Part 32, a return to Kraisal, and my return to actually posting chapters. We get to see the aftermath of the four-part operation, and I get to deal with Reddit formatting changes. I upload Wednesdays, at 4PM to 5PM British Summer Time. Credit to u/SpacePaladin15 for creating the universe of NoP, and the amazing u/ShermanTheMajor for proofreading! And thank you guys for reading. Enjoy the chapter!
Memory Transcript Subject: Second-Lieutenant Kraisal, SC Fighter Pilot Flybird 6, Callsign ‘Mimic’
Date [Standardised Human Time]: July 7th 2168
We all took our seats in this new, bigger briefing room. Despite the concrete walls, it still felt somehow nicer than the last one, more high tech. It might’ve been the lighting, shining down a dim electric blue on all of us.
I looked to the others, who all seemed to be in various states of exhaustion. I still felt pretty energetic, and most of the pilots looked well enough, but the other SCOSG members? Vilik looked like a blood vessel was about to pop, Larsela looked like she was barely awake, and Pegasus… I wasn’t sure. I never was with him. At least we all made it through okay enough. What happened to the others to make them so exhausted, though?
The base commander waved her tail, and we all looked at her as she began to speak. “The operation was a complete success. Despite unforeseen factors in some of the combat operations, you’ve all displayed a commendable level of resilience today. You should be proud of yourselves for making it this far” Damn, the hell happened to the others?
“While most of the pilots in this room were escorting our transports here, Mimic successfully destroyed most of the rebel anti-air and armoured fighting vehicles, with some assistance from friendly partisan forces, and paratroopers from the one-hundred-and-second airborne division. She also successfully shot down an enemy aircraft attempting to intercept friendly planes. Thanks to her actions here today, we all have a place to land, rest, and refuel, as well as a staging area for attacks deeper in enemy territory and towards the planetary defence guns”
“Meanwhile, Quartz One successfully escorted the East Sea Fleet past enemy naval defences, despite resistance from a small enemy fleet blockin her path. She also successfully shot down an enemy mercenary pilot, who was armed with laser weaponry and a superior aircraft. This has allowed us to strike closer to the planetary defence guns without having to rely as heavily on our air support. The Captain of the leading vessel also sent her a bottle of whiskey as thanks, though this will be locked up for the time being”
There was a small amount of chatter at the prospect of alcohol, and a couple people looked to Lars. That lucky bird. All I got was a scratched paint job.
“Quiet!” The base commander yelled, causing the chatter to cease before she continued. “Furthermore, Magnum successfully destroyed several IRBM silo’s, despite heavy ground resistance. He also successfully intercepted two IRBMs before they could reach friendly territory, despite one of these missiles both launching before its silo could be discovered, and being capable of evasive manoeuvres at low altitudes. This has prevented the enemy from launching potentially devastating attacks on our backlines, saving countless lives and allowing us to continue offensive operations unimpeded”
She took a small breath, and cleared her throat, before continuing. “Finally, Pegasus Three successfully escorted the transport carrying defectors into our territory, despite several attempted intercept missions from enemy squadrons, the loss of all decoy aircraft, and the pilot and copilot both being shot, with the former too injured to fly and the latter dead. He also successfully shot down an enemy mercenary squadron attempting to intercept the transport, despite being outnumbered by superior aircraft. The transport successfully landed here, and the pilot is stable. The passengers themselves are mostly unharmed, outside mild bruising from a rough landing, and are going through debriefing”
Jesus Christ, I thought my mission was the hard one. At least I didn’t have to dogfight a fucking missile.
“Overall, this leaves Coalition forces in a highly advantageous position in the war going forwards. The only remaining advantages held by the rebels is the fog of war, and the planetary defence guns, and we are almost in a place where we can wipe out the latter. Excellent work. Dismissed!”
As we all filed out of the briefing room, I began moving through the crowd, when I felt someone tap me on the shoulder. Turning around, I noticed one of the paratroopers, looking to me with a slight grin on his face. “Hey, you’re that pilot that saved our asses, right? I wanted you to have this” He then held out a pack of jerky. “As thanks”
“Oh shit, thanks dude!” I replied, grabbing it and immediately devouring its contents.
“It’s the least I could do after you brought us through a second suicide mission alive. Shit, at this rate there’ll be propaganda posters with you on em”
“Eh, just doing my job” I grinned. “Look, I gotta go, see you around?”
“Sure” He replied casually, before walking off.
I turned around and began heading to my friends, managing to intercept Vilik and Larsela. The formers tail was wrapped firmly around his leg, while Larsela was rubbing her eyes with her talons, as if trying to stay awake. “Hey you two!” I greeted “How did you handle things? You both definitely look… Rough”
“How does it look!?” Vilik snapped, before audibly sighing. “Sorry, sorry. Just stressed. I had to deal with five fucking missiles, two of which managed to launch, one which had stealth capabilities, and the other nearly reached criticalaltitudeand-”
“Okok!” I cut him off. “Go figure out which bunk is yours and lie down or something, jesus!”
“Fine, fine! I’m going” And with that, he stormed off, leaving me and my very tired pal alone.
“So…” I began. “What about you?”
She stared into the ceiling for a moment, before slowly looking at me. “Hm? Oh, yeah. It went ok…” She then yawned, and began to stagger off. “I need to lie down though. Maybe we can walk and talk before I find my bed?”
“Sure!” I replied, walking after her. “That works!”
“Right, right… Yeah things went well, most of the fleet made it out untouched. The fact the Promenade had a railgun certainly helped. The rebels surrendered after the second ship was horizontally cut in half”
“Oh, that sounds cool as fuck!”
“More scary than cool” She responded, as we entered one of the barracks. “I felt it firing in my bones…”
“Oh, damn. Nevermind then… So uh, remember this morning? When you were gonna ask me something?”
“Hom? Yeah, kinda… Why do you ask?”
“Oh, I was just wondering what you were gonna ask me is all!” I chuckled.
“Oh, it’s… It was nothing” She muttered, before coming to a halt at one of the bunk beds. She quickly checked the two footlockers sitting at its foot, before crawling to the upper bunk. I decided to check the lockers too, noticing my stuff was there along with hers.
“Lucky coincidence…” I murmured, before sitting on the lower bunk, stretching, and taking a moment to relax, staring up at the bunk above me as I rested on the hard mattress. That moment to relax was then interrupted by an officer walking in, looking around the room, then walking up to me and Lars.
“Excuse me” They began. “Have either of you seen a uh, ‘Pegasus’ around here?”
Larsela waved a wing and flicked her tail feathers, signalling no, while I sat up slightly and shrugged. “Why are you looking for him?”
“The wife of one of the passengers wanted to thank him for saving her husband” They responded. “I believe the passenger in question is the one that flew the plane after the pilots injury, as well”
“Try checking the runway or something. I don’t know, maybe he’s checking out the hangars. He was usually around that kind of area in the last base, anyways”
“Right, thank you” They nodded, before walking off. I flopped onto my back, closed my eyes, and rested.
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TW: Brief mention of a suicide attempt
For the sake of privacy we'll call the friend that is getting married, Sofie and the ex friend, Alice.
This is a long one so I apologize but context it needed to fully understand why I did this. And to be fair, this is an insane experience all together so buckle up. This may be the only unique experience I have and I wish I didn't.
Alice and I have known each other all of our lives. Our parents were close so we grew up together. I saw her much more like a sister to me than a friend and we always looked out for one another. Alice struggled in her teen years with alcohol and getting in to the wrong crowd but she did her best to clean up and change things. In our early twenties we decided to move out together and become roomates. It was me, her, and her longtime boyfriend who I also had a friendship with. We'll call him Nathan. Things were great the first few months. But as time went on we started butting heads. Alice didn't have a job at the time (she did at the time of us signing the lease. I also lost my job before moving in but quickly found whatever I could) Alice kept saying she'd find another job but she never did. Nathan only worked part time at minium wage and out apartment was 1200 a months. So he couldn't afford to pay her half of the rent so I started taking it on and she would pay me back a few weeks later after she managed to sell some clothes or whatever. It got to the point where I was struggling and pulling extra hours of work to keep up. I would come home in the middle of summer where it's 104 out and they have the thermostat at 62 and would get mad at me if I turned it up to 72 because 'it was unbearably hot' our ac bill for our small apartment was insane because of this and granted, I'm the one pretty much paying for most of it.
They would get mad at me for the smallest thing. Guilt me and saying I treated them like children when they were adults. But yeah, I'm gonna be mad if I come home and you left our electric fire place on in the summer because you like the aesthetic and our ac is blasting.
Now, here is where things take a turn and get Weird. Both me and alice are Hispanic and we were both raised religious. Due to our heritage and background, we have both experienced paranormal stuff growing up and within our families. It's not uncommon in Mexican culture to deal with the paranormal. I have some severe ptsd thanks to several past experiences I had as a child that I won't get into. When we moved out we were both religious people. Over the next few months Alice began to deconstruct her faith and wanted to find what she believed which I supported her on that. The one rule I had was not to bring anything or interact with anything paranormal. I did not want that in my apartment and she knows and has witnessed my recovery from my trauma with certain things. She completely agreed. She started exploring things with crystals, Tarot, all of that stuff and I gave her space and let her do her thing.
This is when Sofie came in to our lives. She was an old friend from HS that wanted to reconnect with us and we began hanging out. All of three of us were friends but me and Sofie hung out more. Over the course of the next few months things got weird in our apartment. Lights would flicker occasionally, their cat would meow and hiss at seemingly nothing. We would make jokes and move on. And Because I was working so much and I also had health issues, my mental health began to decline. I have severe depression and have been able to maintain it but due to the stress and my own isolation, It began to worse. Also they never cleaned the apartment unless asked (even tho Alice was home nearly every day) their cat would tear up the carpet. They'd leave dirty dishes all over the kitchen and internet would shut off because they'd forget to pay the internet bill (the only bill they managed on their own) because Nathan didn't believe in checking mail even if they were late notices. He'd toss them all. We'd get into fights and they would tell me how horrible of a friend I was because I had to 'constantly nag them' when they were behind on rent or reminding them we could not afford to have our ac at 62 in the summer.
7 months in and I made the decision to not renew our least together. We both wanted to try and save our friendship in anyway we could so as soon as it was up, we would part ways and I would move in with my brother and SIL and help them out for a bit until I found another place to stay.
Month 10. I was so physically sick, the doctors wasn't sure what was wrong with me. My mental health declined so bad that I began contemplating suicide. I was under so much stress and in debt. They were nearly 2 months behind on rent. But I didn't want us to get evicted and I'm a people pleaser and I wanted these last few months just to get over with. They left for a trip to see a family member for 2 weeks. Taking the cat and leaving me alone in the apartment. I was so happy for the first day. And then that's when everything happened.
Whispers were coming from their room. Like someone was having a conversation. I could never hear what was being said but as soon as I'd get close enough, it would stop. Their lights and lamps would turn on at night. On day 3 I went in and unplugged EVERYTHING to make sure it wasn't on some sort of timer. I guess it didn't like that because at night, the door would open and slam shut, repeatedly. It would do it so hard it shook the walls. Because of my own depression I literally thought I was losing my mind and it was in my head. No way this was happening. Things began to rearrange themselves. I could hear it. Furniture moving, jewelry being moved around, all of it, in their room. I texted Alice making a joke about how her room may be haunted. She replied with "familiar spirits get curious when their owners leave. It's fine"
I asked her to clarify. She pretty much told me she was in contact with something and since they were gone it was just curious and exploring.
I... I really had no words. I felt betrayed and lied too. How hard was it to not bring something into this apartment? To not communicate with things in our house? I should have left then. I didn't. While it stayed in the room, I could feel it. Like it was watching me. I grew paranoid. I didn't tell anyone. Didn't want to make a big fuss I just wanted to leave so I made plans to move out sooner then later.
One day. I just snapped. I don't put blame on her. I should have reached out, let people in and not isolate. I don't think she even knew how bad it was for me. I text my best friend, the one friend I knew doesn't text back for HOURS if not a day before my attempt. (different best friend, not sofie) She made it in time and stopped me mid attempt. Her and her husband came into my apartment. And as I was saying I felt like I was going crazy and having a psychotic break, the door opened on its own and slammed shut. They witnessed it and I cried because I honestly thought I was losing my mind despite the texts.
They tried to get me to leave then and I said no. They told my brother who called me and demanded I pack my things immediately and so my sister came over the next day while I went to work (just one day after the attempt) she didn't tell me until years later but she experienced everything I had. Which now makes sense as to why she helped me pack so freaking fast. I didn't tell her anything, just that I needed to leave and weird things had happened. I packed my things, I left. My parents found out and my dad went into the apartment (he grew up in the thick if it with his grandmother being in the occult) and my dad knew something bad was in that apartment and helped me get everything else out.
My friend came back livid. Our parents are close and her parents were upset with her. Asking why she was messing around with these things. I sat down and had a talk with her. Telling her I was sorry for how things came to light but I didn't really have a say in the matter. I said I'd be dead if my friend hadn't shown up and saved me from my attempt which was what started our family finding out. She looked me in the eye and said "im sorry. But you lived. And now thanks to you, I have to deal with my family finding out." I have never seen her be so emotionless or cold like she was when she said those words to me. I realized then, she did not care.
She blamed it on me. Telling my parents and her parents I was messing with stuff. We are grown adults. Act like it. If this is what you want to do with your life own it. Don't blame it on me as an escape goat because you didn't want to tell you parents you no longer believe in a religion. No one believed her anyway. But still, it hurt. I realized our friendship could never be salvaged. Sofie witnessed this all and cut ties with Alice. Alice bad mouthed me and blamed me. She also forced me to pay for the last months rent because I apparently owed her. (it was that or give it to her mom who didn't have the money) And left with a 10k cleaning and damage fee that I thankfully got the apartment to pin on them. I tried so hard to make Alice see my perspective and how I wasn't blaming her for my attempt or anything but she would shut me out and ignore me. I kept things quiet, tried not to tell our mutual friends what went on. But I found out from them that she blamed me for it all. Told them it was all my fault. That I was controlling and horrible to her when I have text message proof of how abusive she was too me and manipulative. There is so much more, I could make a list of all the things she and her bf did and lied about but for the sake of time, just know, as a people pleaser, this experience killed that. It lefted me jaded and Cynical of everyone. She was like a sister to me... I never thought we would end this way.
So..to the actual point of this post...
2 years have gone by Alice has no contact with me nor I, with her. Me and sofie are best friends. She's heard everything, she's seen the text and been my shoulder to cry on. She decided to move to Seattle which is far from me but I promise to stay in touch. We do and she gets proposed to by her long term bf and I'm excited for her. We're on the phone talking about dates and dresses when she drops a bombshell on me. She said Alice had moved to Seattle a few months back and reached out to her. They began to hang out and now are close friends. She wants a super small wedding with like 50 people and Alice and Nathan will be coming. If she maintained a friendship with them, I don't think this would have hurt so bad. It's the fact that she cut ties with them on her own terms and told me she never wanted to see Alice's face again. She'd go out if her way to talk crap about them. So I was shocked when she said this.
I immediately began to cry. I didn't mean to. I'm in therapy, I'm doing so much better but the flood of emotions came back and I broke down crying. I felt like Alice got to get away scot free. She didn't have debt, she didn't have trauma from the event, she kept all her friends while I lost some. And now she gained another. I apologized and said it was her day and it was about her, she could do whatever she wanted. But the thing that made me cut ties was when she told me that I almost didn't make the cut to the wedding. Alice did. But she wasn't sure if she would have room for me, her best friend. She then said if I wasn't comfortable I could stay home for the wedding and not come. I realized we weren't as close as we were use to and that hurt. She also told me I should forgive Alice for what she did and Alice has no issues with me. I told her no. Alice never apologized, Alice wasn't the one traumatized, and Alice still believed she did nothing wrong. I apologized for my part and in turn she dragged my name through the mud. I would never treat any of my friends how she treated me. She has not changed, I know that for SURE. So no, I won't.
Sofie responded that there are two sides to every story and she could remain friends with us both. But I feel like she already made her choice. I told her I wasn't coming to the wedding and cut ties. That was in January.
So yeah... AITA for cutting ties with Sofie because she invited Alice to her wedding? Should I try to reach out? Or just let it be.
Part of me feels bad. But the amount of abuse Alice put me through... I feel like there has to be some sort of line. I would never be friends with sofie's ex friend who abused her. And she even told me if I did, she wouldn't be friends with me. I use to thing that was petty but somethings... Somethings you can't move past.

