So I came across a post recently, where the person asked what we would want in a warrior's game, and it got me to remember a document I had made ages ago now regarding that. Now warning, this post is extremely long, and much of what I've written down probably isn't possible to achive (I'm no game develouper). But if you're curious, and find something you like on this list that's do-able, then feel free to run with it, cause I would love to see this in action. (Sorry for any weird spelling/grammar, this is my second language).
Character Creation:
Breed:
-Pureblood.
-Mixed between 2 (choose which trait you want from which breed).
-A specific breed with some minor differences/changes, due to mix breeding.
-A mix of several breeds (from 6 to 10 different breeds, choosing between which trait/look you want from which breed).
-Normal house cat (breeds unknown/unrecognizable/unimportant, free to choose whatever looks/traits from whatever breed).
Fur:
Patterns:
-Single color (with/without different areas with lightedarker markings).
-Single color, except for one, partly or fully, different colored body part.
-Two colors (choose where you want which color to be and the size and shape of the different colors).
-Tabby (choose if the markings are paler or darker in color compared to the main, solid one): Spotted, Classic, Mackerel, Ticked, Patched Tabby markings (in regards to the patched tabby, the player can choose where they want which color to be and the size and shape of the patched areas).
-Multi Colored: Tortoiseshell (bridled, patched), Calico (traditional, dilute, patched tabby). The player can choose where they want which color to be and the size and shape.
-Color Points: Lynx, Seal-Mink, Seal-Point, Seal-Solid.
Colors: Amber, light amber, smoke, black, blue, caramel, caramel 2, chocolate, lilac, cinnamon, fawn, light brown, red, ginger, cream, apricot, orange, white.
-Albino (half or full).
Choose realistic or unrealistic color patterns/combinations (unrealistic = the colors themselves are realistic ones that naturally show up in cats, but the colopattern combinations that can be mixed together aren’t).
Volume, Amount, Length, Appearance:
-Thick, dense, thin.
-Long, medium, short.
-Curly, glossy, wirehair, normal, fluffy.
-Extra fur around the neck, between toes and inside/on top of ears.
-Double layer coat.
-Hairless.
Build:
-Height: Small, big, normal, between small/normal and normal/big (a bar the player can slide to adjust the size).
-Shape: Skinny, lean, sturdy, muscular.
Looks:
Eyes:
-Color: Gray, yellow-gray, blue-gray, blue, blue-green, green, hazel, yellow, amber, orange, brown, red.
-In each: The same color in both eyes, complete heterochromia, sectoral heterochromia in both eyes, one eye with complete heterochromia and one with sectoral heterochromia.
-Shape: Almond, round, oval.
Nose:
-Shape: Flat, normal.
-Color(s).
Whiskers:
-Length.
-Shape: Straight, curly.
Legs:
Length: Hind legs can be longer than the front legs or all 4 can be of the same length.
Tail:
-Length.
-Look: Plump, feathery, thin, bushy or stumpy/bobbed.
-Tailless.
Ears:
-Size.
-Shape: Rounded, folded, floppy, loosely folded, curled (from 90 to 180 degrees), straight.
Shoulders:
-Size: Broad or normal.
Face:
-Shape: Flat (mild, moderate, profound, severe), round, triangle, square.
Scars: Choose the length, shape, how visible they are, where they are, the amount. (Some will show up after battle practice, and the others after fighting).
Mutation:
Face: Half the player character’s face is a darker color, the other half is a lighter one (the player can choose the two colors).
Paws:
-Split-foot (syndactyly).
-Extra number of toes - only front paws, or with back legs as well - , 4 to 7 on each (Polydactyly).
-Thumb-cat - 1 or more extra toes around the dew claw specifically - (Polydactyly).
Pelt: Vitiligo (players can choose between a spotted pattern, whole areas turning white, or both, and how much of the white color takes over).
Ears: Four ears.
Tail: Shortened and kinked (japanese bobtail gene), no tail (manx tailless gene).
Size: Dwarfism (dwarf cat gene).
Others:
-Missing body part.
-Reduced or complete loss of hearing or vision (one eaeye can also be completely gone - senses vice - while another is reduced, one eaeye can be gone/reduced while the other one is working, one ear and one eye each can be gone/reduced, and both eyes and both ears be gone/reduced. Although, I must admit, I have no idea how it would work gameplay vice if a character is completely blind and deaf, or has one eye/ear with reduced vision/hearing while the other 3 are completely gone).
Any missing/partly missing body part, mutation or reduced/complete loss of the senses will make the game harder and can cause the player character to go through a special training arc.
Other Choices:
Clan. (Player’s choice, or take an in-game test with the possibility of getting more than 1 clan as an answer - making the player a half-clan cat if they go with that, with the clan they got the highest percentage of being the clan the character is born in).
Blood ties: Full blooded, half-blooded cats (the player can choose what trait/skills they want from each clan. It will cause the player character to have a longer apprenticeship in order to prove the player character’s loyalty and dedication as gaining the trust of their fellow clanmates will be harder).
The half-clan option can lead to several different possible outcomes for the parents, the player character and siblings depending on how the player played the game and how well and how many in-game characters trust and like the player character unless the player chooses something specific. The player can also choose how far back in the family tree the half-clan blood runs and who (if only one) of the parents has it.
Family situation:
-If the player character’s parents live in different clans, if one of them moved to the other’s, if they’re still together and if they get along or not, if one or both of them found another mate, and if they end up switching clans at some point during the playthrough.
-Whether the player character grows up with their mother’s or father’s clan (if the parent’s lives in different clans. The game will provide the player character with a foster mother and siblings if the player chooses the father’s clan).
-If the player character grows up with siblings, and whether or not none, some of or all of their siblings live with the player character (if the parent’s live in different clans), and if the player character knows about their other siblings - and if the siblings knows about them, or only the siblings know - if they do live in different clans.
-The player can also choose if their character and clan knows or is unaware about the fact that they are half-clan (the player can also choose if only the clan or only the player character is aware/unaware of it).
-Parent(s) with half-blood (what traits they have from each clan, and if they’re in one of the clans they have blood ties to, or in one of the other three. If they are in one of the other clans this will give the player the opportunity to add traits from said third clan to their character, deciding how many/few traits the player character gets from each clan, as long as one of the player character’s other parent has blood ties to the third clan).
Most traits from=check off 6 boxes, some traits from=check off 4 boxes, few traits from=check off 2 boxes. In case of half-clans the player can check off 6 boxes from each side/clans, or remove some from one side and spend them on the other. If both parents have blood from the same clan, that clan/side has to be what the player character has the most filled out boxes from.
-What role the player character’s parents have (including being a medicine cat. The different roles affect how the player character is treated).
Character vice:
-Gender.

• The Medicine cat path.
  
• The Warrior path.
  
• If the player character ends up becoming leader or not.
  
• The player character’s voice.
  

-The player character’s name (either the whole name or just the first part, in which case the second part will be given based on your dialogue choices/reputation and what specific skill(s) the player character excels at).
-Choose what the player wants their character to be honored for during the full name ceremony or have the game choose based on the player character’s game-play/performance (same with what lives the player character receives if they become clan leader).
Likes/Dislikes/Preferences, player character vice and npc vice:
-Fur color(s)/pattern, eye color, build, gender and personality regarding npc’s.
-Sayings/expressions.
-Rival clans.
-Other ranks within the clan.
-Half-clan cats.
-Places.
-Prey.
-Weather.
-Seasons.
How player character feels about:
-Rouges/loners/kittypets.
-The opposite gender.
-Different personalities.
These choices will affect the dialog options in the game.
After finishing the game the 1st time, the player will be able to go to the menu and choose one of the special powers mentioned in the series (maybe also some new ones) to give to your character. The player can also go into the menu and change it during the play-through if they want. And they can choose to play as a character from the Warriors series.
Possibly other choices:
-The personality of the player character’s parents (if they stay close or grow distant/cold towards the player character. What they feel about their former mate, if they still see the player character as their kit, or regret having them).
-The looks of the player character’s parents (unless they’re the foster family).
-The looks of the player character’s siblings (unless they’re the foster family).
-Number of siblings (unless they’re the foster family).
-The sibling’s names (unless they’re the foster family).
-The sibling’s genders (unless they’re the foster family).
-The personality of the siblings (unless they’re the foster family).
-The future position of the siblings (unless they’re the foster family).
-If the player character and the siblings are half-clan, what traits each of them got from the other clan(s).
-If the player character or one of the siblings are the player character’s parent’s favorite or if everyone gets equal attention/love (regardless if they’re the foster family or not).
-How the player character’s siblings feel about one another and the player character. Who’s their favorite sibling to hang out with, who they don’t get as well along with, if any (regardless if they’re the foster family or not).
-If the player character and the siblings are half-clan, what they feel about being half-clan, what they feel about the way the clan treats them and if they want to, and if they end up, switching clans.
-If one or both of the parents passes away and when (before birth, during your character’s kit-hood, as an apprenticeship, afteshortly after becoming a warrior), giving the player the possibility of being in a clan that mostly don’t trust the player character, with only the player character’s siblings for comfort if the player chose the “parents in different clans” option (if the player choose for both of the parents to pass away or the mom while the player character lives in their clan while the player character is a kit, the game will give the player a foster family).
-An option for it being certain and one for being uncertain about whether or not all of the player character’s siblings survive into adulthood/survive long enough to become elders, and whether or not the player character’s parent(s) survives long enough to become an elder.
-Having the option to start the second playthrough as a kittypet, loner or rogue (full, or part kittypet/rogue, kittypet/clan cat, rogue/clancat, lonekittypet, lonerogue, loneclancat). The player can choose if they encounter the clan through positive or negative reasons. Choose at what age the player character meets the clan. Choose whether the player character’s siblings, all of them or just some, choose to join the clan as well and if they choose to join the same or want to join a different clan.
-Choose which season (and possibly time of day/night) the player character is born in.
-A button that randomly picks every choice the player can make in the “Other Choices and Possibly other choices“ part (apart from the Character vice, Likes/dislikes/preferences and How player character feels about part of the list).
-A button that randomly picks every choice the player can make in the “Character vice, Likes/dislikes/preferences and How player character feels about” parts specifically.
-A button that randomly picks every choice the player can make in the “Character Creation” part.
-A button that randomly picks every choice the player can make in the “Mutation” part.
-A button that randomly picks every choice the player can make.
Every randomize button also gives the player the option to cross out boxes that they don’t want checked off, as well as check off boxes that they do want to specifically get chosen.
-A peace mode where the player can walk around and enjoy the territory without the risk of enemies/events, and possibly the other clan’s territories and camp, watching the in-game characters walk around, performing tasks and interacting with each other without the risk of getting attacked/hurt.
Game-play:
The Warrior Apprentice Path:
-Learn about the warrior code.
-Learn about the territory and its layout-how to use it to the player character’s advantage.
-Learn about predators and how to fight them or stay hidden from them.
-Look for, discover and learn about different tracks and track them.
-Learn about prey and how to detect, sneak up on and catch them as different prey requires different techniques.
-Learn where the borders are.
-Learn where scent marks are.
-Mark the territory.
-Learn to look for signs that someone has crossed the border and/or taken prey from the player character’s clan’s side.
-Master different battle techniques, learning when to attack and defend and what technique the player character can/should use when.
-Train and specialize in player character’s clan abilities:
ThundeShadow/SkyClan: Tree climbing.
ThunderClan: Moving/sneaking through heavy/thick undergrowth.
Shadow/Wind/RiveSkyClan: Sneaking in more open/exposed areas.
ShadowClan: Special night lessons.
RiverClan: Swimming and fishing lessons and fighting in water.
WindClan: Races and obstacle course.
SkyClan: Jumping/leaping lessons.
-Learn and detect the different scents of prey and predators, if it’s stale or fresh, and what kind of prey/predator it is, rivaling clans, dogs, two-legs and non-clan cats.
-Learn how to deal with cats waiting at the border.
-Collect moss and water.
-Fixing dens and nests.
-Removing ticks.
-Keep guard outside the player character clan’s camp (After the first playthrough the player can go into the menu and shorten the amount of time it will take).
-Learn about the important cats from rival clans (leader, deputy, medicine cat, medicine cat apprentice), their scent and their clan’s specialties and weaknesses, and how to best beat them.
-Protect the kits and elders during camp raids.
-Travel with the player character’s mentor to the Moonstone and survive in the area outside the player character’s clan territory (Scripted so that different things can happen on different trips, so two trips in a row is rarely the same. After the first playthrough the player can go into the menu and shorten the amount of time the journey will take).
-Race to the camp to warn the player character’s clan leader about surprise attacks, possibly outrunning a pursuer.
-Attend Gatherings and meet and mingle with other apprentices and make sure not to give anything important away.
-Train/fight against the player character’s fellow denmates while inside camp.
-Bring prey to queens and elders.
-Pass the warrior assignment (skippable).
After the first playthrough the player can choose from the menu to skip the parts where the player character learns about the territory, detecting/tracking/finding, prey and predators, hunting ,scent marks/borders, fighting/ battle techniques, cats waiting at the border and trespassers/signs of it, shortening the player’s time as an apprentice.
The Medicine Cat Apprentice Path:
-Learn about the medicine cat code.
-Learn about the territory and its layout-knowing where to find which herb and when they grow/are in season.
-Master basic battle techniques and when to use which.
-Attend Gatherings.
-Learn the scent of different herbs, predators and other cats and how to detect them.
-Learn the names of different herbs.
-Learn what the herbs look like.
-Learn what the different herbs do.
-Learn how to prepare different herbs.
-Learn how to make poultices.
-Learn what’s dangerous and not.
-Learn about different complications and stuff that can go wrong and what to do.
-Learn how to heal different wounds (keeping infection away), diseases and poisons.
-Learn to recognize symptoms for different diseases and keep it from spreading.
-Travel to the Moonstone (Scripted so that different things can happen on different trips, so two trips in a row is rarely the same. After the first playthrough the player can go into the menu and shorten the amount of time the journey will take).
-Receive dreams/warnings/prophecies/omens from StarClan.
-Learn to assist queens giving birth.
-Learn how to deal with different patients.
-Make sure the plants don’t get destroyed or rot.
-Assist and go over the player character’s clanmates after a battle.
After the first playthrough the player can choose from the menu to skip the parts where the player character learns about the different herbs, injuries, illnesses, territory, fighting, kitting, predators, detecting, poultices, complications, preparation and prevention, shortening the player’s time as an apprentice.
The Warrior Path:
-Pick up interesting news and whispers at Gatherings without getting detected.
-Stand guard duty at night and after the player character receives their full name (Skippable, but the player can also, after the first playthrough, go into the menu and shorten the amount of time those nights will take).
-Lead patrols and decide where to hunt.
-Report back to the leader about any events outside of camp.
-Become a mentor (the player can ask for a specific kit. Mentorship is partly skippable: ceremony - both for the player character’s apprentice apprentices and warrior ceremony and assignment, as well as teaching the player character’s apprentice about territory, detecting/tracking/finding, prey and predators, hunting ,scent marks/borders, fighting/ battle techniques, cats waiting at the border and trespassers/signs of it).
-Make sure the player character’s clan has enough prey.
-Help the player character’s clan through battles and harsh seasons.
-If the player wants to find a mate and start a family, name some of the kits and watch them grow into warriors or a medicine cat.
-Go to other clans in times of war and ask for assistance.
-Join a patrol led by the player character’s leader to another clan’s camp.
-Help find lost kits.
-Rush to help during a border fight.
-Deal with trespassing non-clan cats or predators.
-Perform escort missions.
-Do side quests like playing with kits, rebuild/enforce dens and the camp wall, help out friends within or outside the clan and learn about their past, dreams and secrets.
-Share tongue with the in-game characters.
-Build the player character’s reputation and popularity and increase the chances of them getting chosen as deputy.
-Take the player character’s apprentice to Gatherings and tell them about other cats.
-Take the player character’s apprentice to the Moonstone (Scripted so that different things can happen on different trips, so two trips in a row is rarely the same. After the first playthrough the player can go into the menu and shorten the amount of time the journey will take).
-Go on missions from StarClan.
-Guard any potionsoal prisoners.
The Deputy Path:
-Organize patrols (skippable, in which case the game will pick random npc’s).
-Report to and stand by the clan leader.
-Go on behalf of the clan leader to the gathering, or to deliver important messages to the other clans.
-Step in whenever the clan leader is away from camp.
Ceremony skippable.
The Leader Path:
-Go to the Moonstone and receive 9 lives (skippable, in which case the game will choose what lives the player character gets based on the actions they have taken and who they have supported).
-Choose the clan’s new deputy (skippable, in which case the game will pick the most suitable npc based on the in-game character’s personalities. But, the player can also have the game choose among only certain npc’s based on the player’s specific preferences, like: a cat that can challenge them, a cat that stands by them, a cat the player can teach/mold themselves, a cat that doesn’t need any guidance/help within the new role).
-Make decisions affecting just the player character’s clan or several.
-Get help and guidance from the medicine cat and elders.
-Travel to the other camps to discuss clan matters with that clan’s leader.
-Convince the npc’s about the decisions the player character made.
-Handle any negative feedback from the player character’s decisions, the player character’s popularity (both in the player character’s own and the other clans), and face any challenges about the player character’s leadership.
-Give reports at Gatherings (the player chooses how much they want to tell and what they want to hold back) and solve any possible outbursts.
-Listen to and decide what to do with rival clan cats or non-clan cats coming into the camp.
-Make sure the warrior code is being followed and punish rule breakers accordingly after hearing their explanation, if the player finds that necessary.
-Enter StarClan and receive tips, guidance, encouragement or comfort when the player character loses one of their 9 lives depending on what claimed one of their lives (skippable).
-Hold apprentice ceremonies and assign mentors (skippable, in which case the game will assign the newly made apprentice a mentor).
-Give warriors their full name and choose what to honor them for based on the reports from their mentors (skippable, in which case the game will choose a name based on the npc’s actions/personality).
-Guide and boost the warriors’ spirits during challenging/harsh times.
-Negotiate with rival clan leaders for the safe return of any imprisoned clanmates.
The Medicine Cat Path:
-Make sure there are enough herbs.
-Make sure the herbs are fresh.
-Keep as many of the player character’s clanmates as safe as possible during outbreaks and take precautions.
-Give advice to other medicine cats and/or pick up tips.
-Go to another clan and help their medicine cat (bringing herbs if necessary).
-Pick the herbs that might be needed before leaf-bare kicks in.
-Make sure the player character’s have enough herbs before a planned battle.
-Walk with the cats in StarClan, asking them for advice/guidance.
-Help elders and kits through leaf-bare.
-Make sure the player character’s clanmates get what they need in both herbs and knowledge before going on a long journey.
-Go to the Moonstone with the clan’s newly appointed leader (skippable).
-Get through a hard season with only a few herbs (be it having many different ones but few in numbers of each, many in numbers but few in types, or both few types and low in number.
-Race out of camp to help seriously injured clancats, cats who have accidentally eaten something poisonous, or queens giving birth too early.
-Break heavy news and comfort life changing, seriously injured or ill cats (or family members/mates of mentioned cats), and help train them back up again if recovery is possible/if they survive.
-Prepare fallen clanmates on their way to StarClan (skippable).
-Become the clan’s sole medicine cat (skippable).
-Train an apprentice and give them their full name based on their performance (skippable, in which case the game will choose a name based on the in-game character’s actions. Mentorship is partly skippable: ceremony - both for the player character’s apprentice apprentices and full medicine cat name ceremony, as well as teaching the player character’s apprentice about herbs, injuries, illnesses, territory, fighting, kitting, predators, detecting, poultices, complications, preparation and prevention).
-Help the player character’s clanmates keep faith in StarClan during times of crises.
-Join the player character’s clan leader and clanmates on trips to enemy camps as a show of peace/good faith.
-Share tongue with the in-game characters.
-Take the player character’s apprentice to Gatherings and tell them about other cats.
-Take the player character’s apprentice to the Moonstone every half moon (Scripted so that different things can happen on different trips, so two trips in a row is rarely the same. After the first playthrough you can go into the menu and shorten the amount of time the journey will take).
-Receive omens/prophecies/warnings, and find out which cat/event/clan it refers to.
Small side game:
-The player can play as the spirit of the player’s character, hunting and exploring StarClan or The Dark Forest.
