1100 atmospheres of pressure and while we’d tested it over and over again to make sure it would actually be up for the challenge, there was still a lingering iota of doubt in the back of my mind. All that needed to go wrong was one little thing, and that would be it for me.
The scariest part is that I probably wouldn’t even know what had happened… I’d simply be gone… and Sheila would be alone. The thought of that caused a momentary spike of panic in my chest that almost made me want to call this whole thing off.
Almost.
But, then I felt her hand close around mine. I looked up into her bright blue eyes, and saw her gentle smile.
“You’re gonna be okay, hun,” She promised. “You and your team have been running the numbers, right? It’s gonna go just fine!”
I nodded slowly.
“It’s gonna go fine…” I repeated, before she leaned in to kiss me, and gently pulled me by the wrist up onto the deck of the Burger.
She was probably right.
It probably would be fine.
Probably…
The trench I’d be exploring was a fairly recent discovery, located south of Greenland, in a vast stretch of water situated directly between Newfoundland and Iceland. It’d been uncovered during a topological survey in the area, and my team had taken an interest in investigating it further. At minimum, it was believed to descend to about 35,000 feet deep (over 10,000 meters), although the current theory was that it might have run even deeper. Determining the exact depth of the yet unnamed chasm was just one of the intents of our dive. The rest was studying the organisms that might be found down there, and how they might have differed from the ones found in other deep ocean trenches (some variation being expected given the isolated environment they were developing in.)
I had to admit, it would be exciting to see what new life might have developed in a place such as this, especially if it ran even deeper than our predictions… and that excitement was enough to make me chase the fear of the risks out of my mind, even if it was only briefly. While Sheila went to make sure we were ready to embark, I caught myself wandering out toward the rear of the ship where my submarine, The Tempura, waited for me. Did this submarine deserve a better name than The Tempura? Probably. But, this was my project, so I got to name it and since Burger was already taken, Tempura was the next best name I had. I liked to think that the subs namesake might approve… if she hadn’t died fifteen years ago. Shrimp don’t live very long.
As the ship began to depart, I caught myself reminiscing on how I’d ended up here… it really was all because of those damn shrimp, wasn’t it? Well… maybe not all because of the shrimp. But they were certainly part of it. Back when I was a lot younger, I never really gave much of a shit about anything at all. I guess I did have a thing for the ocean… the great, romantic vastness of it. The sense of adventure that it beckoned with. The endless mysteries that lay within its dark depths. I used to read about it all the time when I was a kid and I especially loved the classic adventures: Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, and Melville’s Moby Dick… but that love was just confined to my books. I didn’t really have any interest in actually going out and seeing the ocean. Hell, the idea of going to a beach and standing in the sun with my toes in the sand seemed miserable to me. I was happier (although calling myself happy might’ve been a little disingenuous) alone in my room, enjoying the company of books as opposed to people.
Then came the shrimp.
One of my online friends kept them as a hobby. He used to post pictures of his tanks all the time, and I always thought they looked kinda cool. He said that if I was interested in them, I should try keeping some for myself, and during a particularly bad bout of depression, I figured that maybe it might be worth a shot. So, I bought a cheap tank and some cheap decorations, bought myself some shrimp… and promptly watched them die over the next few weeks. That… that bothered me. I don’t know why but… it really bothered me. I’m still not entirely sure how to describe what it was that I was feeling. Guilt? Defeat? Shame? Here I was, trying to set up a habitat for these creatures just to have something to do to keep the suicidal ideation at bay, and I’d failed almost right out of the gate.
Was I just that bad? Was I just that much of a failure? Was this just going to go to shit just like everything else in my life did, because I was just such an abysmal piece of shit who barely deserved the life she had? Had I just not tried hard enough? Was I too apathetic? What had happened? What went wrong?
It bothered me.
It bothered me enough that I made up my mind to just dump the remaining shrimp down the toilet and toss everything. Forget about it. Move on. End of story. But… that wasn’t fair, was it? The shrimp didn’t all deserve to die just because I couldn’t be bothered, did they? Sure, they were just shrimp, but they were alive too, just like me. They deserved to be alive.
I owed it to them to try and keep them alive, didn’t I?
So… I didn’t dump the shrimp.
Instead, I started doing some reading. Started looking into what I was doing wrong and how to do it all better. I actually got really into it and a few months later, I had a nice planted tank. Looking back, it was amateur shit… but it made me happy. I’d even picked out names for my two favorite shrimp. Burger and Tempura. They’d been the last survivors of my original batch, and they were the ones I ended up caring about the most. Caring for Burger and Tempura gave me a purpose. It became an obsession… and that little obsession drove me to finally start turning my life around.
