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.

He’d always been a kind and nice boy, only recently (last couple months, around 3 months) he turned to have what we initially thought was anxiety & anger issues. He would cry and throw tantrums (crying, idling, sometimes screaming) when asked to do his homework, or when he’d been limited of his screen time. We approached this with both understanding and tried to get the whole story on why he felt sad, angry (it was quite challenging as he kept telling us “I don’t know” but we get to an answer eventually), why it was wrong to react the way he did, conveyed the importance of his studies and health. I myself imposed a 20 seconds minimum hug policy (as I interpreted his reluctance to expressing his feelings verbally to be a lack of affection, and physical comfort would prove to calming him), he loved the hugs and is more vocal to request, initiate more openly affectionate gestures.
Up until 1 month ago he started getting more crying episodes, told us he was really scared and worried at night and found it hard to fall asleep. He also get really upset over homework, which we got the entire family to help out on.
We contacted his teachers and parents of his classmates to ask about his time at school, nothing was amiss and he was mingling with other kids as usual. Only at home does his behavior seem to worsen, he started crying and screaming at the smallest things, like when one of us tried to point out spelling mistakes in his homework and attempted to help him fix them, or when we remind him to do his homework. He’s usually calm and nice outside of these outbursts, which make it more startlingly contrasting of his normal state.
As he got more easily triggered and incomprehensibly, unreasonably tantrums that became more and more violent with objects (table, pencils, books) and fighting and scratching at his older sibling (me). The family became more stern and tough in dealing with them.
Today he just had the worst of it. His mum reminded him to clean up after playing with his toys, he obliged and played happily for an hour. We then prepared to go out (he asked to go to the mall) and our mum walked over to see the lid of his toy box on the ground and told him “[name] I told you to pick up your toys after you’re done with them”. He was over on the other side of the room with his Ipad he started talking almost screaming by the end of his sentence “I remembered I put it AWAY”, mum was walking to the door and I shielded her as I gauged his reaction to be the start of something bad.
He stood up, and at the end of his sentence picked up the plastic lid and threw at us then lunged for our mum, the lid hit the wall and I held back him, he was clawing with his nails, teeth bared and his eyes had a wild look to it. I let go of him and my mum scolded him for tryingto do whatever that was, he sat down on the sofa and started crying, his eyes closed and he periodically screamed his lungs out.
I just sat in front of him, my mum scolded some more but then he screamed and shout at her to “be quiet please”.
Afterwards like 1-2 hours he came back to be perfectly normal and calm, no trace of the previous meltdown.
He did told us that he wasn’t angry (we asked why he was angry) he told us he was sad and he doesn’t know why he was sad or why he’d done what he did.
If anyone has any advice please help, we ran out of things to do and professional help isn’t an option, our city has really poor services and they all direct us prescribed drugs (expensive and not something we want for a ten year old to risk reliance on). Our family aren’t easy to anger, and none of us have a physical display of it, the worst we get is shouting so we don’t know how to help him. Physical discipline have not happen with him ever.

Here a few of my potential choices:
We can live to over 100. Years. A year? That's 4 seasons. Boom! You do the math, sucker. Oh, math? You don't know what MATH is? WELL-
This thing? This thing we live on? The ground you walk on? Ball. It's all one, big ball.
That's a car. We made that.
Look at this video of cats doing gymnastics in front of a crowd of humans.
Just pick one up and take it to the zoo for a bit then bring it back home and leave
Refrigerator

Was queuing at a restaurant at the end of the queue when a couple came up to me and complained that they came first and should be in front of me. I then realised that they had queued at the wrong place (front of the line instead of back) but just nice we came and stood at the time. They seemed genuinely confused why we would even argue that they should be at the back. In my view, they queued on the wrong side, and the onus is on them to find out. But they weren't local, so I guess I wanted to break the stereotype of rude Singaporeans and give them the benefit of doubt. I regret not confronting them, because honestly if they were local I would have stood my ground but I wanted to be a good representation? Sounds stupid I know but wanted to get a general consensus of what you all would do.