Hello Swifties!! So I’m just organizing my stuff together for the bracelets. I’m planning to start making them in November. I’m going to be spending September and October crocheting my outfit hehe. I just want to make sure all the songs are there that she has done for each album are on the list and that I hadn’t missed any.
Taylor Swift 1. Tim McGraw // 2. Picture To Burn // 3. Teardrops On My Guitar // 4. A Place In This World // 5. Cold As You // 6. The Outside // 7. Tied Together With A Smile // 8. Stay Beautiful // 9. Should’ve Said No // 10. Mary’s Song // 11. Our Song // 12. I’m Only Me When I’m With You // 13. Invisible // 14. A Perfectly Good Heart
Fearless (Taylor’s Version) 15. Fearless // 16. Fifteen // 17. Love Story // 18. Hey Stephen // 19. White Horse // 20. You Belong With Me // 21. Breathe // 22. Tell Me Why // 23. You’re Not Sorry // 24. The Way I Loved You // 25. Forever & Always // 26. Come In With The Rain // 27. Superstar // 28. The Other Side Of The Door // 29. Today Was A Fairytale // 30. You All Over Me // 31. Mr Perfectly Fine // 32. We Were Happy // 33. That’s When // 34. Don’t You // 35. Bye Bye Baby // 36. If This Was A Movie // 37. Change
Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) 38. Mine // 39. Sparks Fly // 40. Back To December // 41. Speak Now // 42. Dear John // 43. Mean // 44. The Story Of Us // 45. Never Grow Up // 46. Enchanted // 47. Better Than Revenge // 48. Innocent // 49. Haunted // 50. Last Kiss // 51. Long Live // 52. Ours // 53. Superman // 54. Electric Touch // 55. When Emma Falls In Love // 56. I Can See You // 57. Castles Crumbling // 58. Foolish One // 59. Timeless
Red (Taylor’s Version) 60. State Of Grace // 61. Red // 62. Treacherous // 63. I Knew You Were Trouble // 64. All Too Well // 65. 22 // 66. I Almost Do // 67. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together // 68. Stay Stay Stay // 69. The Last Time // 70. Holy Beautiful // 71. Sad Beautiful Tragic // 72. The Lucky One // 73. Everything Has Changed // 74. Starlight // 75. Begin Again // 76. The Moment I Knew // 77. Come Back…Be Here // 78. Girl At Home // 79. Ronan // 80. Better Man // 81. Nothing New // 82. Babe // 83. Message In A Bottle // 84. I Bet You Think About Me // 85. Forever Winter // 86. Run // 87. The Very First Night // 88. All Too Well (10 Minute Version) // 89. Eyes Open // 90. Safe & Sound
1989 (Taylor’s Version) 91. Welcome To New York 92. Blank Space 93. Style 94. Out Of The Woods 95. All You Had To Do Was Stay 96. Shake It Off 97. I Wish You Would 98. Bad Blood 99. Wildest Dreams 100. How You Get The Girl 101. This Love 102. I Know Places 103. Clean 104. Wonderland 105. You Are In Love 106. New Romantics 107. Slut 108. Say Don’t Go 109. Now That We Don’t Talk 110. Suburban Legends 111. Is It Over Now
Reputation 112. Ready For It 113. Endgame 114. I Did Something Bad 115. Don’t Blame Me 116. Delicate 117. Look What You Made Me Do 118. So It Goes 119. Gorgeous 120. Getaway Car 121. King Of My Heart 122. Dancing With Our Hands Tied 123. Dress 124. This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things 125. Call It What You Want 126. New Year’s Day
Lover 127. I Forgot That You Existed 128. Cruel Summer 129. Lover 130. The Man 131. The Archer 132. I Think He Knows 133. Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince 134. Paper Rings 135. Cornelia Street 136. Death By A Thousand Cuts 137. London Boy 138. Soon You’ll Get Better 139. False God 140. You Need To Calm Down 141. Afterglow 142. Me 143. It’s Nice To Have A Friend 144. Daylight 145. All Of The Girls You Loved Before
Folklore 146. The 1 147. Cardigan 148. The Last Great American Dynasty 149. Exile 150. My Tears Ricochet 151. Mirrorball 152. Seven 153. August 154. This Is Me Trying 155. Illicit Affairs 156. Invisible String 157. Mad Woman 158. Epiphany 159. Betty 160. Peace 161. Hoax 162. The Lakes
Evermore 163. Willow 164. Champagne Problems 165. Gold Rush 166. Tis The Damn Season 167. Tolerate It 168. No Body No Crime 169. Happiness 170. Dorothea 171. Coney Island 172. Ivy 173. Cowboy Like Me 174. Long Story Short 175. Marjorie 176. Closure 177. Evermore 178. Right Where You Left Me 179. It’s Time To Go
Midnights 180. Lavender Haze 181. Maroon 182. Anti Hero 183. Snow On The Beach 184. You’re On Your Own Kid 185. Midnight Rain 186. Question 187. Vigilante Shit 188. Bejeweled 189. Labyrinth 190. Karma 191. Sweet Nothing 192. Mastermind 193. The Great War 194. Bigger Than The Whole Sky 195. Paris 196. High Infidelity 197. Glitch 198. Would’ve Could’ve Should’ve 199. Dear Reader 200. Hits Different
The Tortured Poets Department 201. Fortnight 202. The Tortured Poets Department 203. My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys 204. Down Bad 205. So Long London 206. But Daddy I Love Him 207. Fresh Out The Slammer 208. Florida 209. Guilty As Sin 210. Who’s Afraid Of Little Old Me 211. I Can Fix Him No Really I Can 212. LOML 213. I Can Do It With A Broken Heart 214. The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived 215. The Alchemy 216. Clara Bow 217. The Black Dog 218. I’mGonnaGetYouBack 219. The Albatross 220. Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus 221. How Did It End 222. So High School 223. I Hate It Here 224. Thank You Aimee 225. I Look In People’s Windows 226. The Prophecy 227. Cassandra 228. Peter 229. The Bolter 230. Robin 231. The Manuscript

About a month and a half ago, I (41F) got back in contact with an old friend (39M), who I'll call Scott for this post. We do have a history together but haven't spoken to each other in 16 years.
Most of his paternal family lives in an active war zone. As attacks in this country have intensified, I reached out to Scott out of concern for him and his family. After this first conversion we began to rebuild our friendship.
Scott began calling or texting almost everyday, which I was very happy about. This allowed us a chance to get closure, heal old wounds and pick up on the friendship we had. Things did get quite flirty, old feelings arose (on my end for sure and by his actions and words it seemed to me on his end as well) and we both decided we wanted to meet up for a weekend. We both felt this would allow us the chance to fully put that chapter behind us and continue on with a stronger friendship. After checking multiple times he was sure he wanted to meet up, I rearranged things and bought a ticket to his city. Time and time again, Scott reassured me that he wanted this and was looking forward to it as much as I was. We both knew nothing more would come from this due to current life situations.
Two days ago, with about a week before I’m to fly out, he tells me that he wants to keep things completely platonic, now forcing me to get a hotel and changing the intent of the trip. When I asked for clarification as to why, he refused to give me an answer. Up to this point, we had both been open and honest about feelings we were having.
I respect and understand he has a right to change his mind, but I got pissed about what I felt was a bait and switch. He told me I was an asshole for being mad at him and the situation. So, I’m wondering, AITA for being upset, hurt and sad that Scott changed things last minute and refuses to tell me why, especially because he’s the one who wanted to meet in the first place.
To be clear, I’m mostly upset that he won’t give me a reason or explain why he changed his mind, so that I can process things, begin to get over my feelings so we can continue the friendship without lingering questions.

(LONG ASAB)
I was with my gf for like a yr and half till we parted ways a few days ago. I still remember everything leading up to it and everything she said while i was leaving her apartment on campus for the last time, like it was yesterday. When we started dating, I hung out with my many friends(many compared to now), and was quite social and fun. When we got together, i continued hanging out with these people, but it became increasingly difficult to spend time with them AND her in my free time. So, deep in love, I chose her.
Slowly, but surely, these people i used to hang out with slowly stopped texting me. First slowing it down to when they needed or wanted something from me, then just radio silence after that.
Fast forward about a year and a few months, and I decide to make some lifestyle changes after the few of my friends i actually kept around, who i’d known damn near all my life, dubbed me after not having the funds to go on a vacation with em. One of the friends i was gonna go with spam texted me, RIPPING INTO ME abt being a bullshit brokie. This ripped me to shreds. It completely tore down my confidence in myself, dismantled everything that i thought about myself, and completely had me in pieces after reflecting on it.
I was broken. The shame and guilt of not having it together was enough to shatter my ideals at the time. With that being said, I had to rebuild my life. I’d had enough of outsiders and wanted to focus on building my life with the woman who was still by my side, whom i was, and still am, deeply in love with. I saw all she wanted. But i couldnt help but deny how hurt i was. I couldnt help but try to find a way to make some progress in life so i would never feel that shame and guilt of being a bullshit brokie ever again.
I tore myself down even more, stuck on the fact that my life was a mess. I’d been stuck the fact dat i had no bros anymore. Stuck on the fact that despite me going to countless job interviews, i couldnt land anything, I’d told her,”I dont deserve u at all. Im literally poor and u deserve everything.” I told her, “I hate my myself.” I cursed myself to her, yelling a screaming. I said all of this, but shouldve been saying,”ill be better for us, ill be better for you. Ill give you everything you deserve.”
I was a mess. I had no love to give myself. Despite this, she always told me to never give up and grind! She told that she wouldnt be with meif i didnt deserve her, and all she wanted was to be with me. But, since i had no love for myself and denied this for so long, i couldnt see that i had no love to give her, despite my loving her to death. I was so fixated on wut other people told me, i truly did forget to show her that i love her. I was simply too busy hating myself. I saw what she wanted outta me. Time was of the essence, as things were crashin and burnin before my eyes, where my gf could also see. I quickly got it together as much as i can manage right now, getting a FT job on top of my PT job, and figuring out what career i wanna attack to go back to school and get my degree for. I rethought everything, from seeing how important it was for me to gain some weight, to the importance of my relationship with God and myself alike, to the importance of findin and walkin a career path, to the importance of developin my mind to be more disciplined.
It took around a month and a half to get hired at my current occupation, and in this time i did all of this thinking and made all of these decisions. However, this unknowingly had put a burden onto my gf. One time she told me, “Sometimes I feel like you arent here, even though you are.”
Even though, it was all for US, i see now that the way i was acting put an energy out there that i never intended for her to feel EVER. When i was even only looking for a job, it took up much of my time because i was applying to so many jobs everyday, always on my phone. By the time i was done, id already be saying hurtful things about myself, rolling up to smoke it away and just sit there barely talking to her. I even went to 5 job interviews within a 4 day period. Then i FINALLY get hired, and im even more distant and angry because now im adjusting to my new job.
She thought id been cheating on her. She thought i was lying about where i was and who i be with, despite her knowing i have nobody except my family and her. She thought id been having sex with somebody else and lying to her about it. She said she wanted to believe me but cant. I asked her why. She said cuz she thinks im lying to her face. She said its cuz she think i cheated on her. But i just wasnt. I was always truthful no matter what. She was literally my everything. She was my will to strive and be better personified. She was dedication, living and breathing and walking with me. I’d still do anything for that woman. She was the only person left who still had faith in me, but i ruined it by forgetting to show my love for her. When i look at it now, it wasnt right by myself, by her, or by God, to be breaking myself down with so much negative enegy then FEEDING HER WITH IT. Even though she sees that im on my feet now, and she sees that im capable, to her, im a liar and a cheater. To her, im digusting. To her, im not even a man.
But now she’ll never know the truth. The truth that i simply changed to start feeling better about myself and change our lives to that of which we dream of. The truth that i love her with all my heart and my loyalty for her runs deeper into my soul than the ocean. I feel so empty. So broken.
Now im picking up pieces of my shattered mind, heart, and soul, putting the pieces back together one at a time.
I just hope she sees me when ive risen from the dead
Regenerated better than ever
With ample love and affection to give her , indefinitely
To all of you(young males in particular): Dont ever forget to show your partner you love them, because wut YOU go thru, YALL go thru. Despite YOUR ISSUES, SHE HAS HER OWN!!! Be strong in the face of the person you love. Allow them to be on your side. Always be on their side. Plz save your heart and dont be like me: fumblin a 50/10 cuz ur sad nd depressed. Dont even bring dat shit to her, for her good and your own. She’ll resent u forever if you drag her energy down. Be lighthearted, affectionate, passionate, passive, and tempered. Work hard on yourself and your future, by bein disciplined and jus hard fr. Show her that u hard, but also that she resides in your soft spot
To her(if you see this): You know my name, you know who i am. You know who you are, despite me not speaking your name on this public forum.
I love you
You are still my everything
You have always been my everything
You will be my everything forever
I’ll stop at nothing for you to see what im truly made of
All i want is to be with you
For you are everything i could ever want in this world
May God bless you with everything you’ve ever asked of Him
To my old friends(some of which i cant even face yet, and others that did me wrong): God bless you all! I hold no grudges!

• Species: Dog
• Age: 1.5yrs
• Sex/Neuter status: Male/Neutered
• Breed: Pomsky
• Body weight: 18-20lbs
• History: Drama queen (according to vet because of his cone paralysis :P)
• Clinical signs: Staggered breathing (or breathing in stages?)
• Duration: 1 day
• Your general location: Alberta, Canada
• Name: Watson

Hello there,
There is some backstory to this that I couldn't figure out how to include in the title, please bear with me:
About 4 days ago we realized Watson was breathing very rapidly at rest. We live in a very cold place, it had just started warming up, and his coat is the longest it's ever been, so we assumed that he was just too hot (23-26 Celsius in some rooms of the house) and booked an appointment with the groomer to get him a trim.
He was still eating and drinking normally, urinating normally, gums were pink, I think he might have been having less bowel movements but I'm unsure because we brought him over to my girlfriend's parents for the better part of the two days after noticing this (and he roams their large backyard with their two dogs), so he might have had many or 0 bowel movements over there, I also felt his stomach and it felt normal. His behavior this whole time was mostly normal (maybe a little bit subdued, but I assumed it was because he was tired from hanging out with his uncles so much). For the sake of the timeline, this is all that happened the first 2 of 4 days (day 4 being today).
Yesterday around 5am he woke us up because he was trying to throw up. He heaved a few times, and nothing ended up coming up other than white foam. He seemed to recover quickly from this, and we went back to bed. I told my girlfriend that if he was still exhibiting any weird symptoms in the morning I would take him to the vet.
Woke up later that morning, and he seemed back to normal. His breathing had slowed down to a normal rate, he ate his breakfast, I took him on a walk in the morning and he was behaving totally normal. He also passed a "good" stool (firm, solid normal color) on our walk. We got home and I went to pick up old his stools from our yard (routine after a walk) when I noticed an unusual one (that had to have been within the last 24h, exactly when I'm not sure as we let him out often while we are getting ready for work/bed/otherwise unable to watch him).
The stool I found had a bunch of tape coiled up inside of it, which I remembered had been a loose strand of tape that was sitting on my desk that he must have pulled off and eaten (uncoiled, the kind of tape where you have to peel the bottom off to expose the sticky side). We hadn't had an issue with him eating things that aren't food in a long time so I let my guard down.
It all started making sense, I thought that he must have been in pain/discomfort from eating the tape which explained the heavy breathing for the couple of days until he passed it in his stool. Since he was mostly back to normal I thought nothing of it.
Starting last night and continuing to this morning I noticed that his breathing, although much slower and normal rate-wise, has changed to be a much deeper, staggered breathing. I don't know how to describe this other than staggered, maybe staged? He will inhale about 60% of the breath initially, then 30% more, then the last 10%. His mouth is closed while he's doing this (sleeping/resting the times that I have noticed it). Google has been woefully unhelpful in looking this up (probably because I have no idea what the kind of breathing is actually called)).
At this point I'm concerned that there is still some tape stuck in his guts somewhere. The piece that he ate was quite long, and I didn't extract/unravel it from inside his stool to see how much of it had come out there, but nor could I find any remnants of un-eaten tape anywhere. Is this kind of seemingly labored breathing characteristic of a blockage, and should I be concerned?
I'm hesitant to go to the vet right away because
A. I've taken Watson there probably 10 times for minor issues, every time I have they do the exact same checks that I mentioned above (feel his stomach, check gums, behaviour, eating and bowel regularity) and then send us off almost with an air of like "you guys need to relax he will be fine"
B. With the above in mind, it isn't exactly cheap
Reasons I think he does not have a blockage: -His most recent stool was a good one -His eating habits are the same -His behavior is normal
Reasons I think he might still have a blockage: -His breathing?? Not sure if this is indicative of anything because as I mentioned, google no help this -The timeline of his dry-heaving in the morning doesn't add up for me. I don't know for sure, but I'm pretty positive that the stool with the tape in it happened the night before the dry-heaving, so why would he dry-heave if the blockage had already been excreted. He has not tried to throw up, or anything similar since. -He has always coughed more than your average dog (he loves eating quickly and then chasing that down with big gulps of water), but he has been coughing a bit "deeper" this last day or so? This could be me worrying, but thought I would mention
Looking for advice on what to do, and if these symptoms are indicative of anything or if I'm just being my normal hypochondriac self :/
Thank you for your time.

Transforming a cramped living area into a spacious sanctuary might seem like a tall order, but with the right strategies, it's entirely possible. Whether you're nestled in a cosy Johannesburg apartment or making the most of a compact Cape Town cottage, maximising space in small South African homes is both an art and a science.
From clever furniture choices to innovative storage solutions, there are plenty of ways to create the illusion of space without knocking down walls. In this guide, we'll explore how to declutter, optimise, and reimagine your living space, ensuring every square metre serves a purpose. Get ready to breathe new life into your home, making it a place you and your loved ones can truly enjoy.

Key Takeaways

• Wall baskets are a versatile and sustainable solution for maximising space in small South African homes, serving both as decorative items and practical storage solutions.
• By utilising vertical spaces with wall baskets, homeowners can declutter surfaces, creating a cleaner and more organised living environment.
• Wall baskets offer a unique way to personalise space, allowing for creative expression through the curation of gallery walls or the establishment of zone divisions within a room.
• Choosing the right wall baskets involves considering the size of the wall space, the overall decor theme of the home, and the balance between functionality and style.
• EYA Home Living provides a diverse range of wall baskets that cater to different tastes and needs, embodying the fusion of local craftsmanship and contemporary design.

Understanding the Appeal of Wall Baskets

In the quest to maximise small spaces within a South African context, wall baskets have emerged as a simple yet transformative solution. As you delve into the world of wall decor, it's hard to overlook the versatility and aesthetic appeal of wall baskets for decor. Drawing inspiration from local crafts and contemporary designs, EYA Home Living showcases how these accessories can serve both as storage solutions and artistic expressions.
What are wall baskets, you might ask? Traditionally rooted in African culture, these decorative pieces are intricately woven using sustainable materials. Their charm lies not only in the craftsmanship but also in their functionality. By incorporating EYA wall baskets into your decor, you essentially double the utility of your walls, turning them into focal points that are both beautiful and practical.
Adapting your space with wall decor baskets opens up a realm of possibilities. Imagine converting a bare, unused wall into a stylish storage area or an eye-catching gallery. The beauty of wall baskets is that they come in various sizes, colours, and designs, allowing for an unparalleled level of customisation. Mix and match to create patterns or thematic arrangements that reflect your personality and the vibrancy of South African decor.
Moreover, integrating wall baskets into your living area doesn't only serve aesthetic purposes. It's a clever way to declutter surfaces and optimise your living environment without sacrificing style. From holding magazines and plants to storing kitchen utensils or bathroom essentials, the possibilities are limitless.
As you consider the potential of wall baskets to rejuvenate and organise your space, remember to explore the range available at EYA Home Living. This exploration may just be the first step towards breathing new life into your home, proving that sometimes, the most straightforward solutions are right in front of us, waiting to be hung.

Innovative Ways to Utilise Wall Baskets in Compact Spaces

When you're dealing with limited square footage in your home, every inch counts. In South Africa, where innovative solutions are continually sought to enhance living environments, EYA Home Living emerges as a beacon of creativity for home decor. Wall baskets, particularly those featured in EYA's diverse collection, represent an excellent way to blend functionality with aesthetic appeal. Here's how you can transform your compact spaces using these versatile pieces.

Maximising Vertical Space

Firstly, consider the untapped potential of your vertical spaces. Wall baskets can serve as an ingenious method to Declutter surfaces and counter tops. By affixing baskets of varying sizes and designs, you can create a modular storage system that houses everything from kitchen spices to bathroom essentials. EYA's range of wall decor baskets embodies the perfect amalgam of local artistry and contemporary design, making it simple for you to find options that resonate with your personal style.

Creating Focal Points

Beyond just utility, EYA wall baskets offer you an artistic avenue to personalise your living area. You can curate a vibrant gallery wall using baskets in different patterns and textures, turning a blank wall into the centrepiece of the room. This not only adds depth and character to your space but also showcases a unique blend of South African craftsmanship.

Zone Dividing

In the spirit of Innovation, why not use wall baskets for decor purposes to delineate distinct areas within a single room? By strategically positioning baskets, you can visually separate a workspace from a living area or define a dining nook within a larger room. This approach maintains an open and airy feel, which is crucial in smaller living environments, yet introduces an element of structure and organisation.