Like I said, shrimp don’t live for very long. Burger and Tempura were long dead by the time I graduated with a degree in Marine Biology. But they were the ones who inspired me to finally get my life in order. Hell, the shrimp were half the reason that I met Sheila. She was something of an aquarium fanatic too… we’d met on a forum, and gotten to talking. I found out that she just so happened to be studying Marine Biology at another school, and we bonded pretty quickly after that. After graduation, I moved to California to be with her and after that, the rest is history. She was my rock. She was the one who always pushed me to be the best possible version of myself… and I loved her more than I ever knew I could love someone.
A glance back at the shore, fading into the distance tore me out of my reminiscing, and I shifted my focus to the present, going over The Tempura to perform some quick checks. My colleagues and I would be checking and rechecking the submarine over the next two days as we made our way toward the dive spot. Considering the danger that descending that deep posed, I didn’t want to take a single unnecessary risk.
I had too much to live for, after all.
***
The day of the dive, I couldn’t notice how excited the rest of the crew seemed… well… Sheila’s usual crew seemed excited. I guess to them, this was just another research expedition, no different than the ones Sheila usually took this ship out on. Lately her research had been focused on the analysis and study of whale calls. Her recent voyages had involved following their pods, recording their calls and playing them back to see how the whales reacted. It was fascinating stuff, but my research was admittedly a lot different than that.
My obsession had drawn me to the denizens of the deep sea. I’d used The Burger for expeditions before, although none of them had been on quite the same scale as this one. Up until today, the most ambitious thing I’d done was send down unmanned submersibles with cameras. Those submersibles had typically returned. We had lost a few early on due to technical glitches, but the past few years had been blissfully uneventful. Logically, this dive would probably be uneventful as well. But it was still hard to get the jitters out of my head.
My team and I did the final checks necessary to make sure that The Tempura was good to go, before setting up the crane to begin lifting it up. In less than an hour, I’d be inside of that thing, descending to the darkest depths of the ocean.
It didn’t feel real.
I felt Sheila’s hand on my shoulder, and looked over at her.
“Moment of truth, huh?” She asked. She probably meant it to sound encouraging, but it just sounded ominous.
“Moment of truth…” I replied.
“You’re gonna be okay, honey. I know you will.”
She reached out to gently squeeze my hand and gave me a reassuring smile that I meekly returned.
“Yeah, it’s gonna be okay,” I agreed, although there was an element of a lie in it. Statistically, yes. It probably WOULD be okay. But there was that lingering anxiety in the back of my mind that just wouldn’t go away. I looked quietly out at the submarine before me and couldn’t shake the thought that it sort of looked like a giant coffin. Unconsciously, I found myself squeezing Sheila’s hand tighter than normal. She just held me close and pressed a kiss to the top of my head, before gently rubbing my back.
“You’ll be okay,” She promised.
“Dr. Jenner, we’re ready for you.” I heard one of my colleagues say.
Moment of truth.
I took one last look at Sheila, and gave her a quick kiss on the lips for luck. She smiled at me, and I smiled back anxiously at her before heading over toward the submarine.
The crew helped me enter the cockpit and get myself situated inside. The cockpit of the Tempura was fairly cramped and not particularly comfortable. Space and comfort aren’t really luxuries you can afford in a submarine like this. The instruments I needed took up a lot of space, leaving little room for me in there… and I am not a very big person.
Once I was inside, they sealed the hatch. Then the diagnostics checks began.
“Grayson, can you hear us in there?” I heard Sheila say through the radio.
“Loud and clear,” I replied.
“Great. We’ll keep in constant radio contact, just to monitor the signal. In the meanwhile, how’s everything looking in there?”
“Green across the board so far,” I said, although I hadn’t finished running all my final checks yet. Ultimately, nothing was out of place.
This submarine was as good to go as it was going to get.
“I’m all good in here,” I said once I was done. “You can drop me when you’re ready.”
“You got it, honey. Let’s get you in the water, run one final round of tests and start lowering you down.”
A short while later, I felt the submarine begin to move as the crane lifted it off the deck and lowered it into the water. The Tempura honestly resembled its namesake in a way, being long and cigar shaped, only vertically oriented instead of horizontally oriented. We’d admittedly taken more than a few design cues from James Cameron’s Deepsea Challenger. Why fix what isn’t broken, after all?
Once I was in the water, a 1000 pound releasable ballast weight would cause the submarine to sink. Releasing that weight was also my ticket back to the surface, and I could either trigger it from inside the cockpit, or, in the event that the release failed for any reason, it would trigger automatically after roughly 12 hours of exposure to salt water.
Ideally, this would be the first of a number of dives I’d be undertaking… and if all went according to plan, the Tempura could be the first of many similar submarines that would allow other researchers to safely and effectively descend to extreme depths. If all went well, this could be a massive leap forward for researchers like me, allowing us to better explore the deepest depths of the Hadal Zone and learn all we could about the ecosystems down there via direct observation.