Running around this complex is draining me, think, think. What should I look for? Thinking as I am running. Whatever is chasing me, is most likely not friendly. Power generator! This complex needs power, it is the darkness. That is sapping away my mental resilience. It is the darkness here, which blurs the line between imagination and reality, of who is chasing me.
I must banish the darkness, to make way for light. Feeling... Emotions, hope? Determination? Clarity? Yes, I remember these. After running for a while, entering to a room with notably more light, I quickly close a hatch door to buy me time to turn back online the generator. There is some technology here which should allow me to do just that.
Finally few screens respond to me tapping the keyboards, strange text... Commenced operating the computer immediately despite it... I, can read it? Make sense of it? I don't recall seeing this text before though... Or, do I? Hatch door received a powerful blow from the outside. Quick. Generator slowly and calmly roars to life. Room, which used to be murky, is now clear.
Hatch door gave in and whoever is chasing me, recovered from the body slam, by rolling and getting up on their feet. This is a new sensation, I feel, like the opposite of me, is closed to me, sealed itself away from me. Yet, I sense that this one is kin to me. It looked around in mildly alarmed manner, this one's form is now revealed to me, I see the three red eyes on him.
Two on either side of the helmet and one on the chest. There is something strange about his armor and helmet though, I focus on those details. This emotion, is strong, anger? Why do I feel anger about those... Tightly attached? No, that doesn't look like armor reinforcement. They separate from the form of the armor and helmet have in common.
It dashes towards me, I take position to receive it, I no longer fear you. As it was about to make contact with me, I crouch and prepare my left arm and shoulder, it reacts to my posture too late. I lift it up as it collides on me, then throw it over me. It landed crashing to the floor, turning to look what it will do, it rolled onto it's stomach and got up.
What should I trust? The anger? Or sense of kinship? Then it projects an emotion, I sense it. Fear? Of itself? It lunges towards me again, dodging it by stepping to the side. Have to think, it stumbled after missing me and crashed to the ground again. I don't want to hurt it... Quite sure, there is no way to knock it out...
It got up and rushes at me to punch me, instinct kicked in, following it, pivoting to my left, positioned me perfectly to counter attack safely, it's punch misses me, but, my own hits with higher kinetic energy. When it hit, it knocked attacker on the floor on it's back, I quickly back off, think, think. I can not allow it to turn off the main power to the complex or whatever the this structure is.
It is too dangerous to decommission this tech used to operate the generator with weapons that I have. Can not deviate my thought on my melee skills. It started to get up again. It's armor is more dark colored, a lot better for blending into dark places, well, except for the three red lights on whole outfit. I continue to back off and it began to chase me again.
Turning around to run, again, continued to think of what I should do, lucky for me, it doesn't have any ranged weapons but, I need to be very careful on allowing it to take one from me. Entering into... Some kind of ground vehicle garage. I see several vehicles, all of them look familiar to me, somehow... I still have some distance to my pursuer.
Although, for me to get these vehicles to work, and the garage door to open, I would need to somehow delay my pursuer. Something... Think as I continue running from my pursuer in the garage. As I pass many things, all of them giving me of thought that they wouldn't be enough to buy me time to do what I need to do.
I don't want to destroy or damage my pursuer too much. I trust the sense of kinship that I feel from looking at it, just enough that I don't want it to restrain me or knock me out. There, that is some kind of heavy duty storage unit. I run towards it and stop right in front of it. Turn to face my pursuer, it tries to knock me over.
I change my footing to knock the kick off the course and grab my pursuer from shoulders, quick turn to face the heavy duty storage unit along with my pursuer. I began to push it inside of one of them, it is still trying to restrain me only. Once I managed to push it right at the middle of the unit, I kick it towards the back wall and close the door on it.
It will hold it long enough, and it can not be opened from inside. I quickly run to the garage door terminal and start operating it. Easier than I expected, I welcome that. Now for the vehicle... There's five vehicles... First one from the rear of the garage, looks very heavily armored and armed. Big weapon barrel, and some kind of machinery...
Quick look towards the garage door opening, reveal an abandoned road, or, something like that? Second vehicle is a wheeled, relatively armored vehicle, armed with lighter weaponry than the first, third vehicle seems to be a scouting vehicle that is very heavily armed...
Fourth, some kind of military vehicle, can't really describe it well... Fifth is a open seat vehicle, with four wheels relatively close of each other, compared to the previous two vehicles... Fourth it is, I need something that is relatively light. Running to it and approaching the door, to the... Well, what I assume is the driver's position.
Door opened on it's own, no time to hesitate, I get and take seat in the vehicle. It comes to life as I enter and I start figuring out how to control it. Those pedals? Maybe one of the three? I picked the one on right and place my foot on it. Color of my leg distracted me, door closed me inside of the vehicle, and it moves forward. The wheel? I place my hands on the sides of it.
Gently turning it to the left and vehicle turns to the left, I return the vehicle middle of the road, full throttle. The road is relatively large, enough for in and out traffic for two of that heavily armored vehicle to go past each other safely. For now, it is just forward. Then I hear set of sounds from the dashboard, from my right.
"Drive to the space port." Something said, that voice... Trust... I feel, glad? I must have heard that voice before... Map began to be displayed behind the wheel... There is a projection of... Numbers... I don't understand them, beyond what the numbers are. Map has a clear line that I should drive along with...
"I need help." Say out loud, what has been bothering me for a while now, ever since waking up. I can't remember, so many things. I... Can speak?
"I know, right now, you are too far away from us, there is people at the space port next to of a blue space craft. They will say to you, earn trust. Answer to it with, family helps." Familiar voice says from the communications device installed into the vehicle...
"Okay." Reply in mildly worried tone. Where have I heard that voice? Why does it make me feel like I can trust it? Why do I feel warm when I hear it? I glance at the map again... Better it than nothing... As, I don't have any plan... I don't even know who, what, why, where I am...
Right as I was about to focus on how I look, I notice other vehicles in a larger road which is part of my path, I quickly avoid few collisions and stabilize the vehicle and go full speed towards the space port, while avoiding the other traffic. I look around myself, this place, looks familiar, to an extent. These gaps in my memory are making me nervous.
Can't this thing go any faster? I really want some answers... The map displays that the space port is not too far away. I notice something on a mirror, a vehicle, it is chasing me. Lights on the vehicle started blinking, crap! It's a law enforcement vehicle and personnel! I really don't want to hurt them... They look strange but, I feel like I have seen them before...
This chase is incredibly dangerous. I keep them good distance away from me, it seems that their vehicle is also reaching it's speed limit. I just need to keep my focus on avoiding other traffic and make sure that the chase is safe for other traffic. Quick glance at the map shows that I need to take an exit ramp on my right.
I steer my vehicle there, going slightly off road to avoid hitting other traffic and slow down, I turn right as the vehicle I drive reached an intersection and, there, I see it, the space port. Now, I just need to be faster than my pursuers. Should be easy. I stop at a parking hall of some kind and get out of the vehicle, because the door opened when the vehicle came to full stop.
I dismount and hear the pursuing vehicle also start decelerating. Kicking the ground, I quickly accelerated to high speed sprint and keep running, to get into the space port building. Once I got in, and deeper into the building, I see the blue space craft, it is large. I quickly run towards it, there is some sentient beings near of it.
I run to them. "Earn trust." One of them says, voice masked by a speaker in the helmet to project the voice outside of it.
"Family helps." Reply to it. The clothing they wear, they look very familiar... The one who spoke to me the key word motioned me to get in, the door into the ship opens and enter the ship, with the other different looking sentient beings than the majority here.
The ship immediately started ascending. "Who are you?" Immediately question them after the door closed.
"Friendly. We can unmask now squad." The one who spoke the key word to me says and began to take off it's helmet. The face, it, looks like, I am somehow related? I started to look at myself, it looks amazing... Yellow, blue and white colors, are most dominant on this armor and base suit. It looks so nice.
Other people here also took their helmets off. Human? That, feels like, what I am... I want to take my own helmet off. "I need a mirror." Say quickly and feel my own helmet to try to figure out how to take it off. I felt it loosen and I was able to take it off.
"Take a seat if you want. Lady, let's just say that you really went through something seriously unusual." He, replies to me, as I took the helmet off and look around. He? Yes, he. Lady? Woman? Why can't I remember? One of the other humans brought me a mirror and I receive it from him gently.
This? Is my face? Who... I am? Slowly, yes, this is me. I, look different? I think...
"What happened to me?" I ask as I am so lost and confused.
"You might want to calm down before I say this to you." He replies to me, not exactly sure of something.
I notice some seats near of me, and I sit down on one of them, I keep staring at my reflection. Silence is so strong right now. "We believe you have been abducted with a convincing cover, to be part of some kind of project." He replies, waiting for me to respond.
I look at him, he is slightly uncomfortable to say what I need to know... "Abducted?" I ask from him.
"Yes, although we need to confirm a couple things first. I need you to do couple things before I explain it further and answer to questions you have. Is this okay?" He asks, he sounds slightly worried how I will respond.
I look into his eyes, I sense, unease and, him knowing... How I feel? Quickly pondered how should I respond... "Okay, just explain what and why you need me to do it." Say slightly uneasy but, comply with conditions.
"I need to first identify who you are, this is an audio recorder, it is connected to a data base of identities of a lot of people. This is an eye scanner, it will help the system to identify, who you are. Do you feel comfortable enough to begin?" He asks mildly worried but, ready for my response, as it showed me two small devices.
"Okay. What do you want me to say?" I ask from him, feeling mildly worried myself too.
"That was more than enough. For this one, I just need you to stare at me, I will place the this device between you and me, over both of your eyes to make the scan. Are you ready?" He replies to me in neutral tone.
I let out a deep sigh and stare into his eyes. "Alright, do it." Reply to him, and keep staring into his eyes. He uses the device just as he described and nodded to me, when it was done. I break eye contact with him, as I feel uneasy.
"You can ask away now, we don't have the search result yet." He replies to me and takes a seat opposite of me. Which question should I even start with?

