Palestinian Happy Family
A short story.
A father in his 30s named Ammar, looking so weak and exhausted. With his 7 year-old daughter named Lara, a thin injured girl in her arm with bandage under her brown hair covering wounds having green eyes filled with holded tears. They live inside a ruined house in Gaza.
Everything around them is dead. Wrecked streets are dead. Collapsed Schools are silent. Children and families used to fill the air here with life are now either dead, injured with no hospitals to rescue, or forced to leave places they have always belonged to.
The girl breaks a long dead silence saying to her father: “Dad…why all that happened? What was the wrong thing we did to deserve this punishment?” The father replies in disappointment: “I don't know!”.
After short silence while Lara is looking around to see what happened in pity and pain, she asks again in confusion: “How comes?! My mother and brother were killed…lost 5 of my friends who were killed also…what was our fault…before all this happened to our district, we were playing Hide and Seek after finishing our school day…can Hide and Seek game deserve this punishment?”
Ammar with a smile: “wouldn't you eat? I baked this loaf of bread to you using the oven we made together yesterday from mud, sticks, and cement…Oh! Thank God…we are really genius.” The girl looks at her father longly into the eyes and says: “Where's your loaf?” He answered: “I ate a piece from yesterday’s bread…we are out of flour now…but don't worry…I will find my way to some flour again. Don't underestimate your father.”
The girl began eating hardly but stopped again after eating two small pieces saying: “Dad! You changed the subject…what did we do to deserve this punishment?” She continues on: “You know dad! I heard someone say that it's because we are Muslims…but what about my friend Cristina who was killed last week?” Ammar says: “Oh Lara! I didn't ask my old brother all these questions when my father and mother were killed when I was at your age…I know that you have the write to ask all the time…but sometimes questions have no answers.”
Lara looks at her father's face silently and after a while she asks with pain: “Dad! Are you trying to hold your tears? Didn't you get used to being into this throughout your life? You spent your life either in war or in calm ordinary big prison sieged by poverty, corruption, soldiers, tanks, and planes.”
Ammar keeps silent and silent. All of a sudden, he breaks down crying while trying to hide his face by his hands. He begins talking with distorted voice: “What a shame; I can't do this…I can't be weak in front of you…there's no one left for a tiny girl like you in this world but me…but I’m a human…I can't stand all of this…won't I see my girl go to school in peace and joy?! Won’t I see my girl in a home again?! Will I be able to find you a loaf of bread tomorrow?! What if I can't?! What did you do to deserve all of this?! What did your mother and brother do?! What did my father and mother do?! What did my imprisoned for life older brother do?! What did your tiny friends do?! I feel weak in front of you and it kills me every single moment as a father…I and you despite our weakness should be proud…we will die but inside ruins of our home…these bricks are not of bricks…every brick means home, means motherland, means dignity, means resilience, means glory and pride…real pride.”
Lara rises up and hugs her dad who is sitting tired after a hard speech leaning on a wall standing tall from the wrecked home. Rain comes heavily on their heads. They hide under remains of a roof. Sounds of a new air raid are heard.

I (F 28) have been thinking about this for days, and I can't reach a verdict, so I could really use some outside perspectives. I'm not looking for validation, so I'll try to be as objective as I possibly can.
My mom married a foreigner a couple years ago which meant she couldn't come back until her paperwork went through (it took almost two years.) For this Mother's Day, she finally got her papers, so she planned to come back and stay with me for a month. We were all very excited (me, my aunts, uncles, grandparents, my mom), and when she finally got here we couldn't be happier. I know we both prepared a lot for this trip and we had a lot of plans.
But then, 5 days into the trip, her husband got diarreah and the next day he had a stomachache so she decided she needed to go back and take care of him. I was incredibly sad, and the more I thought about it the angrier I got.
Why? Because when I was in college, I needed surgery after an accident and she decided to go to South Africa to visit her boyfriend. I won't go into detail, but I can say that the accident and everything it entailed was the most traumatic experience of my life. I still have to deal with the mobility issues and the pain that originated then.
The fact that she decided to buy the tickets after finding out I needed surgery haunted me for years. My mom (by her own admission) is not good with medical related care and empathy, so years later she kept invalidating my physical pain and thought I was wasting money on doctors because she "also feels pain sometimes, that's how it is." Finally, a couple years ago we talked about it for the hundredth time, and maybe it was my desperate sobbing, but she finally listened and she apologized. She said she did what she thought was best because she was trying to rebuild her life and trying to give us a better future. We promised we wouldn't bring it up in future conflicts.
Fast-forward to her choosing to go back home, I have to admit I had emotional flashbacks to the surgery. I couldn't stop feeling like it was OK to abandon me when I was going through hardship, but God forbid his husband had a tummyache, because that was enough to cancel her whole trip.
I was very upset, I told her so after she asked, and I asked her to give me some time to work through my feelings. She kept asking why I was feeling so bad, if she was the one going through a hard time, and after a long disclaimer of "I'm not telling you to recriminate, reproach or trying to make you feel bad about it, I'm just explaining why I feel like this", I told her I was specially upset because it reminded me of my accident and the surgery. She said that I didn't keep my word and I broke our promise. I told her I was not looking for a fight, but I could not control what I was feeling. She said I had promised I was going to work on it. I told her I did, and that's why I could talk about it without crying (I worked on it in therapy.)
We had a huge fight in which she kept telling me I broke my promise, I was full of hatred and resentment and I was selfish. I told her I couldn't control my feelings, I was not trying to reproach her, and I just wanted time to work on what I was feeling. I was rude. No swear words or shouting, but I did raise my voice and I told her how she kept on disregarding my feelings and how she was always looking for a Boogeyman to justify her choices. I was cynical and sarcastic to everything she was saying (a constant commentary of how I'm full of resentment, don't know how to keep my word, and only think about myself.)
I can admit it was selfish of me to not be supportive and understanding of her situation. She was very sad she had to cut her trip short. But at the end of the day, it was her decision to go back because her husband had a stomachache. Now, to be fair, her husband is much older than her. And he eats terribly. He is very healthy, but you never know, I guess. His daughter took him to the hospital, where after receiving the worst medical care for almost a week, he was sent back home with some Tylenol and antibiotics (they couldn't find anything wrong with him.)
I know my feelings were selfish, but I also don't think I broke a promise by being sad and angry.
After thinking about it, I've realized that I thought we were a team (my dad was very abusive so it always felt like I was my mom's guardian and we had each other) and I didn't think her husband was that relevant. I felt like when you realize the person you think is your best friend doesn't feel the same way, but a thousand times worse. And that's on me, I know. I clearly have to work on it.
But I cannot bring myself to apologize. I don't think I was an ah. I don't think she was an ah either, at least not for going back, but I do think she was an ah for her whole speech of "broken promises and full of resentment." She's now asked me if it wouldn't be better not to contact her while I'm so full of hatred and resentment towards her (she actually said," like you do with your father". You know, the one I'm low contact with because of the abuse. My siblings are NC bc they are smarter than me). I told her if she didn't want me to talk to her she just needed to say so. But that I would follow her request if that's what she wanted and not talk to her again. She told me to "do whatever the hell you want, I'm not scared of your threats." Aitah?

Over the course of 7 years being exposed to the language, I’ve heard half a dozen native Italians use a uvular R instead of a trill (and sometimes instead of what I normally perceive as a tap). Here is the most recent example I’ve come across.
The first time I encountered this phenomenon was when I was learning Italian around Macerata. One of the teachers spoke like this, and I assumed he was from somewhere else, but other teachers mentioned that he was local. The man in the sample I just gave is presumably from Bari, so I’m not so likely to believe that it’s regional.
If it’s a speech impediment, it seems unusual to me, and nobody I’ve talked to has acknowledged it. For one, I am aware that it may be a delicate subject, so I tried to be tactful when asking (indirect) questions, but other native Italians didn’t acknowledge anything different when I’ve asked about this “accent”. On the other hand, my native language also features a trill, and though native speakers struggle with it too, they approximate it using other sounds. Then again, in Russian I think some people do this too.