If all went well.
If.
Through the viewport, I watched as I was lowered into the ocean. A few of the other crew members had donned diving gear to escort me down, and after they did their final checks and I did mine, we were fully ready to go.
“All’s green across the board,” I said into the radio. “You can start my descent.”
“I hear you, honey,” Sheila replied. “We’re letting you go. Have fun down there.”
“Yeah, I’ll try…” I said quietly as finally, my submarine began its descent.
I took a deep breath, and told myself again that everything would go fine. We had checked everything on this submarine. We’d tested it rigorously. I wouldn’t have allowed myself to set foot inside of it if I hadn’t personally assured that it was safe. But anxiety never really goes away, does it? The crew couldn’t accompany me far. After only a few meters, they fell behind me as I sank deeper and deeper into the infinite, empty blue of the ocean. Soon after, the tether was released.
I was officially on my own.
“60 feet,” I heard Sheila say over the radio. “How are you doing in there?”
“Good,” I replied. “Doing… doing good.”
The submarine continued to descend. Through the viewport, I could see a few stray fish, but nothing particularly eye catching. I almost felt alone down there… almost…
“120 feet…” Sheila said.
“Still doing good,” I replied.
The descent continued, as the waters slowly grew darker and darker.
“400 feet…”
Everything around me just kept getting darker and darker. Only a fraction of the light from the sun ever reached these depths… and I’d be lying if I said that darkness didn’t feel a little… oppressive.
“800 feet… still feeling good?”
“Yeah, still feeling good…” I said, although it was a bit of a lie. If anything, I was second guessing all of this, but I wasn’t about to say that out loud.
“1000 feet… still good?”
“Still good…” I murmured. “I hear you loud and clear.”
Deeper… deeper… deeper.
“1500 feet…”
Three miles. I was three miles away from home. Three miles away from Sheila.
“2000 feet…”
Still a ways to go.
“3000 feet…”
By this point, it was fully dark outside of my cockpit. Outside, all I could see was inky darkness. Even the submarine’s lights didn’t really cut through it. And the kicker? Relatively speaking, I wasn’t that deep. Fishing trawlers reached deeper than this. Better to conserve power until I was at the bottom. My descent continued.
“6000 feet… still good?”
“Still good…”
The check ins were becoming less frequent. My descent still continued… deeper… deeper… deeper. By now, I’d entered the Hadal Zone. But there was still so much deeper o go.
“8000 feet…”
This was past the depths that most whales would dive to… and I still had a ways to go.
“10,000 feet.”
This was close to where the ocean floor usually bottomed out… and yet there was still so much further to go. No. I was really only a third of the way there. How long had it been?Not much had happened beyond my descent and a few sightings out of my viewport, but time had been passing. A glance at my watch confirmed it’d been almost an hour since I’d started to sink… and I knew I wasn’t even close to the bottom yet. The submarine continued to descend, sinking ever deeper as I dropped into an infinite darkness that few had ever dared to witness.
“15,000 feet.”
This check in came later than the others. At this point, Sheila and the crew must have figured that no news was good news, and they were right. I just continued to sink peacefully, down into the crushing depths of the ocean.
These were the depths that one might normally find deep sea fish… and yet I was going somewhere even deeper than that.
“20,000 feet…”
So close…
I continued to sink.
“25,000 feet.”
Soon… and finally…
“30,000 feet. You still doing alright, honey?”
“Yeah… yeah, I’m doing good,” I assured her. I was so close…
By this point, my real work had begun. I’d engaged the lights and begun documenting what little I could see using the on board cameras. Granted, there wasn’t much life at these depths and what little there was, was scarcely documented. Most of what was down here consisted of invertebrates and microscopic life that seemed to float past my viewport.
The light seemed to draw a few creatures in search of food. Small, hardy things that resembled shrimp.
“How’s it looking, Grayson?”
“Dark,” I said, half joking. “We’ve got some life… shrimp. They’re translucent. Can’t get a great look at them… but we’ll see what the cameras pick up.”
“They’ve recognized you as a friend,” Sheila said. I could almost see the smile on her lips as she said it.
“Yeah…” I replied, “Tempura sent them a message, told them I’d be down. How am I looking on depth?”
“35,000 feet… you seeing a bottom yet?”
“No… not that I would until I was there.”
“Damn… how deep does this go?”
“It can’t go that deep…” I murmured, although I really wasn’t so sure about that.
The submarine continued to sink…
36,000 feet…
37,000 feet…
38,000 feet… and then finally, just past the 39,000 foot mark, I finally saw solid ground below me.
