In a relationship that spanned seven years, I experienced the heart-wrenching betrayal of infidelity, which resulted in an unexpected pregnancy. Throughout our time together, my ex-boyfriend held a significant place in my heart, as he had been my long-term high school crush and my first love. Remarkably, he reciprocated my feelings, creating a deep connection between us. However, he became the first person to break my heart, leaving me shattered and devastated.
Our relationship took a tumultuous turn in 2022 when I became engrossed in my studies and focused on my goals and responsibilities, causing a growing distance between us. Eventually, this led to a heartbreaking separation on June 17, 2023, without proper closure or goodbyes. In September 2023, I made the decision to reconcile, hoping that by becoming a better version of myself, we could mend our relationship. Unfortunately, my efforts were in vain. While we initially agreed to meet for closure in Manila, our secret meetings and encounters continued until April. By November, he expressed his desire to end our relationship, abruptly cutting off communication and publicly indicating his readiness to move forward without me on social media. However, just ten days later, he reached out again, seeking something from me, and we arranged another meeting for closure in December. This cycle of separation and reunion persisted, and during this time, I began to suspect that he was cheating on me due to his lack of affection. In December, I believed that we would finally put an end to our tumultuous relationship. However, we found ourselves talking again and even spent Christmas together in the province. It was during this time that he introduced another girl to his mother, a revelation that I only recently discovered.
Between our secret meetings in September, December, January, and March, many things unfolded. Physical intimacy became a part of our encounters, as I believed our actions were fueled by love. However, I later realized that I had been mistaken all along. In March, while we were sleeping, I noticed a girl named P. messaging my ex. Initially, he claimed that she was just his dorm mate, but her presence sparked doubts in my mind about his faithfulness. Despite my suspicions, I chose to trust him. On April 10, he began to distance himself from me. However, numerous witnesses reported seeing him with the other girl since January. This, coupled with my mounting suspicions, led me to believe that he was indeed cheating. I began to investigate, and we confronted the issue on April 19. During our confrontation, he denied any wrongdoing, insisting that the other woman was just a friend. However, the next day, I discovered incriminating conversations between him and the other woman when I gained access to his phone. It was then that I realized the truth and felt my world crumble around me. All my plans and hopes for a future with him shattered. What hurt me the most was when he introduced me to his brother as his fake girlfriend, unable to answer his brother's questions about our relationship. It deeply wounded me. During a drinking session with his family, they even said, "It's unavoidable for him to cheat, Why? Because we come from a lineage of good-looking people." I was so hurt by their words that I ended up getting drunk.
On April 25, we bid each other farewell, but it was not an official breakup as we are still in contact. I believed that we were keeping our promises to focus on healing and that he wouldn't choose between us, prioritizing his own well-being. On April 29, when he went to Dagupan, he updated me while drunk, implying that he wouldn't see the other girl during his trip, suggesting that I was the one who mattered to him. But when we stopped talking, he went back to the other girl. It was as if our discussions had meant nothing, as if my tears held no significance, as if he didn't care. They resumed their relationship, flaunting their bond on social media platforms, even after I discovered that I was pregnant. Last week, he claimed that everything he said on April 20 was just to ease my mind, and he no longer truly loved me. He confessed that he no longer felt anything for me. He even accused me of being selfish, suggesting that I wanted him to suffer just because I was suffering. It felt incredibly unfair and bitter that he believed I didn't want them to be happy. That time, i am confused and pregnant, I stayed at his place for four days. During this time, we provoked each other, and he took advantage of the situation, engaging in sexual activity with me. He continued to tell me "I love you," and we even shared a kiss before I left on the bus. Despite knowing about my pregnancy, he provided no emotional support. He remained with his new partner, even after assuring me that I wouldn't hear about them being together anymore and that he needed time to heal. It was disheartening to witness them openly label their relationship, especially considering my pregnancy. Thi continued display of their bond on social media platfe only added to my disappointment.
It was a devastating realization that someone I deeply loved could betray me in such a cruel manner, leaving me broken and shattered. My dreams and aspirations for myself were crushed along with my heart. It was unimaginable that the man I had loved for seven long years, the person I had entrusted with my deepest emotions and vulnerabilities, could be the one to inflict such pain upon me. How could someone I held so close to my heart cause such immense hurt? To make matters worse, after getting me pregnant, he directed his love towards another woman. It was difficult to comprehend how he could find happiness while disregarding the responsibilities he had brought upon our child. It hurt deeply to be genuine in my love for him, wanting to choose him every day, only to be hurt in return. How could he hurt someone who had eyes only for him? The pain intensified when I realized that he had gotten me pregnant despite no longer feeling any love for me. It was disheartening to hear him say "I love you" when it seemed he was only saying it to ease my feelings. The destruction he caused pushed me to the point where I felt overwhelmed and contemplated suicide.

Hello, My name is Karol, I'm from Minnesota, and I'm new to Reddit. I don't expect this to get much attention, but I've been needing to get this off my chest for a while. So to jump right into it, there's this girl ive known for about eight years now and she has been a bit of a big part of my life. For the sake of this story, we are just going to call her by her middle name, Grace. I had first met her when I was sitting alone at breakfast one day in my elementary school cafeteria, and she and her sister came and sat with me. I was confused until we started talking, and I got to know her quite a bit. Flash forward to the first day of 3rd grade, where I walked into the classroom with my best friend Norma, and I saw Grace again, but this time she had much longer hair and was a little taller. I started to develop feelings for grace, not just normal feelings, though I felt like I really liked her. I didn't recognize Grace at the time; I thought this was a new student. I worked up the courage to talk to her, and that's when I realized it was grace. I didn't think she knew how much of a crush I had on her at the time. A few months into the school year, I met this girl, whom we'll call Lina. Me, Grace, and Lina started to all become friends, and one day we had indoor recess, and my friend Kayla invited me to play Uno with her and some other girls, but Lina also invited me to play Truth or Dare with her, Grace, and some other girls. I decided to go play truth or dare with Lina. It was my turn, and Lina said to me, "Truth or dare?" and I chose dare. She then proceeded to say, "Whisper in your crush's ear and tell them you like them." I began to grow nervous as I felt everyone in the circle looking at me, so I leaned over to Grace and whispered to her, "I like you, but if you don't like me back, don't say it while everyone is watching." Grace whispered back to me, "Well, I do like you," and that was the beginning of an era. Looking back on that moment as I am about to go into my sophomore year, I really wish I had never played truth or dare with them. I could've saved myself from so much bullying, so much drama, and from the worst thing that's ever happened to me: grace. But let me know if you want Part 2, since this is just the beginning.

I am honest with my closed ones because Not being is really harder and troublesome , and I think to have a girlfriend and be a liar tô her misses the point of even dating, but...
In other scenarios I pretend to be what they assume I should be, like pretending really hard .
Example: Job Interview last week, that truth is Not what they want anyway, and the least thing they want tô hear.
Everyone sane knows HR Interview is like an exam of How much bullshit you can speak and hear without laughing. Convince someone you need this Job to save the world using the secret Power of an Excel sheet or whatever .
Lie that the project you did in college made your mindset Flip and Flop and say something inspiring about your previous experiences in workfields that are the same as this Will be If you pass the bullshit test :
Work, get money , pretend to Care about the Company (read any sideline of old news of the history of this shit and say something to make the interviewer think you know more than your occupation hás tô know) , make It seems because of this 5 min google you ARE really interested because you know something about the past dead owners that with honor destroyed a Lot of the climate.
After that, flush this information post interview because even the HR dont know this shit and If It knows It, was because it checked It at the time and for sure will forget It later.
Don't say you finish before the deadline to not be overworked and not overpayed, lie to your Boss everytime It is possible and fake a surprise If you get caught and overreact with fake apologies and fake sincerity assuming your mistake and own the mistake to pretend to be honest and say that Will never do It again.
Then he can feel the dopamine rush of having authority out of someone and Will like you as a pet subordinate, than keep procrastinating and be proactive only in the act of faking How much time and effort you took tô do something and say with conviction everytime and make pain faces to show How hard you ARE as a worker
If possible, shit on the office to have more time at home too
And while your mind is thinking this in the interview your mouth is saying shit like carbon footprint Control is the future and How you Will automate Random flux that you Will say Random numbers of % efficience knowing they dont know shit and you can look that shit after , at the same time, you can see in the corner of the window the Company cool and moderno with pingpong firing tóxic gas like brbrbrbrbr and you Will for sure make that shit Góes brrrrrrrrrrrrr
Say that you Will go to work in a bycicle and read Tolstoy as a hobbie to show them you are a good Nature protector and cult Man, never say that you watch Peep show.
After being rejected for Not having any experience sometime ago I lied really hard to have my First one, It worked.
This is my Third Job( was Not fired once) that I don't even know I say anything true other than my name , I thought LinkedIn was a circlejerk but saying bullshit doing the minimun got me offers one better than the other.
And I don't usually add those people to my circle of friends because I leave work at work because I don't Care for my colleagues , for me they are respected as human beings and shittalkers and I Hope they think of me the same way , I don't want to talk about work outside of work , I Just want money working the less I can and lying is the norm there anyway, people Just believe Their own lies and are chocked tô see someone saying It out loudly what they do and justify with a hidden Noble and inspirational motivation, I Just own It and say this tô my closed ones to laugh at this shit.
But this seems like a "wrong " thing tô do(homie girl Heard and was pissed) . If being honest is being unemployed why the fuck you would he honest ?
Lying like that makes the Boss like you so much that you dont even have tô be on tiktok dance of the company? How the fuck is this morally wrong?

Go ahead, ask me anything.

Dear A,
Again, this is my therapy. But, this time, the energy that's powering this piece to you is strictly neutral. Back in the days when we were talking, you were amused by how I was able to explain things in terms of cars and their related functions. Think of this letter to you as the shift lever indicator, and the setting is on N. No, this is not in reverse, as I'm not looking back or seeing you in terms of the past. I'm also not shifted in D, being able to press on the accelerator and drive our connection forward. The appropriate indicator regarding our connection is on neutral. Yes, the vehicle is in motion, but the speed reflected on the dashboard is a representative of past energy. Therefore, while it is moving forward and in motion, it will eventually slow down. At that point, then, I can finally shift into park and this journey will be over completely.
The me from 2021 was not happy that you had cut off connection and all forms of contact with me. The me from 2021 was looking for you, trying very hard to fix anything and everything that had gone wrong, and used every available resource I had to attempt to make things right.
However, the me in 2024 and onward ... doesn't want you to come back. I can accept how things had turned out. I'm still learning my lessons and growing. I don't foresee any future involvement with you, friendship or otherwise, yet I also don't hate you either. My energy towards you is neutral. It is necessary for me to spill these words into the universe, to affirm that I have earned the right to welcome any new connection that may be due my way. This is for me to present myself before the universe, prepared to give an account for executing any/all resources I had, in my attempts to either reconcile with you or to pursue closure.
FWIW, I don't want you to think or entertain yourself with any ideas that I'm holding the door open for you, checking my inbox, or waiting by the phone. Sure, you can if it will help you to sleep at night, but the universe is very well aware and knows what's what. So, I will leave it there.
Or I can give you the tl:dr musical version ...
Me in 2021: 🎶When you left, I lost a part of me. It's still so hard to believe. Come back, baby, please because we belong together.🎶 😭 (Mariah Carey)
Me in 2024: 🎶You ain't nothin' but a heartache. You ain't nothin' but a mistake. I celebrate this truth everyday ... I'm glad it worked out that way.🎶 😊 (Backstreet Boys, The Remix)
Stay blessed,
~ K

Hi there. First time user here. I have OCD (used to be more contamination based but not so much anymore) and ADHD.
Turns out I’ve been having false memories and thought I was doing my job and I wasn’t. Now the OCD has taken a hold of this and I can’t even fathom continuing to work. I can’t stomach the idea of telling anyone I lied to them even though I genuinely thought I was telling the truth.
I have a project based job and the deadline is in a year. I can’t go back and fix anything, I can only try to make up for it in the future. I’m truly imploding I can’t stomach this. I feel like a terrible person and a liar. I basically told on myself to my boss that I’m worried I missed some things because my anxiety had been pretty noticeable but I only very recently realized that I was having false memories. I was telling them I did tasks that I never did.
I don’t even know what I’m looking for here. I start PHP soon but I don’t know how to cope until then. I love my job I love the people I work for and I lied to them. Do I keep telling on myself or do I wait if/until someone notices?