Previous case
We're back to business as usual at Orion. Sort of. I'll get into that in a minute. But first, I just need to put it out there that sometimes the clients drive me nuts. As much as I have an apparently irresistible desire to help everyone, some people really push it. Push it right off of a fucking cliff, that is.
I’m going to stop myself before I go off on an unhinged rant about the woes of dealing with the public. Instead, I’ll let yinz see for yourselves what I've been putting up with.
(If you're not familiar with what Orion Pest Control's services are, it may help to start here.)
We received a call from a client about mosquitoes running amok in her home. Since we had a few others to take care of that day, I informed her that the earliest that one of us could investigate the matter was in the afternoon. But because this woman is clearly so much more important than everyone else, her royal highness threw a hissy fit about having to wait like a common peasant.
I tried to be as nice as possible, “Ma’am, I understand that it’s frustrating, but there are others that called ahead of you, so we have to take care of their problems before we can take care of yours.”
The client huffed, “Okay, you clearly aren’t hearing me. There are mosquitoes in my house!”
“Yes, ma’am, I heard you. However, you are not our only client, so we ask that you please be patient and we will be there as soon as we can.”
I should also mention that this client talked out of the back of her nose, if that helps to paint a picture of how her cadence was equally as grating as her personality. “Okay, but do those people have mosquitoes? Like in their house, biting them and their kid over and over? My son could have Zika virus right now!”
Jesus Fucking Christ. I rubbed my temple with my free hand as I did my damndest to keep my customer service persona in place, “Again, ma’am, I understand that this is frustrating, but we have a wasp infestation and termites to deal with before you and those families want their kids to be safe, just like you. In the meantime, I recommend wearing bug spray or burning a citronella candle until we can get to you. We will be there as soon as we can.”
“You better be! And you really need to work on your customer service, sweetie!”
The client hung up on me.
I had to pace around the office after that one. Sweetie? Shove it up your ass, you entitled, snotty… You know what? Nevermind. I have many words to describe clients like that and none of them are pleasant. I hoped that she’d get mosquito bites in all of the most private areas of her anatomy.
It probably didn't help that I was saddled with some bitterness after the ‘dogging’ incident. I knew that there wasn't anything I could do about the mechanic other than stay out of his way going forward. And boy, did that eat me up.
On that note, I know what the mechanic is, however, even whispering the official title of these Neighbors is enough to draw them to you. I'm not sure if writing it counts and I'm not about to find that out the hard way.
Just know that if you hear wings beating from the west at night, hide and pray that you'll be passed by. Placing a line of salt on all of the doors and windows facing the west keeps them from coming inside. Once they set their sights on you, they'll never stop hunting you. Even death itself fears them. You'll still be running long after your heart stops beating.
But I promise, I’ll elaborate more on that later. I’m getting ahead of myself. Back to the case.
Reyna was at the point in her training where she could be trusted to deal with termites on her own. After I had the wasp nests taken care of, I set out to her royal highness’ home, and earlier than I’d told her, might I add. I will admit that I was tempted to dally a bit just to piss her off, but then I figured that it would be better and more professional to just get it over with.
She looked exactly like how I pictured her to look, complete with a weasley sneer that only the most unlikable of human beings are able to master.
“It’s about time.” She snapped.
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. “Where have you noticed the mosquitoes the most?”
“Everywhere.” She said unhelpfully,
Her husband stepped in. “In the kitchen and basement, mostly.”
To make this call even better, the husband decided to take it upon himself to follow me around as I did my inspection, asking me pointless questions and giving me advice that I didn't ask for.
It got to a point where his hot breath wheezed into my ear as I shined my flashlight under their sink.
Stiffly, but politely, I asked, “Sir, can you please keep your distance?”
His wife chipped in, “Will you let her do her job, Curtis? It took her long enough to get here, and if you keep pestering her, it's going to take even longer!”
The husband puffed up and snapped, “Well, it's my house! I need to know that the person working in it knows what they're doing!”
They began screaming at each other. As obnoxious and uncomfortable as it was to have to bear witness to it, at least they weren't focused on me anymore. I shook my head and kept searching for the source of the infestation.
What I was looking for was standing water, which is essential for a mosquito's life cycle; you eliminate the standing water, you eliminate the infestation. The space beneath the sink was completely dry.
With the argument going on, I almost didn't hear it. An odd little sound. The easiest way to describe it was that it sounded like, ‘Kudo! Kudo!’
My head turned to follow it. That's when I noticed that one of the floorboards was slightly raised up from the rest.
I interrupted their marital problems, “You said that your son was sick earlier? Would he happen to have chills and a high fever?”
The client spat, “Yes, because some people-”
Not in the mood for her nonsense anymore, I cut in, “Ma'am, please just answer the question. I am trying to help you, I really am, but I'm going to need some more information in order to do that.”
She looked taken aback, her face bright red. While she balked, her husband answered instead, “Our son said he was feeling under the weather, but he does that whenever he wants to get out of something. You know how kids are.”
Good lord. Parents of the year.
“Have you noticed your salt going missing?”
The wife blinked at me, “How did you know that?”
I told them that I'd be right back and went to retrieve a cage from the truck. This critter is an odd one in that not only is salt not a suitable repellent for it, but it actually loves the stuff. It can consume as much as ten grams of salt per day. So if you find that the salt in your home has gone missing, it could mean that a False Egg has made a nest.
I returned with the cage and advised the couple to either move into another room or wait outside. Would it surprise yinz when I say that they refused? Not in the mood to argue, I just shrugged. Okay. Suit yourselves.
I set the cage up next to the lifted floorboard, took my salt off of my toolbelt, and sprinkled some inside the cage. It would placate the False Egg once I got it inside.
Using my knife, I pried the floorboard up. From behind me, the husband began to protest, but his wife snapped at him to keep still.
Meanwhile, my eyes met the beady gaze of a False Egg from where it hid under their floorboard.
At first glance, it looks like a white chicken's egg. If consumed, it causes the host to lay more False Eggs. That's how it reproduces. The telltale signs that you're looking at a False Egg include two dark spots on the shell near the pointed top of the ovoid. Those are the eyes, which they can leave closed to camouflage themselves. You may also notice two small holes at the bottom of the shell, which is where its legs can retract in and out. Mosquitoes follow False Eggs wherever they nest, though it's unclear why.
Generally, they're more of an annoyance than anything. However, they can cause flu-like symptoms in those that they feel threatened by, so they do pose a slight danger to those with compromised immune systems.
To my surprise, the False Egg leapt out of its nest and into the cage, tucking its legs back into its shell comfortably. Even though it didn't seem to have any intentions of moving, I quickly shut the door of its cage.
For the first time since I arrived, the clients were speechless. The woman had a hand over her open mouth while the man stared at the False Egg in a mixture of horror and disgust.
It wasn't until I stood up with the cage that the man asked, “What the hell is that?”
“The source of the infestation.” I replied. “I’ll take this guy out to the truck. The mosquitoes should follow him, but just to be sure, I'm going to ask that you all leave the house for a few hours so that I can apply a chemical treatment that'll kill off any stragglers. And your son’s condition should improve in a day or two.”
The couple didn't give me any trouble. They quietly collected their sick teenaged son, saying something about getting ice cream, then fucked off to do whatever while I dealt with the rest of the mosquitoes.
Once I was done, I drove off to release the False Egg somewhere where it could complete its life cycle away from humans. It is able to reproduce in any mammal. While forcing other organisms to lay eggs is bizarre and can be alarming for the affected individual, it doesn't appear to hurt the hosts, other than causing some mild abdominal discomfort. Once the False Egg is laid, the host goes back to normal, which is why we generally don't feel the need to kill them.
Unexpectedly, the False Egg talked to me.
It had a small, soft, mousy voice. “Thanks for getting me out of there.”
I glanced at the False Egg. I had its cage on the passenger's seat. Its eyes were visible, along with its little white legs as it sat on the bottom of its cage. It looked up at me as it wiggled its small feet absent-mindedly.
Whenever it spoke, a small crack that resembled a toothy mouth appeared in its shell. That was something to add to our records: not only are False Eggs capable of speech, but their mouths are located below their eye spots.
Stunned, I said, “You're welcome.”
The False Egg continued, “Oh, those humans are vile! I hadn't realized it when I first made my nest. Do you want to know why I made the boy sick?”
“Why?”
So that's how I learned every aspect of this family's lives. I'm sure yinz care even less than I do about some suburbanites’ interfamily drama, so I'll just say that it wasn't bad enough to warrant a call to social services, but enough that I can see why that kid probably couldn't wait to turn 18. Overbearing mother, father trying to use his son to relive his glory days as a high school athlete. The False Egg had done the boy a solid, giving him just enough of a fever to excuse him from lacrosse tryouts.
“Where are we going?” The False Egg asked after telling me all that information that I didn't know what to do with.
“Back to the forest.”
The False Egg kept swinging its little feet, “Can you take me somewhere nice? If it's not any trouble?”
Why not? Maybe some scenery would improve my mood.
So me and my little egg buddy took a little drive to the pond. It was a picturesque area as well as a nice environment for a False Egg. They prefer caves, but as long as they're near water, they'll be fine. When I opened its cage, the False Egg hopped out, its little eyes and shelled body swiveling to take in the peaceful sight.
“Oh, this is wonderful! Thank you!” Before it skipped off, it paused. “I think it would only be right if I told you something that could help, since you brought me here.”
It turned, its shell splitting to form a mouth as it hesitated before speaking, “If you hear whispers in the woods, even if it sounds like someone you care about, don't listen. The louder they are, the safer you are. They get quieter as they get closer to confuse you.”
Hold on. That didn't make any sense. The whispers had gotten louder and more urgent as I approached the mechanic's clearing.
Unless I was wrong and he wasn't the one doing it.
I asked, “Is the whispering thing disguising itself as a mechanic?”
The False Egg tilted to the side thoughtfully, “I'm afraid not. It doesn’t like to pretend to be human.”
So there was something else out there with me when I went looking for Victor. I remembered then that the whispers had stopped once I got close to the mechanic's clearing. When I unintentionally allowed them to lead me astray, they took me in the opposite direction of where he'd been waiting. Interesting.
With the False Egg wandering off to establish a new nest that was far away from humans, I headed back to the office, unsure of how to feel about the information it had given me.
Victor looked annoyed when I came in. The clients had called to complain about my ‘poor customer service.’ Wow. Okay.
“Next time, just leave the False Egg there.” Victor said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “They want to complain about poor customer service? We can show them bad service!”
“It's fine, Vic.” I replied. “Just let them leave their one star Google review and move on.”
“These fucking people…” He grumbled.
Victor's headspace hasn't been much better than mine. He's been pretty much stuck waiting by the phone for those ominous calls that the mechanic mentioned in the woods. They don't happen often, but when they do, he gets grim. Quiet. He hasn't told me in detail what has been requested of him. I don't know if he simply doesn't want to talk about it or if he's sworn to secrecy.
We'd had a long, uncomfortable talk during one of my days off while recovering from getting dogged. Victor stopped by with coffee and a box of donut holes. He drank the coffee, but left the donut holes untouched. We sat in my small kitchen, him staring intently into his black coffee, me quietly adding more sugar to my mocha.
I broke the silence. “What did you want me to see the other day?”
“I couldn't outright tell anyone that I was dead. Not without the mechanic finding out.” He continued after some hesitation. “It feels selfish saying it now, but… I just wanted someone to know what happened to me.”
Victor pulled the bandana aside with a finger, revealing that a jagged, red grin had been carved across his throat. I shuddered, being forcefully reminded once again how thin skin truly is.
He quickly pulled it back into place.
That prompted me to ask, “Is the mechanic the one that…?” I pointed to my neck.
Victor shook his head. I asked him who did.
His expression darkened, “Someone I used to use with. He didn't believe me when I told him that I was still clean and couldn't help him get his next hit. Everything happened so fast after that. Before I knew it, I woke up in his trunk. My chest felt empty. It's strange, you know? You don't notice your own heartbeat until it's not there anymore.”
I shook my head slowly, a knot in my stomach as I whispered, “Jesus, Vic. Where is he now?”
“He can't hurt anyone else. We'll leave it at that.” Victor muttered.
I took in a shaky breath. I couldn't believe that he'd been keeping all of this in. It was a lot to take in at once, so I could only imagine how much worse it was to be the one experiencing it.
Like I said, I don't blame him for what happened. He must've felt so alone.
After I regained my composure, I asked, “So… what does the mechanic have to do with this?”
Victor hesitated again, eventually saying, “He couldn't touch me while I was alive, so he made sure that death couldn’t get to me before he could. That's why I was trying to keep my condition quiet; I was hoping that I could outlast him long enough for the Reaper to catch up. Unfortunately, the fucker is good at what he does and knew that I’d drag someone else into my bullshit eventually.”
I shook my head, “I dragged myself into it. I could've just minded my own business, but I didn't. I chose to go out there, even though I didn't know what I was dealing with. And I chose to say the wrong thing to the mechanic to set him off.”
“You wouldn't have been in that position if I hadn't said anything.”
“So what happens now? You're just… forced to do these calls?”
Victor sighed, “It's either that, or I join the ones in the trees.”
The skulls. Grimly, I wondered if those trapped souls were still aware. If they knew what had happened to them.
I slumped down in my seat. “Is there anything we can do?”
“As of right now, no. We just go to work, keep our heads down, do what we have to do. And from now on, I'll deal with the mechanic, even if it's for something as trivial as changing a tire. He's my problem, no one else's.”
So that's where we're at. Victor's technically not alive or dead, but a secret third, worse thing.
Speaking of worse things, we got an emergency call in the middle of the night.
After we close for the day, Victor routes calls to his phone in case there is something that can't wait until the next day. Thankfully, this is an extremely rare occurrence; up until this incident, it's only happened twice since I've been with Orion. I joined Victor for one of those two emergency calls. Even though it's been two years since that night, I still hear the crunching of bones in my dreams.
Something yinz need to know about the farmers around here is that they know how to take care of themselves. They have more encounters with the atypical than anyone else and for the most part, they know how to live amongst things like the Neighbors in relative peace. They know about leaving cream out to appease them. They know about what measures to take to defend themselves and their animals. They're a tough bunch and they usually prefer to take care of things themselves. It's highly unusual for them to reach out to us.
So when Victor told me over the phone that the emergency call was at one of the farms, I knew it was going to be bad.
When he first described what the farmers were contending with, my stomach dropped. The client's brother was found on the porch with his chest entirely deflated, deliberately placed into a chair that was moved in front of the door where the family could see him.
The farmers were holed up in their home. The woman of the house was pregnant, due within the next few days, which made moving her extremely difficult. They could hear whatever killed the brother giggling and tapping on the windows, mocking them. Victor was already on his way there.
I arrived with my toolbelt along with a shotgun and shells filled with rock salt. This may sound ridiculous, but I also donned a collar that I'd made last summer by hammering long ass carpenter nails into the leather, then coating their pointed tips with silver. I looked a bit like a goth club reject, but when dealing with things that like to go for the throat, you gotta put your pride aside.
Victor's truck was in the driveway, but he was nowhere in sight. Shotgun at the ready, I glanced around as I approached the house. The body was still on the porch, untouched after the poor man had been posed there. It looked far worse than what Victor had described. His chest had caved in, like everything inside of him had been sucked clean out. His face was frozen in surprise rather than horror or pain. He'd been caught off guard and was dead long before he could react.
Wings. I turned, pulling the trigger just in time as the pest tormenting this family dove at me. It tumbled to the ground with an enraged shriek.
It appeared to be a woman. Well… half of one. Her legs were gone, brown entrails dangling sickeningly from her gray torso. Her leathery, hooked wings trembled as she used her bony arms to raise herself up to snarl at me, curling her lips to reveal doglike fangs. I shot at her again. She jolted as the shell took a chunk out of her skull.
That wouldn't kill her. Both her and I knew it. She skittered like a cockroach, an elongated tongue shooting out of her mouth, quick as a whip. I flinched, turning my head so she couldn't reach my face, grateful for the collar as I felt the proboscis slam into its spikes. The impact knocked me off balance, causing me to stumble. I leaned into it, hitting the ground and out of reach of the next swipe of her tongue.
I took aim again, knocking her back a few feet. A dark shape suddenly appeared from the barn, a glint of metal shining in the figure’s hand. Victor.
“I can't find the lower half.” He hissed when I was in earshot.
That meant we were going to have to keep her from rejoining the lower half of her body until sunrise. It was three in the morning.
Because nothing can ever be easy.
Victor had found chains and a padlock in the barn. They should be heavy enough to restrain her. We’d just have to get close. Without her sucking our insides out, preferably.
She was back in the air. I took another shot. I'd have to reload soon. I hoped that I'd have enough shells to last the next two hours. At the rate I was going, I'd burn through them in the next ten minutes.
Unfortunately, I missed as she soared towards the house. I used my last shot and thankfully knocked her out of the air. As I hurriedly reloaded, Victor rushed towards the fallen creature, kneeling on her chest to keep her from taking off again as he fought to get the chain around her.
I heard him make a terrible choking sound, followed by her retching. She'd gotten her proboscis down his throat, but had withdrawn it even quicker than she had gotten it down. I guess undead viscera doesn't taste very good.
As she gagged, Victor pressed his forearm against her throat, pinning her so that she couldn't sink her fangs into him. I raced over, setting the shotgun on the ground next to me so that I could help him restrain her. While he held her, I coiled the chain around her squirming torso.
She began to laugh. When she spoke, it sounded like an old woman and a young girl speaking in unison, “Do you think a chain will be enough to stop me?”
I kept going. She wiggled one wing out from beneath her, jabbing the hook into the hollow of my shoulder. I gasped as it pressed deeper into my skin. Victor roughly pushed her wing back down, the violent withdrawal of the hook making me see stars. Through all of that, I still kept going.
We turned her onto her side so that Victor could pin her wings against her back. She screeched the entire time, the proboscis shooting back to slap him in the cheek.
We almost had her. Then we heard a wail from inside the house. What now?!
The pest abruptly paused in her struggles to leer at us, then she sang, “The baby's coming!”
You've got to be kidding me.
Her fighting resumed with far more force than before. That man that she'd killed had merely been an appetizer for her. The baby was her true prize. Her eyes were wild with excitement, saliva dripping off of her fangs as she watched the front door open.
Shitshitshit!
“Go back inside!” Victor shouted as we both used all that we had to try to keep the pest in place.
The farmer yelled back, distress making his voice higher, “Something's wrong! I have to get her to the hospital!”
I risked a glance. The woman was white as a sheet, holding onto her husband for dear life as he half led half dragged her to his truck. Blood stained the inside of the woman's legs.
At the sight of it, Victor froze. I didn't like the way he looked at the woman then. Oh no. The creature went into a complete frenzy. She managed to get her fangs into Victor's arm, wrenching a cry of agony from him as she ripped a sizable chunk of flesh out. His hold on her loosened just enough that she could wriggle a wing out.
I screamed as I felt her beginning to slip away, frantically reaching for the nearest part of her, which was unfortunately her dangling intestines. It was like trying to hold onto oversized wet noodles, my hands slipping in her chunky blood as I struggled to slow her down.
They just needed to reach the truck. We just had to keep her here just long enough for them to get a head start.
I just hoped that I wouldn't end up having to protect them from my boss, too.
She roared as she turned and slashed me across the brow with one of her clawed fingers. My vision went dark in my right eye. Numbly, I wondered if she ripped my eye out, or if it was just from the pain. By some miracle, I didn't let go.
Fortunately, the bite seemed to snap Victor out of whatever had happened to him when he saw the woman’s blood. At least for the moment. He scrambled across the ground, seizing my shotgun. His first shot missed. The second one hit her left wing. The farmer had the truck's passenger side door open as he helped his wife inside. The pest reached a talon towards them, trying to drag herself closer. Victor was back on his feet and marched over to shoot her in the head. Once. Twice.
The truck's engine roared to life. With it, the pest screeched in rage, the sound warped by the damage done to her mouth after Victor had unloaded on her. She flailed as she watched her prize speed down the road.
But it wasn't over. The gunshot wound in her wing was already closing up. It wouldn't take her long to catch up to them if we lost her.
My cheek was wet. Turns out, I didn't lose an eye. I just had blood in it. Thank God. I crawled over her, trying the chains again as Victor went back to holding her wings against her body.
She called him every foul name in the book, words slurring from her destroyed jaw. One of them touched a nerve: “Bitch of the Wild Hunt.” He wordlessly snatched the salt from my belt and poured it over her face, holding her jaw to shove the container into her mouth. She gurgled and started to convulse as the salt was forced down her throat. That shut her up.
With the chain pinning her arms and wings against her body, Victor dug the padlock out of his pocket, using it to secure the links.
“I’m going to try to get her to the barn.” He yelled over the sound of her agitated howls.
I retrieved the shotgun and followed him as he carried the squirming, shrieking pest towards the barn. I pressed the palm of my hand to the cut on my brow. A flutter of unease went through my gut as it occurred to me that I could be in danger from Victor as well.
It didn't help that the pest had noticed it, too. She was goading him, “That girl smells sweet, doesn't she?”
“You want more salt in your mouth?” He threatened flatly. “We got plenty and we have some time until sunrise.”
She cackled, “You can't tell me that your mouth isn't watering thinking of her soft flesh between your teeth. Her blood warming your tongue. You long to feel warm again, don't you, dead man?”
The borderline pornographic way that she spoke about devouring me made me intensely uncomfortable.
“Keep it up and I'll pack the salt up your nose, too.” Victor retorted.
Once we got to the barn, we found an empty stall, which he tossed her into. I didn't follow him into the stall. My gut was telling me that something was off.
He drew a circle of salt around her. As long as it wasn't broken, it would trap her until sunrise.
I didn't think the boss would ever intentionally hurt me. But the way he looked at that woman…
What if he couldn't control himself?
Victor shut the stall door behind him, leaving the pest to wail and swear at us from her prison.
His eyes went to my forehead, “That looks like it hurts.”
I swallowed back the lump in my throat. There it was again. That look.
“Stay back, Vic.” I said calmly, my unease growing.
He took a deep breath, his eyes closing. I took a small step away from him, towards the exit to the barn.
I kept my voice even, “Vic, be honest with me. Is it safe to be around you right now?”
Victor stayed where he was, still not looking at me. He eventually answered, “Probably not.”
I took another step towards the door. “I'm going to leave.”
He nodded, eyes still shut, “I think that would be best. I'll make sure that she stays in the stall.”
As I backed towards the door, afraid to turn my back on him, I said, “I'll uh… see you at work tomorrow.”
“Yeah. See ya.”
I didn't dare turn my back on him until I'd left the barn. He didn't move a muscle the entire time. As I made my way back to my G6, I kept looking over my shoulder. Victor didn't follow me. I made it back to my car without incident.
I thought back to when I'd found him in the butcher shed. Looking back, I'm pretty sure that he'd been eating it.
Once I was in my apartment, I quickly drew lines of salt in front of all my doors and windows. It made me feel somewhat safer. I inspected the injuries on my forehead and shoulder. After cleaning them both up, I determined that I should probably see a doctor in the morning. In the meantime, I covered them both with gauze.
I painfully settled down onto my bed, my entire body aching. Even though I felt like a dish towel that had been wrung out over and over again, I knew that I wasn't going to be getting much sleep. My mind was racing too much.
Against my better judgment, I ended up texting Victor, ‘Are you a draugr?’
His response was, ‘i think so’
Draugr are known for their grotesque appetites. The joke Reyna and I had been making about him being a ‘high-functioning zombie’ wasn't all that far off, after all.
I reminded myself that Victor wasn't a complete monster. He'd at least had enough control over himself not to hurt me or either of the farmers. But the temptation had clearly been there. That begged the question of what his limits were.
Was it safe to work with him? Injuries aren't exactly uncommon at Orion. Maybe that's why he's been sending Reyna and I together for two person jobs rather than going on calls with us.
I received another message from him, ‘if you want to quit I understand’
I didn't, though. As stressful as working here can be, I do enjoy my job, weirdly enough. I've been treated better here than by any other employer and I like having only two other coworkers to worry about, especially since I get along well with both of them. But the biggest reason why quitting hasn't occurred to me is that I wouldn't be able to just walk away from all that I'd learned about the atypical cases. There was no way I could live a normal life after working at Orion.
I also wanted to keep an eye on Victor. Between whatever the mechanic was forcing him to do and his transformation, there was a lot that I was concerned about. As much as I didn't want to think about having to trap or kill Victor, if it came down to it... I'd do what needed to be done.
I sent back, ‘hazard pay? 👀’
His reply was, ‘😒’
A moment later, I received, ‘we'll discuss it when I don't have a manananggal mf'ing me’
Yinz see why I kept calling her a ‘pest’ rather than trying to type that long name out each time? I guarantee I would have misspelled it several different ways.
When the sun rose, I received another message from Victor, ‘it's over. thanks for your help’
We found out later in the afternoon that the hospital had been able to save the farmers’ baby. She was going to have to stay longer in the hospital, but otherwise, she and their newborn daughter were alright.
What was alarming was that the dead man's body had been desecrated at some point after I left. It was believed that the pest had been the one to take chunks out of his neck, shoulder, and chest. I wasn't going to be the one to tell the family the truth. They'd been through enough already without the news that the one they'd relied on for protection had gotten hungry.
I wondered if being exposed to so much blood had been the trigger. I suppose I should just be glad that Victor had eaten a man who was already dead instead of me or another living person.
Like I said, I'm going to have to keep an eye on him. In the meantime… maybe don't demand to speak to the manager.