Running around this complex is draining me, think, think. What should I look for? Thinking as I am running. Whatever is chasing me, is most likely not friendly. Power generator! This complex needs power, it is the darkness. That is sapping away my mental resilience. It is the darkness here, which blurs the line between imagination and reality, of who is chasing me.
I must banish the darkness, to make way for light. Feeling... Emotions, hope? Determination? Clarity? Yes, I remember these. After running for a while, entering to a room with notably more light, I quickly close a hatch door to buy me time to turn back online the generator. There is some technology here which should allow me to do just that.
Finally few screens respond to me tapping the keyboards, strange text... Commenced operating the computer immediately despite it... I, can read it? Make sense of it? I don't recall seeing this text before though... Or, do I? Hatch door received a powerful blow from the outside. Quick. Generator slowly and calmly roars to life. Room, which used to be murky, is now clear.
Hatch door gave in and whoever is chasing me, recovered from the body slam, by rolling and getting up on their feet. This is a new sensation, I feel, like the opposite of me, is closed to me, sealed itself away from me. Yet, I sense that this one is kin to me. It looked around in mildly alarmed manner, this one's form is now revealed to me, I see the three red eyes on him.
Two on either side of the helmet and one on the chest. There is something strange about his armor and helmet though, I focus on those details. This emotion, is strong, anger? Why do I feel anger about those... Tightly attached? No, that doesn't look like armor reinforcement. They separate from the form of the armor and helmet have in common.
It dashes towards me, I take position to receive it, I no longer fear you. As it was about to make contact with me, I crouch and prepare my left arm and shoulder, it reacts to my posture too late. I lift it up as it collides on me, then throw it over me. It landed crashing to the floor, turning to look what it will do, it rolled onto it's stomach and got up.
What should I trust? The anger? Or sense of kinship? Then it projects an emotion, I sense it. Fear? Of itself? It lunges towards me again, dodging it by stepping to the side. Have to think, it stumbled after missing me and crashed to the ground again. I don't want to hurt it... Quite sure, there is no way to knock it out...
It got up and rushes at me to punch me, instinct kicked in, following it, pivoting to my left, positioned me perfectly to counter attack safely, it's punch misses me, but, my own hits with higher kinetic energy. When it hit, it knocked attacker on the floor on it's back, I quickly back off, think, think. I can not allow it to turn off the main power to the complex or whatever the this structure is.
It is too dangerous to decommission this tech used to operate the generator with weapons that I have. Can not deviate my thought on my melee skills. It started to get up again. It's armor is more dark colored, a lot better for blending into dark places, well, except for the three red lights on whole outfit. I continue to back off and it began to chase me again.
Turning around to run, again, continued to think of what I should do, lucky for me, it doesn't have any ranged weapons but, I need to be very careful on allowing it to take one from me. Entering into... Some kind of ground vehicle garage. I see several vehicles, all of them look familiar to me, somehow... I still have some distance to my pursuer.
Although, for me to get these vehicles to work, and the garage door to open, I would need to somehow delay my pursuer. Something... Think as I continue running from my pursuer in the garage. As I pass many things, all of them giving me of thought that they wouldn't be enough to buy me time to do what I need to do.
I don't want to destroy or damage my pursuer too much. I trust the sense of kinship that I feel from looking at it, just enough that I don't want it to restrain me or knock me out. There, that is some kind of heavy duty storage unit. I run towards it and stop right in front of it. Turn to face my pursuer, it tries to knock me over.
I change my footing to knock the kick off the course and grab my pursuer from shoulders, quick turn to face the heavy duty storage unit along with my pursuer. I began to push it inside of one of them, it is still trying to restrain me only. Once I managed to push it right at the middle of the unit, I kick it towards the back wall and close the door on it.
It will hold it long enough, and it can not be opened from inside. I quickly run to the garage door terminal and start operating it. Easier than I expected, I welcome that. Now for the vehicle... There's five vehicles... First one from the rear of the garage, looks very heavily armored and armed. Big weapon barrel, and some kind of machinery...
Quick look towards the garage door opening, reveal an abandoned road, or, something like that? Second vehicle is a wheeled, relatively armored vehicle, armed with lighter weaponry than the first, third vehicle seems to be a scouting vehicle that is very heavily armed...
Fourth, some kind of military vehicle, can't really describe it well... Fifth is a open seat vehicle, with four wheels relatively close of each other, compared to the previous two vehicles... Fourth it is, I need something that is relatively light. Running to it and approaching the door, to the... Well, what I assume is the driver's position.
Door opened on it's own, no time to hesitate, I get and take seat in the vehicle. It comes to life as I enter and I start figuring out how to control it. Those pedals? Maybe one of the three? I picked the one on right and place my foot on it. Color of my leg distracted me, door closed me inside of the vehicle, and it moves forward. The wheel? I place my hands on the sides of it.
Gently turning it to the left and vehicle turns to the left, I return the vehicle middle of the road, full throttle. The road is relatively large, enough for in and out traffic for two of that heavily armored vehicle to go past each other safely. For now, it is just forward. Then I hear set of sounds from the dashboard, from my right.
"Drive to the space port." Something said, that voice... Trust... I feel, glad? I must have heard that voice before... Map began to be displayed behind the wheel... There is a projection of... Numbers... I don't understand them, beyond what the numbers are. Map has a clear line that I should drive along with...
"I need help." Say out loud, what has been bothering me for a while now, ever since waking up. I can't remember, so many things. I... Can speak?
"I know, right now, you are too far away from us, there is people at the space port next to of a blue space craft. They will say to you, earn trust. Answer to it with, family helps." Familiar voice says from the communications device installed into the vehicle...
"Okay." Reply in mildly worried tone. Where have I heard that voice? Why does it make me feel like I can trust it? Why do I feel warm when I hear it? I glance at the map again... Better it than nothing... As, I don't have any plan... I don't even know who, what, why, where I am...
Right as I was about to focus on how I look, I notice other vehicles in a larger road which is part of my path, I quickly avoid few collisions and stabilize the vehicle and go full speed towards the space port, while avoiding the other traffic. I look around myself, this place, looks familiar, to an extent. These gaps in my memory are making me nervous.
Can't this thing go any faster? I really want some answers... The map displays that the space port is not too far away. I notice something on a mirror, a vehicle, it is chasing me. Lights on the vehicle started blinking, crap! It's a law enforcement vehicle and personnel! I really don't want to hurt them... They look strange but, I feel like I have seen them before...
This chase is incredibly dangerous. I keep them good distance away from me, it seems that their vehicle is also reaching it's speed limit. I just need to keep my focus on avoiding other traffic and make sure that the chase is safe for other traffic. Quick glance at the map shows that I need to take an exit ramp on my right.
I steer my vehicle there, going slightly off road to avoid hitting other traffic and slow down, I turn right as the vehicle I drive reached an intersection and, there, I see it, the space port. Now, I just need to be faster than my pursuers. Should be easy. I stop at a parking hall of some kind and get out of the vehicle, because the door opened when the vehicle came to full stop.
I dismount and hear the pursuing vehicle also start decelerating. Kicking the ground, I quickly accelerated to high speed sprint and keep running, to get into the space port building. Once I got in, and deeper into the building, I see the blue space craft, it is large. I quickly run towards it, there is some sentient beings near of it.
I run to them. "Earn trust." One of them says, voice masked by a speaker in the helmet to project the voice outside of it.
"Family helps." Reply to it. The clothing they wear, they look very familiar... The one who spoke to me the key word motioned me to get in, the door into the ship opens and enter the ship, with the other different looking sentient beings than the majority here.
The ship immediately started ascending. "Who are you?" Immediately question them after the door closed.
"Friendly. We can unmask now squad." The one who spoke the key word to me says and began to take off it's helmet. The face, it, looks like, I am somehow related? I started to look at myself, it looks amazing... Yellow, blue and white colors, are most dominant on this armor and base suit. It looks so nice.
Other people here also took their helmets off. Human? That, feels like, what I am... I want to take my own helmet off. "I need a mirror." Say quickly and feel my own helmet to try to figure out how to take it off. I felt it loosen and I was able to take it off.
"Take a seat if you want. Lady, let's just say that you really went through something seriously unusual." He, replies to me, as I took the helmet off and look around. He? Yes, he. Lady? Woman? Why can't I remember? One of the other humans brought me a mirror and I receive it from him gently.
This? Is my face? Who... I am? Slowly, yes, this is me. I, look different? I think...
"What happened to me?" I ask as I am so lost and confused.
"You might want to calm down before I say this to you." He replies to me, not exactly sure of something.
I notice some seats near of me, and I sit down on one of them, I keep staring at my reflection. Silence is so strong right now. "We believe you have been abducted with a convincing cover, to be part of some kind of project." He replies, waiting for me to respond.
I look at him, he is slightly uncomfortable to say what I need to know... "Abducted?" I ask from him.
"Yes, although we need to confirm a couple things first. I need you to do couple things before I explain it further and answer to questions you have. Is this okay?" He asks, he sounds slightly worried how I will respond.
I look into his eyes, I sense, unease and, him knowing... How I feel? Quickly pondered how should I respond... "Okay, just explain what and why you need me to do it." Say slightly uneasy but, comply with conditions.
"I need to first identify who you are, this is an audio recorder, it is connected to a data base of identities of a lot of people. This is an eye scanner, it will help the system to identify, who you are. Do you feel comfortable enough to begin?" He asks mildly worried but, ready for my response, as it showed me two small devices.
"Okay. What do you want me to say?" I ask from him, feeling mildly worried myself too.
"That was more than enough. For this one, I just need you to stare at me, I will place the this device between you and me, over both of your eyes to make the scan. Are you ready?" He replies to me in neutral tone.
I let out a deep sigh and stare into his eyes. "Alright, do it." Reply to him, and keep staring into his eyes. He uses the device just as he described and nodded to me, when it was done. I break eye contact with him, as I feel uneasy.
"You can ask away now, we don't have the search result yet." He replies to me and takes a seat opposite of me. Which question should I even start with?