-Get to meet and know the other clan cats the player might not have gotten a chance to in the main game.
-Look over the clan, the next generation in the player character’s family and how they’re doing.
-Visit the player character’s descendants in their dreams.
-Walk around the player character’s old clan camp, and its new members, invisible (and listen in on what kind of stories the player character’s predecessors are telling about them).
-Pass on prophecies/guidance/warnings/omens.
-Take part in meetings between fellow StarClan cats and decide what is best to do for the clans.
-Meet old, famous cats.
-Be part of the 9 cats that give a clan leader their extra lives (the player can choose what the life they give is for).
The Elder Path:
-Telling kits-possibly the player character’s grand or great-grand kits, stories about the player character’s life.
-Spend time and share tongue with the player character’s mate and/or fellow den mates that made it into their senior years.
-Roam freely through the territory whenever.
-Take fallen warriors to the burial place and help bury them.
-Based on the player character’s dialogue/options, the player character can either pass away during a raid on the camp, defending their clan members one last time, or pass away in their sleep during peaceful times.
-A cut scene plays out where the player character hears the voices of old clanmates calling them, and their spirit stands up and walks upwards towards the starry sky.
-As the camera goes from the ground to the sky (birdseye view), the player sees the player character’s clan leader give their speech about the player character at their vigil, and then after zooming further up, the player hears the player character’s clan leader informing the other clans of the player character’s passing during the next Gathering, before the player start playing as a StarClan/Dark Forest cat.
The Kit path:
-Spend some time exploring the camp, playing, make friends, practicing the hunter's crouch, leaping, surprise attacks and wrestling, meeting clanmates and listen to the elder’s stories (after the first playthrough the player can go into the menu and reduce the amount of time the player’s new character(s) spends as a kit).
-If the player character’s spend some time with a specific warrior the odds of that cat becoming the player character’s mentor increases.
-Go through the player character’s apprentice ceremony (skippable).
Playthrough:
-Starts with the player character’s opening their eyes for the first time.
-Encounter different cats outside the player character’s territory.
-During hunting or stealth/sneaking mode make sure not to step on or brush against anything that can make sound or move giving away the player character’s position.
-Make sure the wind is towards the player character, and keep to the shadows if possible.
-Activate a “scent mode”, where the player character gets to see everything in different colors, each color representing a scent (the amount of it telling how old or new it is).
-The player character’s get points based on how well the player character hunts, fights and helps out inside the clan, and if the player character’s do well enough the player character gets taken to Gatherings.
-Getting caught breaking the code will result in punishment.
-Stay a clan cat, switch clan, become a loner, rogue or kittypet (which can cause the player character’s to not end up in StarClan/The Dark Forest).
-The game ends with the player character joining StarClan or The Dark Forest after a lifetime (or 9).
-How your clanmates remember the player character will be based on the player’s choices, how well the player played, and how much they learned.
After the first playthrough the player can choose to start with their new character as a newly made apprentice or warrior (starting with the ceremony).
Other stuff in the game:
-Day/night and seasons cycle.
-Easy, normal, though, challenging and random mode. Makes it so that events such as outbreaks of different illnesses, different natural disasters, harsh/long seasons, prey shortage (and prey getting poisoned/contaminated), conflict/tension, invading forces (other clans/groups of cats/animals), low number of warriors/shortage of new kits being born, losing territory, two/three rival clans joining together to face off against your character’s clan, clanmate(s) trying to overthrow and take over leadership of the player character’s clan, and wars happen a specific amount of time within each mode.
Easy: 0-2 things.
Normal: 3-5 things.
Though: 6-8 things.
Challenging: 9-11 things.
Random lvl button: The game picks (same with the other randomize buttons, the player can cross out the challenge lvl the player doesn't want to be included).
Random events list: Allows the player to cross out events they don’t want to happen, and check off events they specially do want to encounter, before picking a lvl/clicking the random lvl button.
-The player character could end up being taken prisoner if they’re found sneaking around inside another clan’s territory. The player will either have to try to escape, or wait until their clan sacrifices something for the player character’s return.
-If the player character ends up getting too many punishments from getting caught breaking the warrior code too many times, the whole clan can grow to distrust, and eventually, even kick the player character out.
-If npc’s finds the player character on their territory alone often, that rival clan will be on a look out, more hostile/aggressive towards, and talk about/discuss the player character in a negative way during Gatherings (this could have a negative effect on a patrol if the player character is part of a patrol traveling to an enemy camp).
-If the player character has a good reputation, enemy warriors will respect and enemy apprentices might look up to and admire the player character and talk in an positive light and exited way about the player character at Gatherings (this could have a positive effect on a patrol if the player character is part of a patrol traveling to an enemy camp).
-Kits could end up playing pretend as the player character regardless of the distrust/trusted status.
-Follow an evil route and the player character could end up becoming a scary story that keeps disobedient kits inside their dens at night/inside their camp.
-Follow a good route and the player character could end up becoming a popular and exciting bedtime story for the kits.
Stuff that could possibly be different between each playthrough:
-Different cats could end up becoming mates and different she-cats can become queens (also resulting in different kits being born).
-Different characters could end up dying or be named deputy if the player character isn’t.
-Different cats could start off as leaders.
-Different cats could end up being leaders, medicine cats, medicine cat apprentices, and warrior apprentices could have different mentors.
-StarClan can send new, or no, prophecies/warnings.
-Npc’s could keep their personality/alliance throughout the playthroughs, or end up changing, depending on: If they fall in love with an outsider or rival clan member. Who they follow. If they have something against the leadethe way the leader leads the clan, or the player character. What happens to them throughout their lives.
-The leader could turn evil and try to prove the clan’s strength and glory through endless battles, try to drive off one of the other clans, or try to merge several clans into one (and this could be challenges the player character could end up facing if they become the leader).
-The medicine cat could lose faith in or be angry at StarClan, and use their powers/knowledge against the clan or to shatter other npc’s faith in StarClan.
It will be up to the player character to help prevent/solve these npc/leademedicine cat events. The player will have the option to choose if these specific events can happen or not during their different playthroughs.
-Different npc’s could end up trying to befriend, fall for and become rivals (both friendly and non friendly) the player character. This could give npc’s from a playthrough where they weren’t in focus/as important more depth/personality.
There could also possibly be a list over the different npc’s, where the player can cross off if a/some specific npc(‘s) should be more in focus/more important during their playthroughs, and what specific role that/those npc/’s will play.
If the player makes several characters, the player can see them in camp, and on the territory if they’re in the same clan, or during border patrols, Gatherings, attacks, or if they arrive in the player’s current character’s camp with their leader if they’re in different.
Controls:
-The view could be behind/over the shoulder, or through the player character’s eyes, or both switching freely.
-Fighting, battle training, tree climbing, fishing, swimming, leaping, pouncing on prey and obstacle course could be a combination of using the moving buttons and mouse or button clicking).
-The player can save and switch characters whenever they want.
DLC or Sequel:
-At a young age, the player character, and their siblings and mother spot a group of strange cats traveling from the mountains to the moorland and forest area not far from the two-leg place, where the player character’s family lives as loners.
-The player character’s mother makes sure the player character stays well away from them, as blood is suddenly being shed over newly made borders and the prey within, kin attacking kin over the right for space and having prey in their mouths.
-When the player character’s mother passes, the player character must make a choice. Try to survive on their own, or join this strange, rouge group of cats?
-Will the player character stay in the group or leave and try to fend for themselves?
-Does the player character switch alliances to a different group, or do they stay with the group that took the player character in when no one else might have had?
-Learn a new way of life and survival depending on where the player choose to live.
-Try to survive and get enough prey through leaf-bare as hostile strangers and hungry rivaling groups eye the player character’s prey.
-Help keep the campmates safe by helping them fight off intruders with the goal of chasing the player character’s group off.
-Get through harsh seasons and fight off dogs, foxes and badgers.
-Learn how to heal campmates with herbs or help them by training kits and gathering prey.
-Attend their meeting every full moon and learn their history (as a tribe or their personal one) and about the other groups.
-Find a mate, start a family, and fight to protect and keep them alive through storms and diseases.
-Watch them grow into independent adults and expand the family tree.
-Walk in the paw steps of the mysterious mountain cats and become a true wild cat and a part of the early 5 clans.
-A cut-scene at the end of the DLC/Sequel will play, showing the player’s 1st character, or the/one of the character(s) from the same clan the player character is in in this DLC/Sequel, from the main/1st game, as a kit in the nursery, being told a story about one of their earliest ancestors, the character the player just played, in modern ThundeShadow/Wind/RiveSkyClan.

Traditionally I've been strictly a shorts and T-shirt/short-sleeve henley kind of guy for almost my entire wardrobe, barring some dress clothes. Recently though, I've been wanting to expand into new styles. However, I've been struggling on a number of fronts.
Firstly, I've struggled with the fit on a lot of what I've tried out so far. I'm 6'1" and about 245lb and while I'm down 100lbs from several years ago, I will never have a thin body type (even when I'm in shape I just have a thick frame). So, I find that I struggle a lot getting the right size across the chest and shoulders, without going up another size, which I often ends up looking like I'm swimming in it. The shirts will fit if I stand still, but if I try to move my arms up even a little, it starts feeling super tight across the chest, shoulders, and upper back, and the bottom of the shirt rises with my arms significantly (can't even reach out for a handshake without showing off the bottom of my stomach with some of them 😅). Meanwhile, I have some expensive dress shirts and cheap t-shirts/henleys where it's not a problem at all. So I don't know if it's something I need to be mindful of with the tailoring or what.
Second, I run wicked hot and my body is like a furnace; so any attempts to wear layers, or anything but super light materials leaves me a hot sweaty mess (hence the prior exclusive shorts and short-sleeve shirts haha).
Finally, I just find a lot of men's fashion styles seem really boring or repetitive. It just feels like there's not a lot of varied options out there and it all kinda breaks down into the same groupings: button-ups (plain or with plaid/striped patterns) or polos for tops, and chinos or jeans for bottoms. I feel like women can just have a lot more fun with designing their outfits with the huge variety they have.

I have recently evolved my beliefs in the last 5-6 years where I no longer consider myself religious, in regards to religious beliefs while also just considering myself spiritual.
I do not follow a title of what I am or anything, but believe in my soul that it's important to do meaningful celebrations and traditions that align with my lifestyle, values, personal beliefs in order to honor my personhood and a healthy balance of ensuring I don't self-abandon myself.
I don't want to put myself into a box ever again, so I just focus on being intuned with myself.
I now think that life is just way too short to do stuff just because that's how you were raised or was taught to do.
I've overcome a lot of religious abuse as well as the mindset in which I was raised and that of my origin family. Some of my most traumatic life experiences happened on the account of my 'upbringing', the beliefs I was raised to believe, a result of religious abuse and generational trauma, where those dogmatic scriptures, beliefs and texts led me to continually go down roads that did not protect me for the simple fact that they pushed 'self-sacrifice' and 'religious-pleasing lifestyles' that do not compliment, protect, and support positive outcomes for women, and sometimes children. I was taught to just do it because that's what the religion inspires, or what the social constructs say to do.
It did not help that I just didn't know any better-I've let go the regret of this innocent ignorance and grief that it initially brought on. Looking back, I cringe at the decisions, choices, and 'enduring' I had survived from that awful upbringing-I now recognize that as, the 'hidden abuse' for a good internal family image-that I too was not aware of until recently, and just the disgusting dysfunctional family dynamic that has revealed itself since I've started to slash those generational curses.
I was abused by one parent growing up by the way, and told the other who did nothing but 'took ME to my extended family's church'. They never stopped it, protected me or stood up for me. Now, much later in adulthood I'm realizing that both of them were abusive, just in different ways and I understand my psycho-emotional disconnect from them and my origin family in general because I spoke up when it happened, even later in early adulthood and I never realized their pattern of describing me as 'dramatic' or continually trying to treat me like a child despite my very grown-up adult age, were and is their way of trying to force suppression of my voice, diminish the truth, protect the original abuser, ignore my independence, growth, healness, and strength I've done the work to cultivate.
My other siblings are dismissive and become extremely argumentative or defensive of our 'loving parents' with any mention of how we grew up, or verbally attack me/talk about me to other family members like I'm the one with the issues with any effort I put forth to ask questions of why and to hold them accountable, or to just disassociate with an image I know is false, have my own life and live truly as a loving and peaceful person, or even just enforce the boundaries that I need that provide safety and continual psycho, emotional, mental, and antimanipulative protection.
I've finally realized that my growth, healness, counseling and the completion of my adult therapy program was and is a threat to the fake image they've all created after all these years. I did not tell them that I've done the work and have finally woke up from this reality due to therapy, because they just make stuff up and don't know that I know they talk about me behind my back. They don't know my current life business and just speculate and make up rumors and assumptions about me and what I have going on or why I'm 'acting' the way I'm 'acting' as truth, without ever even trying to even talk to me, the others just assume much of their revelation as 'truth', which is really just lies-misconstrued info-completely made up speculation presented as triangulation and 'the truth-.
I am at peace, extremely successful and have overcome many things that would typically break the average person. Any reinforcement of boundaries, standing up for myself or attempt to distance myself from my parents since realizing how f'd up they did me when this was happening-even with my forgiving them for this throughout my life.
However, the older I get, when they continue to display the same patterns that were present during the abuse, now, including the thought of why did I even allow them a relationship with me in my life as an adult-because I get so disgusted with even the thought I'd ever allow a child to be abused by my spouse and let alone, stay married to them for decades afterwards. I can't believe I invited them to my wedding and we were the 'loving' bride's side...why was I so like "this is my family and we love each other, we're a close happy family" in my adulthood so long still? Until I woke up? There's so much I've since resolved with my therapist and have done the work to heal from-these are just questions to share the process I went through for insight. Also---It's really pathetic when I think about how different of a compassionate and truly loving person that I've become. I couldn't even fathom allowing abuse in my life or anything even remotely close to it or especially to be done to a CHILD...but here's more of how all my realizations have led me to where I am now:
I am SO glad that I am the VERY manifestation of 'WHEN you know BETTER, you DO better'...oh how the magicalness and bravery of individuals like Maya Angelou, Terrance Howard, and other past/currently alive ascended masters, who did and are leaving the breadcrumbs that nourish the souls of humanity on Earth today... The awakening and true freedom of thought and consciousness of myself has not only changed, but has elevated my existence, and my life.
I now experience the divine nature of love and revelation on a spiritual level that has brought abundance to me in every way and at every level.
I've done so much work, healing, therapy, service, reflection and growth, that the peace I feel daily, is what I never imagined happiness would be like.
To purely love and evolve as I truly am and meant to be, it's frustrating when the one group who we're taught is supposed to 'really' be your people, have been everything but that.
In the last 4 years, my life before now had been turned upside-down. In retrospect from now, I see why, as it had catapulted me into the healed, peaceful and abundant life that I have now.
...But, when everything started to happen, I really THOUGHT they (my family of origin) were there for me. I went to them for guidance and advice-I hadn't awakened to my newfound wisdom-filled reality at this point yet-and they appeared caring, so I thought...
I went to them because I thought they were the only people in my life by this point, who truly loved me 'unconditionally'. Much happened. I took some of their advice in the very beginning, but at the same time I started to remember who the ... I am...and it was on and popping from there, Baby!
From the multiple crises that I'd found myself in all those years ago: I went to therapy, did counseling, shadow work and started reparenting my inner child. I journaled and started to meditate and the answers flowed through me. I allowed the plan for my life to take shape and one after another, I started to solve my problems, so gracefully, all while growing, healing, and finding the peace that I had in my life before these many situations developed. However, it was on a whole other level, an intrinsic peace that scaffolded into a snowball of peace in every area I've ever struggled.
In the last year though, I have survived what I would consider my dark night of the soul and I feel remembered, like, renewed into the person I always had been, but wasn't aware of until now.
I now have strong boundaries that not only protect me, but they also hold me accountable to gracefully standing up for myself, my own personhood, my values, my beliefs, and that which keep me committed to the lessons I learned so painfully over these last few years, just from the 'not knowing any better' and...whew...religion, patriarchy, and so much more of how I was raised that pain-wrenchingly just set me up for failure in this life, if I never had made a change.
I'm SO happy I learned about just how all these constructs and societal blockages were NOT for my flourishing in life, on my own. Finally, the realization.
The more healed, awakened, and spiritual I became, the more I realized the family system that I was raised in, saw me as a threat. Looking back, so much of what I went through and was done to me was beyond messed up and downright wrong and abusive.
So now, there's this awkwardness of not knowing the true extent of the abuse in how I was raised beyond what I can remember...but what I do remember was jail-worthy and I remember calling out that the parent who was doing it deserved jailtime, but I was bullied, threatened with homelessness and I was a child. I didn't know about all the resources available or what I could do besides tell my other parent. 😪
...I did try to call out the obvious stuff as I got older, but I didn't understand that I was covertly bullied and gaslit when I tried to stand up originally...I was always told I need to 'forgive and forget'...and what would ... do? And... 'as a .... we are here to love thy neighbor...' bluh blue bluh...-My whole life, I didn't realize that I was the family scapegoat until 2024.
No matter how much I tried with the things I knew were outwardly morally wrong then, it wasn't until therapy that anyone in addition to myself validated my experiences; that abuse is abuse, every last form of it, and it doesn't matter in what context it happens: religious or political and about 20 other different forms, is not okay...
-So back to the awkwardness of having this lifelong 'close family' that I once thought was so strong and healthy, loving, both parents still together and 'in love', all 8 siblings with 'decent' relationships (not really, they're all really toxic, invisibly debted with that unseen abuse like financial-emotional-mental- cheating/sexual-behind closed doors-whats stays in this house type dysfunction that I'm sure I haven't seen because-behind closed doors-the same trifling household we were raised in), my whole life...UNTIL I LITERALLY woke up within the last year to REALIZE how JACKED UP they were and are. Thinking back to all the times I was not supported or protected, I was the one in the family, out of all 10 who was ever truly genuine, purely intentioned, loved unconditionally...and had no complex with CONTROL...just, it was just me...
Ask me how I know...
The very situations I've found myself in these last 6 years, when I deconstructed from all things religious and political or anti-dignity, when I started to stand up against things without fear, that were not okay, or for the true safety and benefit of humanity of living beings...EVERYTHING started to crumble and I BECAME public enemy number one in my origin family and then marriage. I hate that I grew up so green and just didn't know about stuff until it happened to me in adulthood like misogyny, chauvinism, patriarchy, that 'women are less than' mindset because I would have not married my ex-I was so naive and innocent/blind. I thought how I carried myself was strong and 'obedient' to the 'Word'- NEVER AGAIN-this second half of life will be my path, what makes me feel safe, protected, honored, loved, cherished, happy, filled with joy, and at peace.
At first it was covert while they 'mistakenly forgot my boundaries' or 'didn't know what I'm doing now'...or the 'assuming and then making up their own thing and spreading the lie-behind my back"...
Also, any attempt to speak up and honor the abuse and neglect in childhood that I've overcome and have healed from and ask simple acknowledgment for from my parents, turns into excessive triangulation bringing everyone into the mix (again, in the shadows without my knowledge and behind my back), to point out my downfalls I literally just overcome and healed from these last 4 years, and then continue making up lies about me, spreading false rumors to extended family I don't engage with, don't have a relationship with, or whom I've cut off for being too toxic never changing... making more false grandiose accusations, saying I've talked about or down about people, made claims that I'm better than everyone, that it's all about me...etc...literally because all I did was reiterate my boundaries I've set, called people out for it, who have done toxic things to me. This is in addition to being accused of being all kinds of things because I've 'distanced' myself (from people who are not kind to me and who talk about me behind my back and have called me cruel names for calling them out on the toxic behavior they display towards me for being my own person and holding my ground on my own decisions as a full 30+ year old adult with my own family).
-I literally have an ~ 8+ minute voice-mail of an origin family member talking to someone about me like a dog, of all my private business, the hardships I've survived in the last 6 years-victim-blaming me, and even making up quite a bit...because they unknowingly butt-dailed me last month and I received it and listened to the whole thing-and haven't confronted them yet because I have in the past and it just became a huge cesspool of DARVO, and because I know it'll be a waste of time).