Cover Art!
Just because you’re transported to another world, doesn’t mean you’ll escape from your pain.
Abused by her parents, thirteen-year-old Frances only wants to be safe and for her life not to hurt so much. And when she and her class are transported to the magical world of Durannon to fight the monsters invading the human kingdoms and defeat the self-titled Demon King, Frances is presented with a golden opportunity. If she succeeds, Frances will have the home she never had. If she fails, Frances will be summoned back to the home she escaped.
Yet, despite her newfound magic and friends, Frances finds that trauma is not so easily lost. She is dogged by her abuse and its physical and invisible scars. Not only does she have to learn magic, she has to survive the nightmares of her past, and wrestle with her feelings of doubt and self-loathing.
If she can heal from her trauma, though, she might be able to defeat the Demon King and maybe, just maybe, she can find a home for herself.
[The Beginning] [<=Chapter 217] [Chapter Index and Blurb] [Chapter 219 June 11 or see the next chapter now on Patreon]
The Fractured Song Index
Discord Channel Just let me know when you arrive in the server that you’re a Patreon so you can access your special channel.
***
Ginger makes an offer to Lakadara. The rest of Telkandra's remaining brood discuss the fate of their allies.
“Not good?” Sara asked as Helias strode into the tent and made his way straight to the bottle of wine.
“Not good,” Helias muttered.
Sara nodded woodenly. “Privacy spell?
The tauroll waved his sheathed Fangroar and after pouring himself and his wife a drink, sat down. “We’re safe. Oh Galena, this is really not good.”
“How dead are we?” Sara asked, her tone light.
“We’re not dead. We’re just in a lot of danger and even if we somehow force the humans to retreat, we’ve lost this war,” said Helias.
“Explain.”
Helias drank deep, noting that Sara was also drinking deep as well. “Thorgoth is going after the humans. That part of the plan is as good as it gets. We’ll be attacking them, and using the dragons, whilst our forces hold off Titania. Our objectives are also well-chosen.” Helias buried his head into his hands and let out a deep groan. “But winning this doesn’t change anything.”
“If we can defeat the humans, why won’t that change anything?” Sara bit her lip. “Unless it renders us unable to beat Titania?”
“Yes. Even on the chance we beat the humans we won’t be able to invade them, we won’t be able to defeat Titania. We’d be at a stalemate and both armies would have to withdraw.” His hands dropping to the table, Helias stared at his wife. “And we don’t have any reserves left. We’re going to lose the war, even if Thorgoth lives.”
“If we defeat the humans—”
The general shook his head. “By defeat, I mean we’ll hurt them but we can’t prevent them from withdrawing. We might kill a few of their leaders, their important mages and Otherworlders, but they will still have soldiers. After coming so close, they won’t surrender. They’ll keep attacking until they kill enough of Thorgoth and Berengaria’s supporters that nobody will help them, or until both of them die.”
“Alright so, what do we do?” Sara asked. Helias looked at his wife, noting how still she sat. Her wings were clamped tight to her back and her lips were drawn tight.
“Sara, I don’t have good answers.”
Sara steepled her trembling fingers as best she could. “They’re going to be better than mine. I don’t know anything about war.”
“Right. Well, you need to surrender to the humans if you are captured. Present yourself as a non-combatant. Cry, scream, anything to declare that you don’t mean any harm,” Helias said.
“Why not Titania?” Sara asked.
“She has every incentive to kill you off and far less compunction about doing so. Killing our family off would allow her to have more land to give away to her loyalists. In contrast, the humans have Erlenberg troops fighting with them along with those of the Lightning Battalion. They’re going to be far more friendly to Alavari civilians,” Helias said.
Soft hands, grabbed onto Helias’s waist with a surprisingly firm grip. “What about you? I can get away, but how are you going to survive this?”
“I don’t know. I—”
“Don’t you dare! Our daughter needs her father and I need my husband!”
The general stared at his wife. “Sara, I can’t surrender to the humans if we win. They want me dead.”
Sara refilled Helias’s glass. “Then you need to help Thorgoth defeat them.”
“Then what? We’re never winning this war. Thorgoth is going to be invaded and—”
Cutting him off with the clink of her goblet against the table, Sara hissed, “And what? Why think that far? We can plan for that after this battle, so long as you are still here and with me.”
Letting out a breath Helias pushed his hair back and allowed himself a sigh. Reaching across the table, he took his wife’s hand.
“Sara, you’re right, but you know you can escape this if Thorgoth is defeated.”
The harorc placed her other hand on top of his. “We’re partners. I need you. We need you. So promise me that you’ll do your damndest to live.”
Helias closed his eyes and nodded. “I promise. First things first, before we turn in we need to talk to the dragons.”
***
Fennokra stalked slowly toward the camp. This wasn’t the collapsed side-passage where she and Yolandra had some privacy. This was the main camp where Thorgoth and their army were preparing for what had to be the final battle.
It was also where her siblings were swallowing the last of what seemed to be a side of salted pork.
“Velkandra, Makentra, we need to talk.”
Their second-eldest sister licked her lips, her neck rising to Fennokra’s level. “I am assuming you mean in private?”
“Of course.” Fennokra could see Velkandra’s haunches tensing to raise herself higher. Her sister was trying to look down on her. Allowing her head to dip, she held her height.
“Alright.” Velkandra flicked her tail and Makentra, licking his lips, followed them.
Since their enemies had set up their siege camp behind them, the Alavari camp had been reduced in size. Still, there was the alcove of the collapsed tunnel. Whilst couriers and soldiers crossed across this natural cavern to the defenses on the other side, they kept a good distance away.
Yolandra was waiting for them, scratching something into the cave wall. Fennokra let out a rumble in her throat and her sister turned from the wall suddenly, shaking her head.
“Velkandra, Mankentra—”
Velkandra puffed a cloud of smoke out. “What’s this all about?” she hissed, lips drawn back to show teeth.
Fennokra took a step away from her sister to take Yolandra’s side, her eyes narrowed. “Are you joking? Do you not think we should at least discuss what is going on?”
“And what would be the point? It is a bit late to be having this discussion. The course of the winds have been chosen,” said Velkandra.
Yolandra rose to her full height on her four legs, but even so she was still shorter than the silent Makendra. “The winds can be fickle, Velkandra, and where we are is proof.”
Velkandra pursed her lips, eyes for the first time, looking toward the ground. “The survival of our family is tied to that of Thorgoth. To abandon him would be death by the hand of the Stormcaller and her allies or by his hand.”
“Besides, if we were to abandon Thorgoth’s cause, that would be dishonorable. We promised to assist him,” said Makendra.
Fennokra blinked at her brother’s tone. It was quiet and yet there was a touch of a deep growl to his voice. His claws were ever so slightly digging into the ground.
“We are dragons. We can think and make decisions for ourselves. We are allowed to consider other options, are we not?” Fennokra asked.
Velkandra’s tail flicked violently side to side as her neck turned to her younger sibling. “Then why does it sound as if you wish to follow in the wingbeats of our elder sister?”
“Who we killed. I was there. I lost a claw striking her down!” Fennokra raised one clawed hand, flexing the remaining digits.
“On that, why did we have to kill Lakadara?”
All golden eyes fixed on Yolandra, who held the gaze of her siblings with a contemptuous scowl.
“Lakadara betrayed us,” said Velkandra, almost growling.
“I’ve been thinking over what happened. Lakadara said nothing about betraying our mother. She merely was questioning if Thorgoth was trustworthy,” Yolandra said.
A scowl flaring his nostrils, Makentra growled. “He fed us, trained us in how the humans and their allies fought. Hid us from their eyes—”
“And now Caldra is dead!” Yolandra exclaimed.
“Which is why we must kill the Stormcaller and her friends! So we can avenge him and our mother!” Velkandra almost completely unfurled her wings. Only the tips slapping the stone forced her to pull them back.
“Then what?” Yolandra asked.
Velkandra frowned. “Then what? We’d have our revenge—”
Yolandra’s tail cracked against the ground. “Then what? You all must have heard of what Thorgoth is capable of. What he’s done to others.”
Makentra rolled his eyes. “Sara’s story is just a story. She might have been just trying to turn you.”
“She was honest and she is not the only tale I’ve heard. You must have heard rumors of what Thorgoth did to his own son, Teutobal,” said Fennokra.
“Propaganda,” Velkandra hissed through her gritted teeth, while smoke wafted through the gaps. “In any case, we have no other option. We fight or we die.”
Fennokra, her claws grinding against the floor, had had enough.
“Velkandra, Makentra, have you ever considered that Thorgoth is perhaps using us for his own goals? We have not even considered what he might do to us after we’ve destroyed the humans and their allies. How do we know the Stormcaller and her allies might treat us better? Besides in the first place, she never intended to kill our mother—”
Fennokra blinked. She was flying backwards, something hard was bearing her into the wall. Dizzy as if struck by one of the Stormcaller’s spells, she realized that the force was the foreclaws of her elder sister. Mad rage lit those golden eyes that were the exact same shade as hers. Horrified, Fennokra tried to throw Velkandra off, but her sister was larger and heavier than her.
“Say that again. I dare you to say that again—ARGH!”
Velkandra rolled off, forced off of Fennokra by the Yolandra shoving into her side. As the elder dragon recovered, the smallest of Telkandra’s brood hissed, “It’s the truth! You are a fool to deny it!”
An ugly sneer on her lips, wings quivering with fury, Velkandra snorted. “The truth? Oh right so we are speaking the truth then. Well here’s the truth. Our kind is doomed!”
Makentra blinked. “Sister?”
“Of course Thorgoth is going to get rid of us or try to after this campaign. He has to, but right now he needs us and that’s what we need to rely on until we gain more strength. Of course, whether he wins or the Stormcaller’s allies win, how can we expect to survive in a world dominated by these lesser species hm? How could they ever not see us as a threat?”
Velkandra stalked toward the wide-eyed Fennokra and Yoandra. Her head turned side to side as she fixed her sisters with wild wide eyes.
“Well? Tell me Fennokra. Speak the truth Yolandra. Or are you both too afraid to admit that our kind are doomed and the only thing is to live as long as we can and hopefully avenge those that hurt us as we do so.”
“You’d have us fly to our deaths?” Makentra asked.
The stammering voice brought Velkandra around. Extending a wing, she touched its tip to her brother’s. “I would at least have us fly together.”
Fennokra shook her head. “We’d knowingly fly with a murderer of children and someone who would want to kill us after we’ve stopped being helpful to him.”
“And we have no other options,” said Makentra. Letting out a breath, he rose to his claws and walked away. “I’ll see you tomorrow, sisters.”
Velkandra, without another word, turned for the exit. “You know it’s true, Fennokra, Yolandra.”
Fennokra closed her eyes. Yolandra, though, narrowed hers. “Doesn’t change that Lakadra’s blood is on our claws.”
Velkandra flinched and left. She strode away so quickly she nearly stepped on Helias and Sara as they came to the cave. She gave the pair no acknowledgement other than a growl.
“See you tomorrow, General,” said Makentra, his tone curt. “We will talk to King Thorgoth ourselves for the plan’s details.”
“Of course,” said Helias. He bowed as the pair left before turning to Yolandra and Fennokra. “I believe we missed something important?”
“Be honest, General Helias. Even if we succeed tomorrow, your king has no use for us after we help him kill the Stormcaller, am I correct?” Fennokra asked.
Sara and Helias didn’t say anything. Their slight move to stand closer so they could hold hands was enough.
“I thought so,” said Fennokra. She let out a sigh and glanced at Yolandra, who nodded. “We will be on the battlefield tomorrow. Where are we going?”
“You’re going with me. We’re attacking the forces sallying from Kairon-Aoun. The plan is that you dragons breathe flame over their army to soften them before we attack.
“Understood. Any questions Fennokra?” Yolandra asked.
Fennokra shook her head. What could be asked anyway?”
Yolandra flashed the pair a joyless smile. “For what it is worth, you two have been good caretakers to us. Even if it was to preserve your own lives.”
Helias didn’t bow. Instead he extended a hand. Yolandra stared at him, but Fennokra, recognizing the gesture, extended a single talon.
“May you always be able to see the sun.” At the dragon’s blink, Helias smiled. “It’s an Alavari saying. It may come from when we used to be enslaved by the Goblin Empire. It means good luck.”
Yolandra nodded and Fennokra found herself smiling.
“Our mother taught us a saying as well. May you never fly alone. I wish that for you both,” said Fennokra.
“Thank you,” said Sara in a quiet voice. She curtsied and the two dragons dipped their heads. They watched Helias and Sara leave with placid smiles.
Then, when nobody was looking, they turned from the entrance to hide their bulks as best they could. The gloomy light of the alcove their only curtain of privacy.
***
Frances slowed slightly as they approached Lakadara’s enclosure. However, Ginger did not slow down.
“Hold on, Ginger, what’s the plan?” Frances asked.
Adjusting her new crown mid-stride, Ginger said, “I’ll show you. I’m certain it’ll work, though.”
Frances’ eyebrows rose. “Is that crown getting to your head already?”
The new Queen of Erisdale flashed a slightly nervous grin over her shoulder. “Yes actually, but I think that’s a good thing in some way. Don’t you?”
Frances found herself nodding. It was strange to see her friend even more confident than usual and so comfortable in the regal crown that she wore atop of a standard Lightning Battalion light blue uniform. Yet she rather enjoyed the new gait that Ginger had.
“I do.” Frances smirked. “Your Majesty.”
Ginger rolled her eyes. “Fuck you.”
Giggling, Frances stopped herself as they drew even closer to Lakadara. The dragon was drawing herself up, placing her massive foreclaws over each other.
“Lakadara. I am Ginger, the new Queen of Erisdale. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”
The dragon coughed, blowing out a puff of smoke. “Greetings Ginger, Queen of Erisdale. I’m sorry for your predecessor’s demise.” Lakadara’s golden eyes narrowed. “Why are you here?”
Ginger dipped her head. “Thank you and as to why I’m here. I have a proposition. If you accept it, I will grant you and your kin, the domain of the Erisdalian mountains marked by the Kwent River Valley, Freeburg and Athelda-Aoun as your home in perpetuity, so long as you do not attack humans unless in self-defense.”
“I am unfamiliar with human geography. From the Stormcaller’s expression, I assume that is a lot.”
Frances swallowed and closed her mouth, but she didn’t question her friend. Ginger, still smiling slyly, nudged her. “It is. Frances, can you lend me a hand here?”
Nodding, Frances closed her eyes and imagined a rough map of Erisdale and its territories. With a wave of Ivy’s Sting she created an image of Erisdale, highlighting in red the expanse of the mountains that bordered Alavaria and Erisdale. The area that Ginger had described sketched a rough red triangle between the three points. It was a fairly sizeable area with a low and Alavari human population.
“My husband is in negotiations with Queen Titania and I’ll have to talk to Frances and Prince Timur, but we are quite certain that Athelda-Aoun will also be included in this area,” Ginger said.
Lakadara’s golden eyes were flickering as she examined the land. Suddenly, she turned, long neck arching toward the Erisdalian Queen. “And what must I do? Fight on your kingdom’s behalf?”
Ginger shook her head. “No.”
“No?”
“Nope. If you would like to do so we can renegotiate the agreement, but my husband and I fully intend to grant you this land.”
The dragon’s tail lifted up as her eyes narrowed. “Explain yourself and the favor you seek. This is far too generous.”
“Let me explain myself first. If what I’m told by my experts is correct, you can lay eggs by yourself without a mate, but it takes time right? A few decades?”
“Yes. Still, that doesn’t explain—”
“Here me out. This war is going to end. We may lose, but if we win, banishing you to the north is making you Queen Titania’s problem and she’ll have more than enough problems to deal with. You might just end up coming south again and we know how that ended. I’d prefer to avoid that so that means we need to make an agreement. You need a new home and I need peace for Erisdale. If the kingdom has to give up some poor agricultural land then I’m all for it.”
The dragon nodded. “I see, but why so much land? Why not just give me a cave? Or request my service as Thorgoth did?”
“And how will you eat? Hunt? Where will your grown children go? I’m making an agreement that will last for decades, not just a few years. As for service? I was tempted, but you wouldn’t agree to that anyway and why should you? We haven’t given you any reason to agree.” Ginger gave Frances a wave to dispel the map. “Maybe in the future we can work something out, especially if the dragon population increases. Your service in return for more food, but again, I want to start us off on the right path, not the left path.”
“Left path?” Lakadara asked.
“Erisdalian expression. It means the wrong path,” Frances said helpfully.
Lakadara nodded slowly. “You still ask for a boon, though.”
Ginger nodded. “Yes. I want you to speak to your siblings. Before the upcoming battle starts, tell them of my deal with you. So long as they choose to accept that deal and defect, then I will have it so our forces will not hurt them. After that, you may leave. I will not request you to fight with us.”
“You want me to show myself to Thorgoth? To the siblings that tried to kill me?” Lakadara asked, mouth agape.
Ginger stepped closer to the dragon, who lifted her head away from the queen. “I want you to save your siblings. I want you to save yourself from becoming the last purple dragon in existence. I would rather you not be alone, stewing in hatred for my kingdom and our allies who brought down your family, even if we had just cause. I want peace. What do you want?”
“How do I know I can trust you?” The dragon suddenly grimaced. “Ah, right, you want a lasting peace. You have every reason to want peace.”
Ginger, arms crossed tapped her foot. Frances could see how stiff her friend was, but the action was also comforting. That her magic-less friend had such control over the situation, despite being faced with the dragon was rather…badass.
Letting out a puff of smoke that slowly drifted into the cavern, the dragon pondered the queen’s proposal. Frances held her breath and yet the dragon remained silent, only her tail moving from side to side.
Ginger waited, still content to wait for the dragon’s answer. Frances couldn’t. The tension coiled in her chest, waiting to explode.
“Lakadara, what do you want for your future?” Frances asked.
The dragon glanced at Frances, golden eyes wide. She turned back to Ginger, who continued to stand tall, awaiting Lakadara’s answer patiently.
“I accept your offer, and your promise for the future,” said Lakadara, dipping her head.
“We are glad that you wish the same as we do,” said Ginger. She extended her hand and Lakadara, took her claw and put the tip of it on the queen’s palm.
*Author’s Note: Queenly Ginger was really neat to write 😀 *