Sorry this is my first time in reddit, I don't know how to land this in but it's not exactly venting
I'm 20M, closeted from my family as my dad is a pervert but this is mostly about my mom. For my whole life I have known I have gender dysphoria but it only made me stop caring about my appearance, and my parents would always refuse to let me do anything from doing the chores, buying my own clothes, being unable to go outside and controlling my general appearance.
I've been trying to get out of that mould as I finally recognized I'm hitting a hard wall, so this is where the real substance comes in, keep in mind I'm 20 years old, though I recently graduated and HRT is only going to be accessible when I hit 21, I do plan to take it but I'm feeling really uncompromised
I've gotten a haircut and my mom would call me ugly, despite the fact I was ostracized for god knows how long because I was forced to get a bowl cut, and that she told me that my dad won't like it cause guys like girls with long hair and my dad made fun of me for having long hair, it's been months but since then they've gotten used to it, tolerant moreof, but they would still openly mock me in front of my other family members.
I've attempted to rehaul my wardrobe and actually care about what I dress because all of my clothes are clothes my mom buys for me, she was disappointed that I did not buy anything of her poor taste, everything she gets for me are clothes for children, bright coloured, kids patterned and typically for 11 year olds as I'm 4"11, small enough to fit in them. She actively monitors every bit of the house so I can't hide anything, and when I buy any clothes I simply would just never see them again, she blew up on me on my first attempt on thrifting claiming that I can't wear any of this, it's all masculine baggier clothes akin to that of what people my generation wears, I even got my friends to shop with me to see if the look sticks, so I'm unable to move on from even attempting to transition under this household.
Despite the clothes I've bought rotting by the side of my bed, she still forces stuff like more of her new clothes, shoes and accessories on me. It's gotten to the point I have an incredibly pink depression pile on the side of my table.
It's been cutting into my mental health really badly now, but I'm genuinely unsure where to go with this. Do I have to cut my family off? Even for asian standards, my friends said this is quite severe. Thank you for reading