Now, for the last year, they know nothing and instead speculate and make up downright lies about me and my life. 🙄
They have everyone sharing lies about me between the family, calling me after not hearing from them for months and trying to start arguments over nonexistent issues we've never had, taking a statement out of context and championing as a 'see see see she's doing this or that to me when they are the one calling me out of the blue (after already having done previous things to me that I yet again addressed and was ignored about, never changing the behavior or apologizing) and trying to start stuff with me while I was minding my own business...
...all this from a recent holiday that I no longer celebrate that they're fully aware of. In fact, I don't really celebrate most national holidays in the US anymore and have expressed this SEVERAL times with sincerity, whether they're religious or just made up days that many go along with and that's fine, but I just don't want to be in a box and only want to honor and celebrate things that have meaning to my life and doesn't cause undue drama or stress with many layers of things.
They know I'm no longer religious, I have different beliefs and values now and instead of respecting it, they spread rumors, accusations, lies, unproven opinions, attempting various forms of triangulation to target me.
What makes it worse is that my relationship with my parents are so strained. They both took part in the abuse I suffered as a child. Being that I thought I had a really good relationship with one of them until this recent realization (I realized recently that they both were guilty, not just the one who committed it, the other always acted like they didn't know-but they did and admitted it recently). No say strained is an understatement honestly, but I had trying to at least be LC because of their relationship with my own family I've had since adulthood.
However, it was becoming increasingly difficult to even be around their religious talk and 'fake I love all my neighbors, I practice the daily religious routines everyday and read the text daily I'm so devout' act...
On the outside they look like they are just the epitome of devout faith individuals and they are living in according to what religious dogma aim for, all while secretly knowing what they did and allowed in our household-all my memories are very clear to this day, especially since I've awakened.
First Xmas was an issue even though that was a boundary for me. I suggested they were welcomed to celebrate the winter solstice with me, they declined, and I respected that. I offered a nice dinner the week beforehand as an alternative.
Then it was Easter, I declined (as I've reminded them that I hold different beliefs and values now which have really cultivated my lifestyle being different from theirs now, and reminded them that it is not difficult for me to respect their beliefs and values; that I expect the same level of respect from them). As an alternative, since they too were interested in celebrating for a totally different holiday/celebration, as I honor the spring solstice, I suggested a nice lunch on a regular unanchored day to any meaning, and to drive to the country and have a day of exploration where we could end with a dessert picnic on a rolling hill in the place I mentioned. They declined.
Since fully coming out the spiritual closet, most of my origin family has either lied about their communication service being interrupted, they have to work-most don't have jobs, or that they are so busy in their schedules, but are on social media all day-secretly being judgemental talking about people in general (strangers on the internet) who are in very difficult life/hard personal situations where they judge them based on the patriarchal and religious dogma we were raised in. It's really sad to me I have no more interest in engaging with negative people.
But what's really pathetic is they make up rumors and lies about me and start drama for my having my own separate lifestyle now everytime a national political holiday (tied to some form of historical trauma) or a religious holiday comes around as they (mentally try to) attack me because I didn't celebrate or 'honor' them-all while not knowing I have proof of every last one of them talking about me badly behind my back with lies and/or spreading rumors about me that aren't true. Literally.
The last straw was the most recent holiday, not calling or contacting them because I refuse to have or remind them for the 1,000,000th time about that boundary and standing up for my beliefs-it's so exhausting.
There's nothing wrong with wanting to live around positive, encouraging and accepting people who live by love and honoring everyone's humanity no matter their religion, gender, sex, background, status, etc...and just being kind to people in general, as long as they're not murdering or harming others (outside of self defense, like TRUE self-defense and not the kind cruel people try to use as a cover to inflict harm), everyone has a right to believe in and have the values that make them feel safe and whole.
Long story short, I know I am not the AH for standing my ground and protecting my personhood and that NO ONE on earth is entitled to what I believe, value, or what I choose to celebrate or not.
*I'd like to add a note that I have done especially deep, caring, loving, and acknowledgingly beautiful actions throughout every year my whole entire life and not just since this recent change in these last few years, like 12-20 times a year.
I no longer try to keep explaining or trying to defend why I'm defending myself against disrespect and people who are not gentle towards me like I've been with them throughout my life, always there, always the one to support.
I just do not care anymore, if I have to be along or start my (chosen) family over this time around, I will. I just despise drama and toxicity. I will not let it permeate into the peaceful life I've fought to build at this stage of my life.
(Thank you if you've made it this far, I know it appears all over the place, but it is all connected to my now and waking the...up...from the nightmare I didn't know I was in all my life until recently).
-The Recently Realized Family Scapegoat and origin family generational curse-breaker

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WaveOfWire Edits :D
- - - - -
Harrison’s vision was still foggy from waking up, several blinks failing to clear the tears from his drawn-out yawn. He just escaped the encompassing embrace of his four-armed guardian, leaving their shared bed for the bathroom, where he would have to say goodbye to his beard. If he was going to travel out of the settlement, a proper seal on his gas mask was a must.
It was a shame. The slow buildup of the hair over the last month or so was a representation of his growth in a way, building up alongside his experiences in this hellhole, be they life-threatening or informative. It was almost like wiping the slate clean, even if cutting some chin scruff didn’t really change anything at all—he’d never be able to forget anything he had seen here for as long as he lived.
And there was no telling how long that’d be.
The engineer sighed, splashing the lukewarm barracks water into his face from one of the many wall-attached sinks, allowing him to fully open his eyes and size up the damage done to his favorite black blood-and-sweat-stained t-shirt. It always stayed in good condition with washing and fabricator repairs, but somehow Shar’s talons always found a way to make small holes in it. She wasn’t trying to, but with the way she fully wrapped her arms around him, the tips of her sharp fingers sometimes ended up poking into the fabric and causing some cuts.
It was such a small issue that he never considered bringing it up to her. Plus, she’d probably do her whole guilty talon-tapping thing with puppy eyes and all… He shook his head, letting the stray beads of water on his face drip into the sink.
His palm ran across his beard while his other hand reached for the razor. There wasn’t any shaving cream or the like, but he’d make do. At least he had one of the proper tools for the job. He went into the task, the blade driving through his scruff, slopping off wide areas of his hair from jaw to chin for a few seconds before it was interrupted.
A short ‘woosh’ of the entrance caught his attention.
“Aww, you’re shavin’ it off?” Tracy commented dejectedly through a yawn, the lazy drawl reinforcing the fact that she just woke up. “Th’ beard was sorta growin’ on me.”
He eyed her through the mirror, his voice coming out in a dull tone. “Yeah. I feel the same.”
She squinted under the bright bathroom lights, rubbing an eye with her wrist as she walked up to the sink beside him and started her own morning routine. “Mmm… Womp womp. Why though?”
“Need it to get a gas mask seal,” he stated flatly, focusing on the task at hand.
The technician stopped momentarily, the gears turning in her head before she gave him a downcast frown. “You’re still set on going for the vehicle bay? You know we can just send some long-range drones out there, right?”
His short exhale echoed throughout the tiled room. The engineer closed his eyes, already mentally withdrawn from the conversation. They've had this discussion twice now. “It’s to be better prepared for any chemical, biological, or radiological surprises that might come up—not just for the excursion. Even more importantly, there’s no guarantee the module is in perfect shape. If I’m there in person, I’ll have the means to get through anything for those blueprints. Plus, it should only be four days, so the only issues we have are my beard and finding a way to protect the Malkrin from the radiation while we’re out.”
Tracy looked like she wanted to say something back, but bit her lip and cast her eyes down at the sink in front of her, twisting the knob before mumbling a quiet response. “I don’t think you need to protect them from radiation at all…”
“Hmm?”
She stared at him meekly, his dismissal of her worries having clearly dampened her mood. Guilt tugged at the back of his mind before her words further caught his interest. “I think they’re immune… or resistant or something. Radiation immunity is the whole reason they were sent here. You’ve added up the pieces together too, right?”
He stared down at her, running a hand through his hair with tired exasperation depressing his voice. “Tracy, I’ve been trying my hardest to just make it another day on this God-forsaken planet, not dig into their religion. So, no. I have not spent the time to add up the pieces. Enlighten me, please.”
“…S-Sorry. I just, you know, get a lot of time to think when working on drones, and Cera has been drawing all kinds of representations of these things.” Tracy paused, gesturing toward the engineer. “Okay, so you remember the whole backstory for why the Malkrin are on the mainland in the first place?”
“Pseudo-eugenics?” he commented dryly.
“Yeah.” She nodded, a sense of excitement leaking into her voice. “And what were the parameters of banishing someone?”
“Not getting sick from a rock.”
She eyed him feverishly, brows raised with a sudden zeal. “Aaaaand that rock represented the Sky Goddess’ wrath, which did what?”
“Uhhh…” He looked upward in thought, recalling his conversation with the paladin. “I think Shar mentioned nausea, vomiting, blisters, skin melting… off…” He froze, the pieces forming. “Wait, you don’t think…”
“I do. Those symptoms could mean a lot of things, but the anomaly field was the real kicker. You know that Shar just straight up didn’t have any lingering radiation effects or anything while you were nearly put… six feet under…” Her voice quieted momentarily, the speed of her speech outpacing her train of thought. “Sorry. Um… so, I was gonna say that she, uh, I mean the scanner mentioned she had damage from ‘alpha particles’ on her skin, but nothing else happened to her organs or anything.”
Harrison squinted at her for a moment, mouth slightly opened and prepared to give some alternative reasoning besides ‘immunity.’ Maybe her armor protected her from it? No… she didn’t even have full protection, radiation would have certainly gotten around her eyes or snout. What about her height? What if… No.
He didn’t just want to believe that somehow the Malkrin could just evade a force of nature, but he didn’t have any way of proving or disproving it on hand… Well, no humane way of testing it.
“I… guess?” the engineer grumbled, rubbing his eyes. “Even then, they still need armor and gas masks. The worst part of the radiation isn’t even the ionizing part. It’s the trace elements that get into your lungs and decay there. So it doesn’t hurt to use some CBRN filters.”
“Fair… but it’s interesting, isn’t it?” Tracy beamed. “Like, what kind of evolutionary factors lead to radiation immunity? Why do only some of the Malkrin have it and others don’t?”
The only real cause of radiation he could think of would be a massive nuclear proliferation of some sort. Maybe the anomalies? He ran a hand through his hair, pushing the lingering thoughts away. “I wouldn’t know. You could always ask Sebas to bring up some papers about it or generate some theories when you get the chance.”
“I probably will at some point… Maybe while I’m working.” She poked him in the bicep. “You’re still helping me with the mule, right?”
He bobbed his head, loose beard hairs itching up his chin. “Sure am. Gimme a bit to shave and test the fifty-cal ammo, then I’ll be free to assist.”
“Kay Kay.” The tradeswoman smiled and returned to the sink, washing her face.
- - - - -
“What the hell did you do to your shield?” a stunned Harrison asked the paladin, his face scrunching up in concern… and confusion.
Sharky proudly held up her once grungy orange shield with a smile, looking at its new… paint job? “Artificer Tracy has s—n to imbue my bulwark with the crest of the Sky Goddess herself! Observe the b—utiful wings that cover it!”
The engineer had just got back from setting up and overseeing the automated mule’s first excursion to the mine and back. It was a grueling task, requiring him to reset its pathing several times before it was able to make a round trip without input. Now, the maroon-skinned Malkrin in front of him had apparently gotten her massive aegis laser imprinted with crossing wings in the two hours or so he’d been gone. The areas between the black feather decals were colored with white and blue paints, contrasting with the new dark gray background.
A small weight was placed on his shoulder, Tracy’s forearm suddenly appearing atop it despite her being nearly a foot shorter than him. She beamed, staring up at him with all-too-proud eyes. “The scout regiment symbol looks good on it, right? Cera helped me with the laser engraving.”
“I…” His brows raised in perplexity. “The scout regiment?”
She shrugged, watching the paladin observe her shield from all sorts of different angles underneath the workshop’s light fixtures. “From an anime I used to watch. Men and women who were sent out to battle against massive titans for the greater good of the last settlement of humanity. Somewhat fitting, and fuckin’ awesome on her big-ass shield! Matches the bird’s wings on her armor too.”
He loudly sighed. “You wasted materials on imprinting wings on Shar’s shield? Really?”
“Hey!” Her brows furrowed into faux-annoyance, a smug grin betraying it. “It’s not a waste if you were never gonna use the paint we had on hand. Plus, we’ve got energy to spare with all the wind turbines and power cells you’ve been printing out.”
“Those paints probably could have been used for important designations… or something…” he grumbled.
“Doesn’t matter.” She stuck her tongue out at him. “Anyway, want me to put some scary teeth or something on that big ‘ol fist-sized muzzle break on your shotgun?”
“No?” he took an incredulous step away from her, letting her arm fall off his shoulder and to her side.
“It’s okay to admit you’re jealous of Shar’s awesome decals, bro,” Tracy teased, her smugness growing tenfold. “No need to get defensive.”
He groaned, figuring there wasn’t a point in staying to bicker with the tradeswoman, leaving the two vanity-focused females to their devices. He still had to figure out how to fabricate armor and gas masks for the Malkrin and himself.
“Hey! Where ya goin?” the technician called out, clearly disappointed that he hadn’t indulged in her taunts.
“Work.”
Short taps against the hard floor sounded out as she caught up to him. She leaned forward and curiously looked up at him as she walked, holding her hands behind the small of her back. “What kind? Can I help?”
“Just need to take some measurements and compare options. Right… Speaking of which.” He turned around and cupped his palms around his mouth. “Hey Shar! Get over here, I need your help!”
The addressed Malkrin perked up, snapping out of the small haze of admiring her new shield and happily making her way toward him. She stood at attention, her tail oscillating side to side. “What n—d do you have of me?”
“Just a quick task,” he briefed her, grabbing some measuring tape from his desk… that Tracy had decided was her new chair. He sighed and turned his attention back to the paladin. “Can I bother you to lean down for a few seconds while I take some measurements?”
“Of course. Pl—se, take your time.” She stepped forward and kneeled, her head brought down to his height. Her face wore that simple content look he was growing all too accustomed to by now—slightly vibrating frills, a little curl upward of her lips, and warmly glowing eyes.
He wasted no time getting to work, noting down the various distances around her jaws, snout, eyes, and ears, already piecing together how he could cobble together some gas mask designs to fit the dimensions. She sat there quietly, sometimes leaning into the accidental head scratches adorably. It contrasted heavily with the cold-sweat-inducing layers of razor-sharp teeth within her muzzle as he measured the angle her maw opened at, bringing an idle curiosity prodded his mind.
“Say, Shar, do your teeth grow back if they fall out?” he poked, absently observing the dozens of triangular bone protrusions in her mouth as he held the underside of her jaw.
“They do,” she confirmed, the way she was able to speak despite not moving her mouth still messing with his head. “Do y—rs not?”
“Nope. Only once.”
She attempted to tilt her head, but quickly returned it when it left the embrace of his palm. “Only once?”
He nodded. “Yeah, sometime a few years after birth. They’re replaced with the teeth I have now. Don’t get any new ones, so we gotta take care of ‘em.”
“Birth?” The Malkrin’s eyes widened. “You were not cr—ted as you are now?”
A shock of stress poured down his spine like a bucket of ice water, raising the hairs on his back. Fuck. How did he let that slip? He was supposed to have just appeared from the sky to her, right…? He was doing so well for so long in keeping that in. God, had he really gotten so comfortable with the paladin that he simply forgot what he was to her? His teeth clenched, a huff of air escaping his nostrils as he lightly shook his head. It was a bit too late to backtrack. It could be explained vaguely and brushed off, right?
“Yeah. I was born,” he affirmed flatly. His hand dropped away from Shar’s muzzle, her head falling an inch or two before she registered that she couldn’t keep leaning into his touch. “That’s it for measurements, so you’re free to leave.”
A frown carved through her small smile. “I… See… F—give me if I have brought up someth—g improper.”
His exhalation burned through his frustration at himself, his hand running through his hair to wash away the spike of anxiety. “You’re fine. You haven’t done anything wrong.”
“Th-Then I shall take my leave,” the massive alien stated softly.
He nodded, feeling a little regretful for pushing the kindhearted Malkrin away as he shuffled back to his desk. Tracy was still sitting atop it, giving him a disappointed reaction with low brows, forcing a pointed reaction from him. “What?”
The technician took a long inhale before shrugging. “Nothin’.”
“…Alright.”
The rolling chair squeaked lightly as he rested himself, his hands already going through the motions of opening the computer and the blueprint folders. There were plenty of tabs open of sensors and motor assemblies he hadn’t closed from the previous night. That wasn’t even mentioning the pile of notes he had on proper radio-protective methods, their corners bent from his frequent flipping through them.
“Soooo…” The short black-haired woman leaned forward from her perch atop the only clear part of his desk. “Can I help you with your ‘comparing options’ work, mister busyman?”
“Sure…” He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, raising a brow. “How much do you know about armor?”
- - - - -
“No way. The back support is a must, so you can have extra plating over your shoulders and chest.” Tracy pointed out from her seat beside Harrison’s, all but forcing him to pause his Malkrin gas mask designing to give her argument his full attention.
He calmly took his hands off the mouse and keyboard. “A back support needs leg assistants, which means I’ll need to have at least a fifteen pound battery pack somewhere. Those kinds of exosuits are either all in or not at all. You can go full armor and engine, or lightweight protection and simple limb support.”
“So you’re just gonna go out there with normal armor? Just run-of-the-mill plates and gear? Those fucking things would go through that shit like butter! I know we can’t make synthetic muscle yet, but at least consider wearing something a bit more. Please. Even Sharky has heavy armor!”
Harrison pinched the bridge of his nose, his brows furrowed. “Do I look like a several-hundred kilogram monster of pure muscle to you? I’m more than willing to put on a few extra kilos for protection, but I’m trying to weigh the pros and cons of putting on more armor rather than more equipment. I’d rather fifty pounds of magazines and ammo than fifty pounds of armor. You know what I mean?”
“Yeah yeah… You and your storage space…” she mumbled, swiping through a few more images on her data pad when a familiar Mars-pattern suit showed up, catching his eye.
“Hey, wait, pull that one up…”
She rotated the tablet for him to see a little better—despite already being shoulder-to-shoulder with him. “This one? What’s so special about it?”
He analyzed the few pieces of equipment on screen, noting the rusty-orange and tan color scheme, the old Martian-American flag attached to its breastplate, and the iconic quad-nod integrated helmet. “Holy shit,” he whispered. “That’s… We have that in our blueprints?”
She raised a brow, clearly confused. “Whaddya mean?”
“That’s an Orbital Drop Ranger’s standard kit,” he stated slowly, a simmering sense of awe bubbling up—why the hell was it in their blueprints folder? “It was used during the Sino-Venusian incursion of southern Mars. It still has the Old Earth American flag embedded into it, so you know it’s pre twenty-two-hundred C.E.”
“Oh shit… Pre-St.Loual’s construction? This is ancient, then, huh? Would it be any good?” She leaned in closer to him, eying the tablet further.
“Does it have the assembly view of the armored pieces?”
“Mmhmm.” She tapped a few icons, showing an isometric, exploded view of all the parts and their individual components.
It was a piece of history alright. The armor was produced just about the time when Mars was connecting their orbital stations and ground colonies to work in tandem, allowing for specialized forces to be trained in space and launched anywhere across the planet from drop pods in mere minutes, leading to common nickname of ‘Minutemen’ given to the troopers. The suits were expertly designed to withstand the harsh environments of Mars and give the soldiers the ability to engage with enemy combatants for several days before extraction, though the adept units usually completed their objectives within twenty-four hours of their landing.
The helmet was very angular and blended in with the expected rocky terrain of Mars, each component taking on a sloped frontal design with rectangular prisms flowing behind—radio, breathing apparatus, and vision modules all sharing a sleek, yet bulky look in their own right. It reminded him of some in-atmosphere ships, with the overhanging visor above the quad-nod viewport being the only non-aerodynamic pieces.
The chest and legs were a bit different, following the design of late twenty-second-century operators with tan lightweight rigs, and ammunition pouches alongside armored plates that ran from the shoulders to wrists in segments. There was a rusty-orange undersuit beneath it all for the purpose of keeping air in, which required some sturdy polymer structures to ensure it didn’t rip. Then, of course, there were the classic shock-absorbing leg supports. They weren’t too far off what Tracy was asking about earlier, but these ones didn’t provide any assistance in moving with any motors—just straight-up structural reinforcements.