(This was originally posted in Wedding Shaming)
Strap in y’all, it’s a long one and it’s full of bad. Have some kitten videos ready for after!
So let me preface this by saying I am estranged from my mother and have been for most of my life. She is a paranoid narcissist, a racist, a homophobe, a xenophobe, and just all around terrible person. She abused me growing up so I cut loose in high school, got emancipated and got on with my life. For years I had a happy queer relationship with another woman and we had a son together (I carried with a sperm donor). When my kid was 5 his other mom died and I was alone for 5 years before I met someone. A year later, that someone and I got married. Previous to said wedding my husband’s parents felt it would be important to meet my parents. My father died when I was 19 so that left my mother and her husband. I struggled over the decision to try and reconnect with my mom, knowing how bad this can get for me in these situations (I suffer severe ptsd from the abuse trauma).. but it was a wedding and everyone kept telling me it “was important to have family together.” So fine, let’s do this.
The problems started fast and furious. My mom came to our coast (we live on opposite coasts) to meet my fiancé and my son. Right away she was pulling my husband to the corner to tell him all the “dirt” she could on me, or conversely, telling him he better get me nice cars and plastic surgery. Then she stated calling all of her friends and putting my fiancé on the phone to “prove to them that her daughter was marrying a doctor” (even if he is a goy (a Yiddish term for non-Jew. Has slightly derogatory tones).
Cut to lunch and my mother is asking how many tables she “gets” at the wedding. I ask “huh?” She explains she needs a least 5 tables at 10 per table for HER guests. I was really confused. I explained that our whole wedding venue seated 50 people total and those seats were spoken for. I had invited several people my mother asked me to have already. She went absolutely bananas demanding we change venue (we’re now 6 weeks from the wedding) to accommodate HER GUESTS. I painfully explained we can’t do that.. it’s not possible.. just no. She then switches gears like she always does and asks about our honeymoon. We were heading to Mexico for 2 weeks and my son would be staying with his donomyBFF. My mom screamed “what??? He needs to be with HIS FAMILY.” I reminded her that he was staying with family. She demanded time with my son so I half heartedly said she could have him half the time. (This will come back to haunt me later.)
Day of the wedding. Did I mention my mom is a low key alkie? So it’s about 2pm and she’s in the bridal suite in the bathroom. I’m in the dress and the photographer is waiting for my mother to come and use an antique button-holer to button up my gown. I’m nervous and excited and emotional because I’m in the dress and this is my day. This is one of the photos we had pre-planned to take. I asked my mother if she would do the honors. Instead, my mother is in the bathroom half dressed with her fireball and ice screaming into the phone at her husband “you are so stupid, how can you not find it!? I put it on the damn dresser! I can’t f**ing believe I married you…” you get the picture. It’s so loud the guests in the living room can hear it. I finally give up and have my son do the buttonholing for me (the pics were so special). Thank goodness it wasn’t video because you would have her my mother screaming “Can anyone get me another drink?? Does this room even have room service??”
Cut to walking down the aisle. We do the ceremony, it’s perfect, and my delightful friend and officiant announces “Introducing Mr. & Mrs Jon— when suddenly my mom stands up and screams “It’s DOCTOR not MISTER, get it right!”
Now I knew we had a problem on our hands ahead of the big day so I put in some contingency plans in place to buffer her. My wedding planner was under strict instructions to not allow my mother to make a speech (she loves to humiliate me by saying personal things about me to anyone who will listen and then she loves to announce what a terrible daughter I am and how much of a disappointment to her.) Second plan was my SIL faking a heart attack if she got her hands on the mic. About half thru dinner my delightful planner comes to me crying saying she’s so sorry but my mom is demanding to make a speech. That’s right, this tiny demon of a woman made my wedding planner CRY. Right then she stood up (have no idea how she got the mic) and said, “So my daughter didn’t want me to say anything. I guess she gets embarrassed, but I’m her MOTHER, and I get to say whatever I want. I’m here to say that I always knew she was going to marry a doctor, it didn’t surprise me at all. What did surprise me is when I gave birth to her and the nurses told me she was a girl, but I didn’t believe them so I had to take her diaper off and spread her legs and look at her vagina to make sure she was a girl.” She illustrated this by spreading her two fingers open. You could here jaws dropping around the room. She then went on to say “how disappointed she was in me that I don’t see her more often and that she hopes now that I have a doctor husband I’ll be able to see her more frequently”. Sadly my SIL was in the loo and plan 2 failed.
Cut to the dancing. I am dancing with my husband and my friends. We’re all having a good time when somebody comes up to me and taps me on the shoulder and says “hey, I don’t wanna cause a scene or anything but you might want to look at your mom”. I look over at my mother and she has taken off the jacket to her dress and now she’s peeling off the shoulder straps one by one and waving her head around to the music saying “oh my goodness it’s getting so hot in here!” This b*tch was trying to take her clothes off on the dance floor. Oh, I forgot to mention earlier that she had a three drink maximum, but she was getting around this by asking other people to get drinks for her.
The next morning I of course got to hear alllllll the embarrassing stories from the night before. She asked why my friend married “an Arab,” called another guest “not Jewish enough to attend the wedding” and complained to anyone who would listen that I didn’t even allow her 50 guests, and the party would have been so much more fun if she had done it.
And the pièce derésistance? Right as we were leaving for our honeymoon I got a call from her saying “I know you need ME to watch YOUR kid, but not unless you do something for me. You’ll need to call your brother and make nice with him again.” My brother and I are estranged for reasons I can’t get into now. I said no, he’ll go to his real family, the one that cares for him without strings attached.
There you have it! One cluster fluff of a mother story!
For anyone interested, we don’t talk anymore and I couldn’t be happier and I’m still happily married! Good riddance to bad rubbish!
Ok, just a few clarifications for people asking Q’s-
In answer to the question about my in laws- My in laws are the sweetest, kindest people ever. I honestly think they had no idea a human adult could behave like that. I wanted to please them and I didn’t say a whole lot about my mother. I didn’t want them to see her as a red flag for the marriage. They never mentioned her again 😂 which was their way of acknowledging she’s not worth talking about.
For those of you judging me for half heartedly agreeing to let my kid visit my mom-totally get your stress! Don’t worry, she never had contact with my kid alone. For clarity, he was going to spend four days with a safe family where my mother happened to be staying as well. By the end of the weekend it was clear that even that was too close.
For those of you wondering why I would even let her come to the wedding - Some people (like me) relent and reopen because our abusers did a very good job of breaking us and making us question everything we think and believe. So every time some well meaning idiot Said “Aw, you should take to your mom! She’s your mom!” We think “Omg, my mom is right. I’m the worst f**king daughter ever and I’ve been ignoring her all these years and there must be something so wrong with me that I did that.”
Now, after YEARS of therapy and support I know better. Back then I was still pretty deep in my trauma.