Sorry this is my first time in reddit, I don't know how to land this in but it's not exactly venting
I'm currently 20 years old and I'm from Singapore, closeted from my family as my dad is a pervert but this is mostly about my mom. For my whole life I have known I have gender dysphoria but it only made me stop caring about my appearance, and my parents would always refuse to let me do anything from doing the chores, buying my own clothes, being unable to go outside and controlling my general appearance.
I've been trying to get out of that mould as I finally recognized I'm hitting a hard wall, so this is where the real substance comes in, keep in mind I'm 20 years old, though I recently graduated and HRT is only going to be accessible when I hit 21 as it would require consent from both parents otherwise.
I've gotten a haircut and my mom would call me ugly, despite the fact I was ostracized for god knows how long because I was forced to get a bowl cut, and that she told me that my dad won't like it cause guys like girls with long hair and my dad made fun of me for having long hair, it's been months but since then they've gotten used to it, tolerant moreof, but they would still openly mock me in front of my other family members.
I've attempted to rehaul my wardrobe and actually care about what I dress because all of my clothes are clothes my mom buys for me, she was disappointed that I did not buy anything of her poor taste, everything she gets for me are clothes for children, bright coloured, kids patterned and typically for 11 year olds as I'm 4"11, small enough to fit in them. She actively monitors every bit of the house so I can't hide anything, and when I buy any clothes I simply would just never see them again, she blew up on me on my first attempt on thrifting claiming that I can't wear any of this, it's all masculine baggier clothes akin to that of what people my generation wears, I even got my friends to shop with me to see if the look sticks, so I'm unable to move on from even attempting to transition under this household.
Despite the clothes I've bought rotting by the side of my bed, she still forces stuff like more of her new clothes, shoes and accessories on me. It's gotten to the point I have an incredibly pink depression pile on the side of my table.
It's been cutting into my mental health really badly now, but I'm genuinely unsure where to go with this. Do I have to cut my family off? Even for asian standards, my friends said this is quite severe. Thank you for reading.