Hell, the blueprints on screen even had the mag-grip gloves used to scale domes, buildings, and satellites alike. There was no doubt that the Orbital Drop Rangers had some of the coolest equipment on Mars, especially considering that it was the last to keep the ‘operator’ look… It was such a shame the government decided the orb-like helmets and rounded bubble armors were more effective.
“Hey, you know what?” he asked the technician, a shot of excitement in his voice. “This might actually work out as a suitable armor replacement.”
She perked up, her brows raised. “Oh? Actually?”
He shrugged, trying to play off the smirk plastered on his face. “Wouldn’t need a horrible amount of changes to work for our purposes. Just need to remove the oxygen converter on the back and put a gas mask replacement in the front portion of the helmet. Plus, we could probably get rid of the airtight aspect and just keep the undersuit for scratch protection. And, most importantly, it’s radio-protective.”
“Meets all your criteria, then?” She tapped through some UI interfaces, sending the armor assembly to Harrison’s monitor, which he accepted quickly.
“Sure does.” He readily clicked through the different parts and systems to differentiate what needed to be kept. “We have the resources for it, and all it needs is a layer of cadmium plus a few replacements. Definitely doesn’t need the heads-up display since there’s nothing for it to interact with either, so that’ll save on print time and materials too. Shame I cut up the beard… the Orbital Drop Rangers were allowed to have some cool ones.”
The tradeswoman scooted in even closer, practically resting her chin on his shoulder and watching him sift through the working parts. “Yeah, rest in peace, beard. Still, your armor situation is solved. What about the Malkrin?”
“I’ll be working on their gas masks, then I was thinking I’d use another one of your modeled armors for their protection since they’ve helped Shar a hell of a lot. Do you have any recommendations?”
“Mmmmm…” She looked up in thought, a smile forming along her cheeks. “You know, until we can make them any real power armor, I was thinking just some regular phobos-pattern armor. Could color ‘em based on their skin too.”
“Phobos-pattern armor?” he hummed to himself, clicking through the folder to find it. It was just as bulky as Shar’s armor, except it appeared a good bit smoother, with more rounded edges compared to her horns-and-spike-lined gauntlets and pauldrons. The blue suit Tracy was proposing didn’t have the four-armed protection compared to the chaos version, but it certainly had the same thickness of its metal plates. “Looks like it’d work pretty well. Does it have any electric components or anything?”
“No…” she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “Not so good with designing that stuff in the modeling program I did the WarHarberd stuff in. Could add in more sophisticated leg support or whatever if you gave me time, but for now it’s just maneuverable slabs of alloy.”
“I think that’s all we need for the time being.” He shrugged. “I just don’t want the others to be vulnerable to getting cut up by the little spider-crab grunts.”
“As long as it works for what we need, then.” Her elbow poked into his arm. “Here, how about I take care of that armor stuff while you finish up the gas masks? They need the extra arm slots too, yeah?”
“I’d actually appreciate that a lot.” He offered her a back-palm fist bump, to which she eagerly took, taking on a grin that he mirrored. “Thanks, Trace.”
“Don’t mention it. I wish work was always just doing my hobbies like this.”
\= = = = =
A grand pylon of metal construction taller than the mightiest female’s frills stood atop the beach. Blue-scaled surfaces extended near the foot of the tower, gathering the power of the sun itself. The lattice layering upon their sides hid the weaving wires and Goddess-blessed machinery. A staff the same as Shar’khee’s peeked from its top, the glass eye on its side given a wide view of the sandy environment it resided on, the defense it now provided becoming absolute. The aura it exuded as a creature of pure metal was awe-inspiring, its mere presence a showing of Harrison’s might and domain.
No abhorrent would dare step foot upon the meadow’s rolling hills, for such a mistake would ensure their immediate execution for encroaching upon his settlement—the ‘fifty-cal-e-bur’ bullet is not one to rend any beast with only simple injuries, especially with three hundred of them available at once.
The maroon-skinned paladin treaded up the hill, having completed her task of setting up the last turret. The craftsman, the juvenile, and the lumberjack had also assisted with its setup, pulling their weight in both mind and muscles to piece the components together. They completed a few others around the modules already, but this one was done without the star-sents’ oversight. The four Malkrin had practiced and learned enough to be entrusted with such.
The idea of Harrison having enough confidence in them sparked much conviction in the group, each of them more than eager to prove him right—none more so than Shar’khee herself, of course.
She finally returned to the workshop, the sun’s last rays pressing into the back of her head and frills as she crouched beneath the doorway, a small gnawing hunger for dinner digging within her stomach. The cacophony of machines soon reached her ears, the sounds of their efforts almost working in tandem with the strange melodic music playing from an unseen source above her.
Tracy was in her corner, working on new beings of metal as always. The bright lights above were turned off in favor of smaller, warmer emplacements atop her surrounding circle of desks. A hard worker, that star-sent was, though both of them were like that, the paladin supposed. Their kind was certainly intent on keeping their hands busy.
Shar’khee passed through the snakes of machines, finding her way to Harrison’s desk with an increasingly strong sway in her tail. He was working with a black object with light gray accents. It appeared to be partially flexible, yet firm in other places—notably, a large glass fixture on one side of it. There was very little she could make out about its purpose, but with the delicate touches he applied, it appeared to be quite important.
Her tongue clicked twice, garnering the attention of the Creator. He paused his work, swiveling his chair to face her and revealing a long blue-leaf jutting from his mouth. Her male appeared quite tired, but his voice did not show it.
“Oh, Shar, what’s up? Did y’all need any help with the last turret?”
She shook her head. “We do not n—d such, for it is completed. Would you care to join me for din—r? The rest of the settlem—t is enjoying their meals as of now. ”
He raised his brows before looking back at the myriad of notes, tools, and materials atop his cluttered desk. “Well, I’m kinda busy, but…” His jaw rolled around in contemplation. “Here. Let’s just test this thing real quick.”
Her head tilted. “What sh—l we be testing?”
“Your gas mask… er, well, a Malkrin gas mask. Kneel down real quick, I’ll run ya through putting it on.” He stepped off his chair and grabbed the equipment, uncomfortably rotating his shoulders. How long was he sitting on that chair? The male approached her and she did as requested. “I had the sewist help me with some of the design. Never considered you guys would ever wear hats.”
She nodded. “It is unh—lthy for one to have their frills touched by the sun for so long. Adequate shade is a must, and trees are not so p—valent along farm land.”
“Mmhmm. Shame this is just a mask… Alright, this might be a bit uncomfortable, but it’ll do the job.”
He stepped forward and slipped the black apparel onto her snout, pushing it over her face until it pressed against the sides of her head. A cool material rubbed against her skin, locking her into its embrace. It was encapsulating, surrounding her wholly.
Her breaths strengthened as she allowed the mask to cover her, a short shock of nervousness riding down her spine. She was only now registering how vulnerable she was, allowing him to possibly suffocate her… but she stayed put, keeping her four palms rested within her lap as he continued to apply the straps around her ears. She would allow it. She trusted him with her life. She would not falter.
The cords around the back of her head were tight, a few of which went along both sides of her frills, pushing up against their sides. He kept going, ensuring a ‘seal,’ but it was getting much too—
Pop.
A lightning bolt of pain rolled throughout the top of her head, sending her reeling. It stung for the briefest of moments, but its effects rebounded through her entire body, short sparks pulsing from its origin. She felt nothing but its agonizing hold for several more moments as the rest of her body caught up.
When her eyes opened once more, she found herself on the floor and staring at the ceiling. The star-sent rushed to her side, appearing to ask many questions while looking over her head, but all she heard was a piercing ring and the gruff vocalization he made whenever he shared his intent. No words reached her mind, only the now faint phantom pains from where her frills met her skull. It put everything in a haze, her eyes barely settling on her dearest’s, despite how nauseous she had become.
His deft hands quickly worked to loosen the straps, practically ripping them off until his voice suddenly reached her, like breaching the surface of the water. His voice was deep, attempting to be calculating, yet despite his calmly created stoic demeanor… she could feel his panic, his sheer worry almost flooding her senses through practiced medical queries. She slowly sat up on the floor, holding herself with two arms while the other pair quelled the kneeling male, assuring him that she was alright with their weight resting atop his shoulders.
“I am well, dearest Harrison. Do not fret for me. The straps were simply too tight.”
His anxious breaths barely slowed, narrowly allowing for his exclamation. “Too tight? Shar, you practically blacked out!”
“Too tight upon my frills, I mean. There was a pain there for a few moments, but it has passed,” she returned calmly, softly kneading his stiff shoulders with the joints of her digits.
He exhaled sharply, matching her gaze with regret in his eyes. “I’m so sorry, Shar. I should’ve known. I was just trying to see how…” He paused, resting his palm atop her forearm. “Nevermind. I just… Are you alright? Should I get you to the med bay for a quick scan?”
“I do not believe that to be necessary, no.”
His guard finally fell. “If… If you say so. Guess I have to redo the straps then. Definitely gotta make sure they’re not pressing on your frills like that.”
She smiled, appreciating his dedication. “Would you like my assistance?”
“As long as you don’t have anything else to do.” He shrugged, his shoulders barely moving upward against her massaging hands.
“There is no greater wish of mine than to be by your side,” she stated warmly.
He was frozen, the soft ministrations of his digits along her arm slowly stopping in contrast to the red flush growing from his cheeks to his ears. The crack of a smirk on his face finally with a short, heart-warming chuckle brought the statue back to life after a few moments. “You know… that’s probably the sweetest thing I’ve heard for years.”
Her brows raised in subtle surprise at his response. “It… was not intended to be such… However… you are more than welcome. You must understand by now that I am speaking only the truth.”
The two of them sat there in relative silence amongst the desks and machines; her half laying on the ground with her hands on his shoulder, and him on his knees by her side, a singular hand running up and down her comparatively large forearm. She felt… weak, in a way. A vibrating sensation rummaged through her stomach, attempting to pull her muscles and nerves astray.
It was warm, just like his palm, each motion of his hand sending lightning through her skin. The upward curl of her lips into her cheeks was suddenly an insurmountable force, incapable of being put down by a thousand females. There was a tear within her to either look away or… close the distance, and she suddenly found looking anywhere but his curious green eyes to be a waste of her time.
Her talons wrapped further around his shoulders and his back, ever so slightly bringing him into her embrace—
“A-HEM.” A voice cut the moment down to its knees. “The fuck happened here?” Tracy’s swift interjection caused the paladin to flinch backwards, allowing her to see that Harrison’s other hand had been hovering right beneath her snout. The female star-sent wore a furrowed brow and crossed arms, looking down at them. “I heard a crash and came over. Are you two alright?”
Harrison cleared his throat, ever-so-subtly scooting away from the paladin. “Uh, yeah. Shar fell because, um, I tied the gas mask a lil’ too tight.”
The artificer wore an expression that told of her disbelief. “She fell because of the gas mask?”
“It was something with her frills.” The male returned with a shrug, picking himself off the floor before offering the paladin a hand up.
She took it, despite not requiring it, and wiped off some loose dust from her pants. The three of them quickly returned to work soon after, with both her and the black-haired star-sent joining Harrison in his quest to produce the gas mask. She was much less… What did the Creator call it? Bubbly? Yes, that was it. She was much less bubbly than usual, sometimes sending a cold yet emotionless glare toward Shar’khee… Nevertheless, the two females offered input on the design and applied help where they could, eventually creating the final piece of equipment.
Tracy commented on its looks, apparently drawing inspiration from the Leviathan itself, as she believed it to be like that of a ‘Sea Dragon’s.’ The maw-covering portion held two cylindrical canisters on the adjacent sides, the bottom portion being capable of distention, so that the user’s mouth may open somewhat. Its motion created what the female star-sent believed to be ‘the coolest teeth design on a mask’ she’d ever seen with how the separation formed alternating triangles.
The monster-like appearance was furthered by her own frills and horns that peeked out from behind the mask. That was not even mentioning the see-through visor that formed a malicious glare of sharp brows. The paladin looked through a hand-held mirror, finding it difficult to disagree with the look. She could imagine the horror on a fisherwoman’s face as such a terrifying creature approached from the depths.
And yet, despite its nightmarish visage, it was apparel designed to save lives, not take them—much unlike the unassuming metal rods that spewed fire with a mere flick of a lever. Curious indeed. The star-sents were seemingly never out of surprises. They even spoke of grand robots and firearms larger than Shar’khee herself as possible future projects.
Only time could tell what machinations of alloy would be birthed from their hands.
- - - - -
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Next time on Total Drama Anomaly Island - Under The Milky Way

Nature of Humanity Ch 70
Destination; Wriss Part 19
A Fanfic of u/SpacePaladin15’s work “The Nature of Predators.” Thank you for the story!
___
Excerpt from Morvim Charter Spy Crevan’s log, recovered from a Betterment facility on Wriss,
Journal Date: T.S.T. November 5th, 2136
Father believes that turning my notes into something more of a confessional might help deal with my night terrors without appearing weak in front of the crew. Last night’s were some of the worst I have ever had. It started out with how they all do. I wear the guise of a true red-blooded Auditor, and find some unwitting sap to feed to the Dominion’s growing paranoia and execute them. Their brains pour out of their head like water. Then the call comes in. A suspected defect harboring malformed Arxur and prey.
The home looks like every single one approved of by the Dominion. The muffled screams coming from the gagged and bagged barely even register. It takes me no time to find the trap door. Even less to pry it open and rip my own son out of his only shelter. Wriss damn me, I feel nothing, breaking his neck just like every other malformed I’ve found.
I hear scampering in the hole. I pull out Elva, Wiesera and don’t even blink as I throw them to the Dominion raiders accompanying me. The sounds of their screams mean nothing as I continue my search. Rivera, Caulnek, and Barmlin are hiding in a closet. I don’t even bother opening the door. Just fire my sidearm through it.
When I exit the house I pull the bags off and execute my father. Then the two I just roped into this. Followed shortly thereafter by Lesh and Mico. I save my wife for last. The Wriss-damned Prophet descendant himself praises me and tells me to kill the final traitor. I put the gun to my own temple and pull the trigger. I never have enough rounds for myself too.
I don’t feel better writing this down.
We have had a full shift rotation without any serious problems. Most likely the Venlil’s natural desire to be friendly with everyone in their herd is going to cause an issue with Lesh most likely and Mico and Ishviel as close seconds. I am hesitant to try and keep those two away as they at least try to be social, but Lesh is actively lashing out.
It started with the ‘movie’ night Caulnek had. Father and Hrallak happily watched the ‘for fun media’ and Ishviel tried his best, but human entertainment was lost on him. Lesh found the entire idea to be a waste of time and chose to remain alone until his bridge shift arose.
From there, Lesh refused to communicate with anything more complex than a grunt to his shift partner Hrallak. The girl has enough problems as is. We don’t need Lesh causing more stress for her. We may also have a problem with Rivera who is either pushing Lesh into having a meltdown or accept that the changes we are experiencing are, in fact, good. Whenever Lesh goes to have a meal the eccentric Venlil isn’t that far behind him.
Turns out those broad flat teeth actually do a good job of breaking bones to get to the marrow, which he isn’t interested in. So they have a sort of standoff mutual existence going on where Rivera gets Lesh’s bones and Lesh takes advantage of Rivera’s teeth in place of putting the effort in himself. I can’t tell if the stillness that comes over him is from holding back the rage of listening to that Venlil yap or if he actually enjoys the noise.
Hrallak has been getting trained by Dr. Wiesera, who has high hopes for her. I’ve not had a chance to speak to her about training more Doctors for the colony of runaways we are trying to make, but I should make that a priority. Better to plan for a future we don’t have than to outlive your plans.
Approximately [twelve days] to Wriss. No other events of note to add.
~~~
Memory transcription subject: Crevan, Morvim Charter Soldier
Date [standardized human time]: November 5th, 2136
Ugh. Today’s the day. No time to walk or even have something to eat. Lesh should be ending his shift and hopefully that will leave him tired enough to be reasonable. What a great way to start the day. Going into a disciplinary meeting with probably the strongest Arxur on the ship first thing after waking up. One that doesn’t have to fear what the dominion would do to him if he killed me.
He wasn’t difficult to find. He, of course, beelined straight for his room, “It’s a nice luxury, isn’t it? Not being packed into this glorified meat carrier with a hundred irritable Arxur. Walk with me.”
He hissed in frustration but turned as ordered. I wasn’t expecting a miracle. Just to get him to at least try and loosen up a bit, “You are in this for revenge. As far as I can tell, you are the only one of us in this for revenge. I have a proposition for you.”
His reply came forth like a saw trying to cut through metal, but the blade was on backwards, “Yes sir?”
I led him into the cattle pen that was turned into a makeshift freezer. The cold air seemed to affect us both equally, as we shivered a bit, “I’ve been thinking about the Dominion… the Federation… and whatever stupid alliance Humanity has managed to pull out of its ass…”
The pause I inserted into my preplanned speech allowed me enough time to judge his reaction on each of our enemies as well as to ponder on Humanity and where I was going with this. He hesitantly took the bait, “And what have you concluded.”
“The Federation can’t destroy the Dominion and the Dominion won’t be able to fight on two fronts. Humanity knows war. They’ve lived and breathed it for centuries, we’ve only fought a one-sided genocide. The Dominion and the Federation won’t be able to compete with humanity the second they get their feet under them. The bombing of Earth hasn’t slowed them. It’s lit a fire under their ass.”
I had a hunch that Lesh wasn’t some roided up raider. I could see the gears turning in his head, “With Isif protecting Earth… The Federation can’t finish the job and the Dominion won’t attack them to bring them in line… Humanity has already started producing Prey- Alien? FUCK it. Prey fighters that can actually fight and sit in the same room as us without shitting themselves to death…”
“They have to take out the Federation first. No doubts about it. But they aren’t going to let the Dominion just continue to eat Sapients. That is going to result in the Dominion doing the stupidest thing possible and attacking an Earth and its allies that have been gearing up for real war since the second the bombs started falling. Remember. The ONLY reason we took the cradle is because Isif sacrificed hundreds of ships in orbit. We didn’t take the ground. We only took space which they came back and took. Every engagement on the ground resulted in fifteen and a half dead raiders to every human.”
The carnage of that debacle brought a happy jilt to his body language, “So, the only way this will ever really end is with both the Federation and Dominion falling.”
“And with what I know of the humans, neither side will be allowed to go without punishment. That is assuming there's enough of them left over to be tried for their crimes.”
“I like that thought but why bring this up to me.”
“Because all that will be left of us will be this tiny colony when this is over. It will be the only thing Humanity can say is untainted enough to be worthy of not being baptized in holy antimatter. I need- No. We need people that can help lead us. The remnants of the Morvim Charter NEED you. Need your strength, your guile, your… sociableness and sense of justice. I am asking you to join us proper. To help us forge a path into the future. Fight not just for your justice but live to build a better world.”
I felt fear as rage rushed across his face, and hope as it softened. He huffed and spat and paced around the room. It felt like the punch he launched into the steel wall reverberated through the whole ship. The panel fell off as he pulled his fist from the dent he made. He didn’t ask for permission to leave as he stormed away. At least I’m alive… Going to put him down as a maybe.
Unfortunately, it would seem Caulnek and Rivera picked now as the perfect time to also talk to Lesh. Rivera was sort of bouncing on the spot as Lesh growled and thumped his tail angrily, “Lesh! Guess what I remembered I found back on earth!”
The well-built Venlil rolled his eyes and smacked Rivera on the back of the head, “Rivera stole a copy of a Human military strategy game. One famed for simulating actual human battles. It’s set from military conflicts from their first World War to the last war before their first contact. Ishviel was hoping for more insights on Human strategies, and we thought it would be something that would pique your interest. You are welcome to come or not. Just don’t bring that shitty attitude you’ve been carrying around. We are trying to enjoy these few days before landing in paradise.”
My jaw nearly hit the floor as what I could only describe as a Lesh gently lifted his tail in intrigue, “What is this… game?”
Caulnek scratched his chin for a moment before snapping, “It’s a squad-based attack vs defense game with one or two players. One person sets up their defense and the attacker has to go in blind and deal with it. It’s actually a pretty clever system and I have no doubt the owner is going to peel Rivera’s hide off when we get back to Earth.”