Practical Yet Stylish Solutions

For those who cherish aesthetics as much as functionality, incorporating wall baskets into your decor can elevate the look of your home without compromising on utility. EYA Home Living showcases wall baskets that meld with various decor themes, from minimalist to bohemian, ensuring you'll find something that effortlessly enhances your home's character while serving a practical purpose.
As you explore the potentials of Wall Decor Baskets, remember that your creativity is the limit. Each basket you choose is a testament to your personal taste and an ode to inventive South African home styling solutions.

Choosing the Right Wall Baskets for Your Space

When it comes to maximising small spaces, selecting the appropriate wall baskets can transform your area into a beautifully organised and visually striking environment. EYA Home Living presents a vast collection of wall baskets for decor, tapping into the heart of South African home styling solutions.
Firstly, understanding what are wall baskets is crucial. They are not just storage items but also pieces of art that can enhance the aesthetic of any room. Wall decor baskets serve multiple purposes - from holding your essentials to showcasing your unique taste in home decor.
Here's how you can choose the right wall baskets for your space:

• Consider the Size: Measure the wall area where you plan to hang the baskets. A large wall might need a cluster of baskets for a balanced look, whereas a single, larger basket can make a statement on a smaller wall. EYA wall baskets come in various sizes, allowing you to mix and match according to your spatial needs.
• Think About the Theme: Your home decor theme plays a pivotal role in the selection process. Whether you are leaning towards a minimalist, bohemian, or eclectic style, EYA Home Living has wall baskets that complement various themes, effortlessly enhancing the character of your home.
• Functionality Meets Style: Determine the primary purpose of your wall baskets. Are they purely for decor, or do you need them for storage as well? EYA Home Living offers versatile options that do not compromise on style, ensuring your space not only looks good but is practical too.

Remember, the right wall baskets not only maximise your vertical space but also act as an extension of your personal style. By carefully selecting wall baskets that resonate with your aesthetic and functional needs, you can create a space that feels more open, organised, and uniquely yours.

Real-Life Inspiration

Let's look at an example like the Buhera baskets. They're not mass-produced, soulless items. Each basket is handcrafted by skilled artisans in Zimbabwe, using techniques passed down through generations. These wall baskets are made from Ilala palm, a natural material that adds an organic touch to your interior. And let's not forget the versatility – whether your home is a temple of minimalism or a sanctuary of boho chic, Buhera baskets blend seamlessly, adding texture and depth to any décor style.

Transforming your small space into a stylish and functional area is within reach. With the right wall baskets from EYA Home Living, you can elevate your decor while keeping everything organised. Remember, it's all about making smart choices that reflect your personal style and meet your needs. Let these tips inspire you to turn your compact living areas into beautiful, practical spaces. Start your journey today and enjoy the benefits of a well-thought-out, space-maximising approach.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a 10x10 bedroom small?

Yes, a 10x10 bedroom is considered on the smaller side. Choosing the right furniture and arranging it cleverly is key to maximising the available space.

How can I make my small space look more spacious?

To make a small space appear larger, utilise vertical space, opt for see-through or minimal furniture, introduce more light, use large decorative accents strategically, avoid placing all furniture against walls, maintain a simple colour scheme, consider skipping heavy curtains, and incorporate elements of nature indoors.

How do you maximise a small room space?

Maximising a small room involves avoiding bulky furniture, opting for floating shelves and multipurpose items, adding mirrors to reflect light and space, using metallic finishes for a sense of depth, and taking advantage of vertical space for storage and decoration.

How do you make a small space look less cluttered?

To make a small space look less cluttered, aim for simplicity in your design choices. Seek out furniture with clean lines and slender legs to open up the space. Opt for pieces that lift off the floor, and keep your colour palette and decorations minimal to reduce visual clutter.

How can I make more space in my small house?

Creating more space involves selecting furniture with exposed legs, mounting your TV on the wall, choosing art and decor that complement the room's scale, sticking to a neutral colour palette, building smart storage solutions, opting for a large rug to create the illusion of more floor area, installing magnetic strips for kitchen and bathroom accessories, and utilising open wall spaces for shelves or wall-mounted baskets.

I’m always in some amount of pain with this fistula. I sit on a heating pad to drain the pus when the abscess gets hard and painful. I take ibuprofen. I was prescribed a topical cream that does nothing. I was on antibiotics for a week too. Some days the pain is excruciating, others it’s tolerable but distracting. My consultation is in June. I have to do two Fleet enemas the morning of my consultation and I’ve never done one before, so I’m a little anxious about it.
It starts to get to you after awhile, always being in pain. It affects your attitude and your self esteem, especially when you can’t just tell someone what the problem is because you’re embarrassed to admit to having an anal abscess and fistula. It’s gross and there’s no delicate way to explain to someone at work that you have to sit for a bit (on the heating pad) because “your butt hurts”. The night sweats leave you exhausted because you woke up drenched and sticky, but there’s no time to take a shower before work. You look haggard and pale. You have to wear a pad or gauze in your pants (like a diaper) because of the drainage so you hate walking around. You can’t take an LOA from work because those are unpaid. You’re exhausted from waking up sweating or struggling to sleep because of random stabbing pain. You’re becoming more and more depressed, emotionally volatile because of it all. You don’t even want to eat because food means digestion, digestion means going to the bathroom, and going to the bathroom can hurt so so bad.
I’ve been dealing with this for years due to being misdiagnosed over and over until my current GP saw it. Of course, it wasn’t an extra hole until recently. It was just agony and blood, like I was sitting on a knife, for a long time. It would come and go, always hurting but not always agonizing. I dreaded long car rides. I had to tell people I preferred to stand when I actually really needed to sit. That was before I knew what it was, so I thought standing was the best thing I could do. Now I just need to sit on a heating pad, but I work a job where I am often needed to walk around a huge warehouse. I can feel the abscess rubbing when it flares up during those times. I have to pause and take a breath. I usually tell people I have a bruised tailbone from a fall to explain why I am sitting on a heating pad and walk funny.
I was almost late for work today because of the bathroom. Blood and pus. Pain. I don’t know what else can be done for me until the consultation and I’m not sure how to broach the subject with my GP when I have an appointment coming up. It feels so far away.
As painful as large hard stools are, I prefer them to the soft mushy ones. The soft ones seem to make it worse. It’s almost like the soft ones push into whatever channel is open down there and fester. So the hard ones may make me bleed but I’m less likely to have an abscess grow from them. I don’t even know what I can eat. Diarrhea makes it so much worse, like the diarrhea is getting into the channel. And while it can be mostly pus, with some blood, sometimes it’s just this clear viscous liquid.
I’m not a religious person but I admit to praying for this to be fixed soon. I am so depressed. So tired. This pain may be mild at points but it’s all day every day.
Did anyone else suffer a lot and then feel way better after it was treated?

Day guide
Welcome to Day 43 of WiyHat?. Today's topic is "Renko Usami", a University student studying the Super Unified Theory in the future "Outside World" Kyoto.
She's well known for being Maribel Hearn's close friend, being part of the Secret Sealing Club (SSC), and having some sort of connection to Sumireko Usami.
First, let's briefly recap her and Maribel's relationship: while Renko prefers to see thing objectively, Maribel believes subjectivity is actually more true or "real". Both of them are interested in the paranormal, however, so they actually see eye-to-eye more than expected. Their goal, as part of the SSC, is to investigate the possibility of "other worlds", which puts them on the trail to find Gensokyo, essentially.
Over the various Hifuu Albums (There's 11 released so far), they go through various short stories. While Renko has the superb ability to tell the exact time by looking at the stars^\1) and exact location by looking at the moon, Maribel has the edge on her when it comes to visiting Gensokyo: she has the ability to see "boundaries", and can outright travel into other worlds in her dreams.
^\1 In JST time only, specifically. So if she was in a PST timezone, she'd have to recalculate from the time she "sees" to get the actual time of the timezone she's in.)
Now, this is gonna be breaking my usual style, but I'm actually gonna delve into the fan reception of Renko before being done with the canon. This is because I want to point out right now that Renko's placement in the popularity poll is 41st, pretty good for a character that has only ever been in the Outside World. Meanwhile, Maribel, who seems to be the far more important character between the two because of her ability, is 54th. This 13 rank difference doesn't seem like that big of a deal...but Maribel was in 60th the year before, and if you compare those placements (Renko was 41st in 2022 as well), then the nearly 20 ranks of difference becomes a good deal more staggering for a pair of characters almost never separated.
Renko's much more likeable than Maribel despite being seemingly less important and less often depicted as sexy by fans (^{Maribel is often theorized as being Yukari, a character often drawn as very sexy, so fan artists often use that excuse that Maribel has to be a good deal sexy too, although not usually as much}). How could this be?
Well, my personal theory is that it's because Renko's a great audience surrogate in the stories she participates in: she's the proactive one who deals with the aftermath of whatever happened (if anything) to Merry^\2), who observes and describes the experience, or just plain is a great friend when she's not the POV character.
And this goes not just for canon works, but also fanworks: take the PHANTOM REPORT fan movie, a semi-parody of western films from the 2000's onward. Renko's basically the main character there, and her reacting to the nonsense as it unfolds feels far more relatable to most people than Merry's character portrayal.
^\2 I don't want to make it sound like Merry is completely free of agency, but she ends up getting into trouble quite a few times and having difficulty "getting out of it" by herself. This is because she's the one who is usually "tasked" with doing "on-site investigations", while Renko searches for new materials.)
Essentially, what I want to get to here is that the reason Renko's probably more popular then Merry is that she feels more like a main character than her.
Well, either that, or her hat's just that much nicer. ^{I'm also open to other theories as to why Renko's more popular too, I don't claim to be absolutely right on this.}
Anyway, moving back to canon, I figured I'd cover what Renko does in the most recent story of Hifuu, though I will paraphrase/skip a few things: She searches for Merry, who she hadn't heard of for 2 weeks, by first ransacking her apartment. There, she finds a book given her a location to find her, strewn with numerous Jizo statues. Frustrated by Merry's ability to enter "otherworlds" with such ease, Renko topples over a statue, and then notices a beam of light protruding out of it. She puts her hand into it despite how strange it is, and after seeing a vision, manages to pull out Merry from the opening. Later, Merry argues with Renko about her manuscript, specifically her passage on otherworlds, on how she apparently claimed they don't exist: Renko then corrects her, saying that what she actually said was that "Matter doesn't exist, even in our world". Merry is so confused at the bold claim, and despite not really agreeing to it, relents and nods. Finally, Merry says she didn't feel like she was gone for 2 weeks, feeling like it had been mere moments, and Renko wonders if Merry really would have come back if she hadn't come for her...
So, given what happened, the "Hifuu story", so to speak, progressed a little bit, but perhaps not as much as some hoped.
What is the story of Hifuu anyway? It feels like the "plot" is that Renko and Merry are eventually going to become permanently separated.
I imagine it is something quite a few people aren't ready for...
Most notably, ZUN, who will likely hold back on doing such a thing as long as he can sell more copies of new CDs.
Regardless, the bottom line is that Renko and Merry's plot is still an ongoing work, and thus who knows, besides ZUN, what the future holds for them?
Well...you might. It's called a headcanon, after all. Vote or comment below about it.
Renko Usami is...
View Poll

(Probably my last chapter. I'm not yet sure)
Her lily was recovering well, though they had to start wearing their mask again to aid with their breathing. She spent a lot more time in the garden with them, even more than she used to. The two would garden, and she would accept their help controlling her newfound psyker powers. Perhaps it was because it was her lily that was helping her made it more bearable, maybe it was because she knew that this was the only way to prevent her from being a pawn of beings that did not care for her. Regardless of why, she knew it was necessary, and dare she say; nice. It felt nice to be able to rely on someone else. She only hoped that it would last.
She had started to control her psychic powers to some degree, and grown incredibly strong psychically, though that fact often concerned her. She didnt want to lose control and create the same system that she had destroyed on her home world. But gardening helped ease her worries. Spending time with her lily helped ease her worries, calm her spirit. It was nice. Her sons questioned the amount of time she spent away from them, but they also knew not to mess with her. Maybe she would teach them to take care of their own garden, one day.
Unfortunately, that day would not come. As they traveled through the Immaterium, she shot awake from a terrible nightmare, only to see her garden withering and decaying once more, the petals of her flowers falling lifelessly to the floor, and her herbs turning brown and wilting. She saw daemons tearing into her plants and dragging her Lily into the Immaterium through a gap in the gellar field. She had to CALM down. She needed to CONTROL it. Breathe in. BREATHE out. She. had. To. focus. She. had. To. kill. Them. all. She had to save her lily. SHE NEEDED to send those DAEMONS BACK WHERE THEY CAME FROM.
Through cold tears, and a pain that shook her to her core, Morrigan could no longer control her psychic powers. She just couldn’t DO IT ANY longer. The daemons turned to see the Primarch shaking, and a psychic force hit them so hard that they were forced into the warp, without lily. Morrigan rushed to her lily’s side as they lay in the withering garden, torn and dying. She used her psychic powers to try and heal the garden, to heal her lily. But she went too far. The sheer psychic power she wielded, the uncontrolled emotion, the uncontrolled rage and the pain was too much. She found her garden lithe and green once again, and her lily was standing once more before, pale but healthy. But as she wiped the tears from her eyes, she could see that not all was well. Her lily had become part of the garden, they had become one with the plants that they had taken care of for so long. Morrigan broke down. What had she done? WHAT HAD SHE DONE.
She wept and tried her best to ease her mind by gardening, as she had always done since she had met her lily. But this only made things worse. As her tears wet the ground and dirt caked her hands, the psychic energy further transformed the budding seedling that was her lily. The garden began to grow and spread, mutating under the strain of psychic energy. The budding seedling grew at a rampant pace, growing around the body of the former apothecary. When the growth was finished, a tree of enormous stature had grown from the budding seedling, reaching every corner of the room, with lily at the center of its trunk.
Morrigan spent a long-time gardening. She didn't know how long it was, she didn't want to know, she didn't care. She didn't eat, she didn't drink. She hadn't worn her mask or her armor since the incident. All she could focus on was the garden and the tree that was her lily. She pruned the leaves often, doing everything she could to give her lily what she could. She started to talk to her lily as she lay gestating inside the tree. She would talk about her past, talk about what she had wanted to accomplish. She apologized for what she had done, how sorcery was a trap that she had willingly stepped into, how it had cost her lily their freedom. Her lily would always try to console her by raising a flower to her, but Morrigan didn't want to hurt her lily any further and would always refuse.
Even as they exited the warp and returned to Barbarus, the uncontrolled psychic energy continued to affect her garden as it expanded, taking over the ship layer by layer, system by system. Her sons became rooted to their stations as the garden became the ship, as vines bound marines to their posts, trapping others in bulbous flowering pods. The air became thick with a haze not unlike Barbarus, but was filled with sweet smells of flowers, and the sickly smell of flesh consumed by plants. Her sons began to transform, vines began to enter their armor, mushrooms growing from inside them, and flowers budding from their helmets. Organs were held in place by cracking armor and vines, muscles replaced by roots, and all sorts of vegetative replacements. Yet others would be consumed by bulbous pods, their gene-seed being sent through runners, the psychic energy fostering new bulbous pods to grow, gestating new marines.
And at the center of the grand mass of plants and space marines was a huge tree, growing from inside the Primarch’s quarters. Morrigan was a mess. Their clothes had long been tattered, covered in dirt and grime as she wandered the halls in psychic delirium. She seemed to talk to no one, ranting about that she was sorry, that she would fix it. The ship seemed to almost reach out in reply, the plants embracing her as if they were trying to console her. Morrigan accepted their embrace, having long lost any ability to differentiate her lily from the ship-wide garden. She pruned the vines throughout the ship, watering her sons as they still sat rooted to their stations. She made sure to put extra care to the new, small bulbs that held the gestating seeds of her new sons. She would continue this for long stretches of time, talking to the ship as if it were a living thing, pruning painful growth to give some relief to her lily, to the person she cared for but couldn’t quite accept that she loved.
However, her isolation would soon be broken as her sister Alakhai Khan. Having returned from her fight against the Greenskins in the Chondrax system, she had been searching for answers as to what had happened during her absence. Finding no sign of her sister Magnolia, she went searching for her sister Morrigan. Upon her arrival to the outskirts of Barbarus, she could see the hulk of the Endurance in orbit, floating listlessly in space. Sensing something was wrong, she approached the ship, sending a vox to her sister's ship in order to identify the problem. Hearing no answer, she decided to investigate the disturbance in person.
Her stormhawk landed inside the hangar of the Endurance, and immediately she could see something horrible had happened. Every inch of the ship had been claimed by a massive growth of plant life. As Alakhai ventured further into the ship, she decided to investigate some of the plant growth, to see if there were any signs of daemonic corruption. Instead, she was startled as the plant reached out, as if to greet her. Hands made of vines, eyes made of flowers, kept together by Space Marine armor that had been long since neglected. This was one of her sister’s marine’s, consumed by plants but very much alive. As she prepared to end the marine’s suffering, she heard a voice, and a psychic pressure that gave her a splitting headache.
“Sister, please let my sons rest. They need to sleep if they wish to grow and revitalize.”
Alakhai looked towards the origin of the voice, and saw something that resembled her sister, but surely was not. “Morrigan? What has become of you? What has happened to your ship?”
Morrigan smiled, caressing the walls of the ship, running her hands through the petals and flowers. “My lily requires a lot of work to keep healthy. I’m afraid I haven't found time for myself these days.” The ship seemed to groan, almost as if it were talking to Morrigan. The plants reach out, as if to console her, wrapping her in their embrace.
Alakhai now understood. The ship was alive, a living plant that her sister was cultivating. What warp entity had caused such growth and transformation. “Sister, what has done this to you? What warp entity has corrupted your ship?”
Morrigan began to cry, tears streaming down her face, watering the plants at her feet. “I have cursed them sister, and now I must forever make up for my failures.”