Sorry this is my first time in reddit, I don't know how to land this in but it's not exactly venting
I'm currently 20 years old and I'm from Singapore, closeted from my family as my dad is a pervert but this is mostly about my mom. For my whole life I have known I have gender dysphoria but it only made me stop caring about my appearance, and my parents would always refuse to let me do anything from doing the chores, buying my own clothes, being unable to go outside and controlling my general appearance.
I've been trying to get out of that mould as I finally recognized I'm hitting a hard wall, so this is where the real substance comes in, keep in mind I'm 20 years old, though I recently graduated and HRT is only going to be accessible when I hit 21 as it would require consent from both parents otherwise.
I've gotten a haircut and my mom would call me ugly, despite the fact I was ostracized for god knows how long because I was forced to get a bowl cut, and that she told me that my dad won't like it cause guys like girls with long hair and my dad made fun of me for having long hair, it's been months but since then they've gotten used to it, tolerant moreof, but they would still openly mock me in front of my other family members.
I've attempted to rehaul my wardrobe and actually care about what I dress because all of my clothes are clothes my mom buys for me, she was disappointed that I did not buy anything of her poor taste, everything she gets for me are clothes for children, bright coloured, kids patterned and typically for 11 year olds as I'm 4"11, small enough to fit in them. She actively monitors every bit of the house so I can't hide anything, and when I buy any clothes I simply would just never see them again, she blew up on me on my first attempt on thrifting claiming that I can't wear any of this, it's all masculine baggier clothes akin to that of what people my generation wears, I even got my friends to shop with me to see if the look sticks, so I'm unable to move on from even attempting to transition under this household.
Despite the clothes I've bought rotting by the side of my bed, she still forces stuff like more of her new clothes, shoes and accessories on me. It's gotten to the point I have an incredibly pink depression pile on the side of my table.
It's been cutting into my mental health really badly now, but I'm genuinely unsure where to go with this. Do I have to cut my family off? Even for asian standards, my friends said this is quite severe. Thank you for reading.

Hey everyone,
I wanted to share an interesting story that happened to me a few days ago in the world of Tibia. It involves Lady Tenebris, a bit of bad luck, and ultimately, a reminder of the good people in our community.
With Lady Tenebris being boosted, I decided to maximize the opportunity by killing her just after server save (SS) and aiming for another kill before the next SS. Since I work night shifts and finish just an hour before SS, I knew time was tight. So, right after work, I logged into the game on my Surface Go 2 tablet at my workplace. I met up with my organized team, and we successfully took down Lady Tenebris.
After the fight, I quickly packed up my gear, pressing a button to stow my Soulshell armor back into my backpack. I then closed my device, unplugged my mouse dongle, packed my tablet into my real backpack, and headed home. Later, when I logged back into the game on the PC and went to kill more bosses, I noticed my Soulshell armor was missing. It wasn’t in any of my backpacks or my depo. I was puzzled.
Suspecting a bug introduced by a recent update, I asked around in a server Discord group if anyone else had experienced something similar. One member, going by the name Dash Zoomyy(1000+ RP), asked me about the specifics of the armor and if it was imbued. He also asked if I had killed Lady Tenebris that morning. After confirming my responses, he told me he had my armor.
Here's what happened: After I killed the boss and left the fight room, I entered the safe room, where I pressed the power button on my tablet and got kicked from the game a moment later. Sometime later, Dash entered that room and saw a 290 Royal Paladin, Roberto'Pall, standing there with a Soulshell armor laying on the ground. Assuming it was dropped by accident, Dash let Roberto pick it up. Roberto didn't feel good about keeping something that wasn't his and, suspecting that the armor actually belonged to Dash Zoomyy, decided to return it to him. At first, Roberto thought it was just some player disguising himself as the armor with spells. It took him a moment to realize that it was indeed a Best-in-Slot (BiS) armor just laying on the floor.
Despite his guildmates advising him to keep the armor, Roberto felt it was right to give it back. I reached out to thank Roberto for his honesty, as he saved me from losing around 110 million gold coins. Although this might not be a significant amount for many, it was for me, given my playstyle doesn't generate much income, and I had bought the armor for 150 million only thanks to selling Tibia coins.
A few days later, I powered on my tablet again and saw my character still in that small room with the Soulshell armor on the floor. It seems I might have accidentally dragged the armor out while closing my device, likely due to contact between the keyboard and screen.
This experience reminded me that despite the sometimes self-serving nature of online games, there are still good people out there who care about others. Let’s appreciate and cherish these moments and the people who make our community better.
Stay safe and happy hunting!
Once again, huge thanks to Dash Zoomyy and Roberto'Pall for saving me from another fail, courtesy of my need to play Tibia after night shifts.
TL;DR:
I lost my Soulshell armor after killing Lady Tenebris and logging off at work on my tablet. Dash Zoomyy discovered Roberto'Pall had picked it up, thinking it was accidentally dropped. Despite his guildmates' advice to keep it, Roberto returned the armor, saving me from losing 110 million gold coins.
I'd love to hear your own experiences with kind players in the game, so feel free to share your stories in the comments below!

Democracy gave us the tools, the strength and the will to protect those who can't protect themselves, so let us do that.
Give it a context action so that a fellow Diver can attach himself behind the shieldbearer to use him as cover and stabilize his weapon. The Diver in the back increases the shieldbearers footing so as long the shield is up and both are connected the front Diver can't get ragdolled.
Give the shield a action that let's us unfold and enlargen the shield, which would prevent us from using our weapon but serve as reliable bulwark against the enemies assault, covering the entire front and a bit of the sides of the Diver. It would slow the shieldbearer down, but tanking rockets without getting shot into the stratosphere would be worth it.
Electrify the front of the shield so that we have a chance to vaporize a % of enemy projectiles and make enemies below Brood Commanders flinch if they hit it. Or let me shove it simply into the enemies face for a neat finisher.
Let me link up and lock shields with my Divers in arms to form a temporary, unwavering turtleformation to protect those in the back and get to firm cover without getting blown to pieces on the way there.
Or let us anchor the shield in the ground as stationary cover that can be used to stabilize our weapons.
Just a few things I thought about, it would be great to give the shield a bit more utility since I never see it used.
Would you use the shield more often like that? Or do you have a few neat ideas of your own?

