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2024.06.09 15:31 Turbulent-Ad1838 How to use short-form videos to turn followers into paying customers.
 | Howdy creators! If you’re not on the short-form video train yet, you’re missing out big time. Instagram Reels TikToks and YouTube Shorts are blowing up as you’re probably well aware, and they’re the perfect way to reel in those paying customers onto your preferred platform. Here’s a few suggestions on how to make it happen: submitted by Turbulent-Ad1838 to Tiktokhelp [link] [comments]
|
2024.06.09 15:00 BlackFenrir [Spoilers C3] I made Calder Kildé as a PF2e character
Previously, in The Various 2 Crew PCs As PF2e Characters:
Heya! Welcome back to me only partially succeeding in translating the character concepts of the 2 Crew PCs into PF2e characters. Today, we'll take a look at Calder, a significantly easier build than Calli's the translate.
The usual disclaimer:
If you're coming from D&D 5e and are not familiar with Pathfinder 2e: While many character concepts can be easily transferred from one system to another, many of their mechanics cannot. Some items or spells don't exist, some rules are different. This is NOT an attempt at a 1 to 1 conversion, though I tried to stick as close as possible. If any of the mechanics in this sheet need any clarification, feel free to ask in the comments.
As usual, Calder's been built up to level 10! Since someone asked last thread: No, I'm not using any optional rules like Free Archetype. I do in the games I run, but in these builds I like to challenge myself and stick close to universally accepted rules. Aside from rarity, I'm building these pretty much PFS legal.
Now then, let us begin.
Level 0:
Ancestry: As of right now, there is no half-giant or giantkin Ancestry or even Versatile Heritage, which means we're going to have to hack our ancestry. We can't replace it with another, since his being a small giant is an integral part of his character, so we need to find a combination of mechanics that we can reflavor as small giant.
In the Calli thread, someone made the excellent suggestion of going for Minotaur, as they are a Large ancestry...
Heritage: ... and Littlehorn Minotaurs are the runts of the litter. Minotaurs get an unarmed horn attack, but being littlehorn makes it 1d6. However, we're reflavoring this as small giant, so that's just a matter of promising not to use that feature. Minotaurs also begin with Jotun, aka Giant, as a starting language. Littlehorn also gives us Terrain Expertise, which we can choose Arctic for.
Class: Magus. Eldritch Knight could also be done with Fighter and Wizard (and I believe that's how you got access to the Prestige Class for it in 3.5e/Pathfinder 1e), but Magus is conceptually just perfect for Calder. The only problem is we don't have Heavy Armor yet, which is a pretty big part of his whole shtick, but we'll get to that. We're taking the Inexorable Iron hybrid study. It's the big two-handed weapon blasting subclass.
Background: Guard, as all three of them were employed as a sort of guards by Mothership. I considered the Magical Experiment, but it only gives one Attribute Boost and it's to CON. It's good and very flavorful, but I gotta have my +4 Key Stat
Attribute Modifiers at first level: STR +4, DEX +0, CON +2, INT +3, WIS +1, CHA -1
I stuck to standard ability selection instead of going with the alternative two free boosts with no flaws. This means we start with a -1 in CHA, but we don't really need CHA anyway. We have a Calli in the party for that!
Along the way, STR, CON, INT and WIS are going to be the stats we invest in with the Boosts we get along the way.
Level 1:
Ancestry feat: Pantheon Magic. The downside of Minotaur is that it doesn't have many feats that we can reflavor as Giant stuff, so we're just grabbing the one free cantrip and take Shield, which is going to be very useful to us as we'll be using a greatsword and therefore no shield. It also saves us a Cantrip slot, and Magus gets very few spells.
Level 2:
Class Feat: Sentinel Dedication. Heavy armor proficiency that grows just as fast as our other armor proficiencies. Its Archetype feats are shit, so we won't be taking any of them, we just need the dedication.
Skill Feat: Recognize Spell
Level 3:
General Feat: Fleet. Now that we have Heavy Armor, we'll be slower. Our CON is good, so we don't need Toughness just yet. With how fast Sol would be in this party, it's important to keep up to properly set up flanking.
Level 4:
Class feat: Devastating Spellstrike. Spellstrikes now do splash damage.
Skill Feat: Arcane Sense. More free cantrips!
Level 5:
Ancestry Feat: Puzzle Solver. He smort
We're boosting INT, so we get another skill. I haven't really discussed skill proficiencies so far but I just wanted to mention that canonically this PF2e version of Calder became a theater kid at level 5. He is now trained in performance.
Level 6:
Class Feat: Reactive Strike. It's just really good, and you won't be using your reaction for anything anyways.
Level 7:
General Feat: Toughness. You're a frontliner. You want more HP.
Level 8:
Class Feat: Fused Staff. Grab a staff loaded with Cold-themed spells and Spellstrike your heart out.
Level 9:
Ancestry Feat: Friendly Nudge. It can in a pinch push an ally out of being Flanked.
Level 10:
Class Feat: Sustaining Steel. We don't get Second Wind, but this is just as good.
Equipment:
submitted by BlackFenrir to NotAnotherDnDPodcast [link] [comments]
Heya! Welcome back to me only partially succeeding in translating the character concepts of the 2 Crew PCs into PF2e characters. Today, we'll take a look at Calder, a significantly easier build than Calli's the translate.
The usual disclaimer:
If you're coming from D&D 5e and are not familiar with Pathfinder 2e: While many character concepts can be easily transferred from one system to another, many of their mechanics cannot. Some items or spells don't exist, some rules are different. This is NOT an attempt at a 1 to 1 conversion, though I tried to stick as close as possible. If any of the mechanics in this sheet need any clarification, feel free to ask in the comments.
As usual, Calder's been built up to level 10! Since someone asked last thread: No, I'm not using any optional rules like Free Archetype. I do in the games I run, but in these builds I like to challenge myself and stick close to universally accepted rules. Aside from rarity, I'm building these pretty much PFS legal.
Now then, let us begin.
Ancestry: As of right now, there is no half-giant or giantkin Ancestry or even Versatile Heritage, which means we're going to have to hack our ancestry. We can't replace it with another, since his being a small giant is an integral part of his character, so we need to find a combination of mechanics that we can reflavor as small giant.
In the Calli thread, someone made the excellent suggestion of going for Minotaur, as they are a Large ancestry...
Heritage: ... and Littlehorn Minotaurs are the runts of the litter. Minotaurs get an unarmed horn attack, but being littlehorn makes it 1d6. However, we're reflavoring this as small giant, so that's just a matter of promising not to use that feature. Minotaurs also begin with Jotun, aka Giant, as a starting language. Littlehorn also gives us Terrain Expertise, which we can choose Arctic for.
Class: Magus. Eldritch Knight could also be done with Fighter and Wizard (and I believe that's how you got access to the Prestige Class for it in 3.5e/Pathfinder 1e), but Magus is conceptually just perfect for Calder. The only problem is we don't have Heavy Armor yet, which is a pretty big part of his whole shtick, but we'll get to that. We're taking the Inexorable Iron hybrid study. It's the big two-handed weapon blasting subclass.
Background: Guard, as all three of them were employed as a sort of guards by Mothership. I considered the Magical Experiment, but it only gives one Attribute Boost and it's to CON. It's good and very flavorful, but I gotta have my +4 Key Stat
Attribute Modifiers at first level: STR +4, DEX +0, CON +2, INT +3, WIS +1, CHA -1
I stuck to standard ability selection instead of going with the alternative two free boosts with no flaws. This means we start with a -1 in CHA, but we don't really need CHA anyway. We have a Calli in the party for that!
Along the way, STR, CON, INT and WIS are going to be the stats we invest in with the Boosts we get along the way.
Ancestry feat: Pantheon Magic. The downside of Minotaur is that it doesn't have many feats that we can reflavor as Giant stuff, so we're just grabbing the one free cantrip and take Shield, which is going to be very useful to us as we'll be using a greatsword and therefore no shield. It also saves us a Cantrip slot, and Magus gets very few spells.
Class Feat: Sentinel Dedication. Heavy armor proficiency that grows just as fast as our other armor proficiencies. Its Archetype feats are shit, so we won't be taking any of them, we just need the dedication.
Skill Feat: Recognize Spell
General Feat: Fleet. Now that we have Heavy Armor, we'll be slower. Our CON is good, so we don't need Toughness just yet. With how fast Sol would be in this party, it's important to keep up to properly set up flanking.
Class feat: Devastating Spellstrike. Spellstrikes now do splash damage.
Skill Feat: Arcane Sense. More free cantrips!
Ancestry Feat: Puzzle Solver. He smort
We're boosting INT, so we get another skill. I haven't really discussed skill proficiencies so far but I just wanted to mention that canonically this PF2e version of Calder became a theater kid at level 5. He is now trained in performance.
Class Feat: Reactive Strike. It's just really good, and you won't be using your reaction for anything anyways.
General Feat: Toughness. You're a frontliner. You want more HP.
Class Feat: Fused Staff. Grab a staff loaded with Cold-themed spells and Spellstrike your heart out.
Ancestry Feat: Friendly Nudge. It can in a pinch push an ally out of being Flanked.
Class Feat: Sustaining Steel. We don't get Second Wind, but this is just as good.
- +2 Striking Bastard Sword. Could also go for Greatsword, but this is a bulk lighter and can also be used in one hand. It's just objectively better.
- Wand of Fleet Step. It's a Rank 1 spell, so we lose those slots, going to need a wand.
- Boreal Staff. Honestly I'd have the player craft a Personal Staff for this character with a bunch of Attack Roll spells, to go with Fused Staff.
- Frostwalker Pattern tattoo. Ignore cold weather, once per day, ignore Difficult Terrain that is frozen.
- Greater Demon Mask. Look, there are literally 4709 items in PF2e. I'm sure there's a closer mechanical match to the Helm of Ultris, but the Demon Mask exhibits the flavor pretty well, I think, with a a free cast of a 3rd rank Fear.
- Man, I love Magus. When I first started playing 5e, I actually made a character pretty close to Calder: an Eldritch Knight with an Ice theme. I eventually rebuilt him as a bladesinger to be a bit more mechanically satisfying to play. When I saw Magus existed in PF2e, I knew I'd found the spellsword class I always dreamed of. I didn't use any options from it here, but I own Magus+, which expands the Magus class feat options with some really cool stuff including a way to RAW change the damage type of spells to the same time of the last spell you cast, making Freezing Ray possible.
- Spell selection is hard. We don't have Expansive Spellstrike, so we don't get to Spellstrike with Save spells. There aren't very many cold-themed spells that have attack rolls, so we have to be a bit creative in reflavoring some things. Of course, if anyone would play this character concept t my table, I'd happily change energy damage type to Cold for most spells, within reason.
- I want Jake to try playing Magus now.
2024.06.09 14:48 Direct-Caterpillar77 AITA for not informing HR that my wife is Chinese and that I speak Chinese during a HR investigation for racism?
Originally posted by u/StrangeCalibur
AITA for not informing HR that my wife is Chinese and that I speak Chinese during a HR investigation for racism?
Originally posted to AmItheAsshole
Original Post - rareddit Feb 27, 2020
This is an odd one but I was in my company building and was on the phone to my wife and jokingly sang a few lines of a Chinese pop song (quietly) to her, private joke really.
Someone heard me do this and reported it to HR as me mocking Chinese people (and especially due to the current climate this was taken very seriously) I was sent home for a week until HR could do what they do and interview who they need to or whatever. Before they sent me home they asked if I had been saying things “in a Chinese way” to someone on the phone, I was confused by this tbh and said yes, and tried to explain more but I was told very forcefully to get out and not come back till I was contacted and that any attempt to explain myself to anyone until the investigation is finished will be seen as a sign of trying to mess with the investigation. So I obliged, whatever.
On Monday I was called in for an “interview”, after no contact with anyone during that time, when I got in someone new was sitting at my desk and all my stuff was gone. I was taken into an office and told that this was a “dismissal hearing” (who uses those words right?) on the grounds of racist behaviour during my probation period.
I asked “is it somehow racist or against company policy to talk to and joke with my own wife in her native language while I’m on beaks or not on the clock?”, 10 seconds of silence, people glancing round the room at each other, an obvious tension between everyone building. The ceo at this point asked “what do you mean?” After which that I clarified that my wife is in fact Chinese, we speak Chinese to each other, my extended family is Chinese, because of this I have lots of Chinese friends all of which I speak to in Chinese, my son is half Chinese, anyone working with me directly knows all this.
I was asked why I didn’t tell anyone this sooner, the company had already filled my position with a new candidate and they had already invested in the required training courses that he would be sent on in the following weeks etc. At this point the ceo went on a mini rant about my privileges already being cut off, that people had been taken off their tasks to double check my work and start on boarding of the new guy etc etc, a lot of stuff on how iv cost them loads of money and time. The last thing he asked was during this “weeks holiday” did it not occur to me to send an email or pick up the “fucking” phone to explain myself.
I explained what happened in HR and what I was told (not to contact anyone for any reason). This was the point I was told to leave the office and sit outside. About an hour later the others in the meeting filtered out, everyone looked PISSED, I mean proper furious, I got several glances but no one said a word to me. Went in talked to the ceo, got a new desk etc, put me back to work essentially. The HR person has not been to work since and people friendly with said HR person are now completely refusing to talk to me even for work related tasks. AITA?
RELEVANT COMMENTS
The-Keekster
sssngnch
submitted by Direct-Caterpillar77 to BestofNoUpdates [link] [comments]
AITA for not informing HR that my wife is Chinese and that I speak Chinese during a HR investigation for racism?
Originally posted to AmItheAsshole
Original Post - rareddit Feb 27, 2020
This is an odd one but I was in my company building and was on the phone to my wife and jokingly sang a few lines of a Chinese pop song (quietly) to her, private joke really.
Someone heard me do this and reported it to HR as me mocking Chinese people (and especially due to the current climate this was taken very seriously) I was sent home for a week until HR could do what they do and interview who they need to or whatever. Before they sent me home they asked if I had been saying things “in a Chinese way” to someone on the phone, I was confused by this tbh and said yes, and tried to explain more but I was told very forcefully to get out and not come back till I was contacted and that any attempt to explain myself to anyone until the investigation is finished will be seen as a sign of trying to mess with the investigation. So I obliged, whatever.
On Monday I was called in for an “interview”, after no contact with anyone during that time, when I got in someone new was sitting at my desk and all my stuff was gone. I was taken into an office and told that this was a “dismissal hearing” (who uses those words right?) on the grounds of racist behaviour during my probation period.
I asked “is it somehow racist or against company policy to talk to and joke with my own wife in her native language while I’m on beaks or not on the clock?”, 10 seconds of silence, people glancing round the room at each other, an obvious tension between everyone building. The ceo at this point asked “what do you mean?” After which that I clarified that my wife is in fact Chinese, we speak Chinese to each other, my extended family is Chinese, because of this I have lots of Chinese friends all of which I speak to in Chinese, my son is half Chinese, anyone working with me directly knows all this.
I was asked why I didn’t tell anyone this sooner, the company had already filled my position with a new candidate and they had already invested in the required training courses that he would be sent on in the following weeks etc. At this point the ceo went on a mini rant about my privileges already being cut off, that people had been taken off their tasks to double check my work and start on boarding of the new guy etc etc, a lot of stuff on how iv cost them loads of money and time. The last thing he asked was during this “weeks holiday” did it not occur to me to send an email or pick up the “fucking” phone to explain myself.
I explained what happened in HR and what I was told (not to contact anyone for any reason). This was the point I was told to leave the office and sit outside. About an hour later the others in the meeting filtered out, everyone looked PISSED, I mean proper furious, I got several glances but no one said a word to me. Went in talked to the ceo, got a new desk etc, put me back to work essentially. The HR person has not been to work since and people friendly with said HR person are now completely refusing to talk to me even for work related tasks. AITA?
RELEVANT COMMENTS
The-Keekster
This is so obviously NTA.OOP
However I'd be documenting everything in case they try to force you out.
~Couldn’t fit it all in due to character limit but I’m not out of the woods, according to the CEO I could still be fired over this due to the damage done to the company
sssngnch
NTA - You tried to explain yourself and wasn't allowed to. Afterwards during your forced "holiday" (I CANNOT believe they called it that) you were simply following the rules you were given, to not contact anyone until they contacted you. HR's negligence to do their job properly by finding out all the information relating to the situation beforehand is not your fault, not your problem.OOP
sssngnchYeah iv been told it’ll be taken out of my holidays for the year..... as the situation is still somehow my fault
OOPWow, that's such bullshit. As if you were even able to relax that whole time. As if you were partying it up until they called you in for the meeting. You were probably sitting at home wondering what the fuck just happened. I hope you are able to talk to someone about that and eventually get your vacation time back.
THIS IS A REPOST SUB - I AM NOT THE OOP. DO NOT CONTACT THE OOP OR COMMENT ON THE ORIGINAL POSTYeah from a lot of the comments here I will likely have to look into the legality’s if what happened.....
2024.06.09 14:46 No_Marzipan_1230 Industrial Mage: Modernizing a Magical World Chapter 11 – A New Skill, Jack’s Request, A Strange Visitor
Synopsis:
An engineer from earth blends science and magic to achieve greatness in another world where skills and levels reign supreme.
—
Ethan was just a plain old engineer, but everything changed when he was reborn into a world of skills, levels, and magic. With his advanced knowledge far ahead of the time period he finds himself in, this new reincarnated life will be much different than his last, especially because he can construct, deconstruct, and reconstruct runes—something no one else can do.
But with royal politics, looming tax collectors, a mountain of debt, dungeon incursions, cults, and hostile fantasy races mixing together into a cocktail of bullshit that threatens to bury his dreams; Ethan must bridge the gap between steel and sorcery to grow stronger. — What to Expect:
- Weak to very strong progression with a Sword & Magic MC that kicks a whole lotta ass. - Fast pacing. A balance of action galore, politics, kingdom building, and slow-burn runecrafting. - Fun, satisfying moments. An extra shot of happiness when reading. Hardcore wish fulfillment. Hyper competent MC. - MC will trigger an industrial revolution, abolish slavery, revolutionize magic, modernize agriculture, communication, commerce, textile production, education, transportation, sanitation, weapons manufacturing, leisure & entertainment, and medicine. - Dark truths of a medieval-esque society going under change.
Join my Discord Server to have chat, bother me, ask me questions, or just genuine fun really - https://discord.gg/d57v5upvcx
First < Previous Next > (Royal Road)
Meditation – Level 1
Type: Passive
Effect: This basic meditation technique focuses on bringing your awareness to the present moment. By calming your thoughts and observing your breath, you create a state of inner peace that fosters the natural restoration of your mana. It’s a simple practice that can be maintained throughout the day, even while traveling or performing light tasks. However, that requires a higher level of the skill. Connections: [Meditation] has formed Connections with [Magic Sensitivity] and [Magic Perception], enhancing all three skills’ effects.
A smile spread across Ethan’s face. He continued his routine like usual, albeit with one addition: daily meditation. It took some time, but slowly—ever so slowly—the dull aches behind his eyes receded, replaced by a refreshing coolness as his mana regeneration speed increased. Meditation indeed helped.
[Meditation] — Lvl 1 -> Lvl 2!
[Magic Sensitivity] — Lvl 1 -> Lvl 2!
[Magic Perception] — Lvl 1 -> Lvl 2!
“Finally!”
Unexpected bonuses! Ethan chuckled. It seemed even seemingly basic skills could have hidden relations. He closed his eyes once more. He had a feeling this was just the beginning.
Time passed, and he continued making rune motes. But a new kind of worry furrowed his brow. The novelty of handcrafted soap had its limits. The initial batch was sent to potential investors, nobles, merchants, et cetera—and it had indeed vanished like suds in a rainstorm. He’d even managed to train a couple of the more eager servants, turning them into his first, albeit slightly nervous, soap-makers. But scaling things up? That presented a whole new bar (pun entirely intended) of challenges.
First, there was the money issue. His pockets were starting to feel empty. Expanding his operation meant serious investment, something he could only take so far.
Investors. Ethan grimaced. The word conjured images of stuffy suits picking apart his plans with a practiced sneer. He shuddered. Funding everything himself was a pipe dream. He needed someone to believe in his vision, a knight in shining armor wielding a hefty bag of gold.
But the bigger challenge, the one that kept him up at night, was the production line. Hand-making was a labor of love, not large-scale commerce. He wanted a streamlined process—bubbling vats and efficient filling. Factories, of course, were out of the question. But the principles could be adapted, scaled down for his humble little workshop.
Large, sturdy vats, fire-resistant, and big enough to hold gallons of bubbling lye solution, were a must. Then came the pouring—tedious and time-consuming by hand but he would find a solution somehow. Safety, of course, was a large concern in his mind. Lye was a fickle thing. He needed proper ventilation systems, thick gloves for handling the caustic solution, and clear safety protocols practically drilled into his fledgling soap-making team. Maintaining quality was another worry. With increased volume, ensuring each bar possessed the same level of perfection became a concern.
Not to mention delays. Delays—that word was the entrepreneur’s nightmare. Machines breaking down, surprise ingredient shortages, unexpected problems in the production line… Ethan knew they were inevitable. He needed a buffer—a reserve of supplies and a maintenance plan to weather the inevitable storms. It was hardly rocket science, but the logistics of it all made his head spin.
Regardless, Ethan worked on the investor pitch, the design for the assembly line, the contingencies for delays—and with each minute, they solidified.
There’s so much to do...
***
Ethan ran a hand through his hair, standing inside the makeshift workshop they’d made to produce more soap. The latest batch of soap sat on the wooden table—smooth, white ovals that lathered luxuriously and left a hint of calming fragrance. The results were undeniable. Now, he had quite the amount of soap made already; it was time to get his creation into the hands of those who needed it most.
Selling within the barony was the easiest option. He could hire someone to hawk his wares at the market, catch the eye of housewives in need. But Holden was small, and the potential customer pool was limited. Not to mention folks knew him, and they didn’t trust him. Regardless, a well-placed stall at the weekly market would likely do the trick—meager returns, however, given that majority of the people were poor. Thankfully, they could afford it.
Ethan needed to be bold, however. The grimy hands of miners in neighboring Corinth, and the mud-caked travelers passing through the bustling border town of Westford—they all needed to experience the excellent product he’d made. Catching the eyes of a noble or two would be even better. Spreading the word beyond Holden presented a problem.
Trade fairs, perhaps. Grand events held a few times a year, attracting merchants from far and wide. The thought of securing a stall at the Westford fair, a place that would be teeming with potential buyers—and the biggest Bordertown that could arguably be called a city—was indeed enticing. But that would require waiting.
Nah, can’t wait. I need money. Merchants themselves would be it. Partnering with a reliable merchant who frequented the border towns could be a more strategic approach. He’d provide the soap, the merchant would handle the transportation and distribution, sharing the profits. But finding such a partner would be rather hard considering his reputation with the Merchants Guild...
Ethan sighed. He needed a plan that would push his soap beyond Holden and into the wider world. I should contact some of Theo’s friends...
Thinking of those “friends” that were indeed just like Theo if not worse, Ethan weighed his options, but settled for it regardless. He had no choice.
“Excellent work, everyone,” Ethan praised the workers, then walked outside where he boarded his carriage. Sitting down, Ethan looked at Roland.
“Roland. Send a letter to Hector asking if we could arrange a meeting,” Ethan ordered. “If he isn’t willing, contact every merchant of worth in Holden—contact the Merchants Guild, they will likely ignore me, given my reputation; however, even if one of them agrees to come, arrange a meeting. I will not be taking a bad deal, but we need to try anyway. Surely not all of them hate my guts...”
Roland looked doubtful of that possibility. Ethan coughed.
“As you wish, my lord.”
...
The carriage was going through the town to his manor when Ethan received a letter from Jack—through one of his undead ravens—regarding the base spell’s situation. The man had been using himself as the nexus, and the spell was working, analyzing the blight-organism’s patterns, recording them, sending them back to the nexus (Jack), and then those instructions would be sent to the base spell in every soap. The process was costing the man quite some mana, and he’d been requesting a mana crystal so he could make it the nexus instead of himself.
Mana crystals were unique, naturally forming gemstones that were imbued with magical properties They formed in regions with a high concentration of mana, often in places where the veil between the physical and magical realms was thin. These regions typically formed deep underground, in caves or ancient ruins, making them difficult to access. The formation of a mana crystal itself a slow process. Over centuries, the ambient mana in these regions coalesces and crystallizes, forming these precious gemstones. The size, purity, and power of a mana crystal depend on the concentration of mana in the area and the length of time it has had to form.
Procuring mana crystals was a dangerous and costly endeavor because it required skilled miners and mages to safely extract the crystals without damaging them or causing magical backlash—it could even be called magical cancer. Worse yet, they could explode. Thus, all the mana crystal areas were akin to area-51 back on Earth. Heavily secured, well-guarded, with possibly several types of magical alarms and defenses to detect intruders, and these mines were watched very, very closely by whoever could. Once extracted, the crystals must be carefully handled and stored to prevent their magical energy from dissipating. Due to their rarity, power, and the difficulty in procuring them, mana crystals were highly valuable. Often used in powerful spells, magical research, and as a power source for magical devices.
The flow of Mana Crystals into the market is strictly controlled due to their potential for misuse—though, if Ethan was being true to himself, it was most likely so the crystals could be sold at exorbitant prices. Though, the “official” reasoning by the mining guilds was that in the wrong hands, a mana crystal could be used to fuel destructive spells or create forbidden magical artifacts. As such, governments and guilds often regulated their sale and distribution, requiring permits and licenses for their purchase and use.
That’s why it’s quite understandable that a mana crystal would be the best nexus. Thinking so, Ethan rubbed his chin. However, mana crystals are expensive...
Ethan wrote back to Jack, penning his concerns and reassuring Jack that he would try to get his hands on a mana crystal as soon as possible. However, it would take time as they’re hard to come by. Not to mention, they cost a hefty sum, and Ethan lacked money at the moment. I need a way to make it absolutely certain that Hector will agree to be an investor. I also need people in the Merchants Guild backing me up—
As he was writing to Jack, Ethan suddenly had an idea. He paused, blinking, staring at the raven. Hmmm. I wonder if I can use these little guys to gather dirt on nobles. The morality of doing such a thing was questionable, and he would rather not do it, but he was in a world that required such actions if he wanted to survive.
Ethan leaned back into the soft backrest inside the carriage, a pensive look on his face as his mind raced with possibilities. He knew the noble houses of the kingdom engaged in all manner of unsavory dealings—corruption, bribery, smuggling, tax evasion on a grand scale, illegal trade in magical artifacts, forced labor in hidden mines, pregnant prostitutes, bastard sons and daughters, and even human trafficking. Heck, he was sure many secretly engaged in trafficking exotic Beastkin from the other continent. A cold disgust settled in Ethan’s stomach. Some Noblewomen with harems of human-looking Beastkin for their amusement. Men who lusted after feline Beastkin, keeping them chained and collared, using their enhanced senses for perverse pleasures. Sadists, the entire lot of them.
The children of these unions were another layer of tragedy. Then there were the barbaric collectors, humans who craved the immense strength of the Minotaurs, using them as gladiatorial entertainment or worse, in underground fighting rings where blood painted the cobblestones—heck, he was sure many were breeding monstrous Chimera for use in their personal fighting ring. The Beastkin weren’t livestock, they were sentient beings, their cultures and traditions as rich and varied as any human kingdom. Yet, here, in the supposed bastion of civilization, they were nothing more than exotic commodities to fuel the insatiable desires of some of the elite.
Lucianos Solarian IV, the Emperor, had outlawed Beastkin trafficking decades ago, and the punishment for defiance was a brutal lesson etched in blood. The first year after Beastkin slavery and trafficking were outlawed was etched into history.
Public execution wasn’t harsh enough. Traffickers were broken first—physically and mentally. Men and women alike. Weeks of torture were standard, designed to make them not only regret their crimes but also serve as a terrifying public reminder of the Emperor’s wrath. Ethan shuddered. He’d heard about men and women being flayed alive, their screams echoing through the city squares. They were forced to march through the city squares, stripped of their finery and any magical glamours that masked their appearance, stoned. Their crimes were announced to the jeering crowds, their faces branded with a mark signifying their depravity. They were then forced into hard labor, their bodies broken and their vanity shattered.
Surely, the Emperor was no kind man, and the message was clear: Beastkin were not slaves, not pets, not trophies. They were sentient beings deserving of respect, and the Emperor would tolerate no violation of their rights. Theodore’s father was the same, Obsidian was one of the better Kingdoms under the Empire. Heck, it could be said to be the best.
However, just like always, people still participated in sick behavior. Not everyone, to be fair. But a minority, still. And given how large the Solaris Empire was—and not to mention the other Empires that were worse than Solaris—there were bound to be dark secrets that they would do anything to keep buried. It was just how things were, and Ethan doubted it would ever end (the continent of Beastkin wasn’t any better; humans were the ones exotic there).
Thus, Jack’s undead ravens could be the perfect spies, slipping into noble manors and gatherings unnoticed, their beady eyes and keen senses recording every sordid detail. With enough incriminating evidence, he could blackmail these nobles into supporting his business ventures, ensuring they backed his proposals and used their influence to aid the common folk. Ethan would feel no remorse, regret, or apprehension for doing. The thought of wielding such leverage would give him a significant advantage when he inevitably threw his hat into the political arena. He refused to be a mere pawn, manipulated by those with wealth and status.
This way, he could control the game from the start.
However, a nagging voice in the back of his mind cautioned him. Using necromantic summons for espionage was hardly an original idea. Surely, some of the more paranoid nobles would have measures in place to detect and counter such tactics. He would need to tread carefully, lest the ravens be discovered and his plans unraveled before they began.
Still, the potential rewards outweighed the risks. With careful planning and execution, he could amass a wealth of compromising information, giving him the power to shape the kingdom’s policies for the betterment of its people. It was an ambitious gambit, but one he felt was worth pursuing despite the moral wound he’d receive from doing it.
Then, when the time is right—I can report them to the Emperor.
Ethan’s gaze drifted back to the raven, its lifeless eyes seeming to bore into him.
A wry smile tugged at his lips. Let’s see what secrets you can uncover for me, my little friend. Thinking so, he added a line saying that he would like to meet Jack sometime and talk about a “business opportunity”—after all, talking about such illegal activities that he was thinking of doing wouldn’t be wise over a letter.
...
A pleasant surprise awaited Ethan in his manor. A middle-aged man in simple attire paced within the living room. He had light, close-cut brown hair and brown skin. The stranger had sharp features, a salt-and-pepper beard, and a kind face that seemed easy on the eyes. Upon seeing Ethan, the man’s features stretched into a deeper smile as he bowed.
“Lord Theodore. I am Derrick. My apologies for the unscheduled visit.”
“It’s alright. I’m not sure if we have met before, Sir Derrick,” Ethan responded, glancing at Roland who appeared to have recognized the man. Roland gave Ethan a look that said I know this man, and he’s here for business.
“Indeed, we haven’t, my lord. I am Derrick, and I used to be a member of the Red Tower. I come here to talk about introductory books that you might interested in—and a far better deal that could benefit the both of us.”
Ethan raised an eyebrow, then smiled.
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submitted by No_Marzipan_1230 to HFY [link] [comments]
An engineer from earth blends science and magic to achieve greatness in another world where skills and levels reign supreme.
—
Ethan was just a plain old engineer, but everything changed when he was reborn into a world of skills, levels, and magic. With his advanced knowledge far ahead of the time period he finds himself in, this new reincarnated life will be much different than his last, especially because he can construct, deconstruct, and reconstruct runes—something no one else can do.
But with royal politics, looming tax collectors, a mountain of debt, dungeon incursions, cults, and hostile fantasy races mixing together into a cocktail of bullshit that threatens to bury his dreams; Ethan must bridge the gap between steel and sorcery to grow stronger. — What to Expect:
- Weak to very strong progression with a Sword & Magic MC that kicks a whole lotta ass. - Fast pacing. A balance of action galore, politics, kingdom building, and slow-burn runecrafting. - Fun, satisfying moments. An extra shot of happiness when reading. Hardcore wish fulfillment. Hyper competent MC. - MC will trigger an industrial revolution, abolish slavery, revolutionize magic, modernize agriculture, communication, commerce, textile production, education, transportation, sanitation, weapons manufacturing, leisure & entertainment, and medicine. - Dark truths of a medieval-esque society going under change.