Just finished Season 27. Been watching from the beginning, in order.
Curious to hear what other people think about this season (no spoilers for subsequent seasons, pleeeease.)
I'll start at the end because it was maybe the best tribal council I'd ever seen. All three finalists made good speeches. The jury asked good questions. I went into FTC assuming it was a runaway for Tyson, but after hearing each finalist's speech, I felt as though each one of them would have been a deserving winning, and the runners-up might have won if they were up against lesser contestants from episodes past.
I started w/that because Blood v Water is third from the bottom for me. I didn't like a lot of the emotional "tough decisions" which were the point of this season. I'm not a mom, nor did I know my mom, so all the Ciera-Laura stuff was boring (at best.) But I totally get why others might have liked those bits.
Here are some of my thoughts:
Gervase - I was so glad to see him back! I loved Season 1, and when I read about it, I'd read that Gervase had been trying to make alliances but the young guy(s) didn't want to form alliances. So, he was kind of SOL. We didn't see any of that. He came across that season as just a jokester. I remember being impressed with his FTC speech because it was really good, and I was surprised because he'd seemed like just a goofball until he made that great speech while he was voting (about how Sue had no right to be so angry about Kelly's "betrayal.") He was so right. And I thought man, that guy is smarter than he seemed. So it was great to see him get another shot. I was glad he made it to the final 3. I agree with his FTC speech. I think he played a great game (except he was surprisingly bad in the first challenge.) I agree with everything he said at FTC.
Tyson - In his first season, I loved his sense of humor and his style. I think he's the funniest player ever (to "date", meaning to Ssn 27.) But my opinion of him sank when he was mean to that blonde girl in whatever season that was. The girl who had the flu (I was pissed that she came on the show with the flu. Can you imagine spending 10 yrs trying to get on the show, and then sitting on the boat next to someone who was hocking up phlegm and had a 100 degree fever?? But then I warmed to her because she was mentally so strong, and kept fighting, and I really liked her by the end. I forget her name. But Tyson told her to her face that she was "not smart enough" to something, something. And it was mean.
I always give the mean players a second chance, and hope that when they watch themselves they regret things like that. It's great to see returning players come back who have grown and become better. And Tyson did. He regretted being mean, and in his 2nd season he was not mean to anybody (that we saw.) So, when he came back a 3rd time I was happy. And I was really glad he won. I'd have been happy if it was either him or Tina. They're both great in different ways.
Monica - I liked some things about her. The best was her FTC speech. People kept asking her over and over to show her true self (she already had!) And I loved when she said, "Have you people never met a nice person before??" That's up there in my top 3 FTC speeches. I liked her husband, Brad, and I loved her relationship with him. They were sweet together. But I understand why people were saying she was annoying. I think she may be in the lower percentile of survivor contestants when it comes to IQ (along with Erik and Christina.) And that made some of her spiels annoying and caused her to bug people by talking too much about strategy. It was as if she wanted to prove that she was a great strategist. What she was great at were the physical challenges. Really impressive! She's a neat lady. Didn't deserve to win, but I'm glad she made it as far as she did.
Tina - I love Tina. She amazed back in Ssn 2 when she swam across a crocodile infested river in the middle of the night to find the can of rice that had floated away in the flood. Nobody else did anything like that. I wouldn't have gone in that river in the day time let alone in pitch blackness. And she found it! And then she stood on that post in the freezing weather above the water for over 10 hrs - that's nuts (in a good way.) And she impressed me again in this season. I was bummed when she got out, but it had to be her or Tyson because they were the biggest threats for best player in the end, and Tyson had immunity, so it had to be Tina. She always handles everything honestly and like a champ.
Katie - was someone I would like IRL, but, unfortunately, she was a little boring for Survivor and she was terrible at challenges. I was SO glad when her mom chose NOT to let her win on Redemption Island. If Tina'd let Katie win, I'd have wanted to barf. But I liked Tina and Katie's relationship a lot.
Which brings me to Ciera. I'm sure I'm in the minority here, but I couldn't stand Ciera. She sucked at challenges throughout the first half of the game, bringing her team down. And then her mom got voted out in a large part due to the fact that the returning players knew that Laura would never sacrifice her daughter for the team. And they thought Laura might have a shot at beating Brad at Redmptn. Isl. but I think that was the lesser of the reasons. So, Laura got voted out basically because of her relationship with her daughter, and then Ciera has the nerve to say, "My mom got voted out already. I'm still here. The fact is, I'm a better player than my mom." And then there was all that sappy shit with Ciera crying over voting out her mom. Ugh - I started fast-forwarding her parts. She seemed to me to have the mentality of a teenager who thinks they know it all, and thinks they're so much smarter than other people when they're not.
Laura B - She was really, really impressive in challenges and on Redemption Island. I wasn't too enamored with her in her 1st season mostly because of how she was with Shambo (who I loved.) But I'd be happy to see Laura again if she wasn't there with her daughter.
Rupert - I always love Rupert. His wife is sweet, too, and it was nice she got to play.
Candice - I don't know if I'm in the minority here. Probably. I can't stand Candice. I was stoked she got voted out first, and then bummed that I still had to listen to her on Redemption Island. Her plusses: she has a nice husband, and she doesn't say "no" when Survivor calls her after someone else backed out. Her image of her own self is highly inflated.
On the Wiki, I read a list of people who Survivor had asked to be on the show. Ah, I would have loved to have seen Earl again, and RC (loved her), and even Jerri (Another who I didn't like their first season, but they learned and grew.) Pleeeeease no more Candice.
Who am I forgetting?
Oh yeah. Colton. Strangely, I don't mind Colton. I didn't like when he was mean to Christina in his first season, but you can tell with him it's an act, and that it's coming from a place of insecurity. I believe he's a nicer person on the inside, and I believe he probably continued to grow. What I didn't like was how he curled up in the fetal position on his fiance's lap like a baby. That was just weird. And I don't mean because they were two men, I'd have felt the same way if Kat did that to Hayden.
Caleb. Just like everybody, I kept thinking, "Why would such a normal, likeable guy like Caleb get engaged to someone so different from himself? Someone who can't seem to stop himself from saying mean things about people and acting like a baby.
Kat - I was impressed with her mostly because she was yet another example of someone who watched themselves and grew. She was a lot calmer this time … up until she got voted out. She lost me with her little meltdown about how her boyfriend was going to break up with her because she got voted out of Survivor. Ugh. And then the big question over whether he would switch with her or not. If she was a nice, level-headed person she would have right away said, “Don’t even think about it, Hayden. You stay in this game.” But she waited and they made a big, sappy scene about it … I got the feeling she was testing him. Insecure. Blah.
Hayden – I liked him.
Aras – I didn’t remember him from his season. I had to rack my brain, and then I had a vague memory of thinking, “Oh yeah, I think I thought he deserved to win.” But when I first saw him, I thought, “This is returning player?”
Vytas – I have a feeling he’ll be back. I really liked him a lot. Good, smart player.
All around, I didn't like the "Blood v Water" schtick … but Tyson was great, Tina was great, Rupert, Vytas, and some others were good, and FTC was really good, so those things saved it from sinking to the bottom of my list.

I feel bad about it, because I'm there to celebrate the newly weds. And while I am super happy for them, but I can't help but feel sad.
My dad died in 2017. He didn't get to see me do some major life achievements - getting engaged, buying a house, having one baby and now another.
It always makes me so sad when I go to a wedding and the dad walks the bride down the aisle, his speech and the dad-daughter dance. I won't get to have any of that. I was going to have my dads brother step in, but then he passed in 2018.
I have my grandpa (dads dad) I can ask, if we ever get married. But, it still doesn't take away the grief I feel that he won't be there and won't get to be apart of my day.

Hi everyone! I’m new to programming, did a tiny bit of it back in college for a semester but that’s it’s. That was 15yrs ago lol.
What are some of the best intro languages for creating apps? My reason is to try and built an app for my daughter who is special needs and is having a hard time learning the app she uses for her speech device. Other apps I’ve tried she doesn’t like or have any interest in. So I want to try and make one of my own and if it works possibly distribute it for free on the app stores for others to use.

