It’d be nice to stop swimming against the current trying to prove oneself to people, trying to impress them, avoid hurting their feelings with words that barely scratch the surface to begin with… it’d be refreshing to let down one’s guard, take off the shield and blow the lid off.
I am looking for someone to do just that with, and if you are too then let’s get down to business and plot to overthrow the patriarchy over discord chat.
About me: I am a bookworm and movies enthusiast. I like walking and often alone, I like card games, I also give up on sleep to watch UFC and forget all reason when following soccer. I smoke weed occasionally, have tried LSD before and would love get my hands on shrooms. I have been told that I am a sagittarius sun, cancer moon, scorpio rising for the astrology enthusiasts out there. I strive to be kind and when I can’t I’d hope to be tolerant, I am quiet but love making people laugh. Physically: I am a tomboy, septum, tattoo I am only attracted to mascs so if you are wave at me in a DM.

You’re a damn fool, you know that?”, said Gemeti.
After they arrived at the palace, Lord Gyholt’s servants showed them to their quarters where they would stay with the Fursaglan lord’s own staff. It was a spacious set of rooms, whitewashed walls and a light breeze gliding in from the outside bringing in the awful smell of the city’s smoke. They seemed nice enough though there was no way to communicate anything to them since neither group knew the other’s tongue. Gemeti took a reluctant Ettu away from the main group to chastise her in a corner of the room.
Ettu sighed heavily, “Yes, I know. You’ve done nothing but tell me since I joined Lord Palanu’s service. He can punish me if he wants to. That Marhuk’s smile and laughter would be worth every bit of misery”. She could still picture that beautiful smile he had that made her heart skip a beat.
The other woman put her fists in her hips, “What would your mother say about this?”.
Ettu laughed, “She would hand me a flask of animal fat”.
Gemeti blushed and sucked in her breath in irritation before throwing her head back in a guffaw. That’s when Ettu knew she had her. Her mother always told her to win people over with a smile and a jest and ever since it had worked like a charm and got her out of trouble many times. The other woman stopped suddenly when she realized she was loud enough to draw the gaze of several of the other servants but then giggled more quietly with Ettu.
The giggling was cut short when a Fursaglan servant hurriedly entered the room and closed the door behind him. He leaned against the door as if bracing himself to prevent anyone else from coming in.
One of the other Fursaglan servants walked up to him and asked a question. Before he could answer, a sword ran through his back and out of his stomach and spat blood out. The worried man screamed and coughed blood as the door hinges broke and the door itself crushed him. Through the door, came a man in silver armor, other armed men behind him. The warrior was big and muscular which left Ettu in no doubt that he broke the door down by himself. He hacked down the inquisitive servant, killing him with two blows to the head.
One woman belted out an ear splitting scream, cut short by the murderer’s quick dash towards her, ramming his obsidian sword through her heart. Another woman began running for the window which led the others to do the same. More assailants filtered in, slashing at more men and women and creating a pool of gore and guts.
“Oh fuck!”, said Ettu.
Gemeti took her hand and pulled her away from the bloodshed and into the window. But all the servants rushed through at the same time, leaving none of them free to jump out. Hemmed in to one side of the room, they made it easier for the warriors to cut them down.
Gemeti’s face was struck with horror, “Gods! They killed them. Just slashed them like lumberjacks at a forest”.
The first intruder cleaved her head off with his already gory sword. The warrior had been sawing off another servant’s arm when he saw her with an almost feral expression on his face and jumped at her. Blood flew at Ettu’s face, a gasp all that escaped her. She never had it in her to scream but that didn’t mean she wasn’t scared.
Piss slithered down her legs as she knelt before him, “Please don’t kill me. I don’t want to die”, with hands held up as if she could stop a sword swing.
The warrior smiled at her fear, enjoying every second of it. Through his grin he said with a thick accent, “Die, Aroloth”.
Suddenly, one of her hands turned bright green. A sharp pain surged through her arm and manifested itself in a lance of fire, blasting from her palm and into the murderer’s chest. He fell down, never knowing what killed him.
At the north wing of the palace, Lord Gyholt was gesturing at his Sentinels, barking out orders and cursing at his manservant to put the armor on faster. He had men watch the windows to gauge the enemy numbers and servants cowering at a corner. Meanwhile, Palanu calmly ran an oilcloth along his khopesh and swung it around to test it amidst all the chaos in the room. Two of his guards flanking him.