I've been thinking about this a lot, how can a Music/song be considered objectively Good? So I've gathered a few points to enlighten this subject.
Firstly, music like most things can be quantifiable and arranged. By definition, music is the art of composing different sounds to form a melody or an harmony so that should be the basis of what would be a good song, in other words a nicely arranged group of sounds. Now, there are different rules when arranging these sounds and musicians throughout history have developed whole lot of theories about it that are still used today to actually make songs. With different instruments we should be able to make sounds that represents something like a feeling or an image and that's what makes them so meaningful. Like the song on the beach in the movie "her" for example, it was made in a way that we feel the warmth and love the two characters are experiencing or in exit music by Radiohead where the music crescendo into that incredible peak where whe know it's the culminant point of Romeo and Juliet's story. Well obviously it isn't only about following rules and making textbook music it's also about mixing and breaking rules.
Secondly, my all time favorite about creating art especially music is experimenting. Obviously genres where created so we can locate ourselves in this big musical iceberg but they can also be used in a way to create revolutionary sounds by mixing them and getting creative with them. I know it can be a double-edged weapon and it can turn into a disastrous load of "what the f am i hearing" but sticking to only one rule could get boring overtime and we constantly need evolution in our world. Most of the music we know today would never existed if it wasn't for the pioneers that dared to experiment. I think one of the biggest example of that is Hip Hop, a pillar of modern music right now that wouldn't exist if it weren't for DJs that looped drums and old music samples and the MCs that had the idea to rhyme over a beat. Now that we're talking culture, what makes a Music good is also it's cultural value, right?
So thirdly, the quality of the music could be mirrored in it's values for us the listeners as an individual and as a community. Music as an art has the burden of carrying years and years of history and culture so it has a considerable impact on our society as a whole. Music weights heavy on how we perceive things and helps us at better understanding ourselves and each other, it serves as a catalyst whether it's for the artists or the listeners. Music can bring the wind of revolution or the sweet taste of nostalgia, it could represent a whole movement or just one tortured soul in a bedroom. Professor John Keating once said "Poetry, Beauty and Romance... These are what we stay alive for" and for me Music is the embodiment of that and should be truthful to that in order to be considered good.
To wrap it up, music must then be well arranged while fused with different inspirations and should represent something powerful to be considered objectively Good. However we can't ignore the subjectivity variable because we all have our own tastes, vulnerability and cultural belonging to judge music.

I (17F) was raised in the United States my whole life. I live in a diverse city, so there were Islamic schools and a significant amount of Muslims at the elementary, middle, and high schools, as well as people of other religions and ethnicities.
I’ve always thought the stories that Islamic teachers and my parents (mainly my mom) taught me were mythical. I didn’t really believe them deep down in my heart, despite saying I was a Muslim and despite saying I believe in the Prophet being so perfect. I truly backed down when my teacher said, “Are you passionately living your life?” I wasn’t. I only said I was Muslim because I wanted to feel safer from my mom’s turbulent temper. I wanted to be respected more, that’s why I wore the hijab voluntarily at the beginning of high school.
When I was in my early teens, I argued back. My mom is the type to argue every other day about the smallest things, including my unacceptable behavior. I have argued and was involved in physical altercations with each of my family members. I’m no saint. But I only retaliate because they say how dumb, crazy, angry, and how much of a disappointment I am. Really, they start the arguments saying how I’m all of these things with baseless “evidence.” When I was younger, I cried a little too much and was quiet. I didn’t listen to directions right away and was too afraid to ask because I was shy. That was enough evidence to berate me about how much of a bad girl I was. Why wasn’t I social? Why wasn’t I trusting adults that took care of me? The devil made me shy, my mom said. I was scared. I argued back because no one else stood up for me, not even my dad or my sister. I looked up to them. Now I don’t. I should’ve been a good little quiet Muslim girl, not one that yells at the top of her lungs at the people who should’ve made her feel safe mentally and emotionally. But no, “I’m only saying what’s best for you. It’s the truth. You must be fixed.”
Fast forward to now, I wear my hair in a different style at school with a silk square scarf because even though I’m not Muslim, I don’t want the attention of the Muslims I know at school. I don’t know what they’ll say or do. My parents and siblings don’t know I do this.
I have a prom and graduation coming up and I don’t want to wear the hijab or my silk square scarf. My parents won’t approve of the latter anyway. I hinted at my dad that I don’t want to wear the hijab by asking what hairstyle I should wear at prom and graduation. He said, “I don’t know!” He has a degree in Islamic Studies. I’m surprised he didn’t react negatively. BUT, my mom and sister would tell me to wear the hijab, or else I’m collecting sins. My sister doesn’t wear the hijab. I literally don’t know what to do about this. I know this will lead to a huge argument. Yes, I can NOT go to prom, but I paid a lot of money for it. (No prom date, just going with friends).
My overall plan is to find a well-paying job and save enough money to move out and pay rent in another apartment. Even though I will carefully and discreetly move out, this would still lead to a fallout and a huge ultimatum to force me to stay in the same small apartment we lived in for several years.
I do have two interview offers. I’ll give you guys updates.
This is also important: I got diagnosed with bipolar disorder 1 over a year ago. They still don’t want to hear how this disorder affects me because I’m “normal” now. I just have to pray away the negative thoughts, my mom says. Don’t worry, I’m medicated. And take my pills on time.
I’m lucky that I live in a western country. I can methodically move out. But, I feel guilty because I know this action will make my family look bad in front of their friends and family in their home country and the US. I’m almost there, but the future is unclear. Being afraid is an understatement.