Item #: SCP-021
Codename: Skin Wyrm
Summarized Description: Animate tattoo in the form of the mythical Chinese dragon. SCP-021 sustains itself off its host’s melanin, causes pain to its host when it moves, and can be transferred to another host via prolonged skin-to-skin contact.
Battlefield Summary: N/A
Additional Notes: SCP-021 is useless as a weapon and is to remain in containment.
Usefulness: 1/5
Item #: SCP-022
Codename: The Morgue
Summarized Description: Morgue capable of periodically reanimating Human cadavers. Consciousnesses of subjects placed within a drawer of the morgue are randomly swapped between reanimated cadavers.
Battlefield Summary: N/A
Additional Notes: SCP-022 is useless as a weapon and is to remain in containment.
Usefulness: 1/5
Item #: SCP-023
Codename: Black Shuck
Summarized Description: Large canine. Sapient subjects who make eye contact will expire 1 Terran year after contact is broken, their internal systems suffering spontaneous flash incineration. SCP-023’s eyes and teeth were removed in 2010 before being regrown in 2136 using an imperfect copy of SCP-500 generated by SCP-038. SCP-023 cannot be stopped by any barrier unless it resembles a crossroads.
Battlefield Summary: SCP-023 released into Federal city. SCP-023 underwent rigorous anomalous training, having been taught to avoid direct conflict with enemy subjects, and is generally non-hostile to Foundation personnel.
Additional Notes: As of time of writing, SCP-023 has terminated 86 subjects and has disorganized security forces, who have failed to capture or neutralize it. SCP-023’s relative obedience to the Foundation has given cause for reclassification to Thaumiel.
Usefulness: 3/5
Item #: SCP-024
Codename: Game Show of Death
Summarized Description: Abandoned sound stage. Subjects who enter SCP-024 will be greeted by an apparent stereotypical game show announcer from a speaker, who will offer subjects a chance to play a game show and gain a reward. Subjects who consent will be forced to undergo taxing trials to complete the show, which often results in injury and/or death. Subjects who refuse to participate after consenting, attempt to break any rules, or fail to complete the game will be attacked and terminated by unknown entities. SCP-024 will not activate if there is only 1 subject present.
Battlefield Summary: N/A
Additional Notes: SCP-024 cannot be moved from its current location. SCP-024 is useless as a weapon and is to remain in containment.
Usefulness: 1/5
Item #: SCP-025
Codename: A Well-Worn Wardrobe
Summarized Description: Wardrobe with multiple articles of damaged clothing. Subjects who wear any clothing from SCP-025 will invariably be injured or terminated, with wounds corresponding to the locations of damage on the clothing.
Battlefield Summary: N/A
Additional Notes: As xenos do not wear any clothing that SCP-025 possesses, SCP-025 is useless as a weapon and is to remain in containment.
Usefulness: 1/5
Item #: SCP-026
Codename: Afterschool Retention
Summarized Description: Abandoned public school. Layout does not correspond to official public blueprints. Cognitohazards within SCP-026 disorient subjects. Multiple individuals with identical features to missing persons can be found in apparent comas and cannot be woken. All comatose individuals are students and educators who attended the school before its abandonment. Attempting to remove comatose subjects from the premises will result in them waking, followed by extremely rapid dehydration and death. Foundation personnel who fall asleep in SCP-026 also become comatose, but will not suffer dehydration if removed.
Battlefield Summary: N/A
Additional Notes: SCP-026 is useless as a weapon and is to remain in containment.
Usefulness: 1/5
Item #: SCP-027
Codename: The Vermin God
Summarized Description: Intangible effect tied to one individual at a time. Subjects affected by SCP-027 attract large amounts of insects, rodents, and other organisms considered to be “vermin.” Upon death of a host, SCP-027 will transfer itself to the closest sapient organism.
Battlefield Summary: D-3829, the host of SCP-027 at the time, was airdropped onto a Federal planet. D-3829 fitted with an explosive collar and instructed to wait in the colony leader’s place of residence. As the leader entered the residence, the collar was remotely detonated, terminating D-3829 and transferring SCP-027 to the target.
Additional Notes: Though it would have been more practical to simply take the opportunity to assassinate the target, the long-term disorder expected to be caused by SCP-027 was deemed to be of greater importance. There are no plans to retrieve SCP-027 at this time.
Usefulness: 2/5
Item #: SCP-028
Codename: Knowledge
Summarized Description: Small space in Michigan, USA with psychic properties. Individuals who enter SCP-028 are imbued with a random piece of knowledge on a random topic.
Battlefield Summary: N/A
Additional Notes: SCP-028 is currently being used to gather intelligence on Federal operations. Due to its inefficient method of intelligence gathering, it has been deemed a low priority.
Usefulness: 2/5
Item #: SCP-029
Codename: Daughter of Shadows
Summarized Description: Human female with alopecia universalis. 80% of skin surface is vantablack, 20% is albino. All sapient male-identifying subjects who come in contact with SCP-029 will worship it as a messiah-like figure, who must have 1,000,000 lives sacrificed to it via strangulation to bring forth an unknown deity. SCP-029 has a physic connection with its followers and is aware of its followers’ numbers.
Battlefield Summary: SCP-029 deployed on a Federal planet and allowed to gather xeno followers. SCP-029’s “cult” has infiltrated the planetary government and is sending large numbers of subjects to “predator disease” facilities to convert or sacrifice them.
Additional Notes: SCP-029 willingly volunteered for Operation 5000, although this is more likely out of a desire for escape from the Foundation than to avenge Humanity for the Battle of Earth, the current cover story for Operation 5000. SCP-029’s “cult” is not to be allowed to complete its goal of 1,000,000 sacrifices, due to the uncertain nature of the existence of the cult’s deity. Current estimates give SCP-029’s cult 37,000 confirmed sacrificial fatalities. Should this number come close to being accomplished, SCP-029 is to be neutralized and the cult destroyed. Until then, the disorder caused by the cult’s activities has been deemed beneficial.
Usefulness: 3/5
Item #: SCP-030
Codename: The Homunculus
Summarized Description: Small humanoid made of clay. Only active when exposed to at least 15 lumens of light. If not exposed to adequate light, SCP-030 immediately falls unconscious.
Battlefield Summary: N/A
Additional Notes: SCP-030 has no fighting or strategic capabilities and is to remain in containment.
Usefulness: 1/5
Item #: SCP-031
Codename: What is Love?
Summarized Description: Giant organic mass inhabiting the interior of the Ryugyong Hotel, Korea. Influences subjects to be willingly assimilated into SCP-031, with only their brains remaining intact and presumably conscious. Unknown cognitive and/or space-time anomaly causes it to simultaneously inhabit the hotel alongside SCP-1427, despite respective containment teams insisting that the other does not exist.
Battlefield Summary: Samples of SCP-031 taken and deployed on various planets. 4 instances have been neutralized by Federal forces, while 4 have established a permanent foothold on their respective planets.
Additional Notes: SCP-031 is susceptible to fire, making Extermination Officers a convenient counter for smaller infestations.
Usefulness: 3/5
Item #: SCP-032
Codename: Brother’s Bride
Summarized Description: Type-F female Human simulacrum, passable at a distance, Uncanny Valley triggered at close range. Deleterious effects on nearby organic life, except for Humans and domesticated/trained animals.
Battlefield Summary: SCP-032 instructed to position itself discreetly in highly populated areas and military encampments. SCP-032 given a weapon and authorization to defend itself should it ever come into conflict with Federal authorities or eyewitnesses. SCP-032 has depopulated multiple areas and encampments with minor damage to itself.
Additional Notes: SCP-032’s complete obedience to the Foundation has given cause for a reclassification to Thaumiel.
Usefulness: 2/5
Item #: SCP-033
Codename: The Missing Number
Summarized Description: Mathematical equation that essentially proves that all Human (and xeno) mathematical systems “missed” a number. SCP-033, when inscribed on a physical “paper-like” surface or a white/chalkboard, will begin to spread to other nearby viable surfaces. Causes catastrophic glitches in computers as it spreads onto them.
Battlefield Summary: SCP-033 uploaded onto multiple planetary internets, crashing all systems.
Additional Notes: SCP-033 is astoundingly effective in removing the Federation’s capability to defend themselves, as they rely heavily on technology.
Usefulness: 5/5
Item #: SCP-034
Codename: Obsidian Ritual Knife
Summarized Description: Primitive obsidian knife likely used in sacrificial rituals. Any flesh cut from a living organism by SCP-034 that is applied to another organism will result in the latter’s appearance changing into the former.
Battlefield Summary: N/A
Additional Notes: Federal military leader captured and flesh sample removed with SCP-034 and applied to D-9482 to test capabilities for a Human to change into a xeno form. D-9482 expired mid-transition. Military leader interrogated for general information and subsequently terminated. SCP-034 still cannot alter an organism beyond its original species, regardless of sapience.
Usefulness: 1/5
Item #: SCP-035
Codename: Possessive Mask
Summarized Description: Sapient theatre mask that changes from comedy to tragedy, corresponding with current emotions. Highly corrosive liquid seeps from the eyes of the mask at all times. Capable of reading and influencing the thoughts nearby sapient organisms. SCP-035, when placed on the face of a Human, Human cadaver, or otherwise humanoid organism or figure, will take control of the subject and begin to converse. The subject will slowly decay the longer SCP-035 is applied. SCP-035 displays a highly charismatic and manipulative personality and is unusually knowledgeable about a variety of topics.
Battlefield Summary: N/A
Additional Notes: SCP-035 is currently being negotiated with. SCP-035 claims to hold knowledge of the Federation, including a “conspiracy” orchestrated by at least 2 member species. If negotiations are successful, SCP-035 could provide the Foundation with valuable insight into the workings of the Federation.
Usefulness: 2/5
Item #: SCP-036
Codename: The Reincarnation Pilgrimage of the Yazidi (Kiras Guhorîn)
Summarized Description: Annual event during which deceased followers of the Yazidi faith arrive via an unscheduled flight at Site-22A in Iraq and depart on a separate flight at Site-22B. This process is observed and protected by the Foundation. Considered to be the modern form of the Kiras Guhorîn. Expected to change in the near future to include modern starships.
Battlefield Summary: N/A
Additional Notes: SCP-036 is useless as a weapon and is to remain in containment.
Usefulness: 1/5
Item #: SCP-037
Codename: Dwarf Star
Summarized Description: Miniaturized main sequence star in its red giant phase, going through a highly accelerated stellar lifecycle. Expected to go supernova in the near future. Was transported off-planet in 2100.
Battlefield Summary: SCP-037 transported from its location in the outer Sol System and deposited in high orbit of a Federal capital planet. Approaching supernova is expected to cause an XK-Class “End-of-the-World” Scenario.
Additional Notes: SCP-037 pending reclassification to Neutralized once supernova occurs.
Usefulness: 4/5
Item #: SCP-038
Codename: The Everything Tree
Summarized Description: Apple tree capable of replicating any object or organism that makes contact with its bark. Replicated objects will never exceed 90.9 kg. Anomalous objects replicated by SCP-038 are often imperfect.
Battlefield Summary: N/A
Additional Notes: SCP-038 is being used to cheaply replicate weapons-of-mass-destruction but is otherwise useless as a weapon.
Usefulness: 2/5
Item #: SCP-039
Codename: Monkey Brain
Summarized Description: Collection of 23 proboscis monkeys (SCP-038-1) and one Human (SCP-038-A) with a complete lack of all facial features, created by the now-defunct Prometheus Labs. Instances display highly increased intelligance and are able to navigate their surroundings via echolocation.
Battlefield Summary: N/A
Additional Notes: SCP-038-A employed as a tactical advisor under the promise of a loosening of containment protocols for itself and all instances of SCP-038-1.
Usefulness: 2/5
Item #: SCP-040
Codename: Evolution’s Child
Summarized Description: Female human capable of altering the genetic code of organisms it comes into contact with.
Battlefield Summary: N/A
Additional Notes: SCP-040 willingly joined Operation 5000. SCP-040 currently being utilized to genetically enhance certain Mobile Task Force personnel.
Usefulness: 2/5
Item #: SCP-041
Codename: Thought-Broadcasting Patient
Summarized Description: Permanently paralyzed Human male capable of telepathy with nearby sapient subjects. Subjects within range can also have their thoughts “transmitted” with one another at SCP-041’s discretion.
Battlefield Summary: N/A
Additional Notes: SCP-041 has been used to extract information from high-ranking Federal personnel.
Usefulness: 2/5
Item #: SCP-042
Codename: A Formerly-Winged Horse
Summarized Description: Equine subject with winged appendages. Appendages were removed by Foundation personnel to simplify containment. Displays a depressive personality and must be force-fed food and water and motivated with pain to obey instructions. Displays mind-affecting properties in attempts to convince personnel to neutralize it.
Battlefield Summary: N/A
Additional Notes: SCP-042 is no use as a weapon and is to remain in containment.
Usefulness: 1/5
Item #: SCP-043
Codename: The Beatle
Summarized Description: Vinyl copy of “The White Album”. Capable of communicating with subjects who play the 29th track. Theorized to hold the consciousness of Paul McCartney, although unconfirmed.
Battlefield Summary: N/A
Additional Notes: SCP-043 is useless as a weapon and is to remain in containment.
Usefulness: 1/5
Item #: SCP-044
Codename: World War II Era Molecular-Fission Cannon
Summarized Description: Heavily modified World War II-era Howitzer. Any item placed in its barrel and fired will detonate at a mass-to-energy conversion ratio greater than 100%. Built by an/the Administrator.
Battlefield Summary: SCP-044 loaded with several tons of earth and fired into a city wall during an uncharacteristically difficult siege, terminating all resistance and causing massive damage to the city.
Additional Notes: SCP-044 blueprints have been obtained from the Administrator by the O5 Council and the item is to be mass produced. Further modifications for use as a space-based weapon are being considered.
Usefulness: 4/5
Item #: SCP-045
Codename: Atmospheric Converter
Summarized Description: Icosahedron composed of ice-12. Likely a 3-dimensional projection of a 4-dimensional hypericosahedron. Periodically rotates on multiple axes, causing minor seismic activity. When prevented from rotating, seismic activity will steadily increase. When gaseous nitrogen or argon come into close proximity with SCP-045, both substatnces will be converted into water and table salt respectively.
Battlefield Summary: SCP-045 placed on a Federal planet in a remote location and prevented from rotating. As of time of writing, SCP-045 has caused seismic activity reaching 9.5 on the Richter scale, causing massive damage. Planetary cracking is expected to occur within several weeks.
Additional Notes: SCP-045, should it be recovered after estimated XK-Class Scenario, is authorized for further use.
Usefulness: 4/5
Item #: SCP-046
Codename: “Predatory” Holly Bush
Summarized Description: Holly bush that consumes subjects who lay in its vicinity, lulling them to sleep with relief from physical/mental pain and feelings of relaxation and pleasure. Subjects are not compelled to sacrifice themselves and can resist temptations with ease. All subjects recorded to have been consumed by SCP-046 have willingly allowed the item to do so.
Battlefield Summary: N/A
Additional Notes: As SCP-046 cannot compel unwilling subjects into sacrificing themselves for consumption, it is useless as a weapon and is to remain in containment.
Usefulness: 1/5
Item #: SCP-047
Codename: Microbial Mutagen
Summarized Description: Gaseous substance with mutagenic properties on microorganisms. 3 strains affected by SCP-047 identified. Propionibacterium 047-A causes severe acne and sepsis with 40% fataility rate. Streptococcus 047-C causes inflammation, sepsis, and endocarditis with 35% fatality rate. Clostridium 047-A cause severe damage to internal organs, most notably the colon, with near 100% fatality rate.
Battlefield Summary: All SCP-047-affected strains of bacterium cannot be used against xeno life and are to remain in containment. SCP-047 dispersed among Federal cities and encampments, causing several fatal “superbugs” to mutate.
Additional Notes: Caution is to be taken to prevent SCP-047 from coming into contact with Terran microorganisms.
Usefulness: 3/5
Item #: SCP-048
Codename: The Cursed SCP Number
Summarized Description: All SCP objects assigned the 048 designation have invariably become lost, stolen, or accidentally neutralized, thus gathering a air of superstition among Foundation personnel and has such been locked from further use to prevent morale from falling. Believed to be non-anomalous, as the file describing this phenomenon has yet to suffer any adverse effects.
Battlefield Summary: N/A
Additional Notes: SCP-048 is likely non-anomalous and no action is to be taken.
Usefulness: 1/5
Item #: SCP-049
Codename: Plague Doctor
Summarized Description: Male humanoid covered in organic growth resembling a traditional plague doctor uniform and mask. Subjects who come into physical contact with SCP-049 may suddenly cease all life functions if SCP-049 so chooses. SCP-049 often performs surgery on corpses - preferably Humans - and crudly reanimates them in an attempt to cure them of a presumably supernatural “Pestilence.” The nature of this Pestilence is unknown, if it exists.
Battlefield Summary: SCP-049 allowed to reanimate deceased xeno subjects for the Foundation war effort.
Additional Notes: SCP-049 willingly joined Operatin 5000 after declaring that the xenos were also infected with the “Pestilence.”
/////
[THE FOLLOWING IS FOR O5 CLEARANCE ONLY.]
[Does the Black Moon howl?]
[only when the White Sun rejoices]
[Does the Black Moon howl?]
[only when Waning]
[Does the Black Moon howl?]
[only when the Void calls forth]
[ACCESS GRANTED]
SCP-049’s declaration has confirmed that non-Human species are indeed also victims of The Entity. Complete destruction of the Federation is necessary.
/////
Usefulness: 2/5