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Chapter 11
Congratulations! You have unlocked the skill: [Meditation]!Meditation – Level 1
Type: Passive
Effect: This basic meditation technique focuses on bringing your awareness to the present moment. By calming your thoughts and observing your breath, you create a state of inner peace that fosters the natural restoration of your mana. It’s a simple practice that can be maintained throughout the day, even while traveling or performing light tasks. However, that requires a higher level of the skill. Connections: [Meditation] has formed Connections with [Magic Sensitivity] and [Magic Perception], enhancing all three skills’ effects.
A smile spread across Ethan’s face. He continued his routine like usual, albeit with one addition: daily meditation. It took some time, but slowly—ever so slowly—the dull aches behind his eyes receded, replaced by a refreshing coolness as his mana regeneration speed increased. Meditation indeed helped.
[Meditation] — Lvl 1 -> Lvl 2!
[Magic Sensitivity] — Lvl 1 -> Lvl 2!
[Magic Perception] — Lvl 1 -> Lvl 2!
“Finally!”
Unexpected bonuses! Ethan chuckled. It seemed even seemingly basic skills could have hidden relations. He closed his eyes once more. He had a feeling this was just the beginning.
Time passed, and he continued making rune motes. But a new kind of worry furrowed his brow. The novelty of handcrafted soap had its limits. The initial batch was sent to potential investors, nobles, merchants, et cetera—and it had indeed vanished like suds in a rainstorm. He’d even managed to train a couple of the more eager servants, turning them into his first, albeit slightly nervous, soap-makers. But scaling things up? That presented a whole new bar (pun entirely intended) of challenges.
First, there was the money issue. His pockets were starting to feel empty. Expanding his operation meant serious investment, something he could only take so far.
Investors. Ethan grimaced. The word conjured images of stuffy suits picking apart his plans with a practiced sneer. He shuddered. Funding everything himself was a pipe dream. He needed someone to believe in his vision, a knight in shining armor wielding a hefty bag of gold.
But the bigger challenge, the one that kept him up at night, was the production line. Hand-making was a labor of love, not large-scale commerce. He wanted a streamlined process—bubbling vats and efficient filling. Factories, of course, were out of the question. But the principles could be adapted, scaled down for his humble little workshop.
Large, sturdy vats, fire-resistant, and big enough to hold gallons of bubbling lye solution, were a must. Then came the pouring—tedious and time-consuming by hand but he would find a solution somehow. Safety, of course, was a large concern in his mind. Lye was a fickle thing. He needed proper ventilation systems, thick gloves for handling the caustic solution, and clear safety protocols practically drilled into his fledgling soap-making team. Maintaining quality was another worry. With increased volume, ensuring each bar possessed the same level of perfection became a concern.
Not to mention delays. Delays—that word was the entrepreneur’s nightmare. Machines breaking down, surprise ingredient shortages, unexpected problems in the production line… Ethan knew they were inevitable. He needed a buffer—a reserve of supplies and a maintenance plan to weather the inevitable storms. It was hardly rocket science, but the logistics of it all made his head spin.
Regardless, Ethan worked on the investor pitch, the design for the assembly line, the contingencies for delays—and with each minute, they solidified.
There’s so much to do...
***
Ethan ran a hand through his hair, standing inside the makeshift workshop they’d made to produce more soap. The latest batch of soap sat on the wooden table—smooth, white ovals that lathered luxuriously and left a hint of calming fragrance. The results were undeniable. Now, he had quite the amount of soap made already; it was time to get his creation into the hands of those who needed it most.
Selling within the barony was the easiest option. He could hire someone to hawk his wares at the market, catch the eye of housewives in need. But Holden was small, and the potential customer pool was limited. Not to mention folks knew him, and they didn’t trust him. Regardless, a well-placed stall at the weekly market would likely do the trick—meager returns, however, given that majority of the people were poor. Thankfully, they could afford it.
Ethan needed to be bold, however. The grimy hands of miners in neighboring Corinth, and the mud-caked travelers passing through the bustling border town of Westford—they all needed to experience the excellent product he’d made. Catching the eyes of a noble or two would be even better. Spreading the word beyond Holden presented a problem.
Trade fairs, perhaps. Grand events held a few times a year, attracting merchants from far and wide. The thought of securing a stall at the Westford fair, a place that would be teeming with potential buyers—and the biggest Bordertown that could arguably be called a city—was indeed enticing. But that would require waiting.
Nah, can’t wait. I need money. Merchants themselves would be it. Partnering with a reliable merchant who frequented the border towns could be a more strategic approach. He’d provide the soap, the merchant would handle the transportation and distribution, sharing the profits. But finding such a partner would be rather hard considering his reputation with the Merchants Guild...
Ethan sighed. He needed a plan that would push his soap beyond Holden and into the wider world. I should contact some of Theo’s friends...
Thinking of those “friends” that were indeed just like Theo if not worse, Ethan weighed his options, but settled for it regardless. He had no choice.
“Excellent work, everyone,” Ethan praised the workers, then walked outside where he boarded his carriage. Sitting down, Ethan looked at Roland.
“Roland. Send a letter to Hector asking if we could arrange a meeting,” Ethan ordered. “If he isn’t willing, contact every merchant of worth in Holden—contact the Merchants Guild, they will likely ignore me, given my reputation; however, even if one of them agrees to come, arrange a meeting. I will not be taking a bad deal, but we need to try anyway. Surely not all of them hate my guts...”
Roland looked doubtful of that possibility. Ethan coughed.
“As you wish, my lord.”
...
The carriage was going through the town to his manor when Ethan received a letter from Jack—through one of his undead ravens—regarding the base spell’s situation. The man had been using himself as the nexus, and the spell was working, analyzing the blight-organism’s patterns, recording them, sending them back to the nexus (Jack), and then those instructions would be sent to the base spell in every soap. The process was costing the man quite some mana, and he’d been requesting a mana crystal so he could make it the nexus instead of himself.
Mana crystals were unique, naturally forming gemstones that were imbued with magical properties They formed in regions with a high concentration of mana, often in places where the veil between the physical and magical realms was thin. These regions typically formed deep underground, in caves or ancient ruins, making them difficult to access. The formation of a mana crystal itself a slow process. Over centuries, the ambient mana in these regions coalesces and crystallizes, forming these precious gemstones. The size, purity, and power of a mana crystal depend on the concentration of mana in the area and the length of time it has had to form.
Procuring mana crystals was a dangerous and costly endeavor because it required skilled miners and mages to safely extract the crystals without damaging them or causing magical backlash—it could even be called magical cancer. Worse yet, they could explode. Thus, all the mana crystal areas were akin to area-51 back on Earth. Heavily secured, well-guarded, with possibly several types of magical alarms and defenses to detect intruders, and these mines were watched very, very closely by whoever could. Once extracted, the crystals must be carefully handled and stored to prevent their magical energy from dissipating. Due to their rarity, power, and the difficulty in procuring them, mana crystals were highly valuable. Often used in powerful spells, magical research, and as a power source for magical devices.
The flow of Mana Crystals into the market is strictly controlled due to their potential for misuse—though, if Ethan was being true to himself, it was most likely so the crystals could be sold at exorbitant prices. Though, the “official” reasoning by the mining guilds was that in the wrong hands, a mana crystal could be used to fuel destructive spells or create forbidden magical artifacts. As such, governments and guilds often regulated their sale and distribution, requiring permits and licenses for their purchase and use.
That’s why it’s quite understandable that a mana crystal would be the best nexus. Thinking so, Ethan rubbed his chin. However, mana crystals are expensive...
Ethan wrote back to Jack, penning his concerns and reassuring Jack that he would try to get his hands on a mana crystal as soon as possible. However, it would take time as they’re hard to come by. Not to mention, they cost a hefty sum, and Ethan lacked money at the moment. I need a way to make it absolutely certain that Hector will agree to be an investor. I also need people in the Merchants Guild backing me up—
As he was writing to Jack, Ethan suddenly had an idea. He paused, blinking, staring at the raven. Hmmm. I wonder if I can use these little guys to gather dirt on nobles. The morality of doing such a thing was questionable, and he would rather not do it, but he was in a world that required such actions if he wanted to survive.
Ethan leaned back into the soft backrest inside the carriage, a pensive look on his face as his mind raced with possibilities. He knew the noble houses of the kingdom engaged in all manner of unsavory dealings—corruption, bribery, smuggling, tax evasion on a grand scale, illegal trade in magical artifacts, forced labor in hidden mines, pregnant prostitutes, bastard sons and daughters, and even human trafficking. Heck, he was sure many secretly engaged in trafficking exotic Beastkin from the other continent. A cold disgust settled in Ethan’s stomach. Some Noblewomen with harems of human-looking Beastkin for their amusement. Men who lusted after feline Beastkin, keeping them chained and collared, using their enhanced senses for perverse pleasures. Sadists, the entire lot of them.
The children of these unions were another layer of tragedy. Then there were the barbaric collectors, humans who craved the immense strength of the Minotaurs, using them as gladiatorial entertainment or worse, in underground fighting rings where blood painted the cobblestones—heck, he was sure many were breeding monstrous Chimera for use in their personal fighting ring. The Beastkin weren’t livestock, they were sentient beings, their cultures and traditions as rich and varied as any human kingdom. Yet, here, in the supposed bastion of civilization, they were nothing more than exotic commodities to fuel the insatiable desires of some of the elite.
Lucianos Solarian IV, the Emperor, had outlawed Beastkin trafficking decades ago, and the punishment for defiance was a brutal lesson etched in blood. The first year after Beastkin slavery and trafficking were outlawed was etched into history.
Public execution wasn’t harsh enough. Traffickers were broken first—physically and mentally. Men and women alike. Weeks of torture were standard, designed to make them not only regret their crimes but also serve as a terrifying public reminder of the Emperor’s wrath. Ethan shuddered. He’d heard about men and women being flayed alive, their screams echoing through the city squares. They were forced to march through the city squares, stripped of their finery and any magical glamours that masked their appearance, stoned. Their crimes were announced to the jeering crowds, their faces branded with a mark signifying their depravity. They were then forced into hard labor, their bodies broken and their vanity shattered.
Surely, the Emperor was no kind man, and the message was clear: Beastkin were not slaves, not pets, not trophies. They were sentient beings deserving of respect, and the Emperor would tolerate no violation of their rights. Theodore’s father was the same, Obsidian was one of the better Kingdoms under the Empire. Heck, it could be said to be the best.
However, just like always, people still participated in sick behavior. Not everyone, to be fair. But a minority, still. And given how large the Solaris Empire was—and not to mention the other Empires that were worse than Solaris—there were bound to be dark secrets that they would do anything to keep buried. It was just how things were, and Ethan doubted it would ever end (the continent of Beastkin wasn’t any better; humans were the ones exotic there).
Thus, Jack’s undead ravens could be the perfect spies, slipping into noble manors and gatherings unnoticed, their beady eyes and keen senses recording every sordid detail. With enough incriminating evidence, he could blackmail these nobles into supporting his business ventures, ensuring they backed his proposals and used their influence to aid the common folk. Ethan would feel no remorse, regret, or apprehension for doing. The thought of wielding such leverage would give him a significant advantage when he inevitably threw his hat into the political arena. He refused to be a mere pawn, manipulated by those with wealth and status.
This way, he could control the game from the start.
However, a nagging voice in the back of his mind cautioned him. Using necromantic summons for espionage was hardly an original idea. Surely, some of the more paranoid nobles would have measures in place to detect and counter such tactics. He would need to tread carefully, lest the ravens be discovered and his plans unraveled before they began.
Still, the potential rewards outweighed the risks. With careful planning and execution, he could amass a wealth of compromising information, giving him the power to shape the kingdom’s policies for the betterment of its people. It was an ambitious gambit, but one he felt was worth pursuing despite the moral wound he’d receive from doing it.
Then, when the time is right—I can report them to the Emperor.
Ethan’s gaze drifted back to the raven, its lifeless eyes seeming to bore into him.
A wry smile tugged at his lips. Let’s see what secrets you can uncover for me, my little friend. Thinking so, he added a line saying that he would like to meet Jack sometime and talk about a “business opportunity”—after all, talking about such illegal activities that he was thinking of doing wouldn’t be wise over a letter.
...
A pleasant surprise awaited Ethan in his manor. A middle-aged man in simple attire paced within the living room. He had light, close-cut brown hair and brown skin. The stranger had sharp features, a salt-and-pepper beard, and a kind face that seemed easy on the eyes. Upon seeing Ethan, the man’s features stretched into a deeper smile as he bowed.
“Lord Theodore. I am Derrick. My apologies for the unscheduled visit.”
“It’s alright. I’m not sure if we have met before, Sir Derrick,” Ethan responded, glancing at Roland who appeared to have recognized the man. Roland gave Ethan a look that said I know this man, and he’s here for business.
“Indeed, we haven’t, my lord. I am Derrick, and I used to be a member of the Red Tower. I come here to talk about introductory books that you might interested in—and a far better deal that could benefit the both of us.”
Ethan raised an eyebrow, then smiled.
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2024.06.09 14:43 BiasMushroom Destination; Wriss (A NoP Fic Ch 70) Part 19
Nature of Humanity Ch 70
Destination; Wriss Part 19
A Fanfic of u/SpacePaladin15’s work “The Nature of Predators.” Thank you for the story!
___
Excerpt from Morvim Charter Spy Crevan’s log, recovered from a Betterment facility on Wriss,
Journal Date: T.S.T. November 5th, 2136
Father believes that turning my notes into something more of a confessional might help deal with my night terrors without appearing weak in front of the crew. Last night’s were some of the worst I have ever had. It started out with how they all do. I wear the guise of a true red-blooded Auditor, and find some unwitting sap to feed to the Dominion’s growing paranoia and execute them. Their brains pour out of their head like water. Then the call comes in. A suspected defect harboring malformed Arxur and prey.
The home looks like every single one approved of by the Dominion. The muffled screams coming from the gagged and bagged barely even register. It takes me no time to find the trap door. Even less to pry it open and rip my own son out of his only shelter. Wriss damn me, I feel nothing, breaking his neck just like every other malformed I’ve found.
I hear scampering in the hole. I pull out Elva, Wiesera and don’t even blink as I throw them to the Dominion raiders accompanying me. The sounds of their screams mean nothing as I continue my search. Rivera, Caulnek, and Barmlin are hiding in a closet. I don’t even bother opening the door. Just fire my sidearm through it.
When I exit the house I pull the bags off and execute my father. Then the two I just roped into this. Followed shortly thereafter by Lesh and Mico. I save my wife for last. The Wriss-damned Prophet descendant himself praises me and tells me to kill the final traitor. I put the gun to my own temple and pull the trigger. I never have enough rounds for myself too.
I don’t feel better writing this down.
We have had a full shift rotation without any serious problems. Most likely the Venlil’s natural desire to be friendly with everyone in their herd is going to cause an issue with Lesh most likely and Mico and Ishviel as close seconds. I am hesitant to try and keep those two away as they at least try to be social, but Lesh is actively lashing out.
It started with the ‘movie’ night Caulnek had. Father and Hrallak happily watched the ‘for fun media’ and Ishviel tried his best, but human entertainment was lost on him. Lesh found the entire idea to be a waste of time and chose to remain alone until his bridge shift arose.
From there, Lesh refused to communicate with anything more complex than a grunt to his shift partner Hrallak. The girl has enough problems as is. We don’t need Lesh causing more stress for her. We may also have a problem with Rivera who is either pushing Lesh into having a meltdown or accept that the changes we are experiencing are, in fact, good. Whenever Lesh goes to have a meal the eccentric Venlil isn’t that far behind him.
Turns out those broad flat teeth actually do a good job of breaking bones to get to the marrow, which he isn’t interested in. So they have a sort of standoff mutual existence going on where Rivera gets Lesh’s bones and Lesh takes advantage of Rivera’s teeth in place of putting the effort in himself. I can’t tell if the stillness that comes over him is from holding back the rage of listening to that Venlil yap or if he actually enjoys the noise.
Hrallak has been getting trained by Dr. Wiesera, who has high hopes for her. I’ve not had a chance to speak to her about training more Doctors for the colony of runaways we are trying to make, but I should make that a priority. Better to plan for a future we don’t have than to outlive your plans.
Approximately [twelve days] to Wriss. No other events of note to add.
~~~
Memory transcription subject: Crevan, Morvim Charter Soldier
Date [standardized human time]: November 5th, 2136
Ugh. Today’s the day. No time to walk or even have something to eat. Lesh should be ending his shift and hopefully that will leave him tired enough to be reasonable. What a great way to start the day. Going into a disciplinary meeting with probably the strongest Arxur on the ship first thing after waking up. One that doesn’t have to fear what the dominion would do to him if he killed me.
He wasn’t difficult to find. He, of course, beelined straight for his room, “It’s a nice luxury, isn’t it? Not being packed into this glorified meat carrier with a hundred irritable Arxur. Walk with me.”
He hissed in frustration but turned as ordered. I wasn’t expecting a miracle. Just to get him to at least try and loosen up a bit, “You are in this for revenge. As far as I can tell, you are the only one of us in this for revenge. I have a proposition for you.”
His reply came forth like a saw trying to cut through metal, but the blade was on backwards, “Yes sir?”
I led him into the cattle pen that was turned into a makeshift freezer. The cold air seemed to affect us both equally, as we shivered a bit, “I’ve been thinking about the Dominion… the Federation… and whatever stupid alliance Humanity has managed to pull out of its ass…”
The pause I inserted into my preplanned speech allowed me enough time to judge his reaction on each of our enemies as well as to ponder on Humanity and where I was going with this. He hesitantly took the bait, “And what have you concluded.”
“The Federation can’t destroy the Dominion and the Dominion won’t be able to fight on two fronts. Humanity knows war. They’ve lived and breathed it for centuries, we’ve only fought a one-sided genocide. The Dominion and the Federation won’t be able to compete with humanity the second they get their feet under them. The bombing of Earth hasn’t slowed them. It’s lit a fire under their ass.”
I had a hunch that Lesh wasn’t some roided up raider. I could see the gears turning in his head, “With Isif protecting Earth… The Federation can’t finish the job and the Dominion won’t attack them to bring them in line… Humanity has already started producing Prey- Alien? FUCK it. Prey fighters that can actually fight and sit in the same room as us without shitting themselves to death…”
“They have to take out the Federation first. No doubts about it. But they aren’t going to let the Dominion just continue to eat Sapients. That is going to result in the Dominion doing the stupidest thing possible and attacking an Earth and its allies that have been gearing up for real war since the second the bombs started falling. Remember. The ONLY reason we took the cradle is because Isif sacrificed hundreds of ships in orbit. We didn’t take the ground. We only took space which they came back and took. Every engagement on the ground resulted in fifteen and a half dead raiders to every human.”
The carnage of that debacle brought a happy jilt to his body language, “So, the only way this will ever really end is with both the Federation and Dominion falling.”
“And with what I know of the humans, neither side will be allowed to go without punishment. That is assuming there's enough of them left over to be tried for their crimes.”
“I like that thought but why bring this up to me.”
“Because all that will be left of us will be this tiny colony when this is over. It will be the only thing Humanity can say is untainted enough to be worthy of not being baptized in holy antimatter. I need- No. We need people that can help lead us. The remnants of the Morvim Charter NEED you. Need your strength, your guile, your… sociableness and sense of justice. I am asking you to join us proper. To help us forge a path into the future. Fight not just for your justice but live to build a better world.”
I felt fear as rage rushed across his face, and hope as it softened. He huffed and spat and paced around the room. It felt like the punch he launched into the steel wall reverberated through the whole ship. The panel fell off as he pulled his fist from the dent he made. He didn’t ask for permission to leave as he stormed away. At least I’m alive… Going to put him down as a maybe.
Unfortunately, it would seem Caulnek and Rivera picked now as the perfect time to also talk to Lesh. Rivera was sort of bouncing on the spot as Lesh growled and thumped his tail angrily, “Lesh! Guess what I remembered I found back on earth!”
The well-built Venlil rolled his eyes and smacked Rivera on the back of the head, “Rivera stole a copy of a Human military strategy game. One famed for simulating actual human battles. It’s set from military conflicts from their first World War to the last war before their first contact. Ishviel was hoping for more insights on Human strategies, and we thought it would be something that would pique your interest. You are welcome to come or not. Just don’t bring that shitty attitude you’ve been carrying around. We are trying to enjoy these few days before landing in paradise.”
My jaw nearly hit the floor as what I could only describe as a Lesh gently lifted his tail in intrigue, “What is this… game?”
Caulnek scratched his chin for a moment before snapping, “It’s a squad-based attack vs defense game with one or two players. One person sets up their defense and the attacker has to go in blind and deal with it. It’s actually a pretty clever system and I have no doubt the owner is going to peel Rivera’s hide off when we get back to Earth.”
The kleptomaniac slowly realized what Caulnek said, “Yeah it’s pretty fuuuuuu- huh?! Wait! Do you really think Andrew would do that?!”
Caulnek turned and walked off as Lesh followed, “Hrm… It sounds like it might be an effective way to mentally prepare for our own assault.”
Rivera tucked his tail and practically begged for an answer, “Guys… seriously! Am I going to be in danger?! Guys!”
Caulnek whipped his tail excitedly, “At the worst it will be a nice distraction. The game only has Human units in it, but it actually has a stat editor. I think I can bypass its normal restrictions and program in stats similar to what we can expect our enemy to have, but let’s play the game first. Get a feel for the rules and see if it's even worth the effort.”
With Lesh calmed down I made the choice to give him a little more time before I decided to see what this game was. I made my way to the bridge. Oddly enough I walked past Mico sitting in an open closet on my way there, “Mico? What are you doing? Shouldn’t you be resting?”
The sleek Arxur didn’t turn to face me, “I am in a sense resting right now. The Humans call it meditation. I received a book on it. So far… I think it's forcing me to come to terms with some stuff.”
I leaned against the door frame, “Is it better than sleeping?”
There was a long bit of silence before Mico brought his paws to his face and messaged his eyes, “No. But… it’s not really a replacement for sleeping.” He picked up a nearby book and opened it, “Meditation can give you a sense of calm, peace and balance that can benefit your emotional well-being and your overall health. You also can use it to relax and cope with stress by focusing on something that calms you. Meditation can help you learn to stay centered and keep inner peace.” He set the book back down, “Basically, I think it will help me remain calm. Despite being in the least crowded ship I have ever been on… It feels more claustrophobic than ever. The Prey- our companions are… I have no other word to describe it but intense. It feels like my head is going to pop when I am in a room with them. This meditation is helping me I think. Since I started this before we left… It’s been easier.”
I rapped my knuckles on the door frame, “If it works get Lesh to do it too. The thug is going to blow a gasket if he can’t calm down soon.”
Mico let out a slight chuckle, “You don’t have to tell me that. I just got off a shift with him, and he wouldn’t shut up about bringing the prey and defectives along. I think he’s actually scared they are going to get hurt.”
I plodded off to let Mico resume his meditation. His words about Lesh weren’t exactly anything I didn’t know. That Arxur cares more than any other I’ve met. He’s been hurt before by that care.
The bridge door opened to reveal my father in his command chair with Elva lounging at the pilot’s seat. The latter of which tried and failed to perk her floppy ears up with concern, “Did something happen? Shouldn’t you be watching over the rest of them? Make sure no one… flips their shit?”
I scoffed, “Yeah… I don’t think those paranoia plans will be necessary. Lesh is acting out because he has grown attached to all of you. Us too. Mico is taking up ‘meditation’ to calm himself and better deal with everything. Hrallak is just happy to be free even if she ends up dead, and Ishviel… well, he’s already a runt. Caulnek and Rivera could easily take him, let alone together and even then, he seems to be happy that he doesn’t have to prove his strength to them to get respect. The lot of them can go unsupervised… for a bit.”
Elva leaned back in her chair and relaxed, “Good. Hopefully, this is a sign of things going smoothly. My guts have been in a knot since we left.”
Ivan barked out a laugh, “I think that's been the case for all of us. I’ve never liked returning to Wriss to begin with, but before I never had to worry about fighting the entire damned planet. This is… Terrifying.”
I nodded my head in understanding, “We are about to either do the dumbest thing ever or kickstart the end of the Dominion.”
Elva asked, “Is it true we aren’t saving the entirety of the Morvim Charter Remnants?”
My father sighed, “Yes. A lot of them have to remain behind to cover our escape. They also need to stay behind to fan the fires we leave. The Dominion is going to appear weak so it's the best recruiting drive they will ever have.”
Elva closed her eyes and leaned back, “Alright then. We get there. Secure a port. Plan our attack, take the ship and get the hell out of there… Far too much can go wrong with this.”
I couldn’t help but nod my head, “On the bright side at least you guys have a get out of jail free card. If we get caught… well, it’s not going to be but a few moments of extreme heat for us.”
My second in command let out a long exasperated sound, “Uuuwweeeeeegh… Can you leave now? I was having such a nice time sitting here bored out of my mind before you showed up. Go check up on the guys. See how Hrallak’s medical lessons are going or something.”
I bowed and left the bridge. The infirmary our ship had wasn’t quite suited to actually saving lives. At least that was the case before Humanity got their hands on it. Wiesera and Elva had been delighted to go through all the gadgets and gizmos the ‘Doctors Without Borders’ had given them. Apparently, mobile medical hospitals specialized for ease of movement and treatment in war torn areas is something of a specialty of theirs.
Sadly, as I entered the actual infirmary only a small fraction of the medical devices were even set up. Wiesera and Hrallak were standing over a table with a startling realistic headless torso of an Arxur laying on it with its chest pried open.
The Zurulian picked up a latex heart, “As you can see here, the Arxur heart is a three-chamber heart. This implies that the Arxur were at one point coldblooded, like other reptiles. I imagine given another few hundred generations we might see Arxur with four-chambered hearts.”
Hrallak twisted her head to the side confused, “Why would we get four-chambered hearts?”
“Efficiency. Four chambered hearts can keep deoxygenated blood from mixing with oxygenated blood. This way the only blood entering the lungs is completely ready to pick up Oxygen and all the blood going to muscles is carrying its maximum capacity for oxygen. As short sprint, ambush predators you don’t need a strong supply of oxygen to hit your target, but if the chase were to carry on, animals with four chambers can better supply oxygen to their muscles…”
Hrallak bobbed her head in understanding, “And maintain power for longer…”
“Actually, we are already seeing medical reports of Arxur with a harmless heart defect giving them four chambers.” To my surprise, both ladies didn’t jump at my sudden interjection. It seemed they noticed my arrival, “The Prophet-descendants were debating on scanning people’s hearts and purging those with the defects… until one of the descendants was found to have the defect too and now its ‘proof of superior genetics’ or some bullshit.”
The medic in training set a paw on her chest, “Makes sense. I wonder if I have it too.”
Wiesera looked at the latex heart in her hands, “It wouldn’t hurt to set up the portable echocardiogram. It wouldn’t hurt to make sure we know what biology everyone has… actually, Crevan. Let the Arxur crew know we are about to do some health check-ups on everyone. I want to know what everyone’s hearts look like in the event I have to fix them. Now Hrallak see here- Crevan! What are you waiting for! We do not have forever here! Move it!”
I bowed and headed for the Cafeteria. It would seem Wiesera is warming up to her role as lead medic.
___/\___
Crevan seems to not being doing too hot… actually most of the crew is on edge. Lizard boi does his rounds and checks on the crew. It seems like everyone is settling in for the long ride to Wriss. Hopefully things go smoothly when they get there.
Welp! I got laid off! So I’m waiting a month to see if my job opens back up or if I am going to be working somewhere else. Now that sounds like I have time to write but my job actually kept my Autism/ADHD in check as the only thing I could do on break was write so hopefully I can keep up with my chapters and get Part 2 of the devil you know done. I almost had it done but I hated the whole chapter and have to rewrite it.
Special thanks to u/JulianSkies and u/callmefishy11 for proofreading! Seriously it felt like my eyes were melting out of my skull and your feedback was everything I needed!
___/\___
Directory
Library of BiasMushroom contains every link for everything I have written! Check it out as some stuff related to Nature of Humanity may not appear on HFY! As well as my little side stories and Fanfics of other NoP fanfics!
The Nature of Humanity
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Destination; Wriss
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submitted by BiasMushroom to HFY [link] [comments]
Destination; Wriss Part 19
A Fanfic of u/SpacePaladin15’s work “The Nature of Predators.” Thank you for the story!
___
Excerpt from Morvim Charter Spy Crevan’s log, recovered from a Betterment facility on Wriss,
Journal Date: T.S.T. November 5th, 2136
Father believes that turning my notes into something more of a confessional might help deal with my night terrors without appearing weak in front of the crew. Last night’s were some of the worst I have ever had. It started out with how they all do. I wear the guise of a true red-blooded Auditor, and find some unwitting sap to feed to the Dominion’s growing paranoia and execute them. Their brains pour out of their head like water. Then the call comes in. A suspected defect harboring malformed Arxur and prey.
The home looks like every single one approved of by the Dominion. The muffled screams coming from the gagged and bagged barely even register. It takes me no time to find the trap door. Even less to pry it open and rip my own son out of his only shelter. Wriss damn me, I feel nothing, breaking his neck just like every other malformed I’ve found.
I hear scampering in the hole. I pull out Elva, Wiesera and don’t even blink as I throw them to the Dominion raiders accompanying me. The sounds of their screams mean nothing as I continue my search. Rivera, Caulnek, and Barmlin are hiding in a closet. I don’t even bother opening the door. Just fire my sidearm through it.
When I exit the house I pull the bags off and execute my father. Then the two I just roped into this. Followed shortly thereafter by Lesh and Mico. I save my wife for last. The Wriss-damned Prophet descendant himself praises me and tells me to kill the final traitor. I put the gun to my own temple and pull the trigger. I never have enough rounds for myself too.
I don’t feel better writing this down.
We have had a full shift rotation without any serious problems. Most likely the Venlil’s natural desire to be friendly with everyone in their herd is going to cause an issue with Lesh most likely and Mico and Ishviel as close seconds. I am hesitant to try and keep those two away as they at least try to be social, but Lesh is actively lashing out.
It started with the ‘movie’ night Caulnek had. Father and Hrallak happily watched the ‘for fun media’ and Ishviel tried his best, but human entertainment was lost on him. Lesh found the entire idea to be a waste of time and chose to remain alone until his bridge shift arose.
From there, Lesh refused to communicate with anything more complex than a grunt to his shift partner Hrallak. The girl has enough problems as is. We don’t need Lesh causing more stress for her. We may also have a problem with Rivera who is either pushing Lesh into having a meltdown or accept that the changes we are experiencing are, in fact, good. Whenever Lesh goes to have a meal the eccentric Venlil isn’t that far behind him.
Turns out those broad flat teeth actually do a good job of breaking bones to get to the marrow, which he isn’t interested in. So they have a sort of standoff mutual existence going on where Rivera gets Lesh’s bones and Lesh takes advantage of Rivera’s teeth in place of putting the effort in himself. I can’t tell if the stillness that comes over him is from holding back the rage of listening to that Venlil yap or if he actually enjoys the noise.
Hrallak has been getting trained by Dr. Wiesera, who has high hopes for her. I’ve not had a chance to speak to her about training more Doctors for the colony of runaways we are trying to make, but I should make that a priority. Better to plan for a future we don’t have than to outlive your plans.
Approximately [twelve days] to Wriss. No other events of note to add.
~~~
Memory transcription subject: Crevan, Morvim Charter Soldier
Date [standardized human time]: November 5th, 2136
Ugh. Today’s the day. No time to walk or even have something to eat. Lesh should be ending his shift and hopefully that will leave him tired enough to be reasonable. What a great way to start the day. Going into a disciplinary meeting with probably the strongest Arxur on the ship first thing after waking up. One that doesn’t have to fear what the dominion would do to him if he killed me.