Looking through my viewport, I could see a familiar dark brown diatomaceous sludge, covering the seafloor. Microscopic life, likely similar to what had been observed in other deep sea trenches, such as the Challenger Deep.
I needed to gather a sample.
As my submarine reached the bottom, I extended the mechanical arms, pressed flat against the surface of the Tempura, and opened the collection port near the bottom of the ship. Slowly, I sifted some of the sludge into the port. My disturbance of the seafloor kicked up a cloud of the microbial colony, and I could’ve sworn I saw something wiggling through the debris. A pale, white thing, perhaps some sort of sea cucumber? I hastily angled my submarines camera to try and catch a glimpse of it, before returning to my collection. Even in this forlorn place, there was still so much to see! And here I was… completely forgetting my fear as the excitement took hold of me! Few people had ever been down to these unfathomable depths… and yet here I was.
It didn’t feel real but it was! I had reached the deepest part of the ocean!
“How’s it going down there?” I heard Sheila ask. Her voice was a little garbled. The connection down here was faltering.
“It’s beautiful…” I said. “I can’t wait for you to see it!”
“I’ll bet…”
“I’m going to do a sweep of the area, see what samples I can gather,” I said. “What’s my time right now?”
“Three hours. You’ve got nine before your connection to the weight deteriorates and you start to ascend.”
“I’ll make the most of it,” I said. The plan was only to stay down there for six hours, and I didn’t want to push that limit. Life support would only last me for so long, and one little error was all it would take for the ungodly pressure down here to crush me.
I began to move the submarine. Mobility was limited. This thing wasn’t built to travel far. But I still had some limited movement. I recorded all that I could, filming the shrimp that investigated my light, and the things that slithered and crawled through the muck, likely feeding on the carpet of single celled organisms that populated these depths.
The first two hours were… well… I hesitate to call them uneventful, they were actually very fascinating, but little of note happened beyond my recording of a few specimens.
Midway through the third hour though, as I was reaching one of the rock walls of the abyss, I noticed something just above the edge of my viewport swimming away from the light. I could’ve sworn I saw slender, pale tentacles of some sort. Was that a squid? Were there squid down this deep? I wasn’t aware of any species of known squid who could reach these depths… but in this unknown place, what use was the known?
I moved my light and my camera to try and catch another glimpse of it, but whatever it was, it seemed to be gone. Maybe I’d see another one. I still had plenty of time.
“You made a noise. What’d you see?” Sheila asked.
“Something big… I think,” I said.
“Down there? Like a fish?”
“Squid. You wouldn’t find any vertebrates down this deep… the pressure would crush their bones.”
“Jeez…”
I didn’t reply to that, still searching for the thing I’d seen. I shone my light up along the walls of the chasm and angled my camera up as far as it would go. I could see a few volcanic vents, spewing dark clouds into the darkness, and more diatoms. But not much else. Strange invertebrates crawled along the walls. Small creatures, no bigger than an inch long. Related to isopods, perhaps? If I could collect one as a sample, I would have… although taking any of those back to the surface would surely kill them. They were built to live under the impossible pressure of these depths. Taking them to the surface would rip them apart.
I went back to my research, and it wasn’t long until I saw something in the darkness, just on the edge of where my flashlight reached. Trailing white tendrils, snaking their way through the darkness. My eyes narrowed as I moved the submarine forward, trying to catch whatever it was in the light. I saw the shape move, its body turning… I saw its tendrils unfurling. Whatever this was, it was big. It was almost as big as The Tempura… although it was also slender. If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve thought I was looking at some sort of floating debris, but this far down? No. And debris wouldn’t move like that.
This had to be a deepsea squid… or perhaps some other type of cephalopod? Something that preyed upon the various invertebrates down here, perhaps? It seemed to float, just out of sight for a bit, as I tried to get closer. I angled up my light to get a better look at it. The light seemed to shine through it, like some sort of ghost… but I did manage to get a look at it.
Although that look…
That single look made me freeze up.
This things slender tendrils certainly resembled a cephalopod of some sort, but the rest of it… the rest of it looked like something else entirely. Its body was thin, emaciated and translucent, yet despite that it still had characteristics that almost seemed… human. It wasn’t human! Not by any stretch of imagination, but the resemblance was there. It almost reminded me of an exhibit I’d seen in a museum once, depicting a preserved, fully removed human nervous system. I could see a similar shape in its translucent body. Its head seemed almost human as well… albeit with no eyes, and a lamprey like mouth I could only describe as fleshy yet crablike.
Still, despite having no eyes I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was looking at me. And that was when I felt something hit the submarine.
I felt a sudden jolt of panic in my chest. For a moment, I thought that the pressure had started to crush me, but no… no, everything was still fine. Something had just hit me. But what? It didn’t take long before I got my answer.