This is a long post but I have connections that haven’t turned into fully formed theories but I’m curious to know if anyone else thinks these things might be related/come into play regarding Elain.
When Feyre is with Nuala and Cerridwen UTM in chapter 41 of ACOTAR, it’s the only scene that I know of in all the books where we have of actual spying, besides the brief Azriel and Cassian scene in Acosf:
Nails clicked on stone, and my escorts swapped glances before they swung me into an alcove, a tapestry that hadn’t been there a moment before falling over us, the shadows deepening, solidifying. I had a feeling that if someone pulled back that tapestry, they would see only darkness and stone. One of them covered my mouth with a hand, holding me tightly to her, shadows slithering down her arm and onto mine. She smelled of jasmine—I’d never noticed that before. After all these nights, I didn’t even know their names.(…)My escorts pressed in tighter to me, so tense that I realized they were holding their breath. Handmaidens—and spies.(…)My escort’s shadowy hand clamped tighter around my mouth, and the Attor passed on.(…)The tapestry vanished, and we slipped back into the hall. “What was that?” I said, looking from one to the other as the shadows around us lightened—but not by much. “Who was that?” I clarified. “Trouble,” they answered in unison.
On my reread that scene made me pause because I always thought the scene in ACOFAS with Feyre and Elain in the shop with the weaver was interesting. And I’ve always thought that tapestry will have something to do with Elain:
The tapestry had been woven from fabric so black it seemed to devour the light, so black it almost strained the eye (…) A sort of iridescent thread that shifted with sparks of color. Like woven starlight. “You’re thinking of getting it?” Elain asked. (…) The moment my nail touched the velvet-soft surface, it seemed to vanish. As if the material truly did gobble up all color, all light. (…) “I call it Void. It absorbs the light. Creates a complete lack of color.” “You made it?” Elain asked, now staring over her shoulder toward the tapestry. (…) “The silver thread,” Elain asked. “What is that called?” The weaver paused the loom again, the colorful strings vibrating. She held my sister’s gaze. No attempt at a smile this time. “I call it Hope.”(…) I stared and stared at the black fabric that was like peering into a pit of hell. And then stared at the iridescent, living silver thread that cut through it, bright despite the darkness that devoured all other light and color.(…) The impossible depth of blackness before me, the unlikely defiance of Hope shining through it,(…) “Feyre?” Elain was again at my side. I hadn’t heard her steps. Hadn’t heard any sound for moments.(…) “Then there would be no Hope shining in the Void.”
Elain (and Azriel) are attributed to Hope. I just always wondered why this was even a part of the story and why Elain was there for it at all. I’ll come back to the void, but here’s another ACOFAS scene that had me interested. When Rhys visits his preferred jeweler in chapter 11:
She slid the tray beneath the counter and pulled out another, her night-veiled hands moving smoothly. Not a wraith, but something similar, her tall, lean frame wrapped in permanent shadows, only her eyes—like glowing coals—visible. The rest tended to come in and out of view, as if the shadows parted to reveal a dark hand, a shoulder, a foot. Her people all master jewel smiths, dwelling in the deepest mountain mines in our court. Most of the heirlooms of our house had been Tartera-made, Feyre’s cuffs and crowns included. Neve waved a shadowed hand over the tray she’d laid out.
Nuala and Cerridwen are described so similarly to this! And it brings me to this next part. There is a scene in ACOSF where Rhys and Amren are sharing a little history lesson with Cassian and Azriel after Nesta Made her weapons:
“Once, the High Fae were more elemental, more given to reading the stars and crafting masterpieces of art and jewelry and weaponry. Their gifts were rawer, more connected to nature, and they could imbue objects with that power.”
Feyre, Art. Nesta, the Made daggers and sword. And Elain is always connected to jewelry- Graysons ring, Lucien’s earrings, Azriel’s necklace.
So… am I reaching, or does anyone think these things might be connected? Does anyone think Elain might make a trip to those mountains where the jeweler is from? Maybe Make an object with a jeweler like Nesta Made the weapons with the blacksmith? I guess I’m just wondering why the jeweler was described the way she was and if it connects with the twins at all. If there might be a reason for her to go there in her book. Like maybe… I don’t know… a call back to “Perhaps even Elain would receive an engagement ring that hadn’t been forged with hate and fear.” How about a ring forged with love and beauty?
And finally, back the void. Chapter 76 in ACOWAR when the Cauldron breaks:
The … thing in the Cauldron. Or lack of it. It was lack and substance, absence and presence.(…) in those ruins of the Cauldron … It was a void. But also not a void—a growth. It did not belong here. Belong anywhere.(…) Including that thing behind us. That hole.(…) It was a hole. Airless. No life could exist here. No light.(…) Light danced along the fissures where the broken thirds had come together. There—there I would need to forge. To weld. To bind.(…) Until the thing it contained … it was in there. Locked away.
Spoilers for HOFAS
When Bryce opens the black hole in chapter 97 near the very end of the book:
There was no air here, no warmth.(…) They had created a void that had sucked the Asteri in—the only sort of prison that might destroy a being of light. The only force in the universe that ate light, so strong no light could ever escape it. A portal to nowhere. To a black hole. Wasn’t that the unholy power that Apollion possessed? The power of the Void. The antithesis of light.(…) So she’d met their black hole with one of her own. A bigger one. A black hole—a void—to eat other black holes.(…) No more kill switch,
So when a void is mentioned, it’s all talked about exactly the same, which is why again I’m always thinking about that scene with Feyre/Elain and the tapestry. Maybe fixing the cauldron is something all the sisters do together, but it’s interesting to me that HOFAS was to set up Elain’s book and she has such strong ties to the cauldron. Going into it, being captured by it, being loved by it and gifted Sight, Feyre questioning the cauldron in regard to elain and Azriel, Azriel questioning it in regard to not being Elain’s mate(only to find out it’s corrupted the next time we see him.)
I’m wondering if Elain is that hope in the void. If she is able to fix the cauldron that adores her so much. Maybe it saw a semblance of the part of it that was corrupted when she went into it. What if she goes BACK into it? What if it gives her the opportunity to go back to being human but she chooses this time to be fae? That’s a shot in the dark but I would love something like that.

TRIGGER WARNING! This post will go into topics relating to mental illness, mental health and other related topics, including autism, bipolar disorder and PTSD, along with other trauma based things, as somebody who (Likely?) has these too, im going to be as tasteful as i can be, infact this post is being made to hopefully make discussion about wheatley a bit more tasteful, as ive found that discussions about him can (as a neurodivergent person myself) feel a little bit ableist. and if you have these too and feel like you have your own pov, or if ive gotten anything wrong, please let me know, id love to hear your opinions (:
Howdy! I'm Alice, I've been a fan of portal 2 for as long as I can remember, it still is one of my favourite games of all time. and for the longest time i have always related myself to the character of Wheatley, it started since we were both British and had blue eyes lol, but i feel since I'm older, i feel like that connection goes deeper.
first off, as almost all neurodivergent people have experienced, bullying, in portal 2 Wheatley has dropped hints of him being bullied, as other cores saw him as too different, and getting lied to and mocked, for example other people telling him turning his light on and getting off your rail would kill him, I've experienced this type of bullying before, too, where people would tell me not to do a certain thing, which is completely harmless, probably to make me look stupid, now as somebody who experienced excessive bullying throughout my childhood, the negativity and badness rubbed off on me, to the point where i likely have ptsd from the bullying i had endured, for a long time, and still now, i get extremely paranoid amongst new freind, as im scared they will hurt me as others had before, or alternately, that my annoying nature will push them away, sound familiar?
now i want to go onto Wheatley's betrayal, and where i feel the most passionate to get my opinion out, when Wheatley betrays chell he says that she "bossed him around" which, obviously through the course of the game, never happened, i feel as if many people misinterpret this scene, as him revealing himself to be "evil" and while Wheatley has and will do very objectively bad things, mental illness or not (we will get there later), i see this less as a evil awakening and a ptsd induced mental breakdown, again as i have said, my past experiences with bulling, lying and misdirection, very commonly make me paranoid that the people closest to me have ulterior goals that I'm not aware of, I've been bossed around too, and i wouldn't be surprised if Wheatley's main trauma point is him being "bossed around".
The evidence for him being bossed around are mostly work related, which i find to be interesting as neurodivergent people do have it hard in the work space, at the beginning he is confined to a job that he doesn't like, forced into it, but with no way to quit, i feel as if a lot of neurodivergent people would relate to this, feeling bound by societal pressures to stay at the job they don't like, after his "murder" by glados, he seems to have gotten a new job, specifically to aid chell, but he makes a accident, hitting part of the elevator, where his boss then fires him on the spot, this is also something that slot of neurodivergent people can relate to, getting heavily punished for making an accident.
with that in mind i want to discuss why i don't think Wheatley himself was ever "evil" nor had "evil motivations", since the beginning of the game his only goal is to escape with chell, it only goes downhill when he accidentally wakes glados up, if Wheatley was actually evil im sure he would've purposefully talked about "hacking into the mainframe" from the start or something, which he only does later on as a final resort, even then the two of them didnt really know what to do except, defeat glados, then escape, hell, even when Wheatley gets in control he still talks about wanting to just escape, but then the mainframe get too in control of him, where he succumbs to its will.
The mainframe muddies things up, but in the context of this lets say it feeds the host bad thoughts, bad thoughts that put the host in a stable mindset to test sufficiently i think it is expanding Wheatley's paranoia and wanting to belong, with it expanding his paranoia to levels that make him want to get revenge on people who wronged him, taking it out on people who didn't even do anything to him, this is also another think neurodivergent people can relate on, as due to the bullying we feel as if we should become as bad as the bully, even if it is wrong.
thats it for me! i hope this can inspire some people to be a bit more thoughtful while discussing the character, and i hope if there's a portal 3 that Wheatley will return and hopefully be as cool of a character as ever (:

We recently switched vets to one that's more local (the other was 45mins-1hr away, this new one is 10mins). The first experience I had left me shaken but I figured I was over reacting or just being too sensitive.
My std poodle has the hairiest inside ears. I've had his last 2 vets tell me this lol. So he gets plucked every 6-8wks to prevent ear infections. All the vets prior to this new one used numbing powder and have me give him rx sedatives prior to the appt. Haven't had issues with this process before until the new vet.
Incident 1: I used the sedatives medication as per protocol from before but this vet didn't use the numbing powder that the others used before. He just started yanking and my poor boy was in so much pain that i started to have a panic attack and asked them to do something about his pain, their solution was to put him under with a combination of IV meds. They explained it's similar to when they do surgery and continued with the ear plucking then gave him another medication to wake him up and we had to use a stretcher to get him into the car. He's a larger breed of standard so is 92lbs rn.
Incident 2 (vet tech only appt): I grind Abel's nails myself but I've been fighting cancer since June last year and dealing with treatment side effects so I went longer than I'd like not doing his nails so I wanted the vet to just LOOK at them to make sure I'm doing it OK. And to do his anal gland expression. Well they decided to clip his nails without asking and clipped thru THREE quicks! I could hear him yelping from the lobby but didn't know why at the time. They brought him out and there was blood drops everywhere he walked in the lobby, I had to point it out and they used Quickstop on 2 of them, then a 3rd started to bleed during checkout, they did quick stop on that one too. I left feeling like complete crap and a bad pet parent but also extremely angry. They hurt him! Not once but 3x! Once I would understand but 3x?! How does that happen?
Now I'm debating if I should stay with this vet clinic. The vet who owns the clinic himself is fine. Idk what to do anymore, I'm just upset for my baby and want to do what's best for him.
What would you all recommend at this point? What should I do? Thanks in advance! 🐾
Adding: Abel is also my SD. 🐩

Spike couldn't believe it he is meeting a region champion! "Now then about your Pokemon" Cynthia began. Spike then shook his awestruck state and paid attention "Now based on how many badges you have you are clearly underprepared to handle team plasma or to help me" Cynthia Cynthia then pointed to the water "First of all you should catch some water type Pokémon to help diversify your team a bit...so here" Cynthia handed Spike a fishing rod. "Use that to fish up some Pokémon from the water"
"Thanks" Spike took the rod and inspected
"Next. You should try to evolve more of your Pokémon." Spike blushed at this he was told by others that he should have more evolved Pokémon. Cynthia then looked in the distance "I better get going." Cynthia then left Spike to his thoughts. He turned to the ocean
"Fishing wasn't something that I would have considered when it comes to catching powerful Pokémonbut hey I am willing to try new things." Spike then cast the line into the water few moments later he got a bite. Reeling it in Spike saw what he had caught. A Strange blue snake with wings on the side of its head#Learnset) "What are you?" Spike took out his dex to see what he is dealing with
"Dratini the Dragon Pokémon. Dratini continually molts and sloughs off its old skin. It does so because the life energy within its body steadily builds to reach uncontrollable levels." The Dex informed
"Huh...Well I have room for two more so welcome aboard little guy" Spike threw a net ball to catch the water snake dragon pokemon. It didn't seem to resist Spike smiled with what he caught.
"HEY BOSS CHECK IT OUT!" Buddy yelled getting his trainer's attention. Spike looked at Buddy who was pointing at a small yellow rat pokemon
"I have seen a Pikachu Buddy...what's so special about this one?"
"He's like me!" Spike eye's buldged at this "Yeah. A Partner Pokemon!" Spike smirked And tossed a luxury ball...while it did in fact caught the Pikachu...It immediately got out of it's ball.
"DON'T JUST DO THAT!" The Pikachu yelled.
"Sorry Sorry. Listen Storm-" Spike began "Bolt. my name is Bolt." Bolt interrupted
"Huh came with his own chosen name. Anyways Bolt you know how these things work."
"Yes I do but I am only getting in the ball when I have to." Bolt nodded and said in understanding
"Why did I encountered another Partner Pokemon?" Spike then shrugged "Well Another Dragon Type is always welcome. Besides I have a ground type already"
"Yeah, though it would be a good idea to use water." Buddy stated "Looks like David finally get a turn."
"Right back to Town and prepare to head to Route 112" As the group head back to Dewford Town. Twilight spoke up
"Pause." The play back paused "So What about Rayquaza?" Buddy nodded at this question
"We couldn't really do anything about him yet seeing that we were too weak at the moment and luckily the Cynthia and the Champion of the Honen region, were keeping Plasma busy." Buddy answered. "And lucky for us the play back isn't going to show you the training moment we have that would get repetitive. The playback will skip to us in Lavaridge Town. Where we faced Flannery, and Pee Wee evolved into Blaziken"

Hi all, I'm a Illaoi main and love the spawn suite- RIP Eye of Nakagoborous. You may have seen a couple of my decks pop up here and there in the past couple of months. At the moment I'm laddering to masters and am currently in diamond. When I was playing only this deck, I got up to diamond 1 and thought it would be a great idea to plates another deck and sunk back to dia 4&3. Deck link right below for those who want the code and to play. Below that you'll find a quick guide on how to pilot.
Please let me know if you have any specific questions and I'll do my best to get back to you in a timely manner.
Buhru's Judgement: https://www.runeterrafire.com/decks/buhrus-judgment-19491
This deck features Gwen-Mord. I was workshopping the idea since the end of last season. I've got another variation of the deck featuring illaoi and more spawn units. After some play testing for a few weeks, I definitely think this is the stronger version.
Why is this the stronger version? The illaoi version takes out the Gwen units and replaces it for more spells and slower spawn units. With a meta that has hecarim and a little bit of aggro popping up its necessary to have a faster early game.
Not only that, the hallowed units will allow for more dmg for the first unit. This means more healing, and also acts as a decent engine for mord because you don't care if they die. Where as spawn units, you need to keep them alive.
The whole idea of the deck is get deathless on buhru lookout, soulcleave into mord, drop Nagakoborous or swing out to victory.
The champions are not the most important units in this deck. Imo Gwen is a glorified blocker who provides heal. I play smart with her but don't typically care if she is removed from board. I prefer her to be a magnet to kill spells so my win con isn't hit.
This deck is strong because most players don't anticipate a buhru lookout printer into nagakaborous win con. Once they realize what's happening its typically too late for them as they've used most of their kill spells on Gwen and mord.
If playing against aggro, you are playing to block with everything until board is stabilized. The below gameplan is not my mindset into hecarim or any other aggro deck. I drop every unit I can and block until I take board control then I start to apply my win con. In these games, Gwen becomes the most important unit for her healing and ability to fast attack.
THINGS IM CONSIDERING FOR CHANGES: I am considering running one less chronicler of ruin and I'm also considering running one less iron conquest for more kill spells. Maybe 1 ruination and 1 hate spike.
Play would look like:
Turn 1: Drop 1 cost unit or pass
Turn 2: drop iron conquest or any 2 drop
Turn 3: Drop Legion of the Severed and apply deathless to buhru lookout. -----please not if buhru lookout is not in hand, apply deathless to nagakaborous, Gwen, mord in that order. I typically only apply deathless to lookout or nagakaborous or hold onto it until I have lookout or Naga. Unless you need board presence, then I'll drop it and apply to a less favored unit.
Turn 4: drop Gwen or any unit under. Consider saving spell mana to reach 3 spell mana
Turn 5: drop buhru lookout (only consider dropping soul cleave on this turn if they are aggro)
Turn 6: drop chronicler of ruin if in hand or save 3 spell mana if you have soul cleave
Turn 7: play soul cleave on buhru lookout and then drop mord onto the ephemeral lookouts. Block or swing out.
Turn 8: drop Nagakoborous and typically win that turn or turn after.

My sister was widowed 4 years ago, her fiancé 5 years ago. They have been together for 2 years and living together for 8 months and their wedding is in July. They have kids from their late spouses. My sister's two are 9 and 7. Her fiancé's three are 10, 8 and 7. My sister and her fiancé have talked a lot about being the perfect blended family and they already sought out advice on doing a stepparent adoption of each other's children and asking about changing the last names of the children so they all have the hyphenated family name. They are doing this when both admit freely the kids do not get along, the stepparents in the house are disrespected by their stepchildren on a daily basis, the relationship between bio parent and child has become contentious.
Just the other week we were at my nephew's (brother's child) 6th birthday party and it became a free for all with the kids yelling at each other and them yelling at the adults (sister and her fiancé). They were so loud a couple of neighbors checked to see if things were okay, f bombs were being dropped left and right, and it escalated until my nephew (9) told his mom he hated her and he hoped she'd have the worst wedding day ever. My sister's 8 year old future stepdaughter told her dad that she wished it had been him who died instead of her mom. Those were two very stand out things said among many other anger filled, hurt filled things.
My sister and her fiancé decided to bring up the adoption and name changes to the kids the very next night. Which went disastrously bad. My niece (7) called her paternal aunt and the aunt went off on my sister for daring to try and erase her brother from the kids' names and birth certificates and she told my sister that her late husband would be so disgusted by her and would never forgive her in a million years for this. She told her she hoped she had a miserable life with her new husband and looked forward to losing her kids in 10 years time.
My sister told me about this afterward and she was upset. She was talking about the dream she had and how nothing was working the way she wanted it to. I told her that the Brady Bunch fantasy (and she mentioned the show before as an ideal) wasn't helping her kids or her future stepkids. She said she just wanted all five kids to have two parents. I told her they already have that. They just each lost a parent. But they still have two technically and that didn't change. I said adding a third will be dependent on each child and right now they aren't earning that by ignoring the kids thoughts and feelings. She told me I didn't understand and calling her dream a fantasy wasn't being supportive. I told her she came to me and I listened and how she always told me to be honest with her and this was no different. She said I was shitting all over her wish to be happy and for her kids to be happy and that's why I sucked.
AITA?