He wasn’t difficult to find. He, of course, beelined straight for his room, “It’s a nice luxury, isn’t it? Not being packed into this glorified meat carrier with a hundred irritable Arxur. Walk with me.”
He hissed in frustration but turned as ordered. I wasn’t expecting a miracle. Just to get him to at least try and loosen up a bit, “You are in this for revenge. As far as I can tell, you are the only one of us in this for revenge. I have a proposition for you.”
His reply came forth like a saw trying to cut through metal, but the blade was on backwards, “Yes sir?”
I led him into the cattle pen that was turned into a makeshift freezer. The cold air seemed to affect us both equally, as we shivered a bit, “I’ve been thinking about the Dominion… the Federation… and whatever stupid alliance Humanity has managed to pull out of its ass…”
The pause I inserted into my preplanned speech allowed me enough time to judge his reaction on each of our enemies as well as to ponder on Humanity and where I was going with this. He hesitantly took the bait, “And what have you concluded.”
“The Federation can’t destroy the Dominion and the Dominion won’t be able to fight on two fronts. Humanity knows war. They’ve lived and breathed it for centuries, we’ve only fought a one-sided genocide. The Dominion and the Federation won’t be able to compete with humanity the second they get their feet under them. The bombing of Earth hasn’t slowed them. It’s lit a fire under their ass.”
I had a hunch that Lesh wasn’t some roided up raider. I could see the gears turning in his head, “With Isif protecting Earth… The Federation can’t finish the job and the Dominion won’t attack them to bring them in line… Humanity has already started producing Prey- Alien? FUCK it. Prey fighters that can actually fight and sit in the same room as us without shitting themselves to death…”
“They have to take out the Federation first. No doubts about it. But they aren’t going to let the Dominion just continue to eat Sapients. That is going to result in the Dominion doing the stupidest thing possible and attacking an Earth and its allies that have been gearing up for real war since the second the bombs started falling. Remember. The ONLY reason we took the cradle is because Isif sacrificed hundreds of ships in orbit. We didn’t take the ground. We only took space which they came back and took. Every engagement on the ground resulted in fifteen and a half dead raiders to every human.”
The carnage of that debacle brought a happy jilt to his body language, “So, the only way this will ever really end is with both the Federation and Dominion falling.”
“And with what I know of the humans, neither side will be allowed to go without punishment. That is assuming there's enough of them left over to be tried for their crimes.”
“I like that thought but why bring this up to me.”
“Because all that will be left of us will be this tiny colony when this is over. It will be the only thing Humanity can say is untainted enough to be worthy of not being baptized in holy antimatter. I need- No. We need people that can help lead us. The remnants of the Morvim Charter NEED you. Need your strength, your guile, your… sociableness and sense of justice. I am asking you to join us proper. To help us forge a path into the future. Fight not just for your justice but live to build a better world.”
I felt fear as rage rushed across his face, and hope as it softened. He huffed and spat and paced around the room. It felt like the punch he launched into the steel wall reverberated through the whole ship. The panel fell off as he pulled his fist from the dent he made. He didn’t ask for permission to leave as he stormed away. At least I’m alive… Going to put him down as a maybe.
Unfortunately, it would seem Caulnek and Rivera picked now as the perfect time to also talk to Lesh. Rivera was sort of bouncing on the spot as Lesh growled and thumped his tail angrily, “Lesh! Guess what I remembered I found back on earth!”
The well-built Venlil rolled his eyes and smacked Rivera on the back of the head, “Rivera stole a copy of a Human military strategy game. One famed for simulating actual human battles. It’s set from military conflicts from their first World War to the last war before their first contact. Ishviel was hoping for more insights on Human strategies, and we thought it would be something that would pique your interest. You are welcome to come or not. Just don’t bring that shitty attitude you’ve been carrying around. We are trying to enjoy these few days before landing in paradise.”
My jaw nearly hit the floor as what I could only describe as a Lesh gently lifted his tail in intrigue, “What is this… game?”
Caulnek scratched his chin for a moment before snapping, “It’s a squad-based attack vs defense game with one or two players. One person sets up their defense and the attacker has to go in blind and deal with it. It’s actually a pretty clever system and I have no doubt the owner is going to peel Rivera’s hide off when we get back to Earth.”
The kleptomaniac slowly realized what Caulnek said, “Yeah it’s pretty fuuuuuu- huh?! Wait! Do you really think Andrew would do that?!”
Caulnek turned and walked off as Lesh followed, “Hrm… It sounds like it might be an effective way to mentally prepare for our own assault.”
Rivera tucked his tail and practically begged for an answer, “Guys… seriously! Am I going to be in danger?! Guys!”
Caulnek whipped his tail excitedly, “At the worst it will be a nice distraction. The game only has Human units in it, but it actually has a stat editor. I think I can bypass its normal restrictions and program in stats similar to what we can expect our enemy to have, but let’s play the game first. Get a feel for the rules and see if it's even worth the effort.”
With Lesh calmed down I made the choice to give him a little more time before I decided to see what this game was. I made my way to the bridge. Oddly enough I walked past Mico sitting in an open closet on my way there, “Mico? What are you doing? Shouldn’t you be resting?”
The sleek Arxur didn’t turn to face me, “I am in a sense resting right now. The Humans call it meditation. I received a book on it. So far… I think it's forcing me to come to terms with some stuff.”
I leaned against the door frame, “Is it better than sleeping?”
There was a long bit of silence before Mico brought his paws to his face and messaged his eyes, “No. But… it’s not really a replacement for sleeping.” He picked up a nearby book and opened it, “Meditation can give you a sense of calm, peace and balance that can benefit your emotional well-being and your overall health. You also can use it to relax and cope with stress by focusing on something that calms you. Meditation can help you learn to stay centered and keep inner peace.” He set the book back down, “Basically, I think it will help me remain calm. Despite being in the least crowded ship I have ever been on… It feels more claustrophobic than ever. The Prey- our companions are… I have no other word to describe it but intense. It feels like my head is going to pop when I am in a room with them. This meditation is helping me I think. Since I started this before we left… It’s been easier.”
I rapped my knuckles on the door frame, “If it works get Lesh to do it too. The thug is going to blow a gasket if he can’t calm down soon.”
Mico let out a slight chuckle, “You don’t have to tell me that. I just got off a shift with him, and he wouldn’t shut up about bringing the prey and defectives along. I think he’s actually scared they are going to get hurt.”
I plodded off to let Mico resume his meditation. His words about Lesh weren’t exactly anything I didn’t know. That Arxur cares more than any other I’ve met. He’s been hurt before by that care.
The bridge door opened to reveal my father in his command chair with Elva lounging at the pilot’s seat. The latter of which tried and failed to perk her floppy ears up with concern, “Did something happen? Shouldn’t you be watching over the rest of them? Make sure no one… flips their shit?”
I scoffed, “Yeah… I don’t think those paranoia plans will be necessary. Lesh is acting out because he has grown attached to all of you. Us too. Mico is taking up ‘meditation’ to calm himself and better deal with everything. Hrallak is just happy to be free even if she ends up dead, and Ishviel… well, he’s already a runt. Caulnek and Rivera could easily take him, let alone together and even then, he seems to be happy that he doesn’t have to prove his strength to them to get respect. The lot of them can go unsupervised… for a bit.”
Elva leaned back in her chair and relaxed, “Good. Hopefully, this is a sign of things going smoothly. My guts have been in a knot since we left.”
Ivan barked out a laugh, “I think that's been the case for all of us. I’ve never liked returning to Wriss to begin with, but before I never had to worry about fighting the entire damned planet. This is… Terrifying.”
I nodded my head in understanding, “We are about to either do the dumbest thing ever or kickstart the end of the Dominion.”
Elva asked, “Is it true we aren’t saving the entirety of the Morvim Charter Remnants?”
My father sighed, “Yes. A lot of them have to remain behind to cover our escape. They also need to stay behind to fan the fires we leave. The Dominion is going to appear weak so it's the best recruiting drive they will ever have.”
Elva closed her eyes and leaned back, “Alright then. We get there. Secure a port. Plan our attack, take the ship and get the hell out of there… Far too much can go wrong with this.”
I couldn’t help but nod my head, “On the bright side at least you guys have a get out of jail free card. If we get caught… well, it’s not going to be but a few moments of extreme heat for us.”
My second in command let out a long exasperated sound, “Uuuwweeeeeegh… Can you leave now? I was having such a nice time sitting here bored out of my mind before you showed up. Go check up on the guys. See how Hrallak’s medical lessons are going or something.”
I bowed and left the bridge. The infirmary our ship had wasn’t quite suited to actually saving lives. At least that was the case before Humanity got their hands on it. Wiesera and Elva had been delighted to go through all the gadgets and gizmos the ‘Doctors Without Borders’ had given them. Apparently, mobile medical hospitals specialized for ease of movement and treatment in war torn areas is something of a specialty of theirs.
Sadly, as I entered the actual infirmary only a small fraction of the medical devices were even set up. Wiesera and Hrallak were standing over a table with a startling realistic headless torso of an Arxur laying on it with its chest pried open.
The Zurulian picked up a latex heart, “As you can see here, the Arxur heart is a three-chamber heart. This implies that the Arxur were at one point coldblooded, like other reptiles. I imagine given another few hundred generations we might see Arxur with four-chambered hearts.”
Hrallak twisted her head to the side confused, “Why would we get four-chambered hearts?”
“Efficiency. Four chambered hearts can keep deoxygenated blood from mixing with oxygenated blood. This way the only blood entering the lungs is completely ready to pick up Oxygen and all the blood going to muscles is carrying its maximum capacity for oxygen. As short sprint, ambush predators you don’t need a strong supply of oxygen to hit your target, but if the chase were to carry on, animals with four chambers can better supply oxygen to their muscles…”
Hrallak bobbed her head in understanding, “And maintain power for longer…”
“Actually, we are already seeing medical reports of Arxur with a harmless heart defect giving them four chambers.” To my surprise, both ladies didn’t jump at my sudden interjection. It seemed they noticed my arrival, “The Prophet-descendants were debating on scanning people’s hearts and purging those with the defects… until one of the descendants was found to have the defect too and now its ‘proof of superior genetics’ or some bullshit.”
The medic in training set a paw on her chest, “Makes sense. I wonder if I have it too.”
Wiesera looked at the latex heart in her hands, “It wouldn’t hurt to set up the portable echocardiogram. It wouldn’t hurt to make sure we know what biology everyone has… actually, Crevan. Let the Arxur crew know we are about to do some health check-ups on everyone. I want to know what everyone’s hearts look like in the event I have to fix them. Now Hrallak see here- Crevan! What are you waiting for! We do not have forever here! Move it!”
I bowed and headed for the Cafeteria. It would seem Wiesera is warming up to her role as lead medic.
___/\___
Crevan seems to not being doing too hot… actually most of the crew is on edge. Lizard boi does his rounds and checks on the crew. It seems like everyone is settling in for the long ride to Wriss. Hopefully things go smoothly when they get there.
Welp! I got laid off! So I’m waiting a month to see if my job opens back up or if I am going to be working somewhere else. Now that sounds like I have time to write but my job actually kept my Autism/ADHD in check as the only thing I could do on break was write so hopefully I can keep up with my chapters and get Part 2 of the devil you know done. I almost had it done but I hated the whole chapter and have to rewrite it.
Special thanks to u/JulianSkies and u/callmefishy11 for proofreading! Seriously it felt like my eyes were melting out of my skull and your feedback was everything I needed!
___/\___
Directory
Library of BiasMushroom contains every link for everything I have written! Check it out as some stuff related to Nature of Humanity may not appear on HFY! As well as my little side stories and Fanfics of other NoP fanfics!
The Nature of Humanity
First / Previous / Next
Destination; Wriss
First / Previous / Next
2024.06.09 14:35 sameed_a how to improve emotional intelligence with lean startup?
Picture this, it's early morning, I've just kicked off a new startup project. Energy is high and the team is buzzing with enthusiasm. Being a lean startup, every move we make matters and we're all on edge as to how things will roll out. Now, to my utter surprise, our product manager starts talking about Emotional Intelligence (EI) instead of deliverables, KPIs, or deadlines. Sounds weird, right?
Well, turns out, he was onto something.
The first thing we took from our EI training was a heightened sense of self-awareness. We began to understand our emotions, what triggers these emotions, and how they influence our actions. We started to evaluate our initial reactions to stressful situations and started to respond in a calm, collected way, rather than lashing out or shutting down. For instance, instead of blaming a team member for a code error, we would identify the problem at hand and work together to come up with a solution.
The next bit was self-management, which, in a high-pressure environment like ours, turned out to be a game-changer. It taught us how to navigate through our emotions and manage them in a very healthy and productive way. We learned to take small breaks, to voice our concerns, to maintain positivity despite the setbacks, and to aim for consistent progress rather than perfection.
Then came social awareness. We started understanding our peers better and learned to respect their emotional experiences. We became more empathetic, and started to take note of non-verbal cues and body language. It helped us greatly in team building and maintaining healthy work relationships.
Last but not least, we dove into Relationship Management. This meant not only cultivating good relationships but also handling conflicts in a mature and considerate way. We became better at having difficult conversations, giving and receiving feedback, and acknowledging our teammates’ emotions.
Over time, we were surprised at how everything fell into place. Our productivity increased, the quality of our work improved, our team morale skyrocketed, and we were more agile than ever.
So, for any lean startup out there, don’t brush past Emotional Intelligence. It truly is the secret sauce for a thriving work environment.
P.S. Although the story sounds like an episode straight out of "The Office", it's purely hypothetical! But seriously, who needs Dunder Mifflin when you've got emotional intelligence and mental models in your toolkit?
submitted by sameed_a to mentalmodelscoach [link] [comments]
Well, turns out, he was onto something.
The first thing we took from our EI training was a heightened sense of self-awareness. We began to understand our emotions, what triggers these emotions, and how they influence our actions. We started to evaluate our initial reactions to stressful situations and started to respond in a calm, collected way, rather than lashing out or shutting down. For instance, instead of blaming a team member for a code error, we would identify the problem at hand and work together to come up with a solution.
The next bit was self-management, which, in a high-pressure environment like ours, turned out to be a game-changer. It taught us how to navigate through our emotions and manage them in a very healthy and productive way. We learned to take small breaks, to voice our concerns, to maintain positivity despite the setbacks, and to aim for consistent progress rather than perfection.
Then came social awareness. We started understanding our peers better and learned to respect their emotional experiences. We became more empathetic, and started to take note of non-verbal cues and body language. It helped us greatly in team building and maintaining healthy work relationships.
Last but not least, we dove into Relationship Management. This meant not only cultivating good relationships but also handling conflicts in a mature and considerate way. We became better at having difficult conversations, giving and receiving feedback, and acknowledging our teammates’ emotions.
Over time, we were surprised at how everything fell into place. Our productivity increased, the quality of our work improved, our team morale skyrocketed, and we were more agile than ever.
So, for any lean startup out there, don’t brush past Emotional Intelligence. It truly is the secret sauce for a thriving work environment.
P.S. Although the story sounds like an episode straight out of "The Office", it's purely hypothetical! But seriously, who needs Dunder Mifflin when you've got emotional intelligence and mental models in your toolkit?
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Check out the SEO Elite Circle SEO Training by Julian Goldie.
Julian has worked with a wide range of clients, from small businesses to multinational corporations, helping them improve their online presence and increase their visibility in search engine results pages. His expertise in keyword research, on-page optimization, link building strategies, and content marketing has led to significant improvements in organic traffic and search engine rankings for his clients.
Julian's successful track record in achieving top rankings for competitive keywords showcases his deep understanding of search engine algorithms and trends. Students enrolling in the SEO Elite Circle course not only benefit from Julian's vast experience but also gain practical tips and industry insights that are essential in navigating the ever-evolving landscape of SEO.
Check out the SEO Elite Circle SEO Training by Julian Goldie.
Check out the SEO Elite Circle SEO Training by Julian Goldie.
One of the primary techniques used for effective keyword research is analyzing search volume and competition. By evaluating the search volume of different keywords, SEO practitioners can gauge the level of interest and potential traffic those keywords can bring. Assessing the level of competition for those keywords helps in determining the feasibility of ranking for them. It's crucial to strike a balance between search volume and competition to target keywords that offer a good opportunity for ranking and driving organic traffic.
Check out the SEO Elite Circle SEO Training by Julian Goldie.
The course delves deep into the art of title optimization, emphasizing the importance of crafting compelling and keyword-rich titles that accurately reflect the content on each page. It also stresses the significance of using headers effectively to structure content and improve readability. Participants are taught how to properly optimize images by incorporating relevant keywords in alt text and file names, thereby boosting image search visibility. Ensuring that the website's content seamlessly aligns with the targeted keywords is a crucial aspect preached in the training sessions to enhance overall SEO efficacy.
Check out the SEO Elite Circle SEO Training by Julian Goldie.
One essential link building method discussed is guest blogging, where you can create valuable content for other reputable websites in exchange for a backlink to your own site. This not only helps drive traffic but also establishes your credibility in your industry. The course emphasizes the importance of acquiring backlinks from authoritative sites as these carry more weight with search engines. It guides you on how to reach out to such sites and create mutually beneficial relationships that result in valuable backlinks.
Check out the SEO Elite Circle SEO Training by Julian Goldie.
Local SEO plays a crucial role in helping businesses connect with their target audience in specific geographic locations. By implementing tailored strategies for local optimization, companies can increase their visibility in search engine results when potential customers are looking for products or services in their area. Some effective tactics for optimizing local searches include optimizing website content with local keywords, obtaining customer reviews on platforms like Yelp, ensuring NAP consistency across online directories, and creating location-specific landing pages to cater to local audiences.
Check out the SEO Elite Circle SEO Training by Julian Goldie.
Implementing effective SEO techniques plays a vital role in enhancing the visibility of your website, ensuring that it appears prominently in search engine results pages. By targeting relevant keywords and creating high-quality content, you can attract a steady stream of organic traffic to your site.
This influx of visitors not only boosts your website's online presence but also increases the likelihood of engaging with a wider audience and potential customers. As traffic grows, businesses can experience improved brand awareness, enhanced credibility, and ultimately drive revenue growth.
Check out the SEO Elite Circle SEO Training by Julian Goldie.
One of the key factors that influence search engine rankings is the relevance of your website's content. Search engines prioritize websites that provide valuable and high-quality content to users. Keyword optimization is crucial as well; incorporating relevant keywords strategically throughout your website helps search engines understand what your site is about.
Staying updated with the latest SEO best practices is essential in this ever-evolving digital landscape. Algorithms used by search engines frequently change, so keeping abreast of these changes and adjusting your SEO strategies accordingly is crucial.
Improved search engine rankings can significantly impact your business's success. Higher visibility on SERPs leads to increased organic traffic, potential for more conversions, and ultimately, higher revenue generation.
Check out the SEO Elite Circle SEO Training by Julian Goldie.
By optimizing your website's content, structure, and backend data, SEO techniques enable search engines to better understand and rank your pages, ultimately leading to higher organic search traffic. In the realm of digital marketing, a strong online presence is crucial for building brand credibility and trust among consumers. When your brand consistently appears at the top of search results, it reinforces your authority in the industry and enhances brand recall. Over time, this heightened brand awareness translates to increased customer loyalty, improved conversion rates, and sustainable business growth.
Check out the SEO Elite Circle SEO Training by Julian Goldie.
By focusing on search engine optimization (SEO), you can ensure that your website is easily discoverable by potential customers looking for products or services related to your business. This targeted traffic is essential as it brings in individuals who are already interested in what you offer, increasing the chances of converting them into paying customers.
Targeted traffic not only drives higher quality leads but also improves the overall ROI on your marketing efforts.
Check out the SEO Elite Circle SEO Training by Julian Goldie.
Check out the SEO Elite Circle SEO Training by Julian Goldie.
Upon choosing to enroll in the course, students can follow a simple registration process that typically involves filling out an online form with basic personal details and payment information. This streamlined method eliminates the need for physical paperwork or in-person visits, saving both time and effort for applicants.
One of the key benefits of virtual training is the ability to learn at one's own pace and in a comfortable environment, without the constraints of a traditional classroom setting. This allows individuals to fit their studies around existing commitments, such as work or family responsibilities, promoting a healthy work-life balance.
The flexibility of virtual training means that students can access course materials and lectures at any time, enabling them to revisit challenging topics or review content for better understanding. This personalized approach to learning enhances retention and comprehension, ultimately leading to improved academic performance.
Check out the SEO Elite Circle SEO Training by Julian Goldie.
One of the key advantages of attending these sessions in-person is the opportunity for real-time interaction and engagement in a traditional classroom setting. This setup allows students to ask questions, participate in discussions, and receive immediate feedback from experienced instructors.
Moreover, the physical presence of classmates fosters collaboration and networking, creating a dynamic learning atmosphere where knowledge sharing and peer support are encouraged.
Check out the SEO Elite Circle SEO Training by Julian Goldie.
One student, for example, mentioned that after completing the course, they saw a significant increase in website traffic and a boost in their search engine rankings. Another student shared how the course helped them land a high-paying job in digital marketing due to the specialized skills they acquired. The hands-on exercises and real-world case studies in the course were also praised for providing practical insights that could be directly applied to their own projects.
Check out the SEO Elite Circle SEO Training by Julian Goldie.
The course, curated by a seasoned expert in the field, offers a unique opportunity to tap into the wealth of knowledge and experience that Julian Goldie brings to the table.
By enrolling in this program, participants gain access to cutting-edge strategies, tools, and techniques that can transform their approach to SEO and propel their growth in the competitive digital landscape.
The long-term advantages of mastering advanced SEO skills extend far beyond immediate career opportunities, paving the way for sustained success, increased visibility, and credibility in the industry.
Check out the SEO Elite Circle SEO Training by Julian Goldie.
Check out the SEO Elite Circle SEO Training by Julian Goldie.
submitted by JamMasterJulian to SEOwithAI [link] [comments]
Check out the SEO Elite Circle SEO Training by Julian Goldie.
SEO Elite Circle is the best SEO training course in Birmingham, led by renowned SEO expert Julian Goldie.
This course covers everything from keyword research to link building strategies.
Discover why SEO training is important, what you can expect to learn in SEO Elite Circle, and how it can benefit your online business.
Enhance your SEO skills and take your website to the next level!
Check out the SEO Elite Circle SEO Training by Julian Goldie.
What is SEO Training?
SEO Training, also known as Search Engine Optimization training, encompasses a set of techniques and strategies aimed at improving a website's visibility on search engines like Google, making it an essential aspect of digital marketing.Understanding the fundamental principles of SEO is crucial for optimizing a website's performance and driving organic traffic. Industry experts emphasize the significance of staying updated with the ever-evolving algorithms and trends to maintain a competitive edge. By learning from seasoned professionals, individuals can gain valuable insights into the dynamic nature of search engine optimization.
Digital marketing techniques play a vital role in SEO training, integrating strategies such as content marketing, social media optimization, and link building. These complementary practices enhance the visibility and credibility of a website, ultimately improving its search engine ranking.
Check out the SEO Elite Circle SEO Training by Julian Goldie.
Why is SEO Training Important?
SEO training is vital as it equips individuals and businesses with the necessary skills to optimize their websites, climb up the SERPs, and enhance online visibility, thereby opening up numerous career opportunities in the digital marketing industry.Search engine optimization (SEO) is no longer just a buzzword in the digital landscape; it has become a fundamental aspect of online success. Professionals who have undergone comprehensive SEO training gain insights into the algorithms that drive search engine results, allowing them to fine-tune their websites for maximum visibility. With top-notch SEO skills, businesses can attract more organic traffic, boost their online presence, and ultimately increase their revenue streams. Individuals with expertise in SEO can position themselves as valuable assets in the competitive digital marketing job market, commanding higher salaries and better career prospects.
Check out the SEO Elite Circle SEO Training by Julian Goldie.
The Best SEO Training Course in Birmingham
In Birmingham, SEO Elite Circle stands out as the premier SEO training course, providing top-notch education and guidance on SEO practices under the expert tutelage of Julian Goldie, making it the go-to choice for aspiring digital marketers across the UK.Check out the SEO Elite Circle SEO Training by Julian Goldie.
Why is SEO Elite Circle the Best SEO Training Course in Birmingham?
SEO Elite Circle is considered the best SEO training course in Birmingham due to its expertly crafted curriculum, led by Julian Goldie, which covers all critical aspects of digital marketing and SEO techniques essential for achieving success.The curriculum of SEO Elite Circle includes in-depth modules on keyword research, on-page optimization, off-page SEO strategies, and analytics interpretation. Students gain practical skills in developing effective SEO strategies, conducting website audits, and optimizing content for search engines. Julian Goldie's extensive experience and insights play a significant role in shaping the course content, ensuring it stays current with industry trends and best practices. His expertise in content marketing, link building, and SEO analytics adds immense value to the training, providing students with a well-rounded understanding of SEO."
Check out the SEO Elite Circle SEO Training by Julian Goldie.
Who is Julian Goldie and Why is He Qualified to Teach SEO?
Julian Goldie is a renowned SEO expert and digital marketing consultant with years of experience, making him exceptionally qualified to teach SEO and share his extensive knowledge and practical insights with students.Julian has worked with a wide range of clients, from small businesses to multinational corporations, helping them improve their online presence and increase their visibility in search engine results pages. His expertise in keyword research, on-page optimization, link building strategies, and content marketing has led to significant improvements in organic traffic and search engine rankings for his clients.
Julian's successful track record in achieving top rankings for competitive keywords showcases his deep understanding of search engine algorithms and trends. Students enrolling in the SEO Elite Circle course not only benefit from Julian's vast experience but also gain practical tips and industry insights that are essential in navigating the ever-evolving landscape of SEO.
Check out the SEO Elite Circle SEO Training by Julian Goldie.
What Will You Learn in SEO Elite Circle?
In the SEO Elite Circle course, you will gain comprehensive knowledge and practical skills in various aspects of SEO, including keyword research, on-page SEO techniques, link building strategies, and local SEO tactics, ensuring you have a well-rounded understanding of search engine optimization.Check out the SEO Elite Circle SEO Training by Julian Goldie.
Keyword Research and Optimization
Keyword research and optimization are fundamental skills taught in the SEO Elite Circle course, focusing on identifying high-value keywords and using them effectively to climb up the SERPs.One of the primary techniques used for effective keyword research is analyzing search volume and competition. By evaluating the search volume of different keywords, SEO practitioners can gauge the level of interest and potential traffic those keywords can bring. Assessing the level of competition for those keywords helps in determining the feasibility of ranking for them. It's crucial to strike a balance between search volume and competition to target keywords that offer a good opportunity for ranking and driving organic traffic.
Check out the SEO Elite Circle SEO Training by Julian Goldie.
On-page SEO Techniques
On-page SEO techniques covered in the SEO Elite Circle course focus on optimizing various elements within your website, such as content, meta tags, and internal linking, to enhance its search engine performance.The course delves deep into the art of title optimization, emphasizing the importance of crafting compelling and keyword-rich titles that accurately reflect the content on each page. It also stresses the significance of using headers effectively to structure content and improve readability. Participants are taught how to properly optimize images by incorporating relevant keywords in alt text and file names, thereby boosting image search visibility. Ensuring that the website's content seamlessly aligns with the targeted keywords is a crucial aspect preached in the training sessions to enhance overall SEO efficacy.
Check out the SEO Elite Circle SEO Training by Julian Goldie.
Link Building Strategies
The SEO Elite Circle course delves into link building strategies, teaching you how to acquire high-quality backlinks that boost your website's authority and improve its search engine rankings.One essential link building method discussed is guest blogging, where you can create valuable content for other reputable websites in exchange for a backlink to your own site. This not only helps drive traffic but also establishes your credibility in your industry. The course emphasizes the importance of acquiring backlinks from authoritative sites as these carry more weight with search engines. It guides you on how to reach out to such sites and create mutually beneficial relationships that result in valuable backlinks.
Check out the SEO Elite Circle SEO Training by Julian Goldie.
Local SEO Tactics
Local SEO tactics are an essential part of the SEO Elite Circle course, focusing on optimizing your online presence for local search results, including setting up and managing your Google My Business profile.Local SEO plays a crucial role in helping businesses connect with their target audience in specific geographic locations. By implementing tailored strategies for local optimization, companies can increase their visibility in search engine results when potential customers are looking for products or services in their area. Some effective tactics for optimizing local searches include optimizing website content with local keywords, obtaining customer reviews on platforms like Yelp, ensuring NAP consistency across online directories, and creating location-specific landing pages to cater to local audiences.
Check out the SEO Elite Circle SEO Training by Julian Goldie.
What Are the Benefits of SEO Training?
SEO training offers numerous benefits, including increased website traffic, improved search engine rankings, enhanced online visibility, and the ability to generate more leads and sales, making it a valuable investment for individuals and businesses alike.Increase Website Traffic
One of the primary benefits of SEO training is the ability to increase website traffic by optimizing your site to rank higher on search engines, making it more accessible to potential visitors.Implementing effective SEO techniques plays a vital role in enhancing the visibility of your website, ensuring that it appears prominently in search engine results pages. By targeting relevant keywords and creating high-quality content, you can attract a steady stream of organic traffic to your site.
This influx of visitors not only boosts your website's online presence but also increases the likelihood of engaging with a wider audience and potential customers. As traffic grows, businesses can experience improved brand awareness, enhanced credibility, and ultimately drive revenue growth.
Check out the SEO Elite Circle SEO Training by Julian Goldie.
Improve Search Engine Rankings
SEO training equips you with the skills to improve your search engine rankings, ensuring your website appears higher on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs), which enhances its credibility and visibility.One of the key factors that influence search engine rankings is the relevance of your website's content. Search engines prioritize websites that provide valuable and high-quality content to users. Keyword optimization is crucial as well; incorporating relevant keywords strategically throughout your website helps search engines understand what your site is about.
Staying updated with the latest SEO best practices is essential in this ever-evolving digital landscape. Algorithms used by search engines frequently change, so keeping abreast of these changes and adjusting your SEO strategies accordingly is crucial.
Improved search engine rankings can significantly impact your business's success. Higher visibility on SERPs leads to increased organic traffic, potential for more conversions, and ultimately, higher revenue generation.
Check out the SEO Elite Circle SEO Training by Julian Goldie.
Boost Online Visibility and Brand Awareness
Boosting online visibility and brand awareness is another significant benefit of SEO training, as it helps your business reach a broader audience and establish a stronger online presence.By optimizing your website's content, structure, and backend data, SEO techniques enable search engines to better understand and rank your pages, ultimately leading to higher organic search traffic. In the realm of digital marketing, a strong online presence is crucial for building brand credibility and trust among consumers. When your brand consistently appears at the top of search results, it reinforces your authority in the industry and enhances brand recall. Over time, this heightened brand awareness translates to increased customer loyalty, improved conversion rates, and sustainable business growth.
Check out the SEO Elite Circle SEO Training by Julian Goldie.
Generate More Leads and Sales
Effective SEO training can help you generate more leads and sales by optimizing your website to attract targeted traffic and improve conversion rates, ultimately boosting your business's revenue.By focusing on search engine optimization (SEO), you can ensure that your website is easily discoverable by potential customers looking for products or services related to your business. This targeted traffic is essential as it brings in individuals who are already interested in what you offer, increasing the chances of converting them into paying customers.
Targeted traffic not only drives higher quality leads but also improves the overall ROI on your marketing efforts.
Check out the SEO Elite Circle SEO Training by Julian Goldie.
How Can You Enroll in SEO Elite Circle?
Enrolling in the SEO Elite Circle course is straightforward, with options for both online registration and in-person training sessions, making it accessible for a wide range of students interested in enhancing their SEO skills.Check out the SEO Elite Circle SEO Training by Julian Goldie.
Online Registration
Online registration for the SEO Elite Circle course offers the convenience of virtual training and flexible learning schedules, making it easier for students to access high-quality SEO education from anywhere.Upon choosing to enroll in the course, students can follow a simple registration process that typically involves filling out an online form with basic personal details and payment information. This streamlined method eliminates the need for physical paperwork or in-person visits, saving both time and effort for applicants.