The kleptomaniac slowly realized what Caulnek said, “Yeah it’s pretty fuuuuuu- huh?! Wait! Do you really think Andrew would do that?!”
Caulnek turned and walked off as Lesh followed, “Hrm… It sounds like it might be an effective way to mentally prepare for our own assault.”
Rivera tucked his tail and practically begged for an answer, “Guys… seriously! Am I going to be in danger?! Guys!”
Caulnek whipped his tail excitedly, “At the worst it will be a nice distraction. The game only has Human units in it, but it actually has a stat editor. I think I can bypass its normal restrictions and program in stats similar to what we can expect our enemy to have, but let’s play the game first. Get a feel for the rules and see if it's even worth the effort.”
With Lesh calmed down I made the choice to give him a little more time before I decided to see what this game was. I made my way to the bridge. Oddly enough I walked past Mico sitting in an open closet on my way there, “Mico? What are you doing? Shouldn’t you be resting?”
The sleek Arxur didn’t turn to face me, “I am in a sense resting right now. The Humans call it meditation. I received a book on it. So far… I think it's forcing me to come to terms with some stuff.”
I leaned against the door frame, “Is it better than sleeping?”
There was a long bit of silence before Mico brought his paws to his face and messaged his eyes, “No. But… it’s not really a replacement for sleeping.” He picked up a nearby book and opened it, “Meditation can give you a sense of calm, peace and balance that can benefit your emotional well-being and your overall health. You also can use it to relax and cope with stress by focusing on something that calms you. Meditation can help you learn to stay centered and keep inner peace.” He set the book back down, “Basically, I think it will help me remain calm. Despite being in the least crowded ship I have ever been on… It feels more claustrophobic than ever. The Prey- our companions are… I have no other word to describe it but intense. It feels like my head is going to pop when I am in a room with them. This meditation is helping me I think. Since I started this before we left… It’s been easier.”
I rapped my knuckles on the door frame, “If it works get Lesh to do it too. The thug is going to blow a gasket if he can’t calm down soon.”
Mico let out a slight chuckle, “You don’t have to tell me that. I just got off a shift with him, and he wouldn’t shut up about bringing the prey and defectives along. I think he’s actually scared they are going to get hurt.”
I plodded off to let Mico resume his meditation. His words about Lesh weren’t exactly anything I didn’t know. That Arxur cares more than any other I’ve met. He’s been hurt before by that care.
The bridge door opened to reveal my father in his command chair with Elva lounging at the pilot’s seat. The latter of which tried and failed to perk her floppy ears up with concern, “Did something happen? Shouldn’t you be watching over the rest of them? Make sure no one… flips their shit?”
I scoffed, “Yeah… I don’t think those paranoia plans will be necessary. Lesh is acting out because he has grown attached to all of you. Us too. Mico is taking up ‘meditation’ to calm himself and better deal with everything. Hrallak is just happy to be free even if she ends up dead, and Ishviel… well, he’s already a runt. Caulnek and Rivera could easily take him, let alone together and even then, he seems to be happy that he doesn’t have to prove his strength to them to get respect. The lot of them can go unsupervised… for a bit.”
Elva leaned back in her chair and relaxed, “Good. Hopefully, this is a sign of things going smoothly. My guts have been in a knot since we left.”
Ivan barked out a laugh, “I think that's been the case for all of us. I’ve never liked returning to Wriss to begin with, but before I never had to worry about fighting the entire damned planet. This is… Terrifying.”
I nodded my head in understanding, “We are about to either do the dumbest thing ever or kickstart the end of the Dominion.”
Elva asked, “Is it true we aren’t saving the entirety of the Morvim Charter Remnants?”
My father sighed, “Yes. A lot of them have to remain behind to cover our escape. They also need to stay behind to fan the fires we leave. The Dominion is going to appear weak so it's the best recruiting drive they will ever have.”
Elva closed her eyes and leaned back, “Alright then. We get there. Secure a port. Plan our attack, take the ship and get the hell out of there… Far too much can go wrong with this.”
I couldn’t help but nod my head, “On the bright side at least you guys have a get out of jail free card. If we get caught… well, it’s not going to be but a few moments of extreme heat for us.”
My second in command let out a long exasperated sound, “Uuuwweeeeeegh… Can you leave now? I was having such a nice time sitting here bored out of my mind before you showed up. Go check up on the guys. See how Hrallak’s medical lessons are going or something.”
I bowed and left the bridge. The infirmary our ship had wasn’t quite suited to actually saving lives. At least that was the case before Humanity got their hands on it. Wiesera and Elva had been delighted to go through all the gadgets and gizmos the ‘Doctors Without Borders’ had given them. Apparently, mobile medical hospitals specialized for ease of movement and treatment in war torn areas is something of a specialty of theirs.
Sadly, as I entered the actual infirmary only a small fraction of the medical devices were even set up. Wiesera and Hrallak were standing over a table with a startling realistic headless torso of an Arxur laying on it with its chest pried open.
The Zurulian picked up a latex heart, “As you can see here, the Arxur heart is a three-chamber heart. This implies that the Arxur were at one point coldblooded, like other reptiles. I imagine given another few hundred generations we might see Arxur with four-chambered hearts.”
Hrallak twisted her head to the side confused, “Why would we get four-chambered hearts?”
“Efficiency. Four chambered hearts can keep deoxygenated blood from mixing with oxygenated blood. This way the only blood entering the lungs is completely ready to pick up Oxygen and all the blood going to muscles is carrying its maximum capacity for oxygen. As short sprint, ambush predators you don’t need a strong supply of oxygen to hit your target, but if the chase were to carry on, animals with four chambers can better supply oxygen to their muscles…”
Hrallak bobbed her head in understanding, “And maintain power for longer…”
“Actually, we are already seeing medical reports of Arxur with a harmless heart defect giving them four chambers.” To my surprise, both ladies didn’t jump at my sudden interjection. It seemed they noticed my arrival, “The Prophet-descendants were debating on scanning people’s hearts and purging those with the defects… until one of the descendants was found to have the defect too and now its ‘proof of superior genetics’ or some bullshit.”
The medic in training set a paw on her chest, “Makes sense. I wonder if I have it too.”
Wiesera looked at the latex heart in her hands, “It wouldn’t hurt to set up the portable echocardiogram. It wouldn’t hurt to make sure we know what biology everyone has… actually, Crevan. Let the Arxur crew know we are about to do some health check-ups on everyone. I want to know what everyone’s hearts look like in the event I have to fix them. Now Hrallak see here- Crevan! What are you waiting for! We do not have forever here! Move it!”
I bowed and headed for the Cafeteria. It would seem Wiesera is warming up to her role as lead medic.
___/\___
Crevan seems to not being doing too hot… actually most of the crew is on edge. Lizard boi does his rounds and checks on the crew. It seems like everyone is settling in for the long ride to Wriss. Hopefully things go smoothly when they get there.
Welp! I got laid off! So I’m waiting a month to see if my job opens back up or if I am going to be working somewhere else. Now that sounds like I have time to write but my job actually kept my Autism/ADHD in check as the only thing I could do on break was write so hopefully I can keep up with my chapters and get Part 2 of the devil you know done. I almost had it done but I hated the whole chapter and have to rewrite it.
Special thanks to u/JulianSkies and u/callmefishy11 for proofreading! Seriously it felt like my eyes were melting out of my skull and your feedback was everything I needed!
___/\___
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Library of BiasMushroom contains every link for everything I have written! Check it out as some stuff related to Nature of Humanity may not appear on HFY! As well as my little side stories and Fanfics of other NoP fanfics!
The Nature of Humanity
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Destination; Wriss
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so i want to grow out my hair super long, its been growing, but lately i feel like its way too slow, now im considering short hair, just because im done with waiting, and a bob is cute too
but than it will only take longer to grow out my hair, at this point its around my bra band and i wanted to grow till the end of my back
it splits easily so its so much work to maintain this hair i have to get a trim often, i dont trim it too much, literally milimeters, my stylists helps me with growing my hair.
help me not to go for a bob, or should i LOL

Demeter Fragrances makes inexpensive, unpretentious scents. Demeter is basically the “Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans” of fragrances.
While some have claimed their formulas vanish shortly after application, I find I get about two hours with their mini purse sprays, and significantly longer with their rollerball oil blends.
The only scents reviewed her are all from their mini purse spray lineup.
I had heard they were single-note products, but I find them layered. Simple layered; like a painting done in various shades of a similar hue, but layered nonetheless.
I haven’t actually tried blending them, or applying scents atop each other yet. I find they stand alone quite pleasantly.
I’ve had fun exploring their various fragrances.
Oh, a note on my ratings: 5/10 is neutral. A solid, wearable “meh.” I’ll wear it, but wouldn’t buy it again.
“Amber” — I personally find it similar to their “Ambergris.” It’s warm, honeyed, and bright. It’s a powdery amber, not a woody amber. 7/10
“Ambergris” — Warm, thickly sweet, animalistic, and musky. I found it too “sticky sweet” for me. 5/10
“Bonfire” — This smells like home! Hardwoods and conifers, smoke rising up from the campfire. This aroma is a cozy fire, rather than a towering inferno. 9/10
“Caribbean Sea” — Fruity-floral, lightly ozonic. A bright marine scent. I found it a bit synthetic (think laundry freshener). It’s not my fave. 4/10
“Dirt” — It literally smells like damp surface soil of a garden! Has a freshwater element as well. Not as deep as “Earthworm.” Great for those who love soil accords. 10/10
“Dust” — I find this quite lovely! Subtle, ozonic, cool and dry. It conjures up images of empty gothic manors, nights on sand under stars, and forgotten secrets 8/10
“Earthworm” — Dirt accord on steroids! Deep, earthy, damp, a hint of fungus. It smells like root cellar, and I -love!- it! 11/10
“Fireplace” — Smells like creosote and burning, rather mineral at the edges. This is definitely a polarizing fragrance. It’s a bit like if Zoologist’s “T-Rex” had a baby. It’s more organic than Imaginary Author’s “Cities on Fire.” I like it, but my family hates it. It’s a 7/10 for me…. 0/10 from my fam.
“Fresh Hay” — Sweetgrass, lightly honeyed sweetness, timothy hay. This was one of those “Ooooo 😍!” scents for me. It’s ’golden green’ for lack of better description. I love it! 10/10
“Frozen Pond” — Crisp, earthy. Maybe a of patchouli? I’m honestly not sure. I like it for the dirt accord! 9/10
“Gardenia” — Rich, heady, intoxicating! I’m not always a floral fan, but for realism this is spot on! 9/10
“Grass” — Smells just like the sweetgrass patches I hit when I cut the lawn! I love it! I wear it to bed for sweet(grass) dreams! 10/10
“Great Barrier Reef” — Marine, salty, drift wood, brightness. This is a beachy ocean scent that conjures up images of crystal water and warm sand. 7/10
“Honey” — Interesting because it’s not overly sweet. Animalistic, heady, beeswax and floral. A bit too linear to be a fave. I need to compare it to Zoologist’s “Bee” at some point. 6/10.
“Kelp” — A crushable green that opens spicy and settles down into a light marine scent. I was hoping for something deeper, murkier. 5/10
“Jasmine” — This is more a “one note” fragrance, and that’s okay. It smells just like the bushes outside a home I once had. Pungent, heady, and organic. 8/10, it’s almost too strong for me.
“Kitten Fur” — Photorealistic kitty scent? Nah. Sweet, fun, consequence-free happy scent? Yes! Powdery musk, fresh linen, warm and delicate. It captures the cuteness of kittens! 8/10
“Lava Rock” — This is strangely intoxicating. Musky, warm, leathery and exotic. It smells very familiar to another fragrance I enjoyed, but I’m drawing a complete blank on which. Something by Zoologist (not T-rex!). 9/10
“Log Cabin” — Oak moss, cedar, wine barrel oak notes. This is good, rustic, definitely reminisce of cabins and whole-wood furniture. Rather linear, but I like it. 7/10
“Magnolia” — A juicy, green floral. I don’t have much experience with the plant, so I can’t say how accurate it is. 5/10
“Mildew” — Touted as “The smell of first turning on your air conditioner.” I was expecting something more wet and dank. To me, this is green pepper. It’s spicy, warm; almost savory. Not something I want to wear at all, but to each their own. 1/10
“Musk #9”— A modern musk fragrance. A woody-fruit profile; lime, bergamot. Rather incense-like. Cool and dry, borderline oriental. A good evening scent. 6/10. I prefer heady and animalistic musks.
“Musk #15” — A classic musk fragrance. Powdery white musk. Fruity-floral top notes, rose at the middle, and base notes that come across like amber and tonka bean. 8/10
“New Leaf” — Spicy, green, like crushed herbs. Has an acidic element rather than sweet. A dry, “white wine” sort of green. Dries to something resembling patchouli (or apple). 5/10
“Paperback” — As it dries, it definitely gives off the scent of printer’s ink and binding paste. There’s a woody-vanilla paper scent too. 8/10
“Petrichor” — Mineral, fresh, sweet rain. Very nice! 9/10
“Puppy Breath” — Sweet, warm, a bit animalistic,and organic. It’s hard for me to describe the notes. Maybe floral? Maybe bubblegum? Definitely an aroma one wants to snuggle with! 9/10 (Personally, the scent reminds me of RSW airport in Fort Myers, FL).
“Rain” — Delicate, fresh water, aquatic, a mineral aspect as well. Rain is an easy-to-wear delight! 10/10
“Rice Paddy” — Rice wine, muddy water, oriental muskiness, mineral notes. It’s nice, pleasant, safe. I’d prefer it for a room fragrance than on my skin. 7/10
“Salt Air” — I’m not sure if I like this or not, it seems to wear different in various environments. Mineral, a bit of salt, and at times I get a citrus element. 5/10
“Snow” — Earthy, ozonic, aquatic and clean! It might not be photorealistic, but it beats out all those overdone “heavy evergreen and/or mint = snow” fragrances. 10/10
“Spacewalk” — This one amuses me, even if I don’t love it. It has an ozonic lift, and metallic element, melded under tropic sweetness. It reminds me a bit of sunscreen. 6/10
“Swimming Pool” — Cool, tropical, with a very faint hint of chlorine. Aquatic, and pleasant. There’s a linen aspect as well. Quite pleasant! 8/10
“Thunderstorm” — Mineral, petrichor, dry earth, vegetation, and rain. This definitely conveys the image it’s aiming for. I found it more “petrichor” than their offering of the same name, but both are good! 9/10
“Wet Garden” — Yes, please! Rain, a hint of sweet-pea flower. Green with floral and tannic elements. Refreshing! It gets more floral as it dries, but stays green and delicate. 8/10

28M, living at home still.
My life hasn't been easy, and sure I can level the playing field by saying no one's life has been easy. We all go through things, we all struggle, and there are those who overcome those struggles, and those who stay in those struggles.
To me, it almost seems like no matter how much I try to overcome my struggles, there was always one or two more things that came out of nowhere and made everything worse than the struggles previously, just to knock me back down a few more pegs. I'll give you some examples: at 24, while striving for a full-time position at the hardware store I was working at to secure stability and independence, I was wrongfully fired. Compounding the stress caused by later being diagnosed with Ulcerative Proctitis (ulcerative colitis), and the looming need for personal health insurance. A stroke of luck came when my mom's friend facilitated a job opportunity, but the role of a mortgage servicer proved mentally and emotionally taxing, exacerbated by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and eventual quarantine. Despite grappling with trauma and disillusionment from the corporate world, I found solace in joining my best friend's candle business at 26, albeit facing daunting challenges accessing affordable health insurance due to income restrictions and exorbitant medication costs for the condition ($600-$1200 without insurance). The only way I could see a way out was either by balancing multiple part-time jobs and working insane amount of hours, finding a full-time job with benefits, or staying exactly where I was by flying underneath the goverment required limit of hours one can work, so as to recieve free healthcare by only working with my friend (who wasn't giving me very many hours to begin with since it is a small-business of just her and I). I chose to stay where I was because there were more layers behind just the need for healthcare that was in the recesses of my psyche which were self-esteem issues, finding a sense of purpose, the seeking of therapy to work through these issues, eating disorders that have been around since I was a kid, and the perpetual loneliness I had been feeling for quite sometime. You might be wondering, "why didn't he just move out and find a roommate?" I don't want a roommate, and see no difference in living with someone like a roommate and learning to adapt to their lifestyle, or living with my mother who I already know the lifestyle of.
Nevertheless at some point, I found a YouTube channel called, "HealthyGamerGG." Where the creator known as Dr. K talks to everyone in his community about mental health matters. I learned about alexithymia (which is correlated to my sense of purpose), he talks about self-esteem, he talks about confidence and finding a partner, and I'm just soaking it all up! I'm learning everything I could, I'm talking to all of my friends about this stuff too and they're noticing a change in me. At some point, I started going to therapy and my therapists started noticing the changes in me as well, I even started going to the gym. I finally find a sense of purpose, and I go out on a limb and try something in IT--my friend told me I could shadow him at work, and he was going to help me through getting a job.
Despite the significant personal growth and improvements in various aspects of my life, such as self-esteem, ambition, and healing from trauma and Alexithymia, I still struggle to find love. The issue: there is an initial expectation of perfection early on, which often overshadows deeper connection and understanding of nuance in personal situation. In essence, there's a lack of flexibility and grace for each other. Of course, while I endeavor to be transparent about my journey without overwhelming potential partners, my life is far from stagnant and there is a clear path forward with much ambition (something I've been told that many women are looking for in men); I'm actively pursuing certifications in IT to eventually land a job, I'm learning French, I'm engaging in photography, and I'm maintaining a fitness routine. However, I recognize that my life feels incomplete without a partner to share experiences and contribute to mutual growth, aiming for a relationship where both individuals complement each other without relying on the other for complete fulfillment solely from one another.
A recent twitter post by a woman in her 30s sparked some discussion online a while ago, about her dating struggles due to career-focused life choices. She had a life that was very carefully designed by her own hands, and she was finding it hard to get into a relationship with someone who would fit in to the concreteness of the life that she built for herself; vs finding someone when she was younger or being a little more flexible with what she allows. At first, I thought this was just something that was significant for her life and could only be attributed to a reason why I was still single on the other side of the equation, but didn't have any consequence with how I should or have approached my own life. Upon recent reflecting on a date that happened a few weeks ago, in addition to a friend's insight about why I'm still single as a whole--with the analogy of me being a unicorn seeking another unicorn, coming from my friend--I came to the understanding that I shared in the issue immensely. The challenge for me was to find acceptence of the seemingly concrete quirks from people who didn't want to accept those quirks. This introspection revealed the need to reject limitations imposed by conditions like ARFID so that I can be embraced for actual personal traits, rather than being a unicorn seeking a "perfect match." Thus the a wider diversity of people being able to love me for me rather than most being put off by the rigidity of my quirkiness and only few trying to love me for "me," with the quirks. The aim has shifted to working on being open-minded so that compatibility isn't overshadowed by arbitrary constraits set upon by my own short-comings and traumas.
In the interim, while I can understand that people shouldn't date others based on one's "potential" or their prospect, that should only apply when someone's word doesn't match their actions. Likewise, there seems to be a lack of understanding that when you get into a relationship, you are adopting some of that person's responsibilities and/or another person as a responsibility. Relationships aren't there to make you happy, they're designed for accountability and improving in life and happiness can be a side-effect of that. Which means that you're not going to be perfect or ready when you walk into a relationship, but you become ready and you have to be willing to change. Otherwise, there is no other point to be in a relationship as there is no place for rigidity in relationship. This requires a lot of grace, patience, and understanding from both sides of the equation to work and to attempt the relationship. It's scary, but at some point everyone needs to take a leap of faith knowing that even if the grass might be greener on the otherside, you should just worry about taking care of the grass you do have instead of comparing with something that is imaginary or could potentially just be artificial.

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It had been a few weeks since Altier was brought to the run-down shack that his black-scaled companion likely called home, and he could now comfortably say he was accustomed to the…household’s routine. The kobold typically left at the crack of dawn, returned a little after noon, and occasionally left again to forage until nightfall. When the weather was bad or there wasn’t a particular need for something, they half-heartedly chased their rabbit around for a bit, which usually ended with a bout of quiet petting while everyone got ready for the night. It was always amusing to see the energetic side of what he had come to know as a relatively lazy loaf of an animal. As for the routine of the ferrorabbit in question… Well…it was at least more interesting than expected.