“Asula! Go with Mazni and his brothers. By Crudas! Where’s Marhuk?”, said Gyholt as he swore by the Fursaglan god of warriors.
The throne room was a cream-colored, marble representation of Fursagla’s history with intricately etched bass reliefs of the Eagle Kings and their households. The images were everywhere, in each floor tile, round pillar, step in the dais, and the very throne itself. The whole place seemed to burst with reminders of Fursagla’s martial glory as if a man might quickly forget it.
“What’s the best route to the barracks?”, asked the Aroloth lord.
Gyholt shooed his manservant away once he was done, “What? You mean to go out there? Wait for me and my Sentinels. We can go out together to rescue your men”.
A man’s howl of pain took both lords’ attention. One of the watchers was pierced with an arrow in the clavicle. A warrior climbed in through the window as the watcher sobbed at his pain, the sobbing man grew quiet as a sword thrust to the temple ended him. More assailants entered, killing another watcher with a spear through the skull.
Immediately the Sentinels ran to their lord in a wall of bronze and hides and slammed their shields into the ground with an intimidating, “Huh!”. The enemies quickly swarmed the room, tearing arms and slashing necks all the while of any man not behind the Sentinels or Palanu and his guards. One assailant in particular wore Dendra armor and a plumed helmet with cheek pieces and a grim smile plastered on his face.
“Gojan”, said Lord Gyholt.
“Gyholt”, said Gojan son of Asgena.
“Where’s your father? If we could get to him then we can end all this senseless violence and make amends”, said the Fursaglan lord.
The nobleman sneered, “What makes you think we’re stupid enough to believe that?”.
“You were stupid enough to attack my palace”, retorted the former rebel.
The younger man snarled and shouted an order to attack. His men charged, bringing to bear wrathful blows and glory-hounding sprints. Palanu and his two guards (Sylon and Naru-zim) braced for impact, holding khopeshs and tower-like shields except for the Aroloth lord.
Even with the lack of shield, Palanu held his khopesh before him, giving vicious strokes with its hungry edge to the first man that faced him. The warrior had barely grown his chin hairs when he threw himself at the noble with wide eyes and panicky spear thrusts. The khopesh darted out and banged against his copper helmet. While his opponent was dazed, Palanu quickly reversed his grip and hooked the young man’s shield, pulling him away from his companions as if a babe from a nest of vipers. Only the babe landed in a nest of cobras. Once he stole away the shield, the Aroloth pushed the tip of his sword through his gullet and tore it out with a strip of flesh dangling in the hilt. The fight lasted less than two seconds.
The room became a cauldron of action as men on both sides jabbed and pushed each other, a red flood spilling into the floor. In the midst of this battle, Gojan saw Palanu’s prowess with his khopesh. After killing his first opponent, the lord let the next man come only to hack him down with equal vigor. His beautiful, sky blue sleeves became drenched in crimson blood, spit adorned his forehead, fire burned behind his eyes.
The magma in his veins coursed through his body, his whole world narrowed down to his blade and his next victim. He killed them all, the ugly, the beautiful, the sad, and the happy. Gojan watched it all traverse before him. With greedy determination, he pushed past his men to get to the Aroloth lord.
“AROLOTH!”, he bawled.
Sylon saw him first whilst his lord slew yet another traitor and bellowed out a war cry to call him out. The Fursaglan noble fixed his eyes on the bronze-armored guard and stomped towards him, bashing the heads of the remnants of the fighting men still not in formation, chunks of brain-matter and skull-bone flew up and rained down, adding to the collage of death unleashed by Asgena.
Sylon’s khopesh wove a tapestry of slaughter as he ended the lives of men who stood between him and Gojan. There was no speech by either man like in the songs, no ceremonies like in Strohinite duels or war dances like in the Demon Isles, just the fight. Mace met khopesh, stone against bronze. The bronze-armored man expected to get a few chips off his opponent’s weapon but had realized it was spell-bound. Gojan grinned nastily as he belted out an animal growl that caused it to glow a deep purple and they clashed again.
The blade juddered and nearly leapt from Sylon’s grasp this time, but he bit his tongue in determination and his knuckles whitened as he tightened his grip. The mace spat lightning and hissed with every touch. Another series of clashes pelted Sylon’s khopesh with many notches. Battle-madness held him, veins popped out along his hands and forehead. The Fursaglan noble lost his grin and sweat beaded his brow as he only barely swept aside yet another lunge from the guard.