One of the key benefits of virtual training is the ability to learn at one's own pace and in a comfortable environment, without the constraints of a traditional classroom setting. This allows individuals to fit their studies around existing commitments, such as work or family responsibilities, promoting a healthy work-life balance.
The flexibility of virtual training means that students can access course materials and lectures at any time, enabling them to revisit challenging topics or review content for better understanding. This personalized approach to learning enhances retention and comprehension, ultimately leading to improved academic performance.
Check out the SEO Elite Circle SEO Training by Julian Goldie.
In-person Training Sessions
In-person training sessions for the SEO Elite Circle course are conducted at designated training centers, providing a classroom environment where students can interact directly with trainers and peers.One of the key advantages of attending these sessions in-person is the opportunity for real-time interaction and engagement in a traditional classroom setting. This setup allows students to ask questions, participate in discussions, and receive immediate feedback from experienced instructors.
Moreover, the physical presence of classmates fosters collaboration and networking, creating a dynamic learning atmosphere where knowledge sharing and peer support are encouraged.
Check out the SEO Elite Circle SEO Training by Julian Goldie.
What Do Past Students Say About SEO Elite Circle?
Past students of the SEO Elite Circle course have provided overwhelmingly positive feedback, highlighting their success stories and the valuable knowledge and skills they gained from the program.One student, for example, mentioned that after completing the course, they saw a significant increase in website traffic and a boost in their search engine rankings. Another student shared how the course helped them land a high-paying job in digital marketing due to the specialized skills they acquired. The hands-on exercises and real-world case studies in the course were also praised for providing practical insights that could be directly applied to their own projects.
Check out the SEO Elite Circle SEO Training by Julian Goldie.
Conclusion: Invest in Your SEO Skills with SEO Elite Circle
Investing in your SEO skills with the SEO Elite Circle course is a strategic move for anyone looking to advance their career in digital marketing, as it provides comprehensive training and practical insights essential for success.The course, curated by a seasoned expert in the field, offers a unique opportunity to tap into the wealth of knowledge and experience that Julian Goldie brings to the table.
By enrolling in this program, participants gain access to cutting-edge strategies, tools, and techniques that can transform their approach to SEO and propel their growth in the competitive digital landscape.
The long-term advantages of mastering advanced SEO skills extend far beyond immediate career opportunities, paving the way for sustained success, increased visibility, and credibility in the industry.
Check out the SEO Elite Circle SEO Training by Julian Goldie.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is SEO Training Birmingham?
SEO Training Birmingham refers to a comprehensive training program that teaches individuals and businesses in the Birmingham area about the principles, strategies, and techniques of search engine optimization (SEO). It equips participants with the knowledge and skills to improve their website's visibility and ranking on search engine results pages.Why should I consider SEO Training Birmingham?
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SEO Training Birmingham is suitable for individuals who are looking to enhance their digital marketing skills, business owners who want to improve their website's visibility, and marketing professionals who want to stay updated with the latest SEO trends and techniques. Whether you are a beginner or have some experience in SEO, this training program can benefit you.What can I expect to learn from SEO Training Birmingham?
SEO Training Birmingham covers a wide range of topics, including keyword research, on-page optimization, link building, content creation, and analytics. You will also learn how to develop effective SEO strategies and techniques that can help you improve your website's search engine ranking and drive more organic traffic to your site.Is SEO Training Birmingham worth the investment?
Absolutely. SEO is a constantly evolving field, and staying updated with the latest trends and techniques is crucial for online success. By investing in SEO Training Birmingham, you will equip yourself with the necessary skills and knowledge to improve your website's search engine ranking and attract more potential customers, making it a valuable investment.How do I enroll in SEO Training Birmingham?
Enrolling in SEO Training Birmingham is easy. Simply visit our website and register for the course. You will have access to all the course materials, including video tutorials, interactive activities, and quizzes, which you can complete at your own pace. Our course is designed to be flexible and convenient for learners, so you can fit it into your busy schedule.Check out the SEO Elite Circle SEO Training by Julian Goldie.
2024.06.09 14:15 AbnormalVAverage Found a Publisher
Howdy folks,
This is very long, so I put a tl:dr near the bottom.
I've posted a few times here over the last year or so. It's been...an interesting time since I first placed my novel on RR last July. The purpose of this post is to talk about what I did, who I talked to, and the results of my efforts thus far. I'm not one of those 23423423 follower authors. I don't write specifically within the niche genre that RR is looking for. The best way to describe my story is a dungeon core explorative comedy. But there are as many downs as there are ups, which really screwed me in the ratings department according to those who commented before throwing the .5's down.
See, the secret to my success is...I'm lazy. I had a plan to write a story named Grey, and have it poke fun at LitRPG, Londoners, and anyone who enjoys drinking dirty water...I mean tea. But, I didn't want to sit in front of my computer for months just worldbuilding. Why should I care if they place forks on a different side of spoons in a certain country at 12:00 midnight? So, I had a sudden idea during an insomniac-driven evening. Why not just write a book about a guy literally building worlds. Then I get the culture-driven worldbuilding out of the way, while also having a fun story I can use to build up everything I wanted to have. And thus, I started writing Creation.
I started by breaking the cardinal sin according to Rising Star ascenders.
I posted one chapter at a time.
I was new to author'ing (Swear its a word), new to posting on RR, and just generally trying to have a good time. I got a little bit of traction, but once I had twenty chapters down, my story started to take off as people were interested in where I was going. Problem was, I didn't know where I was going. I wrote wayyyy too much in the pre-chapter content, often pushing people out of my story altogether as they just wanted to read what I wrote about my protagonist, not about myself. I lost quite a few people to my main character's emotional state, the ups and downs of a regular guy being thrown into an impossible situation. I then lost further readers when they realized my character wasn't a murderhobo, and instead focused on inner enlightenment that didn't have to do with universe juice.
But, against all odds, the story continued to pick up followers.
I did hit Rising Stars, getting as high as the top 20 of the main page, before I watched it inevitably drop out right after, as my time was up. However, not long after, I struck the main page of trending. And I stayed there, and I stayed there, and I stayed there. I just kept staying on trending for months. Even now, I'm on my sub-genre's pages for trending, rarely dropping off the main page unless it's for a few days or weeks. I swapped shout-outs, never did review swaps which got me quite a few negative ratings when I explained myself (Don't do that. Just don't respond if you don't want to), and spoke with my fellow authors every so often.
Once I started pushing 1800 followers, I started looking around at publishers. My story, Creation, had just hit a little over 1200 pages in about 6 months. To web-serialists, that's not a lot, but to me that's a shit ton. I knew about Aethon, Portal, Podium, and a few others were all publishing within my genre. But, the one I wanted the most was the only one I applied to. I just had to figure out if they would accept me and my foibles.
The thing about writing styles is, once you have one, it's slightly hard to break. I have a bachelors degree in English and Pyschology, but before I earned them, I was a television anchor for...the Air Force. Yeah, it turns out they need tv reporters for the military, so they can get news out to all the servicemembers out there. Which means my first formal training in writing was about writing for the ear, not the eye. That writing style stuck to me, and caused my story to have a particular cadence to it, if you will. That style also lends itself to audiobooks in a powerful way. And who are the best at audiobooks right now?
Podium Audio.
So I applied, then I forgot about it. I figured the story wasn't big enough to warrant any response, but lo and behold, a random email found its way into my inbox a month or so later.
I setup a meeting, attended the meeting, and left happy from the meeting. A great deal for me, with a guaranteed audiobook due out in the next year or so.
I attribute my success to a few things, which I'll go over below. I'll also include a tl:dr because of how much I placed here.
tl:dr
Lazy guy write story, it ok
He poops up on RR, still somehow find success
Rising star, yes, is good
He go, I need publisher, publisher good. Find
success
Steps I took that I think affected my odds the most:
Obviously just gaining followers. Ads, RS, Shout-outs, posting on subreddits, and sitting on trending for long periods of time.
Consistency is key. I rarely miss chapters, and if I do, I warn wayyyyy ahead of time.
Comments. I don't reply to the TFTC's, but I reply to most others as it doesn't hurt me and lets people get a word in with the author. If someone points out errors or grammar issues, I thank them just about every time. They're going to be a big help when I'm doing my edits.
When I wrote my publisher, in the other section, I talked about metrics. Expected age groups, plan for the future, my goals, and so-on.
Nailed the meeting because I'm naturally super amazing! No. I was professional and personable. Told some jokes, explained my story well (I think), and never lied. I also gave hard dates for when I'd have everything done.
So that's about it. I hope this is helpful for everyone. For those who inevitably ask about writing styles, I've been told by big-name authors that your style is decided by the end of your first 1 million words. So that tells me, write and write and write. As Sean Connery says in Finding Forrester, "You're the man now, dawg."
That's not right. No, what he says is this, "The key to writing, is to write."
Thank you for attending my lecture (teacher for a living)
submitted by AbnormalVAverage to royalroad [link] [comments]
This is very long, so I put a tl:dr near the bottom.
I've posted a few times here over the last year or so. It's been...an interesting time since I first placed my novel on RR last July. The purpose of this post is to talk about what I did, who I talked to, and the results of my efforts thus far. I'm not one of those 23423423 follower authors. I don't write specifically within the niche genre that RR is looking for. The best way to describe my story is a dungeon core explorative comedy. But there are as many downs as there are ups, which really screwed me in the ratings department according to those who commented before throwing the .5's down.
See, the secret to my success is...I'm lazy. I had a plan to write a story named Grey, and have it poke fun at LitRPG, Londoners, and anyone who enjoys drinking dirty water...I mean tea. But, I didn't want to sit in front of my computer for months just worldbuilding. Why should I care if they place forks on a different side of spoons in a certain country at 12:00 midnight? So, I had a sudden idea during an insomniac-driven evening. Why not just write a book about a guy literally building worlds. Then I get the culture-driven worldbuilding out of the way, while also having a fun story I can use to build up everything I wanted to have. And thus, I started writing Creation.
I started by breaking the cardinal sin according to Rising Star ascenders.
I posted one chapter at a time.
I was new to author'ing (Swear its a word), new to posting on RR, and just generally trying to have a good time. I got a little bit of traction, but once I had twenty chapters down, my story started to take off as people were interested in where I was going. Problem was, I didn't know where I was going. I wrote wayyyy too much in the pre-chapter content, often pushing people out of my story altogether as they just wanted to read what I wrote about my protagonist, not about myself. I lost quite a few people to my main character's emotional state, the ups and downs of a regular guy being thrown into an impossible situation. I then lost further readers when they realized my character wasn't a murderhobo, and instead focused on inner enlightenment that didn't have to do with universe juice.
But, against all odds, the story continued to pick up followers.
I did hit Rising Stars, getting as high as the top 20 of the main page, before I watched it inevitably drop out right after, as my time was up. However, not long after, I struck the main page of trending. And I stayed there, and I stayed there, and I stayed there. I just kept staying on trending for months. Even now, I'm on my sub-genre's pages for trending, rarely dropping off the main page unless it's for a few days or weeks. I swapped shout-outs, never did review swaps which got me quite a few negative ratings when I explained myself (Don't do that. Just don't respond if you don't want to), and spoke with my fellow authors every so often.
Once I started pushing 1800 followers, I started looking around at publishers. My story, Creation, had just hit a little over 1200 pages in about 6 months. To web-serialists, that's not a lot, but to me that's a shit ton. I knew about Aethon, Portal, Podium, and a few others were all publishing within my genre. But, the one I wanted the most was the only one I applied to. I just had to figure out if they would accept me and my foibles.
The thing about writing styles is, once you have one, it's slightly hard to break. I have a bachelors degree in English and Pyschology, but before I earned them, I was a television anchor for...the Air Force. Yeah, it turns out they need tv reporters for the military, so they can get news out to all the servicemembers out there. Which means my first formal training in writing was about writing for the ear, not the eye. That writing style stuck to me, and caused my story to have a particular cadence to it, if you will. That style also lends itself to audiobooks in a powerful way. And who are the best at audiobooks right now?
Podium Audio.
So I applied, then I forgot about it. I figured the story wasn't big enough to warrant any response, but lo and behold, a random email found its way into my inbox a month or so later.
I setup a meeting, attended the meeting, and left happy from the meeting. A great deal for me, with a guaranteed audiobook due out in the next year or so.
I attribute my success to a few things, which I'll go over below. I'll also include a tl:dr because of how much I placed here.
tl:dr
Lazy guy write story, it ok
He poops up on RR, still somehow find success
Rising star, yes, is good
He go, I need publisher, publisher good. Find
success
Steps I took that I think affected my odds the most:
Obviously just gaining followers. Ads, RS, Shout-outs, posting on subreddits, and sitting on trending for long periods of time.
Consistency is key. I rarely miss chapters, and if I do, I warn wayyyyy ahead of time.
Comments. I don't reply to the TFTC's, but I reply to most others as it doesn't hurt me and lets people get a word in with the author. If someone points out errors or grammar issues, I thank them just about every time. They're going to be a big help when I'm doing my edits.
When I wrote my publisher, in the other section, I talked about metrics. Expected age groups, plan for the future, my goals, and so-on.
Nailed the meeting because I'm naturally super amazing! No. I was professional and personable. Told some jokes, explained my story well (I think), and never lied. I also gave hard dates for when I'd have everything done.
So that's about it. I hope this is helpful for everyone. For those who inevitably ask about writing styles, I've been told by big-name authors that your style is decided by the end of your first 1 million words. So that tells me, write and write and write. As Sean Connery says in Finding Forrester, "You're the man now, dawg."
That's not right. No, what he says is this, "The key to writing, is to write."
Thank you for attending my lecture (teacher for a living)
2024.06.09 14:05 Scott-Whittaker HOTAC custom ship classes
 | Hi guys, I'd like to introduce you to a little project I've been working on. I've played HOTAC a few times now, and it's always a blast, but while Josh and Sean and many other people in the community have developed a great system, there are a couple of things that I feel have some room for development. submitted by Scott-Whittaker to HotAC [link] [comments] The main issue I wanted to address is the ship upgrades. You start in an X-Wing or Y-Wing and at I3 you can pay a few points to upgrade to an A-Wing, B-Wing or HWK-290. The most obvious issue there is that there are a few more ships available in the Rebel faction that could reasonably be added. And less obviously, the B-Wing seems more like a cross-grade than an upgrade, the A-Wing seems like a downgrade, and the HWK is in a totally different class altogether. While I have heard other people in the community commonly allow just about any other ship to be flown, it feels a little odd to have ships like the T-70 (a strictly better X-Wing), E-Wing (a way better X-Wing) and so-on. Why would you fly an X-wing when strictly better options are available? The goalSo my goal was to increase the variety of ships that can be flown, filling diverse roles, and being at a similar power level. Something like different character classes and subclasses in an RPG. I hope you enjoy them and consider using them in a campaign!Fortunately for me, Jim Bob over at infinitearenas.com has made an excellent resource to make custom cards at https://infinitearenas.com/homebrew.php which I used to make these cards. Let's start with a quick one that's not a ship configuration: https://preview.redd.it/eqcksoxaij5d1.png?width=1018&format=png&auto=webp&s=34829c646b805eb5e5b556c310dc3143ef9eb8f5 One of the issues I've noted with my HOTAC plays is that the squad leader almost never uses the coordinate action granted by the Squad Leader card because player actions are so valuable that it's rarely worth sacrificing your own action to give one to another player. This updated version effectively turns it into a linked action which is much more likely to get used. This could have additional limitations placed on it, but the simplicity is nice and making it red limits abuse a little. The default configurationsNow let's take a look at the new configuration for the default X-Wing T-65:https://preview.redd.it/3iyyyslcij5d1.png?width=734&format=png&auto=webp&s=4f341d053f30fce01bbb0581fe0a348a02c0887f This card is a representation of the standard T-65 X-Wing in the new configuration format. One of the things I realised while working on this project is that since the card designer allows the action bar to be customised, it gives us the opportunity to bake in standard configurations and titles into the card, allowing you to do away with additional cards. Servomotor S-Foils is a flippable card that represents the S-Foil wings being open or closed, and when closed grants you a boost action and focus to red boost linked action at the cost of reducing your primary attack. So this card allows us to effectively incorporate the results into a single rule and action bar on one card. It's not 100% exactly the same, but it's close enough, and is in the spirit of the simplifications made in the official Standard Loadout cards. https://preview.redd.it/vvpoxgxdij5d1.png?width=734&format=png&auto=webp&s=1559030e62c70e102c9154425646dd8c6b446ba0 There is nothing special to note about the default BTL-A4 Y-Wing card, except to notice the upgrade bar at the bottom. This is a handy way to show what upgrades can be added to each ship. I intend to colour them in groupings by Initiative/Level, but these are mostly following the HOTAC standard of all the upgrades to the left of the first Talent being always available; the first Talent at I3, the next slot at I4, another Talent at I5 and a Talent and Modification slot at I6. The upgrade configurationsAll of these configurations are considered more or less equivalent in power level, so they all cost the same. They are worth more than 5 points, but 5 points is what HOTAC uses, so that's what I'm going with for now.Let's look a the Y-Wings: Y-Wing Corsair configuration card Y-Wings are already start strong and really don't need much of a boost if any. You can play the whole campaign in a default Y-Wing and not feel like you're missing out. But the Rebel Alliance has many shady connections and scoundrels in its rogues gallery, so as you'll see there is a lot of Scummy representation in the fleet. This is a very simple config that allows Scum faction upgrades and adds an Illicit slot. Y-Wing Heavy Bomber configuration While the Y-Wing is most often depicted as a slow heavy dogfighter, its main role is as a bomber and torpedo carrier capable of posing a threat to capital ships. This config makes the painful choice to lose that staple turret slot to load up on ordinance, adding an extra bomb and Torpedo slot. Those torpedo slots can also be used as Missile slots, giving you access to any ordinance available. The now useless Rotate Turret action has been removed, and the Reload action is now white, and red Reloads are now linked actions. Finally, if you're like me and do more damage to yourself with bombs than to the enemy, you've got 2 charges to spend to prevent damage from your own bomb or flying over an obstacle. That's it for the Y-Wings. Let's take a look at the X-Wings! X-Wing Partisan Renegade configuration OK you probably saw this one coming from what I said about the Corsair Y-Wing. Like the Corsair, this simply adds an Illicit slot and the ability to equip Scum upgrades. Moving on! X-Wing Endor Refit configuration This one is inspired by the standard loadout X-Wings from the Battle over Endor scenario pack. The action bar and abilities come straight off those cards. The action bar is slightly better (gaining a Roll to red Focus linked action). The Locked S-Foils does more or less the same thing as what I did with my reinterpretation of Servomotor S-Foils, even simpler in wording, but more of a nerf in practice since the deplete token affects ordinance, not just a primary attack, and will trigger after performing any boost, not just one performed in your action phase. But it gains It's a Trap!, giving re-rolls for running with the pack. It also gains a Missile slot which is very nice. X-Wing Prototype T-70 configuration How do add a ship that is a strict upgrade of an existing ship without making the other versions redundant? In this case the answer is both to improve the other ships (as above) while lowering the new ship a little to the same level. But not by much. This is a T-70 without the free shield and Tech slot. It gets the integrated config treatment, the T-70 dial, and Cannon slot. And because it's a "prototype", you can be justified using a T-65 or T-70 model as you prefer. X-Wing Prototype E-Wing configuration This one needed more of a compromise to balance. It gains the E-Wing dial and action bar, but keeps the X-Wing stat line. It gains the System slot, but not the Tech slot. Most importantly it loses the I3 Talent slot, making a long term ability sacrifice for that sweet dial and full action bar. I didn't think the E-Wing's version of Experimental Scanners made sense in this prototype craft as printed, so I made it a 2-time use ability - which is actually better than the original's limitation of being unable to acquire locks at range 1 which is something you are likely to want to do with a linked lock off a reposition. So it's kind of its own thing, not just a watered down E-Wing. And again, being a prototype, you are justified in using whatever model you prefer. In my case I'm not a fan of the E-Wing model, and prefer to use a 3D printed BSG Raptor that I've painted in various liveries. B-Wing Endor Refit configuration card This is another config pretty much lifted from the Battle over Endor pack. It only has a single Cannon slot, but gains a Missile and Device slot. It has the action bar from the Endor standard loadout B-WIngs, and the It's a Trap! ability that promotes running in packs. B-Wing B6 Blade Wing Prototype This is basically the default HOTAC B-Wing with the integrated configuration treatment for the ability and action bar. B6 Blade Wing Prototype is a title that in the standard game is currently only available to Hera in the B-WIng, and it adds a Gunner slot. So you get one with this configuration too! A-Wing RZ-2 Prototype The A-wing was the toughest configuration to develop. A-Wings are fast and agile, and get an extra Talent slot compared to other ships. By the time you get them to a fully upgraded I6 you can have 5 shields and a number of defensive abilities that makes up for their initial fragility. But the problem is keeping them alive until you get there. Talents, shields and levelling up are all very expensive, and if you get shot down those expensive upgrades can be lost. In addition to the inherent fragility, the A-Wing doesn't have much firepower aside from a single missile slot, and not much in the way of slot variety aside from the Talents. All of which makes A-Wings a tough sell compared to some of the other ships. To try and address the survivability issue, I added the Fast target ability which allows you to take a strain token to gain an evade token after executing a speed 3-5 manoeuvre. So you trade a defence dice for one attack for a guaranteed evade. If you don't need to spend it on the first defence roll you have it for later, and you or a teammate might have an ability to remove the strain token before you get attacked. You can use the ability while stressed, and still get your action. It's not as good as the TIE Defender's Full throttle ability, but maybe it's good enough. Maybe I should just add that ability instead. Either way Jukeing A-Wings will likely be a thing. As for Vectored Thrusters vs Vectored Cannons I say why not both? At first I was thinking to make them a double-sided config that you can flip in the system phase like S-Foils. Then I remembered I did away with those, and rewrote it so both abilities are always active and you can choose which to use by flipping a recurring charge. I also gave them the Tech slot I took off the E-Wing. Is it enough? I don't know. Nobody wants to fly A-Wings around here. If you try it out, let me know! HWK-290 Mouldy Crow configuration card Talk about an embarrassment of riches. The HWK-290 has all the things. With the Mouldy Crow title it's basically an X-Wing that has an additional turret, an interesting action bar, a stop manoeuvre, and all the fun slots, including Crew. It's kind of a lot, and a bit too good comparatively. So I figured since there should only be one Mouldy Crow, there really should be 2 viable HWK builds, one of which is Mouldy Crow which is more attack focussed, and another more support oriented one. So Mouldy Crow first. The only tweaks here really are to remove one Modification slot, and replacing the System slot with a Gunner. Yes, I added a gunner. Since you're already taking Perceptive Copilot you might as well combo that with Bistan for a double tap. OK as a nerf, that's a fail, but for fun, it's a win. Nobody is making you take the combo. You have options. Moving on! HWK-290 Smuggler's Refit config card It's a Scummy HWK. Compared to Mouldy Crow, your Jam action becomes white, you lose the Gunner and gain a second Crew along with two Illicit slots. Not much else to say about this. Here's another quick one: https://preview.redd.it/26i36pypjj5d1.png?width=734&format=png&auto=webp&s=40dd9da3a3f81d72999966429ef1c5365bd5c566 Seems fine to add more or less as-is. Compared to the Y-Wing, it exchanges the turret for an extra attack die and rear arc. It gains a shield, but is a slightly bigger target. It has no Device or Illicit slots, but can equip Republic upgrades and pilot abilities. It's the only ship here that has access to Republic upgrades. Sheathipede Support Shuttle configuration card This is the ship I felt least confident about, next to the A-Wing. The HWK-290s are pretty great, but I wanted to add one more support option. The problem is that the U-Wing is a bit too much, and the Sheathipede and Attack Shuttle don't have much to offer with their standard slots and action bars. The only way I could raise the ship to a similar level was to just keep the stat line and just make stuff up. It's intended to be a dedicated support ship, and because of it's smooth modern looking body I decided to give it a high-tech sub-theme. The base concept I basically lifted from the Resistance Y-Wing in that it has a bunch of slots that can add actions to the action bar, and if you perform an action granted by an upgrade, you also get a linked white calculate. And the default action bar comes with Focus, Coordinate into Calculate, Jam into Calculate, and red Barrel Roll and Boost. The upgrade slots include an Astromech, 2 Crew, 2 Tech and the standard 3 Mods and 3 Talents. It seems decent enough, and not overpowered. It's certainly unique enough to make it a real consideration for players drawn to support ships. But I wonder if it will be looked down upon for being so far away from the standard version of the ship. And now last, but certainly not least is maybe my crazy A-Wing alternative: https://preview.redd.it/108q0lhyaj5d1.png?width=918&format=png&auto=webp&s=073f5574f0d828b3e4a3f2b07645dc4354eb8a0d What's a harder sell than an A-Wing? How about an A-Wing with no shields that wants to joust? Apart from the ability to equip Scum upgrades and pilot abilities this is pretty much just a vanilla Fang fighter with upgrade slots similar to the A-Wing. What really sets it apart though is the approach to survivability. Instead of adding in defensive abilities to help keep it alive, instead the focus is on making the consequences to being destroyed less costly, encouraging fearless engagement with the enemy like a true Mandalorian. At first I was thinking to add an ability along the lines of "When you make an ejection roll, you may change one result to a blank". To thematically justify this, I was thinking that the pilot could be wearing a Mandalorian armoured flight suit, able to weather the vacuum of space until rescued. And then I remembered the Mandalorian Super Commandos upgrade, which placed a little cardboard chit representing a team of Mandalorians that could move around the board and shoot things and generally get in the way. And I had my answer. https://preview.redd.it/kddiznjnjj5d1.png?width=734&format=png&auto=webp&s=35a1b75d91ec0249cb6a5abc4a4a6ab04edc873a Here are the associated rules: This remote can only be deployed when the pilot's ship is destroyed. An ejection roll is only performed if this remote is destroyed, or it is docked with another ship that gets destroyed.So if the Fang gets destroyed, the pilot will deploy, and can slowly fly around the board making small attacks until it can grapple on to a friendly ship and escape. And that's it so far. All of these cards are freshly designed and un-tested (we are going to use them in the campaign we just started). I'm sure there will be some tweaks here and there. If you try them out let me know what you think. I'm interested in your thoughts and opinions regardless. It's been a ton of work, I hope you enjoy it. Cheers, Scott |
2024.06.09 13:10 Cerebral_Kortix A Lunatic's Summary of Honkai Star Rail
In Honkai Star Rail, you play as Johnkai Starrail, a fully-grown two-week-old cancerous raccoon hobo jointly adopted by three mass murderers, a fraud and a furry all of whom live inside a giant flying gun train that goes around the universe stealing cancer from people.
Johnkai Starrail was born when a femcel NEET gamer with no sense of hygiene fisted an innocent raccoon with portable space cancer while a cockroach watched.
These two of course being the members of the Stellaron Hunters, a rival group of cancer-stealing mass murderers with nothing better to do than listen to a cat meow and knock over boxes and through sheer schizophrenia, decipher it as an MS Word document on the fate of the universe that will grant each and every one of them their deepest wishes.
The Stellaron Hunters consist of:
...
However, conflict arises as Ms Cockroach suddenly arrives at the Astral Express to fight for custody over Johnkai Starrail. HIMeko, not wanting her lovely deranged trash-eating son to be stressed by this legal battle, loads him into the Express' barrel and fires him to *Space China* to create low price electronics for her while he waits it all out.
However, the sheer density of Dong Hung's massive **** creates a gravitational field and pulls March and Grandpa Fraud along for the ride.
...
At the same time, Shirou Emiya holds up the General of Space China, Mid Yuan, over that one time he and his college D&D group dine-and-dashed. "Of five, three must pay a price." Fortunately, Fraud Yuan was one of the five who footed the bill so he's free to go.
...
Called the Trace system, it, unlike its Nasuverse counterpart, operates not by concentrated schizophrenia, but rather, eating literal garbage.
In essence, for say, a Preservation character, you take them to an outhouse, and instead of ordering anything on the menu, you murder all the employees, strip the guards of their clothes, and then your Preservation character gleefully consumes the inedible masses of scrap metal ripped from their carcasses.
This gross violation of all natural laws is so pleasing to this character that it causes their prowess at violence to greatly increase by... 1%.
And now you know how to build your characters!
...
Back to the plot, Johnkai Starrail, March 7th and Grandpa Fraud are held up by Chinese Space Customs for having no passports. Fortunately, they are reduced to blood mist by the hitherto unmentioned immortal omnicidal PTSD plant menace created due to Yaoshi getting just a little too invested in Plants vs Zombies and trying to fuse the two.
The gang meet up with a fox lady named Tingyun. All you need to know about her is that she won the Best Head contest on the Buddy subreddit.
She takes the troupe of Nameless to her boss, Yukong, who's canonically a milf. Yukong tells them to screw off, so Johnkai Starrail demands to speak to the manager of China. She redirects them to Fraud Yuan.
Fraud Yuan realises this plot has been directionless for the past two hours and desperately trying to save this mess of a chapter gets Johnkai and pals to murder Shirou Emiya, because if anyone can fix a mess of a plot it's everyone's favourite sword.
...
Instead, he gets off the train, meets up with Welt's boyfriend and leaves all the plot to him since, like HI3, Otto handles everything.
In fact, Otto didn't die in HI3 because of the two scantily clad teenage girls beating him to death, but rather because his spine simply snapped after having carried the entirety of the plot for the past 15 years.
Suschlong is there too. According to the Honkai community, she has a very large cock.
...
With her incredible skills of Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girlboss, she dominates the party, but then a tiny Asian woman appears with a slipper, and as small Asian women are the natural enemy of cockroaches, Kafka is immediately defeated.
They drag her to a giant calculator and she has a delusional rant on how:
...
Oh yeah, wait, this thing had a plot. Yeah. remember those weird plant immortal PTSD things? They originate from smoke apparently. And Johnkai and his friends go ahead to the smoke machines to-
Whoops. Recall Tingyun? The lady who won the "Best Head" contest?
Phantylia, Ravager of Destruction, severely misunderstands what "Best Head" means and snaps her head off.
...
There, he finds Dong Hung and Shirou Emiya aggressively "sword-fighting". However, Dong Hung's prowess with his 'polearm' is nothing compared to Shirou's skill with his 'blade' and Shirou penetrates Dong Hung.
This experience of having another man inside him causes Dong Hung to experience self-realization and transform into a flamboyant, horn-y version of himself surrounded by fluid.
...
Suddenly, Yanqing arrives. Ms Cockroach , Dong Hung and Shirou Emiya all set their differences aside to beat the small child to a pulp. Johnkai Starrail sees this and joins in on the fun, followed by March 7th, Grandpa Fraud, Phantylia, Nanook, IX, Aha, Acheron, Firefly, Screwllum, Gandalf, Roland, Gilgamesh, Doctor Who, Doraemon, Goku and everyone in the Honkaiverse and a few outside.
After atomising Yanqing, everyone has a great celebration and Shirou Emiya and Dong Hung reconcile over their shared love for violence. They put aside the old unpaid bill for McDonald's that caused a rift in their friendship, the High Cloud Quintet (named after how they'd all get together to get absolutely smoked every Sunday) years ago.
...
With Dong Hung's fluids, Johnkai Starrail's lance, Fraud Yuan and Grandpa Fraud doing absolutely nothing, they easily overpower her and steal her cancer, causing her to have to give up her Make-a-Wish gift of being a giant woman and turn back into a ball of fire which Fraud Yuan stuffs into a furnace.
The gang celebrates their victory by all inviting every single fictional character to have ever been to stage the world's largest JJK jumping and eradicate the very concept of Yanqing.
...
His questions go unanswered as he is dragged kicking and screaming back to Belobog for tax evasion.
The rest of the gang look on baffled as the entirety of Space China subsequently collapses as while they took over a meth lab and murdered a giant woman, they kind of forgot to deal with the actual problem of the immortal unkillable serial killer plant zombies everywhere.