Part 14.3

Heracles VS Lernaean Hydra

Author Note: I was thinking about it and I really wish that GT9 used more draconic symbolism throughout the story when (or if) I revisit Team Crowley VS Rosencreutz I'll have symbolism of Aleister (TheBeast666), Aiwass (Codename: DRAGON) and Coronzon (The Dragon of the Abyss) all have symbology of them being Dragons preying on a God/Hero like CRC and the reversed conflict of Chaos VS Order you see in mythology, I also wanted to achieve something similar with Kakine Teitoku as he can represent the Fallen Angel and the Seraphim but for now I'll try adding draconian symbolism into Gunha VS CRC.
True Expert Christian Rosencreutz, with his golden rosy cross sword, clashed relentlessly against the indomitable force of the Strongest Gemstone, Sogiita Gunha. With each clash of their powers, the air crackled and compressed, and the pavement trembled beneath.
CRC, observed Sogiita with a mixture of intrigue and disdain. "You fight like the legendary Heracles," he remarked, his voice carrying over the din of battle. "But know this, I am the Lernaean Hydra, and no matter how many heads you sever, I shall always rise again!" Rosencreutz roared to slice the #7’s midsection.
Sogiita, his entire body wreathed in unknowable energy, met CRC's blade unyielding. "Bring it on, old man!" he retorted, his voice brimming with confidence. "I'll knock you down as many times as it takes! I won't stop till you come to your senses and remember your roots, like the roses you love so much, Rosencreutz!!"
Their clash intensified, that old man’s higher dimensional sword colliding with the raw power of that boy’s fists and kicks as they pushed each other to their limits with each sword swing, punch, kick and flash.
Sogiita unleashed a barrage of punches, each strike carrying the force of a meteor, while that silver young man countered: he wielded his sword in his right hand and released impacts followed by white light that was enough to previously take down all of The Bridge Builders Cabal.
As the battle raged on, the very fabric of reality seemed to warp and shift around them, bearing witness to the titanic struggle between two unparalleled forces.
The founder of Rosicrucianism who intimidated reality itself to obey his will and that Gemstone with an unstable personal reality that could change on a whim.
The atmosphere crackled with electrifying distortion.
Sogiita's fists tore through the air with the ferocity of meteors, their velocity enhanced by his ability to adapt and accelerate, surpassing even CRC's speed. As each blow was released, the friction with the surrounding air molecules ignited a scorching heat, intensifying the impact.
The rapid movement of molecules generated an escalating thermal energy, causing the air to seethe with increasing temperature. It was akin to a tempest of incandescent projectiles hurtling towards CRC, their speed surpassing the limits of human perception.
It was like a storm of brilliant fiery arrows was fired at Rosencreutz.
These blazing arrows of force were reminiscent of the elusive strikes employed by the Rose & Cross Leader, ignoring distance with deceptive agility.
With each thunderous punch, that bandana boy sought to overpower his adversary through sheer kinetic force, his unwavering resolve palpable in every motion.
But that wasn't enough for this superhuman.
CRC, wielding his cross sword with precision and skill, deflected each and every one Sogiita's flaming arrows with calculated strikes of his own. Each impact unleashed a burst of blinding white light, sending shockwaves rippling through the chaotic city.
"You think brute strength alone will defeat me?" the silver man taunted, his voice cutting through the chaos of battle. "You may be strong, but strength without strategy is nothing but raw power wasted."
Sogiita grinned, his confidence unshaken. "Strategies for cowards who can't handle a real fight," he retorted, his voice ringing with defiance. "I'll K.O. you with my fists and guts alone!!!!"
Rosencreutz's eyes narrowed as he parried another of Sogiita's punches. "Your arrogance will be your downfall," he warned, his tone tinged with certainty. "I may not match your overall speed, but I have something you lack: intellect and precision.”
Christian Rosencreutz then plunged his cross sword into the ground.
"This is what harmed Kamijou Touma," he declared, grinning and unleashing a torrent of lethal invisible attacks from his outstretched palms.
However, the #7 countered with a relentless barrage of flaming arrows from the thermal aftershock of his punches.
Each strike akin to a particle accelerator in its intensity and speed. That Gemstone was the particles being fired on the right and that True Expert was the particles fired on the left.
As the attacks clashed, the battlefield became a spectacle of raw power and precision.
“Roar!” CRC held his open palm to his mouth and blew gently on the tip of the middle finger.
That was all it took for a blaze easily outdoing a flamethrower to rush out. And this was not just any fire. It fed on the power of a ley line and stole vitality from space itself. This overwhelming mass of light and heat was wielded for no other purpose than to take lives. Anyone who tried to survive it using simple composite armor or special fibers would dry up and burn away in less than a second.
But that wouldn't kill another superhuman would it?
Of course not.
“Aaaaarghhhh!!!!” screamed the #7.
Some assaults bypassed the fray entirely, slipping through the chaos like elusive particles in a collider.
A smokescreen.
Those brilliant fireworks from hell weren't meant to take Sogiita’s life. They were meant to disrupt the Gemstone's senses and sight so he couldn't counter all of that old man’s deadly attacks.
Invisible strikes found their mark on that Gemstone, and the searing arrows of the arrows scorched Rosencreutz.
CRC was wounded but he rejected to make any whimpers. Instead with a sudden burst of velocity, the young silver man picked up his cross sword from the ground and launched a flurry of strikes, cutting at the #7’s body with pinpoint accuracy.
His arms, his head, his face, his stomach, his legs, his midsection, his back.
Each blow landed with devastating force, causing Sogiita to stagger back under the onslaught.
If that bandana boy hadn't had his defenses and general stats raised by the #5 he’d be cut to pieces.
The #7 fell on his back.
"There's a fire," Sogiita declared, his voice ringing out amidst the chaos of battle.
With each attempt to break his spirit, Sogiita's resolve only grew stronger, fueling the flames of his determination. "Every time someone tries to make me give up, it's like wind feeding my flames, making them burn even brighter just like my punches," he explained, his words carrying the weight of his unwavering determination.
He refused to stay down.
With a roar of defiance, Sogiita surged forward once more, his movements blurring with speed as he disappeared from view. In the blink of an eye, he reappeared behind Christian Rosencreutz, catching the magician off guard.
"Hey, old man," Sogiita taunted, his voice filled with confidence as he seized Rosencreutz from behind.
Christian Rosencreutz's eyes widened in surprise as he realized he had been outmaneuvered.
As Sogiita Gunha faced off against Christian Rosencreutz in their airborne duel, he felt the flames of determination burning within him, driving him forward with unstoppable force.
Before he could react, the boy lifted him effortlessly and slammed him onto the pavement below with a resounding thud.
"I'm not just a kick-boxer!!" Sogiita sang.
As the impact reverberated through the air, the young silver man let out a pained cry. The force of the collision compressed the surrounding air, heating it up until it crackled with energy. Christian Rosencreutz's head struck the ground with a velocity equivalent to mach 20, igniting his body in flames upon impact.
This move is called a suplex.
Struggling to regain his bearings, Rosencreutz muttered in a daze, "The House of the Holy Spirit...the seven walls..."
"You said it yourself, didn't you?" the gutsy boy retorted, cocky. "My power and my guts can break through your impenetrable walls. And I can spread those same guts to the world around me."
With a grimace, Christian Rosencreutz acknowledged the truth of the boy's words. "Your uncontrolled AIM field grants you the ability to imbue non-organic objects with the properties of your virus," he observed, his voice tinged with begrudging admiration. "Allowing them to bypass even the defenses of the seven-walled tomb.”
"A virus? Don't be so gutless, CRC," the #7 retorted, his voice filled with defiance. "This battleground ruled by wills is a two-way road between you and me."
Christian Rosencreutz raised an eyebrow at the boy's words. "Hey Gemstone, you could've killed me if I weren't a superhuman with an idealized body that accomplished The Great Work and crossed the Ungrund, what then short-stack?" he questioned while fitting an insult against his height.
Even without the seven-walled tomb or sheets of diamonds Rosencreutz was cartoonishly durable.
"Sorry, old man," Sogiita replied, his tone tinged with annoyance. "I might've gotten carried away, but I know it'll take more than that to kill you. No matter how many heads you regrow, like Hydra, I will not give up until I've completed all my labors."
"Mhm, so you do know your mythology," CRC remarked, a hint of amusement in his voice. "The Lernaean Hydra, or simply Hydra, is a serpentine lake monster in Greek and Roman mythology. Its lair was the lake of Lerna in the Argolid, known as an entrance to the Underworld. In the canonical myth, the monster is slain by Heracles as part of his Twelve Labors."
"Yeah, I know," Sogiita replied confidently. "I studied the tales of great gutsy heroes in school.”
"So, short-stack," Christian Rosencreutz began, his voice carrying a hint of scholarly interest. “Have you ever considered the parallels between our battle and ancient Near Eastern religions?”
Sogiita listened intently. "Are you saying you see yourself as a god of war or a hunter?" he inquired.
CRC chuckled softly. "In a sense, indeed. We are both assuming roles in this grand theater, are we not? I, the Hydra, and you, Heracles."
He continued, "Consider the Second Labor of Heracles. Eurystheus, the king of Tiryns, sent Heracles to slay the Hydra, which Hera had raised specifically to defeat him. Heracles approached the swamp near Lake Lerna, where the Hydra dwelled. To protect himself from the poisonous fumes, he covered his mouth and nose with a cloth and shot flaming arrows into the Hydra's lair, causing it to emerge and terrorize the surrounding villages."
CRC paused, drawing a comparison. “In our own clash, the flaming arrows that Heracles hurled at the Hydra find their echo in your lightning-fast fists, generating shockwaves that ignite the air with their speed and force. It's as though each strike of yours is akin to shooting a flaming arrow, much like Heracles did.”
“Huh? Are you suggesting we're caught in a time loop? That some enigmatic group, like the Bridge Builders Cabal, manipulated events to resurrect you, pitting us against each other in a timeless struggle? I've never met them, and I'm certainly no child of Zeus. Are you implying that our battle will be distorted into a Greek legend by a meddling time traveler?!” frantically asked the boy.
“No, no, you simpleton. This world contains synchronicities. In Sumerian, Babylonian, and Assyrian mythology, the war and hunting god Ninurta was celebrated for his deeds. The Angim credited him with slaying eleven monsters during an expedition to the mountains, including a seven-headed serpent, possibly identical to the Mushmahhu, and Bashmu, whose constellation was later associated with the Hydra by the Greeks. In Babylonian contexts, the Hydra's constellation is also linked to Marduk's dragon, the Mushhushshu.”
“Uhhh….” That shounen boy was dumbfounded.
"Hhm, I suppose calling it a time loop isn't technically wrong," Christian Rosencreutz began, his tone measured. "I'll break it down from history class and reconstruct it through the lens of the occult. Historic recurrence, young Gemstone, is the phenomenon of events echoing throughout time. Whether it's the rise and fall of empires or the repetitive cycles within a single society, it's all part of this grand plan that was decided when Adam ate the forbidden fruit."
The #7 with his guard up but curious listened: "So, history just keeps repeating itself? Just a series of coincidences?"
Christian Rosencreutz shook his head sagely. "There is no such thing as coincidences. Take, for instance, the Doctrine of Eternal Recurrence, pondered upon by thinkers like Heinrich Heine and Friedrich Nietzsche. While it's said that 'history repeats itself,' it's not quite that simple. Rather, these recurrences stem from identifiable circumstances and chains of causality."
He continued, his voice carrying the weight of centuries of philosophical debate. "Consider the phenomenon of multiple independent discoveries in science or the reproducible findings in natural and social sciences. These recurrences, whether in the form of rigorous experimentation or comparative research, are vital to our understanding of the world."
Christian Rosencreutz paused, allowing the weight of his words to sink in. "G.W. Trompf, in his seminal work, The Idea of Historical Recurrence in Western Thought, illustrates the recurring patterns of political thought and behavior since ancient times. Through these patterns, history offers us invaluable lessons, often leading to a sense of resonance or déjà vu."
Their words reverberated like a challenge to destiny itself, a testament to their unyielding determination in the face of adversity.
That Gemstone didn't surrender his characteristic fervor. "History echoing through time, huh? It's like the universe itself is stuck on repeat, and we're just caught in the cycle. But you know what? If history's gonna keep looping, then let's break the pattern! Let's smash through those chains of causality and forge our own path. Who cares about déjà vu? We'll create something entirely new, something that'll shake the very foundations of this world and we’ll do it with guts!!!" He defied that silver monster.
But Rosencreutz wasn't finished. He pulled out his Crystal World Map.
The supposedly old man listened intently to that boy's impassioned response, his expression inscrutable behind his clairvoyant card. After a moment of contemplation, he spoke.
“Gemstone, you speak of breaking free from the chains of repetition, of forging a new destiny against the backdrop of eternal return. It is a noble aspiration, indeed. However, consider this: eternal return is not merely a philosophical concept or a whimsical notion of fate. It is the very fabric of existence, woven into the nature of time itself.” He pressed his finger on the Miniature Garden and a 3D holographic projection flew out—
“In ancient times, the Stoics grappled with the idea, seeing in it both a sense of cosmic order and a challenge to individual agency. Augustine and others recoiled from its implications, fearing it as a negation of free will and salvation. And yet, Nietzsche, in his brilliance, dared to confront the concept anew, exploring its depths in the crucible of human consciousness.”
Didn't Aleister Crowley say that he had to shatter every single phase in order to eliminate the concept of fate?
“I will shatter every last phase and put an end to all mysticism. It can be helped and we need not restrain our tears and bite our lip when faced with tragedy. I will bring back the pure world in which everyone can feel anger like normal and question it all like normal!!”
And didn't Coronzon appear to break down all the phases including the Pure World?
Partial destruction would be meaningless. If anything remains and an eternal distortion is born from that, then it will all happen again. I will eliminate the ten spheres, the twenty-two pathways, and the hidden eleventh symbol. Collisions between phases? Sparks and spray? You cannot save anyone if you only treat those symptoms. All of the fundamental clogs must be removed. All so we can pass the baton to whoever comes next.”
“Sparks and Sprays…” Rosencreutz muttered.
“Eh?” The #7 didn't quite hear him.
"Beside time stands fate, cruelty's steadfast herald. In the silent chambers of the soul, whispers the most profound wisdom. Humanity, in its folly, neglected to exalt life's splendor, its radiance, its grandeur. Truly, it is a rare gift to comprehend the forces that shape our existence.” That magician spoke in despair.
“From the moment man ate the fruit of knowledge, he guaranteed your species’ failure... Entrusting his future to the whims of fate, man clutches to a flickering hope. Yet, within the Miniature Garden lies the key to all revelation. Beyond the well-trodden path lies the ultimate terminus. It matters not who you are; Death is the sole certainty awaiting all.” he finished with scorn.
Shokuhou Misaki was currently linked to Sogiita Gunha so was overhearing the entire conversation.
“Are you okay, Leader?” asked Kamijou back at the hospital.
“Yeah…” she responded.
“Really?” Mikoto breathed a white sigh. “It wasn’t the shock of seeing their school destroyed. Nor was it the fear of having those rioters attack. …They’re afraid of their own power. And after learning how exactly to use that power to survive, they’re not sure they can just switch it off and return to their normal lives. So their gears have ground to a halt.” Tokiwadai Middle School was a prestigious esper development school.
The young ladies registered there were Level 3 at the lowest and Level 5 at the highest.
Almost all of the students had a power that surpassed that of a blade or handgun if used properly, but something had become twisted.
Yes.
“A lot of them weren’t really sure why they were training their powers.”
Shokuhou breathed a white breath, wrapped her own arms around herself, and rubbed her thighs together.
Why are you studying?
How many people could give a proper answer to that question? Because my parents told me to, because my teachers taught me to, because that’s how the world works. Those would be most people’s answers. Even the students with a clear vision of their future would only have something vague like “for the entrance exams” or “for my future”.
Only a small handful would have specific puzzle pieces in mind, such as “I need to learn how to use this equation so I can build a rocket”.
The young ladies of Tokiwadai Middle School were the same.
What if the very gears that humans have…their actions, reactions, inactions were all the result of some transcendental entity hovering above.
Like God or The Devil watching over humanity’s reality sphere and ordering around his system like everyone was a pre-programmed NPC that had specific events occur to them to get them to develop in the way that they did and determined their genetic bloodline that composed their psyche?
Is there truly a free will?
It was said that in order for you to break out of the system of society that the working class was stuck in you had to climb to the top where the corrupt elites resided.
Imagine Breaker negated sparks, Aleister Crowley could see through the veil thanks to Holy Guardian Angel Aiwass, Great Demon Coronzon could always see the cogs.
Christian Rosencreutz could view the entire world through his Miniature Garden.
The rest of humanity was at the mercy of their own destinies.
A Guardian Angel wouldn't arrive to save a parent’s child from fate every single time.
"Okay, nice poetry, can we get back to fighting already?" asked the #7 impatiently.
"Seems I got carried away," the old man conceded with a nod. "The synchronicities of this world, akin to the astral configurations in astrology, serve as an example of synchronicity, according to Jung. It describes circumstances that appear meaningfully related yet lack a causal connection, much like the parallel relationship between celestial and terrestrial phenomena. Synchronicity experiences entail subjective encounters where coincidences between events in one's mind and the external world may lack a clear causal link but still harbor an unknown connection.”
"Ah," Sogiita chimed in, recalling his philosophy class discussions. "We talked about synchronicity back then. Jung thought it was a good thing for the mind, but said it could get dicey in psychosis. He cooked up this theory as a kind of mental link between those meaningful coincidences, calling it a noncausal principle. This term came about in the late 1920s, and then he teamed up with physicist Wolfgang Pauli to dive deeper. Their work, The Interpretation of Nature and the Psyche, dropped in 1952. They were big on this idea that these connections, even the ones that don't seem to have a cause, could still teach us a lot about how our minds and the world work."
“Mhm, you know more than you lead on, Gemstone.” pondered CRC.
“Oh this? My teachers say I'm not good at remembering speeches hahaha…” The #7 looked slightly nervous. “You know, analytical psychologists really push for folks to get what these experiences mean to boost their awareness instead of just feeding into superstitions. But funny thing is, when clients spill about their synchronicity experiences, they often feel like no one's really hearing them out, or getting where they're coming from. And hey, having a bunch of these meaningful coincidences flying around can sometimes ring the schizo bell. Delusions aren't healthy.”
Where was this conversation going?
"Delusion! Hah! That's a good one coming from you," CRC fired back.
"The real delusion is thinking humanity isn't worth a damn," Sogiita shot back, pulling out some info from Johansen and Osman. "Some scientists think coincidences are just random flukes, but counselors and psychoanalysts reckon there's more to it, like some deep-down stuff needing to come out.”
"Delusion! Hah! That's a good one coming from you," CRC fired back.
"The real delusion is thinking humanity isn't worth a darn," Sogiita shot back, pulling out some info from Johansen and Osman. "Some scientists think coincidences are just random flukes, but counselors and psychoanalysts reckon there's more to it, like some deep-down stuff needing to come out. Unconscious material to be expressed."
Rosencreutz interjected, his expression reflecting a mix of confusion and concern. "Aleister Crowley's actions have left a lasting scar on this world and this city," he began, his voice weighted with solemnity. “The vacuum-like dichotomy between magic and science created by the use of that colossal psychotronic weapon, has damaged this world's memory irreparably.”
Psychotronic weapon?
The Archetype Controller?
He paused, his gaze piercing as he continued, "Jung's exploration of synchronicity as evidence of the paranormal paved the way for further inquiry, notably by Koestler and the subsequent embrace of these ideas by the New Age movement.”
Sogiita shrugged, "Some folks say synchronicity is impossible to test or prove, so it gets labeled as pseudoscience. Jung even acknowledged that these synchronicity events are basically just coincidences, statistically speaking. But hey, who's to say what's really going on without some solid scientific studies, right?"
"Dubious as his experiments may have been," CRC interrupted, "Jung believed in a connection between synchronicity and the paranormal, drawing parallels to the uncertainty principle and works by parapsychologist Joseph B. Rhine.” CRC posed a thought-provoking question, "How are we to recognize acausal combinations of events, since it is obviously impossible to examine all chance happenings for their causality? The answer lies in the fact that acausal events are most readily expected where a causal connection appears inconceivable upon closer reflection. It's impossible, with our current resources, to explain ESP or meaningful coincidences as mere phenomena of energy. This challenges the very notion of cause and effect, as these events occur simultaneously rather than in a linear cause-and-effect manner. Hence, I have coined the term 'synchronicity' to describe this phenomenon, placing it on equal footing with causality as a principle of explanation."
Getting closer to that Gemstone, CRC emphasized, "Esper abilities cannot be fully understood with science alone. They defy traditional cause-and-effect explanations, instead representing a convergence of factors that create a quantum phenomenon affecting both the micro and macro. Why were there the naturally gifted and the naturally ungifted?”
Why did some students get praised for their abilities while others needed to work harder?
Others among them would have worked every hour of their free time and not progressed anywhere in this city’s leveling curriculum.
Why did this city present such an unfair and unpredictable status quo of potential?
Why did hard work barely matter in a city of empirical evidence to record any possible progress?
Sogiita Gunha wasn't a normal Level 5 but he wasn't always this powerful. He went through the curriculum same as everyone but if the outside conditions for his Gemstone ability to manifest didn't form in the exact way that it did, in such an acausal form then would he even be here to challenge Christian Rosencreutz right now?
Everything just happened to fall right into place.
All those puzzle pieces that would lead to this moment here and now.
Was it all just talent? God picking a fool as his champion?
The #7 leaned back, absorbing CRC's words with a thoughtful expression. "So, what you're saying is, there's this whole other layer to reality that we can't quite wrap our heads around," he summarized, nodding slowly. "I mean, it's like trying to catch smoke with your bare hands—slippery and elusive."
He chuckled, shaking his head slightly. "Historic recurrence, synchronicities, all these things—they're like pieces of a puzzle scattered across this substantial reality. And sometimes, they just... click into place, right? It's like the universe has its own plan, and we're just along for the ride."
That bandana wearing boy's gaze drifted, lost in thought. "You know, CRC, it's funny," he remarked, a wry smile playing on his lips. "Here we are, with all our powers and potential, but at the end of the day, we're still grappling with the same questions as everyone else. Talent, destiny, divine intervention—maybe they're all just different sides of the same coin."
He shrugged, the weight of the philosophical musings settling over the broken city. "Who knows? Maybe God does have a sense of humor, after all.” that boy chuckled.
There was a deep silence between them.
Rosencreutz’ response was swift and resolute, his tone filled with certainty. "All this ‘universe has a plan’ banter is just a distraction from the inevitable," he declared, his eyes narrowing. "We can debate the nature of us being all-powerful yet struggling with mortal issues until the sun burns out, but it won't change the fact that our fate was sealed upon the knowledge Adam learned."
“To think so many trivialities have developed while this old man wasn’t watching. Heh heh. Then I should assume the thread of fate has again begun to weave its strange connections between myself and some unknown human.”
He rose forward, his movements purposeful. "It's time to put an end to this dance of platitudes," CRC continued, his voice cold and unwavering. "We'll settle this the only way that somewhat matters—through objective action in this grand play."
“Silence, preserved doll. Illusionists are meant to remain silent. That is all we magicians are: wielders of substanceless illusions. Opening your mouth serves only to break the illusion.”
With a flicker of resolve in his eyes, he locked gazes with the #7. "I am Hydra, Gemstone," he said, his voice carrying a hint of challenge. "Our battle ends now.” CRC opened both his palms and began shooting at their surroundings, the buildings, the pavement, the apartments, the rubble.
It probably wasn't random as it seemed to create a pattern.
“Huh are you getting senile old man?” asked the young Gemstone.
“What fun. I never imagined someone would bother diligently polishing their skills this far while knowing it is all essentially an illusion. Didn’t you ever feel silly going to the effort?”
Rosencreutz dropped to all fours, his rosy cross sword gripped tightly in his right hand.
He moved—
“Arrgh!” Sogiita yelled amidst the relentless and precise and precise strikes from that golden cross. “Old man?” he asked.
That magician didn't say anything.
That silver man’s movements became more beastly.
Faster.
Stronger.
Fiercer.
Something new was beginning to manifest.
With each strike of his higher dimensional blade that old man’s blows seemed infused with an otherworldly energy.
The wounds inflicted by his weapon burned with a venomous intensity, sending searing pain coursing through Sogiita's body.
That boy grimaced as the poison from that silver man’s strikes surged through his being, each wound feeling like it was ablaze with venomous fire.
"Damn... That burns…like a killer hornet’s sting," he muttered through clenched teeth, his voice strained with effort. Gritting, he fought to maintain his focus, despite the agony threatening to overwhelm him.
Was this another application of The Four Stages? Citrinitas? No, there was nothing yellow here, it was more like a dirty purple.
But it wasn't just the physical damage that posed a threat.
As the Rosy Cross leader leaped on all fours his movements took on an almost erratic quality, he was bouncing from one building to another with an animalistic agility.
With each jump, a shockwave rippled through the air, carrying with it a palpable sense of dread.
Something was spreading.
The air around them seemed to thicken with a toxic miasma. The #7 struggled to breathe, the noxious fumes clouding his senses.
Like a chaotic monster’s venomous poison breath.
The once-clear air now felt thick and suffocating.
Gasping for breath, the bandana boy struggled to maintain his focus amidst the swirling chaos.
His vision blurred, his movements sluggish as he fought against the oppressive atmosphere.
Blinded that heroic boy could only fire a flame arrow without his sight.
His fists striking out with all the strength he could muster. Igniting in that poisonous compressed air.
It seemed to be flammable like a dragon’s breath.
???
At the hospital, Shokuhou's voice carried a mix of surprise and relief. “He caused real damage.” she exclaimed.
Kamijou turned his attention to her, intrigued. “What happened?”
“It's hard to see clearly, but it looks like the #7 managed to rip off CRC's left arm,” she explained. “Though, I'd say it was more of a lucky shot. I can read he acted on pure instinct.”
Kamijou nodded, a hint of melancholy in his tone. “Yeah... the psychic link and all.”
Had the #7 Level 5 given up on the old man?
Back on the battlefield, Sogiita cursed under his breath. “Dammit... Sorry, old man,” he muttered. “I was aiming to hit your whole body to maximize the surface area, maybe break a few bones as a casualty. We can probably get your arm reattached at the hospital. Heaven Canceller has enough guts to even fix me.”
It was clear—he hadn't given up.
It was an accidental strike of his arm.
“As each ghastly head was severed from its serpentine form, dreadfully, two more writhed forth from the abyss.” a cryptic voice amidst the chaos spoke.
Wasn't it said that the Hydra’s lair was the lake of Lerna in the Argolid.
Lerna was reputed to be an entrance to the Underworld.
The abyss.
The Ungrund.
There is no limit to the depth of the Alcyonian Lake, and I know of nobody who by any contrivance has been able to reach the bottom of it since not even Nero, who had ropes made several stades long and fastened them together, tying lead to them, and omitting nothing that might help his experiment, was able to discover any limit to its depth. This, too, I heard. The water of the lake is, to all appearance, calm and quiet but, although it is such to look at, every swimmer who ventures to cross it is dragged down, sucked into the depths, and swept away.
The keeper of the gate to the Underworld that lay in the waters of Lerna was the Hydra.
The serpentine Lake Monster.
“Rosencreutz……?” The #7 muttered.
That magician chuckled ominously. "Indeed, young Heracles," he intoned, his voice echoing with a bizarre resonance. “The Lernaean Hydra's curse is upon you now.” as he said that he ripped off a bit of his arm that was cuterarised and it began bleeding.
Anna Sprengel’s blood was said to create unknown miracles when spilled.
Christian Rosencreutz’ blood was so virulent that even its scent was deadly.
As Sogiita Gunha glanced at his severed arm lying on the ground, a creeping sense of horror enveloped him. "All fate is a curse and that curse," he murmured, his words barely audible over the din of battle, "extends even to my severed limb.”
Christian Rosencreutz’ left arm grew back.
No.
Two new arms grew in its place.
The arm was fully functioning with no defects.
Although one of the arms appeared somewhat scaly and lanky like a serpent.
It had human anatomy but something was abnormal here.
He almost looked like a spider as he emerged from the poisonous fog as he remained on all fours.
“So short-stack. Are you ready to complete your final labor: Crossing the abyss!!!” He challenged that boy with his cross sword facing him.
"Boss, what's up? You look kinda stuck," Kamijou asked, his tone concerned.
Two students were sitting together in the waiting room at a hospital.
"—abyss, Hydra, curse, synchronicities, Historic recurrence." she replied, her words carrying a weight of unease.
"Huh? What? Can you give me the lowdown?" Kamijou prodded, his urgency evident.
"Can't quite wrap my head around it. But what I can tell you is that after CRC started talking about these esoteric concepts, he leveled up his power ability, managed to seriously hurt the #7 despite me cranking up all his stats for the win condition," the honey-blonde girl explained, frustration creeping into her voice.
"Can you beam all that stuff into my head, like a memory download? You're a psychological esper, right? My right hand won't mess with it, and we've done the telepathy thing before," Kamijou suggested.
"Memory download's not quite it, but I can send you a recording," she clarified.
"Got it," Kamijou muttered as he absorbed the info.
"You got any ideas to help the #7’s situation ability, Kamijou-san? We're kinda desperate here," she asked.
"I wish Index was still here, dammit.” he lamented, “But you know about magic, right?" he queried.
"Yeah, people converting their delusions into reality right?," she admitted.
"Well, magic's not just about delusions; it can be tied up to the whole world. Not sure if it's relevant, but based on Idol Theory, Rosencreutz might be pulling in 'energy’ from the Greek 'phase’ of Heracles for an edge," Kamijou theorized.
"Like a chessboard flip?" Shokuhou Misaki inquired, her brow furrowed with concern.
"No, more like... imagine you're playing checkers with a buddy, and you're totally crushing it because you're a checkers pro. Then suddenly, your buddy switches it up and challenges you to an arm wrestling match, and you lose because, well, arm wrestling isn't your forte," Kamijou Touma explained, trying to paint a vivid picture.
"So, by taking on the role of the Hydra from Greek myth, he's essentially forcing the #7 into the role of Heracles? But didn't Heracles defeat the Hydra?" Shokuhou sought clarification.
"Yeah, but..." Kamijou recalled the tale from the movies he'd seen. "Lichas gave Heracles a shirt soaked in the Hydra's poisonous blood from his arrows, which ends up killing him by tearing his flesh down to the bone," he elaborated.
"It was actually Nessus seeking vengeance and tricking Deianira into giving it to Heracles as a gift, delivered by Lichas without disclosing the tunic's lethal bloodstained secret from the Lernaean Hydra, but you're right," Shokuhou corrected gently. "So, Rosencreutz is harnessing the power of that legend to slowly poison the #7 to death?"
"Not literal. I mean the poison is real but his slashes do significant harm now so it's more like shifting the paradigm in his favor shifting his position.” The spiky-haired boy wasn't in the mood to explain Phases, “Earlier, he mentioned Sogiita spreading his 'virus' throughout the world. A virus isn't a poison in the traditional sense, but the Rosicrucians originally sought to create a universal cure for all illnesses. Now, CRC is spreading a literal poison, positioning himself as the ultimate predator and his opponents as prey rather than his savior role, the paradigm has been shifted." Kamijou concluded, his voice tinged with gravity.
“So he’s changed the environment to get the win condition? The #7’s durability doesn't matter in the face of the world being forced to go about a certain way because of Rosencreutz stage play?” The girl asked.
“Yeah…if things keep going this way…Sogiita will….goddamnit….” The spiky haired boy swore. “I can't let someone else die after all that's happened but I feel like if I go out there I really will kill him…” he muttered that last bit while clenching his right fist that began shaking uncontrollably.
The girl’s eyes seemed confused. “What did you say?” The honey blonde middle schooler asked.
“Nothing, just mumbling to myself.” he spat out.
That boy and girl could never come to the right conclusion on their own without the aid of former Magic God Othinus by their side.
“Did you think I had challenged you with no hope of succeeding, you cesspool? The magic born on earth is bound by the directions based on the earth’s magnetic field and by the density and composition of the air which is determined by air pressure which is in turn influenced by gravity. That is inevitable when you are focused on the cardinal directions of north, south, east, and west or on the basic elements of fire, water, wind, and earth. But what you will find upon leaving the atmosphere is an unknown. Coronzon, are you sure there will be no malfunction in the magic giving you control of Avatar Lola? And before, my power was bound by the puny speck named earth which failed to become a black hole or even a sun, but once we enter outer space, just how far do you think that power will be released? I do not mind at all that I will lose the support of Academy City.”
Well the boy was half right.
“Let us test it out, you cuspidor. On one side, we have you using the planet and bound to an avatar. On the other, we have me exposed and freed from the planet. Now, who will be the star of this show?”
Christian Rosencreutz did not shoot at his surroundings for no reason.
The battlefield transformed into Rosencreutz's canvas, resembling the legendary battleground of Lerna where Heracles once clashed with the Hydra.
Yes.
He didn't unleash his powers randomly; every action was deliberate.
In the magical side of Idol Theory, mimicking an object, event, or person allowed one to tap into a fraction of its power.
And that even applied to locations that essentially worked as stage plays.
Idol Theory was so absolute that even the basic cross held a portion of the son of God’s power.
As Above, So Below.
As Below, So Above.
Macro to micro.
Micro to macro.
And the macrocosm and the microcosm are always linked.