Hi everyone,
first of all, this MAY be a bit long. I don't know though, so... i warned you. Also, i am going off memory and cutscenes of youtube (no way i'm replaying the whole story on a warlock/titan) so i may not report what people say verbatim, but bear with me.
I don't know if others made a similar post, but i FELT i had to. The theme of the whole expansion kinda resonated with me and i think bungie executed it perfectly. Also, i though about writing "underlying them", but this word makes me feel like it's something in the background, while it really is front and center. It's a main part of destiny but this time is really prominent. The theme i'm talking about is: life, death and moving forward.
I can already hear you say: duh, of course it's the theme of destiny, we die and keep reanimating! Yeah, but in the other expansions' campaigns there wasn't such a focus on this. For example, Forsaken is obviously about revenge and how it affects us and others (see one of my favorites lore pages, thin line. Chills everytime). Well, onto the main thing.
Of course, the whole life, death and moving forward thing can be seen in the TFS plot: the witness wants to freeze everything in our best moments, we want to live our lives. Let's go by steps anyway.
We start with meeting Cayde. He's been brought back to life by a wish of Crow, expressed through Riven. Now, Cayde himself says that he felt he was in a "peaceful nothing", there was even Sundance, then he was ripped by that. He felt whole while dead and already knew we were inside the traveler. It could be said that the traveler is like a god, when we die we go back to it,at least the guardians and the ghosts. I say this because Zavala in a cutscene while he's despairing says that this afterlife is not good if the people he wants to see aren't there.
There are the scenes of the reunions of Ikora and Zavala with Cayde: to be fair, our guardian's reaction is the only one i felt was "off", the Vanguard acts WAAAY more realistically when meeting a guy thought dead for like five years.
The scene at the campfire, all together, talking about Amanda. This is a great, great moment. Crow talks about her, can't finish the sentences, trembles. He still can't believe she isn't there anymore. And Cayde here acts like a guide, he says: "life isn't about holding on. [...] Eventually, you have to let go". I think he knows he's not staying forever, that he's an anomaly, held together somehow, not really "alive". We don't even know if he can leave the pale heart. After his words, we are given a moment of silence to reflect on them: Zavala feels them more than others because he still has regret about Safiyah and Hakim (hope i wrote them correctly).
This is the fate of all living things and for guardians, it's even worse: they don't age, don't die of sickness, are forced to watch their human friend get old and die. Being able to mourn and moving forward are necessary.
Talking about Zavala, he was tempted by the witness, given the choice to stay together with his wife, frozen in time. His character got a lot of development in the last 3/4 years, starting with stasis, then the lucent hive and the nightmares. Now, his desperation has reached the tipping point: he gives himself to darkness, ends up losing Targe. Another sacrifice in order to defeat the Witness, another loss. Remember what Sundance said? "what comes from the light returns to the light". Targe is back with the traveler, Zavala is human again, forced to come to terms with the perspective of his death. And yet, this time he manages to get back on his feet: he asks Ikora to help him learn Stasis, something he had not used until now. He accepts what happened, moves forward.
Another point is the mission Wild Card where Cayde forgives Uldren for killing him: they were dealt a hand and played as best as they could. Now he has got a new one. Crow becomes the new hunter vanguard, a new generation taking over after the old one is gone.
Cayde didn't want to stay forever i think. He wanted his life to have meaning and to end it on his own terms. In the final cutscenes, when he brings our ghost back to life, he lets us know that. What he does is his choice, the light connects all so he can revive our ghost. He is part of him and Cayde is part of our little light. Our ghost can feel him, Sundance too. We just have to move on, don't stop here. (Props to bungie for giving Cayde the line "nobody makes my fate but me")
The Witness too is a part of this. He sought to give order to the world, to end suffering, to "save" everyone by creating a world that stays still, where we're in our best moments: triumphs for the guardians, a loved one for zavala... And he doesn't understand. He cannot understand why people would oppose this fate (i didn't choose this word randomly). Why would people fight him, choose a life that is imperfect, filled with sadness and death, instead of an eternity of "happiness" (i guess???).
But this is the point of TFS. We're humans (yes, even the guardians). Life and death are part of our life. Those reborn in the light come back to life and die countless times, but have to deal with the passing of their mortal friends. When a guardian, a ghost dies, they go back to the traveler, where we'll find those gone before us. This is a reassuring thought.
And i think this all here is something beautiful.
END OF THE RANT: i know, it's a mess. There were so many things i wanted to say, in my head they all sounded good, but putting them "on paper" is hard. I apologize if i don't make sense but i felt the need to put these thoughts down. Maybe it's just for me, maybe i'll give others a new perspective. Anyway, i'll leave with the two sentences that in my opinion complete this whole post:
"guardians make their own fate"
"eyes up guardian"

So, I am probably overthinking this, but it keeps twisting my brain. Maybe some of you have some insights or have actually been there (assuming the layout of the filming locations match the Hillerska layout).
The way I understand it so far: we have the main building at the front, which is also where the girls live - Manor house. And at the ground floor of this building we have the dining rooms for the Manor House girls and the Skogsbacken boys. Where do all the other houses eat?
In between the two dining rooms, we have the room where they hold all of their assemblies.
So, exiting to the back, we have of course the gardens. And then I am assuming the lake is to the right and the school building, Skogsbacken dorms and also the stables are somewhere to the left. Since the gardens are so extensive, this seems to be a walk of a few minutes, which must be annoying for the Skogsbacken boys if they have to walk back and forth to eat - especially during the winter. (Also, in the beginning of S1E5 Wille has only 5 minutes before breakfast closes...).
Now the scene that really confuses me is the sex scene in season 3 (and I am probably not supposed to think about it too much since they are leaving their clothes left and right as well...). Valborg is celebrated behind the main building, then they walk up to the main building and into the dining room, which seems to be 1) a couple of minutes walk away from the Skogsbacken dorms, 2) the wrong direction. And then they somehow end up in the hallway to Willes room and eventually inside Willes room. That doesn't make sense to me.
So maybe, the Skogsbacken dorms are closer? But then why do we see August walking through the gardens to the Valentine ball in season 2? If he is not coming from the dorms, where is he coming from?
Am I missing something? Or should I just stop obsessing over this and enjoy the beautiful scenery?