Yeah, that happens sometimes. Some worlds prosper, other worlds get railed.
Because this truly was our,
submitted by Cerebral_Kortix to HonkaiStarRail [link] [comments]
Johnkai Starrail was born when a femcel NEET gamer with no sense of hygiene fisted an innocent raccoon with portable space cancer while a cockroach watched.
These two of course being the members of the Stellaron Hunters, a rival group of cancer-stealing mass murderers with nothing better to do than listen to a cat meow and knock over boxes and through sheer schizophrenia, decipher it as an MS Word document on the fate of the universe that will grant each and every one of them their deepest wishes.
The Stellaron Hunters consist of:
- Femcel Bronya (she has kidney stones).
- Ms Cockroach (this bug steps on you)
- Shirou Emiya (he wants to kill himself)
- Kamen Rider (she likes genocide and cute plushies)
- Elio (literally just a cat)
...
Chapter 2: Johnkai Starrail does minimum wage labour in China.
Johnkai Starrail, for his countless crimes, has been sentenced to life in prison. He is to be sent to the penal colony, Penacony, with his accomplices Dong Hung and September 11th.However, conflict arises as Ms Cockroach suddenly arrives at the Astral Express to fight for custody over Johnkai Starrail. HIMeko, not wanting her lovely deranged trash-eating son to be stressed by this legal battle, loads him into the Express' barrel and fires him to *Space China* to create low price electronics for her while he waits it all out.
However, the sheer density of Dong Hung's massive **** creates a gravitational field and pulls March and Grandpa Fraud along for the ride.
...
At the same time, Shirou Emiya holds up the General of Space China, Mid Yuan, over that one time he and his college D&D group dine-and-dashed. "Of five, three must pay a price." Fortunately, Fraud Yuan was one of the five who footed the bill so he's free to go.
...
Tangent: Man, I love eating literal garbage.
Before we move on with this haphazard story written by Hoyoverse's overworked employees through throwing stones into the air while highly sleep-deprived and trying to mesh the hallucinations spawned from them hitting the writer in the head into a concise plot, I must explain how levelling works in this game.Called the Trace system, it, unlike its Nasuverse counterpart, operates not by concentrated schizophrenia, but rather, eating literal garbage.
In essence, for say, a Preservation character, you take them to an outhouse, and instead of ordering anything on the menu, you murder all the employees, strip the guards of their clothes, and then your Preservation character gleefully consumes the inedible masses of scrap metal ripped from their carcasses.
This gross violation of all natural laws is so pleasing to this character that it causes their prowess at violence to greatly increase by... 1%.
And now you know how to build your characters!
...
Back to the plot, Johnkai Starrail, March 7th and Grandpa Fraud are held up by Chinese Space Customs for having no passports. Fortunately, they are reduced to blood mist by the hitherto unmentioned immortal omnicidal PTSD plant menace created due to Yaoshi getting just a little too invested in Plants vs Zombies and trying to fuse the two.
The gang meet up with a fox lady named Tingyun. All you need to know about her is that she won the Best Head contest on the Buddy subreddit.
She takes the troupe of Nameless to her boss, Yukong, who's canonically a milf. Yukong tells them to screw off, so Johnkai Starrail demands to speak to the manager of China. She redirects them to Fraud Yuan.
Fraud Yuan realises this plot has been directionless for the past two hours and desperately trying to save this mess of a chapter gets Johnkai and pals to murder Shirou Emiya, because if anyone can fix a mess of a plot it's everyone's favourite sword.
...
Dong Hung does nothing but kill plants for two hours while Welt's boyfriend acts vaguely menacingly.
Dong Hung remembers he's one of the main characters and so banned from being irrelevant. However, being a lazy wad on account of the mere existence of his planet-shattering \*** consuming all his energy, leaving him with atrophied muscles in a medical condition commonly called "Twink*", Dong Hung can't be bothered to actually do anything of import.Instead, he gets off the train, meets up with Welt's boyfriend and leaves all the plot to him since, like HI3, Otto handles everything.
In fact, Otto didn't die in HI3 because of the two scantily clad teenage girls beating him to death, but rather because his spine simply snapped after having carried the entirety of the plot for the past 15 years.
Suschlong is there too. According to the Honkai community, she has a very large cock.
...
Johnkai Starrail's custody battle comes to a head.
Johnkai Starrail and pals find Ms Cockroach, Johnkai Starrail's mother. Having been unable to convince the judges that she's the better parent to the woman whose coffee is considered worse than IX's gaze, she's decided to break the law and just take her son back through force.With her incredible skills of Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girlboss, she dominates the party, but then a tiny Asian woman appears with a slipper, and as small Asian women are the natural enemy of cockroaches, Kafka is immediately defeated.
They drag her to a giant calculator and she has a delusional rant on how:
- She's a slave of a cat.
- Everything is unavoidable.
- Johnkai Starrail needs to fistfight God shirtless on a tall tower in the rain one day.
...
Johnkai hunts endangered wildlife for fun.
Fu Xuan lets the clearly mentally addled old mother go. March 7th then, bored, drives an endangered species of deers extinct.Oh yeah, wait, this thing had a plot. Yeah. remember those weird plant immortal PTSD things? They originate from smoke apparently. And Johnkai and his friends go ahead to the smoke machines to-
Whoops. Recall Tingyun? The lady who won the "Best Head" contest?
Phantylia, Ravager of Destruction, severely misunderstands what "Best Head" means and snaps her head off.
...
Dong Hung gets penetrated.
Johnkai Starrail, severely traumatized, decides to halt the plot to have a beach episode.There, he finds Dong Hung and Shirou Emiya aggressively "sword-fighting". However, Dong Hung's prowess with his 'polearm' is nothing compared to Shirou's skill with his 'blade' and Shirou penetrates Dong Hung.
This experience of having another man inside him causes Dong Hung to experience self-realization and transform into a flamboyant, horn-y version of himself surrounded by fluid.
...
Suddenly, Yanqing arrives. Ms Cockroach , Dong Hung and Shirou Emiya all set their differences aside to beat the small child to a pulp. Johnkai Starrail sees this and joins in on the fun, followed by March 7th, Grandpa Fraud, Phantylia, Nanook, IX, Aha, Acheron, Firefly, Screwllum, Gandalf, Roland, Gilgamesh, Doctor Who, Doraemon, Goku and everyone in the Honkaiverse and a few outside.
After atomising Yanqing, everyone has a great celebration and Shirou Emiya and Dong Hung reconcile over their shared love for violence. They put aside the old unpaid bill for McDonald's that caused a rift in their friendship, the High Cloud Quintet (named after how they'd all get together to get absolutely smoked every Sunday) years ago.
...
Johnkai Starrail and friends attack a giant lady's chest till she dies and go home.
Johnkai Starrail, Fraud Yuan, Dong Hung then go to Phantylia because they just remembered she's terminally ill with space cancer.With Dong Hung's fluids, Johnkai Starrail's lance, Fraud Yuan and Grandpa Fraud doing absolutely nothing, they easily overpower her and steal her cancer, causing her to have to give up her Make-a-Wish gift of being a giant woman and turn back into a ball of fire which Fraud Yuan stuffs into a furnace.
The gang celebrates their victory by all inviting every single fictional character to have ever been to stage the world's largest JJK jumping and eradicate the very concept of Yanqing.
...
Johnkai Starrail gets arrested for tax evasion.
Sometime later, Johnkai Starrail thinks on the abrupt ending and ponders on the matter. Was there a moral to this? Why was Otto here at all? Is it true that Suschlong is in fact larger than Dong Hung?His questions go unanswered as he is dragged kicking and screaming back to Belobog for tax evasion.
The rest of the gang look on baffled as the entirety of Space China subsequently collapses as while they took over a meth lab and murdered a giant woman, they kind of forgot to deal with the actual problem of the immortal unkillable serial killer plant zombies everywhere.
Yeah, that happens sometimes. Some worlds prosper, other worlds get railed.
Because this truly was our,
Honkai Star Rail!
...Roll Credits!
...[<---Previous Part Here!]
2024.06.09 13:06 aldh860 Trying again but maybe in a more helpful way this time. I won’t ever use “I” again. Thank you for making me aware. Maybe more peoples will be willing to give it a shot.
First let me give you a taste. Let me prove myself to you. You want to know if I like sugar in my coffee? Yeah, sometimes. Black is good too sometimes. You really can’t do anything wrong when you do the right thing. You will never have another argument again. Miscommunication. Escape from the only true delusions. The ones that NO ONE HAS EVER QUESTIONED. Of course it’s scary. Terrifying. Ever been in love? Ever have to raise your hand in class when everyone makes fun of you? New things are scary. No one but the successful has this lifestyle. We would change this way of things for many generations. Maybe they will never take it back this time. It’s been done before people. Listen to what they say about the hippies. They had the right message. They bought the lie. They sold out. Maybe this could be something. May not. I’m fine either way. Reddit is actively shutting me down and you know what? Ignore the death threats, I laugh, I share will friends if I think it’s worth it. I hurt peoples feelings and they love me for it. I have finally found friends. I finally stopped the abuse to was showing my husband who saw the potential in and gave me the chance become the person he needs. He just needed to wait until I was truly ready to see clearly. I’m sorry I’m not waiting until I think you are ready. That was another lie. You are to make change now. You will have motivation. You’ll not trust the fact that your depression is gone because you have trained it to think it can’t work its way in there. Build this thing for you. It’s YOU. Just like yourself already. Start my finding what you needed as a child and take everything you want from this world. If you can’t say it then yet. Practice. Practice here! I will help anyway I can. It’s time we hold ourselves up. You will notice that there is no nonsense to these words. I’m just showing what it looks to like experience being unapologetically you. Take what you what. Like this.
I will never apologize for this. I have the moral high ground. Always. I am killing you right now that you aren’t me. Yet. You alone hold the key. I don’t care what anyone has to get against it honestly. There is no bad here. I checked. People who tell other people what to do are not good people. They never think for themselves. They struggle to form a single question. You see it. Help them if you want. Enjoy it if you want to. It’s funny. I laugh at the this. You crack me up. I am honestly just trying to learn my you actively help people not want to die. I already saved liked. All the karma I accepted about me I learned to eat. I did the work. You see it. Stop complaining. I am unapologetically childfree because of the way you made it. Goodness cannot grown in these harsh conditions.
This is where I do start using I phrases. I am a white 31F Childhood sex survivor. I have been will to die for the world you created. The religion is Independent Fundamentalist Baptist. The absolute worst of the worst. You deserve every little bit of karma you have coming if you don’t change your ways. I hope they make to crawl. You suck. You are the worst people. I laugh at the idea of hoping you die out. But that would be a disservice to you. Because even you are capable of love. Everyone is kiddo. It’s just unconditional love. Look how easy that was. It’s true. Hold you accountable. I’m water you. I wear all the scares I wear that you gave me proudly. I have described everything that went into them. I thank you for your negativity. It’s my constant reminder I’m right. Cause I know I am. It’s true for me.
Fight it. It’s just a lie we keep telling us kids.
MODs thank you humoring me back. I really appreciate you. You keep everyone safe here. I trust that if I ever get out of line you can just ban me. I have a lot of good to offer this community. You are the guinea pigs. I NEED to get this right. I am stating to you that I have a need. I am putting my foot down. I am ready to cause it great pain. Bring it on. Watch me overcome. I am capable of doing anything and I finally know this. Let me save you a lot of pain.
EDIT post. I am vetting this too. Let me tell you what I learn and will leave a nice wrap up to hopefully clear it all up for you.
They only question this because they want to see how much power I have on them. Power is their only choice they leave themselves with. You can never go wrong with giving someone else this power. People will start treating their lives too. Their whole world view is to keep power the most important thing. Now tell me that did clear everything up for you. I will call you out so we can all laugh together at you squirming. You are Adam. He tried to control her from the very start. We are Eve. We need to consider our options carefully. She would save you this pain if she could. I share her struggles because they all match my own. I know she did the right thing. She has been blamed for making the right decision for her. She’s obese. Growing stronger every day. She’s still a nudist because she listened and trusted what she told her self. She’s the original scapegoat. If you question whether whether I care that I am continuing to be right around every single thing I say. Because it’s facts.
Learn to not listen to anything else they have to you. They are only testing there limits with you. It’s gross. Grow up. You are the baby crying. Not me. I’m all good with whatever you choose to believe. Nah thanks. Presh. Let’s call them what the professionals do. Narcs.
submitted by aldh860 to ReligiousTrauma [link] [comments]
I will never apologize for this. I have the moral high ground. Always. I am killing you right now that you aren’t me. Yet. You alone hold the key. I don’t care what anyone has to get against it honestly. There is no bad here. I checked. People who tell other people what to do are not good people. They never think for themselves. They struggle to form a single question. You see it. Help them if you want. Enjoy it if you want to. It’s funny. I laugh at the this. You crack me up. I am honestly just trying to learn my you actively help people not want to die. I already saved liked. All the karma I accepted about me I learned to eat. I did the work. You see it. Stop complaining. I am unapologetically childfree because of the way you made it. Goodness cannot grown in these harsh conditions.
This is where I do start using I phrases. I am a white 31F Childhood sex survivor. I have been will to die for the world you created. The religion is Independent Fundamentalist Baptist. The absolute worst of the worst. You deserve every little bit of karma you have coming if you don’t change your ways. I hope they make to crawl. You suck. You are the worst people. I laugh at the idea of hoping you die out. But that would be a disservice to you. Because even you are capable of love. Everyone is kiddo. It’s just unconditional love. Look how easy that was. It’s true. Hold you accountable. I’m water you. I wear all the scares I wear that you gave me proudly. I have described everything that went into them. I thank you for your negativity. It’s my constant reminder I’m right. Cause I know I am. It’s true for me.
Fight it. It’s just a lie we keep telling us kids.
MODs thank you humoring me back. I really appreciate you. You keep everyone safe here. I trust that if I ever get out of line you can just ban me. I have a lot of good to offer this community. You are the guinea pigs. I NEED to get this right. I am stating to you that I have a need. I am putting my foot down. I am ready to cause it great pain. Bring it on. Watch me overcome. I am capable of doing anything and I finally know this. Let me save you a lot of pain.
EDIT post. I am vetting this too. Let me tell you what I learn and will leave a nice wrap up to hopefully clear it all up for you.
They only question this because they want to see how much power I have on them. Power is their only choice they leave themselves with. You can never go wrong with giving someone else this power. People will start treating their lives too. Their whole world view is to keep power the most important thing. Now tell me that did clear everything up for you. I will call you out so we can all laugh together at you squirming. You are Adam. He tried to control her from the very start. We are Eve. We need to consider our options carefully. She would save you this pain if she could. I share her struggles because they all match my own. I know she did the right thing. She has been blamed for making the right decision for her. She’s obese. Growing stronger every day. She’s still a nudist because she listened and trusted what she told her self. She’s the original scapegoat. If you question whether whether I care that I am continuing to be right around every single thing I say. Because it’s facts.
Learn to not listen to anything else they have to you. They are only testing there limits with you. It’s gross. Grow up. You are the baby crying. Not me. I’m all good with whatever you choose to believe. Nah thanks. Presh. Let’s call them what the professionals do. Narcs.
2024.06.09 12:40 teller_of_tall_tales Troublemakers: A field of Poppys
First: https://www.reddit.com/HFY/comments/14vo5lb/troublemakers_deaths_pity/
*previous:* https://www.reddit.com/HFY/comments/1d3yvie/troublemakers_parabellum/
......
Go'mon stormed through the castle corridors. He'd sensed something slip beside him during his encounter with the vampire lord. It wasn't just that damned top hat with the thief's prints. No, it was more subtle than that, it was the sound of a gossamer chain rattling against cloth. He scanned every square inch of the hallways as he walked, slowly twirling the Warhammer in his off-hand as he calmly held the pistol muzzle-up towards the ceiling. He'd barely gotten a glimpse of what almost looked like mist as he stomped through the grand halls with paranoia-fueled, seething anger. Abruptly turning a corner he fired the revolver at what he thought was that pesky invisible parasite.
The shimmer shuddered and he switched to the visible spectrum to find out it was just a tapestry in front of a heating vent.
Go'mon let out an enraged scream, tearing the tapestry apart with his bare hands after casting his weapons aside in a fit of rage and impotence. The visage of Monarch D'vinn looking out from the top of a bombed-out hill in battered armor at the shattered remains of the once human-occupied city, being shredded like single-ply latrine paper by go'mon's molecularly edged cybernetic claws. Having spent his rage on the tapestry, he panted dramatically as his heart pounded in its cask. Turning around he let out another furious scream, howling madly as he scanned the hall with thermals. His Hammer and revolver had disappeared without a trace.
The sudden blare of a Klaxon made him pause as he adjusted his armor, forcing himself to calm down as he examined his molecularly edged claws. The main enemy was at the gates, he should go meet them.
...
Cassius' Heart pounded as he took shallow breaths, Go'mon's backplate inches from his own chest as he held onto the Hammer and Pistol for dear life. As the general strutted outside, Cassius moved in perfect synchronization, his left leg rising with the general's before being placed down in sync. He'd been practicing for weeks with the security droids at the mansion, practicing to keep inches from their backs without touching their metal carapace. Now he strutted behind perhaps the second most powerful being he knew like a silent specter. As Go'mon slammed through a door, breaking it into splinters, Cassius lifted his right leg and rotated out of the way just as Go'mon's tail would've brushed against his Calf, giving him away. As the General strutted out into the middle of the courtyard, Cassius used the various straps attached to his gambeson to affix the weapons to his waist before grabbing his Kama and weighted chain from a small pouch at his belt.
Cassius tossed the weighted end of the chain over the wall of the castle after a short run-up, wrapping the gossamer chain around his hands with each rapid step he took up the wall. Reaching the top, he unhooked the weight from the small bar he'd tossed it around quickly disentangling his hands from the chain. He groped the air on the outside of the wall until he touched the enchanted ladder the Top-Hats had left him. Sliding down the ladder, he spotted Drake sitting astride Barney in the middle of the street. The rest were nowhere to be seen but that indeed was part of the plan. Sprinting over, Cassius leaped onto Barney behind Drake and slipped Go'mon's revolver into the empty holster at his belt. Drawing out no reaction save for a few words from Drake, who didn't turn his head lest he give the gambit away.
"Good work Cassius, Fall back and get a gas mask on. We still don't know what's in those canisters because they inked out the labels."
Cassius slipped off of Barney's back and slipped into a nearby building before De-cloaking as he pressed himself against the wall next to a Warmonger who passed him a spare gas mask. He pulled it on and checked the seal before sitting against the wall as his legs jellied beneath him. His mouth was dryer than the scrubland as he accepted a Volunteer's canteen, drinking heavily through a port in the mask as he rode out the adrenaline crash. He glanced over to where their fighters had pried open a sewer access hatch and were dropping in, the smell of sewage souring the air. A few warmongers closest to the opening had comically attached wooden clothesline clips to their noses.
...
Caz lay atop the second-tallest building in Golgatha, trash and debris piled up around her for camouflage ash she drew a bead on the strutting Go'mon. Her god-given eyes were able to see the purple miasma that rose from him like mercury vapors. She didn't even turn her head as she softly asked.
"Distance?"
The man with Heavy cybernetic augmentations pulled casually from a large pouch of grain alcohol, camera-lense eyes extending from his face as he chewed on a bullet thoughtfully. Slowly he stated.
"One thousand five hundred and sixty-seven meters, If you're keeping it under auto-ignition velocity, you should be able to hold it one mil above and..."
The sound of the bullet in his mouth getting chewed filled the air before he stated.
"Two mils right, wind fluctuates between us and the target, expect a half minute of angle deviation."
Caz adjusted her optic, bringing the point of aim directly onto her crosshairs. The man next to her had called himself "an Olympian" an old sect of bionically enhanced warriors from even before the betrayal wars. In the small amount of time she'd gotten to know the man, she'd found him palatable at the very least, soft-spoken with a touch of crazy, it was refreshing. She tried to ignore the artillery-sized rifle he laid behind, the barrel itself bigger around than a drainage pipe, a suppressor of equally massive size almost protruding over the edge of the building. She watched from the corner of his eye as he pulled the breech open to the side and selected a shell thicker and longer than her forearm with a fused tip. He rammed it into the gun with the same ease she loaded her flechettes with.
They both had different jobs despite sitting on the same roof. She'd take care of anything on two legs, and he'd handle anything that had an armored skin. From her vantage point, she watched as the Agri-bots moved into position, planting their artillery pieces against the ground in preparation to fire. They weren't using High explosives much to Remin and Destrier's chagrin, but with their attack plan, they couldn't risk collapsing the sewers. They were instead armed with a chemical weapon known as "CS Smoke" which would obscure visual sightlines for anyone with unaugmented vision. Lucky for her and the Olympian, that wouldn't be an issue with her clear-sight and his advanced optics. She slowly swiveled her focus onto Drake, keeping the center of the crosshair off him as she watched him.
Sitting astride Barney, Drake looked every bit the warrior he was. His dark helmet and armor were almost lost in the dark night. But the red shock of his Helm's mohawk could not be mistaken, glowing brightly against the darkness. As his palm came to rest on the pommel of his sword, she saw something entirely different for a moment.
A warrior in battered, rusty armor, the flesh falling from his bones as a pair of white lights gleamed behind the helmet. A skeletal hand held a rusty sword in its sheath, Its pale, emaciated steed's head hanging low, milky eyes soulless and empty.
But as soon as she saw it, the image faded and she swiveled her crosshairs onto the castle's inner courtyard. A small, dim red light blinked on the side of the Olympian's skull as the Geknosians organized into fighting lines. Hulking Geknosians in overbuilt power armor manned emplaced turrets and the looming Gas generators. A small feed from the Olympian's perspective overlaid itself on her scope before minimizing to one corner. She watched as his crosshair fell onto one of the two Gallicks. The horseshoe-shaped APCs presenting their bulk to the gate as a bulwark. Caz switched her aim to a heavily armored Geknosian, slowly dialing the small wheel on the forend of her rifle to half-power, just under auto-ignition velocity. The geknosian seemed to get uncomfortable as her crosshairs landed on his chest, fidgeting at the controls of their AA plasma Beam-cannon.
The moment the Agri-bots fired their artillery, she'd remove him from the gene pool and take that AA gun out of the fight so Destrier could get into position.
...
Destrier and Remin ran last-minute checks on the small fleet of two-wheeled land vehicles the Top Hats had called "Dirt bikes." The variable electric powerplant produced little to no noise, even now, powered on and ready to roll they didn't even humm. Stepping back, Destrier let the forearms of his power armor clamshell close as he retook the hand controls. Contrary to popular belief, the hands of power armor weren't at all like gloves. A handle with a pressure sensor for each finger was clasped in his hands, allowing him to manipulate the hands of the armor like his own. Destrier turned his head, helmet whirring on its bearing as he watched Remin mount one of the Dirtbikes, the black scimitar strapped to the suspension of the bike within arm's reach. The old man's Mongolian lamellar draped over either side of the bike like fabric, small metal plates clinking and clattering softly as he pulled his fabric-wrapped helmet back on. Destrier clomped over, hardly noticing the backpack with over two hundred rounds of 13x110 mm HEP.
Remin looked up with a grin and met Destrier's arm halfway in a forearm-gripping handshake, their metal hands clanking together as they slid their arms back into a grip around the base of each other's thumbs, then to a normal handshake before waggling their fingers at each other.
Destrier chuckled softly and looked up at the sky, night vision lenses making it appear stuffed to bursting with stars.
"What's on the black samurai's mind?"
Remin asked softly, head tilted back to also look at the stars between the rooftops.
"Well... I'm looking forward to the fighting to finally being over... Maybe I'll finally be able to settle down and invent something with Martha..."
Remin chuckled softly.
"A noble goal... I'd expect nothing less from you Destri... I'm actually hoping to catch a ride back to human-controlled space. I'm too old for this shit, I want to settle down and live out the last years of my life in peace..."
Destrier nodded in agreement, slowly turning his gaze back to the helicopter, blades slowly turning in preparation for takeoff.
"How old are you Remin? I don't think I ever asked."
The old man paused, thinking for a long time.
"Oh... I'd say I've made it past a century at this point. Got a cybernetic heart when I was a kid thanks to a car accident, Ol' things been keeping me going far past when I shoulda dropped."
Destrier nods and laughs softly.
"Damn, and I thought you were only in your fifties."
Remin laughed in agreeance, setting his hands on the handlebars.
"I don't blame ya, I feel like it. Especially now that my legs aren't filled with creaky arthritis."
Destrier sighed softly, gently punching the old man's shoulder as softly as he could in his power armor.
"See you on the other side old man... whether that be the living side or the dead one."
"Here's to hoping it's the former not the latter."
Destrier chuckled his agreement and boarded the helicopter, making the landing gear compress slightly as he put his weight on the flight deck. Unhooking the feed chain from the side of the backpack, he clipped it into the Ma-deuce's feed chute. It whirred as the heavy cartridges were funneled down the chain and into the gun with a click and a clatter.
...
Barney shifted from one leg to the other beneath Drake, Death's chosen reaching down and gently patting his neck fondly as he softly whispered.
"Just a moment longer boy... There's someone I need to talk to."
Drake closed his eyes, letting the Darkness envelop him for a moment before opening them again.
He looked at Death, who was casually swirling a glass of black bourbon thoughtfully.
"You said you wanted to talk to me right before the battle?"
Death nodded and slid the glass of black bourbon his way.
"I did, I want you to drink this before you go into battle."
Drake picked up the glass, inspecting the pitch-black, inky liquid curiously. Before sniffing it and coughing as his eyes water.
"No offense, But I think something died in your liquor bottle."
Death laughed jovially, pouring his own glass from a red crystal decanter.
"That's because this is made from the blood of my predecessor. I thought i might as well get it out of the way."
Drake suspiciously looked at the glass.
"Okay, what happens when I drink it?"
Death paused, slowly swirling his own glass of black bourbon pensively. Then, he slowly knocked his own back, eyes dilating wide before returning to normal.
"Well, It should allow you to control your power, bypassing the decades of training most need."
Drake gave Death a side eye, sniffing the foul drink one more time asking.
"What's the catch?"
Death frowned, then set his glass down.
"Considering that it's going to completely restructure your magical and circulatory pathways. It's going to hurt like nothing you've ever felt before. It also may or may not bind your guardians to your soul."
Drake's head snapped up.
"Guardians... you mean my parents?"
Death nodded softly.
"Guardians, souls that loved someone so much that they remained on after death to watch over them. Your parents loved you... loved you enough to stand by your side even in death... and before you give me some bullshit about this not being what your parents would want... Remember, they'll always be at your side until you die one way or another."
Drake slowly swirled the bourbon before nodding softly, bringing it to his lips, he downed it in a single gulp. It burned on its way down, the tingling feeling intensely spreading throughout his body and to his fingertips in a moment. His nerves burned, and his very being felt as though it was being scalded by burning hot water. But as he set the glass down on Death's desk, he smiled softly. There was a warmth to the pain, like a cold rag against a feverish forehead. The sting of a garlic poultice applied to a fresh whip-wound. It was the crack of his father's wooden sword against his knuckles during their sparring, the sweat that would drip into his eyes on long evenings working the fields. Drake opened his eyes slowly, no longer sitting in Death's office, but his own soulscape, looking at the long-neglected buildings halfway through construction. But he wasn't alone.
Drake smiled at his mother and father. His mother gave him a soft smile as she touched the scar across his face, the wound in his cheek where a gauss slug had torn it open, then, she took his hand to gently touch the scarred wound where Garravan's knife had pierced his hand. His father just sat cross-legged, drinking a stout mug of scrub tree tea with a proud smile on his face. drake looked between them before holding out his hands.
As his parents took them, they dissolved into motes of light that drifted into his chest. His veins burned, and his eyes and nose bled. His entire existence felt like a blistering inferno as the ground of his soulscape rumbled, small, red flowers the color of blood and the shape of gunshot wounds popping up from the ground. But even as the pain grew, and grew, and grew, He found himself simply laughing, grabbing what felt like an invisible pair of chains and pulling up on them as he stood.
The ground erupted in the middle of his soulscape, a massive, gnarled oak tree sprouting from the ground. Its sturdy trunk protecting a small patch of pink carnations interspersed with curly-petaled white Gardenias. Drake felt something form atop his head and reached up, feeling a thorny crown, he gently pulled it off, looking at the black-petaled roses fondly before returning it to his head. The thorny veins grew down from the crown, snaking their way deep into his flesh only to bloom into what felt like new muscles and tendons that weren't attached to his physical strength. Looking at his upturned palms, he curled his fingers, a steady, smokeless pale flame popping into existence in his palm with next to no effort.
As the pain subsided, Drake closed his eyes, relishing its departure before opening them to the shocked and concerned face of Death. Drake gave him a curious look and Death coughed softly as he composed himself before speaking.
"Look, I know I can hide pain well... But that smile you get when you're hurting is capital C Creepy."
Drake touched his grinning face with a soft laugh, wiping a trickle of blood from his nose.
"Well, guess I can add that to my achievements list, Creeping Death out with a smile."
They both chuckled softly at the joke before Death sighed softly.
"You should get back to them, they're almost ready."
Drake nodded and stood, stepping over to the door.
"Wish me luck."
"Good luck, my Champion. Give them hell."
Drake smiled softly and stepped out the door. When he opened his eyes, he was back in the real world, staring up at Go'mon who'd perched himself atop the castle wall, eyeing Drake hungrily.
Giving Go'mon his signature grin, He reached up and depressed a countersunk button on the side of his helmet.
"Hit 'em"
Drake stated, the sound of artillery rocking the city as Go'mon's hungry look quickly turned to rage. There was a loud, screeching whistle as the artillery shells streaked in, blanketing the area in stinging fog. Drake drew his sword, extending thorned vines of power into it as the blade ignited with pale flames. Barney snuffled excitedly and roared as Drake nudged him forward, the Dinosaur leaping over the wall in a single bound. The final battle for Golgatha had begun, after this, they would either be free...
Or they will have died free.
......
Part 112: will be linked here upon completion.
submitted by teller_of_tall_tales to HFY [link] [comments]
*previous:* https://www.reddit.com/HFY/comments/1d3yvie/troublemakers_parabellum/
......
Go'mon stormed through the castle corridors. He'd sensed something slip beside him during his encounter with the vampire lord. It wasn't just that damned top hat with the thief's prints. No, it was more subtle than that, it was the sound of a gossamer chain rattling against cloth. He scanned every square inch of the hallways as he walked, slowly twirling the Warhammer in his off-hand as he calmly held the pistol muzzle-up towards the ceiling. He'd barely gotten a glimpse of what almost looked like mist as he stomped through the grand halls with paranoia-fueled, seething anger. Abruptly turning a corner he fired the revolver at what he thought was that pesky invisible parasite.
The shimmer shuddered and he switched to the visible spectrum to find out it was just a tapestry in front of a heating vent.
Go'mon let out an enraged scream, tearing the tapestry apart with his bare hands after casting his weapons aside in a fit of rage and impotence. The visage of Monarch D'vinn looking out from the top of a bombed-out hill in battered armor at the shattered remains of the once human-occupied city, being shredded like single-ply latrine paper by go'mon's molecularly edged cybernetic claws. Having spent his rage on the tapestry, he panted dramatically as his heart pounded in its cask. Turning around he let out another furious scream, howling madly as he scanned the hall with thermals. His Hammer and revolver had disappeared without a trace.
The sudden blare of a Klaxon made him pause as he adjusted his armor, forcing himself to calm down as he examined his molecularly edged claws. The main enemy was at the gates, he should go meet them.
...
Cassius' Heart pounded as he took shallow breaths, Go'mon's backplate inches from his own chest as he held onto the Hammer and Pistol for dear life. As the general strutted outside, Cassius moved in perfect synchronization, his left leg rising with the general's before being placed down in sync. He'd been practicing for weeks with the security droids at the mansion, practicing to keep inches from their backs without touching their metal carapace. Now he strutted behind perhaps the second most powerful being he knew like a silent specter. As Go'mon slammed through a door, breaking it into splinters, Cassius lifted his right leg and rotated out of the way just as Go'mon's tail would've brushed against his Calf, giving him away. As the General strutted out into the middle of the courtyard, Cassius used the various straps attached to his gambeson to affix the weapons to his waist before grabbing his Kama and weighted chain from a small pouch at his belt.