FYI, this is a story COLLECTION. Lots of standalones technically. So, you can basically start to read at any chapter, no pre-read of the other chapters needed technically (other than maybe getting better descriptions of characters than: Adam Vir=human, Krill=antlike alien, Sunny=tall alien, Conn=telepathic alien). The numbers are (mostly) only for organization of posts and continuity.
OC Written by Charlie Stastarrfallknightrise,
Typed up and then posted here by me.
Proofreading and language check for some chapters by u/Finbar9800 u/BakeGullible9975 u/Didnotseemecomein and u/medium_jock
Future Lore and fact check done by me.
Caution swearing!
Also, god I love you Conn… please never change!
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Want to find a specific one, see the whole list or check fanart?
Here is the link to the master-post.
"Both of you get your suits back on."
"What the hell is going on!?”
Richards demanded, Adam took a deep breath,
"Captain Richards that was not an opening for a discussion, that was an order. Now put the damn suit on, or I swear I will knock you out and do it myself!”
The three of them were floating in the module staring at each other, hands resting against what must have been no more than a few millimeters of aluminum.
He stared at them, and they stared back.
Adam did not break eye contact with the two, willing them to do as they were told. Chavez was the first to move, hurrying over to her space suit and struggling to pull it on in a near panic as bright lights flashed from outside. Inside his heart was pounding but he tried to remain calm for the two standing before him.
He hurried over to help Chavez pull on her gear, finally sealing the helmet in place as Richards finally moved to do the same.
Adam helped pull the hard torso over the man's head and link it to the waist before helping him pull on his gloves and, eventually the helmet. Before he let go, he kept hold of Richards by either side of the helmet staring at him through the glass,
"I promise, if you listen to me, I will keep you safe."
He kept eye contact with the other man until Richards finally nodded, and Adam let him go to float over and put on his own suit. His hands were steady, for now, but he knew as soon as the crisis was over he'd be shaking like a leaf.
If he survived…
He gritted his teeth, cursing himself for thinking like that.
He was Admiral Vir for crying out loud. He had survived far too much to go and die now.
He returned to the helm of the command module as he looked out the thick window at the lights flashing on either side of them. Despite the war that was raging around them, everything seemed so strangely quiet. There was no sound no rumbling, not even a vibration as one of the jets flew past. Despite being at the controls of the vehicle, there was nothing he could do. They only had a certain amount of fuel to get them to the lunar surface, and if he wasted any of it at all, they would be either caught in orbit, or miss the moon entirely.
He had to keep his cool.
Another bright burst of light lit the window to his right. This one was closer this time.
His heart leaped up into his throat.
Richards and Chaves joined him buckling into their seats.
"What is going on?”
Richards demanded again, his mike distant and tinny with the sound of very old technology.
"I believe Anti-Alliance forces are attempting to assassinate me. They have been trying for months now, and I think they are being encouraged by very powerful members of the government."
They watched as another set of ships zoomed past.
He saw a flash of a silhouette, just enough to know that one of them was a Thunderhawk and the other was a silver Rundi drone.
It confirmed his worst fears. The Chairwoman had been behind this the whole time!
[…]
Red nearly collided with the rocket. The Thunderhawk had pulled up the last minute, but he had almost been too late. He jerked the stick to the side, throwing up his wing just in time to avoid hitting the rocket as it made its slow way through space. He dove down on the other side forced to break off pursuit and cut in front of another Thunderhawk coming in from above. He made to look like he was going to ram them, playing a dangerous game of chicken, which he won at the last second as the other pilot panicked and cut to the left.
There were too many of them. Only five out of the original twenty had been destroyed, and he and the rest of their pilots were busy just keeping the thunder hawks away from the rocket, much less to have any time of firing at them. He had sent one of his people down to earth and one of them off towards the moon for backup. The moon was still hours away yet, so the hope that some help would be sent from them was unlikely, and even the woman he had sent down to earth's surface was cutting it close.
He didn't have much hopes that they would be able to hold out that long.
Inside the cockpit his warning lights began to blink and blair as one of the other jets got a lock on him. He rolled right to avoid them and dove down, cutting off the lock but still being pursued by those behind him. Up ahead he saw one of the silver balls erupt into flames as it was targeted by an expert hit from one of the Thunderhawk pilots.
He rolled right.
Someone else rolled left. He cut up just in time to avoid being hit and raced forward to cut off another Thunderbird that was heading directly towards the rocket.
[…]
Eris hurried down the hallway, her knees screaming as she did her very best to sprint, but despite her human anatomy, she was a little too much like a starborn.
With a cry of frustration she reached up and tore off her hoodie, throwing it to the ground and engaging her anti-gravity belt. The ribbons on her back billowed out behind her.
Light spilled in from the windows on either side of the catwalk she was now on, filling her with a buzzing energy that she could feel radiating through the ribbons like electricity. She knew from her study of starborn that they could travel at thousands of miles an hour in the vacuum of space, especially when under the power of a star. She didn't think she needed to go THAT fast, but anything would be better than what she was doing now.
As if in response to her will, she suddenly began to glide forward, picking up speed as she swooped towards the end of the hall, wind catching her in the face and roaring along her cheeks. With her starborn skin, she barely felt a thing as she raced around the corner and out of the waiting door. Two men dressed in military ACUs dived to the side as she blew past them crying out in alarm and confusion as the "Alien" floated by.
Somewhere distantly, she could sense Conn racing in the opposite direction towards the base.
Sunny and Admiral Kelly had Admiral Massie in their custody and were dragging him out into the hallway.
She blew across the open ground her ribbons snapping and billowing behind her as she did. She didn't even have time to imagine what she looked like as she roared over the open field and towards the waiting news vans which were just beginning to pack up their things. They were close to leaving, but she set out a sharp hard telepathic pulse ordering them to stop.
Compelling them to stop.
They froze in their tracks and looked up to see her coming.
Someone scrambled to turn on their camera, not sure what was going on but sure it had to be something good.
She tried not to think about what they would see as the camera flared to life following her approach.
"Make us live."
She ordered,
The news people glanced between each other in confusion,
"But no… we aren’t-"
"What are-"
She came to a sudden jolting stop before them, her billowing black hair fanning out behind her like a curling halo.
"I said, put us on air."
This time the telepathic pulse was too strong to resist. Mostly that, paired with the fact that none of them were sure they really wanted to resist. She was way too interesting to pass up.
They hurried to do what they were doing, and Eris was given just enough time to feel nervous before the camera was turned to her.
They were live.
She read it in the minds of those behind camera who she cut off as she began to speak,
"Citizens of Earth, there has been a horrible conspiracy against you. The UN president has ordered the assassination of Admiral Adam Vir and has continually attempted to sabotage the mission. Just now General Massie was taken into custody after ordering the deployment of twenty Thunderhawk’s to harass the rocket and make its destruction look like some sort of collision with space debris."
The group gawked at her as she raised her hand with the small silver device and began playing the recording.
She knew something like this would never be admissible in court. She was pretty sure it would be considered entrapment of some kind, which is why it must be heard now, before everyone, so that the actions of the president could be judged by a jury of the world where it could not be hidden by political machinations.
"Communications have been lost with Apollo 11. And it is... Well... It is likely that he is already dead..."
Her voice broke,
"No matter what happens, I need you, and this nation to understand what is happening before it gets swept under the rug. I saw it with my own eyes, heard it with my own ears and experienced their meeting in the thoughts of a man who is both xenophobic and hateful to his own humankind."
She kept talking trying to give them all the information she could, spilling thoughts she had heard in the head of the UN president and General Massie alike. Every meeting, every liaison, every name until her voice was beginning to crack.
[…]
The UN president was just standing to enter her vehicle when a slow muttering began in the crowd behind her. She turned as the ground before her went silent.
She watched as a wave ran through the people. A wave of nudging and whispering and showing off news feeds they had pulled up on their wrist implants. It wasn't long before the entire crowd was either staring down at their arms or clustered around someone else for viewing.
"What is going on?”
She wondered, turning to one of her men who was staring down at her own wrist.
"Madame president?"
He said with a look of confusion.
She could hear it now.
"Her and General Massie have ordered members of the UNSC to adjust funds in order to hide the twenty Thunderhawk’s they were squirting away for just such an event."
She hurried forward, grabbing the secret serviceman by the arm, staring at it as she watched the streaming newsfeed and the freaky white alien with the large dark eyes and flowing black hair.
"She is afraid of aliens, she wishes to isolate and eventually use humanity's superior forces to overtake trade in the galaxy, forceful if need be."
The muttering behind her had turned into an angry grumbling, and she turned to see the eyes of hundreds that turned towards her.
"Get me out of here."
She hissed. the Secret Serviceman took a step back with a look of confusion and indecision on his face.
"It's your job."
She snarled, but he just stared at her.
She hurriedly ran over to her car as the crowd began to filter in around them pressing close. A few of the secret service men pulled guns, but a large majority of them were frozen with indecision and were taken over by the crowd. She scrambled into the back seat of her vehicle and slammed the door shut screaming at the driver to get moving.
The crowd was surrounding them now, pounding at the glass.
She could hear their angry voices raised for her to be heard behind bullet proof glass.
Outside, she watched a lone figure step onto the platform where the lectern was and stare at her with its beady black eyes. The Chairwoman of the GA stood over the crowd like it's filthy alien lord.
And even though Rundi could not smile, she could swear it was smiling.
[…]
Baby K hit a rough patch of turbulence coming down from the atmosphere. She struggled with the controls as she was thrown left and right inside the cockpit of her rickety shuttle.
Donovan Red had ordered her down here to grab the UNSC, but she was so scared and full of adrenaline that she had dropped it at too steep an angle. The ride was much bumpier than it was supposed to be, and her teeth were rattling inside her head.
Just then two Jets suddenly cut in behind her out of nowhere, and she heard her console beep and warn her about a lock on, making it clear that she was just one click of a trigger away from imminent doom.
"This is Eagle Dispatch One, unidentified vessel, you have crossed into restricted UNSC airspace, identify yourself or be destroyed! You have ten seconds to comply, over."
She scrambled for her communications, but her fingers felt as stiff as wood as she scrambled for the button.
"I repeat, this is Eagle Dispatch One, unidentified vessel, you have entered restricted UNSC airspace, you are ordered to identify yourself or be destroyed. Five seconds remaining. Over."
She slammed her first into the comms button nearly panicking,
"UNSC!"
Her voice was rattling,
"This is B-baby K, and I... The Apollo 11 is under attack!"
She was breathless as she forced the words out.
There was silence over the coms,
"Say again? Uhm I mean please repeat over.”
"Apollo 11 is under attack!"
”…”
”…”
More silence,
”Roger that. Please stand by. Over."
The lock lifted and the two jets pulled up to the side of her, staying close now.
She recognized those jets as two F-90 Darkfires.
They stayed by her side for a moment, and as close as they were she could see one of the pilots fidgeting with the coms, talking and wildly gesticulating, while his copilot was beginning to wildly flip switches.
Meanwhile, a second voice came in over the coms.
"On your left! Eagle Dispatch Two here, unidentified vessel, please land on UNSC base airstrip one. Just contact the control tower once you get close for guidance and instruction."
Baby K looked over into the other jet, just to see the pilot adjusting his helmet and clicking an oxygen tube to the front of his helmet. His co-pilot had already put the additional oxygen mask on and was also flipping switches.
”Uhm aren’t you going to escort me?”
Baby K managed to blurt out in confusion,
”Godspeed Baby K, Eagle Dispatch Two over and out.”
Both men in the jet to her left had apparently finished their preparations and gave her a quick salute.
Then suddenly, both jets adjusted their angle and cut engines, before switching to their big fusion engines, rocketing them up and out of sight within seconds.
[…]
So far it had been a relatively quiet day at the Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base. Most of the air traffic had been canceled due to the launch of the Apollo mission, so there was not much to do, leaving much of the Airport less staffed than normal.
In the Air Traffic Control tower of the base, only two men were working. Though “working” was stretching it, considering Senior Controller M. Fredrick was currently in the middle of his book (though he was at least in front of his station) and his comrade Senior ATC Instructor A. Millard was currently sitting in a corner, watching a movie on his implant.
”So what are you watching? One of those old Star Wars movies?”
”You bet! Those are the best! By the way any info on that “lost civilian” who got into our airspace?”
”No not yet, though I sent Eagle Dispatch and told them to be extra unfriendly, that will scare these civilians off for sure!”
”Pffft, why couldn’t they watch the start like any other person? There is always some dumb rich kid doing dumb stuff with daddies private shuttle… I don’t understand why we always let them off with a warning…”
The console started beeping,
”Oh look that’s them now!”
”Put ‘em on speakers!”
”Will do!”
…
”ATC this is Eagle, come the FUCK in!”
Fredrick rolled his eyes,
”Ahem… This is Elling Field ATC, calling Eagle Dispatch One. We hear you, over.”
”ATC what the FUCK took you so long!?”
”Ellington Field ATC, to Eagle Dispatch one, firstly: language, secondly: please follow standard radio rules, over.”
”THE APOLLO IS UNDER ATACK BY HOSTILE ELEMENTS!”
”Ellingt-WHAAAAT!? Repeat please! Over!”
”THE APOLLO IS BEEING ATACKED BY HOSTILE ELEMENTS! REQUETING IMMEDIATE ASSIST!”
Fredrick just stared at Millard dumbfounded. As the senior officer Millard was quick to collect himself and jumped up and towards his console.
”What are you waiting for Fredrick! Are we blind!? DEPLOY THE GARRISON!”
Fredrick ignored all protocol and just flipped the switch to connect his comms to every recipient available.
”ATC to all personnel and everyone who can hear me, the Apollo is under attack, I repeat, the apollo is under attack. I want all available planes that can reach the outer atmosphere ready ASAP! Get the darkfires on the runway I want them in the air yesterday!”
[…]
Conn raced towards the airstrip, feeling the wind in the ribbons at his back. He couldn't go nearly as fast as he wanted to with air resistance.
Why the hell did Adam always have to get into so much trouble, why did he always have to be the center of attention!?
Everyone either hated him or loved him, but the problem was people who hated him also wanted to kill him.
Why did he have to be so controversial!?
Why did he have to be hated for something that was such a big deal. Why couldn't he be hated for having controversial political opinions. Conn paused…
On second thought, controversial political opinions were kind of what had gotten them here in the first place, so he guessed that was kind of a useless comparison. How about being the kind of guy who liked to talk too much about fishing. That was a great way to make people hate you for being boring, but it didn't usually mean that people wanted to kill you.
Maybe they could get the man a hobby doing something that wasn't so controversial…
Like…
Kicking small Animals or…
Cannibalism.
He came roaring to the stop at the edge of the airfield just in time to watch an entire platoon of pilots racing towards jets. He could hear their minds and looked up to see a rather dinky shuttle descending from the sky. He floated forward towards one of the jets as two pilots leaped inside.
He was going to need a ride.
The pilots turned to look at him, but Conn just shook his head.
The pilots decided to ignore him in the confusion and Conn grabbed on tight.
Starborn, he had come to learn, were a very interesting species in comparison to others. Vertically, as in from the top down he was very fragile and likely to break his neck or collapse his spine if there was any kind of pressure, but with horizontal forces, he was practically indestructible. Below him the ship roared to life and soon they were gathering speed along the runway.
His grip was tight, and he used the extra energy from his ribbons to speed himself up along with the jet to reduce the pull on his arms.
His grip wasn't that strong.
They went vertical almost immediately, and he made sure to orient his body in the correct direction as they went hurtling into the sky.
[…]
Red's right wing had been hit. If there had been atmosphere around him he would have been a goner, but there was no air resistance here, so once he regained control of his roll, he pulled back into position and fired one last shot as the opportunity arose. The sixth Thunderhawk was destroyed in an eruption of debris, which he dodged only with difficulty, limping without the aid of the maneuvering jet on the end of his one wing. Things were only speeding up now, the Rundi were almost gone and the pressure was being laid thick on his people. They were hard to hit but the pursuit made it almost impossible for them to do any real maneuvering of their own. He was almost hit again as another Thunderhawk sped underneath him. They rolled this way and that rocking from one side to the other. Flying through debris and over strips of silver metal.
Below them the earth hung as a glowing orb.
Red cut in a wide circle coming in with the sun at his back, using it to blind one of the enemy Thunderhawk’s as he came in. He watched the group of them form up suddenly as a ring around the slow moving rocket, intending quite certainly to rush it all at once. He screamed into the comm trying to order his men around, but it was going to be too late, he could already see it coming.
The jets rushed forward, and he did too, screaming inside his helmet as they went to broadside Apollo 11.
And then with all the silence of space, sixteen F-90 Dark Fires came spitting overhead all at once, raining down a line of ordinance that cut through the group of unsuspecting Thunderhawk’s.
Space around them was filled with a myriad of silent explosions as each and every one of them was ripped to shreds.
All except one…
He saw it at the last moment.
It had been hit in the tail and had gone wildly off course.
It turned sideways, but had just enough force... For its wing to tear straight through the aluminum siding of the rocket.
FUCK!
[…]
Chavez and Richards had been ordered to strap into their seats.
Adam had taken it upon himself to lock down the rest of the main cabin. Outside the flashing lights were like a fireworks display without sound. He grabbed onto one of the rails, forcing equipment back into place, so that if anything happened it wouldn't fly out.
His legs were kicked up behind him as he floated forward reaching for some of the controls as a sudden bright wash of light filtered in through the windows. He heard a scream over his com, and then the air around him was rent with a horrific tearing noise, which suddenly went silent. There was a rush, and he jerked forward as he was sucked back... And out of the ship entirely.
His hands and legs kicked and flailed as he tried to right himself, hearing his own breathing as the only sound as he watched the rocket begin to spin, debris erupting around him as air, and whatever wasn't strapped down was sucked through the small opening.
The rocket was spinning wildly but still on course, while he was spinning wildly in a silent abyss.
Grunting against the force of his spin, he reached down for the controls to the CO2 canister built into the pack of his spacesuit.
He groaned, not sure which way was up or down or back. He tried to right himself against the spin by firing in the opposite direction to slow his spin.
He could see the rocket now spinning in the opposite direction with the sudden loss of oxygen. He hoped the other astronauts were ok. He saw the silhouette of a jet fly past in the distance making its way towards the spinning rocket.
At least there was someone here to help.
Maybe the others would survive-
And then he just… stopped, coming to a confusing halt in the middle of space.
That shouldn't have been right!
He should have kept going forever!
He tried turning his head, but he felt like the pillsbury doughboy in this two thousand year old suit.
What was happening?
"Did you miss me Baby?”
Well shit, now he sort of wished he could keep spinning.
There was a tugging on the outside of his suit, and Conn floated into view in front of his helmet.
"Hey sweetheart."
"You are probably the last person I wanted to see."
He said, though he didn't entirely mean it, and unfortunately Conn knew that too, the mindreading asshole that he was.
”I could hardly let the father of my child go spinning off into space without taking accountability for his family. After al child support is paying way more than widows pension."
"Shove it up your ass Conn."
"No really, not even the vacuum of space is going to save you from your responsibilities. Now, about custody, I was thinking you could have every other weekend and a couple of major holidays…”
He gave a rueful sort of smile as Conn grabbed him by the life support pack and started floating them towards the rocket.
The F-90s had somehow managed to slow the spin of the rocket, and pull it back on course with grappling magnets.
All around them space was filled with debris. No more working Thunderhawk’s were present and those that were were quickly being grappled. One sleek racing jet slowly cruised past them. One of its wings was damaged, but whoever was inside waved with one hand as he rolled past.
Adam lifted a hand as Conn brought him the last few hundred feet to the torn opening in the side of the ship, allowing him to step through.
Conn patted him on the side of the helmet,
"Make sure to be home by dinnertime sweetie."
Before blowing him a kiss and vanishing back out the hole.
Adam floated there, a bit nonplussed for a moment before turning back to the front of the ship where Chaves and Richards were still strapped into their seats staring at him and after Conn. He floated over to strap himself in.
"Admiral! You're ok!”
"Yes, it seems that I am, thanks to a... Friend of mine."
Just then Conn appeared again just before their right side window, and like the classy gentlemen that he was began rubbing his butt up against the glass.
He sighed,
"Friend is kind of stretching it."
"Apollo 11 this is Houston, do you copy!"
The man on the other end of the line sounded close to tears, and Adam hurried to respond,
"Houston this is Apollo 11."
On the other side he thought he heard the sound of voices cheering in relief.
"What is your status, over?”
"We are a bit beat up Houston, we have a tear in our hull, but our suits are ok, and we have help."
"Prepare to abort mission."
Adam frowned,
"Now wait a second there Houston! I didn't get sucked out the side of my own rocket to just quit now. Tell the boys to come up here and patch us up and we can finish the mission. All systems are still functioning, and we are back on course."
He glanced over at the others,
”That is, if the crew wants to continue."
There was a pause and then Chavez timidly piped in,
"I'd be ok with that."
Richards sighed,
"Roger Houston, patch us up."
Granted it may have been cheating. Apollo 11 hadn't had support with special tools that could just patch up a spaceship within ten minutes, but then again the original Apollo 11 hadn't been in the middle of a firefight while on their journey to the moon.
So it was with some trepidation that Houston allowed it, and before long they had air back inside the cabin back up to pressure, but they also had a sixteen-man rotating escort for the rest of the way.
The group of them were even shocked to see Rundi drones join the formation, only to learn that it had been the UN president who had allegedly called the hit on him. It was hard to believe, but they were only getting snippets here and then from over radio and from Conn, who floated around occasionally to rub another part of his anatomy against the window and give them teasing updates.
The moon was growing slowly in their vision.
"Hehe, I can see my house from here."
Adam remarked as they prepared to detach the lunar module from the rest of the ship.
They landed without incident, observed by mobile camera crews and news reporters as he made his own footprint on the never changing dust of the moon's surface. He gave them a thumbs up to let them know he was fine and hesitated only once before setting up the UN flag in the dirt. He refused to let his enthusiasm be dampened by the day's events and hopped around dancing and leaping for joy as another one of his childhood dreams was fulfilled.
…
That was before he plowed face first into the moon's surface and required help from Richards to stand back up again.
They left soon after taking another three days of escort back to earth before strapping themselves in for final entry.
Conn left them just as they were entering orbit with a very big and very drawn out middle finger for all three of them.
"Your friend is super delightful isn't he?”
"You don’t know the half of it, try having a child with him."
Adam muttered, refusing to elaborate even as they stared at him in confusion.
They fell from the sky and landed somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, picked up by the waiting navy vessel who was within nine miles of their landing site. They were fished from the water and returned safe and sound to the ship to cheers and cameras. Adam's legs felt a little like jelly after days of not using them, and he was finally able to relax lying on the deck of the ship under the sun as people ran around them on either side.
His hands shook slowly building up after the stress of the last week. He took long deep breaths and closed his eyes.
The next few days were going to be a real shit show.
And somehow it wasn’t because he was now known as the man who faceplanted not one, but TWO interstellar bodies…
The media was way to busy with the other story, a massive net of deceit and corruption that would now be uncovered.
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Want to find a specific one, see the whole list or check fanart?
Here is the link to the master-post.
Intro post by me
OC-whole collection
Patreon of the author
Thanks for reading! As you saw in the title, this is a cross posted story written by starrfallknightrise and I'll just upload some of it here for you guys, if you are interested and want to read ahead, the original story-collection can be found on tumblr or wattpad to read for free. (link above this text under "OC:..." ) It is the Empyrean Iris story collection by starfallknightrise. Also, if you want to know more about the story collection i made an intro post about it, so feel free to check that out to see what other great characters to look forward to! (Link also above this text). I have no affiliations to the author; just thought I’d share some of the great stories you might enjoy a lot!
Obviously, I have Charlie’s permission to post this and for the people already knowing the stories, or starting to read them: If you follow the link and check out the story you will see some differences. I made some small (non-artistic) changes, mainly correcting writing mistakes, pronoun correction and some small additional info here and there of things which were not thought of/forgotten or even were added/changed in later stories (like the “USS->UNSC” prefix of Stabby, Chalar=/->Sunny etc). As well as some "biggemajor" changes in descriptions and info’s for the same stringency/continuity reason. That can be explained by the story collection being, well a story collection at the start with many standalone-stories just starring the same people, but later on it gets more to a stringent storyline with backstories and throwbacks. (For example Adam Vir has some HEAVY scars over his body, following his bones, which were not really talked about up till half the collection, where it says it covers his whole body and you find out via backflash that he had them the whole time and how he got them, they just weren't mentioned before. However, I would think a doctor would at least see these scars before that, especially since he gets analyzed, treated and goes shirtless/in T-shirts in some stories). So TLDR: Writing and some descriptions are slightly changed, with full OK from the author, since he himself did not bother to correct these things before.