Ok so I just finished my community college program and got my first job. I was so excited. I got drug tested today for preemployment and I tested positive for opioids. I don’t do anything like pills or anything. I do Kratom though. I know I shouldn’t. I’m never going to do this again but tomorrow they are sending me in to do a urine test in the morning since I failed this one. I didn’t own up to the Kratom. Should I just tell the truth tomorrow? Is this going to mess up future jobs? Again I will never be doing this again. I feel so awful right now.

I'm (20f) a college student, and recently learned I'm currently three months pregnant. I haven't told anyone, not even the father, my boyfriend (26m). I've been going back and forth about what to do. After a lot of soul-searching, and reading about all of the couples that want a child but can't have one, I've been thinking about giving my baby up for adoption. I know everyone says it's a selfless act, but it doesn't feel selfless. The truth is, I feel like I'm doing it for selfish reasons.
I'm reaching out here because I don't know much about adoption and could really use some advice from anyone who's been through this or knows about it. Obvious throwaway because my partner is on Reddit and knows my account. Please, if you don't have anything nice to say, or you're one of those people that just likes to argue, move on. I'm here looking for real advice. Thank you in advance.
I feel guilty for considering this, but I want to do what's best for me right now and I want to make sure I can give my baby to someone who really deserves them. There's no way I'm in a position to provide the life they deserve right now, especially because I still have a couple of years left before I graduate. Plus, the career path I've chosen requires me to do internships and maybe even graduate school. I had also planned on doing a study abroad program next year, which could really help me with my future career. It feels selfish to give up my child for these reasons. I'm not poor or sick or on drugs. Is it wrong to feel this way?
It's too late to even consider an abortion, and I don't think I could have gone through with it anyway. Knowing that so many families are out there that want a child, I figure at least I could do something good and right and my child will know that I wasn't all bad. Though, I think if I do give them up for adoption that I would want it to be closed because I wouldn't want them thinking they were different. For those of you that have gone through with this before, how did you deal with the father? My boyfriend would be disappointed to learn he had a child that I didn't keep, so I think I don't want to tell him, but it breaks my heart. My plan is to go away for the summer and then say I'm not coming back to school in the fall. Hopefully he will understand and still love me.
Should I contact an adoption agency now? Will it cost me any money? Money isn't really a problem but I just want to be prepared. Is it better to do a private adoption over the internet with someone or go through an agency? Any info you can provide would be welcome.
TL;DR: Pregnant college student considering adoption, looking for advice and hugs from internet strangers.

Hello all! It's ultrastarwarsfan again, the creator of Doki Doki: Encore and the lead dev of Doki Doki: Branching Paths! It's been a while and I hope you're all doing well! I figured if I were ever to post again in this subreddit, it'd be for completely different reasons, but some recent events have compelled me to make this post.
To start off, I want to continue to thank all of your for your continued support and appreciation of Doki Doki: Branching Paths! It means a lot to us on the team that the mod is still receiving some attention even after being released nearly a half year ago. A lot of work, love and passion went into the project and it warms our heart anytime we see a new YouTube video about the mod or even a discussion post about it.
That being said, since the mod's release we have come across a handful of videos that have used assets from Branching Paths (and not for commentary or gameplay purposes). I won't get into every single case, and truthfully there aren't many, but one such case involved the entire soundtrack of the mod being uploaded into one video, and another case where soundtracks from the mod were being used in someone's web series. Each time, credit was either already given or we contacted the uploader requesting they properly credit and they complied, which from our standpoint is fine. However, I wanted to make this post to clarify going forward what assets are allowed to be used and which aren't, as well as potentially get ahead of possible future cases where mod assets may be used.
To state this right now: we are not looking to threaten a takedown of anybody's videos or work. Frankly, that's the last thing we'd ever want to do. I'm personally a big believer in giving back to the community, and I understand that a lot of modders can't necessarily afford to pay for things like soundtracks or backgrounds, so I try to be willing to share as much as I can and in the hopes that I can help somebody achieve their dreams. I also want to state that I try to be as pro-artist as much as I can. What this means is that my general philosophy when it comes to commissions is that while I pay the artist for their work, they give me the exclusive right to use their work in mine for whatever purpose. Even though I do exercise my discretion when authorizing the use of mod assets for outside use, I at least try to touch base with the artist to make sure they're comfortable with their work being used in other fashions. That all being said, these cases don't come up very often for me.
Since the most recent case, I have touched base with my former artists that I am able to contact (which is pretty much most of them) to inform them of the situation and to get their opinions on how they'd like BP assets to be used outside of the mod going forward. Our guidelines are a reflection of their wishes in addition to what I'm personally comfortable with being used outside of BP.
As far as music goes...

• Using it as background music in videos such as skits or in your mod is fine so long as proper permission is given. Just credit the musician of the song you used and mention that it's from Doki Doki: Branching Paths. I don't care if it's in the description or in the video itself, just so long as its somewhere. For Mods, just credit the song(s) in your credits.
• DO NOT straight re-upload the tracks as standalone videos. The only reason that I'm fine with the video that has all the tracks uploaded into one video is that I've been majorly procrastinating uploading it onto my own channel and I don't want to take away people's ability to enjoy the music because of my own laziness. However going forward, unless its an instance that falls within fair use I ask that standalone music soundtracks not be uploaded onto your personal channel.
• Ask permission to remix. If you have the desire to remix one of our tracks, contact our musician DeNomalyVEVO on discord to discuss it with him. I do want to note that DeNomaly can only give that kind of permission for the tracks her personally made for the mod (the songs that he made should be listed in the credits, or you can just ask him). I'm no longer able to contact the other two musicians who worked on BP, so I'm only going to grant that privilege to DeNomaly's songs (which he ultimately has the final say on).

Music has been really the only things we've dealt with, but I do want to preemptively get ahead on the terms of use for our art assets as well:

• Backgrounds: You are welcome to use the custom made backgrounds in your mod or video, just credit the artist and the mod in some visible way (either in description of your video, in the video, or in the credits of the mod).
• CGs: I would struggle to see why anyone would want to outright use our CGs in a video (unless if it was part of the gameplay, commentary, critique, etc.) or in an independent separate mod, so the official answer on that is a no. However, I have no issues of CGs being shown in gameplay, commentary, criticism videos. If you also wanted to make a video on every CG in the mod, that'd be fine, just credit the artists and the mod somewhere visible. If you wish to use the CGs as a meme or an edit, that is fine. You don't have to credit the mod or the artist if you're going to make a meme out of the CG, but if you're going to do a fan edit or change something about the CG in general and post it publicly, you must credit the artist and the mod in your post.
• Sprites: Ask for my permission directly before using. I'm personally willing to share most of the sprites for your mod or video, but I just want to make sure that's not presented as anything official for the mod. I will NOT give permission for the Jeremy or Sam sprites under any circumstances. Jeremy is essentially my custom OC, and I promised Spaghetto that the Sam sprite would only be used for BP and I will stick to that promise. All the other custom OCs, I'm fine with them being used, just ask me first. Also ask me for permission if you'd like to edit the sprites in anyway if you plan to post them publicly. You may contact me here on reddit or on my discord: ultrastarwarsfan.
• Fan Art: Any fan art of the mod and any characters (including Jeremy and Sam) is welcomed and allowed! If you're going to post your work publicly, just credit the mod in some way and don't try to pass off the character(s) as your own OC.
• AI: I would be impressed if someone actually did this, but if you're able to generate AI art of any of the characters, just credit the mod in some way and don't try to pass off one the character(s) as your own OC.

I do want to state that I was able to touch base with every CG/sprite artist who worked on BP, and they each have the final say on how their own work is used outside of the mod.
Story/Intellectual Property:

• I have no issues with there being any potential fanfictions or BP themed skits or anything like that in videos (I don't see why anyone would want to make a mod of that, in which case all aforementioned terms apply). In fact, I encourage it! However, just make clear that if you're going to do it publicly that it is in no way, shape or form part of the official BP cannon. If it's in a private setting, I don't care what you do.
• Obviously, don't make a "BP Sequel Mod" or make a mod that's a copy or ripoff off of BP. I don't think anyone would actually do this, but it just one of those things that you have to mention. If for whatever reason you feel like your own mod is starting to resemble BP a little too much, don't hesitate to reach out to me and I can give you the official thumbs up or down.
• Myself and u/Aliasiscancer are the final arbiters on what is cannon in the official BP story. So as general advice: unless it comes from the actual mod itself or from one of us, anything else should be treated as speculation.

I believe that covers all our bases! Most of this just being preemptive but I also wanted to clarify what I'm comfortable with what can be used outside of BP.
To reiterate: the artists ultimately have the final say on how their work is used outside of BP. I personally won't be going around policing these guidelines, but if I happen to come across something that's in violation of these guidelines, I will act. So if in the event one of our artists contacts you, please respect their wishes. That being said, I know each of them to be pretty open-minded and chill, so just as long as you credit them at the end of the day I don't anticipate you having any issues.
To also share some other news: I have not made any decision on if there will be a additional content to Branching Paths. Partly because I really haven't had much time to ponder it. Without going into all that much detail, I'm going through some life/career changes right now and I've had a lot deal with. I am doing ok (could better, could be worse), but DDLC Modding has not been really on my mind. I am proud as I can be of BP and the reception its gotten since its release and I appreciate the enthusiasm for the mod! This is truly a wonderful community and I will always be around in some way, even if I'm just a silent observer.
My thinking hasn't really changed: I'm still potentially willing to do another season for the story, but my interests have leaned heavily towards pursuing something else that is non-DDLC related. I will be having a lot of free time opening up in the coming weeks and possibly months, so we'll see what happens.
Once again, thank you all for your continued support! If you have questions, comments or concerns about these guidelines or anything that was mentioned in this post, don't hesitate to reach out!
Thank you!

Below is a list of some recent releases that are highly rated and some that will be released in June for your perusal. If you know of any other upcoming releases please post them in the comments!

RECENT RELEASES

The Burning Witch 3: A Humorous Romantic Fantasy by Delemhach

Lady Katarina Ashowan is used to getting into trouble, but her latest muddle takes the cake. A moment’s weakness in her attraction to Eric Reyes, crown prince of Daxaria, has landed her in an unexpected marriage with the man . . . just as her father, Lord Finlay Ashowan, arrives in Troivack to check on his headstrong daughter. As if figuring out how to acclimate her father to her scandalous elopement isn’t bad enough, there are rumors of dangerous magical plots afoot at court—with Kat seemingly at the center of them all.
For one thing, the devil is still prowling around, with dubious intentions as to Kat’s powers. For another, an underground network of wrongdoers has been spreading a mysterious and addictive drug throughout both Troivack and Daxaria. And perhaps most concerning, a villainess is hiding in plain sight somewhere close to Kat and her best friend, Queen Alina, hoping to use them to strike at the devil. Now it’s up to Kat—with the help of her kitten familiar, Pina, as well as her friends and family—to untangle the twisted web of courtly and magical intrigue before her hurried honeymoon is cut short by deadly disaster . . .