Cassius tossed the weighted end of the chain over the wall of the castle after a short run-up, wrapping the gossamer chain around his hands with each rapid step he took up the wall. Reaching the top, he unhooked the weight from the small bar he'd tossed it around quickly disentangling his hands from the chain. He groped the air on the outside of the wall until he touched the enchanted ladder the Top-Hats had left him. Sliding down the ladder, he spotted Drake sitting astride Barney in the middle of the street. The rest were nowhere to be seen but that indeed was part of the plan. Sprinting over, Cassius leaped onto Barney behind Drake and slipped Go'mon's revolver into the empty holster at his belt. Drawing out no reaction save for a few words from Drake, who didn't turn his head lest he give the gambit away.
"Good work Cassius, Fall back and get a gas mask on. We still don't know what's in those canisters because they inked out the labels."
Cassius slipped off of Barney's back and slipped into a nearby building before De-cloaking as he pressed himself against the wall next to a Warmonger who passed him a spare gas mask. He pulled it on and checked the seal before sitting against the wall as his legs jellied beneath him. His mouth was dryer than the scrubland as he accepted a Volunteer's canteen, drinking heavily through a port in the mask as he rode out the adrenaline crash. He glanced over to where their fighters had pried open a sewer access hatch and were dropping in, the smell of sewage souring the air. A few warmongers closest to the opening had comically attached wooden clothesline clips to their noses.
...
Caz lay atop the second-tallest building in Golgatha, trash and debris piled up around her for camouflage ash she drew a bead on the strutting Go'mon. Her god-given eyes were able to see the purple miasma that rose from him like mercury vapors. She didn't even turn her head as she softly asked.
"Distance?"
The man with Heavy cybernetic augmentations pulled casually from a large pouch of grain alcohol, camera-lense eyes extending from his face as he chewed on a bullet thoughtfully. Slowly he stated.
"One thousand five hundred and sixty-seven meters, If you're keeping it under auto-ignition velocity, you should be able to hold it one mil above and..."
The sound of the bullet in his mouth getting chewed filled the air before he stated.
"Two mils right, wind fluctuates between us and the target, expect a half minute of angle deviation."
Caz adjusted her optic, bringing the point of aim directly onto her crosshairs. The man next to her had called himself "an Olympian" an old sect of bionically enhanced warriors from even before the betrayal wars. In the small amount of time she'd gotten to know the man, she'd found him palatable at the very least, soft-spoken with a touch of crazy, it was refreshing. She tried to ignore the artillery-sized rifle he laid behind, the barrel itself bigger around than a drainage pipe, a suppressor of equally massive size almost protruding over the edge of the building. She watched from the corner of his eye as he pulled the breech open to the side and selected a shell thicker and longer than her forearm with a fused tip. He rammed it into the gun with the same ease she loaded her flechettes with.
They both had different jobs despite sitting on the same roof. She'd take care of anything on two legs, and he'd handle anything that had an armored skin. From her vantage point, she watched as the Agri-bots moved into position, planting their artillery pieces against the ground in preparation to fire. They weren't using High explosives much to Remin and Destrier's chagrin, but with their attack plan, they couldn't risk collapsing the sewers. They were instead armed with a chemical weapon known as "CS Smoke" which would obscure visual sightlines for anyone with unaugmented vision. Lucky for her and the Olympian, that wouldn't be an issue with her clear-sight and his advanced optics. She slowly swiveled her focus onto Drake, keeping the center of the crosshair off him as she watched him.
Sitting astride Barney, Drake looked every bit the warrior he was. His dark helmet and armor were almost lost in the dark night. But the red shock of his Helm's mohawk could not be mistaken, glowing brightly against the darkness. As his palm came to rest on the pommel of his sword, she saw something entirely different for a moment.
A warrior in battered, rusty armor, the flesh falling from his bones as a pair of white lights gleamed behind the helmet. A skeletal hand held a rusty sword in its sheath, Its pale, emaciated steed's head hanging low, milky eyes soulless and empty.
But as soon as she saw it, the image faded and she swiveled her crosshairs onto the castle's inner courtyard. A small, dim red light blinked on the side of the Olympian's skull as the Geknosians organized into fighting lines. Hulking Geknosians in overbuilt power armor manned emplaced turrets and the looming Gas generators. A small feed from the Olympian's perspective overlaid itself on her scope before minimizing to one corner. She watched as his crosshair fell onto one of the two Gallicks. The horseshoe-shaped APCs presenting their bulk to the gate as a bulwark. Caz switched her aim to a heavily armored Geknosian, slowly dialing the small wheel on the forend of her rifle to half-power, just under auto-ignition velocity. The geknosian seemed to get uncomfortable as her crosshairs landed on his chest, fidgeting at the controls of their AA plasma Beam-cannon.
The moment the Agri-bots fired their artillery, she'd remove him from the gene pool and take that AA gun out of the fight so Destrier could get into position.
...
Destrier and Remin ran last-minute checks on the small fleet of two-wheeled land vehicles the Top Hats had called "Dirt bikes." The variable electric powerplant produced little to no noise, even now, powered on and ready to roll they didn't even humm. Stepping back, Destrier let the forearms of his power armor clamshell close as he retook the hand controls. Contrary to popular belief, the hands of power armor weren't at all like gloves. A handle with a pressure sensor for each finger was clasped in his hands, allowing him to manipulate the hands of the armor like his own. Destrier turned his head, helmet whirring on its bearing as he watched Remin mount one of the Dirtbikes, the black scimitar strapped to the suspension of the bike within arm's reach. The old man's Mongolian lamellar draped over either side of the bike like fabric, small metal plates clinking and clattering softly as he pulled his fabric-wrapped helmet back on. Destrier clomped over, hardly noticing the backpack with over two hundred rounds of 13x110 mm HEP.
Remin looked up with a grin and met Destrier's arm halfway in a forearm-gripping handshake, their metal hands clanking together as they slid their arms back into a grip around the base of each other's thumbs, then to a normal handshake before waggling their fingers at each other.
Destrier chuckled softly and looked up at the sky, night vision lenses making it appear stuffed to bursting with stars.
"What's on the black samurai's mind?"
Remin asked softly, head tilted back to also look at the stars between the rooftops.
"Well... I'm looking forward to the fighting to finally being over... Maybe I'll finally be able to settle down and invent something with Martha..."
Remin chuckled softly.
"A noble goal... I'd expect nothing less from you Destri... I'm actually hoping to catch a ride back to human-controlled space. I'm too old for this shit, I want to settle down and live out the last years of my life in peace..."
Destrier nodded in agreement, slowly turning his gaze back to the helicopter, blades slowly turning in preparation for takeoff.
"How old are you Remin? I don't think I ever asked."
The old man paused, thinking for a long time.
"Oh... I'd say I've made it past a century at this point. Got a cybernetic heart when I was a kid thanks to a car accident, Ol' things been keeping me going far past when I shoulda dropped."
Destrier nods and laughs softly.
"Damn, and I thought you were only in your fifties."
Remin laughed in agreeance, setting his hands on the handlebars.
"I don't blame ya, I feel like it. Especially now that my legs aren't filled with creaky arthritis."
Destrier sighed softly, gently punching the old man's shoulder as softly as he could in his power armor.
"See you on the other side old man... whether that be the living side or the dead one."
"Here's to hoping it's the former not the latter."
Destrier chuckled his agreement and boarded the helicopter, making the landing gear compress slightly as he put his weight on the flight deck. Unhooking the feed chain from the side of the backpack, he clipped it into the Ma-deuce's feed chute. It whirred as the heavy cartridges were funneled down the chain and into the gun with a click and a clatter.
...
Barney shifted from one leg to the other beneath Drake, Death's chosen reaching down and gently patting his neck fondly as he softly whispered.
"Just a moment longer boy... There's someone I need to talk to."
Drake closed his eyes, letting the Darkness envelop him for a moment before opening them again.
He looked at Death, who was casually swirling a glass of black bourbon thoughtfully.
"You said you wanted to talk to me right before the battle?"
Death nodded and slid the glass of black bourbon his way.
"I did, I want you to drink this before you go into battle."
Drake picked up the glass, inspecting the pitch-black, inky liquid curiously. Before sniffing it and coughing as his eyes water.
"No offense, But I think something died in your liquor bottle."
Death laughed jovially, pouring his own glass from a red crystal decanter.
"That's because this is made from the blood of my predecessor. I thought i might as well get it out of the way."
Drake suspiciously looked at the glass.
"Okay, what happens when I drink it?"
Death paused, slowly swirling his own glass of black bourbon pensively. Then, he slowly knocked his own back, eyes dilating wide before returning to normal.
"Well, It should allow you to control your power, bypassing the decades of training most need."
Drake gave Death a side eye, sniffing the foul drink one more time asking.
"What's the catch?"
Death frowned, then set his glass down.
"Considering that it's going to completely restructure your magical and circulatory pathways. It's going to hurt like nothing you've ever felt before. It also may or may not bind your guardians to your soul."
Drake's head snapped up.
"Guardians... you mean my parents?"
Death nodded softly.
"Guardians, souls that loved someone so much that they remained on after death to watch over them. Your parents loved you... loved you enough to stand by your side even in death... and before you give me some bullshit about this not being what your parents would want... Remember, they'll always be at your side until you die one way or another."
Drake slowly swirled the bourbon before nodding softly, bringing it to his lips, he downed it in a single gulp. It burned on its way down, the tingling feeling intensely spreading throughout his body and to his fingertips in a moment. His nerves burned, and his very being felt as though it was being scalded by burning hot water. But as he set the glass down on Death's desk, he smiled softly. There was a warmth to the pain, like a cold rag against a feverish forehead. The sting of a garlic poultice applied to a fresh whip-wound. It was the crack of his father's wooden sword against his knuckles during their sparring, the sweat that would drip into his eyes on long evenings working the fields. Drake opened his eyes slowly, no longer sitting in Death's office, but his own soulscape, looking at the long-neglected buildings halfway through construction. But he wasn't alone.
Drake smiled at his mother and father. His mother gave him a soft smile as she touched the scar across his face, the wound in his cheek where a gauss slug had torn it open, then, she took his hand to gently touch the scarred wound where Garravan's knife had pierced his hand. His father just sat cross-legged, drinking a stout mug of scrub tree tea with a proud smile on his face. drake looked between them before holding out his hands.
As his parents took them, they dissolved into motes of light that drifted into his chest. His veins burned, and his eyes and nose bled. His entire existence felt like a blistering inferno as the ground of his soulscape rumbled, small, red flowers the color of blood and the shape of gunshot wounds popping up from the ground. But even as the pain grew, and grew, and grew, He found himself simply laughing, grabbing what felt like an invisible pair of chains and pulling up on them as he stood.
The ground erupted in the middle of his soulscape, a massive, gnarled oak tree sprouting from the ground. Its sturdy trunk protecting a small patch of pink carnations interspersed with curly-petaled white Gardenias. Drake felt something form atop his head and reached up, feeling a thorny crown, he gently pulled it off, looking at the black-petaled roses fondly before returning it to his head. The thorny veins grew down from the crown, snaking their way deep into his flesh only to bloom into what felt like new muscles and tendons that weren't attached to his physical strength. Looking at his upturned palms, he curled his fingers, a steady, smokeless pale flame popping into existence in his palm with next to no effort.
As the pain subsided, Drake closed his eyes, relishing its departure before opening them to the shocked and concerned face of Death. Drake gave him a curious look and Death coughed softly as he composed himself before speaking.
"Look, I know I can hide pain well... But that smile you get when you're hurting is capital C Creepy."
Drake touched his grinning face with a soft laugh, wiping a trickle of blood from his nose.
"Well, guess I can add that to my achievements list, Creeping Death out with a smile."
They both chuckled softly at the joke before Death sighed softly.
"You should get back to them, they're almost ready."
Drake nodded and stood, stepping over to the door.
"Wish me luck."
"Good luck, my Champion. Give them hell."
Drake smiled softly and stepped out the door. When he opened his eyes, he was back in the real world, staring up at Go'mon who'd perched himself atop the castle wall, eyeing Drake hungrily.
Giving Go'mon his signature grin, He reached up and depressed a countersunk button on the side of his helmet.
"Hit 'em"
Drake stated, the sound of artillery rocking the city as Go'mon's hungry look quickly turned to rage. There was a loud, screeching whistle as the artillery shells streaked in, blanketing the area in stinging fog. Drake drew his sword, extending thorned vines of power into it as the blade ignited with pale flames. Barney snuffled excitedly and roared as Drake nudged him forward, the Dinosaur leaping over the wall in a single bound. The final battle for Golgatha had begun, after this, they would either be free...
Or they will have died free.
......
Part 112: will be linked here upon completion.
2024.06.09 12:35 Uhduh_08 soap opera situation
Hi!
My PM is giving me a non-renewal and has kicked other tenants out ( I assume because she had a stack of these letters and half of the people in my part of the building are gone since receiving the letter in April)
I'm having a hard time finding an apartment. I trashed my credit due to bipolar disorder and constant job loss due to my illness. I have been in this cycle of paying them off when employed and running them up and becoming delinquent when unemployed. I admittedly listened to bad advice a couple of years ago at 24 to file for ch 7 as this isn't the first time I've been in financial ruin. so I now have a bankruptcy and a trashed credit score.
I also have the issue that I had to live with my sister due to illness and it was her first time renting and she wasnt good at paying her part so we had many times where the rent was late. I recently combed through our ledger and it seems as thought we had a running balance the entire 3 years (although, im not sure because the PM definitely said she was renewing this year because we were never late last year) There is also no way to see who paid what besides combing through bank statements.
ALSO my sister may have to live with me that may cause some problems. Our brother committed fraud in her name. He got evicted from an apartment in her name, ran up peoples gas, and comed. so her credit is wrecked and she won't even do anything about it!
But, The good thing is I have gotten a subsidy for those with mental illness, but my adverse credit/score is getting in the way with big companies. Is there anyone who can recommend companies ,private landlords etc who will rent to someone like me? NOTE: I used to work as a housing specialist for a similar subsidy and I know there are neglectful PM/landlords when people have subsidies. I don't remember what companies they used but I do know that I want to avoid Cagan as they were notoriously hard to get a hold of.
Is there someone you know of that will overlook credit/bk if they know the rent will be paid for an entire year? Also, I'm looking in Uptown, Edgewater, I may even go to rogers Park or West RP (these areas specifically because my sister goes to loyola and I was worried about the trains and coming back down to Lakeview and looking for more diversity) If there are any other neighborhoods that are easy to get to and from loyola as a woman safely and easily by public transit and diverse I would appreciate any suggestions!
I'm desperate a there is a time crunch of August 31st. It just always seems when things go right something goes wrong 😕 This is causing serious stress while trying to do graduate school myself and regaining how I used to feel prior to diagnosis with meds and extremely good therapy! I have realized the traps of credit and what NOT to do when manic to not have this happen again and working on keeping a job through crisis😊
*** sorry for the sloppiness typed fighting through ambien 🤣🤣
*** I am currently unemployed but looking for a job preferably that could pay for school as a current grad student as I'm running out of aid. or I am attempting to apply for SSI or AADB (if anyone knows any tips for this I would appreciate it as well!!!!)
Thank you for any of your help and advice, and guidance 🙏🏽 anything mentioned will be researched and pursued like a bloodhound 🤣
submitted by Uhduh_08 to chicagoapartments [link] [comments]
My PM is giving me a non-renewal and has kicked other tenants out ( I assume because she had a stack of these letters and half of the people in my part of the building are gone since receiving the letter in April)
I'm having a hard time finding an apartment. I trashed my credit due to bipolar disorder and constant job loss due to my illness. I have been in this cycle of paying them off when employed and running them up and becoming delinquent when unemployed. I admittedly listened to bad advice a couple of years ago at 24 to file for ch 7 as this isn't the first time I've been in financial ruin. so I now have a bankruptcy and a trashed credit score.
I also have the issue that I had to live with my sister due to illness and it was her first time renting and she wasnt good at paying her part so we had many times where the rent was late. I recently combed through our ledger and it seems as thought we had a running balance the entire 3 years (although, im not sure because the PM definitely said she was renewing this year because we were never late last year) There is also no way to see who paid what besides combing through bank statements.
ALSO my sister may have to live with me that may cause some problems. Our brother committed fraud in her name. He got evicted from an apartment in her name, ran up peoples gas, and comed. so her credit is wrecked and she won't even do anything about it!
But, The good thing is I have gotten a subsidy for those with mental illness, but my adverse credit/score is getting in the way with big companies. Is there anyone who can recommend companies ,private landlords etc who will rent to someone like me? NOTE: I used to work as a housing specialist for a similar subsidy and I know there are neglectful PM/landlords when people have subsidies. I don't remember what companies they used but I do know that I want to avoid Cagan as they were notoriously hard to get a hold of.
Is there someone you know of that will overlook credit/bk if they know the rent will be paid for an entire year? Also, I'm looking in Uptown, Edgewater, I may even go to rogers Park or West RP (these areas specifically because my sister goes to loyola and I was worried about the trains and coming back down to Lakeview and looking for more diversity) If there are any other neighborhoods that are easy to get to and from loyola as a woman safely and easily by public transit and diverse I would appreciate any suggestions!
I'm desperate a there is a time crunch of August 31st. It just always seems when things go right something goes wrong 😕 This is causing serious stress while trying to do graduate school myself and regaining how I used to feel prior to diagnosis with meds and extremely good therapy! I have realized the traps of credit and what NOT to do when manic to not have this happen again and working on keeping a job through crisis😊
*** sorry for the sloppiness typed fighting through ambien 🤣🤣
*** I am currently unemployed but looking for a job preferably that could pay for school as a current grad student as I'm running out of aid. or I am attempting to apply for SSI or AADB (if anyone knows any tips for this I would appreciate it as well!!!!)
Thank you for any of your help and advice, and guidance 🙏🏽 anything mentioned will be researched and pursued like a bloodhound 🤣
2024.06.09 12:28 KatherineBryant06 [Get] Rob O Rourke – 100k Email Blueprint Download
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2024.06.09 12:20 Uhduh_08 Apartment Help
Hi!
My PM is giving me a non-renewal and has kicked other tenants out ( I assume because she had a stack of these letters and half of the people in my part of the building are gone since receiving the letter in April)
I'm having a hard time finding an apartment. I trashed my credit due to bipolar disorder and constant job loss due to my illness. I have been in this cycle of paying them off when employed and running them up and becoming delinquent when unemployed. I admittedly listened to bad advice a couple of years ago at 24 to file for ch 7 as this isn't the first time I've been in financial ruin. so I now have a bankruptcy and a trashed credit score.
I also have the issue that I had to live with my sister due to illness and it was her first time renting and she wasnt good at paying her part so we had many times where the rent was late. I recently combed through our ledger and it seems as thought we had a running balance the entire 3 years (although, im not sure because the PM definitely said she was renewing this year because we were never late last year) There is also no way to see who paid what besides combing through bank statements.
ALSO my sister may have to live with me that may cause some problems. Our brother committed fraud in her name. He got evicted from an apartment in her name, ran up peoples gas, and comed. so her credit is wrecked and she won't even do anything about it!
But, The good thing is I have gotten a subsidy for those with mental illness, but my adverse credit/score is getting in the way with big companies. Is there anyone who can recommend companies ,private landlords etc who will rent to someone like me? NOTE: I used to work as a housing specialist for a similar subsidy and I know there are neglectful PM/landlords when people have subsidies. I don't remember what companies they used but I do know that I want to avoid Cagan as they were notoriously hard to get a hold of.
Is there someone you know of that will overlook credit/bk if they know the rent will be paid for an entire year? Also, I'm looking in Uptown, Edgewater, I may even go to rogers Park or West RP (these areas specifically because my sister goes to loyola and I was worried about the trains and coming back down to Lakeview and looking for more diversity) If there are any other neighborhoods that are easy to get to and from loyola as a woman safely and easily by public transit and diverse I would appreciate any suggestions!
I'm desperate a there is a time crunch of August 31st. It just always seems when things go right something goes wrong 😕 This is causing serious stress while trying to do graduate school myself and regaining how I used to feel prior to diagnosis with meds and extremely good therapy! I have realized the traps of credit and what NOT to do when manic to not have this happen again and working on keeping a job through crisis😊
*** sorry for the sloppiness typed fighting through ambien 🤣🤣
*** I am currently unemployed but looking for a job preferably that could pay for school as a current grad student as I'm running out of aid. or I am attempting to apply for SSI or AADB (if anyone knows any tips for this I would appreciate it as well!!!!)
Thank you for any of your help and advice, and guidance 🙏🏽 anything mentioned will be researched and pursued like a bloodhound 🤣
submitted by Uhduh_08 to AskChicago [link] [comments]
My PM is giving me a non-renewal and has kicked other tenants out ( I assume because she had a stack of these letters and half of the people in my part of the building are gone since receiving the letter in April)
I'm having a hard time finding an apartment. I trashed my credit due to bipolar disorder and constant job loss due to my illness. I have been in this cycle of paying them off when employed and running them up and becoming delinquent when unemployed. I admittedly listened to bad advice a couple of years ago at 24 to file for ch 7 as this isn't the first time I've been in financial ruin. so I now have a bankruptcy and a trashed credit score.
I also have the issue that I had to live with my sister due to illness and it was her first time renting and she wasnt good at paying her part so we had many times where the rent was late. I recently combed through our ledger and it seems as thought we had a running balance the entire 3 years (although, im not sure because the PM definitely said she was renewing this year because we were never late last year) There is also no way to see who paid what besides combing through bank statements.
ALSO my sister may have to live with me that may cause some problems. Our brother committed fraud in her name. He got evicted from an apartment in her name, ran up peoples gas, and comed. so her credit is wrecked and she won't even do anything about it!
But, The good thing is I have gotten a subsidy for those with mental illness, but my adverse credit/score is getting in the way with big companies. Is there anyone who can recommend companies ,private landlords etc who will rent to someone like me? NOTE: I used to work as a housing specialist for a similar subsidy and I know there are neglectful PM/landlords when people have subsidies. I don't remember what companies they used but I do know that I want to avoid Cagan as they were notoriously hard to get a hold of.
Is there someone you know of that will overlook credit/bk if they know the rent will be paid for an entire year? Also, I'm looking in Uptown, Edgewater, I may even go to rogers Park or West RP (these areas specifically because my sister goes to loyola and I was worried about the trains and coming back down to Lakeview and looking for more diversity) If there are any other neighborhoods that are easy to get to and from loyola as a woman safely and easily by public transit and diverse I would appreciate any suggestions!
I'm desperate a there is a time crunch of August 31st. It just always seems when things go right something goes wrong 😕 This is causing serious stress while trying to do graduate school myself and regaining how I used to feel prior to diagnosis with meds and extremely good therapy! I have realized the traps of credit and what NOT to do when manic to not have this happen again and working on keeping a job through crisis😊
*** sorry for the sloppiness typed fighting through ambien 🤣🤣
*** I am currently unemployed but looking for a job preferably that could pay for school as a current grad student as I'm running out of aid. or I am attempting to apply for SSI or AADB (if anyone knows any tips for this I would appreciate it as well!!!!)
Thank you for any of your help and advice, and guidance 🙏🏽 anything mentioned will be researched and pursued like a bloodhound 🤣
2024.06.09 11:54 Beam_Me_Up_Scotty__ Was 'The Blaze' an American White Birch Tree?
This is just a loose 20 minute ago theory, but when i pieced it together it was quite compelling, so i'd thought i share.
This was my train of thought/research..
'the answers i already know', F spoke widely about grammar and punctuation so how about 'the answer's i already know', meaning 'the answer IS i already know'. Had he left out the apostrophe? So i thought about it and came up with KNOW to KNEW.
I toyed with KNEW, new and old, turnover a log, thought about how the unintended clue was in the preface of one of his books where he was towing a boat on The Madison. and then thought how about CANOE?
Give the poem to a child... the answer's i already KNOW - KNEW - K-NEW - CANOE.
So i looked up CANOE, and one of the derived terms is CANOE BIRCH, so i went to that page and it says 'The Native Americans used the bark of this tree for building canoes.'
So i thought ok let's go with this... one of the other definitions of BIRCH was
'A stick, rod or bundle of twigs made from birch wood, used for punishment. Synonyms: makepeace, switch'
The STICK was in the chest photo.
ROD is a fishing rod.
The BUNDLE OF TWIGS was when he didnt have anything to light a fire so he wadded the map.
He spoke about corporal PUNISHMENT from his father.
MAKEPEACE which is another name for a bundle of twigs, relates to 'go in peace' in the poem.
And SWITCH was what his father punished him with.
That's quite a positive collection right there.
The birch tree is WHITE, and it's long been thought that the blaze could be white, and it would 'anything that stands out' in a forest full of pine.
What if we meant to be looking for an AMERICAN WHITE BIRCH tree in a forest full of pine? (or even his actual turned over dugout CANOE that looks like any other log?)
If you've been wise and found the blaze - if you KNOW/KNEW and found the blaze.
Let's look at what evidence we have, the picture with the downed logs over the chest don't appear to be a BIRCH tree and neither do the others around it. However we don't know for sure that it's as simple as being directly under the blaze, what if there's a BIRCH tree further up the hill and we have to look quickly downhill to find the treasure? He did say he wasn't sure it pointed in any of the cardinal directions so downhill can't be fully ruled out. He also said 'i KNOW it's still there'.
The pine tree that fell over the chest doesn't completely satisfy the answer to the blaze, and there is doubt, which in turn opens up other possibilities, such as this.. an AMERICAN WHITE BIRCH or more romantically/spiritualy his hypothetical OLD dugout CANOE that he made and left back there each year. Roll over a log. Plus in some tribes Chiefs were buried in their canoes to escort them to the afterlife. (beam me up)
I like it, it ticks many boxes and it was fun researching again like the good ole days,
What's your thoughts? Please be as brutal or nice as you like. Cheers.
edit: added ROD, other thoughts and typos as usual.
submitted by Beam_Me_Up_Scotty__ to FindingFennsGold [link] [comments]
This was my train of thought/research..
'the answers i already know', F spoke widely about grammar and punctuation so how about 'the answer's i already know', meaning 'the answer IS i already know'. Had he left out the apostrophe? So i thought about it and came up with KNOW to KNEW.
I toyed with KNEW, new and old, turnover a log, thought about how the unintended clue was in the preface of one of his books where he was towing a boat on The Madison. and then thought how about CANOE?
Give the poem to a child... the answer's i already KNOW - KNEW - K-NEW - CANOE.
So i looked up CANOE, and one of the derived terms is CANOE BIRCH, so i went to that page and it says 'The Native Americans used the bark of this tree for building canoes.'
So i thought ok let's go with this... one of the other definitions of BIRCH was
'A stick, rod or bundle of twigs made from birch wood, used for punishment. Synonyms: makepeace, switch'
The STICK was in the chest photo.
ROD is a fishing rod.
The BUNDLE OF TWIGS was when he didnt have anything to light a fire so he wadded the map.
He spoke about corporal PUNISHMENT from his father.
MAKEPEACE which is another name for a bundle of twigs, relates to 'go in peace' in the poem.
And SWITCH was what his father punished him with.
That's quite a positive collection right there.
The birch tree is WHITE, and it's long been thought that the blaze could be white, and it would 'anything that stands out' in a forest full of pine.
What if we meant to be looking for an AMERICAN WHITE BIRCH tree in a forest full of pine? (or even his actual turned over dugout CANOE that looks like any other log?)
If you've been wise and found the blaze - if you KNOW/KNEW and found the blaze.
Let's look at what evidence we have, the picture with the downed logs over the chest don't appear to be a BIRCH tree and neither do the others around it. However we don't know for sure that it's as simple as being directly under the blaze, what if there's a BIRCH tree further up the hill and we have to look quickly downhill to find the treasure? He did say he wasn't sure it pointed in any of the cardinal directions so downhill can't be fully ruled out. He also said 'i KNOW it's still there'.
The pine tree that fell over the chest doesn't completely satisfy the answer to the blaze, and there is doubt, which in turn opens up other possibilities, such as this.. an AMERICAN WHITE BIRCH or more romantically/spiritualy his hypothetical OLD dugout CANOE that he made and left back there each year. Roll over a log. Plus in some tribes Chiefs were buried in their canoes to escort them to the afterlife. (beam me up)
I like it, it ticks many boxes and it was fun researching again like the good ole days,
What's your thoughts? Please be as brutal or nice as you like. Cheers.
edit: added ROD, other thoughts and typos as usual.
2024.06.09 11:50 tigerlion246 Is the UK the no. 1 country when it comes to hiking in terms of what we have? Is there any other country like the UK when it comes to access to public footpaths and trails?
Mods please DON'T delete this thread, as I've posted something similar before and it was deleted, it's a genuine question I'm asking.
I've done thousands of miles of hiking in England alone and am constantly overwhelmed by how much beauty there is in the countryside and in the cities and in between.
We have areas cities that have so many green spaces, parks, trails, historical houses, museums and buildings. Areas of outstanding natural beauty, national trails, coastal hikes, villages, hidden city hikes. The canal system, rivers and reservoirs.
There's book guides such as Cicerone, OS Pathfinder and even guides such as London hidden walks for example and every town seems to have a heritage trail.
You can get on a bus for £2 and be in the countryside in 30 mins or even walk a trail in a city and access countryside by walking directly from the city using public footpath network. We have a huge charity committed to protecting and endorsing people right to access the countryside-Ramblers.
I've tried searching other cities in abroad countries to see if they have similar stuff but they don't seem to have the same quality of guides/access to trails. South America has the Amazon and the Indian subcontinent has the Himalayas, but if you're living in a city in one of these countries you're gonna have to plan and take time out to get to these places and there will still be danger (which I guess makes it exciting for some people) , where as I can be in London and go out hiking on my doorstep along the river Lea or river thames or get a train to the south downs and have an incredible time.
So yeah my question is, is there any other country that comes close to what we have?
submitted by tigerlion246 to UKhiking [link] [comments]
I've done thousands of miles of hiking in England alone and am constantly overwhelmed by how much beauty there is in the countryside and in the cities and in between.
We have areas cities that have so many green spaces, parks, trails, historical houses, museums and buildings. Areas of outstanding natural beauty, national trails, coastal hikes, villages, hidden city hikes. The canal system, rivers and reservoirs.
There's book guides such as Cicerone, OS Pathfinder and even guides such as London hidden walks for example and every town seems to have a heritage trail.
You can get on a bus for £2 and be in the countryside in 30 mins or even walk a trail in a city and access countryside by walking directly from the city using public footpath network. We have a huge charity committed to protecting and endorsing people right to access the countryside-Ramblers.
I've tried searching other cities in abroad countries to see if they have similar stuff but they don't seem to have the same quality of guides/access to trails. South America has the Amazon and the Indian subcontinent has the Himalayas, but if you're living in a city in one of these countries you're gonna have to plan and take time out to get to these places and there will still be danger (which I guess makes it exciting for some people) , where as I can be in London and go out hiking on my doorstep along the river Lea or river thames or get a train to the south downs and have an incredible time.
So yeah my question is, is there any other country that comes close to what we have?
2024.06.09 10:56 MurasakiSuzume Do I really have to make friends at work?
Last Wednesday I got called by the HR cause someone made a complaint about me, apparently they found me off when I got shocked when there were changes on the projects that I'm almost done working on which is due a few minutes later. Who wouldn't be shocked to know that hours of work you made will be trashed cause there are changes, I wasn't mad or directly blaming them I was just shocked and being honest with what I felt that time. I explained this to the HR and told them that this was just a misunderstanding and if this situation happens again I will control my emotions.