My daughter was diagnosed ASD at 2 years old, just after my son was born. We did extensive ESDM ABA, 25-35hrs/week from 2-5 years old, including parent training to collext ABC data and all of it.
Because of my daughter's diagnosis, I was very much making sure my son hit his milestones. I had him evaluated for speech several times between 15months and 2 years old. He had no warning signs with MCHAT. But he does flap when he gets excited. And his kindergartens teacher tells me his processing speed seems slow.
Could he be autistic and it not show up on MCHAT? Could this be ADHD or anxiety? How is that differentiated, who can I speak to?

Without explanation, here's what I like to think about for who Melina actually is: Melina is the daughter of Marika and Messmer.
This is how I think it may be possible, even though it doesn't make any sense and ultimately, I just like this idea:
Marika is born in the Land of Shadow.
Like with Malenia and Miquella, I believe that Messmer is Marika/Radagon's first self-conceived child.
With her child, she had a baby (Ew, George... just ew) and Melina was born.
Before Marika/Radagon can ascend to Godhood, the throne must be vacant, so Marika tasks Messmer with killing the current God, Dragonlord Placideuxsax as she cares for baby Melina.
It takes a few years, but Messmer finds and kills the Dragonlord and consumes some of it's flesh during the fierce battle, but an unknowable thing occurs and Messmer becomes the first to partake in what would later be called Dragon Communion.
Upon Messmer's return to Marika/Radagon, Melina has grown into a walking, talking little girl (my guess is she's around 8 or 9 at this point) and for a time, it was good.
Messmer and Marika/Radagon begin to plan how they will go further into The Lands Between and begin their reign as God and Consort, but Marika/Radagon discover how Messmer is now tainted by the blood of the previous God.
Though he still loves Marika/Radagon, Messmer concedes to their will and stays behind in the Land of Shadow with a mission to burn the current Erdtree, killing the old god's source of strength.
Marika/Radagon leaves the Land of Shadow and moves onward to The Lands Between with Melina, concealing Messmer in the Land of Shadow with an obscuring veil and therefore, the origins of her power.
Messmer easily completes the feat of destroying the original tree as Marika/Radagon and Melina travel and upon it's destruction, the celestial emissary of The Greater Will, the Two-Fingers, bestow Marika, the most fitting remaining suitor, with Godhood, AKA The function of being a vessel for their powers and will,
Upon reaching what would be Leyndell, Melina has reached maturity and her aging slowed, since Numen's have very long lifespans and Marika/Radagon uses their newfound powers to grow a new Erdtree.
Melina has no powers at this time and Marika/Radagon, needing a consort, seeks the strongest champion in the lands and finds Godfrey.
They wed and have children, but sadly, the first couple are born as Omen, remnants of the Crucible and old way of power, and were hidden from sight as a royal shame, but eventually, they would have Godwyn.
In secret from Godfrey, Marika would transform to Radagon and have an affair with a woman of royal blood, proficient in magic that is foreign to themselves and use her as an opportunity to learn about the Primeval Currents that are the source of of all sorcery.
Once they learned what they needed and having several children with Queen Rennala, Radagon disappears and resumes their role as Marika in Leyndell and, with their newfound knowledge, banishes Godwyn's father, Godfrey, to live out his days in exile, which he dutifully does.
Marika/Radagon attempts to create a true heir of their godly flesh and birth Malenia and Miquella.
Marika/Radagon are saddened by Malenia's vicious fate, harboring the outer god of Rot, but rejoice with Miquella, who's only ailment is eternal youth.
Melina is all but forgotten as a powerless, pre-godhood child, now outweighed by her powerful, graceful siblings Miquella, Malenia and Godwyn.
The night of Black Knives occurs and Godwyn is killed in spirit alone, his body left writhing and transforming in the many years to come, as we know.
The rune of Death is now without an owner and the previously powerless Melina is chosen to inherit it, but upon her newfound power's awakening, her body cannot tolerate the unique combination of flame, which she inherited from her father, and the Rune of Death and she nearly meets her demise and much of her body becomes charred.
It takes much time for her to heal and during this time, she amasses followers who volunteer to help her use her powers and commission a skilled blacksmith to create a sword to serve as a conduit.
After she is done this favor, she becomes the Gloam Eyed queen with one golden eye and one Gloam-colored eye with the power to mete out Death indiscriminately and, with the use of a special seal, her followers are able to borrow her powers and cast her flames.
In Marika/Radagon's grief, they go against the The Greater Will and stoops so low that, to remove Death from the land, so that she never has to suffer this way again, she will instruct her Shadow to steal the Rune of Death from her less-important first child and they do battle.
Maliketh steals the Rune of Death from Melina, who's body is destroyed in their fight and becomes an ethereal presence in the Spirit world.
But Miquella, who cares deeply for his siblings, uses his alter-ego St. Trina to give her the power to materialize from the spirit world into the real world and, in secret, they become allies, all the while Miquella (not St. Trina) fights to finally end his older brother Godwyn's suffering while he simultaneously tries to save his sister Malenia from the outer god of Rot.
Moving away from his relation ship with his mother and father, Miquella decides to grow his own tree and begin his own kingdom and travels far away to a secret place to do so, bewitching whoever he has to to make this happen.
This is as far as I've thought about and yeah, there's nothing to suggest this is the actual thing that happened... I just really liked this idea I cooked up and I hope I don't get a bunch of "You're stupid and I hate your ideas" crap that the internet loves to do, so... yeah.

Hi there! I’m 26, central US timezone, and female!
SAFE FOR WORK ONLY.
Message me with your age, timezone (US Timezones Preferred), what plot idea you’re interested in, and a sample of your writing!
Partner requirements: must be 22-38 - Must play male (IRL gender doesn’t matter)- write in third person - at least two paragraphs - decent grammar and punctuation- must be able to post once a day to every other day. Communication is key, please let me know if you are going to be busy for longer than a day or two or if you are no longer interested. No asterisks for actions. Dialogue should be in quotations. NO AI ART OR WRITING.
I’ve been craving a good enemies to lovers roleplay for awhile now and what’s a better enemies to lovers roleplay than something revolving around the mafia?
Plot idea #1: Your character has recently taken over the family business. My character is a college student on a study abroad trip that happens to see something they weren’t supposed to. Y/C’s men that were handling the deal take her back to the main ‘headquarters’ and keep her locked up, leaving Y/C to deal with her.
Plot idea #2: Your character is in a small gang that is tasked with kidnapping the naive daughter of a mob boss that stole money from another. Basic idea, can be fleshed out more together.
Plot idea #3: your character would be a police officer that’s gone undercover with some small local gangs to bust a couple of drug dealers and whatnot. Having done such a great job there, he is offered a bigger mission and if he takes it, when he returns to his actual station, he will get a bigger raise, new car, K-9 unit, some sort of special thing that he’s been working towards. This bigger mission would be infiltrating a bigger mafia family that seems to be running all these smaller ones. Thanks to some forged documents, lies spread around, and some of the actual dirty work he has done over the last six months, the head of the family invites him to a nightclub to chat. The chat leads to the offering of a position within the family, a personal bodyguard for the mob bosses daughter after the situation that happened with her last one. It’s his first break through and they’re welcoming him with open arms. Does he accept?

Here's a video for reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzpLrh0EdZY
My sample size of autistic people who speak with like the same intonation and speech pattern as her is now at 3 (including her), I think there's a pattern here (that us folks are more likely to speak like she does at the very least??)?? This thing I've observed is regardless of gender and assigned sex at birth, so don't discount yourself if you don't match with hers

I've been relying on Spotify.
"Fans also like..." and playlists "Discover Weekly" & "Release Radar".
Then playlists and compilations. Label playlists are really nice because they're fairly focused.
I'm now quitting spotify, going over to Apple Music, so I'm re-evaluating. AM is even more random at labeling bands genres so it's hard to "communicate" with it to find what I'm looking for.
Just today I discovered 2 tribute albums to And One. And only bc I saw a sideline email mentioning it. I'm not even sure how I end up on bandcamp discovering some new band.
I'm assuming if you focus on Spotify or AM, you're cutting off the world of music not opting into that. Like "Eon Void dweller" (spice, basket case, (fear) mindkiller) is one of the best techno albums I've heard. Not on spotify or AM.
So, any strategies? review sites? exploring non-spotify compilations?
Are there other communities to explore like what vampire freaks used to be?
Edit #####################################

• Discogs.com
  • See who is in the band, what else are they or have done?
  • Notes for album, mention anyone else? producers, guest artists, etc
  • Find them, look them up on youtube, bandcamp, spotify, etc
• Labels
  • detritirecords
  • daisrecords
  • coldspring
  • tescogermany
  • russiandarkcommunity
  • Electrosound (Mexico)
  • black-box-electro-dark (brazil)
• https://rateyourmusic.com
  • Check genre, then sub genre.
    • I got a list with grendel, wumpscut, suicide commando in the top 5. I'm going to check out artists on the list
• https://playlost.fm/reddit/industrialmusic
  • Has genres and links to look them up in spotify
• Curated playlists\Shows
  • CommunionAfterDarkRadio
  • Memory Leak (Youtube)
  • Electric Collectives - Broodx
  • On the Edge (shows & playlists)
  • playlist (spotify)
• Sites that review music
  • IDieYouDie.com
  • https://www.side-line.com/
  • thequietus.com - year-end wrap up where they post their favorite 100 albums of all genres with linked samples so you can blow through it quickly and find anything appealing.
• Bandcamp.com
  • Check users who purchase music you like
  • Check followers
  • Follow genres
  • articles
  • Lots of "name your price" opportunities daily and specials. Free to DL, pay a buck or two and it's linked on your account
• Read the album booklets
  • thanked
  • credits to guest artists
• Youtube.com
  • Band Page - who do they follow?
  • Fan Page - if they have some songs you like, maybe others
  • archive channels that post their own collections
• Social Media
  • Who do they follow?
  • Who do they interact with?
• Sound Cloud
  • Who do your fav artists follow
• Live
  • Who tours with bands you like?
  • Festivals?