The Runaway Mate: A Rejected Mate Shifter Romance (Shifters of the Three Rivers) By Kira Nightingale

After what he did, I never wanted to see my fated mate again…
Mai: Four years ago, Ryan Shaw broke my heart, tore it into little pieces and then stomped on it. Ryan is my fated mate, but when I saw him with another woman at the regional meet of all the Packs, I’d had enough. I finally told him what he meant to me, and being the jerk that he is, he rejected me in front of everyone.
Heartbroken, I ran, trying to get as far away from him and the memory of that night as possible. Except I’m on a roll with picking jerks. So now I’m on the run again and heading back to the one place I know I’ll be safe. My brilliant plan is to lie low, heal, and then take off someplace new to start again. But Ryan knows I’m here now, and he has very different ideas.
Ryan: Mai is back, and my wolf is going crazy. I’ll do anything to protect her. It won’t be easy with secret plots to take over our Pack, her abusive ex sniffing around, and Mai’s urge to run every time she sees me. But there’s no way I’m letting her go, not again.

Fastlander Fallen by T.S. Joyce

Ace has one last promise to fulfill.
His father has asked him to try to join one of the Crews of Damon’s Mountains. When the new Fastlander Crew starts accepting applicants, Ace puts his name in the hat on a whim. Will the new Alpha ever allow him to be a part of his Crew? Not if he finds out who he really is. Ace has been hiding a secret about his lineage since he was a child, and now the Fastlanders are getting way too close for comfort. And to add to the pressure, there’s a human coordinating the Crew’s interview process that has his animal’s attention. At first he thinks his animal is hunting her, but the more he gets to know her, the more he realizes she is important. Corey Gable just might be the glue of the Fastlanders, and she doesn’t even realize her part in the destiny of this Crew. The problem? It’s twofold. One, he cannot under any circumstances bond to a human, and two? His life is in a free fall, and he cannot drag her into what is about to happen. If she wants to live, she’s got to stay human, and stay away from the Fastlanders. And most importantly? She has to stay away from Ace.
Corey Gable has lost someone she loves.
Corey’s cousin, Hallie, has been consumed by her new life with the shifters of Damon’s Mountains, and she’s left Corey behind. The only way to maintain her relationship with her cousin is to get involved in her new life—the ups, the downs, all of it. When Corey is roped into helping with the interview process of creating the new Fastlanders Crew, there are definitely some interesting characters who want the invite. One of them is tall, dark, and mysterious, and there’s something about him that keeps drawing her in—but he has big warnings for her. She’s messing with a destiny that could be the end of her life as she knows it. She wants to heed his advice, truly she does, but there’s just something about the mysterious stranger. And the more she finds out about who he is, the more she thinks she couldn’t leave him alone if she tried.

Hellhounds and Angel Cakes by Zoe Chant

He’s supposed to be a rough, tough, terrifying hellhound. That's hard when you're covered in chihuahuas.
Henry’s used to everyone being afraid of him – being a hellhound has that effect on people. What he’s not used to is having every animal within a four-mile radius suddenly wanting to be his best friend. Pigeons roosting on your shoulder: annoying, but mostly harmless. The local moose population stampeding toward you in the hopes of a hug: somewhat more worrying.
There’s nothing for it but to escape to the mountains, where he can use his hellhound form to intimidate the local wildlife into leaving him alone. But a stop for one last piece of cake before heading into the wilderness leads him straight to his fated mate. He's over the moon... but how can he court her when every animal in town is trying to leap into his arms?
Travel journalist Luna was looking forward to this assignment: covering the first annual Girdwood Springs Food Festival, along with her trademark: Fillmore, the world's ugliest dog. Specifically, she was looking forward to sampling all the amazing, mouth-watering local delicacies.
But there's other delights to sample in Girdwood Springs – such as the mind-bogglingly gorgeous, hunky man who is now covered in cake, thanks to Fillmore. And who seems to be strangely popular with the local animal population.
Suddenly, writing her article is the last thing on her mind…

Wild Scottish Beauty by Tricia O'Malley

“She was sunshine to my storm clouds, and I wondered how the two could ever coexist.”
A chance job offer in Scotland gives Willow Barlowe an excuse to escape the predictable life her overly controlling brother, Miles, wants for her. Excited to start fresh as a fashion intern for the local kiltmaker, Willow lands in small town Loren Brae brimming with sunshine and hope.
Until she discovers that her new boss is none other than Ramsay McMillan, her brother’s best friend, and the grumpiest man this side of the Atlantic. Never mind the ghost Highland coo that haunts the castle, nor the supposedly bewitched waters of Loch Mirren, Willow refuses to work under Ramsay’s watchful eyes, certain he’s reporting back to her brother.
Ramsay Kilts is home to one of the last remaining traditional kiltmakers in Scotland, Ramsay McMillan. Loyalty, continuity, and tradition are important to Ramsay–as is his privacy. After a family betrayal, Ramsay keeps his walls up, running a veritable kilt empire with as minimum fuss as he can. Enter Willow Barlowe–his new intern, good friend’s little sister, and a veritable thorn in his side.
If the thorn is made of sunshine and sparkles that is.
As the two clash, Ramsay must decide if loyalty is really more important than love?

Devious Gods by Caroline Peckham

Callie: Ruin chases close on our heels and the price we have paid for a chance at our salvation is higher than any of us could have presumed.
I have claimed a love so brutal that I fear losing it might destroy not just me but the world I have fought so desperately to save.
The gods watch us more closely than ever, urging us to fulfil the task our destiny demands. We only have to make it to the end of this road, but I fear what we might find when we reach that final destination.
Montana: I am no longer the girl born to ruin and ash, but a woman set on a path of salvation with my heart in the clutches of a monster.
Our eyes are finally open to the true enemies of our kind and now that we have managed to unite against all odds, we are determined to see the games of the gods end.
Time is running out and fate calls our name on a tumultuous wind. Let’s pray that we can answer it before damnation claims us all.

The Throne of Honour and Blood by J Bree

In our arrogance, the high fae forgot everything that mattered.
I carved out a reputation as the Savage Prince for my brutality against witches, but unable to wield our magic, I couldn’t stop my kingdom from being torn apart by war and famine while the Fates demanded my patience.
The worst was still to come.
After almost a thousand years of waiting for my Fates-blessed mate, and thousands of witches dead by my hand, the Fates revealed their cruelest truth yet.
With silver eyes that sliced to the bone and a humility that defied all reason, the witch I’m bound to has tested every inch of my restraint, but that was only the beginning.
Everything I once knew as true has come into question.
Loyalties will be tested, treaties broken, treason committed, and only the strongest will survive.
I am Prince Soren Celestial.
The rightful heir to the throne of the Southern Lands.
Nothing will keep me from my Fates-blessed mate.
Not even her hatred for me.

Devourer of Men: A Captain Hook, Crocodile, and Wendy Darling Reimagining by Nikki St. Crowe

I have few friends and fewer allies. What I do have on the island of Everland is a lot of people who want me gone. So when the Crocodile and Captain Hook reappear in my life, I am in no mood. And worse, they’re unknowingly endangering themselves by asking for me by a name I long considered dead.
Now, not only do I have to save myself, I have to save the two men who I swore I would murder with my bare hands if I ever set eyes on them again considering they abandoned me.
Unfortunately for me, Roc and Hook have other plans, and when I find myself caught between them, I have to make a decision: risk my heart or risk my life?
Devourer of Men is a dark MMF romantasy fairytale retelling. Characters have been aged up for this darker, grittier version. For a full list of content warnings, please visit the author's website.

Bespelled (Bewitched Book 2) By Laura Thalassa

“Neither magic, nor time, can keep us apart. We are like the stars. Eternal.”
No one told witch Selene Bowers having a soul mate would be so difficult. Nor did they warn her that he might be a vengeful, ancient sorcerer who would frame her for murder, force her to remember a past life he swears she lived, and then coerce her into an unbreakable marriage pact. But that’s exactly what happens the night of the Samhain Ball, when Selene finds herself in a jail cell.
After waking from enchanted sleep, Memnon swore to discover why Selene betrayed him long ago. But when his soul mate’s memories return, the truth reveals something else entirely. Horrified by his own actions and desperate to make amends, Memnon offers Selene the unthinkable: a magic bond that will give her full control over his will. And Selene is desperate enough to accept it.
But other enemies still haunt Henbane Coven, Selene’s magical academy, and they’ve taken a keen interest in her. If she wants to stop them, she’ll need Memnon’s help. But partnering with the sorcerer is a tricky business, especially when he’s dead set on winning her heart. And that can’t happen…because the bond controlling him will break the moment she falls in love with him.

Beautiful Beast (Dragons of Viria) by Devyn Sinclair

Standing in front of a dragon means dying by fire, but the heart knows there’s more than one way to burn.
Humans and dragons are at war, and I am a pawn in the battle.
Princess of a dying land, my life is not my own, and a marriage to a vicious, dragon-hunting prince will save my people from deadly famine or death by fire.
But before I can vow my life to a monster, dragons drop screaming from the sky with a single aim. End the alliance. Kill me. I welcome the flames, relieved to burn instead of rot.
But the flames never come.
One look in the dragons' eyes, and they carry me away. Three dragons whose gaze burns with hunger and fills me with fire.
They're not what we were taught, and every passing day I learn more of the truth. Dragons are not the enemy we thought they were.
Still, one question remains: for centuries no one has stood before a dragon and survived. If these dragons were sent to kill me, why am I still alive?

Midlife Vampire Hunter (The Forty Proof Series Book 9) by Shannon Mayer

Crash:
I had her in my arms, only to lose her moments later. Frantic doesn't even begin to describe my state of mind as I search for Bree.
That search takes me deep into my past and to a family home that I swore I would never return to.
To find Bree, I must face a queen I defied and a monster that wants my soul. All while being heckled by a demon-infested blade.
Goddess help me succeed.
Breena:
Being abducted by a woman who is supposed to be dead, and weirdly looks a heck of a lot like me, is disturbing. Being told my death is needed to complete a wicked spell and that I'll be turned into a vampire? Even more disturbing.
I can't reach Crash or my friends. I have no idea where I am. My only ally? Alan. My ex-husband. Yup, you read that right,
The path to the end of my story is shadowed in fog, danger, and mystery, but I begin to see through it as the players and truth emerge. And that sight shows me that the sliver of hope is worth hanging onto, that my friends are with me even when I cannot see them, and that a future free of those who mean us harm is possible.
Even if it costs me more than I ever planned on paying

UPCOMING JUNE RELEASES

The Little Shop of Grand Curiosities by Iris Lake

Nepheli’s Little Shop of Grand Curiosities is the last scrap of magic left in the humdrum city of Elora as the Dreadful Mundane slowly takes over its residents’ hearts, and she is determined to preserve it any way she can. But when Apollo, a charming and mysterious traveler from the other side of the world, walks into her Shop, bringing her all kinds of trouble, Nepheli, for the first time in her life, is stolen away from the familiar wonders of her Curiosity Shop and is thrust into a dangerous world of lethal creatures and heartbreaking magic. As the two of them embark on a long journey of self-discovery, Nepheli will soon realize that the most curious things in life lie right beyond the reach of one’s comfort zone.
The Little Shop Of Grand Curiosities is a lighthearted fantasy romance about the true meaning of love, the power of empathy, and the unremitting yearning to be extraordinary as an act of rebellion against the mundaneness of the world.