Though he was an expert warrior trained from birth, Gojan only ever fought against peasants in the battlefield. Unbeknownst to him, Sylon was as blueblooded as he was and was considered gifted for his young age. When the son of Asgena realized the man wasn’t going down, he grew desperate, driving harder swings into his opponent and expending more of his strength.
Sylon realized this and simply let his shield take the beating. The cured hides blackened and light wisps of smoke rose from the places the Fursaglan bashed with his mace. The Aroloth man’s muscles jolted, the slight twinge of fear that belied his defence fueling his every move and stratagem. With a twist of wrist, the mace slid by and took the Fursaglan’s momentum with it. Out balanced and out maneuvered, Gojan was at the mercy of Sylon’s blade. The tortured khopesh sank deep with a vengeance between shoulder and neck.
Nerveless fingers dropped the mace, the deep purple glow dissolving into thin air. The noble warrior himself staring at the ground with glazed eyes and dripping blood. Sylon slid the khopesh out and much of his neck with it. Before the body dropped on the floor, the guardsman yelled out, “For the Emperor!”, as he awaited the next foe.
Naru-zim fought methodically, cold calculation and ruthless determination guiding his strikes and parries. Both khopesh and shield were trained for offense and defense and narrow was the window which a man could strike true against a foe like him. Nary a flinch shook him from his deep concentration from the killing, slicing flesh with a butcher’s precision and sending souls to the River Vim which was his people’s concept of the afterlife. He made no war cry, he let his blade do the talking. And it sang a bloody chorus as men fell like trees in a logging camp. After his last swing felled another man, he noticed the rest of the traitors were retreating with tails between their legs. Cowards, he thought. A man should stand and fight until his lifeblood oozed from him.
Palanu wiped his khopesh in the cleaner parts of his clothing, “Peace be with you”, he said to the dead men who were his victims.
“They were traitors to our God, Lord Palanu. No men are less deserving of mercy as these”, said Naru-zim as he stabbed a groaning traitor and left him in a pool of his own blood.
“Mercy is a gift of the righteous, my friend. A man is not judged more than when he has the upper hand”.
Naru-zim bowed at his lord politely before he turned a corpse over and pushed his khopesh into its neck. When Sylon strayed from them to kill more of the wounded, he barked out, “Sylon! What are you doing?”.
The other guard turned to him, “What do you think? Killing the enemy”.
Naru-zim screwed up his face in anger, “Our job’s to protect Lord Palanu not running off after the enemy”.
“How else do you protect him if not by killing the enemy?”, said Sylon, flabbergasted.
“Enough, both of you”, growled Palanu, “Like a pair of old wives, you are. We are still in the presence of Lord Gyholt and his Sentinels. Don’t shame the Emperor’s name”.
The two guards muttered their apologies and Sylon jogged back to Palanu’s side.
Lord Palanu approached Lord Gyholt and gave him an apologetic smile, “Please forgive the disgrace you witnessed, my lord. My men are… young and untested in the realm of manners and discipline”.
The Fursaglan lord nodded in understanding, “They are like brothers. I’m certain it is merely their eagerness to serve”.
Palanu nodded thankfully yet in the back of his head he was disappointed. ‘All my life I’ve heard of the many glorious deeds of the guardians of the God. I never pictured them bickering amongst themselves’.

If you haven't read the first one I recommend you do. https://www.reddit.com/Advice/comments/1d61yop/pt_1_how_do_i_make_this_better_between_me_and_my/
I don't know if I'm writing a 3 rd one I am drained and tired from crying a little
Second thing
She thinks I put other people over her and I know exactly what she means also. She thinks that I put my family back in the Bahamas over the family I have over here aka my sisters and my cousin. She thinks that I would put someone over them, which wouldn't wouldn't. The main thing with this conflict that she's always bringing up is that she thinks I love my grandmother more than her. Is that true, well yeah I think so. My grandmother is more caring and my grandmother is 71. My mother's point for this is that she carried me for 9 months and she pushed me out saying that because of that she should be the number one woman in my life. Don't get me wrong I love my mother I can't abandon her, but she has to realize I love my grandmother so dam much she is the most important woman if not the most important. I have a connection with her I don't have with my mother yet because my grandmother raised me with my dad's side of the family most of my life. She has to realize my grandmother is 71 and as much as I hate to say it I don't have that much time with my grandmother. As writing this I tearing up a little but it's true. She was soon dead and gone I will never hear her voice talking to me again dawg and that hurt. I have already come to terms with it because that's life and I have to deal with it no matter what. I ain't ready for her to leave me and honestly, when she goes I don't know what ima do. But what I'm trying to say is I can't put her over my grandmother who raised me, don't feel like that right to my grandmother and to my grandmother's family who invested so much in me. I feel like just because she doesn't my mother doesn't mean I can't put her above my grandmother.