Max was not having a good morning. She felt gloomy and grumpy and her previous dreams were not welcome. She did not want to dream about her either. Not when they'd left her in the past.
Max wipes at her face. Crying will do her no good, right? She wasn't about to make the mistake again. Amaya left, that was that, right?? Why are the dreams resurfacing..?
They treck through the camp grounds, hands stuffed in her cropped-hoodie pockets. When she reaches the edge of the woods, she plops down by a tree and takes her braids out slowly. Max runs her fingers through their hair, brushing it out a bit. Jeez, it's so long.
Max leans their head back against the tree, her hair sprawling across the ground around her, collecting small leaves and sticks in it.
"Jeez... ugh," she frowns and wipes at her eyes again. "Crybaby much?" Max shakes their head.
Standing infront of the school with her hair in a big, French braid, Max watches as her absolutely beautiful girlfriend, Amaya, walks up. It's the say of the dance, and jeez was Max excited.
Max was dressed in a nice suit, no athletic clothes for once. They watch as their girlfriend walks up the steps, leaving the black SUV she'd climbed out of behind.
"You look so.. stunning," Max whispers to her as they embrace. Amaya just giggles softly, patting Max's cheek gently. He sandy hair was pulled back in a bun to frame the face that made Max's heart flutter.
"I prefer you in biker shorts and a sports T, but you're still beautiful," Amaya says softly, her voice honey sweet. Max's face flushes, but she smiles down at Amaya and rests they head ontop of her's.
"Shall we head inside, 'Maya?" Max asks.
Max runs after Amaya, her braid now a disheveled mess and their tie undone. Amaya just runs farther, her bun completely gone and her hair flying wildly. Did a chunk of her hair just fall out-?
"Amaya what's going on..? I said *one** thing and now you're running!" Max shouts, catching up to Amaya and gently grabbing her arm. Amaya looks at Max with a gentle expression.*
"Max, I love you. But this... was my last dance. You said we'll be dancing again soon, but... I won't be dancing." Amaya whispers.
"I don't understand?" Max murmurs.
"Max, my family and I are moving for the last week. I won't be around any longer. It's catching up to me." Amaya shakes her head.
"Maya... you told me it was being treated and you were cleared..."
Max jolts. Had they fallen asleep at the tree? She was crying again.
"Fuck," she smiles softly. Not bad memories. No, Amaya was a good memory.