Another pale creature floated past my viewport, swirling gracefully in the cold dark waters. I watched it for a moment with wide eyes, before noticing its ‘head’ turning slightly toward me. Then, almost instantly, it launched itself at the submarine, darting toward me with blinding speed.
I heard a distinct THUD as its body collided with me, and I could see its pale tendrils pressing against the viewport, twisting and writhing violently. It was trying to attack me. The first creature that I’d seen lunged as well, pounding on my submarine with another THUD. And moments later, I could hear more impacts against the hull. There were more of them… and they did not like having me down there.
“What’s going on?” Sheila asked.
“Somebody doesn’t like me…” I said. “One of the animals down here… some kind of squid, it’s just started attacking the hull.”
“How bad is the damage?”
“Not sure… could be nothing, could be-”
I felt the submarine shake as I tried to move it. The thrusters that pushed me forward weren't responding. Had something gotten caught in it? One of the creatures perhaps?
“Grayson?!” Sheila asked.
“Lost propulsion…” I said. “Fuck… I can’t move.”
“Then drop the weight and come up!”
“No, it’s fine, there’s no other damage, I can still use the port and starboard thrusters to-”
“Grayson!”
I paused. There was genuine panic in her voice… enough to make me realize that even if these things stood little chance of actually breaching the hull, taking the risk would be a fatal mistake.
“I’m on my way up…” I finally said, before reaching out to disengage the ballast weights.
Immediately, I felt myself beginning to rise, although the tentacles clinging to my viewport didn’t disappear.
“We’ve got you…” Sheila said. “Rising up to 38,000 feet.”
The submarine continued to rise, but the creatures clinging to me went nowhere. In fact… I was sure I could see more of them. More pale shapes coming up through the darkness, and these ones filled me with dread. I thought I had been looking at some sort of eerie undiscovered life. But seeing what was coming up toward me now… I knew that I was looking at so much more. The creatures swimming up toward me through the darkness carried weapons… makeshift stone spears and daggers. Primitive tools… but tools all the same.
Signs that these were more than just undiscovered animals.
Much. Much more.
The word: ‘Mermaids’ crossed through my mind, but these were something far different than the ones I’d heard of in folklore. These looked like they’d swam out of the depths of hell itself. Boneless pale tendrils reached for me… and they were getting closer. The pale shapes reached my submarine as I rose higher. I kept praying to whatever God may be listening that the dropping pressure would force them off. The air in a submarine is pressurized, so during normal operation, there should have been no danger of decompression sickness for me.
For them… well… normally I’d feel a little guilty about subjecting an undiscovered species of deep sea mermaids to the horrors of the Bends. But given my circumstances, I didn’t have a lot of other options.
They didn’t let go, though.
They should have. But they didn’t.
What were these things?
I saw a splayed hand press against my viewport. Or… it somewhat resembled a hand. It had suckers on it, like a tentacle and the ‘fingers’ curled open like tentacles. The creature crawled over my viewport, clinging to The Tempura as it rose, and I could see the folds of its crablike mouth opening and pressing against the glass. I could see some sort of bile rising up through its translucent throat, before it secreted it all over my viewport. Was it trying to digest me? Was that how these things fed? How strong were its stomach acids? Were they strong enough to-
The window cracked.
My heart skipped a beat.
“No… no, no no…”
“Grayson, what’s wrong?!”
“They cracked the window… S-Sheila they… oh God… oh fuck, they just…”
“THEY DID WHAT?”
“It’s secreting some sort of enzyme… it’s on the window, it’s… FUCK… I’m gonna die… I’m gonna die… I’m gonna die…”
“You’re not gonna die, baby! Just… just keep ascending, okay? You’re at 30,000 feet… just keep going…”
I nodded, and kept on rising, although the question of whether or not the rest of the creatures were trying to digest the other parts of my submarine floated through my mind. How much damage could The Tempura take before it imploded? How much longer did I have? The submarine still continued to rise… 25,000 feet… almost halfway home… almost… almost.
The creature outside of my viewport slithered along the glass, searching for a better area to try and digest. Past him, I noticed a few of his companions dropping off. Maybe the change in pressure finally was getting to them?
From the corner of my eye, I suddenly noticed a flashing light. A warning. The hydraulics on one of the Tempura’s arms were shot… what else was damaged?
I checked my oxygen levels. 32%.
I should’ve had at least 14 hours of air. I’d only been down there for about 6 hours… I shouldn’t have been this low.
31%.
No… no, no, no, no… they’d damaged the air tanks!
30%.
29%
“20,000 feet!” Sheila said. “You still with me, baby?”
“Y-yeah…” I said. I didn’t mention my air situation. I didn’t need to worry her further.