Today marks the anniversary of the murders of Aarushi Talwar and Hemraj Banjade.
Noida, India. 16th May 2008. A city that was for the more well off. It had many amenities and you could say the kiddle and upper classes lived there.
Aarushi was the daughter of two dentists, and living with them was a full time household helper Hemraj, 45. He was Nepalese and had been employed for around a year by the family, replacing another Nepalese helper after impressing the Talwars. Hemraj had a wife and family of his own back in Nepal. He would cook food for the family, was given a phone by them, and seemed trusted to be around Aarushi.
Aarushi was a well liked girl whom was starting to take more interest in her appearance as she entered teenagehood. Her family were not particularly conservative, by their own description. Aarushi had a boyfriend and often spoke to him over the phone. She had been talking to him on the phone on the days preceeding her death as well as for 30 minutes at 9pm on 15/05/08.
Aarushi was conceived through IVF. She was an only child and of busy parents and often went to bed late after reading her books and chatting with friends. She had her own mobile and loved to take photos of herself. She did well at school, and appeared your typical, happy teenage girl with everything going for her.
Aarushi was discovered in her bed with a fatal skull fracture and a slit throat. A few days after the decomposing body of Hemraj, the household servant, was found concealed on the rooftop terrace. Aarushi's parents Rajesh and Nupur Talwar claimed innocence and were acquitted of murder charges less that 4 years into their sentence. The other known suspects were never convicted due to lack of evidence.
Her parents allegedly discovered her and the exact events of the night are disputed and hard to corroborate. This is due investigation was bungled from the start by lazy and inexperienced police work. A scene was not established at the earliest opportunity, and vital forensic samples were not recovered.
The parents alleged never hearing anything during the night, despite their bedroom being nextdoor to Aarushis. They claimed a loud AC unit masked all outside sound.
There are multiple allegations of tampering with the crime scene by the parents of Aarushi, whom invited over neighbours and family in the immediate aftermath of the supposed discovery of Aarushi's murder. In addition there were multiple calls between the parents and their relative whom was ex-police. In the days following the murder and accusations that were influencing the post-mortem report in order for any references to sexual assault be removed.
At every step of the investigation there were frustrations and twists.
Questions
There were multiple law enforcement teams investigating the murders at different points. Their conclusions pointed to the parents or associates of Hemraj. The Noida police, UP police, and CBI all investigated.
There are a lot of theories as to what happened. I have found myself reflecting on certain facts/points rather than formulating a brand new theory.
16 years in there is likely to never be any fresh evidence to examine.
Aarushi

• What was the exact nature of the injuries to her neck and head? Hemraj too?
• Were the crush injuries caused by golf clubs?
• What sort of blade was used to cut the neck of her and Hemraj?
• Why was there another ladys/girls DNA found on her?
• Was Luminol used in the scene to look for blood spatter?
• Whose blood was in the terrace and area leading up to it?
  Aarushi's camera
  She was gifted this on the night of the murder. It was an early birthday present. It was found to have over a dozen images deleted.
  
• What photos were deleted? Was any recovery possible?
  
• Did Aarushi or anyone else take indecent or incriminating photos?
  
• Gift giving signifies an emotional high- and with highs come lows. Was there an incident that happened that incurred an extreme negative emotional response from Rajesh and Nupur against Aarushi?
  Aarushi's phone
  
• How far away was it discovered from their apartment?
  
• Had it been hidden away inside the flat and not taken outside until a number of days after the murder?
  
• What was Aarushi's last activity on the phone? Cell records?
  
• Why did she not reply to Anmol, her boyfriend, when he called around midnight? Was she dead by then?
  Aarushi's friends
  
• What did they know about Aarushi's relationship with her family and Hemraj?
  
• Did she tell them anything?
  Hemraj
  
• How exactly long had he not been paid/sent back money to his family?
  
• Did Hemraj know something he shouldn't have?
  
• Why did he not eat dinner the night of his murder?
  
• Why did Hemraj report being in fear of his life?
  
• What clear evidence was there, if any, of company in his room that night?
  
• Why was Hemraj killed in the same manner as Aarushi?
  
• Whose hair was found in his mouth? Was it Rajesh's?
  Rajesh and Nupur
  
• Why did they not call the police?
  
• As dentists and people of science why were they destroying evidence at scene by introducing contamination?
  
• They blamed the police for not collecting evidence but still ruined the scene themselves?
  
• Why did they have such a short grieving period with Aarushi's body before cremation and cleaning the apartment?
  
• Why did they immediately accuse Hemraj of the murder?
  
• As usually late risers, why were they awake in the first place when they discovered Aarushi dead?
  
• Why did Nupur throw the keys down to Bharati for the doors when Nupur already knew the doors to the apartment could be opened from both sides?
  
• Are the couple hiding facts because they want to preserve the honour of Aarushi?
  
• Why were they talking back and forth with their ex-police relative and well connected people in the aftermath of the murder?
  
• Why were they so quick to move on?
  
• Why were they talking so much to the media?
  
• Why did Rajesh offer a reward for Hemraj after the police finally came? Did he not check where Hemraj was after discovering Aarushi dead?
  
• Why did Rajesh never give the keys when asked for the Terrace?
  Crime scene
  
• Why was the body of Aarushi staged and dressed after the murder?
  
• Where were the golf clubs usually kept? It's alleged they matched the injury shapes on the victims. So did Rajesh keep them in his room?
  
• Who was the first victim? Who was the intended victim?
  
• Why was Hemraj's body concealed? Why would a stranger conceal his body?
  
• There were no obvious signs of struggle in the apartment and terrace. There were no bruises reported in the autopsy. Does this suggest the victims knew the murderes and did not fight back?
  
• Why did the Talwars seem okay with dumping the mattress of Aarushi on the neighbours roof?
  Motive
  
• Why would a third party go to the lengths of dressing up the scene and concealing evidence?
  
• There was nothing reported stolen. The only known things missing were the phones of Aarushi and Hemraj. If an outsider murdered them then why kill only two but spare the parents?
  
• Was Aarushi killed by Hemraj's associates after a serial assault and then her body was cleaned by her parents?
  
• Why were the parents spared then?
  I believe these questions may never be satisfactorily answered. My personal view is that this was a set of murders committed by the parents. Why? Perhaps honor based killing in a fit of rage after discovering Aarushi and/or Hemraj in circumstances the parents found unforgiveable. Why? Because an outsider would not dress up Aarushi or go to the lengths of concealing Hemraj on the terrace.
  RIP Aarushi and Hemraj
  Thanks for reading.
  https://allthatsinteresting.com/aarushi-talwar
  

I will continue to update this post as reviews come in.
Rotten Tomatoes: Rotten
Critics Consensus: N/A

	Score	Number of Reviews	Average Rating
All Critics	47%	19	4.70/10
Top Critics	50%	10	4.70/10

Metacritic: 63 (13 Reviews)
Sample Reviews:
Megalopolis is anything but lazy, and while so many of the ideas don’t pan out as planned, this is the kind of late-career statement devotees wanted from the maverick, who never lost his faith in cinema. - Peter Debruge, Variety
I can’t say I was always engaged over its two hours-plus run time, but I was always curious about where it was going next. Is it a good movie? Not by a long stretch. But it’s not one that can be easily dismissed, either. - David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter
Once you let go of the understandable dream of Coppola returning with another masterpiece, there is much to enjoy in Megalopolis, especially its cast members, leaning into their moments with an abandon that was probably a job requirement. - Joshua Rothkopf, Los Angeles Times
This is a passion project without passion: a bloated, boring and bafflingly shallow film, full of high-school-valedictorian verities about humanity’s future. 2/5 - Peter Bradshaw, Guardian
This is 138 stultifying minutes of ill-conceived themes, half-finished scenes, nails-along-the-blackboard performances, word-salad dialogue and ugly visuals all seemingly in search of a story that isn’t there. 1/5 - Kevin Maher, Times (UK)
This is the junkiest of junk-drawer movies, a slapped together hash of Coppola’s many disparate inspirations. What really tanks the movie, though, is its datedness. - Richard Lawson, Vanity Fair
It is exactly the movie that Coppola set out to make -- uncompromising, uniquely intellectual, unabashedly romantic, broadly satirical yet remarkably sincere about wanting not just brave new worlds but better ones. - David Fear, Rolling Stone
Megalopolis might be the craziest thing I’ve ever seen. And I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy every single batshit second of it. - Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine/Vulture
Megalopolis is stymied by arbitrary plotting and numbing excess. One can feel Coppola’s anger and sorrow over the decline of his beloved America, but narrative coherence is far less apparent. - Tim Grierson, Screen International
With Megalopolis, [Francis Ford Coppola] crams 85 years worth of artistic reverence and romantic love into a clunky, garish, and transcendently sincere manifesto about the role of an artist at the end of an empire. B+ - David Ehrlich, indieWire
SYNOPSIS:
Megalopolis is a Roman Epic fable set in an imagined Modern America. The City of New Rome must change, causing conflict between Cesar Catilina, a genius artist who seeks to leap into a utopian, idealistic future, and his opposition, Mayor Franklyn Cicero, who remains committed to a regressive status quo, perpetuating greed, special interests, and partisan warfare. Torn between them is socialite Julia Cicero, the mayor’s daughter, whose love for Cesar has divided her loyalties, forcing her to discover what she truly believes humanity deserves.
CAST:

• Adam Driver as Cesar Catilina
• Giancarlo Esposito as Mayor Franklyn Cicero
• Nathalie Emmanuel as Julia Cicero
• Aubrey Plaza as Wow Platinum
• Shia LaBeouf as Clodio Pulcher
• Jon Voight as Hamilton Crassus III
• Jason Schwartzman as Jason Zanderz
• Talia Shire as Constance Crassus Catilina
• Grace VanderWaal as Vesta Sweetwater
• Laurence Fishburne as Fundi Romaine
• Kathryn Hunter as Teresa Cicero
• Dustin Hoffman as Nush "The Fixer" Berman

DIRECTED BY: Francis Ford Coppola
WRITTEN BY: Francis Ford Coppola
PRODUCED BY: Francis Ford Coppola, Michael Bederman, Barry Hirsch
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Darren M. Demetre. Anahid Nazarian, Barrie M. Osborne, Fred Roos
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Mihai Mălaimare Jr.
PRODUCTION DESIGNER: Beth Mickle, Bradley Rubin
EDITED BY: Cam McLauchlin, Glen Scantlebury
MUSIC BY: Osvaldo Golijov
COSTUME DESIGNER: Milena Canonero
CASTING BY: Courtney Bright, Nicole Daniels
RUNTIME: 138 Minutes
RELEASE DATE: N/A

1. I recieved a cease and desist letter and it says I cannot even talk against my former employer and their practices or employee even Verbally.
2. I am a US citizen and isn't this against my Freedom of Speech ?
3. As far I remember I have not signed any agreement with my former employer.
4. They even promised they will add my daughter on insurance but after they terminated me I was slapped with $1600 doctors bill as they now saying I did not follow IRS guidelines of letting company know within a month. Even insurance company said I can still have my daughter added in back dated. Full discrimination against US citizen and employers are relaxed.
5. I sent an email to them asking for my service letter and I have not heard back from them yet and I guess I won't.

I am from North Carolina, USA and my only question is what is Freedom of Speech. If anyone is asking me about my former employer should I just stay quite ?