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Note: Alright troops, it's my birthday tomorrow so I'm taking some shore leave. No new chapters tomorrow. Fantasy General will be back on Friday with a chapter that you won't want to miss...
Marcus sat silently in his chambers, his fingers drumming into the stone armrests of his chair that faced the balcony window.
Outside, there were chants being spurned on in his name. There were ratmen down there who were ready to throw their lives away just to get a look at him and to know, for certain, that he was still alive.
"They've pinned their whole hopes on me," he whispered."And yet, I'd sell them all out just to see Mari again."
He leaned back at stared at the empty ceiling above, tracing the cracks in the stones where the rats had probably done battle before.
"What kind of person does that make me?" he asked the vacant ceiling. "Someone worth believing in? Or something who lets his own selfish desires run his mind?"
The door to his room creaked open, and a small, robed rat shuffled in.
"I guess I'll find out soon enough," Marcus said as he turned to meet the visitor he had called to his room alone.
Deekius.
The rat-priest looked up at him with both awe and – Marcus thought – a small sliver of fear. Perhaps the rat himself now believed all the sermons he had delivered about Marcus the Shai-Alud. Perhaps he didn't, and the display of terror-stricken reverence was merely an act.
He bowed his head so low that his snout practically kissed the stones of Marcus's floor.
"Shai-Alud," he said. "It is being my honor to stand before you once again. How are your wounds healing?"
Marcus waved his trivial concerns away. "My bruises are psychological, at best," he said. "More importantly, tell me straight, can your Gloomraava do anything for Festicus?"
The rat-priest closed his eyes. His silence said enough.
"Then he truly is gone," Marcus stated, turning back to the balcony and the legions of baying fans waiting down there.
"We will be giving him a proper ceremony in the Grand Cathedral of the Unclean," Deekius stated. "Then, he will be afforded the highest honor – his body shall be returned to King Skylock of Marrow and consumed by their Clan's Queen. King Shrykul is making necessary preparations."
Marcus hesitated before he spoke his next words, his mind racing.
"Tell him to wait," he said.
Deekius blinked. "Sire? The King is giving order to –"
"Do the soldiers of Clan Marrow know their commander is gone?" Marcus asked. "Do they know how, and where, he died?"
"They…they are knowing the assassins struck here tonight. They are knowing their commander is pursuing them, but all his forces do not yet know he is perishing on top of the Foundry."
"Good," Marcus said. "We will be keeping it that way."
Now he turned back to the little rat-priest. The one who brought him here when it seemed his purpose in life had departed him. When he was at his most hopeless…
"The prisoner," he said. "Where is she being kept?"
"She is being taken to the dungeons on Gloomraava Verulex's authority," Deekius said. "Her execution is being scheduled for 6 hours from now. I am being sorry, Sire Marcus, but the priest of Glumrot is having final say in this matter."
"But not," Marcus added. "The sole domain of priest Verulex."
Deekius cocked his eyebrows at him, his fur furrowing beneath his hood.
"No," he said slowly. "But he is being senior priest here. Authority of Glumrot priests are second only to Prime Putrefact's."
"Yes, of course," Marcus replied. "And where is Gloomraava Verulex currently?"
"He is in his chambers resting," Deekius replied. "He is still recovering from his wounds – the poison of the Yokun Matron is working on him. But he shall be surviving yet. He is just needing rest after all his exertions."
"Yes," Marcus said. "He was gravely wounded. Wasn't he?"
Silence weaved its way between both rat and man as the hidden meaning in Marcus's words spilled out into the air around them.
"Deekius," the human finally said. "I know you have ambition in you."
Are you really going to do this? he asked himself. Once you take a step like this…there is no going back. This is the abyss.
Even as his mind fumbled, he recalled the image of Verulex's hateful eyes staring at him beneath his ragged hood. He recalled the feeling of the Yokun's blade against his flesh as the rat held it before him. And he recalled the ratman's statements in the war-chamber. He had realized, as he was brought back to this castle, why that little priest showed no fear in making such open threats.
Because he thinks I'm weak, Marcus told himself. He thinks my displays of mercy to be the whims of a coward. He thinks I am a tool to be exploited, and nothing more.
But I have tools of my own. I'm not just a history professor, anymore. Words no longer have to be my only weapons…
"Sire?" the ratman mumbled.
"I have heard the sermons you sing about me," Marcus said, stepping closer and bending low to look the ratman right in his sharp eyes. "About the power you wield now that He-Who-Festers has looked upon you as His chosen priest. After all, it was you who summoned the Shai-Alud. And it was you who called those illusions – at the palace doors and atop the Foundry tower – that led to the defeat of the Yokun assassins, wasn't it?"
"You are knowing my skills too well, Sire," Deekius replied with a humble bow.
Now's the time, Marcus. Do it. Show him who you are. Who you can be. Show them all.
"A rat like you," he began coolly. "A rat with such power flowing through him – a Gloomraava chosen by the Unclean – shouldn't a rat like that be the priest who commands the highest office of respect in this place? Shouldn't it be a priest of Fleapit – the priest of Fleapit – who speaks for the Shai-Alud and for his people?"
The light of an epiphany slowly began to creep into the rat-priest's dark eyeballs. His mind was catching up to the desire that lay at the core of his Shai-Alud's words.
"I could give you it all, Deekius," Marcus continued as he saw the light of the priest's own desires flare in his face. "You will be installed as the new Prime Putrefact. Your old leader – he was too weak. He was captured and rots with the enemy. This happened because He Who Festers did not see him as worthy. Not like you."
The eyes of the ratman widened now. Anticipation, excitement, and even a little bit of bloodlust had just taken root within his small mind.
"Sire," he smirked. "You really are having the soul of a rat."
This is it, Marcus. If you go forward now, there is no return.
One path led towards return to his home – the honorable path where he did his job and then shipped out. That was the path he had expected he'd follow. The path that had been causing him all his headaches recently. Now, with the Glitterpak gone, it would simply be even harder to force a surrender from the Kobolds.
But another path had just been opened – a path where Mari lay at the end. If it was true that she really was here, among the warriors of the Yokun, then that meant he'd be going home without her if he found Silas alive. It meant returning to his mundane life without the one thing that made it matter at all.
The right path was so obvious to him. So clear that it was almost comical.
But that's exactly the path he could no longer tread.
"I am knowing what you want to say," Deekius whispered. "If I may speak plainly, Shai-Alud, it is something your human honor will not allow you to voice. But you wish it of me, don't you, Sire?"
Marcus licked his pale lips, feeling the trembling that had set in them earlier fade away.
"Yes, Deekius," he replied. "I do."
A curt nod from the rat and – just like that – a conspiracy was born.
"How?" the priest asked.
"First, a promise," Marcus replied. "I want your word that you shall swear your fealty to no one but me, your Shai-Alud, from this night until the end of all nights. Do this, and I will give you all the honors within my power. King Shrykul will not deny me – I am the only hope of his ailing wife. The warriors of Marrow and Glumrot will fall into line – your sermons will see to that. And from this night forward, this empire will know the name of one priest only."
That was it. That was the final stoking of the fire that sent the rat into an almost trembling frenzy. And the future of the ratman race was decided by his last whispered words:
"Sire," he said. "This is a promise. Together, we shall be making history."
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Sorry this is long but I desperately need some advice/perspective because I’ve been struggling with these feelings for about a year now and I have tried to move on but I don’t think I can and I don’t know what to do.
You should know that my friend group has been friends for 20+ years.
Here’s the timeline of events:
December 2022 - My now husband privately proposed to me. The day after was New Year’s Eve and we went over to a friend’s apartment to party. With most of our friends there, we surprised everyone with the announcement of our engagement. Everyone was elated and congratulating us; it was all good vibes.
January 2023 - April 2023 - Over the next four months, my fiance and I were going through the process of buying a house; we ended up buying a fixer upper home and closed on the house in early April 2023.
Side note: When we started dating, I had told my husband that we had to be married before we could live together, so after closing on the house we decided that we’ll religiously and legally get married at the end of April 2023 and do a small celebration dinner with our close family members.
Early April 2023 - We both informed our friends of our new home purchase and of our marriage plans for the end of April 2023 and mentioned that we’ll do a celebration with everyone in late 2024. We mentioned that our ceremony in April will be private, lowkey, and essentially a formality so that we can live together.
Side note: My lease for my apartment was ending at the end of April 2023, so I was in the midst of packing and getting ready to move my stuff into a storage unit because we were going to live at his parents house while we fix up our new home.
You should also know that after we closed on the house, we pretty much spent the entire month of April doing the demolition on our new home ourselves. Pretty much everyday after work, my husband and I would go to our new home and spend the night tearing up carpet, removing tiles, tearing up dry wall, etc…; it was a big project and very mentally and physically draining.
End of April 2023 - Wedding day! We had a total of 20 people at our ceremony, everyone was a family member except for my one best friend and her husband. They were the only friends that we asked to be there because we needed 3 male muslim witnesses to perform the ceremony, and my 2 brothers and my friend’s husband are the only male muslims in our lives; I don’t have a dad in my life and I don’t have any other family members living here in the U.S. So the ceremony happens, and my friend that was in attendance posts a picture of us on instagram. We all go to the restaurant for dinner to celebrate and then everyone goes home. Short, simple, and sweet.
April 30, 2023 - The day after our wedding ceremony, was my move out day. We spent the entire day moving my items out of my apartment and into a storage unit. Then went over to his parents house where we would be staying for 4 months while our home was getting fixed.
Early May: I notice some of the people in my friend group are being weird and distant. I ended up seeing one of my friends at a bridal shower event for one of our old friends where she continued to give me short answers and weird energy. About a week later my brother called me saying he ran into that same friend and said that she’s upset that she wasn’t invited to my ceremony especially when she was under the impression that it was family only but was questioning why my other friend was there and felt like she was really hurt by it. I then come to find out that other people in the friend group felt that way too and were hurt that I didn’t inform them the morning of my wedding day that I was getting married. My brother also told me that she had been planning a surprise engagement party with all of my friends and when she heard she wasn’t invited to the ceremony she decided to remove herself from the planning committee and everyone else just didn’t continue through with the planning either.
Mid May 2023 - When some of them confronted me about it, I was so taken aback and just let them have it and I kind of ended up over explaining myself because I didn’t want them to misunderstand my decision and I also did not want them to not like me anymore. I told them my friend was there because her husband was a witness and they said they didn’t know and now that they do they get it. I was being overly defensive and I was so stressed with everything else, I let them have it.
May 2023 - August 2023 - We pretty much spent the entire summer focusing on our house. Every weekend, and even throughout the week we’d drive up to our home and work on something.
Late August 2023 - We finally move into our new home, but even so the work wasn’t done. We still had to finish up some smaller projects, buy furniture, and settle in.
November 2023 - We finally feel settled into our new home. The mini projects have subsided and now we can actually focus on enjoying our new home together as a newly married couple.
It was only after everything settled down that I really started to think about the events that happened surrounding my wedding ceremony. For the entirety of the summer I still felt uncomfortable being around them and I think I never got closure from them, I don’t feel connected to them like I used to; I think I’m still hurt by it all and I don’t have closure because I never got to tell them how they hurt me. I was finally able to sit with my feelings and I realized that they were all pretty shitty for making my day about them. I also felt like they weren’t being very understanding with what was going on in my life. They also knew that my mom had cut herself out of my life a year prior because she didn’t want me to be with my now husband because of his race. So for them to know all these things that I was going through and to not give me any grace felt hurtful.
They all felt so entitled to be at my ceremony because they were my friends when I had been engaged for 4 months prior and they didn’t even so much as send me flowers or celebrate me, despite having planned something but cancelling it when they felt hurt by me. They felt that their feelings were more important than celebrating me, and continued to show this when they made my day about them rather than showing me grace.
I haven’t been properly gifted by most of my friends, and even close family friends that call me their daughter. I’ve had them all over my new home multiple times, most of them have yet to give me a housewarming and/or wedding gift.
I should also note that my husband and I recently decided and announced to our family and friends that we won’t have a wedding celebration this year because we’re still recovering financially from the house purchase and all the projects. As of now we’re thinking we’ll do a 5-year vow renewal where we’ll get to celebrate with everyone, but we’ll see what life looks like in 5 years.
Last weekend (May 2024) - One of my friends in the group planned a surprise 1-year anniversary party for us, and it was nice. But it felt like a bit of a redemption for my friend group and I feel like it’s just a little too late.
Essentially, I’m still feeling hurt about how my moments came and went, and my friends didn’t acknowledge and celebrate me. I feel as though there’s a lack of respect around their lack of effort and I’m just not feeling connected to them like I used to. I just need some perspective and/or advice on how to navigate this.

As the title says - My (27F) boyfriend (32M) has uninvited me to his notary signing. We've been together since mid-march this year. He is buying his first property and yesterday 'with all of the excitement' as he says, he asked me if I wanted to come and I said yes. Yesterday we were supposed to meet around 10PM after my acting class and he didn't respond to my two calls around 9:30PM and 10:15PM, texting me back at 10:40PM saying he slept through his alarms. He was supposed to pack boxes and claims he just laid down and fell asleep. Now, I know this is going to sound weird but I love my boyfriend smell after a workday as he works a physical job so I asked him to not shower so as to have that lil twang. Come to find out he showered after his nap, saying that he didn't quite clean his privates so it'll still have the lil twang.
This morning I felt that he wasn't quite honest about his whereabouts even though his location (I know reddit's opinions about location sharing but I'm not tracking him, we share because he picks me up around town so its easier) said he was home. I was a bit upset about last night but we talked it through and we then started discussing our plans for the day. I ask when the notary signing is and he says around 10AM. I ask when he thinks he'll go and he kind of dodges the question, then says that he would rather go alone. I'm taken aback, I ask why and he claims its because he has been asking a lot of help from people, living with his parents and having his son, and this is one thing he actually wants to do on his own. I understand that he wants to take this endeavour alone but personally I would want my partner, as he puts it 'the woman he loves the most', to be next to me. I am not on the deed of the house in any way.
On the other hand, I suspect he uninvited me because he actually invited one of his female friends instead. This same friend that I met around May 4th and once alone with me said that she wouldn't mind if her boyfriend sleeps with other girls. The same friend that had her child's drawing of my boyfriend looking like a father figure to her two kids and his child on her fridge, and her own ex and father of her kids was not on the drawing (and THEY ARE ROOMMATES!). The same friend that only thanked my boyfriend for doing the dishes when I was the one that insisted when he wanted to leave after feeding the kids, and she witnessed me at the sink. The same friend he didn't tell me tried to ruin his good friend's relationship, and broke his best friend's heart and only told me after she treated me horribly.
My boyfriend once discussed buying her ex boyfriend's house shares since they aren't together anymore and they would pay a huge penalty if they sell on the current market. Then he started seeing me and focusing on our relationship. He claims he never really thought of the share buying or inquired about it, and never came back to her about it. Today he uninvited me from his signing of his new condo. He's also moving from 20 mins away from my house to 50 mins away from my house, which is actually closer to her. On one hand I understand buying there considering he loves the woods and that's where the affordable condo prices are. One the other hand he'll go from 50 mins away from her to 20 mins away from her. My feelings are honestly really hurt about being uninvited and the way he told me about it was super shifty, almost like he was hoping I'd forget he was going. And his weirdness yesterday is amplifying the doubt. I having trouble trusting him at this point.
TL;DR : My (27F) boyfriend (32M) has uninvited me to his notary signing and I suspect he invited his female friend instead. I am concerned but everything is always explained away. I am tired.