The submarine continued its ascent.
15,000 feet.
24%. I was running out of time.
The creatures still clung to the Tempura. How had the pressure change not killed them yet? My oxygen was dropping faster than before. I was hemorrhaging air. Another crack formed across my viewport. I let out a little, involuntary gasp before trying to force myself to stop hyperventilating.
“Grayson, what was that?”
“I-it’s fine…” I stammered, “It’s fine!”
“Grayson what the hell is going on down there?!”
“They’re still on the submarine… they’re still…” I paused, looking at my oxygen levels. “19%...”
“19% of what? Grayson what’s going on!”
I paused.
18%.
“Air… I’m… I’m losing air…”
“That’s fine, you’re going to make it!” She said, although I heard her voice cracking a little. “You’re gonna make it!”
I didn’t answer.
12,000 feet.
11,000 feet…
My oxygen level continued to drop.
15%.
14%.
12%.
9,000 feet.
The creatures still clung to me, as the submarine continued to rise. The one on my viewport was still there, slowly crawling along the glass again. I stared into its eyeless face and swore I was looking at the face of my killer.
7,000 feet…
Oxygen had dropped to 9%. It dropped to 8% before I even got to 6,000 feet. I was going to die here…
The viewport cracked again and I squeezed my eyes shut. The submarine rocked. I was sure one of the thrusters had been damaged. My ascent slowed.
“Grayson, what’s going on?”
“I’m sorry Sheila…”
Another crack spread across my viewport.
“I’m… I’m not making it back up…”
“YES YOU ARE!”
“I’m sorry…” The tears started to come as the reality of my death became clearer and clearer… this was it.
“YOU’RE COMING BACK UP, YOU HEAR ME! GODDAMNIT, I’LL BRING YOU BACK UP!”
“I love you…”
That creatures face pressed against the glass. It vomited more of its stomach acid onto the cracked glass, and I wondered if this might finally be what broke it. Part of me hoped it would be… the one good thing about dying this deep was that at least I’d die quickly. My suffering would be over. Then, the creature suddenly pulled back, twisting and writhing violently. I saw other shapes moving past it in the water, other ‘mermaids’ that had been clinging to the submarine.
Something was agitating them.
Something was scaring them off.
Then I heard it, over the radio… whale songs.
“What the hell…?”
“Grayson, are you still there?!”
“I… they’re finally breaking off. Sheila, what did you do?”
“I’m broadcasting some of the orca recordings we’ve been using. Are they still clinging to you?”
“No! They’re backing off! I… whatever you’re doing, keep doing it!”
The submarine kept rising.
5,000 feet.
4,000 feet.
4% oxygen.
I could still do this, right?
The submarine continued to rise.
3%.
3,000 feet.
2,000 feet.
2%.
1,000 feet… so close… I was so close…
I could almost see the surface through my viewport, rushing up toward me. I tried not to breathe. Tried not to move. All I did was hope.
500 feet.
I closed my eyes.
“Grayson we have your signal, we’re coming to pick you up!”
Sheila’s voice sounded so far away as my submarine finally breached the surface of the water… and with the last of my strength, I pulled the emergency release on the hatch, and threw it open, taking in lungful after lungful of fresh salty air.
I didn’t dare so much as touch the water beneath me… but I was topside again, and in the distance, I could see The Burger!
“We see you!” Sheila said, “We’ve got you baby… we’ve got you…”
“I see you too…” I said through the tears. “Thank you… thank you…” I didn’t have any words left in me after that.
As soon as I was back on the ship, I collapsed into Sheila’s arms, breaking down into tears as I clung to her, terrified that at any moment, some sort of unspoken other shoe would drop and I’d lose her all over again.
“Shh… it’s alright baby… I’ve got you… you’re safe… you’re safe…” I felt her fingers running through my air and I knew that what she said was true.
I was home.
I was safe.
***
I left my colleagues to review the data that the Tempura gathered during its short expedition. As far as I know, they haven’t published anything. I have a few ideas as to why, but I’ll keep those to myself. Let’s just say that some people would rather this information not become public.
I have a feeling that the Tempura may not be diving again for some time, if ever. I will confess that I do consider that a bit of a shame. Despite everything… I would consider it a success. It endured far more stressful conditions than I had expected, and from what I heard, required fewer repairs than I’d thought it would. But, even if it was approved for another dive, it wouldn’t be me piloting it. No. I will never be setting foot inside of that machine again, nor will I ever be returning to what my colleagues have been quietly referring to as ‘The Jenner Trench’.
I can’t.
Every night, I wake up crying after dreaming of pale shapes outside of my cracked viewport, clinging to Sheila and sobbing. I can’t put myself in that situation again.
I can’t.