Filthy Rich Fae by Geneva Lee

Cate Holloway knows the unspoken rule of New Orleans: avoid the powerful Gage crime family at all costs. Of course, that was before her brother got caught in their chaos. Now Cate has no choice but to confront the dark and forbidding prince of New Orleans himself and beg for her brother’s life. But Lachlan Gage is as lethal as he is beautiful…and the only currency he’s interested in is her soul.
Because Lachlan isn’t just some ruthless criminal. He’s fae. And he has his own secret reasons for binding her to him. Tricked and desperate, Cate is torn between humanity and the breathtaking Otherworld. A place filled with shadows and secrets, with members of each fae court plotting against her just as her captor’s motives for trapping her become more mysterious. And if she can’t break this sinister bargain in the next thirty days, she’ll be bound to the inscrutable yet infuriatingly tempting fae prince and his deadly world…forever.

The Princess and the Pack by Fallon English

Princess Ivy and Prince Cillian have been fated since birth. Ivy has always known that one day, she must leave her country to become not only Cillian’s bride, but Namara’s future Queen.
As an Omega and a princess, her life revolves around duty; not the dream that she harbors of life-altering love. Her station dictates she deny Nature’s call for a pack of her own. Instead, she must wed and settle for one - and only one - Alpha to preserve their pristine, royal bloodlines.
But fate has other plans in mind for Princess Ivy. Plans that involve not just her Betrothed, but his best friend and Ivy’s childhood nemesis - a nobleman, and the handsome son of the Royal Gardener.
Will societal expectations and tradition pull them apart? Or will Ivy and her Alphas take charge of their fate and give in to a love with the power to change the world?

A Rival of Hearts by Tessonja Odette

Two rival writers. One prestigious publishing contract. A bargain of hearts and seduction.
They say never bargain with the fae. They also say don’t get drunk on fae wine. Yet romance author Edwina Danforth has managed a blunder with both on her first visit to the infamous faelands. Now she's trapped in a magic-fueled bet she barely remembers with a man she’d be happier to forget. The terms? Whoever can bed the most lovers during their month-long dueling book tour wins a coveted publishing contract.
The win should be easy for Edwina. She’s known for penning scintillating tales of whirlwind romance. There’s just one her imagination vastly exceeds her bedroom experience. But when failure means plummeting her career back into obscurity, losing isn’t an option.
Her handsome fae rival, William Haywood, poses an even greater challenge. Not only are his looks as aggravatingly perfect as his track record behind closed doors, but he has his own reasons for playing to win, and he won’t go down without a fight. Unless, of course, it’s a different kind of going down. In that case, he’s fair game.
Edwina and William clash in a rivalry of romance. But what happens when their objects of desire…turn out to be each other?

I am officially out. Two nights I made the decision to finally walk out, and I am definitely officially out of that household. All the years, all the abuse, all the venom and narcissism and manipulation, gone in one night. I am starting to feel so light, so free. And it all started with one little argument to finally push me over the edge. So for context, I'm 22. I'm an international student from Mexico, and I'm living right now in the United States, studying a I tried running away from the house a little over a year ago, back when I still lived in Mexico. It didn't work. I didn't have a support network, it wasn't a generally good environment, and my parents had way too many connections to make it safe for me to go outside and enjoy life without being stalked. I ended up going back to their home, giving them a second chance under the guise of them "having changed" and us going to therapy.(All of this of course after they broke into my home to get me to "talk") Obviously, things went back to what they always are. Now the whole fallout starts about two weeks ago. My parents went on a trip back to Mexico. I stayed home alone, and the entire week I kept thinking to myself, I was so free. I felt more at peace than I had been in months without them at home. While they were gone, I went on a trip with my cousin to my aunt's house. I had a talk with that whole side of the family (My aunt, my uncle, my cousins) and I finally opened up to them about years of abuse. Years of pain and complaints that I kept in me. And I had to be honest with myself and tell them "I'm not happy there anymore". I received hugs, they cried with me, and they told me that they've known she had a problem for years, they just didn't know the extent and depth. Pretty much my entire extended family has beef with my mom because she's put in so much effort in burning every bridge in her life with the way she treats people. I was finally seen and understood and validated by family, they told me "This is not okay". They told me "We are here for you"
Fast forward to two nights ago. My family and I have, by this point, moved to a new place to rent, and my dad buys some Ikea furniture for our rooms. It's night time and I'm in my room assembling a bedframe and a night stand. I am so tired and done with the whole process, and my Narcissist mother comes in. I placed my bed away from either wall of my room so that there's space for me to jump into bed from either side. I guess she didn't appreciate that (even though it's MY room and it doesn't affect her), and the following conversation ensued: "You're gonna need 2 night stands for that bed placement to work" "Huh? What do you mean?" "One space is gonna be empty if you put your bed there (??)" "Oh but I'm not placing the night stand there" "What do you mean you're not?" "Yeah, I'm gonna place it over here. Not next to the bed" "Well that's not where it goes, it's supposed to go next to your bed" "Yeah, but I don't like it next to my bed, I like it here" By this point she starts raising her voice "Yeah! And I'm telling you that's not what night stands are made for." "Well I don't like it there! It's my room" "Lower your tone!" "I'm not even yelling at you" "Yes you are!!!" My dad comes in the room. As usual, he immediately takes her side without asking questions "Hey!! Calm down!! Lower your tone [my name]!!" "I'm not even yelling" "Yes you are, you don't realize the way you talk to us" My mom suddenly brings up something from earlier in the day. I introduced her to a college classmate I ran into, and I guess she made up some narrative in her mind: "And you know what!! The way your friend said hi to me earlier today, I know you've been talking about me. He didn't even want to hug me!!! I know you've been talking badly about me behind my back, like you always do!!!" (This literally never happened. I'm not even that close to this classmate. He knows next to nothing about my personal life) "What are you even talking about?? No I didn't!" "Yes you did!!" "No I did not" "I know for a fact you did!! You've done it before, liar" "Ugh you know what? You're imagining stuff. You're making stuff up that isn't there. I'm telling you I didn't." She walks out of the room rolling eyes at me like I'm some idiot she has to deal with, and my dad stays in the room with me. He goes on this very vague and inflammatory lecture about 'the boy who cried wolf' and how my actions have repercussions on my reputation. About how 8 years ago I complained about them to some friend and now they can't trust me anymore. I tell him that I'm not doing that and that, I'm not sure what hoops they expect me to jump through to "prove" I'm trustworthy again. My mom suddenly walks in the room again, and she says "If you've changed so much, why don't you let us go through your computer, huh?? since you're so different now and you've changed so much!! Go on [dad's name], take his computer and go through it, let's see what we find" This of course with the intent of checking all my emails, messages, content, anything. As I've posted here before, my parents absolutely hate my significant other, and I know that if they go on my computer and see my messages with her, it's going to catapult me into a whole new realm of abuse and isolation. Plus, I'm 22. Why should my parents have access to MY computer and my private matters?? This whole time I am thinking, "I can't do this anymore. I can't stand this. I can't live like this, I can't anymore. When will I put a stop to this??" My dad stands up from where he was sitting next to me, and he goes "Well come on then, [my name]. Are you gonna show us?" My mom, like a comedically evil witch is barking orders with a sinister smile and a vengeful tone on her "Take his computer now!" "You WILL give us the password [my name]" This entire time, I am silent. I am silent for what seems like an eternity. In reality it must have been a minute or two. Finally, they snap after watching me silently "Give us the password now!!" And finally my survival instincts kick in. All those years, all that time. And I have had it. I can't do it anymore. I stood up, I shrugged, I adjusted my pants, and with my firm voice I went "No." The shock on their faces was like the shock you saw at the Oscars when Will Smith slapped Chris Rock "EXCUSE YOU!! GIVE IT TO US NOW!! REBELLIOUS CHILD!! GIVE IT UP NOW!!" "No. I won't." And immediately as if on cue "Get out of this house. Get out right now" "Okay!" I started grabbing a bunch of sweaters and items, and my mom immediately goes "You're not taking anything out of this house!!" "Okay!" And I head downstairs to get out. Immediately they run after me to block the door "You're not leaving" "Yes I am, you just kicked me out" "Oh you ARE kicked out!!! After we talk!" "Nope, I'm leaving now" There's a small tussle and fight. They try to grab me, I'm stronger than them, I make it out of the house while my mother is saying something about calling the police or whatever. I'm outside the house with my dad and he won't let go, it's just me and him now while that woman is inside doing who knows what. My dad is holding on to my arm "[my name], please let's talk please please" "Let go of me" "Please, I don't want to" "If you don't let go of me right now, I'm gonna start screaming and pounding on the neighbor's door, and it's gonna escalate" He lets go, and finally, I lay it all on him. Years and years of misery, of frustration, which probably warrants a whole other post and which I recorded in my voice memos just in case" I even told him that I know my mom has a mental illness, something I've never expressed to him before. He told me "Please don't tell me what it is", and I respected that. We were outside in the cold talking for about an hour and a half. Until finally my mother opened the door again, this time trying to act innocent and shy and harmless. "You guys are still out here? Come back inside, it's cold. Please, talk the rest inside". My dad tells her: "He doesn't want to come back inside. He says he won't" "Ugh, well then honey, let him grab his things and leave! He doesn't want to, fine!" and I go "Thank you" I head back inside and start packing everything. My mom tries to make small talk, and I'm very civil and answer back normally. Until she goes "You can't take the laptop with you though" "Um yes I can." and back again with her condescending tone "Umm no you can't" "Yes I can, it's mine." "No it's not, we bought it for you" "Yeah, but you gave it to me as a gift. You can't just take gifts back. It's mine" "No!!! That's ours!! And you are LEAVING IT!!" "No!" She reaches for the computer, at the same time I reach for a shirt next to the computer, she sees my arm approaching and she starts screeching like an animal "DONT YOU TOUCH ME!!! DON'T DARE LAY A SINGLE FINGER ON ME!! IF YOU TOUCH A SINGLE HAIR I'LL HAVE YOU IN JAIL FOR A YEAR" (yeah ok) I just had to smile at how dramatic she is. "No one's touching you. Calm down" "YOU'RE A MANIPULATOR. YOU LIAR!! YOU'RE A REBELLIOUS UNGRATEFUL CHILD IS WHAT YOU ARE. YOU THINK YOU'RE LEAVING THIS HOUSE WITH THIS COMPUTER? YOU'LL HAVE TO GO THROUGH ME. YOU THINK YOU'RE TAKING THIS COMPUTER? HUH?" And then she joyfully slammed my laptop against the table. It broke open and pieces flew out. It got completely bent out of shape and obviously rendered useless. She had that narcissistic smile, thinking full of joy, that this would be my last straw, waiting to see how much pain she had inflicted on me by smashing something I worked with. But instead, I laughed in her face. I laughed, and it ignited the fire even more. What followed was a barrage of insults and manipulation tactics "YOU DESERVED ALL THOSE TIMES I BEAT YOU!! TRAITOR. LEECH. JUDAS" (even though she denied she ever even beat me. also, if I'm Judas does that make her god herself in her mind?) I finally finish packing my stuff after going "Ok. Mhm. Wow. Ok. Sure. Uh huh" for 10 minutes. Finally she's done unloading her venom after I mock her face and voice, and she tells me "When you leave, close your door on the way out" "Uh huh, okay" My dad is disappointed. I'm not sure he even knows what I'm feeling or thinking "I see you've made your decision. I wish you'd think about it." "I've been thinking about it for years" "It hurts me that you're doing this" "It hurts me too dad. Sorry this happened" I called my cousin that I mentioned at the start "Hey, sorry to do this so late. Could you come pick me up?" "Yeah, are you okay? What's going on?" "Something happened. I need a place to stay" "Okay, on my way" While I was outside waiting for him to pick me up, my mother tried one last tactic. "Goodbye son" with a warm motherly voice she could only fake. "Goodbye." "You know I love you right? and I forgive you for everything you did" "Hm." "Can I get a hug before you leave?" I wanted to be petty, but for my own conscience I felt that if they crash and died tomorrow, I'd regret not having some sort of goodbye hug. However fake and spiteful it was. So I hugged her very briefly and with a bit of disgust. "I'm glad you called your cousin. Just tell him the truth, say you decided to walk out of here. Not that we kicked you out" Those were the last words we spoke. That we will probably ever speak to each other. That was her concern, what I'd say about her to others.
Once my cousin picked me up, I loaded everything I had in his car, and off we went to his house. I told him everything, and he was glad I had finally put a stop to it. He understood, and now we are here. This is the most free I've ever felt. I'm going to continue my studies without feeling judged at home. I have a proper home now, where I am treated fairly, wanted. There's been so many phone calls, with my aunt, my mother. These days my mother hasn't bothered contacting me. I think she knows she's lost all power on me. My dad on the other hand has sent texts concerned about my well being. I've answered them briefly and he's been respectful enough to not try to do more. My mother from what I last heard called my cousin (He's 33 btw) threatening him with all sorts of insults. My cousin told her she's officially not welcome at the house, and if she shows up, cops will be called on her. My girlfriend is so happy to finally see me out of this horrible house, as am I. I don't know what to even do with all this freedom. I'll take it easy and slow for a bit. No drinking, no crazy stuff. I need to process a lot still, but I'm so glad this is finally over. For years she loved to tell me "Everything you do in secret will be shouted from the rooftops" To threaten and scare me into "confessing" things. Well, if you're reading this, you witch, I am now shouting what you did, and will continue to shout from the rooftops that I beat you. Witch, I know you hate that word. Sorry, not sorry. Thank you everyone. TL;DR: Huge argument with parents about night stand that escalated into me leaving the house for good. Am staying with cousin. Mother has been warned to not come close or cops will be called.