Hoppit would begin his own series of activities as soon as his caretaker left—the first of which being a check of every nook and cranny in the shed. He sniffed at anything that caught his interest, varying from morning to morning, but he gave every object or corner its due attention. Once he was satisfied with that, he would eat some of the ragged plants that made up most of his diet, take a drink from his bowl, then jump onto the tro— table and plop himself down, his ears pivoting towards the door. It was hard to say if the lounging spot had been established before Altier’s arrival, but it was somewhat amusing to pretend that the little rabbit was standing guard over his core—if it wasn’t for one particular part of the morning ritual, that is.
Indeed, the ferrorabbit had a habit of licking the obsidian orb that sat in the middle of the room, which thankfully didn’t seem to perturb the system enough to give Altier a headache. He was confused when it first happened, but it was commonplace enough now that he barely acknowledged it. A part of him liked that he was getting attention as a core, even if it was delivered via a strange grooming method. The closest he got to being acknowledged as something other than ‘the dungeon’ was through an unfortunate misunderstanding that he could never properly rectify. He supposed that was hardly worth thinking about now, though; too much time had passed for there to be anyone left to correct. The little oddity of his mornings would have to suffice.
There wasn’t much to comment on as far as the rest of the day’s happenings. Hoppit would end his loafing by shaking his head and ears in a way that filled the silence with soft clacks, give the core a customary tongue bath, then jump off the table to nose his way out of the shed through a hole that was hidden by the storage cart against the wall. Where the rabbit went was anyone’s guess, but he always returned before anyone noticed he was gone, and often did so while covered in small cuts and scratches. Any blood from the lacerations was quickly licked off before it could be seen by the kobold, and in the event that the scaly caretaker happened to return earlier than expected, Hoppit would scurry over to the bundles of blankets to finish the cleanup in secret.
Today looked to be following the usual pattern. The kobold left bright and early with various gardening tools and a wooden pail, and Hoppit had since set off into the great unknown for one reason or another. Hopefully, he returned less injured than usual. It was frustrating to admit that Altier had begun to grow rather fond of the fluffy creature, and seeing the thing come back hurt was bothersome. Was it off looking for food? There wasn’t a whole lot given to it, so that was a possibility, and it could be getting into fights over whatever it found. That still didn’t explain why the animal was so thin, and Altier didn’t have enough to go off of to think of a potential solution. He wanted to help it in some way, like by summoning a creature to act as an escort, or maybe just by manifesting something edible like he once could. No, he could only stare at the ‘Synchronizing…’ that occupied his menu, wishing he had more information to work with.
He never thought he would miss the bombardment of notifications and their lingering presence that filled the edge of his mental vision; at least with that he could surmise enough to hazard some kind of action. Even knowing why the menu was acting the way it did would be a start. Yet, try as he might, there wasn’t a history for him to reference anymore, and he had nothing to work with. He was confident the last message had asked him to ‘accept’ something, then took his befuddled ponderance as an answer, but he was no closer to an explanation for what it wanted, nor why it prompted him in the first place. He just didn’t have another experience to compare against, since nothing like that had ever happened before. Not that he was ever in much of a position to allow it.
The entire purpose of having Altier inhabit a core was for him to become a dungeon of Decay, which entailed all the skeletons, poisons, acids, and whatever else came to mind when one pictured the concept. ‘Living’ creatures were something he only had the chance to experiment with near the beginning of his new existence, though he never dabbled past the first few insects before transitioning to the mindless undead. Having a thinking, feeling, breathing entity touch his core was a rite reserved only for the adventurers and soldiers that bested his trials, and that was usually a painful experience. Now, he had spent what he could only guess was hours being held by a kobold, followed by having a rabbit bump against him, and neither felt like what he came to expect. Instead, both had led to a completely novel reaction from the system. The strange circumstances put him at a bit of a loss as to what it all meant for him.
Sure, he could dismiss the deluge of errors from his companion’s involvement by pointing to the numerous ‘corrupted’ messages before it, and Hoppit was a part of mostly unexplored territory, but the lack of clarity nagged at the back of his mind constantly. Being exposed to activity after potential decades or centuries of unchanging solitude made him despise the informational dead end. If he couldn’t make sense of the rabbit’s circumstances, then he didn’t have much hope of deciphering the reason for why his system was misbehaving so terribly. He also didn't know much about the one who owned the decrepit holdings he was housed inside.
He still wasn’t sure what drove the kobold to take him from the cave. His suspicion of becoming traded goods fell flat after the first week or so, and he hadn’t noticed any cult-like behaviour, which was promising. Granted, a lack of nefarious behaviour didn’t mean there was a lack of nefarious intent, but he didn’t get the impression his companion held that either. The kobold itself didn’t seem quite settled on an opinion of his core, though it was up for debate if the hesitation was due to knowing what he was or not. They seemed to mull something over before bed each night, yet never reached a satisfactory conclusion, staring at the obsidian orb through weary grey eyes until they eventually forced themselves into sleep.
Whatever the underlying reasoning for his abduction was, he had observed enough to know that the kobold didn’t deserve to live in destitution. As beaten as the shed might be, they cared for it as best they could, and did so without a single groan or grimace of complaint. The floors were cleaned with a tattered rag and fresh water, dust was removed regularly, and any stray mess that Hoppit made was dealt with promptly. They even took the time to wipe off his core, which was possibly where the ferrorabbit got the idea to start licking him. The only time Altier had seen discontent from the kobold was when they didn’t find much during their foraging, and thus couldn’t give any treats to the excited and bouncy herbivore.
He wasn’t aware that a creature’s face could make such a painfully broken expression, and he was quick to decide that he never wanted to see it again.
Vexingly, his metaphorical hands were tied; a dungeon could only influence their Domain, and given the state of his system, not even that option was available to him. All he could do was glare at the rotting wooden beams that held up the roof and remember when such an issue didn’t exist. It would have taken a mere flicker of thought and a paltry sum of mana to mend the struts when he was a proper dungeon. He could even outright reinforce the structure by weaving in other materials, leaving the appearance as it was while making everything stronger than iron. Well, he once could. Working with other affinities was something that came to him after absorbing the coloured motes left behind by adventurers, and the accursed stone that stole his mana had taken that ability as well.
An attempt was made anyway, his will ordering the deteriorated wood to absorb any trace metals from the ground, but it was no use. He couldn’t feel the iron or stones beneath the shed like he would have been able to before, all but confirming his suspicion that his connection to the Earth element had slipped away. Nature was much the same; the only way he knew when Hoppit had returned most days was from the subtle noise and the essence of injury. The other attributes—Air, Flame, Luma, Shadow, and so on—were ones he never experimented with to any real extent, so it was less noticeable when he lost his grasp on them. Perhaps they faded early. Either way, all he had left was a waning cognizance of his own alignment, and that wasn’t of much use to him. If he had any appreciable mana income, then perhaps he could do something, but he wasn’t even sure what the upkeep of his current Domain might be. It was entirely possible that he was running on a deficit, which would offer a reason for why his system had been so—
[Do#$@n Ex@#d$%^&d! CRe@#r H-H-H-HoPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP—]
[Errrrrrr—]
[Sy$%^hroni%^$zing…]
[Creeee-tu— Hoppit ha@$ esttttb-hed terrrrrrr-ity f^#% t$e dun@&$n!]
- - - - -
“Well then,” he mumbled to himself, taking in the strange scene behind the shed. For one, he could actually view a small distance beyond the structure now, and two, there was a rather proud-looking Hoppit sitting on his haunches before a pair of significantly less prideful examples of the species. They looked quite a bit bigger than the lazy loaf Altier had come to know, yet they were more cut up and dejected than his furry friend. That answered where the injuries had been coming from, he supposed. Hoppit was probably running off to bash heads with whatever animal population existed here beforehand, and they had only just reached a consensus on who was in charge. Impressive.
One of Hoppit’s ears turned back towards the shed, his head following suit as he gave a lagomorph’s approximation of a ‘Look what I did!’ smile. Altier blanked out mentally, but didn’t have time to question anything before the new leader of the local rabbits imperiously pointed a paw towards the surrounding forest, which was equally surreal to witness. Most surprising of all, the…subordinates? The other ferrorabbits did as commanded, keeping their forms small as they took off into the foliage. Soft clacks came from Hoppit’s pleased shake of his head, then he too left the area with only a slightly lopsided bounce to his stride.
The man-turned-core could only gape at what he saw. Were animals always so…expressive? Had Hoppit heard him? What in the world was happening? Why had Hoppit’s personal conquest led to Altier’s Domain expanding?
He lamented not having fingers, nor temples to rub with them. His system was a garbled mess of errors and inconsistent messages, his residence was falling apart at the seams, his companion was someone who abducted him from the dungeon, yet never did anything past that, and his first real experience with an animal was turning out to be more confusing than he thought possible.
All of this was after an unknown amount of time spent commanding legions of undead to strengthen the very people who he would later learn had lied to and manipulated him, making him into a nightmarish entity just to bolster the power of their forces. He almost missed the days spent gazing out of a mossy window. At least then he knew what to expect.
Nothing made sense anymore.
= = = = =
The soft sound of roots ripping free from soil suddenly stopped, only to be followed by a dull thud of Ceele’s palm slapping against the ground to catch her fall before she landed on her rear. She righted herself with her tail and tossed the stubborn weed into a pile with the others. No matter how many mornings she did this, they always seemed to replace themselves faster than she could remove the pesky things. A sigh slipped from her muzzle as she set about grabbing the next one embedded in the vegetable garden.
Aches and spreading stiffness flared up, but went ignored as she neared the end of her duties, though she was well aware that they would come back with force once she tried to settle down for the day. The impending soreness was an inevitable byproduct of spending so much time working. Still, she knew that if it wasn’t for the kindly old couple that allowed her to call their shed home, she would still be sleeping beneath the stars while making sure nothing tried to get at her Hoppit. Even if it was just a part of the deal, they were owed this much in return, and she would see it done properly.
The sun bore down on her back as she did her usual tasks, which was a departure from the slightly overcast weather as of late. It looked somewhat promising when she checked in the wee hours of the morning, yet as her gardening duties dragged on, so too did the intensity of such a clear sky. A disappointed glance at the empty wooden bucket on the edge of the field was quickly corrected. She hadn’t thought to refill it at the river after watering the crops, and her parched throat was making its protests known, while also reminding her that there wasn’t much water left at home either. One more thing to take care of when she was done.
A gruff cough brought her attention towards the old kobold resting his back against a tree some distance away, safely shaded from the unforgiving rays beaming down. Her displeasure at having yet more to do was hastily wiped away. She was undecided on what to think of the detached audience, but looking so sour while upholding her side of the agreement wouldn’t reflect well on her. Hopefully, he hadn’t seen it. Not that she could tell if he did; he always had the same expression when he watched her work. The elder kobold’s arms were crossed, a finger tapping absently against his bicep, while his tail sat motionless on the grass, the muddy red colour of his scales standing out amongst the greens and browns. ‘Makis,’ was his name, assuming her memory served.
Makis had taken to observing her every so often, usually propping himself against this or that at a distance, the unwavering scowl being as unnerving as it was belying of his age. Somewhat loose skin sagged a bit around his jowls and neck, yet the rest of his face was still taut from how much time he spent examining red-hot metal, and his arms were marred with countless burns and cuts from his profession. He held an oppressive aura, though the crinkles around his eyes and muzzle suggested he smiled as frequently as he glowered, even if Ceele was yet to see the former. There was only the same judgmental expression aimed at her when he was around. She could only hope that he didn’t take offence to some unintended slight, but she didn’t know him well enough to say what might be considered one.
They hadn’t spoken since she took up residence on the outskirts of his land. His wife was the one to introduce them, but it was quickly established that he had no intention of being a chatty individual. He led Ceele to the shed hidden amongst the trees on the edge of the property, then dismissed her with only a grunt coming from the elderly kobold. She supposed that it was for the best. Her experience in socializing was centred around convincing others to employ her, and there hadn’t been much of an opportunity to expand her horizons while living a life on the road. If that had been the end of their interactions, she would have swiftly written the terseness off, but he appeared every few days, taking up residence beneath the shade as he watched her work, never speaking a single word. At least he didn’t openly protest her presence, yet she figured that would be easier to manage. He wouldn’t be such an enigma then.
There wasn’t a whole lot she knew about him besides his penchant for ‘supervision,’ and anything beyond that was what his wife had volunteered during the rare opportunity they had to chat. She was told that Makis worked the smithy out front, and although he had retired from doing so in an official capacity, she could still regularly hear his hammer as she tended to the garden, so she figured he kept himself busy most days. It made her wonder what was so interesting about a vagrant like herself, but when there was so little else to do, she could see how anything could be made worth the attention. It was just him and his wife living in the once bustling home, after all; the couple’s children had long since grown up and made families of their own.
She noticed his gaze shift elsewhere as she tugged yet another stubborn intruder from the soil, his arms falling from across his chest and the perpetually worn displeasure melting to that of curiosity. He wandered off shortly after, and she had to make an effort not to fall onto her tail as the pressure on her shoulders unexpectedly evaporated. Did something happen?
Ceele shook her head free of the distracting thought. It wasn’t her business if he grew bored with watching her work. As long as no one voiced any complaints, she could only assume that she was doing a satisfactory job. Maybe he finally decided that he didn’t need to be so watchful because she was doing well! That could be it, right?
A glance at the somewhat sloppily maintained garden erased the false confidence from her face, but she was just as quick to focus on finishing up, unwilling to allow darker musings to fester. Thankfully, there didn’t seem to be anything else that needed her intervention. The weeds were all uprooted, the soil was appropriately dampened, and her check for pesky insects or wildlife turned up nothing to worry about. She was free for the rest of the day!
…Or she would be free—as soon as she finished the last of her tasks, anyway.
The black-scaled kobold got up from her crouch unsteadily, shivering and wincing from the pins and needles in her legs. She would have to remember to stretch more often; it was far too easy to forgo that kind of thing just to make the overall work go slightly faster. Her hand reached out to grab the pile of weeds and put them into the bucket as she ran through what needed to be done before she could properly relax. Hoppit’s food needed to be washed, she needed to bathe, and they were running low on water anyway, so she would have to visit the river. Just the thought of dragging herself into the forest again made her muscles protest, but she wouldn’t have the energy to do it later. She forced the smile that had started to fall and took the first of many steps.
- - - - -
The river wasn’t too far away, only taking a few minutes of traipsing through the dense woodlands until she reached her destination. It was an idyllic little spot. The trees thinned out to allow a grassy bank along the water, and there was an appreciably gentle slope from shallows to depths, making for a convenient place to take care of various needs. She had discovered this place during her travels, and it was where a kind older woman found her.
Ceele was washing off at the time, with Hoppit safely taking shelter from the outside underneath the bundled blankets while he waited. The trickle of the stream brushing against rocks covered the sound of footsteps, so she was rather surprised when an aged voice called out to ask if she was okay. Her first reaction was to distance herself and apologize—the why didn’t matter, but she had learned that most people were more lenient of her presence if she seemed apologetic for it, and she usually was. The elderly kobold just laughed at her scrambling, tacking on an assurance that there was no need for modesty. The woman was blind, apparently, which explained how Ceele’s blackened colours hadn’t deterred her.
Strangely enough, there was a comforting sense of ease around the one who introduced herself as Hira. It was a sort of presence that Ceele could only vaguely remember, and it drew her close enough to speak as she finished bathing. The conversation wasn’t anything profound, of course—they hardly delved deeper than surface-level small talk—but Hira lost her smile as she listened to the younger kobold. By the end of it, the old woman posed a series of questions with a dark inflection to her voice, and Ceele struggled to find an answer.
‘Are you tired of looking for something that only slips away? Are you tired of running? Do you really want to be scared and alone?’
If the silence bothered Hira, then it didn’t show. She had simply held out a hand and offered Ceele a way of life that didn’t involve wondering where she would be spending the night, nor entailed cowering in the brush while fearsome predators roamed freely. It would be a simple existence of few fortunes, but it was safe, and it was honest. All she had to do was say yes.
Ceele denied it at first, partially because she knew most people despised Hobbit's species, and partially because she couldn’t shake the offer being too good to be true. Hira was quick to propose a compromise; Ceele could take residence in the gardening shed that had fallen from use, and to satiate the nagging sense of an unfair deal, she would be put in charge of maintaining the garden itself. All Hira wanted was to ‘see’ her favourite space bloom again, since she couldn’t take care of it anymore. The black-scaled kobold stared longingly at where Hoppit was, his little body shivering from the prolonged cold and fear that he would be hurt if he left the blankets hiding him. It was with a heavy guilt that she accepted Hira’s offer, keeping quiet about her true reason for doing so.
That was in the past, however, though she thought about it every time she stopped by and saw the smooth rocks where she and Hira first met. Eventually, she might gather the courage to admit that she was housing a ‘pest’ and beg for forgiveness. Until then, she would just work her hardest to prove it wasn’t a mistake to give her a home. That her endless efforts weren’t meaningless. That Hoppit deserved to be more than a ‘pest.’
That Ceele was more than something she had no control over being.
She cleared her head a bit and started on the reason she came all this way. Her dress was rather easy to wash in the meandering water, and the trees provided a suitable place for it to dry in the sunlight and light breeze. The weeds were fine with a thorough rinse near in the shallows, but taking care of her own hygiene required her to wade farther in, though it only came up to her chest in the middle of the rill. Still, she could scrub off the soil and grime, which was all she really needed. Perhaps some simple soaps would help rid her of the pervasive black that stained her skin and scales, but that was beyond her meagre means for the time being, as well as being mere wishful thinking.
She worked past the dreary mindset that settled in when she allowed it, focusing on how serene the river was. The soft birdsong from the trees helped make for a peaceful experience, and she could feel the somewhat chilled liquid basically pour into the aches and pains throughout her body, washing away the stiffness from spending so long under the unerring sun. It was nice to escape reality and let thoughts drift while held buoyant by calmer waters.
Yet the bliss was short-lived. Even if winter was gone, spring was still far from warming the waters enough for her to laze about for too long. She dragged herself from the soft current and fetched her dress from the low-lying branch she left it to dry on. It was still a touch damp, but it wasn’t anything a bit of time in front of the fireplace wouldn’t fix.
Ceele was only a short distance away from home when she heard a gravelly male voice, but it was the flicker of sight between the trees that made her drop what was in her arms and lunge into a sprint.
Makis stood just outside the gardening shed, a ferrorabbit held at arm’s length by rusty crimson hands placed on the scruff and haunch, the rabbit’s little ears flattened as fear filled its tiny face. Her eyes widened further when she noticed the small stains of blood in his light brown fur. They found out about him. Ephemeral claws of blackness clutched at her soul, ripping the very fabric she was made of as an unseen beast smiled, eager to take yet one more thing from her. Her Hoppit. Her baby. Her everything.
“Hoppit!” she shrieked, her words all but tearing out of her throat in desperation. Frozen blood coursed through her veins, yet poured into exhausted limbs. She broke through the treeline with no regard for the branches slashing against her flesh, panic making each sting fade before it could be processed. The grizzled glare of the older kobold snapped towards her, his usual scowl picking up an actual air of intensity that she never thought could be absent, the promise of violence lurking in his eyes. She skidded to a stop a few paces away, the lump in her throat threatening to clog her airway. “S-stop hurting him!”
“Didn’t,” he barked back, his tone even yet firm. “Cuts ain’t me. I’d’a done worse if’a had ta mind ta.”
The blatant declaration snapped her from blind panic, although his apparent anger didn’t do her fear any favours. “B-but… Then how…”
“‘Hoppit.’ Named it, did’cha?” he grunted, ignoring her confusion and bobbing the rabbit to get her attention again. His gaze shifted back to the animal, the flames of ire cooling slightly. “I was wonderin’ why yer plots ain’t dead yet. Suppose this critter’s why.”
One of her hands hesitantly reached out until she pulled it back, while the other clutched at her chest to stop her heart from hammering against her ribs. She couldn’t act rashly. Not while her baby was in his arms. “I—”
“Soft thing, ain’t it,” the elder kobold commented curiously, cutting her off.
“Y-yes?” she returned reluctantly, struggling to stop herself from lashing out to reclaim the ferrorabbit in his grasp.