Instead, I think I’m going to spend the next few years on solid ground. There’s a teaching position available at a local university. I think that might be the best place for me right now. Who knows, maybe I can help some other deadbeat discover a passion for marine biology.
After everything, my love for the sea remains unchanged… I’m just a little more wary of it, these days.

parts list https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/Pq4LTY
Hey everyone, I'm building a new PC that will mostly be used for gaming, watching TV and YouTube, and some minor graphic design and animation. I've spent the last few months going part by part and combination by combination to choose my parts to build the best PC for my needs within my budget, 2300 CAD, and came up with this list with my reasoning for choosing these parts. ANY thoughts or recommendations on the overall build, price point, parts or my writing skills are welcome and appreciated, Thank you!
CPU-Ryzen 7800x3d- I picked this CPU because it seems to be the best for gaming and some productivity, came highly rated and i kept reading that it was the best gaming CPU. I also read that even though the 7900x3d should be better mix for gaming and productivity it somehow is worse at both.
CPU cooler-Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler- I picked this cooler because it was recommended as the best bang for your buck CPU cooler while still delivering on performance, which let me spend more money on other parts of the build.
Motherboard-Asus ROG STRIX B650E-F GAMING WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard- The motherboard was honestly the part that took me the longest to decide on since there were just WAY too many options and WAY too many seemingly being prone to being lemons of having had issues that have since been fixed. Why i finally decided on this one though is that the issues it had, frying 7000 series CPUs, had reportedly been fixed so long as I flash the bios before installing my CPU, as well as that it meets all my needs in attempting to future proof my motherboard without dropping 400 or more CAD on it.
Memory-G.Skill Ripjaws S5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory- Once I finally understood how Ram worked and how EXPO worked I basically went with what was cheapest in those parameters, not much else to say about it.
Storage-Western Digital Black SN850X 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive- Much like memory I don't have much to say about my choice of storage, Western digital seems like a good brand, I have a different one of their SSDs in my current PC, has about the same performance as similar performing SSDs while being cheaper in price.
GPU-4070 Super FE- I decided on the 4070 Super Fe for a few reasons, I heard Nvidia is better if I want to graphic design or animation as well as gaming, the 4070 super seems to be in the sweet spot for performance/price and I've read that the Fe retains it's value the best for when I want to upgrade.
Case-NZXT H6 Flow- I chose the H6 Flow because I liked the design, and I read that it was both easy to build in as well as being great for air cooling.
PSU-Corsair RM750- I'm stuck with this one because I already bought it when it was on a good sale, My reasoning for buying it though is that most importantly the wattage should be enough, and also because the RM series of Corsair power supplies seems to rank pretty high on most peoples tier lists of PSUs. Added bonus of being fully modular.

Context I Avery 19 year old female and Lucy (Not her real name) 18 year old female have been friends for a year. I am a grade above her and we are in the same fine art activity. We are both on the colorguard team at my school.
Our team isn’t necessarily good, but we aren’t bad. (To the people who know Scholastic AA). For some reason Lucy is obsessed with the idea she looks like me. All because of a comment someone made to her. They walked up to her thinking it was me from a far. She has made it her life mission to make herself me.
She was a primary flag on my team and I am a primary rifle. Since I am a senior in school I’m not getting ready for next season. However, my director is making all members who have done at least one season try rifle. Lucy was excited to try rifle saying she can be like me. I thought this was sweet cause she looked up to me, but I was very wrong.
Lucy happened to be really good at rifle. Nothing against her she’s a great person to have on the team, but her ego has gone way up. She’s been making fun of people who drop their rifle or use the wrong technique and she always comes in for reassurance saying things like “Right Avery she needs to slow down her toss or right Avery she needs to put her left hand completely to the side.” It puts me in a position that makes me uncomfortable and i’ve told her to stop.
Lately she’s been dressing like me. She always used to wear a Tee shirt, shorts, and her hair down to rehearsal, but lately she’s been wearing Sports bras, leggings, and pulls her hair into a braid. Just like me. She used to march around saying she hates the color pink (She’s a major tom boy), but now she wears it saying it suits her. She even bought my perfume. I thought it was weird, but I didn’t say anything cause I’ll be gone within a week anyways because of Graduation.
She was starting to really piss me off when she would make comments like “Avery look we both have a pimple on our cheek.” I’m extremely insecure about acne. She knows this. She would say things like “our cycles are synced it’s like our bodies are the same person.” “We’re both on our 15th set of invisalign. Our teeth are getting straighter together.”