Unfortunately it seems likely that the non-Muslims who comment on the Gaza war don't understand Islam, and that the Muslim commentators don't admit that they have a bias, meanwhile Islam in fact plays a role in the Gaza war. A relevant summary:
Muhammad started his own religion when he was forty and immediately came into conflict with the other religious people of his community, mostly polytheists and Jews. Muhammad became a war general and spent the next ten years of his life trying to kill off the other religions around him. He succeeded.
During this time, every day he in essence gave war pep-talks to his troops. As most of their fighting was against Jews, most of the war pep-talks were against Jews. His followers wrote down everything he said every day, mostly in the form of scraps of paper containing short segments. When he died, his followers swept these scraps of paper together to make first the Quran, then the Hadith, as there were thousands of these scraps of paper.
The entirety of the Islamic literature reads, therefore, like a slow, hypnotic rant against Jews, and also against Christians, against polytheists, against other now obscure and defeated religions, and against all non-Muslim "disbelievers" in general.
Mostly though, it focuses on Jews. The first two main chapters of the Quran in fact are about Jews: chapter 2 "The Cow", criticizing the Jews for once worshipping a golden calf, and chapter 3 "The Family of Imran (Moses)", meaning all of the Jews. There's not much difference between any of the Quran or Hadith chapters though; they all continue along mostly in the same way as the first two and are titled variously by the scant amounts of other concepts sometimes explored in the chapters. Mostly it's all a slow, hypnotic rant against all Jews and other non-believers.
If you don't believe any of this, check it for a first time. You'll be shocked. Islam is an inherently discriminatory religion toward Jews, and that's really the basis of the aggression that comes out of Gaza and other places toward them.
Most revelatory of all in this regard is the fact (if you check your history books) that the Ottoman Empire participated in attacking Britain and the allies in World War 1, and Britain won over them, obtaining what is today the Gaza, Israel, and West Bank areas. There was never any Jewish theft. Britain wanted to let the Jews move into that land afterward, and it was their choice to do so, as it was the Brits' land.
The Jews were met with immediate violence from the Muslims, whose religion tells them to attack Jews. It got worse. Sick of the violence, the Jews declared independence for their territory and formed a state. This was fair and appropriate. Immediately, large groups of Muslims combined armies to try to massacre the Jews. They were repelled.
It never stopped. The Muslims tried to combine armies and massacre the Jews again, in '67. They were repelled that time too.
Then in 2007 Gaza started the Gaza War against the Jews, and have fought it every day since, including today. They've been rocketing Israel constantly since 2007; October 7th was just a sort of culmination.
By the way, declaring independence and forming a state was the pattern set for and by every other territorial area that was formed out of the Ottoman Empire- resulting in every Middle Eastern state you see today- Israel did nothing different, and did not need a reason to do it- Gaza and the West Bank have always had the same ability, but have torn themselves apart fighting each other instead, while the world continues to wait on them. Also, they need to not form a government that declares war against Israel as part of its foundation. That’s the other reason they haven’t formed any real states yet. No one would stop them from doing so if they did it without any war declarations. The concept that anyone else in the world would somehow be able to give them a state is bogus.
The real problem will be solved when the world has a conversation with Islam, telling them to give up the part about cursing non-believers: approximately half the content of the Islamic religion. Then the Gazans can live non-aggressively with Jews next to them. So as well with the West Bank, Jordan/Iraq/Syria/Libya/Yemen/Iran, the twenty-or-so other nations that don't accept Israeli passports, etcetera.
Before any moderators, members of this site, or non-members of this site, try to get me banned or give me -100 karma points, insisting that I’m biased or that I’ve made this up: I challenge you to read or watch any summary of the life of Muhammad and the first ten years of Islam, then to read the first hundred pages of any English translation of the Quran, then to read the sub-chapter “Fighting Jews” of the chapter “Jihad” of the Al-Bukhari hadith book, then to read Gaza’s government charter “The Hamas Covenant”. If you put in a few minutes a day it’ll take you about two weeks. Don’t complain about me asking you to do this much research; it’s not much and it’s a bare minimum I can think of for you to check my work. Then you’re going to ask the same question I asked, “Why haven’t I heard of this from anyone or any side reporting on the Gaza war?” I believe the answer is several-fold: one is that there is simply a shocking lack of bothering to do much research by even those most vocal about the conflict. Two is that those who know about this know that no outsider asked for support of Gaza would sympathize with them if they knew about this. Three is that this stuff is outrageous, and no one wants to be the deliverer of that outrage, or get accused themselves of making this up. Four (and you’ll have to read to understand this) is that the believers are told in general to not trust disbelievers, which would include not telling them the truth. If you believed someone else was going to Hell, but that they didn’t know about it, would you tell them? They’re not gonna like hearing it; why tell them? Count the number of times Muhammad says all Jews and disbelievers are going to Hell in the Quran. You’ll lose count by about page 25 and it just keeps going like that.
All the resources mentioned are easily available online for free in pdf form or otherwise; just do a search for each, and youtube has lots of good videos on Muhammad’s life. I also highly recommend you watch overhead-battle-analysis-style videos (like Kings & Generals channel & similar) to review every single early battle of Islam, in order. You may also want to watch some on the first few battles of Abu Bakr also, the guy who picked up Muhammad’s war banner after him and carried on the violent conquest of the entire Arabian Peninsula, eradicating one by one what used to be a diverse array of now-extinct local religions. You could check out a copy of the Quran translated or order one, which I also recommend. I have Pickthall’s translation as a hard copy and I recommend it; I also used three different online Qurans and three different online Al-Bukhari hadiths (I wanted to make sure I wasn’t making any mistake by reading some bad translation; turned out nope they all read like that).
And before anyone says, well, that kind of stuff is said in the Bible too… First of all, find it; second of all, if it says that kind of stuff even a handful of times in the Bible, that’s different from Islam’s thousand times saying it, over and over again- it’s really a different sort of book.
I want to say last that the Muslims aren’t “like this”; rather, they’re told to be like this, by a high-pressure, demanding religion. They’re also told I’m sure, as for Gaza, by their friends, parents, neighbors, grandparents, local TV stations, and government, what is truly an altered version of history, wherein the Jews “stole” Palestine. They’re taught to distrust anything that the West says against that, because they’re taught to distrust disbelievers- of course the disbelievers would lie about this stuff- “hasbara”. The Jews “stole” Palestine, so, they’re “occupiers”. They don’t want to sound racist because they know discrimination is not tolerated in the disbelievers’ world, so they say “Zionists”, in place of “Jews”. Underneath it, they’re not saying much to the outside world- just enough and in just the right ways to sound presumably appropriate and reasonable, legitimate. It’s like a big game to try to get what they want (Jews expelled or killed), or, as discussed above, it's that they unfortunately don't know any better cause they've been lied to themselves. To the extent that anyone knows this stuff though and hasn't mentioned it, I would feel that we’ve been lied to and played for fools, and it makes me want to say screw the Squad, Sanders, and the campus protests... all right here on American soil!!!! I trust the vast majority of Muslims are not like this. I think they are too afraid though to voice any opposition to any of the Muslims who are hardcore about this stuff, of which Gaza and the West Bank have become the best examples- I told you to read the Hamas Covenant so I’ll trust you’ll do it; meanwhile I’ll add that the guy who ran the West Bank, Abbas, wrote his own dissertation as a youth on his conspiracy theory that the Jews “did the Holocaust to themselves, to create false international sympathy and a pretext for stealing Israel”, and he has continued to educate the West Bank’s people with this line of reasoning, making “Nakba day” into a sort of mockery of anyone else’s Holocaust remembrances. Meanwhile Iran continues determined to one day lead the eradication.
If you care about caring, do the right thing- help educate others on what’s really going on in Gaza. It’s bigger than the past few months, it’s bigger than October 7^th, it’s even bigger than tens of thousands of casualties, and if we don’t do the right thing (demand and converse about how disbelievers have rights too), one day far in the future that total may be millions or billions. The time is now to resolve this between all of us, with words. Learn about and then be vocal about the unfairness of Islam. Demand rights. Have conversations.
To add to this goal, I offer the following:
I make this contract with Islam, whether they agree or not:
Disbelievers’ Bill of Rights:

1. The disbelievers have rights too.
2. The disbelievers have wonderful and diverse cultures of their own, that are not to be eradicated; Earth is good when its cultures are diverse and not homogenized.
3. The disbelievers are not going to Hell for disbelieving Islam.
4. The believers are not going to Paradise for eradicating the disbelievers.
5. There will be no “final day” where all the Jews are killed.
6. Jesus will not show up on the final day to personally kill all the Jews (Islamic eschatology).
7. Disbelievers have the right to not be discriminated against or degraded by the believers. Any disbelievers neighboring believers are not to have rocks thrown at them, suicide attacks launched at them, rockets launched at them, rifles or pistols fired at them, etcetera.
8. Disbelievers have the right to not tolerate any literature that discriminates against them or is derogatory or degrading toward them, or that advocates any sort of violence against them, or that proscribes any mistreatment of them.