“Like fine silk.” Makis tipped and tilted the animal, inspecting this and that with a deep-seated frown, all while Hoppit silently looked to her for help. The pit in her stomach grew. She needed to get him back, but how?
Ceele swallowed the dense dread as she tried to formulate some sort of plan, stumbling over her words and forced smile. “I-it’s nice! Isn’t it nice?”
His eyes snapped back to burrow into her own with hatred. “Wasn’t a compliment, girly.”
“B-but you—”
He released Hoppit’s lower half to jab a claw at the various spikes around his body, plying them with minimal force. “Look. See this? These’r suppose ta break bone. ‘Specially when he’s stiff like this. Ain’t no way I should be able ta bend ‘em. He’s barely more than a walkin’ carcass—all skin ‘n stick. He’s gonna get picked up by a wandering pecker if he keeps pissin’ about out ‘ere. It’s a wonder he’s still kickin’. What’cha feeding ‘em?” His gaze dropped from her face to the rest of her, disgust curling his muzzle into a snarl. “N’ver mind. I can guess.”
She felt the dampness build at the edges of her vision, unprepared to not only worry for Hoppit's immediate health, but also to face such harsh criticism while she was so vulnerable. “I… I try to make sure he has…”
Makis crouched to release the ferrorabbit onto the ground, Ceele dropping to her knees the moment he did. The terrified lagomorph wasted no time, bolting towards his adoptive mother and leaping into her arms, shaking uncontrollably. The rust-coloured ‘bold stared as she started soothingly stroking the animal’s back.
“Yer given’ em the weeds, aren’t ya?” he stated rather than asked. She gave a teary nod when her voice wouldn’t respond for her. The old kobold drew a breath, letting it go in an exasperated sigh as he stood back up, his expression becoming more impatient than antagonistic. “What else?”
“I— Um…”
“What. Else?”
“W-whatever I c-can find!” she sputtered out. Hoppit tried to hide against her neck, prompting her to tighten her hold. She couldn’t stop herself from shrinking, the guilt and confusion pulling her head down. “R-roots, vegetables, fruits… I give them as often as I can.”
His glare continued unimpeded, his cadence cold. “That it?”
There were a million things Ceele wanted to say. A part of her wanted to beg him not to kick them out of the first safe place she had in longer than she could remember, but she couldn’t find the words. She wanted to deny the judgmental tone that stabbed into her insecurity surrounding how good of a job she was doing with Hoppit, but the deadened void in her chest swallowed her pride whole. She knew he was right to critique her. That she was failing in the only thing that mattered anymore. That the feeling of loss would return.
“I try,” she whispered through the beginnings of a sob. “I try to find more, but he needs someone around, and I have to work the garden, so there’s only so much time I can spend looking. He won’t even eat all of what I bring back…” Tears dripped off her cheeks as she aimed a desolate smile at her furry friend. “He wants to make sure I have some too.”
“Yer killin’ em,” Makis pointed out plainly, crossing his arms. “He’ll be dead ‘fore the summer at this rate.”
“I know!” she shouted, forcing back the memories of insidious murmurs that lurked in the back of her mind, eager to creep into her ears again. The hate-filled stares that followed her, the rumours that arrived in towns before she had the chance to make an impression, and the guilt that loomed over her like an executioner's axe… “I know I am… I just… I don’t know what he needs. I don’t know how to make him happy…but I try. I’m trying…”
“…Yer an idiot, girly.”
She looked up to see the elder kobold walking away without another word. Her eyes fell to Hoppit, the ferrorabbit pressing himself against her as much as he could. He was small, thin, soft, and growing weaker by the day, but he never let it keep him down for long. No, he always showed his best for her, giving her joy that wasn’t provided anywhere else. She saw the thin cuts and dried blood, though she didn’t know where they came from, nor how he got out of the shed in the first place. But that was okay. Hoppit was okay, and she had Hoppit, so everything was okay, right?
…But how much longer would everything stay okay? How much longer until her efforts weren’t enough, and she was left desperately reaching for fading memories of what once was? How much longer until she killed her baby too?
How much longer until she was alone again?
Soft footsteps drew near, pulling her from the spiralling thoughts that threatened to gnaw at her soul. Damp, blurry eyes fell on Makis returning with a small wooden crate, the older kobold stopping a few steps away. He dropped the box, a deep, rattling thud produced as it impacted the ground, making Hoppit flinch in her arms. Ceele blinked as she kept him calm, then blinked again, looking up at the man for answers.
“The name, girly,” he spat in irritation. “Ferrorabbit. Ther’ Earth aligned creatures; they need metals. They don’t care where they get it, but they need lots of it. Iron, copper, tin, lead—raw crystal, if they can find it. You name it, they’ll take a chunk out of it. It's why they bother farmers so much; the best soil’s usually top’a gem deposits, ‘n the little bastards have no issue burrowing deep to get it. Dries up the element’s energy ‘n makes the crops weak.”
Ceele’s mouth opened and closed, each unsuccessful attempt to speak making her feel smaller and smaller. More and more lost. Why was he telling her this? How did he know? What was in the—
He kicked the crate with the side of his foot. “Scraps. Don’t’cha look at me like that. I’m a smith, girly. I might be old and retired, but I still work a forge. Now, this ain’t anything pure—it’s just slag and hunks—but I’m sure the critter won’t mind. Your little gardenin’ project pays off, ‘n I’ll see which of my contacts can get in some better ore.”
She ripped her eyes away from the box and met the perpetual scowl of the old kobold, seeing a warmth behind the hostility that she had never noticed before. “…Why?”
He scoffed in amusement, which looked somewhat menacing on such a hardened expression. “Yer a touch stupid, girly, but the missus adores ya, ‘n yer a good worker.” A shadow of a smile formed on his face. “Hira spent more evenings asking ‘bout how the plots are doin’ than I got time in the day. She’d bite my head off if I noticed a critter like that sufferin’ and didn’t lend a hand. ‘Specially when it’s obvious you ain’t tryin’ ta hurt the thing.”
“B-but the garden… Isn’t he a problem?”
Makis rolled his eyes, turning with a dismissive wave of his hand. “If he was, he’da killed it by now. I’d say he’s been keepin’ the others clear ‘n got scratched up for the trouble. That’s more reason to feed ‘em right in my eyes; pay the poor bastard his dues.” He paused after a few steps, shooting her one last incredulous glance. “‘N the rabbit’s right. You’re not much better off than he is. Eat. Before the missus takes my head, preferably. I ain’t need ta hear her worryin’ over you more than I already do.”
And with that, he walked off back to the house, leaving Ceele to sit stunned on the ground with Hoppit quietly nuzzling into her.
“Hoppit…?”
The ferrorabbit perked an ear and gently licked her collar. Fresh tears ran rivulets down her face, yet they didn’t weigh her down. They felt freeing. She adjusted her hold on the rabbit and held him out, taking in the small cuts and numerous other injuries she had never noticed before. He stared back at her with worried eyes.
“You’ve been busy, huh?” she cooed quietly, doing her best to keep her voice from cracking. He shrunk in her hands. “I told you to stay home, baby. What if something happened to you? I wouldn’t know where you went, and…”
Her protests died out as she saw what was unmistakably guilt on his little face. She brought him back to her chest and cleared her throat.
“It’s alright, Hoppit. If… If you want to help momma, then we can work together, okay? Just…please don’t go off getting hurt… I don’t know what I’d do without you…” The rabbit didn’t reply, and she was pretty sure she had never heard him make any sounds that weren’t his happy little ear clacks, but she chose to interpret the nuzzling as an agreement. “Such a smart boy…”
She took a breath and wiped off the excess moisture from her cheeks, setting Hoppit down on the ground. “Let’s bring Mr. Makis’ gift in, and then I need to go get more water so we can clean you up, okay?”
He bounced his way to the door of their home, waiting patiently for her to lug the surprisingly heavy crate into the shed. He was even still behaving himself by the time she returned from picking up the things she dropped in her haste. There wasn’t a single protest from the ferrorabbit as she washed over his wounds with warm water, nor when she asked him to wait as she cut up a small salad for him using an extra portion of her rationed vegetables. Finally, once everything else was gone, she tentatively sifted through the box until she found a chunk of something that didn’t look so sharp, then offered it to Hoppit skeptically.
As startling as it was to see him bite through metal without issue, she couldn’t help but tear up again at how pleased he looked with the bizarre addition to his diet. He munched through the first piece, then stared at the box while pawing at the air, asking for more. She obliged through wet laughs, feeling lighter than she had since he first gazed at her from his burrow, alone and afraid, just like she was.
Her little baby was happy, and that made it okay.
Next
—
A/N: Thank you to my Patrons, new and returning! No Thanks, Emmanuel, and Megathor join the others who get to read 1 chap ahead!

I'm not sure if it's an ENTP thing or just me since everything I read so far says that ENTPs enjoy compliments. I also like compliments. I love getting them, but my response to them is a totally different thing.
I usually have loads of things to say and my head is constantly yapping in multiple layers. But the moment I get a compliment, everything just goes blank. I don't know if I should compliment them back or laugh it off so I usually end up laughing and changing the subject or accidentally saying something offensive. In short, I get awkward, but after I get back to normal I'll be super nice to them.
Does anyone else have this problem or is it just me?

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• Regular Human Basketball
• Resident Evil Revelations 2 - Episode 1: Penal Colony (RL in some countries)
• Rym 9000
• SIMULACRA
• Sonic Adventure 2
• Sonic Adventure 2: Battle
• Soulblight
• Space Crew: Legendary Edition
• Space Pilgrim Episode 1: Alpha Centauri
• Stick Fight
• Stories Untold
• Stride
• Stronghold Crusader 2:
• Stygian: Reign of the Old Ones
• Styx: Master of Shadows
• Superliminal
• System Shock 2
• System Shock Enhanced Edition
• Talisman: Digital Edition
• The Amazing American Circus
• The Inner World
• The Walking Dead
• The Walking Dead: Michonne - A Telltale Miniseries
• The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners
• The Witness
• Ticket to Ride
• Tooth and Tail
• Tower 57
• Tropico 4
• Victoria 3
• Warhammer: End Times – Vermintide
• WARSAW
• We Were Here Together
• West of Dead
• Westerado: Double Barreled
• Worms Rumble
• WWE 2K Battlegrounds
• X-Morph: Defense Complete Pack (Unused HG)
• Zero Caliber VR
• Zombie Driver HD *Prodeus

GOG

• Liberated
• Wanderlust: Travel Stories
• Disjunction

Origin

• Command & Conquer Remastered Collection
• Dead Space
• Mirror's Edge
• Populous

Rockstar Social Club

• Max Payne 3

Other

• GameMaker Studio 2 Creator 12 Months
• Intro to Game Development with Unity
• Microsoft 365 Single 1 Year Licence Code (Eurozone)
• Musik Maker EDM Edition (Magix Key)
• Pathfinder Second Edition Core Rulebook and Starfinder Core Rulebook
• Race The Sun (Flippfly Key)
• Rooster Teeth FIRST Subscription - 1 Month Free (Rooster Teeth Key)
• Starfinder Core Rulebook and Starfinder: Junker's Delight
• Starfinder: Pact Worlds Campaign Setting (Paizo Key)

Fanatical Steam Keys

• 16bit Trader
• Alien Rampage
• A-Tech Cybernetic VR
• Castle of no Escape 2
• Daemonsgate
• DISTRAINT: Deluxe Edition
• Drill Arena
• Er-Spectro
• Eternam
• Fairy Lands: Rinka and the Fairy Gems
• Galactic Lords
• Grey Goo Definitive Edition
• Hostage: Rescue Mission
• King Arthur's Gold
• King's Table - The Legend of Ragnarok
• Marco Polo
• OutDrive
• Overcast - Walden and the Werewolf
• Particula
• Prophecy I - The Viking Child
• Red Risk
• ShipLord
• SPACECOM
• Spiritual Warfare & Wisdom Tree Collection
• Story Of the Survivor
• Timberman
• Trip to Vinelands
• Tropico 5
• TTV2
• UBERMOSH
• UBERMOSH Vol.3
• UBERMOSH Vol.5
• UBERMOSH:BLACK
• UBERMOSH:WRAITH
• W4RR-i/o-RS
• Walhall
• Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide

Retail & Revealed Keys
Battle.net

• Overwatch Digital Extras [Collectors Edition Retail Key: World of Warcraft Winston, Hearthstone Cardback, Starcraft 2 Portraits, Heroes of the Storm Tracer, Diablo 3 Mercy Wings (+ XBOX One Mercy Wings)]
• Overwatch Widowmaker Noire Skin (XBOX ONE Code)

Steam

• 12 is Better Than 6
• A grande bagunça espacial - The big space mess
• Aegis Defenders
• AI War: Fleet Command
• Anomaly Korea
• Anomaly: Warzone Earth
• Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation
• Attrition: Nuclear Domination
• Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan
• BARRIER X
• Bear With Me Collectors Edition
• Bioshock 2
• Blood of the Old(OLD VERSION) + Blood of the Old - The Rise To Greatness
• Bomber Crew
• Boys Love (Locked on Steam)
• Chroma Squad
• Clickdraw Clicker
• Dark Deity
• Darkness and a Crowd
• Deadbreed
• Death Squared
• Desolate
• Drift Streets Japan
• East India Company Gold
• Endless Space Collection
• Food Hunter
• Freebie
• Galactic Civilizations II: Ultimate Edition
• Galactic Lords
• Glass Wing
• Dirt Rally
• GROOVY
• GT Legends
• Guns of Icarus Alliance
• Guns of Icarus Online
• Heaven Island - VR MMO
• Heaven Island Life
• iO
• JDM Tuner Racing
• Journey Down: Chapter Two
• Kingdom: Classic
• Krog Wars:
• LARA CROFT AND THE TEMPLE OF OSIRIS™
• Layers of Fear
• Little Nightmares
• Little Nightmares - DLC Fox Mask
• Little Racers STREET
• Lost Moon
• Lost Moon:
• Mad Games Tycoon
• Mafia III: Sign of the Times
• Magma Tsunami
• Manual Samuel
• Medieval Wars
• Megabyte Punch
• Mighty Party
• Mini Attack Submarine
• Monsti
• Multiple Key for: Brilliant Bob / Why So Evil / Why So Evil 2: Dystopia
• No Turning Back
• Nomad Survival
• One Finger Death Punch
• Paradox Wrench
• Paranormal Psychosis
• PHAT STACKS
• Q.U.B.E.
• Rapture Rejects - Humble Exclusive "Safari Outfit" DLC
• Rise of Industry
• ROGALIK
• Satellite Reign
• Serial Cleaner
• Sins of a Solar Empire Trinity Edition
• Skullgirls
• Snake Pass
• Space Beret
• Space Hulk Ascension
• Space Overlords
• Starship: Nova Strike
• State of Mind Soundtrack
• Stealth Bastard Deluxe
• Switchblade
• Tharsis
• The Deer
• The Next Door
• The Slaughtering Grounds
• The Strangers
• The Walking Dead: Season 1
• Tomb Raider: Temple of Osiris & Guardian of Light Bundle
• Turn Around
• Ultimate Zombie Defense
• Unforgiving Trials: The Darkest Crusade
• Unforgiving Trials: The Space Crusade
• Unknown Battle
• VAULT OF HONOR
• Viscera Cleanup Detail: Santa's Rampage
• Warp Rider
• Winged Knights: Penetration
• Witherung Kingdom: Arcane War
• Woodle Tree Adventure
• Yellow: The Yellow Artifact
• Zero Gear

Uplay

• Rayman® Origins
• Watch_Dogs™
• Watch_Dogs™ DEDSEC Edition Content

GoG

• Little Nightmares - DLC Tengu Mask
• Little Nightmares - DLC Fox Mask

Playstation 4

• Tekken 7 - PS4 DLC Theme"
• Project CARS 2 - Dynamic Theme PS4"
• Dark Souls III Transitory Lands PS4 Theme
• Dark Souls III The Ringed City PS4 Theme
• Sword Art Online : Hollow Realization: DLC Maid Costume (Also PS Vita)
• DRAGON BALL XENOVERSE 2 - Masters Pack
• DIGI’ADVENTURE PACK - PS4
• One Piece Burning Blood - Golden Luffy DLC (Also PS Vita)
• Tales of Zestiria - Mystische Artes und PlayStation-Designs (Also PS3)
• Little Nightmares - DLC Tengu Mask
• Little Nightmares - DLC Fox Mask

Xbox One

• DRAGON BALL XENOVERSE 2 - Masters Pack
• One Piece Burning Blood - Golden Luffy DLC
• Little Nightmares - DLC Tengu Mask
• Little Nightmares - DLC Fox Mask

Nintendo Switch

• Enclave HD

Microsoft

• XBOX Game Pass 14 Days
• XBOX Game Pass 3 Months

Coupons & Other Stuff

• 25% Off Coupon for PurePings.com Servers
• Absolute LoJack for Laptops 90 Day Trial Key Giveaway
• Astro Lords: Oort Cloud Exclusive Alienware Pack
• BigHead BASH Alien Head Key Giveaway
• Broforce 25% Steam Discount Key Giveaway
• Civilization V 50% Steam Discount Key Giveaway
• Divine Souls Closed Beta Key Giveaway
• Drunken Robot Pornography 60% Steam Discount Key Giveaway
• Dungeon Defenders Eternity Alienware Helmet Key Giveaway
• Heroes Of Newerth 200 Silver Coin Key Giveaway
• Heroes Of Newerth Account Icon Key Giveaway
• Loadout Exclusive In-Game Alienware T-Shirt Key Giveaway
• Neverwinter's Tyranny of Dragons Prize Pack Key Giveaway
• Shadow Warrior 75% Steam Discount Key Giveaway
• ShootMania Storm Exclusive Alienware Skin Giveaway
• War Inc. Arsenal Bundle Giveaway
• Warface Starter Pack Key Giveaway

Important Links
My Steam Wishlist
My Steam Games
My IGSRep Page
My SGS Flair
My GameTradeRep

Basics

• Feel free to leave a comment here, DM me on reddit or add me to talk on Steam, but a comment in this thread is still needed for a trade!
  
• I am open to any kind of offer, just make a reasonable one
  
• I take any Game/DLC I don’t have already (STEAM ONLY) You can compare here or here
  
• Also taking any Steam Items (Cards, CS2, TF2, etc.) & PayPal offers
  
• Trading my whole Steam Inventory, 15.000+ items if there is something you are interested in
  
• I will go first on keys that are already revealed to ensure the key is still working for you, all other keys are unrevealed & safe keys.