The HR then asked me for a follow up question regarding anything about work since I'm new to the company and I told her that my supervisor, the company stylist became so distant from me. I told HR that I've noticed that my supervisor wasn't interacting, talking, or even sitting next to me since we share an office desk. I told them that during my first day of work she was very engaging, I asked her a lot of questions about the company, the projects, the workers, and the CEO, I actually thought that we will become close because I told her that I'm gay and she told me that she's lesbian and I was glad to know that there is at least one queer person in the office that I can relate with. We shared our dating lives, how she's in a hurry to leave work cause she's meeting someone and wished her good luck, I shared my fashion style, my favourite films to watch and recommend some, and told her that I'm a Taylor Swift fan and my favourite album is "speak now", I even told her that amongst all the supervisors that I've had she was the only one who I get to be close and can relate with.
As time went on and as I worked there she started distancing herself from me, at first I didn't notice it cause I just thought that since she's the stylist she spends most of her days in the lobby where all the stylings and stuff are like for photoshoots, samples, and all... I went to the HR office to report about my requirements and as soon as I opened the door the first person I saw was her working on her mac, I just said maybe since in our office the ac is broken so she went here to have ac while working, but nope I was wrong the next day she was working in our office but on the other side in different department. The following day she reported to the office but she felt ill so she decided to book home instead, I wanted to ask her if she's fine but then I don't want to stress her with questions so I instead let her be and she was absent for the entire week.
The next week really was the one who takes the cake cause I reported to the HR and her (even though I wasn't sure if she's still sick or not anymore cause she wasn't replying or seeing my chats) that I'd be absent for Monday so that I can start working on my medical examination. The next Tuesday I went to work late cause I went to meralco to pay bills and I really thought that I can make it on time hence why I didn't report to both her and HR but I got a viber chat from her asking me if I'm still going to work. As soon as I arrived at work I saw her sitting on our desk and when she saw me she started packing up her stuff to move to the next desk, the "not reporting late" is also one of the complaints about me. I asked her about how she was after her sick leave since she was absent for the entire week and me being a concerned citizen and all she can say"I'm fiiine" with no follow ups. Okay cool then... So I told those things to the HR.
The HR then said maybe I made something that sets her off or she's just too busy with work or maybe I could go and ask her, I responded by saying that I don't want to bring back our previous interactions I just want to know if there could be a resolution for this since I'm a fresh employee I want to build relationships with my co workers especially her since where in the same department (I actually just told this to HR just to show faces but in reality I really don't care what she thinks of me anymore). The following day I saw her taking pictures with our co workers at dismissal and when she saw me leaving and gave my goodbyes she just byed back and never invited me to the group photo, I found it suspicious to why she's having group photos with all the employees without me up until the next day I found out that that was her last day in the company, I saw the group photos in viber and all I can say was "hmmm" does that mean I'm gonna take over her position, I'm not a stylist I'm the GA, I chatted her wishing her good luck ahead and thanking her for training me even though we were together just for 3 weeks and a half. So yuhh... I'm just there to work and whoever her replacement is I hope they can be as less toxic as her. Byeeee...
submitted by MurasakiSuzume to OffMyChestPH [link] [comments]
The HR then asked me for a follow up question regarding anything about work since I'm new to the company and I told her that my supervisor, the company stylist became so distant from me. I told HR that I've noticed that my supervisor wasn't interacting, talking, or even sitting next to me since we share an office desk. I told them that during my first day of work she was very engaging, I asked her a lot of questions about the company, the projects, the workers, and the CEO, I actually thought that we will become close because I told her that I'm gay and she told me that she's lesbian and I was glad to know that there is at least one queer person in the office that I can relate with. We shared our dating lives, how she's in a hurry to leave work cause she's meeting someone and wished her good luck, I shared my fashion style, my favourite films to watch and recommend some, and told her that I'm a Taylor Swift fan and my favourite album is "speak now", I even told her that amongst all the supervisors that I've had she was the only one who I get to be close and can relate with.
As time went on and as I worked there she started distancing herself from me, at first I didn't notice it cause I just thought that since she's the stylist she spends most of her days in the lobby where all the stylings and stuff are like for photoshoots, samples, and all... I went to the HR office to report about my requirements and as soon as I opened the door the first person I saw was her working on her mac, I just said maybe since in our office the ac is broken so she went here to have ac while working, but nope I was wrong the next day she was working in our office but on the other side in different department. The following day she reported to the office but she felt ill so she decided to book home instead, I wanted to ask her if she's fine but then I don't want to stress her with questions so I instead let her be and she was absent for the entire week.
The next week really was the one who takes the cake cause I reported to the HR and her (even though I wasn't sure if she's still sick or not anymore cause she wasn't replying or seeing my chats) that I'd be absent for Monday so that I can start working on my medical examination. The next Tuesday I went to work late cause I went to meralco to pay bills and I really thought that I can make it on time hence why I didn't report to both her and HR but I got a viber chat from her asking me if I'm still going to work. As soon as I arrived at work I saw her sitting on our desk and when she saw me she started packing up her stuff to move to the next desk, the "not reporting late" is also one of the complaints about me. I asked her about how she was after her sick leave since she was absent for the entire week and me being a concerned citizen and all she can say"I'm fiiine" with no follow ups. Okay cool then... So I told those things to the HR.
The HR then said maybe I made something that sets her off or she's just too busy with work or maybe I could go and ask her, I responded by saying that I don't want to bring back our previous interactions I just want to know if there could be a resolution for this since I'm a fresh employee I want to build relationships with my co workers especially her since where in the same department (I actually just told this to HR just to show faces but in reality I really don't care what she thinks of me anymore). The following day I saw her taking pictures with our co workers at dismissal and when she saw me leaving and gave my goodbyes she just byed back and never invited me to the group photo, I found it suspicious to why she's having group photos with all the employees without me up until the next day I found out that that was her last day in the company, I saw the group photos in viber and all I can say was "hmmm" does that mean I'm gonna take over her position, I'm not a stylist I'm the GA, I chatted her wishing her good luck ahead and thanking her for training me even though we were together just for 3 weeks and a half. So yuhh... I'm just there to work and whoever her replacement is I hope they can be as less toxic as her. Byeeee...
2024.06.09 10:56 Stage-Piercing727 Best Floor Pedal Bike
 | submitted by Stage-Piercing727 to u/Stage-Piercing727 [link] [comments] https://preview.redd.it/uiah5mazfi5d1.png?width=1024&format=png&auto=webp&s=61b25838a57b0ac95211cf9956578445a7f274b1 Gear up for a healthier lifestyle with our exclusive collection of Floor Pedal Bikes! Perfect for keeping fit at home, these bikes are designed to provide an efficient workout while saving space. In our roundup, we bring to you the top exercise bikes with detailed reviews to help you make an informed choice. Whether you're looking for a beginner's model or a high-end workout machine, our selection has got you covered. So, get ready to pedal your way to better health and wellness! The Top 8 Best Floor Pedal Bike
ReviewsSunny Health & Fitness Compact and Quiet 2-in-1 Mini Exercise Bikehttps://preview.redd.it/jyxq7bizfi5d1.jpg?width=768&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a78d27b6f076b59cc83b7fe739e0d63af55c7e2f I recently incorporated the Sunny Health & Fitness Under Desk Smart Mini Pedal Exerciser into my daily routine, and I couldn't be happier with its performance. This dual functionality exercise bike has transformed how I approach physical fitness, offering a seamless blend of convenience and effectiveness. The low-profile design makes it perfect for use in my office space. Its compact size and portability allow me to store and move the exerciser with ease. The friction belt-drive system ensures that my workouts are silent and smooth, offering a peaceful environment even during intense sessions. One feature that truly stands out is the stepless micro-adjustment, which provides me with a wide range of intensity options. Coupled with the onboard digital monitor, I can track my progress in real-time, helping me stay motivated and focused on personal fitness goals. Another bonus of this fantastic product is its connectivity. Syncing via Bluetooth lets me access a variety of fitness programs, training videos, and community engagements. This added layer of interactivity has made my workouts more engaging and enjoyable. In summary, the Sunny Health & Fitness Under Desk Smart Mini Pedal Exerciser is an excellent investment for anyone looking to incorporate fitness into their busy life. Its convenient size, quiet operation, and engaging programs make it a worthwhile addition to any home or office setting. Whisper-Quiet Desk Cycle with Resistance Bandshttps://preview.redd.it/f4cq6vzzfi5d1.jpg?width=871&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f2fa4a436fc50aee3fa65d5a5066b3f3284bb047 I've always struggled with finding time for exercise, especially during extended workdays. However, discovering the LifePro FlexCycle has been a game-changer. This versatile machine is designed with a precision flywheel that's ultra-smooth and whisper quiet—it's perfect for getting in a workout while I'm at my desk or even watching TV! The bonus upper body equipment, including resistance bands and supplementary arm pedals, allows me to switch up my workout routine whenever I feel the need. And the best part is, the customizable resistance control knob lets me set the intensity to match my fitness level. The LCD monitor on this nifty exerciser easily keeps track of my progress, and I can sync it with the free Apple or Google Play store apps for even more detailed statistics. Despite the comfortable fit, the included seat could use a bit of extra cushioning for prolonged use. But overall, the LifePro FlexCycle has been an invaluable addition to my daily routine, helping me stay active even amidst my busy schedule. Node Fitness Under Desk Cycling Pedal Exerciserhttps://preview.redd.it/cykrzu80gi5d1.jpg?width=768&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8cc0b5a47e58c3bf6608189b5166268411c60931 I recently purchased the Node Fitness Under Desk Exercise Bike Pedal Exerciser to incorporate more physical activity into my sedentary lifestyle. As a content writer, I often find myself at my desk for extended periods, and this nifty little device has significantly improved my overall health and productivity. The first thing that caught my attention about the Node Fitness Under Desk Exercise Bike Pedal Exerciser was its resistance mechanism. The tension knob allows me to adjust the pedal resistance settings, ensuring a customized workout based on my fitness level and needs. This feature has been particularly helpful during my physical therapy sessions, as it allows me to gradually increase the intensity of my workouts as I recover from an injury. Another highlight of the exerciser is its display quality. The large digital LCD screen makes it easy for me to monitor all multi-functions, including rpm, distance time, speed, and calories burned. Additionally, the scan mode allows me to track my progress over time, keeping me motivated and on track with my fitness goals. However, one aspect of the product that left me less than satisfied was the noise level during use. While the noise isn't unbearable, it can be somewhat distracting when I'm working or watching TV. Furthermore, the tension knob wasn't as effective as I had hoped; I often found myself needing to apply additional force to achieve the desired resistance levels. Despite these minor cons, I am overall very happy with my purchase. The Node Fitness Under Desk Exercise Bike Pedal Exerciser has made incorporating physical activity into my daily routine more convenient and enjoyable. If you're considering purchasing this product, I would highly recommend giving it a try. You may find, as I did, that it's the perfect solution for staying active and healthy in the midst of a busy workday. Under Desk Mini Exercise Bike for Home or Officehttps://preview.redd.it/dpo9r7p0gi5d1.jpg?width=768&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=208f7ac9c52c01f00f0d71210f1c24a79ee65e68 The DeskCycle 2 Under Desk Bike Pedal Exerciser is like a faithful gym buddy that never complains, always stays put, and quietly tones up your legs and core while you work. I've been using it for a couple months now, and I can't get enough of its smooth, quiet pedal motion. It's perfect for when you want to get in a workout without breaking your focus. . . or your office's noise policy. Plus, the adjustable resistance settings make it easy to go from easy breezy to sweat-it-out intense depending on your mood. And speaking of settings, the low pedal height means it works like a charm even under short desks. To top it off, it's surprisingly stylish for its size, so you won't feel embarrassed about stashing it in your living room when you're not pedaling away at work. One thing I'm not so keen on though is how heavy it is. I mean, don't get me wrong, its sturdiness is definitely a plus, but moving it around can be a bit of a workout in itself. Another minor issue is that the higher resistance levels can be a bit noisy, which might make your coworkers give you side-eye if you're pedaling away during a meeting. Still, despite these minor cons, I'd recommend the DeskCycle 2 to anyone looking for a discreet way to boost their fitness levels during the workday. It's helped me stay energized, focused, and in shape, even on days when I'm feeling less than motivated. Stylish Modern Hide-A-Bed Sofahttps://preview.redd.it/lywt23b1gi5d1.jpg?width=768&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=776967ff64ee35098bda5e9ec95cadfcfb331103 As a fitness enthusiast, I was ecstatic when I came across the Sitfit compact elliptical, a motorized pedal exerciser designed for seniors, rehab, and circulation improvement. I used this amazing little machine while sitting at my computer desk, and it truly made a difference in my daily activity levels. One standout feature was its easy-to-use control panel and remote, making it simple adjust the intensity of my workout or track distance, speed, time, and calories burned. Plus, the non-slip pedals kept my feet secure as I pedaled away. And, with a convenient phone holder, I could stay entertained while working out. However, the best thing about this product is that it caters to those with mobility goals rather than promoting intense resistance levels. This is perfect for older individuals or people with physical restrictions, like myself, who need assistance and encouragement to maintain an active lifestyle. Despite its minor shortcomings, such as the lack of customizable resistance options, the Sitfit compact elliptical undoubtedly enhanced my daily routine, leaving me feeling energized and accomplished every time I use it. So, give your body the boost it deserves – get a Sitfit today! Quiet Desk Pedal Exercise Bike for Home or Officehttps://preview.redd.it/1dfyu4i1gi5d1.jpg?width=882&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0a84b55ddf96e366cadad8fc26dcdbfe4eb89cac I recently purchased the Todo Mini Exercise Bike. As someone who spends a lot of time at their desk, I was intrigued by the prospect of incorporating some exercise into my daily routine without leaving my chair. The first thing that stood out to me was its convenience. It's incredibly easy to set up and use. The non-slip surface and adjustable resistance make it suitable for people of all fitness levels, including beginners and those recovering from injuries. Another highlight is its portability. It's designed to fit comfortably under most desks, and its lightweight design makes it easy to transport between locations. I've been using it while watching TV or even on phone calls, which has made my sedentary habits feel a lot less guilty! However, one downside is that the product can move around on certain surfaces, so a stable carpet or mat is recommended for maximum safety. Also, the strap provided isn't always strong enough to hold the device in place if you're pedaling vigorously. Overall, I'm very satisfied with the Todo Mini Exercise Bike. It's a great way to stay active during long workdays at your desk or while relaxing at home. Just remember to keep it securely in place and adjust the resistance to suit your needs. Adjustable Magnetic Floor Pedal Bikehttps://preview.redd.it/9hikk8x1gi5d1.jpg?width=768&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=90171130dd0b4a6adb77bfecdd3fdf7a5e5c6765 I've been using the Goplus Portable Under Desk Bike for a few weeks now and I must say, it's been an amazing addition to my routine. As someone who works from home, I often find myself spending hours upon hours sitting in front of my computer screen. This pedal exerciser has allowed me to get in some low-impact workout sessions while I work, helping me stay active and focused throughout the day. One of the things that I love about this product is how easy it is to adjust the resistance. The tension knob lets me increase or decrease the difficulty of my workout, ensuring that I'm always challenged and never bored. Additionally, the digital LCD monitor provides me with real-time feedback on my progress, tracking my speed, time, distance, and calories burned. However, there is one downside: it can be quite noisy. Though not necessarily loud enough to disrupt others in the house or office, it does make a noticeable humming sound that might be distracting for some users. Overall, I am extremely satisfied with my Goplus Portable Under Desk Bike. It has made staying active during work hours much more accessible and enjoyable, helping me maintain both my physical and mental well-being. DMI Mini Exercise Bike with Mathttps://preview.redd.it/b5pfumn2gi5d1.jpg?width=768&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a18ccadcb3bf79bfdd12f3637820fe27ee61cfd0 Okay, so let me tell you about this DMI Mini Exercise Bike I've been using. It's been a game-changer for keeping fit while I sit at my desk or chill on my couch. The first thing that stood out is its size - it's super compact! It doesn't take up much space at all, which is great because my apartment is already crammed full of stuff. This little guy has helped me keep active even when I'm just sitting around. The pedals are nice and smooth, allowing me to go for a virtual bike ride without ever leaving the comfort of my own home. Plus, it's quiet, so it doesn't disturb others when I'm pedaling away. One of my favorite features is the adjustable tension knob. It lets me customize my workout to be as challenging or easy as I want it to be. And the digital monitor? Well, that keeps track of how many revolutions I've made, estimated calories burned, and the time spent exercising. Talk about motivation! However, there are some downsides. A few customers mentioned that the tension knob didn't seem to work properly, while others complained about the build quality. But honestly, I haven't had any issues with mine. Overall, the DMI Mini Exercise Bike has been a valuable addition to my daily routine. It's easy to set up, doesn't take up much space, and offers a low-impact workout that's perfect for people like me who spend most of their day sitting down. So if you're looking for a way to stay fit without breaking the bank or needing a gym membership, this could be just what you need! Buyer's Guidehttps://preview.redd.it/eqkt9zp2gi5d1.png?width=1024&format=png&auto=webp&s=eaf2ede6a22645998db03b8c627d2fa754f53d91 Important Features of a Floor Pedal BikeA floor pedal bike is a piece of exercise equipment designed to provide a low-impact workout that targets the lower body and core muscles. Key features to consider when purchasing a floor pedal bike include:
Considerations Before Purchasing a Floor Pedal BikeBefore you buy a floor pedal bike, consider the following:
https://preview.redd.it/x9iyjj33gi5d1.png?width=1024&format=png&auto=webp&s=faa8fc468e96b0adb4d386b0e7b68036f0bd749d General Advice for Using a Floor Pedal BikeTo get the most out of your floor pedal bike workouts, keep these tips in mind:
FAQhttps://preview.redd.it/32tee5i3gi5d1.png?width=1024&format=png&auto=webp&s=da2345790fe47debfe414828c955cff5f957fbab What is a Floor Pedal Bike?A Floor Pedal Bike, also known as a pedal exerciser or under-desk bike, is a small, portable exercise device designed to provide low-impact cardiovascular workout while seated. It features pedals that you can push with your feet or hands, depending on your preference and mobility needs.How do I use a Floor Pedal Bike?To use a Floor Pedal Bike, simply place your feet or hands on the pedals and push them in a circular motion. Start with gentle movements and gradually increase the pace to match your desired intensity level. You can use the device while sitting at a desk or chair, making it suitable for workouts during your downtime or while multitasking. https://preview.redd.it/tozh01s3gi5d1.png?width=1024&format=png&auto=webp&s=4329ccd3e1f9b7a0b5acb8fb6e160a4914a436a7 What are the benefits of using a Floor Pedal Bike?Floor Pedal Bikes offer several benefits, including:
How can I incorporate a Floor Pedal Bike into my daily routine?To incorporate a Floor Pedal Bike into your daily routine, consider using it during the following activities:
What features should I look for when purchasing a Floor Pedal Bike?Some essential features to consider when purchasing a Floor Pedal Bike include:
Are there any safety concerns I should be aware of when using a Floor Pedal Bike?Floor Pedal Bikes are generally considered safe for most individuals. However, you should take the following precautions to minimize the risk of injury:
How much does a Floor Pedal Bike cost?Floor Pedal Bikes typically range in price from $20 to $100, depending on factors such as brand, features, and quality. More advanced models with additional features like digital displays, adjustable resistance, or smartphone connectivity may cost more.Where can I purchase a Floor Pedal Bike?Floor Pedal Bikes are widely available for purchase at sporting goods stores, department stores, and online retailers. Some popular options include:
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2024.06.09 10:27 TheNobleMaster789 Hear me out, Doctor Who - HSR crossover.
I feel like the fandom crossover is going to be so small that few people will even know what Doctor Who is but I gotta write this somewhere.
I was sitting at my desk listening to the Doctor Who OST, as one does. And for some reason my head just suddenly became completely fixated on the notion of the Doctor and the Tardis running into the Astral Express on a misadventure somewhere somehow. Hell it wouldn't even be the first train in space the Doctor has ended up on.
And given his propensity to completely shattering time despite his efforts to the contrary, you could concoct just about any justification for his brief appearance there and frankly it'd make more than enough sense to be as 'Canon' as a crossover could be.
I didn't really lock in a specific doctor per se, maybe it could even be a unique one to HSR idk. My favourites are 10, 11 and 12 so one of them definitely was at the top of my list.
I was even brooding on the abilities the Doctor would have, and while I'm not about to come up with a whole ass build, this is what I was picturing in my head :
Imaginary or Quantum damage maybe? Definitely one of those two in my head.
Skill - Something very similar to Silver Wolf I imagine? A little magic with the sonic screwdriver to implant a weakness on an enemy?
Ultimate - Perhaps something employing the Tardis? In my head it's something like 'Foresight' which will give the entire team 1 or 2 guaranteed 'dodges' of enemy attacks? Essentially a tank focused skill that with careful timing could negate big enemy attacks? Probably way too OP though, I'm no balancing expert.
Attack - Kinda hard to say, the Doctor isn't the most violent guy, so I will admit, not much idea what his attack animation or theme would be.
But I mean c'mon, imagine Welt and the Doctor interacting, or just how much the Doctor's constant travelling and the like could practically fit him in perfectly as a temporary guest of the Express, passing through, helping out. Just as he always does.
I admit, I don't have much of a plot in mind for this, and I feel like I've caused two entire fandoms to cringe a little on the inside, but someone out there might just see the potential of what I'm putting on the table here!
submitted by TheNobleMaster789 to HonkaiStarRail [link] [comments]
I was sitting at my desk listening to the Doctor Who OST, as one does. And for some reason my head just suddenly became completely fixated on the notion of the Doctor and the Tardis running into the Astral Express on a misadventure somewhere somehow. Hell it wouldn't even be the first train in space the Doctor has ended up on.
And given his propensity to completely shattering time despite his efforts to the contrary, you could concoct just about any justification for his brief appearance there and frankly it'd make more than enough sense to be as 'Canon' as a crossover could be.
I didn't really lock in a specific doctor per se, maybe it could even be a unique one to HSR idk. My favourites are 10, 11 and 12 so one of them definitely was at the top of my list.
I was even brooding on the abilities the Doctor would have, and while I'm not about to come up with a whole ass build, this is what I was picturing in my head :
Skill - Something very similar to Silver Wolf I imagine? A little magic with the sonic screwdriver to implant a weakness on an enemy?
Ultimate - Perhaps something employing the Tardis? In my head it's something like 'Foresight' which will give the entire team 1 or 2 guaranteed 'dodges' of enemy attacks? Essentially a tank focused skill that with careful timing could negate big enemy attacks? Probably way too OP though, I'm no balancing expert.
Attack - Kinda hard to say, the Doctor isn't the most violent guy, so I will admit, not much idea what his attack animation or theme would be.
I admit, I don't have much of a plot in mind for this, and I feel like I've caused two entire fandoms to cringe a little on the inside, but someone out there might just see the potential of what I'm putting on the table here!
2024.06.09 10:27 Wooleyty I met the Dogman at Raven's Nest and it took my sister. [Part two]
As if in response to his words, the rain began to pour down in torrents. I scanned the area frantically, searching for shelter from the deluge. My eyes landed on a nearby gazebo, its roof providing a semblance of protection from the elements. I pointed it out to Lily and Mark, and without hesitation, we hurried over and huddled together beneath its flimsy shelter.
As we stood there, trying to formulate a plan, I couldn't help but notice the water cascading down from the mountaintop, converging into streams that flowed ominously toward the town below.
"It's going to flood," I stated, my voice trembling with uncertainty. I racked my brain, desperately trying to devise a course of action in the face of impending disaster.
Lily shot me a look of concern, her brows furrowed with worry, while Mark's head whipped around in my direction, his expression a mix of shock and disbelief.
"What? How do you know?" Mark demanded, his voice cracking with anxiety.
"Look," I replied, pointing towards the only road leading in and out of the town situated atop the mountain.
As Lily and Mark turned to follow my gaze, their eyes widened in horror. The road had transformed into a raging torrent, resembling more of a waterfall than a thoroughfare.
"Fuck," Mark muttered under his breath, his voice heavy with dread.
"We have to find somewhere elevated, away from the ground," I insisted, scanning our surroundings for potential refuge.
"There!" Lily exclaimed suddenly, pointing towards the Library, which was not far in the distance. Perched on the side of the mountain, it was accessible only via a flight of stairs. Its elevated position promised some degree of safety from the rising waters, and its sturdy roof offered protection from the relentless downpour.
"Okay, let's go!" I declared, breaking into a sprint towards the Library. The building was within reach after just a few minutes of brisk running. As I reached the steps, water cascaded down from above, creating a makeshift waterfall that made the climb treacherous but manageable. Determinedly, I ascended the stairs, each step bringing me closer to safety.
As I reached the top of the stairs and glanced back down, my heart sank at the sight of Lily and Mark still struggling to reach safety. "Let's go! Hurry!" I shouted over the din of the storm, my voice barely audible amidst the howling winds and pounding rain.
Lily dashed towards me with determination, but Mark remained rooted in the spot, paralyzed by fear.
"Mark, come on! Let's go!" I urged, my voice tinged with urgency. But just then, a deafening roar echoed through the valley, freezing us all in our tracks. It was the same roar we'd heard earlier. Still, now it was closer and had a chilling amalgamation of animalistic cries and human-like roars, resonating with an eerie intensity.
Breaking free from the spell of terror, I shouted again, "Come on, Mark! You're almost here!"
As Lily struggled against the rising tide of the cascading water coming down the stairs, I reached out to her, my hand extended in a desperate attempt to pull her to safety. She stumbled, but I managed to grasp her arm and haul her up the rest of the steps.
Glancing down, I saw Mark finally lurch into motion, his movements labored as he fought against the now ankle-deep water. With every step, he seemed to expend what little energy he had left.
"Mark, you can do it! Just a little further!" Lily's voice echoed through the storm, urging him on.
But as Mark neared the stairs, the water flowing down the steps surged with newfound force, threatening to sweep him away. With a burst of adrenaline, he pushed himself forward, his fingers grazing mine for a fleeting moment before the current overwhelmed him.
Helplessly, Lily and I watched as Mark was carried downstream, his screams of terror echoing through the valley. And then, as if summoned by the chaos, a monstrous figure appeared out of the shadows in the street.
Standing tall and menacing amid the storm, it was like something out of a nightmare. A grotesque fusion of man and beast, its black fur matted and patchy, its human-like face contorted into a snarling, canine visage.
As the creature locked eyes with Mark, it lunged forward with terrifying speed, its massive form crashing down upon him in a flurry of claws and fangs. Mark's screams pierced the night air, a haunting symphony of agony and despair that sent shivers down my spine.
Unable to bear the horror unfolding before us, Lily turned away, her face twisted in anguish as she fought back tears. As the creature dragged Mark into the darkness, I felt a cold chill run down my spine, a chilling reminder of the darkness within the heart of the Raven's Nest.
As I watched in horror, the creature tore into Mark's body with savage ferocity, reducing him to nothing more than a bloody mass of flesh. Its eyes met mine for a fleeting moment, sending a chill down my spine as it snatched up what remained of Mark and vanished into the darkness.
With trembling hands, Lily pulled me into the Library and hastily barricaded the door with a bookcase. My mind reeled with shock and disbelief, unable to process the gruesome scene that had just unfolded before my eyes.
"Rory, Rory, snap out of it!" Lily's voice pierced through the fog of my mind, her words a distant echo as I struggled to regain my composure. Her soothing touch and gentle words slowly brought me back to reality, the weight of what had just transpired crashing down upon me like a tidal wave.
I found myself hyperventilating, gasping for air as panic threatened to overwhelm me. Lily held me close, her arms a lifeline amid the chaos, calming my racing heart and guiding me back from the brink of despair.
It wasn't the first time I had experienced such a paralyzing reaction to trauma. The memories of our parents' passing flooded back, the pain and grief still raw after all these years. And now, faced with the brutal reality of Mark's demise, I felt myself slipping into that familiar state of shock once again.
Lily's tears mingled with mine as we huddled on the cold library floor, seeking solace in each other's embrace. The distant sounds of the monster devouring its prey served as a grim reminder of the danger that lurked just beyond our makeshift barricade.
In that moment of despair, all we could do was hold onto each other, finding strength in our shared grief and determination to survive. But deep down, I knew that the nightmare was far from over and that the horrors of the Raven's Nest had only begun.
Lily drifted off into sleep relatively quickly. She needed the rest; despite being twenty-seven, she was still young, and the day's events had taken their toll on her. I couldn't help but reminisce about our childhood memories when I used to affectionately refer to her as "Lil Sister." Those memories brought a sense of comfort amidst the chaos, and as I dwelled on them, I felt myself being pulled into the embrace of sleep.
Before long, I, too, succumbed to exhaustion, the weight of the day finally catching up with me. As I drifted off into slumber, memories of simpler times danced through my mind, mingling with the events of the present in a surreal dreamscape. And as the tendrils of sleep enveloped me, I found solace in the fleeting moments of tranquility amidst the chaos of the Raven's Nest.
I bolted awake at the sound of crashing, instantly alert and searching for Lily in the darkness. My eyes hadn't yet adjusted, so I fumbled in my bag for a flashlight, my heart pounding with anxiety. As the beam of light pierced the darkness, I swept it around the room, desperately seeking any sign of my sister. Then, another crash echoed from the direction of the basement stairs, labeled ominously in the dim light.
Normally, I'd have hesitated to descend into such a foreboding place, but with Lily missing, I had no choice. Slowly, cautiously, I made my way down the stairs, the beam of light casting eerie shadows on the damp walls.
The sound of running water grew louder with each step, and when I rounded the corner, I was met with the sight of the flooded basement. Something stirred in the murky depths, a figure moving in the dim light at the room's far end. My heart raced as I approached, the water sloshing around my ankles with each step. And then, in the faint glow of the flashlight, I saw her: Lily, struggling against an unseen force, her movements frantic and desperate.
I waded through the waist-deep water, my movements sluggish against the pressure, trying to reach Lily as she struggled against something unseen. The rustling and grunting ceased as I pushed forward, the urgency building with each step.
"Lily, what's going on?" I called out, my voice strained with concern.
"Rory?" Lily's voice came from the other end of the room, surprisingly calm.
Finally reaching her, I found Lily hidden behind a stack of boxes, her attention fixed on a metal ammunition box she'd uncovered.
"What the hell are you doing?" I whispered urgently.
"Maybe there's something in here we can use against... whatever the fuck that thing is," Lily replied, her voice tinged with desperation as she attempted to pry the box open, to no avail.
"Bring it upstairs, and maybe we can find something to open it," I suggested in a hushed tone, my nerves on edge as I scanned our surroundings for any sign of danger.
Lily's frustration seemed to dissipate into resignation as she met my gaze. Together, we began to wade back through the flooded basement, our senses heightened by the impending danger. Suddenly, the tranquility of our surroundings shattered as the front door upstairs, our only means of escape out of the building, sounded like it was violently torn from its hinges, the sound echoing through the basement like a harbinger of doom.
The heavy, ominous footsteps of the creature reverberated through the air, accompanied by the unsettling growl of its breath. It was clear that our presence had been detected, and the beast was now descending into the basement, drawing closer with each passing moment. Panic seized me as I realized the gravity of our situation - we were trapped, with nowhere to run and the relentless pursuit of the unknown closing in on us.
"Shh..." I hushed urgently, motioning for Lily to hide behind the boxes with me as the ominous sound of the creature's approach grew nearer. Despite the impending danger, Lily remained fixated on the ammunition box, her determination evident in her efforts to unlock it quietly.
"Stop," I whispered with growing frustration, attempting to draw her attention away from the futile task. However, it seemed as though she was wholly absorbed in her mission, impervious to my attempts to redirect her focus. Desperation gnawed at me as I realized the precariousness of our situation, with the creature closing in and Lily oblivious to the imminent threat, likely due to the shock of the day's events.
The monster's presence in the basement sent a chill down my spine as I peered cautiously from behind the boxes, taking in its imposing figure. Despite the water being waist deep for me, the creature waded through effortlessly, its massive form towering over us. Its keen senses were evident as it sniffed the air, detecting our presence with unsettling accuracy.