Furthermore, I liberate all Muslims, with the following lines:
You don’t have to surrender to Islam, completely, if any of it seems wrong to you. For that matter, you can pick any religion, you can pick no religion, you can make up your own religion, you can institute your own renewal of Islam and start a new chapter on it; you can do anything you want on this planet, and no lightning bolt will strike you from anyone’s god. If the afterlife is real, then you’re going to it whether you believe in it or whether you disbelieve in it. If there’s Heaven and Hell, you’re going to Heaven for being a good person, Hell for being a bad person.
Also, Muhammad may have said that his teachings were “a Book”. However, Muhammad did not give any specifics instructions to make any book exactly in the fashion in which the Quran and Hadith and others (Kitube of Shia, Wahhabiism’s books, Salafist works etcetera) were made, and, I believe that Muhammad would have seen the error in making them in those exact ways- this would cause problems later- the format is too heavy on the disbelievers- it will someday make for a problematic relationship between different faiths- you should feel free to rearrange any and all verses, excluding as many as you like, reinterpreting any you like, to make any new Book that makes more sense for use as an every-day, all-time religious book: one that focuses on “the good stuff” and not the bad. Muhammad needed to rally an army every day. We don’t need that in our daily lives now that we’re all trying to put war away. This is the 21^st century. Nine nations use nukes, and two of them are Muslim (Pakistan, Kazakhstan). We need to right now make decisions that will put away all war inclinations between us forever. If you don’t like my way of doing it, come up with something better and suggest it. I say we can do it by having a conversation where disbelievers stick up for themselves and believers listen.
And, I suggest this interpretation: perhaps Allah wanted to include a sort of test, within Islam, to separate hypocrites from believers- Allah included a bunch of stuff telling you that disbelievers are bad and to attack them. Maybe it’s to see who rejects that, to send them to Paradise, and to see who decides to act on it, to send them to Hell.
There is plenty of evidence that this is true in Gaza right now. Why would Allah punish them unless they were bad? They have relentlessly attacked Israel for years. Maybe this is Allah’s punishment.
Also, you are free to associate with disbelievers, at any time and place, whatever they’re saying at the time. You can date and intermarry with disbelievers if you like. Try not calling them disbelievers and you’ll have luck.
I also state that I am a learned scholar (college degree earned, floor-to-ceiling stacks of nonfiction books read, research published) and I am authorized to make fatwa (judgments) and to issue tafsir (commentary/interpretations on holy works).
As a warning to angry-comment-posters: you may find that I can back up with references and examples every point I’ve made! Watch out!
That being said, am I wrong about anything? Please tell me if I have anything wrong; I can only do so much research and then sweep it all together off the top of my head. Let me know. I’ll apologize if I get something wrong and perhaps adjust my thesis.

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Memory Transcript: Kinet, Venlil Surveyor Captain [Standardized Human Time July 5th, 2114]:
We had arrived in-system [four days] ago, and while I was expecting to see a world ravaged by nuclear exchange, the damage to the planet was beyond what I could have ever imagined. The surface was scorched, and the air filled with ash and soot from massive continent spanning fires that must have been burning for cycles. Despite all the destruction, our scans showed some signs of life trying to take hold on the surface, but not nearly as much as there should have been.
The humans had wiped themselves out over [150 years ] in the past; it shouldn’t look like it only happened only a herd of claws ago.
Fiir was of no use. When the first glimpses of the planet came in on the viewscreen, the scruffy researcher just stared with his jaw hanging loose before stammering about something being wrong. He stormed off to his quarters, and I haven’t seen him since then.
I sighed and walked onto the bridge with my waking claw cup of tea but was immediately assaulted by the chittering of an excited sivkit, our primary communications officer.
“Captain, captain, captain!”
“Hephy, yes, I’m right here. What is it?” I looked down towards her. She barely came up to my waist in her typical quadrupedal stance, and even doing her best to stand up, she wouldn’t be able to look me in the eye. Despite her stature, her excitement demanded attention as her eyes flicked between myself and whatever data she had scrolling across her display visor.
“Right Right. Anyway, Captain, I have to show you something, it’s big.” Most people don’t pay sivkits much mind, but Hephy was a prodigy. The excitable woman could look at a waterfall plot and pick out every signal present, and even read some of them without any computer assistance. I motioned for her to follow me to the ready room and started off toward it while sipping my tea. She trotted behind me on all fours, as sivkits are wont to do, and when I sat in my chair, she hopped side to side in excitement. “The signals, when we arrived from the jump, I saw something fascinating!” “Hephy, stop bouncing and sit.” I gestured to the chair in front of my desk. She looked at me for a moment as if I had grown a set of ears at the end of my snout. After a moment, her trance broke, and she hopped into the chair. She sat on her haunches and pulled out her tablet.
“Ok so, when we jumped in, we got a ping of the area, right? Send a signal out, listen for the reply, and we see what’s out there that our eyes can’t. Standard stuff, sure, but look.” She tapped at her tablet and expanded a multidimensional spectrum plot. “The bright spots are reports, and it’s all around. Debris right? That’s what I thought but look closer!” I leaned in and looked at the impressionistic splotches of color shown on the holographic display. The blues, yellows, and oranges spattered amongst the dark gray and black of night and other known objects was appealing to the eye, but ultimately gave me little idea what Hephy was trying to communicate with me. She must have picked up on my lack of insight, because she sighed and tapped the display again. “Normally, you see the pulse pattern return and that’s pretty distinct, but this is different. Odd. I thought it was just micro-debris but if you spread it out over time there’s a pattern to it, a structure in the phase relationships that doesn’t match reflections or our interrogation pulses.” “Hephy, you know I rarely ever understand you at this level.” “Right sorry right. Captain, this isn’t the return pulse, they’re data transmissions. Multiple data transmissions all at once.”
My ears perked up, and I tilted my head to the side a bit. “How can you be sure? What would even be out there to send them?”
“I wasn’t sure myself until I looked later on in the data buffers. Almost a claw later there was another longer burst. The automated systems ignored it due to interpreting it as just more micro-debris, but it had that structure-but-not-structure, perfectly shaped noise. I also had nav and sensors run another few active pings at different frequencies, trying to rule out silly patterns seeking brain nonsense. Nothing returned. The debris cloud doesn’t exist!”
“So what does this mean for us?”
“I don’t know, but it's fascinating! They must be satellites of some kind, either too small to reflect much or made to absorb radio waves.”
“That’s worrisome. There’s only one reason you’d build something like that.”
“Weaponry?” She chirped with surprising insight I had not expected to come from her. She had never been in the space force like I, and many others, had.
“Defense platforms, yes.” I took a sip of my rapidly cooling tea to try and soothe the anxious pit growing in my stomach.
“That’s…concerning.” Her excitement waned for a moment but quickly slipped back.
“Very, thank you for bringing this to my attention, Hephy.”
“As if I could keep quiet about something like this!” She snorted with a chittering laugh. “Oh! Wait there’s one more thing. There was another signal in a higher band that sounded off around the same time as the other burst, this time from a different orbit, way further out. I traced it to an artificial satellite.”
Suddenly, a thought hit me. These things were actively communicating with something. Was there something still left on the surface?
“Hephy, do you know where those signals were going?”
“Normally the antenna is too directional for anyone but the recipient to see it or it’s hard to get a read on directionality, but I know where everything is communicating to. The middle of the smaller main ocean.”
“Hephy, that’s an incredibly important bit of information!”
“It is? Oh yeah right, that makes sense!” She wiggles her tail in an amused flicking motion.
I stood up and patted her on the shoulder. “Get us close to that artificial satellite and see what it is. I’d like to get a better idea of what we’ve just stumbled into. Report back when you have some answers and we will go from there.”
Hephy bobbed her ears and hopped off the seat. “On it, sir. Where are you going?” “I’m going to talk to Fiir. This is beyond the original mission, and he needs to know.” “Ay captain. Good luck. Guy’s a weirdo.” I simply grunted and strolled down to the auxiliary quarters where I knew the researcher to be.
>Advance record: [10 Minutes]:
Fiir had brought an entire team of researchers with him. I was told they’re all colleagues of his from the research academy that are interested in this personal project of his. This many people on board with his project did explain how he was able to offer the exorbitant sum of credits to hire me and my crew. They had been allocated a section of the ship near the front, just past the shuttle bay and under the bridge area. This let them have their privacy and set up whatever gear they brought with them.
It also meant that there was a door between them and the rest of the ship. A door that they did not hesitate to keep closed after pre-launch inspections had concluded. The researchers didn’t have anything I didn’t expect from the manifest, but I still found it rather suspicious. Were they hiding something? Perhaps it had to do with that odd power hungry computer they insisted upon. Mara had her ears tied in a knot trying to accommodate it, and still they were coy about why exactly they needed it. It didn’t do me any good to speculate, though. What mattered most was the problem of the satellites.
I finally reached the door and, being the polite man I am, I scratched at the sounding plate before grabbing the handle and trying to open it. To my surprise, it didn’t budge. I could understand locking doors to the personal quarters, but this was a main corridor in my own ship! Just as I reached over to key in the unlock code, the door made a thunk as the latch disengaged and slid open part of the way. A familiar gray fringed brown muzzle stuck out from the gap. “This is a restrict- Oh. Captain.” Fiir opened the door a little more and stood up facing me. “What is it?”
I blinked at his rather blunt question. “I just came to inform you that we’ve discovered some worrying details about the nature of the-” “The artificial satellites are not of any concern to us.” He cut me off before I could finish.
“We think they might be-”
He glanced back behind the door for a moment, his tail thrashed in agitation. “It doesn’t matter. Have you prepared the landing party yet?” My jaw tightened as my frustration with his rudeness grew. I couldn’t get much of a word in, but I needed any answers. “They’re set to depart in two claws, but with those unknown satellites, I can’t be sure of their safety! I saw you on the bridge when we arrived, you were expecting something different. As the captain of this ship, I need to know if there’s a threat to-”
“Captain.” Fiir’s gaze grew intense as he leaned in. I may have had almost a head of height on the wizened farsul, but in that moment, he felt as if he was towering over me. “I suggest you stick to the responsibilities I hired you for, Captain Kinet. There are things that you are not privy to, nor will you be made privy to in the foreseeable future. Continue with the survey as per our agreement, and you’ll get your credits. Do not bother me until the away team is en route. Good paw, Captain.” He closed and locked the door without even waiting for my response.
I just stood at the door for a long while, a feeling of anger and indignation boiling in my chest. I had only ever had cordial contact with the researcher up until now; this abrupt shift in his demeanor was unsettling, to say the least. How dare he talk down to me like that on my own ship! I sighed and took a deep breath, holding it for a moment before letting it out. Slow and controlled. Letting the tension and anger flow out with my breath.
Inhale. Hold. Release.
Inhale. Hold. Release.
After a few cycles, the burning anger was reduced to a smoldering cinder. As much as I had wanted to headbutt Fiir, it wasn’t worth risking the contract for. I turned and walked back to the bridge to prepare for the away mission. Without Fiir’s info, I needed to make sure contingencies were in place for any possible threat to the away team. The lives of my crew are paramount, even if the contract was very, very lucrative. All that aside, the planning would keep my mind away from thoughts of my rude client.
>Advance record: [Standardized Human Time July 6th, 2114]:
I woke up after my rest paw feeling groggy and unrested. The confrontation with Fiir kept playing in my mind all night, despite the claws of planning for the away mission. To say his standoffish behavior left knots in my wool would be an understatement. I wiped my snout with my paws, flicking the crust from my eyes before getting up out of bed.
I grabbed my favorite mug and fixed myself my morning cup of tea. Pulling the dried leaves and stems from the canister, I could feel my mouth water in anticipation. I had been told by many who possessed the strange appendage called a nose that the tea leaves had a strong earthy and floral scent. I often wondered what that meant. Venlil didn’t have noses, but we did have a sense of taste, which is apparently quite similar. I often wondered what it might be like to smell. Do we really miss out on so much without being able to smell?
We had to soak our foods and tea in water before we could taste it with our tongues, and even then, it’s not nearly as sensitive, which is probably why other species consider venlil cuisine to be overseasoned and overpowering.
Another reason why the stereotype of venlil being weak is nonsense, in my opinion. How strong can you be if you can’t handle a little spice?
The timer went off, chirping to tell me my tea was ready. I sifted out the leaves and brought the invigorating elixir to my lips. The hot fluid warmed me to my core and burned away the waking lyasi silk from my groggy mind.
I needed to catch up with Hephy and Mara; they should have brought in that satellite-
My thoughts were interrupted by the chiming of my pad. I picked it up and answered the call to see Hephy’s face almost filling the screen, with Mara looking over her shoulder.
“Oh good you’re awake! Captain, you must see this! It’s amazing! The satellite, it’s full of brains!”
END TRANSCRIPTION
Been a hot minute, I hadn't forgotten about this. As always, comments are coveted and appreciated. What do you all think about Fiir's behavior? What do y'all think of Hephy?
Thanks to for creating this setting and fostering such a delightfully passionate community! Thanks again to , Novalux, and the Foxmates for editing and helping me get this done!
Soma belongs to Frictional Games.