  

Important Links

• My Steam Wishlist ~ 300+ Games Wishlisted
  
• My Steam Games ~ 3000+ Owned Games
  
• My IGSRep Page ~ 60+ Trades Made
  
• My SGS Flair~ 60+ Trades Made
  
• My GameTradeRep ~ 20+ Trades Made
  

Humble Bundle Gifts
Steam

• 198X (Unused HG)
• 911 Operator
• Action Henk
• Anomaly Defenders
• Arizona Sunshine VR
• Armello
• Battletech – Shadow Hawk Pack (maybe used)
• Beholder
• Between the Stars
• BioShock™ Remastered (RL in some countries)
• Blaston
• Book of Demons
• Borderlands 2: GOTY
• Breathedge
• Broken Age
• Calico
• Crusader Kings II (RL in some Countries)
• Crusader Kings II The Old Gods DLC
• Deep Dungeons of Doom
• Draw Slasher
• Dungeon Rushers
• Elex II
• Embr
• Endless Space® - Collection
• From Space
• Full Throttle Remastered
• Galactic Civilizations Ultimate Edition
• GameGuru
• Going Under
• Golden Light
• Grime
• Guns of Icarus Alliance Collector's Edition
• Guts and Glory
• Hack 'n' Slash
• HackyZack
• HIVESWAP: Act 1
• How to Survive 1 (Unused HG)
• Hyperdrive Massacre
• I'm not a Monster
• Kerbal Space Program
• Killing Floor Incursion
• Kingdom Classic
• Kingdom Two Crowns
• Lust from Beyond - M Edition
• Monaco
• No Time to Explain Remastered
• Orbital Racer
• Orwell: Ignorance is Strength
• Pathfinder: Kingmaker - Enhanced Plus Edition
• PAYDAY 2
• Pesterquest
• PGA Tour 2K21
• Pixplode
• Popup Dungeon
• Quake II
• Regular Human Basketball
• Resident Evil Revelations 2 - Episode 1: Penal Colony (RL in some countries)
• Rym 9000
• SIMULACRA
• Sonic Adventure 2
• Sonic Adventure 2: Battle
• Soulblight
• Space Crew: Legendary Edition
• Space Pilgrim Episode 1: Alpha Centauri
• Stick Fight
• Stories Untold
• Stride
• Stronghold Crusader 2:
• Stygian: Reign of the Old Ones
• Styx: Master of Shadows
• Superliminal
• System Shock 2
• System Shock Enhanced Edition
• Talisman: Digital Edition
• The Amazing American Circus
• The Inner World
• The Walking Dead
• The Walking Dead: Michonne - A Telltale Miniseries
• The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners
• The Witness
• Ticket to Ride
• Tooth and Tail
• Tower 57
• Tropico 4
• Victoria 3
• Warhammer: End Times – Vermintide
• WARSAW
• We Were Here Together
• West of Dead
• Westerado: Double Barreled
• Worms Rumble
• WWE 2K Battlegrounds
• X-Morph: Defense Complete Pack (Unused HG)
• Zero Caliber VR
• Zombie Driver HD *Prodeus

GOG

• Liberated
• Wanderlust: Travel Stories
• Disjunction

Origin

• Command & Conquer Remastered Collection
• Dead Space
• Mirror's Edge
• Populous

Rockstar Social Club

• Max Payne 3

Other

• GameMaker Studio 2 Creator 12 Months
• Intro to Game Development with Unity
• Microsoft 365 Single 1 Year Licence Code (Eurozone)
• Musik Maker EDM Edition (Magix Key)
• Pathfinder Second Edition Core Rulebook and Starfinder Core Rulebook
• Race The Sun (Flippfly Key)
• Rooster Teeth FIRST Subscription - 1 Month Free (Rooster Teeth Key)
• Starfinder Core Rulebook and Starfinder: Junker's Delight
• Starfinder: Pact Worlds Campaign Setting (Paizo Key)

Fanatical Steam Keys

• 16bit Trader
• Alien Rampage
• A-Tech Cybernetic VR
• Castle of no Escape 2
• Daemonsgate
• DISTRAINT: Deluxe Edition
• Drill Arena
• Er-Spectro
• Eternam
• Fairy Lands: Rinka and the Fairy Gems
• Galactic Lords
• Grey Goo Definitive Edition
• Hostage: Rescue Mission
• King Arthur's Gold
• King's Table - The Legend of Ragnarok
• Marco Polo
• OutDrive
• Overcast - Walden and the Werewolf
• Particula
• Prophecy I - The Viking Child
• Red Risk
• ShipLord
• SPACECOM
• Spiritual Warfare & Wisdom Tree Collection
• Story Of the Survivor
• Timberman
• Trip to Vinelands
• Tropico 5
• TTV2
• UBERMOSH
• UBERMOSH Vol.3
• UBERMOSH Vol.5
• UBERMOSH:BLACK
• UBERMOSH:WRAITH
• W4RR-i/o-RS
• Walhall
• Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide

Retail & Revealed Keys
Battle.net

• Overwatch Digital Extras [Collectors Edition Retail Key: World of Warcraft Winston, Hearthstone Cardback, Starcraft 2 Portraits, Heroes of the Storm Tracer, Diablo 3 Mercy Wings (+ XBOX One Mercy Wings)]
• Overwatch Widowmaker Noire Skin (XBOX ONE Code)

Steam

• 12 is Better Than 6
• A grande bagunça espacial - The big space mess
• Aegis Defenders
• AI War: Fleet Command
• Anomaly Korea
• Anomaly: Warzone Earth
• Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation
• Attrition: Nuclear Domination
• Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan
• BARRIER X
• Bear With Me Collectors Edition
• Bioshock 2
• Blood of the Old(OLD VERSION) + Blood of the Old - The Rise To Greatness
• Bomber Crew
• Boys Love (Locked on Steam)
• Chroma Squad
• Clickdraw Clicker
• Dark Deity
• Darkness and a Crowd
• Deadbreed
• Death Squared
• Desolate
• Drift Streets Japan
• East India Company Gold
• Endless Space Collection
• Food Hunter
• Freebie
• Galactic Civilizations II: Ultimate Edition
• Galactic Lords
• Glass Wing
• Dirt Rally
• GROOVY
• GT Legends
• Guns of Icarus Alliance
• Guns of Icarus Online
• Heaven Island - VR MMO
• Heaven Island Life
• iO
• JDM Tuner Racing
• Journey Down: Chapter Two
• Kingdom: Classic
• Krog Wars:
• LARA CROFT AND THE TEMPLE OF OSIRIS™
• Layers of Fear
• Little Nightmares
• Little Nightmares - DLC Fox Mask
• Little Racers STREET
• Lost Moon
• Lost Moon:
• Mad Games Tycoon
• Mafia III: Sign of the Times
• Magma Tsunami
• Manual Samuel
• Medieval Wars
• Megabyte Punch
• Mighty Party
• Mini Attack Submarine
• Monsti
• Multiple Key for: Brilliant Bob / Why So Evil / Why So Evil 2: Dystopia
• No Turning Back
• Nomad Survival
• One Finger Death Punch
• Paradox Wrench
• Paranormal Psychosis
• PHAT STACKS
• Q.U.B.E.
• Rapture Rejects - Humble Exclusive "Safari Outfit" DLC
• Rise of Industry
• ROGALIK
• Satellite Reign
• Serial Cleaner
• Sins of a Solar Empire Trinity Edition
• Skullgirls
• Snake Pass
• Space Beret
• Space Hulk Ascension
• Space Overlords
• Starship: Nova Strike
• State of Mind Soundtrack
• Stealth Bastard Deluxe
• Switchblade
• Tharsis
• The Deer
• The Next Door
• The Slaughtering Grounds
• The Strangers
• The Walking Dead: Season 1
• Tomb Raider: Temple of Osiris & Guardian of Light Bundle
• Turn Around
• Ultimate Zombie Defense
• Unforgiving Trials: The Darkest Crusade
• Unforgiving Trials: The Space Crusade
• Unknown Battle
• VAULT OF HONOR
• Viscera Cleanup Detail: Santa's Rampage
• Warp Rider
• Winged Knights: Penetration
• Witherung Kingdom: Arcane War
• Woodle Tree Adventure
• Yellow: The Yellow Artifact
• Zero Gear

Uplay

• Rayman® Origins
• Watch_Dogs™
• Watch_Dogs™ DEDSEC Edition Content

GoG

• Little Nightmares - DLC Tengu Mask
• Little Nightmares - DLC Fox Mask

Playstation 4

• Tekken 7 - PS4 DLC Theme"
• Project CARS 2 - Dynamic Theme PS4"
• Dark Souls III Transitory Lands PS4 Theme
• Dark Souls III The Ringed City PS4 Theme
• Sword Art Online : Hollow Realization: DLC Maid Costume (Also PS Vita)
• DRAGON BALL XENOVERSE 2 - Masters Pack
• DIGI’ADVENTURE PACK - PS4
• One Piece Burning Blood - Golden Luffy DLC (Also PS Vita)
• Tales of Zestiria - Mystische Artes und PlayStation-Designs (Also PS3)
• Little Nightmares - DLC Tengu Mask
• Little Nightmares - DLC Fox Mask

Xbox One

• DRAGON BALL XENOVERSE 2 - Masters Pack
• One Piece Burning Blood - Golden Luffy DLC
• Little Nightmares - DLC Tengu Mask
• Little Nightmares - DLC Fox Mask

Nintendo Switch

• Enclave HD

Microsoft

• XBOX Game Pass 14 Days
• XBOX Game Pass 3 Months

Coupons & Other Stuff

• 25% Off Coupon for PurePings.com Servers
• Absolute LoJack for Laptops 90 Day Trial Key Giveaway
• Astro Lords: Oort Cloud Exclusive Alienware Pack
• BigHead BASH Alien Head Key Giveaway
• Broforce 25% Steam Discount Key Giveaway
• Civilization V 50% Steam Discount Key Giveaway
• Divine Souls Closed Beta Key Giveaway
• Drunken Robot Pornography 60% Steam Discount Key Giveaway
• Dungeon Defenders Eternity Alienware Helmet Key Giveaway
• Heroes Of Newerth 200 Silver Coin Key Giveaway
• Heroes Of Newerth Account Icon Key Giveaway
• Loadout Exclusive In-Game Alienware T-Shirt Key Giveaway
• Neverwinter's Tyranny of Dragons Prize Pack Key Giveaway
• Shadow Warrior 75% Steam Discount Key Giveaway
• ShootMania Storm Exclusive Alienware Skin Giveaway
• War Inc. Arsenal Bundle Giveaway
• Warface Starter Pack Key Giveaway

Important Links
My Steam Wishlist
My Steam Games
My IGSRep Page
My SGS Flair
My GameTradeRep

Basics

• Feel free to leave a comment here, DM me on reddit or add me to talk on Steam, but a comment in this thread is still needed for a trade!
  
• I am open to any kind of offer, just make a reasonable one
  
• I take any Game/DLC I don’t have already (STEAM ONLY) You can compare here or here
  
• Also taking any Steam Items (Cards, CS2, TF2, etc.) & PayPal offers
  
• Trading my whole Steam Inventory, 15.000+ items if there is something you are interested in
  
• I will go first on keys that are already revealed to ensure the key is still working for you, all other keys are unrevealed & safe keys.
  

Important Links

• My Steam Wishlist ~ 300+ Games Wishlisted
  
• My Steam Games ~ 3000+ Owned Games
  
• My IGSRep Page ~ 60+ Trades Made
  
• My SGS Flair~ 60+ Trades Made
  
• My GameTradeRep ~ 20+ Trades Made
  

Humble Bundle Gifts
Steam

• 198X (Unused HG)
• 911 Operator
• Action Henk
• Anomaly Defenders
• Arizona Sunshine VR
• Armello
• Battletech – Shadow Hawk Pack (maybe used)
• Beholder
• Between the Stars
• BioShock™ Remastered (RL in some countries)
• Blaston
• Book of Demons
• Borderlands 2: GOTY
• Breathedge
• Broken Age
• Calico
• Crusader Kings II (RL in some Countries)
• Crusader Kings II The Old Gods DLC
• Deep Dungeons of Doom
• Draw Slasher
• Dungeon Rushers
• Elex II
• Embr
• Endless Space® - Collection
• From Space
• Full Throttle Remastered
• Galactic Civilizations Ultimate Edition
• GameGuru
• Going Under
• Golden Light
• Grime
• Guns of Icarus Alliance Collector's Edition
• Guts and Glory
• Hack 'n' Slash
• HackyZack
• HIVESWAP: Act 1
• How to Survive 1 (Unused HG)
• Hyperdrive Massacre
• I'm not a Monster
• Kerbal Space Program
• Killing Floor Incursion
• Kingdom Classic
• Kingdom Two Crowns
• Lust from Beyond - M Edition
• Monaco
• No Time to Explain Remastered
• Orbital Racer
• Orwell: Ignorance is Strength
• Pathfinder: Kingmaker - Enhanced Plus Edition
• PAYDAY 2
• Pesterquest
• PGA Tour 2K21
• Pixplode
• Popup Dungeon
• Quake II
• Regular Human Basketball
• Resident Evil Revelations 2 - Episode 1: Penal Colony (RL in some countries)
• Rym 9000
• SIMULACRA
• Sonic Adventure 2
• Sonic Adventure 2: Battle
• Soulblight
• Space Crew: Legendary Edition
• Space Pilgrim Episode 1: Alpha Centauri
• Stick Fight
• Stories Untold
• Stride
• Stronghold Crusader 2:
• Stygian: Reign of the Old Ones
• Styx: Master of Shadows
• Superliminal
• System Shock 2
• System Shock Enhanced Edition
• Talisman: Digital Edition
• The Amazing American Circus
• The Inner World
• The Walking Dead
• The Walking Dead: Michonne - A Telltale Miniseries
• The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners
• The Witness
• Ticket to Ride
• Tooth and Tail
• Tower 57
• Tropico 4
• Victoria 3
• Warhammer: End Times – Vermintide
• WARSAW
• We Were Here Together
• West of Dead
• Westerado: Double Barreled
• Worms Rumble
• WWE 2K Battlegrounds
• X-Morph: Defense Complete Pack (Unused HG)
• Zero Caliber VR
• Zombie Driver HD *Prodeus

GOG

• Liberated
• Wanderlust: Travel Stories
• Disjunction

Origin

• Command & Conquer Remastered Collection
• Dead Space
• Mirror's Edge
• Populous

Rockstar Social Club

• Max Payne 3

Other

• GameMaker Studio 2 Creator 12 Months
• Intro to Game Development with Unity
• Microsoft 365 Single 1 Year Licence Code (Eurozone)
• Musik Maker EDM Edition (Magix Key)
• Pathfinder Second Edition Core Rulebook and Starfinder Core Rulebook
• Race The Sun (Flippfly Key)
• Rooster Teeth FIRST Subscription - 1 Month Free (Rooster Teeth Key)
• Starfinder Core Rulebook and Starfinder: Junker's Delight
• Starfinder: Pact Worlds Campaign Setting (Paizo Key)

Fanatical Steam Keys

• 16bit Trader
• Alien Rampage
• A-Tech Cybernetic VR
• Castle of no Escape 2
• Daemonsgate
• DISTRAINT: Deluxe Edition
• Drill Arena
• Er-Spectro
• Eternam
• Fairy Lands: Rinka and the Fairy Gems
• Galactic Lords
• Grey Goo Definitive Edition
• Hostage: Rescue Mission
• King Arthur's Gold
• King's Table - The Legend of Ragnarok
• Marco Polo
• OutDrive
• Overcast - Walden and the Werewolf
• Particula
• Prophecy I - The Viking Child
• Red Risk
• ShipLord
• SPACECOM
• Spiritual Warfare & Wisdom Tree Collection
• Story Of the Survivor
• Timberman
• Trip to Vinelands
• Tropico 5
• TTV2
• UBERMOSH
• UBERMOSH Vol.3
• UBERMOSH Vol.5
• UBERMOSH:BLACK
• UBERMOSH:WRAITH
• W4RR-i/o-RS
• Walhall
• Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide

Retail & Revealed Keys
Battle.net

• Overwatch Digital Extras [Collectors Edition Retail Key: World of Warcraft Winston, Hearthstone Cardback, Starcraft 2 Portraits, Heroes of the Storm Tracer, Diablo 3 Mercy Wings (+ XBOX One Mercy Wings)]
• Overwatch Widowmaker Noire Skin (XBOX ONE Code)

Steam

• 12 is Better Than 6
• A grande bagunça espacial - The big space mess
• Aegis Defenders
• AI War: Fleet Command
• Anomaly Korea
• Anomaly: Warzone Earth
• Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation
• Attrition: Nuclear Domination
• Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan
• BARRIER X
• Bear With Me Collectors Edition
• Bioshock 2
• Blood of the Old(OLD VERSION) + Blood of the Old - The Rise To Greatness
• Bomber Crew
• Boys Love (Locked on Steam)
• Chroma Squad
• Clickdraw Clicker
• Dark Deity
• Darkness and a Crowd
• Deadbreed
• Death Squared
• Desolate
• Drift Streets Japan
• East India Company Gold
• Endless Space Collection
• Food Hunter
• Freebie
• Galactic Civilizations II: Ultimate Edition
• Galactic Lords
• Glass Wing
• Dirt Rally
• GROOVY
• GT Legends
• Guns of Icarus Alliance
• Guns of Icarus Online
• Heaven Island - VR MMO
• Heaven Island Life
• iO
• JDM Tuner Racing
• Journey Down: Chapter Two
• Kingdom: Classic
• Krog Wars:
• LARA CROFT AND THE TEMPLE OF OSIRIS™
• Layers of Fear
• Little Nightmares
• Little Nightmares - DLC Fox Mask
• Little Racers STREET
• Lost Moon
• Lost Moon:
• Mad Games Tycoon
• Mafia III: Sign of the Times
• Magma Tsunami
• Manual Samuel
• Medieval Wars
• Megabyte Punch
• Mighty Party
• Mini Attack Submarine
• Monsti
• Multiple Key for: Brilliant Bob / Why So Evil / Why So Evil 2: Dystopia
• No Turning Back
• Nomad Survival
• One Finger Death Punch
• Paradox Wrench
• Paranormal Psychosis
• PHAT STACKS
• Q.U.B.E.
• Rapture Rejects - Humble Exclusive "Safari Outfit" DLC
• Rise of Industry
• ROGALIK
• Satellite Reign
• Serial Cleaner
• Sins of a Solar Empire Trinity Edition
• Skullgirls
• Snake Pass
• Space Beret
• Space Hulk Ascension
• Space Overlords
• Starship: Nova Strike
• State of Mind Soundtrack
• Stealth Bastard Deluxe
• Switchblade
• Tharsis
• The Deer
• The Next Door
• The Slaughtering Grounds
• The Strangers
• The Walking Dead: Season 1
• Tomb Raider: Temple of Osiris & Guardian of Light Bundle
• Turn Around
• Ultimate Zombie Defense
• Unforgiving Trials: The Darkest Crusade
• Unforgiving Trials: The Space Crusade
• Unknown Battle
• VAULT OF HONOR
• Viscera Cleanup Detail: Santa's Rampage
• Warp Rider
• Winged Knights: Penetration
• Witherung Kingdom: Arcane War
• Woodle Tree Adventure
• Yellow: The Yellow Artifact
• Zero Gear

Uplay

• Rayman® Origins
• Watch_Dogs™
• Watch_Dogs™ DEDSEC Edition Content

GoG

• Little Nightmares - DLC Tengu Mask
• Little Nightmares - DLC Fox Mask

Playstation 4

• Tekken 7 - PS4 DLC Theme"
• Project CARS 2 - Dynamic Theme PS4"
• Dark Souls III Transitory Lands PS4 Theme
• Dark Souls III The Ringed City PS4 Theme
• Sword Art Online : Hollow Realization: DLC Maid Costume (Also PS Vita)
• DRAGON BALL XENOVERSE 2 - Masters Pack
• DIGI’ADVENTURE PACK - PS4
• One Piece Burning Blood - Golden Luffy DLC (Also PS Vita)
• Tales of Zestiria - Mystische Artes und PlayStation-Designs (Also PS3)
• Little Nightmares - DLC Tengu Mask
• Little Nightmares - DLC Fox Mask

Xbox One

• DRAGON BALL XENOVERSE 2 - Masters Pack
• One Piece Burning Blood - Golden Luffy DLC
• Little Nightmares - DLC Tengu Mask
• Little Nightmares - DLC Fox Mask

Nintendo Switch

• Enclave HD

Microsoft

• XBOX Game Pass 14 Days
• XBOX Game Pass 3 Months

Coupons & Other Stuff

• 25% Off Coupon for PurePings.com Servers
• Absolute LoJack for Laptops 90 Day Trial Key Giveaway
• Astro Lords: Oort Cloud Exclusive Alienware Pack
• BigHead BASH Alien Head Key Giveaway
• Broforce 25% Steam Discount Key Giveaway
• Civilization V 50% Steam Discount Key Giveaway
• Divine Souls Closed Beta Key Giveaway
• Drunken Robot Pornography 60% Steam Discount Key Giveaway
• Dungeon Defenders Eternity Alienware Helmet Key Giveaway
• Heroes Of Newerth 200 Silver Coin Key Giveaway
• Heroes Of Newerth Account Icon Key Giveaway
• Loadout Exclusive In-Game Alienware T-Shirt Key Giveaway
• Neverwinter's Tyranny of Dragons Prize Pack Key Giveaway
• Shadow Warrior 75% Steam Discount Key Giveaway
• ShootMania Storm Exclusive Alienware Skin Giveaway
• War Inc. Arsenal Bundle Giveaway
• Warface Starter Pack Key Giveaway

Important Links
My Steam Wishlist
My Steam Games
My IGSRep Page
My SGS Flair
My GameTradeRep