As Lily's persistent efforts finally paid off and the box squeaked open, her triumphant expression quickly shifted to one of realization and dread as the monster roared in response. The deafening sound reverberated through the basement, causing me to instinctively cover my ears in a futile attempt to block it out. Amidst the roar, I could discern an underlying tone that chilled me to the core—a human-like cry buried within the beast's primal roar, as if someone were pleading for mercy.
With adrenaline coursing through my veins, I lunged to the side, pulling Lily with me as we narrowly avoided the charging monster. For a moment, I thought we had escaped unharmed, but my relief turned to horror when Lily's scream pierced the air. Glancing down, my heart sank as I witnessed the gruesome sight—her leg had been violently torn from her body, leaving a trail of blood that tainted the water around us, a vivid crimson. The agony etched on her face mirrored the shock and helplessness I felt at that moment.
The sight before me was a nightmare made real. My mind recoiled at the grotesque spectacle unfolding as the monster tore into Lily's severed leg with savage abandon. Blood sprayed in every direction, mingling with the water to create a chilling tableau of horror. Each crunch and tear of flesh echoed in the cramped basement, a grotesque symphony of violence.
For a moment, I was frozen in shock, unable to comprehend the sheer brutality of what I was witnessing. It felt like time had slowed to a crawl, trapping me in this macabre scene of primal savagery. The monster's inhuman appetite seemed insatiable as it devoured Lily's flesh from her forcefully amputated leg, indifferent to her screams of agony as she lay not even fifteen feet away from it, screaming in pain.
As I watched in horrified fascination, a sickening realization dawned on me: we were not dealing with a mere beast but a predator driven by an insatiable hunger for flesh. And if I didn't act fast, Lily wouldn't be the only victim of its ravenous appetite.
With grim determination, I focused on the task at hand. Ignoring the nauseating sight of Lily's mangled leg, I reached for her, gripping her arm tightly. She cried out in pain as I hoisted her out of the water, her screams echoing in the basement.
"Come on, Lily, we need to go," I urged, my voice tinged with urgency. Ignoring the searing pain in her eyes, she nodded weakly, her face contorted in agony.
Together, we staggered towards the stairs, every step a Herculean effort against the overwhelming tide of fear and despair. The monster continued its grisly feast behind us, the sounds of its feasting driving us forward with a renewed sense of urgency.
I stumbled over an unseen obstacle beneath the water's surface, sending Lily and me plunging into the cold, dark depths. The shock of the fall stole my breath, and for a moment, disorientation clouded my senses as we struggled to regain our footing.
Frantically, I reached out in the darkness, my hands grasping for Lily's form as water rushed into my nose and mouth. With a surge of panic, I managed to find her, clutching onto her tightly as we resurfaced, coughing and sputtering.
As we gasped for air, I felt the weight of Lily's body in my arms, and with every ounce of strength I could muster, I began to drag her toward the stairs as she floated.
Struggling to hoist her up, I noticed the severity of Lily's injury more clearly. Her left leg was missing from the knee down, torn off in a gruesome manner. Each time I dragged her up a step, her bloody stump thudded against the hard surface, eliciting agonizing screams from her. Finally, we reached the corner of the stairs, where I adjusted her position to navigate the new angle.
As we turned the corner and I struggled to hoist Lily onto the first step of this new and longer set of stairs, the thunderous approach of the monster echoed through the basement, intensifying with each passing moment. Though I couldn't see it, the sound of its sprinting footsteps through the water and heavy breathing grew louder, signaling its imminent arrival. Fueled by adrenaline, I tugged harder on Lily's collar, the urgency of escape overriding any concerns about her injury. All that mattered now was getting her to safety before the creature reached us.
As we ascended, almost halfway now, I caught sight of the creature turning the corner. Its rapid pace caused it to collide with the wall, the force denting the cement as it rebounded. The sight filled me with a surge of terror, propelling me to pull Lily with renewed urgency. For a moment, she felt weightless in my grasp as I almost dragged her completely up the stairs, driven by sheer determination. Yet, as my grip faltered, I felt her slipping from my hold.
The moisture from the rain and flooding had made my hands slippery. Everything seemed to unfold in agonizing slow motion as Lily tumbled down the stairs, her descent helpless and inevitable. In the blink of an eye, the monster pounced upon her, its ferocious hunger driving it to begin devouring her without hesitation. Frozen at the top of the stairs, I watched in horror, my gaze alternating between the gruesome spectacle unfolding below and my wet, pruned hands, feeling utterly powerless to intervene.
The monster's gaze briefly flickered toward me as if acknowledging my presence for the first time since it began its grisly meal. Another thunderous roar erupted from its throat, prompting me to instinctively cover my ears. Again, I could have sworn I heard a desperate man screaming when the thing roared.
With a surge of adrenaline, I dashed up the final step and slammed the door shut behind me, shutting out the horrifying scene below.
As I fled through the unlit and dark town, I encountered areas still very submerged by the flooding, forcing me to swim through the murky waters in a desperate bid for escape. As I sprinted through the town, the absence of rainfall struck me. How long had it been since the downpour ceased? How long had I been asleep? Time seemed distorted, the day's events blending into a surreal blur. I pressed on, my only focus now: finding a way out of this nightmare.
After what felt like an eternity of navigating through the flooded streets, with every step weighed down by the relentless rainwater, I finally reached the end of the main paved road, where it transitioned into the dirt path leading to the mine—the sole exit out of town. The dark, murky, muddy path stretched ahead, promising a treacherous journey. The thick sludge threatened to swallow any misstep, making each footfall precarious.
As I stood there, catching my breath and surveying the daunting path ahead, the distant echo of the monster's roar pierced the eerie silence. It was a chilling reminder that danger lurked nearby, urging me to push forward despite the obstacles ahead.
By the time I reached Lily's jeep, I had lost both my shoes to the road and was caked in the thick, clinging mud. I swung open the jeep door, my heart racing with the anticipation of escape, only to be met with the realization that I didn't have the key. Frustration boiled over, and I cursed loudly, slamming the door shut in a fit of anger.
Then, a flicker of memory illuminated my mind: Lily's old jeep, a '95 Jeep Wrangler. We had discovered soon after she bought it that, true to its shoddy nature, it could be started with nothing more than a screwdriver in the ignition.
In a frantic search, my eyes darted around the muddy surroundings, desperate for any sign of a tool or implement that could help me start Lily's jeep. The sound of the monster's roar reverberated in the air, closer now, sending shivers down my spine. Every second felt like an eternity as I scoured the area, my heart pounding with fear and adrenaline.
Peering down the muddy road, I spotted the lumbering figure of the monster struggling to ascend. Its massive form sank into the mud with each step, hindering its progress as its feet and hands became mired in the thick, sticky terrain. Relief washed over me as I realized this bought me precious moments, a brief respite in my frantic escape.
I decide to look inside the car as I frantically rummage through the cluttered middle console of the car, my heart pounding against my ribcage. Every second felt like an eternity as I searched desperately for anything that could start the engine. Amidst the chaos of scattered items—a map, an old CD case, a jumble of charging cables—I felt my fingers close around something solid.
Pulling it out, I found a weathered Swiss Army knife, its metal casing worn and scratched from years of use. I unfolded the blade with trembling hands and positioned it carefully within the ignition. The familiar weight of the blade grounded me amid panic as I turned it, hoping against hope that it would work.
The engine sputtered to life after a few tense moments, its roar filling the confined space of the jeep. Relief flooded through me, mingled with uncertainty about what lay ahead. As I glanced up, I caught sight of the approaching monster, its massive form looming closer with each passing second.
With a quick intake of breath, I slammed the car into reverse, the tires spinning in the thick mud before gaining traction. The jeep lurched backward, leaving deep tracks in its wake as I raced away from The Raven's Nest.
The memories of that fateful day haunted me for years, a constant reminder of the horrors that lurked within The Raven's Nest. I tried to seek justice and warn others of the danger lurking in that cursed town, but each attempt fell on deaf ears.
As the years passed, I became increasingly disillusioned with my futile attempts to bring the truth to light. It wasn't that no one believed me; I knew too much. The secrets of The Raven's Nest ran deep, intertwined with the very fabric of the town's existence.
Authorities dismissed my claims as the ramblings of a troubled mind, unwilling or unable to acknowledge the darkness that permeated every corner of that forsaken place. And so, I resigned myself to the fact that some truths were better left buried, that the secrets of The Raven's Nest were meant to remain hidden.
In the quiet moments of solitude, I ponder the events of that harrowing day, eight years distant yet still vivid in my memory. I often wonder about those cameras we had installed, silent sentinels bearing witness to the horrors of The Raven's Nest. Do they still perch in their hidden alcoves, their lenses trained on the dormant secrets within those cursed streets?
The temptation to return, to retrieve that footage and unveil the truth to the world, is a constant tug at the edges of my consciousness. If only I could lay my hands on that evidence, undeniable proof of the malevolent forces that lurk in the shadows. But with each passing thought, a shiver courses down my spine, a reminder of the dread that still clings to the very mention of that forsaken place.
And so, the footage remains abandoned, lost to time and neglect, much like the town itself, swallowed by the unforgiving embrace of the valley. Perhaps some mysteries are best left buried, their secrets guarded by the silent guardians of the past.
I find myself consumed by a profound sense of guilt, particularly regarding Mark's tragic fate. I remember vividly the day we met at the museum, his genuine curiosity and eagerness to explore the town's history. Little did he know the peril that awaited us all. I can't help but feel responsible for leading him into that nightmare. It was a gruesome scene, etched into my memory with agonizing clarity. I watched in horror as the creature pounced on him, its razor-sharp claws tearing through flesh and bone with merciless efficiency. The sound of his screams still echoes in my ears, a chilling symphony of agony that pierces through the silence of my nightmares. At that moment, I was powerless to save him, gripped by a paralyzing terror that rendered me immobile. His death is a burden I carry with me always, a heavy weight that serves as a constant reminder of the price we paid for venturing into the heart of darkness.
I often find myself wondering about our parents' untimely departure, leaving behind a chasm filled with unanswered questions and aching longing. In the quiet of the night, I ponder how they would have reacted to my tale—of Lily's tragic end, of the nightmares we encountered in that desolate town. Would they have believed my words? Would they have comprehended the depth of my sorrow, the burden of guilt for failing to shield their cherished daughter?
In my heart, I carry the weight of my dear sister Lily's untimely demise. Her laughter, warmth, and unwavering spirit are now lost to the darkness that enveloped that cursed town. Each day, I long to see her smile once more, to hear her voice echoing in the halls of our shared memories. Yet, I know she is gone, forever lost to the merciless jaws of that insatiable beast. The memory of her screams, the sight of her torn body, they etch themselves into my soul, a painful reminder of the fragility of life and the cruelty of fate.
Lily's injury and her agonizing screams echo incessantly in the corridors of my mind, haunting me like a relentless specter. The memory of that moment is etched into my consciousness with vivid, excruciating detail—the sight of her torn leg, the gushing crimson of her blood staining the murky waters, and the raw, visceral sound of her screams reverberating through the air. Each time I close my eyes, I am transported back to that harrowing scene, unable to escape the overwhelming sense of helplessness that washed over me. Her pain, her fear, her desperation—all of it lingers like a scar on my soul, a constant reminder of the horrors we endured in that forsaken place.
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As we stood there, trying to formulate a plan, I couldn't help but notice the water cascading down from the mountaintop, converging into streams that flowed ominously toward the town below.
"It's going to flood," I stated, my voice trembling with uncertainty. I racked my brain, desperately trying to devise a course of action in the face of impending disaster.
Lily shot me a look of concern, her brows furrowed with worry, while Mark's head whipped around in my direction, his expression a mix of shock and disbelief.
"What? How do you know?" Mark demanded, his voice cracking with anxiety.
"Look," I replied, pointing towards the only road leading in and out of the town situated atop the mountain.
As Lily and Mark turned to follow my gaze, their eyes widened in horror. The road had transformed into a raging torrent, resembling more of a waterfall than a thoroughfare.
"Fuck," Mark muttered under his breath, his voice heavy with dread.
"We have to find somewhere elevated, away from the ground," I insisted, scanning our surroundings for potential refuge.
"There!" Lily exclaimed suddenly, pointing towards the Library, which was not far in the distance. Perched on the side of the mountain, it was accessible only via a flight of stairs. Its elevated position promised some degree of safety from the rising waters, and its sturdy roof offered protection from the relentless downpour.
"Okay, let's go!" I declared, breaking into a sprint towards the Library. The building was within reach after just a few minutes of brisk running. As I reached the steps, water cascaded down from above, creating a makeshift waterfall that made the climb treacherous but manageable. Determinedly, I ascended the stairs, each step bringing me closer to safety.
As I reached the top of the stairs and glanced back down, my heart sank at the sight of Lily and Mark still struggling to reach safety. "Let's go! Hurry!" I shouted over the din of the storm, my voice barely audible amidst the howling winds and pounding rain.
Lily dashed towards me with determination, but Mark remained rooted in the spot, paralyzed by fear.
"Mark, come on! Let's go!" I urged, my voice tinged with urgency. But just then, a deafening roar echoed through the valley, freezing us all in our tracks. It was the same roar we'd heard earlier. Still, now it was closer and had a chilling amalgamation of animalistic cries and human-like roars, resonating with an eerie intensity.
Breaking free from the spell of terror, I shouted again, "Come on, Mark! You're almost here!"
As Lily struggled against the rising tide of the cascading water coming down the stairs, I reached out to her, my hand extended in a desperate attempt to pull her to safety. She stumbled, but I managed to grasp her arm and haul her up the rest of the steps.
Glancing down, I saw Mark finally lurch into motion, his movements labored as he fought against the now ankle-deep water. With every step, he seemed to expend what little energy he had left.
"Mark, you can do it! Just a little further!" Lily's voice echoed through the storm, urging him on.
But as Mark neared the stairs, the water flowing down the steps surged with newfound force, threatening to sweep him away. With a burst of adrenaline, he pushed himself forward, his fingers grazing mine for a fleeting moment before the current overwhelmed him.
Helplessly, Lily and I watched as Mark was carried downstream, his screams of terror echoing through the valley. And then, as if summoned by the chaos, a monstrous figure appeared out of the shadows in the street.
Standing tall and menacing amid the storm, it was like something out of a nightmare. A grotesque fusion of man and beast, its black fur matted and patchy, its human-like face contorted into a snarling, canine visage.
As the creature locked eyes with Mark, it lunged forward with terrifying speed, its massive form crashing down upon him in a flurry of claws and fangs. Mark's screams pierced the night air, a haunting symphony of agony and despair that sent shivers down my spine.
Unable to bear the horror unfolding before us, Lily turned away, her face twisted in anguish as she fought back tears. As the creature dragged Mark into the darkness, I felt a cold chill run down my spine, a chilling reminder of the darkness within the heart of the Raven's Nest.
As I watched in horror, the creature tore into Mark's body with savage ferocity, reducing him to nothing more than a bloody mass of flesh. Its eyes met mine for a fleeting moment, sending a chill down my spine as it snatched up what remained of Mark and vanished into the darkness.
With trembling hands, Lily pulled me into the Library and hastily barricaded the door with a bookcase. My mind reeled with shock and disbelief, unable to process the gruesome scene that had just unfolded before my eyes.
"Rory, Rory, snap out of it!" Lily's voice pierced through the fog of my mind, her words a distant echo as I struggled to regain my composure. Her soothing touch and gentle words slowly brought me back to reality, the weight of what had just transpired crashing down upon me like a tidal wave.
I found myself hyperventilating, gasping for air as panic threatened to overwhelm me. Lily held me close, her arms a lifeline amid the chaos, calming my racing heart and guiding me back from the brink of despair.
It wasn't the first time I had experienced such a paralyzing reaction to trauma. The memories of our parents' passing flooded back, the pain and grief still raw after all these years. And now, faced with the brutal reality of Mark's demise, I felt myself slipping into that familiar state of shock once again.
Lily's tears mingled with mine as we huddled on the cold library floor, seeking solace in each other's embrace. The distant sounds of the monster devouring its prey served as a grim reminder of the danger that lurked just beyond our makeshift barricade.
In that moment of despair, all we could do was hold onto each other, finding strength in our shared grief and determination to survive. But deep down, I knew that the nightmare was far from over and that the horrors of the Raven's Nest had only begun.
Lily drifted off into sleep relatively quickly. She needed the rest; despite being twenty-seven, she was still young, and the day's events had taken their toll on her. I couldn't help but reminisce about our childhood memories when I used to affectionately refer to her as "Lil Sister." Those memories brought a sense of comfort amidst the chaos, and as I dwelled on them, I felt myself being pulled into the embrace of sleep.
Before long, I, too, succumbed to exhaustion, the weight of the day finally catching up with me. As I drifted off into slumber, memories of simpler times danced through my mind, mingling with the events of the present in a surreal dreamscape. And as the tendrils of sleep enveloped me, I found solace in the fleeting moments of tranquility amidst the chaos of the Raven's Nest.
I bolted awake at the sound of crashing, instantly alert and searching for Lily in the darkness. My eyes hadn't yet adjusted, so I fumbled in my bag for a flashlight, my heart pounding with anxiety. As the beam of light pierced the darkness, I swept it around the room, desperately seeking any sign of my sister. Then, another crash echoed from the direction of the basement stairs, labeled ominously in the dim light.
Normally, I'd have hesitated to descend into such a foreboding place, but with Lily missing, I had no choice. Slowly, cautiously, I made my way down the stairs, the beam of light casting eerie shadows on the damp walls.
The sound of running water grew louder with each step, and when I rounded the corner, I was met with the sight of the flooded basement. Something stirred in the murky depths, a figure moving in the dim light at the room's far end. My heart raced as I approached, the water sloshing around my ankles with each step. And then, in the faint glow of the flashlight, I saw her: Lily, struggling against an unseen force, her movements frantic and desperate.
I waded through the waist-deep water, my movements sluggish against the pressure, trying to reach Lily as she struggled against something unseen. The rustling and grunting ceased as I pushed forward, the urgency building with each step.
"Lily, what's going on?" I called out, my voice strained with concern.
"Rory?" Lily's voice came from the other end of the room, surprisingly calm.
Finally reaching her, I found Lily hidden behind a stack of boxes, her attention fixed on a metal ammunition box she'd uncovered.
"What the hell are you doing?" I whispered urgently.
"Maybe there's something in here we can use against... whatever the fuck that thing is," Lily replied, her voice tinged with desperation as she attempted to pry the box open, to no avail.
"Bring it upstairs, and maybe we can find something to open it," I suggested in a hushed tone, my nerves on edge as I scanned our surroundings for any sign of danger.
Lily's frustration seemed to dissipate into resignation as she met my gaze. Together, we began to wade back through the flooded basement, our senses heightened by the impending danger. Suddenly, the tranquility of our surroundings shattered as the front door upstairs, our only means of escape out of the building, sounded like it was violently torn from its hinges, the sound echoing through the basement like a harbinger of doom.
The heavy, ominous footsteps of the creature reverberated through the air, accompanied by the unsettling growl of its breath. It was clear that our presence had been detected, and the beast was now descending into the basement, drawing closer with each passing moment. Panic seized me as I realized the gravity of our situation - we were trapped, with nowhere to run and the relentless pursuit of the unknown closing in on us.
"Shh..." I hushed urgently, motioning for Lily to hide behind the boxes with me as the ominous sound of the creature's approach grew nearer. Despite the impending danger, Lily remained fixated on the ammunition box, her determination evident in her efforts to unlock it quietly.
"Stop," I whispered with growing frustration, attempting to draw her attention away from the futile task. However, it seemed as though she was wholly absorbed in her mission, impervious to my attempts to redirect her focus. Desperation gnawed at me as I realized the precariousness of our situation, with the creature closing in and Lily oblivious to the imminent threat, likely due to the shock of the day's events.
The monster's presence in the basement sent a chill down my spine as I peered cautiously from behind the boxes, taking in its imposing figure. Despite the water being waist deep for me, the creature waded through effortlessly, its massive form towering over us. Its keen senses were evident as it sniffed the air, detecting our presence with unsettling accuracy.
As Lily's persistent efforts finally paid off and the box squeaked open, her triumphant expression quickly shifted to one of realization and dread as the monster roared in response. The deafening sound reverberated through the basement, causing me to instinctively cover my ears in a futile attempt to block it out. Amidst the roar, I could discern an underlying tone that chilled me to the core—a human-like cry buried within the beast's primal roar, as if someone were pleading for mercy.
With adrenaline coursing through my veins, I lunged to the side, pulling Lily with me as we narrowly avoided the charging monster. For a moment, I thought we had escaped unharmed, but my relief turned to horror when Lily's scream pierced the air. Glancing down, my heart sank as I witnessed the gruesome sight—her leg had been violently torn from her body, leaving a trail of blood that tainted the water around us, a vivid crimson. The agony etched on her face mirrored the shock and helplessness I felt at that moment.
The sight before me was a nightmare made real. My mind recoiled at the grotesque spectacle unfolding as the monster tore into Lily's severed leg with savage abandon. Blood sprayed in every direction, mingling with the water to create a chilling tableau of horror. Each crunch and tear of flesh echoed in the cramped basement, a grotesque symphony of violence.
For a moment, I was frozen in shock, unable to comprehend the sheer brutality of what I was witnessing. It felt like time had slowed to a crawl, trapping me in this macabre scene of primal savagery. The monster's inhuman appetite seemed insatiable as it devoured Lily's flesh from her forcefully amputated leg, indifferent to her screams of agony as she lay not even fifteen feet away from it, screaming in pain.
As I watched in horrified fascination, a sickening realization dawned on me: we were not dealing with a mere beast but a predator driven by an insatiable hunger for flesh. And if I didn't act fast, Lily wouldn't be the only victim of its ravenous appetite.
With grim determination, I focused on the task at hand. Ignoring the nauseating sight of Lily's mangled leg, I reached for her, gripping her arm tightly. She cried out in pain as I hoisted her out of the water, her screams echoing in the basement.
"Come on, Lily, we need to go," I urged, my voice tinged with urgency. Ignoring the searing pain in her eyes, she nodded weakly, her face contorted in agony.
Together, we staggered towards the stairs, every step a Herculean effort against the overwhelming tide of fear and despair. The monster continued its grisly feast behind us, the sounds of its feasting driving us forward with a renewed sense of urgency.
I stumbled over an unseen obstacle beneath the water's surface, sending Lily and me plunging into the cold, dark depths. The shock of the fall stole my breath, and for a moment, disorientation clouded my senses as we struggled to regain our footing.
Frantically, I reached out in the darkness, my hands grasping for Lily's form as water rushed into my nose and mouth. With a surge of panic, I managed to find her, clutching onto her tightly as we resurfaced, coughing and sputtering.
As we gasped for air, I felt the weight of Lily's body in my arms, and with every ounce of strength I could muster, I began to drag her toward the stairs as she floated.
Struggling to hoist her up, I noticed the severity of Lily's injury more clearly. Her left leg was missing from the knee down, torn off in a gruesome manner. Each time I dragged her up a step, her bloody stump thudded against the hard surface, eliciting agonizing screams from her. Finally, we reached the corner of the stairs, where I adjusted her position to navigate the new angle.
As we turned the corner and I struggled to hoist Lily onto the first step of this new and longer set of stairs, the thunderous approach of the monster echoed through the basement, intensifying with each passing moment. Though I couldn't see it, the sound of its sprinting footsteps through the water and heavy breathing grew louder, signaling its imminent arrival. Fueled by adrenaline, I tugged harder on Lily's collar, the urgency of escape overriding any concerns about her injury. All that mattered now was getting her to safety before the creature reached us.
As we ascended, almost halfway now, I caught sight of the creature turning the corner. Its rapid pace caused it to collide with the wall, the force denting the cement as it rebounded. The sight filled me with a surge of terror, propelling me to pull Lily with renewed urgency. For a moment, she felt weightless in my grasp as I almost dragged her completely up the stairs, driven by sheer determination. Yet, as my grip faltered, I felt her slipping from my hold.
The moisture from the rain and flooding had made my hands slippery. Everything seemed to unfold in agonizing slow motion as Lily tumbled down the stairs, her descent helpless and inevitable. In the blink of an eye, the monster pounced upon her, its ferocious hunger driving it to begin devouring her without hesitation. Frozen at the top of the stairs, I watched in horror, my gaze alternating between the gruesome spectacle unfolding below and my wet, pruned hands, feeling utterly powerless to intervene.
The monster's gaze briefly flickered toward me as if acknowledging my presence for the first time since it began its grisly meal. Another thunderous roar erupted from its throat, prompting me to instinctively cover my ears. Again, I could have sworn I heard a desperate man screaming when the thing roared.
With a surge of adrenaline, I dashed up the final step and slammed the door shut behind me, shutting out the horrifying scene below.
As I fled through the unlit and dark town, I encountered areas still very submerged by the flooding, forcing me to swim through the murky waters in a desperate bid for escape. As I sprinted through the town, the absence of rainfall struck me. How long had it been since the downpour ceased? How long had I been asleep? Time seemed distorted, the day's events blending into a surreal blur. I pressed on, my only focus now: finding a way out of this nightmare.
After what felt like an eternity of navigating through the flooded streets, with every step weighed down by the relentless rainwater, I finally reached the end of the main paved road, where it transitioned into the dirt path leading to the mine—the sole exit out of town. The dark, murky, muddy path stretched ahead, promising a treacherous journey. The thick sludge threatened to swallow any misstep, making each footfall precarious.
As I stood there, catching my breath and surveying the daunting path ahead, the distant echo of the monster's roar pierced the eerie silence. It was a chilling reminder that danger lurked nearby, urging me to push forward despite the obstacles ahead.
By the time I reached Lily's jeep, I had lost both my shoes to the road and was caked in the thick, clinging mud. I swung open the jeep door, my heart racing with the anticipation of escape, only to be met with the realization that I didn't have the key. Frustration boiled over, and I cursed loudly, slamming the door shut in a fit of anger.
Then, a flicker of memory illuminated my mind: Lily's old jeep, a '95 Jeep Wrangler. We had discovered soon after she bought it that, true to its shoddy nature, it could be started with nothing more than a screwdriver in the ignition.
In a frantic search, my eyes darted around the muddy surroundings, desperate for any sign of a tool or implement that could help me start Lily's jeep. The sound of the monster's roar reverberated in the air, closer now, sending shivers down my spine. Every second felt like an eternity as I scoured the area, my heart pounding with fear and adrenaline.
Peering down the muddy road, I spotted the lumbering figure of the monster struggling to ascend. Its massive form sank into the mud with each step, hindering its progress as its feet and hands became mired in the thick, sticky terrain. Relief washed over me as I realized this bought me precious moments, a brief respite in my frantic escape.
I decide to look inside the car as I frantically rummage through the cluttered middle console of the car, my heart pounding against my ribcage. Every second felt like an eternity as I searched desperately for anything that could start the engine. Amidst the chaos of scattered items—a map, an old CD case, a jumble of charging cables—I felt my fingers close around something solid.
Pulling it out, I found a weathered Swiss Army knife, its metal casing worn and scratched from years of use. I unfolded the blade with trembling hands and positioned it carefully within the ignition. The familiar weight of the blade grounded me amid panic as I turned it, hoping against hope that it would work.
The engine sputtered to life after a few tense moments, its roar filling the confined space of the jeep. Relief flooded through me, mingled with uncertainty about what lay ahead. As I glanced up, I caught sight of the approaching monster, its massive form looming closer with each passing second.
With a quick intake of breath, I slammed the car into reverse, the tires spinning in the thick mud before gaining traction. The jeep lurched backward, leaving deep tracks in its wake as I raced away from The Raven's Nest.
The memories of that fateful day haunted me for years, a constant reminder of the horrors that lurked within The Raven's Nest. I tried to seek justice and warn others of the danger lurking in that cursed town, but each attempt fell on deaf ears.
As the years passed, I became increasingly disillusioned with my futile attempts to bring the truth to light. It wasn't that no one believed me; I knew too much. The secrets of The Raven's Nest ran deep, intertwined with the very fabric of the town's existence.
Authorities dismissed my claims as the ramblings of a troubled mind, unwilling or unable to acknowledge the darkness that permeated every corner of that forsaken place. And so, I resigned myself to the fact that some truths were better left buried, that the secrets of The Raven's Nest were meant to remain hidden.
In the quiet moments of solitude, I ponder the events of that harrowing day, eight years distant yet still vivid in my memory. I often wonder about those cameras we had installed, silent sentinels bearing witness to the horrors of The Raven's Nest. Do they still perch in their hidden alcoves, their lenses trained on the dormant secrets within those cursed streets?
The temptation to return, to retrieve that footage and unveil the truth to the world, is a constant tug at the edges of my consciousness. If only I could lay my hands on that evidence, undeniable proof of the malevolent forces that lurk in the shadows. But with each passing thought, a shiver courses down my spine, a reminder of the dread that still clings to the very mention of that forsaken place.
And so, the footage remains abandoned, lost to time and neglect, much like the town itself, swallowed by the unforgiving embrace of the valley. Perhaps some mysteries are best left buried, their secrets guarded by the silent guardians of the past.
I find myself consumed by a profound sense of guilt, particularly regarding Mark's tragic fate. I remember vividly the day we met at the museum, his genuine curiosity and eagerness to explore the town's history. Little did he know the peril that awaited us all. I can't help but feel responsible for leading him into that nightmare. It was a gruesome scene, etched into my memory with agonizing clarity. I watched in horror as the creature pounced on him, its razor-sharp claws tearing through flesh and bone with merciless efficiency. The sound of his screams still echoes in my ears, a chilling symphony of agony that pierces through the silence of my nightmares. At that moment, I was powerless to save him, gripped by a paralyzing terror that rendered me immobile. His death is a burden I carry with me always, a heavy weight that serves as a constant reminder of the price we paid for venturing into the heart of darkness.
I often find myself wondering about our parents' untimely departure, leaving behind a chasm filled with unanswered questions and aching longing. In the quiet of the night, I ponder how they would have reacted to my tale—of Lily's tragic end, of the nightmares we encountered in that desolate town. Would they have believed my words? Would they have comprehended the depth of my sorrow, the burden of guilt for failing to shield their cherished daughter?
In my heart, I carry the weight of my dear sister Lily's untimely demise. Her laughter, warmth, and unwavering spirit are now lost to the darkness that enveloped that cursed town. Each day, I long to see her smile once more, to hear her voice echoing in the halls of our shared memories. Yet, I know she is gone, forever lost to the merciless jaws of that insatiable beast. The memory of her screams, the sight of her torn body, they etch themselves into my soul, a painful reminder of the fragility of life and the cruelty of fate.
Lily's injury and her agonizing screams echo incessantly in the corridors of my mind, haunting me like a relentless specter. The memory of that moment is etched into my consciousness with vivid, excruciating detail—the sight of her torn leg, the gushing crimson of her blood staining the murky waters, and the raw, visceral sound of her screams reverberating through the air. Each time I close my eyes, I am transported back to that harrowing scene, unable to escape the overwhelming sense of helplessness that washed over me. Her pain, her fear, her desperation—all of it lingers like a scar on my soul, a constant reminder of the horrors we endured in that forsaken place.
2024.06.09 09:42 LawAcrobatic3995 (Warning, Long post) OC Stark Branches summaries for new Stark fic
 | This post is a sort of preview for a fic that I'm close to releasing which follows Lord Alaric Stark an OC legitimate son of Brandon Stark(Son of Rickard) and a Umber OC. In this fic, there are two branches of House Stark descended from Artos Stark and his twin sons, Brandon and Benjen. submitted by LawAcrobatic3995 to TheCitadel [link] [comments] The name of this fic is The Wolf King of the North. I may still change the name but for right now that's the name. And yes, this is a Stark wank, suck it. Below is a family tree I made showcasing the new branches and characters and below the Family Tree will be the summaries of the dead members' lives, and a quick summary of who the new OCs are. This family tree and these descriptions are Circa. 295AC Family tree for my AU Benjen Stark’s Family:
- Brandon Stark and his sons:
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