Many thanks to u/LieutenantRayne for helping my learn about the DLC through their guides.
What you'll get from this guide: Great economy, great living standards, victory in Verdosam, a new alliance with Derdia and Morella, a new wife (the inferior romance choice but alas), a new heir, reunification of the peninsula without war (no torturing Axel, sad!), the grace of god and ultimate political power.
Achievements you'll get: Prologue, chapter stuff, Great Unification, Intermekopum alliance, Wruceh's Second Coming, True Master of Crisis (unsure about that one), Glovurius axa Rizia axa Pales, The Prince, Fall from GRACE, Domineering, Mine All Mine, Ready To Love Again, Case Closed, My Rule Continues, Game Of Spoons or Two Birds for Beatrice, So It Is and Make Yourself Great Again.
Notes: Be polite even to your enemies and say Halaita alot.
PROLOGUE - Visit family in Zille, close friebds with Pabel, university (+1B), crackdown on traitors (+1A), rebuild (+1B), truly love your wife, family got in the way of work, vacation with wife and daughter, solace in faith, meet duke and agree with him, lie to dad, don't tell anything to your father, gold and tax focus (+2B and +1B per turn). Absolutism, Diversify (+1B), Third Way and no military spending (+1B).
TURN 1: A(8/+3) B(11/+6) E(3/+1).
Decrees=> Sovereign Transition and Clemency (-1A), Raise base income tax (-2A, +1B per turn), Geological Survey (-2A, -2B), Zpana Dam (-2A, -5B, 4T to complete, +3E per turn on completion) and Expand Esqiris Gas Field (-1A, -3B, 3T to complete, +2E per turn on completion).
Events=> No speech at coronation, allow vina in the council, small parade at Port Drazon, host concert (-1B), no sanctuaries restoration :( and football auto-skips due to lack of budget.
TURN 2: A(3/+3) B(7/+7) E(4/+1).
Decrees=> Housing for the poor (-1A, -1B) and Build Qalus Gold Mine (-1A ,-3B).
Events=> Oil dries up, trade talks with Sordland (invite Elena): Accept alcohol deal "is there a way to rephrase this?" accept resort deal "less gaudy", investigate dad's death thanks to Pabel (leave him out of the suspects), donate to Arufelde (-1B, makes dealing with Morella easier), build statues of all the family (-1B, +1A), in the hunt go with Hugo but tell him Vina and Rico are cousins after that go back with your daughter, ignore commie propaganda (we need to get in Hegel's good side) and be polite with Smolak regime.
TURN 3: A(5/+3) B(8/+7) E(4/+0).
Decrees=> Monqiz Port and Naval Expansion (-1A, -3B, 2T to complete, -1E per turn on completion) and Sallabes Consumer Park (-2A, -2B, 2T to complete, -1E per turn on completion).
Events=> Fund Golden Guard and focus on Su Omina (-3B), denounce Su Omina, accept Rumburg MAXIMUM energy deal (-3E, +2B and -2E per turn), deny police transfer to idiot Rico, tell manus to fuck off and don't let him dance with Vina, allow safe passage for Goldoncondists, rizz Lucita up (grab ger hand, don't le go etc) and refuse deal with Rusty but have lunch with him.
TURN 4: A(6/+4) B(9/+9) E(0/+0).
Decrees=> Build Tank Factory (-3A, -4B/ ONLY AFTER WINE TRADE SOARS!!!)
Events=> Disperse protests by force (+1A), Pales Stuff: Say u wanna talk to Axel and DON'T initiate blockade - Say to him to keep the field in exchange for something, "don't let hostility colour the negotiations", "predecessors were out of line", "caught between superpowers", "how big of a parachute?" - Pay what he asks and tell him about your daughter (-5B, -3B per turn and +3E per turn later), send 500 equipment abd 50 support vehicles to Verdosam, tell Alvarez to fuck off - at the AN meeting: don't interrupt Smolak, applaud him politely, don't applaud Lespia, don't confront Hegel, Speech: "Honor to adress assembly", focus on unity, Smolak is being understandable and you'll count with his transparency, "Morella looking is east is understandable", offer help to Morella, say a compromise with religious travellers is possible, "regarding Pales", "golden age" and "end cycle of violence" - attend H.o.D and give rights to all workers (-2B, -1B per turn, industrial power weakened), NO Wehlen cooperation (We won't get Smolak in the alliance but he's an asshole anyways), wine trade soars (+2B) - Wine Event Speech: "fruits of our lands", "yes, even Sords", "doubts about stability", "with your help", "proud son of Valenqiris", "richly rewarded", "rise a glass to a reunited Rizia" and "you're here to drink wine" - Invite Lucita to open the bottle, rizz her up, say good night to staff, play drinking game (No Pablo), get something to wrong to gwt drunk, say you're lonely. If things goes right Lucita will knock on your door and have sex with you,. Sordland Investment auto-skips (no money).
TURN 5: A(8/+4) B(5/+5) E(0/+1)
Decrees=> Build Military Eq. Factory (-1A, -2B), Build Support Vehicles Factory (-2A, -3B), Sell 1st Batch of Military Eq. (+2B/ immediatly AFTER football auto-skips AKA after Hegel's Call) and enforce Wruceh education (-3A).
Events=> Agreement with Wehlen: *Import Oil and Medicine, *Export Wine and Small Arms, *Aid against BFF, *Ban Bluds and *Grant Wehzeks equal rights to work. Fund no organization in Zille, continue investigating Du Omina (-1A) and ask about Iza and give control to Lucita, tell Titus to look into Hugo, Football auto-skips :), complain to Hegel about the late hour so you can cut Lespia out for ships, be polite to Alma and DON'T eat the cookies (they're horrible), tell her about spliting Lespia's shares 50-50 between you and Morella, at plane - Speak with Derdia, Energy Agreement and Pollution reparations (-1B/ Make sure to do this in the plane to get the toy bird), Vina diplomatic envoy, send sordish tourists back home, Gas Field meeting - Tell Vina to be diplomatic envoy, "Absolutely not!", "single", "handsome" - Scrap Boat (-1A).
TURN 6: A(4/+3) B(8/+7) E(4/+4).
Decrees=> Enact investment in Public Transport (-2A, -3B, 1E/ FIRST THING TO DO AT THE START OF THE TURN! If u don't u get transport crisis), Excavation of Topes (-2A, -2B, 2T to complete) and Medium Energy Sale (-3E, +2B/ AFTER council meeting to avoid energy crisis - always one step ahead of Torpor).
Events=> Massive Global Media Campaign (-3B/ SUPER IMPORTANT!), send 1 infantry div. to confederacy, DON'T start war, Axel talk - Shake hand, don't interrupt, "peace", "peaceful resolution", let soldiers leave immediatly, "i do not underestimate the gravity", "what would we gain?", "I'm starting to suspect that", "someone else", "Lespia", "this is precisely the point", "why wouldn't he?" and "anything for peace"(-1B), sign paper and talk about cooperation and friendship (+6E, +6E per turn).
TURN 7: A(3/+3) B(8/+8) E(13/+7)
Decrees=> Abolish Blasphemy Law(-3A/ SUPER IMPORTANT).
Events=> Invite Sal to H.o.D, don't fund Zille, Grand Wiseman Talks - Let Titus fight don't talk to him or interrupt him, Trade deal (-2E, +2E per turn) and mediation with Morella - Send 1 ship and 1 sub to confederacy, Hugo will tell Toras are happy, order Manus arrest, rid Rico of his title put Iza under your control, tell Hugo you're but that's it, improve enviroment (-3B), Azaros and Lucita will be happy, go to private lounge with her.
TURN 8: A(6/+7) B(16/+9) E(13/0).
Decrees=> Increase Health and Education Funds (-2A, -3B), Tenant Protection Laws (-2A, -1B), Remove Provincial Police and Levy Obligation (-8A, -2B/ SUPER IMPORTANT/ Do it AFTER meditation investment/ U get enough authority for it through the dissolution of the H.o.D) and Small Energy Sale (-1E, +1B/ Necessary to remove Provincial Levy Obligation).
Events=> Host banquets to celebrate victory (+2A,-2B,+2B per turn), don't reveal Lespia evil doings to the world, be polite to drunk Alvarez and reveal the your findings at the end of the conversation so he can offer a deal to arrest Rusty - take it, arrest Rusty, nationalize his assets by buying shares (-2B), invest in renewable energy (-3B), welcome brave sailors back home, invest 1A in Derdia-Morella talks (SUPER IMPORTANT), close H.o.D (+A), -3B for Intermekopum, (SUPER IMPORTANT) , Smolak will ask the AN for a referendum, AN Stuff - Vote Nay to island claim, interrupt smolak bullshit speech, in your own speech talk about the importance of treaties, how bad people are treated by Wehlen, how Wehlen doesn't respect democracy and that Weheln wants to stela land, if done correctly AN will vote against referendum and you'll get Zille back (hooray!) - Talk to Vina about marriage with Axel respect her but tell this is the best for Rizia - she'll say yes :) - don't give ring her so u can give to Lucita, marry Lucita through Sal, be polite at the weeding and reveal your own with Lucita (Taddeus Azaro will have an orgasm).
TURN 9: A(9/+9) B(11/+10) E(12/-1)
Decrees=> lower conscription to 18 (-2A, -2B, +1000 men) and Launch Anti-Narcotis Campaign (-1A, -1B/ reduces tourism and doesn't last. Now is the best time).
Events=> Derdia-Morella Talks: offer -250 men, vote yes to new MITZ, offer -5E for Intermekopum (alliance formed +10A), Accept aid from Valgsland (+2B), leave Grace (middle finger if Sordland Save or correct spoon shit), Zille is returned! Give it to yourself (Great Living Standards + Cucked Sazons = No unrest), Wruceh Guardians (-1B) and Pales Unification Plans (-2B).
TURN 10: A(15/+19) B(17/+9) E(8/+1).
Decrees=> Expanded Border Guards (-2A, -1B/ Now because it reduces tourism and it's one less red modifier).
Events=> In the meeting with Titus say Luciat is innocent, declare that Hugo is guilty but just keep an eye on him (he's loyal and much better than his smooth-brained son), execute Manus and Rusty for all to see, drink with Axel and reassure that palensians will be respected, declare Theocracy, make your son the heir to get achievement and Azaros on thw jubilee, finally, enjoy becoming Rizia's Lisan Al Gaib and lead your people to paradise.
Hope you enjoyed the guide! I might make one for a reformist + Pabel romance run. No promises though.

I’ve been struggling for a long time with my mother-in-law’s social media. She often uses it as a way to attack anyone who thinks/feels differently than her. She calls people libtards, praises the idea that women should just be moms, says racists things, and hateful speech towards LGBTIQA+. Is very ugly towards progressive Christianity- saying you’re loving people to hell. It makes me so mad but I feel I can’t play victim card because I keep looking at her stuff instead of just ignoring it. When I was in my 20s I once got into an argument trying to stand up for others and she said I was loving people to hell. She also started reposting the verse Matthew 18:6 “if anyone one causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea” When we were supportive of her daughter coming out.
I have two kids now- age 4 and 5. I worry about them forming a close relationship and then feeling all this shame from her if they don’t turn out how “she wants them to.” My husband enjoys being around them because they are very kind in person. He also works for them and they’ve provided the family with a lot of money and it feels like a power dynamic is happening. Anywho; I always feel torn. I want to love them and have peace in the family, but I get so scared for my kids and don’t want them affected by this stuff when they get older. I also don’t think it’s fair that I go looking at this stuff either- if I wasn’t looking at her profile- I wouldn’t know. I guess I’m wondering what would you do? Should I got to therapy? I went for two years and had made progress but I don’t know how much I can do without my husband also being on board with how to handle our kids and how much they see them. I sometimes want to not go on trips but then I worry about not being there to protect my kids. I want to be a loving mom and make sure they don’t feel shame from their grandmother. I also want to support my husband in his relationship with his parents. But I also feel incredibly angry and upset by all the hate speech.

Hi everyone, My daughter is 3.5 months. She’s been a very good eater since birth. 3-4 days ago she got a cold and had fever for 2 days. First day was quite high but it went back to normal quite quickly. We went to the ped and he took a blood sample: no bacteria. I gave her panadol for the fever and she is fine now. No fever. But today she ate very poorly, has been super fussy, chewing on her mouth all day but she napped well in the morning. I dont know what the issue is but i am worried that she didnt eat enough. I tried different bottles, different nipples. She starts feeding, seems hungry and then stops and cries. I checked her gum to see if she started teething but it’s difficult to tell. She doesnt look or sound congested, she’s been sucking on the pacifier just fine. I just dont know what the problem is. Did this happen to anyone? Thank you 🙏🙏