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

i (18y) have been abused by my parents and grandparents for as long as i can remember. my first memory is my grandad approaching me as i was sat down on a potty (one of those weird plastic toilets toddlers have) and picking my up by my shoulders. he screams something at me before he puts me down and slaps me across the face. i was about 3 years old. i feel the best way to talk about this lifetime of abuse is to tell it in chronological order from the best of my ability (my memory surrounding certrain things is hazy as for a while i tried to forget as much of this as i could)
firstly i think its important to give some information about my mum and dad. my dad was 17 when i was born and i believe my mum was 21. he lied to her about his age. my dad is addicted to weed and i know for a time he was addicted to coke too. i remember he would often get arrested a lot. he would also say he was leaving us but return hours later very clearly off his face on coke and whatever else. my mum is a very manipulative and emotionally abusive woman. when i was 7, i witnessed her kiss another man in front of me. we later on found out that they had been seeing each other for ages behind my dads back. i havent been able to forgive her for that. it's also important to note i have many siblings (i wont say how many as i have already given a lot of telling information and do not want my family to know ive typed and posted this, many of my family members use reddit).
from the age of 5, i remember getting beatings almost daily from my mum or dad. these would be for the most minor of things such as forgetting to flush the toilet or turning the tv up a little bit too loud. these weren't little taps either, i got fully manhandled and punched. often i remember my dad pinning my down so my back is facing upwards, he would hold my hands around my back while my mum would hit me on my ass until it was red raw. no one can justify that. sometimes it wasn't always my parents though. sometimes they would call my grandad. for such a long time the word grandad evoked so much fear in me. when i was told he was coming over i would run to my room, but on as many layers of clothes as i could and hid under my blanket. when he arrived, he would berate me about how much of a disgusting little cunt i was before he would punch me in my face and all over my body. often i would have bruises as a kid, i dont know how teachers at school didn't pick up on it. i remember one Christmas eve my xbox account wasn't working (cant remember why) and this understandably upset me, i was 8 after all. my dad called my grandad over, and i did the same routine. clothes on, over the covers and pray he doesn't hit me too hard this time. this time was different though. he came into my room and pulled me out of my bed by my arm and threw me down the stairs. i ran into the living room where my nana was. she slapped me in my face so hard i fell to the ground. i tried to run out of the room only for my grandad to push me back into it. i was made to sit on the couch while i got called the most horrific names. i was so scared i wet myself and couldn't stop shaking. i was 8 years old.
not long after Christmas, it was my birthday. i got disney infinity and a bunch of the little figures to go with it. for months this was my hyper fixation, i would play it daily and completed everyone one of the story set things i had. one day my grandad came over, and he started his usual borage of insults. he turns to my organized disney infinity figures resting upon my xbox 360 (jesus im old) and kicks them all over just avoiding the xbox. he then turns around and leaves. he broke so many of the figures, i cried for hours and hours in my room alone. no one came to check on me. the figures being broken hurt so much more than the beatings i was now used to.
from this point onwards, things are a little fuzzy. i move house a few times and am now in secondary school. im 13 years old, and questioning my sexuality heavily. i get into fights both inside and outside of school and have started smoking cigarettes. the physically abuse had stopped, but the emotional abuse had got worse. at the time i was a very fat kid. i would eat to feel better. my dad would often call me fat and insult me for everything i did. every song i played, booked i read and film i watched. he would rip into me daily for no reason at all. he would often say if i wasn't his kid and he saw me when he was a kid he'd beat the fuck out of me. when i was 15, life started to get a bit better. i found a group of friends that liked me, i was no longer questioning my sexuality and was fully comfortable saying i was pan-sexual. i also started to smoke weed with my best friend, which has given us some of the best memories. in the summer of that year, we got evicted from our home and had to move into an emergency house. this was hell, and one of the worst times of my life. i slept on the couch and my pc was in the kitchen where often my little siblings would throw food on it and try to tip if over. my parents did nothing to stop this. the insults still followed and i was made to feel so insignificant and small. the most i slept in the 4 months we lived there was 5 hours a night. one time my dad was berating me and he got in my face because i said something back to him. he pinned me against the wall by my t shirt. for the first time, i felt all of the rage i had kept bottled up since i was a kid overflow and i punched him square in the face. he fell back and looked at me in shock. my mum rushed to his defense and screamed at me to leave. i left for a few hours until my dad called me and told me to come home. we haven't spoken of it since.
now i am 18. i am in the last few days of college then im off to university. the emotional abuse still continues and there are so many things that im leaving out for the sake of length. i could genuinely write a novella about all of this shit. i am not sure what to do moving forward. i really want to block them out and live my life peacefully and free. however, whenever i think about doing this i feel really guilty. luckily i have an amazing and supportive partner who is helping me make sense of all of this. the scars still feel fresh. for anyone who is in a similar situation but has years to wait before they can leave, keep your head up. right now i know it is hell and it seems like there is no end. my best advice is find something you love and cling onto it, passion is found in the darkest of place. in my case, it was films. you are not crazy or being sensitive, it is abuse.
any question feel free to ask, thank you for listening.
EDIT: sorry if some of this makes no sense im dyslexic haha

• Hungary > Switzerland in A
• Croatia 1, Italy 2, Spain 3 in that order
• Netherlands top France in D
• Romania goes through as one of the best 3rd placed teams
• Czech > Turkey in F
• Denmark takes down Germany at their home ground
• Switzerland takes down Portugal as Martinez starting Ronaldo proves a fail
• Denmark reaches Semis
• England ACTUAL Golden Generation to take it all

https://preview.redd.it/z29xmiaqei5d1.png?width=824&format=png&auto=webp&s=a2fa9aa606127833cfa66b487a4146fc6592eaac