Yesterday I was getting ready for a banquet with Lucy and some other girls from the team. It’s all fun and games till Lucy pulls out almost the exact same dress as me. There is no way she wasn’t trying to copy. I was going for a Audrey Hepburn look with a black dress, gloves, pearls, and Prada sunglasses. Lucy pulls out a shorter black dress, gloves, pearls, black sunglasses. She then exclaimed “Omg twin we’re gonna look so good. It’s almost like great minds think alike or something. People won’t even be able to tell us apart.”
I was livid to say the least. She knew I had been planing on that outfit since last banquet. I let it go it was my senior banquet it was fine. I take photos with everyone and she’s doing her thing when she puts her arm around my boyfriend’s shoulder. I immediately stand up from our banquet table and grab her arm swinging it off him. She said “Sorry I thought it would be a cute picture cause he’s dressed to match us.” I cut her off and said “No Lucy he’s dressed to match me. I’m not sure what you think your doing wanting to become me and comparing yourself to me, but it needs to stop.” She then rolls her eyes and slumps in her chair. She mumbled under her breath “I don’t look like you. You look like me. Get it right. You’re so obsessed.”
I started to yell at her “You don’t look like me. Not even a little bit. Your eyes are blue and mine are green. Your hair is brown while mine is blonde. Your nose slopes down and mine slopes up at the end. Your chin is slightly pointed and my sticks out. My eyes are almond while yours are hooded. I’m 5’11 and you’re 5’3. Your boobs are bigger than mine. My feet are bigger than yours. We do not look alike.”
At this point everyone is looking at us. Most people know what i’m getting at cause they asked me days ago why she was copying me. Lucy starts to cry called me some names and ran off. I cut the night short and went home. I told my mom in the morning and she told me I should’ve let Lucy live out her fantasy for a week till I graduate. A couple of friends of Lucy have texted me and called me an Asshole. But I don’t think I am.
Am I the Asshole?

I’m looking for a children’s book I had in the 90’s in Australia during my childhood. Each page was fully coloured and well illustrated.
The closest I can find online is a book called “The Book Of Witches” by Ruth Manning Sanders, and I think I remember my book having a similar title to this.
However, from what I can see online, this doesn’t seem to be the same book. The illustrations are different and so is the collection of stories inside..
A few stories I remember that were in there were: The Old Witch, & The Six Swans.. and there was a rhyme or a song near the front of the book about Witches celebrating Halloween, and dancing around a pumpkin patch under a full moon.
The cover was illustrated in dark, bold colours (purple and black from memory) and I’m pretty sure it had Witches, a Cauldron and trees on the front.
It was a very well illustrated book with a collection of classic fairy tales. Brothers Grimm etc. And from memory each one featured a witch.
The book also contained a few pages of rhymes / poems etc about witches that were not connected to a fairy tale but just featured as pages in the book.

Okay so some background info: I broke up with my boyfriend of 1 year a month ago in April. March 30th was the last time i saw him and we had unprotected sex that day where I also took a plan b the same day. Exactly a week after on April 6th i started spot bleeding but it was a little heavier than I thought. I had to wear a panty liner and bled through those and used a real pad like the last 2 or so days. The spot bleeding went on for about 3-5 days I would guess. I thought on my period app i was supposed to get my period April 20th so I just thought I’d wait until then. I never ended up getting my period in April. I started thinking that maybe the spot bleeding on April 6th was actually my period forced to come early. So after I missed my period April 20th I took 3 pregnancy tests within the next 3 weeks which was over 21 days after I took the pill and had unprotected sex. Each of those tests a week apart were negative. I thought I was fine and am still currently waiting to get my period for May.
Flash forward to last night, I ended up having unprotected sex multiple times with an ex I used to date and not the same guy I had just broken up with. When I was on top of him having sex he came pretty quick but I didn’t notice. He pulled me up I think so he wouldn’t cum inside of me but I sat back down and had his cum on the outside of my vagina and the outskirts near my leg. I was obviously freaked out because of sitting in the semen but he said he pulled out so it didn’t go all the way in and just on the outside because I sat down. Anyways after the sex I wiped the cum off of me and he fingered me too which I don’t know if that was risky either since I already wiped it off. I ended up taking another plan b today since my last one in march. I still haven’t got my period yet for May or at all since the first plan b I took and now I am scared it’s going to screw my period up even more from taking a second pill today. I am not on birth control either and I trust both men to pull out which is why I choose to have unprotected sex. But that is not relevant to the question - do you think after having 3 negative pregnancy tests from my most recent boyfriend in April could mean I’m pregnant? and also, do you think from what happened last night and sitting in the semen even after taking plan b could give me a high risk of pregnancy? If anyone can give any insight or advice to when I should test again/explore options please let me know!!!!

ive been pulling for 8/7 years now and i’ve only started discovering things that help me not pull, for instance one is putting the inside of my wrist on the spot where I usually pull. what are other weird ways or things that help you not pull???