She always used the point that a couple of days ago when I got a new PC and it wasn't working I asked my mom's best friend's husband (who we call uncle and I will continue to say that to make it easier) to see if he could help me because he has a masters in IT and studied it. While my stepdad's dad doesn't have a masters in IT and mostly did Law he didn't even finish his law degree. So let me ask you this who would you ask for help? I called my uncle and he came and he told me he couldn't figure out what was wrong with it and returned it to get my money back. What my mom told me is that my stepdad was upset because I didn't ask him to help me first, when he was probably going to tell me he didn't know and I would've been in the same spot as before. She said even though my uncle studied IT I should've asked my stepdad. For what to waste time? I went with the most logical thing and called my uncle. Why would I go to my stepdad who was probably going to tell me that he didn't know what the problem was and to go ahead and call my uncle? My mom said that I still should've asked him and let him help me because I might have hurt his feelings.
Honestly, guys while growing up with my grandmother my uncle always taught me to make the best decisions that make the most sense, and not waste my time. Forget about people's feelings and get done what I need to get done. I am sorry if it hurt my stepdad's feelings but I didn't want to waste my time getting nowhere.
Back to my family troubles. My mom was telling me I needed to step up because my older sister who is the oldest wasn't in the right head space all she cared about was the man. She said I must always help my sisters and be there for them and she said if I'm getting food (With the money my grandmotheuncle gives me) I should ask my sisters if they want food as well and let them say no. As much as I agree with what she's saying. What if they say yes and I have no money to get one of my sisters something?
She said that I must use my money to go and get food for all of them if I have the money. Keep in mind my second youngest sister who is going into 11th grade, my cousin and my older sisters smoke and vape, and my grandmother sends 20$ for them sometimes so they don't have to ask me for money.
My sisters still spend it on vapes to smoke and I must still buy them food. My mother doesn't know but my stepdad does he doesn't want to tell my mother because she blows everything out of proportion, but I want all to know if I order food and my sisters want some I would give it to them because at the end of the day its just food. I don't understand why she brings it up every time.
Again y'all I just don't know what to do I'm out of all options and I'm just tired.

As the title says, the last three months have been miserable, and I've been smoking weed every day like a degenerate stoner. It all started when my closest friend (23F), let's call her N, in university asked us to be more than friends (she just went for the kiss, and I let her, to be honest). I'll admit I had a bit of a crush on her too, but it wasn't to the extent where it could have hurt me if I hadn't allowed those feelings to grow.
A little bit of context: N and I met at our part-time job. For whatever reason, she just started hanging out with me at least twice a week. When I met her, it was my first year in university, and I was basically all alone in a new city, living completely on my own for the first time (I am 21 now). None of my close friends from high school had decided to start university (very normal in my country, Scandinavian laziness, I guess), and admittedly, I'm not very good at making new friends (I relied pretty much on my best friend for breaking the ice as I was always the quiet one, and he was the talker). So for her to be so outgoing and ask me to hang out all the time definitely felt like a gift from the universe.
She was also so much different from all the other people in my life. I don't think I would have ever become friends with her if she didn't try. We don't study the same things, listen to the same kind of music, or even have any hobbies in common, other than drinking/partying (if you can even call that a hobby—it's more like ritualistic self-destruction with the purpose of being back to 100% after the weekend, which is very normal here). But she would still always ask to hang out. She would talk about her day, and I would talk about mine. We gave each other advice, etc. Pretty standard stuff.
Except she had these habits that were kinda cool, like how she was extremely generous (she would always pay for random shit and insist that I don't pay, but I would always just take the bill somewhere else so we were kept even). I get that for a lot of people, this may seem like standard stuff, but in Scandinavia, it's not. As an immigrant, I can tell you that in this country, if you start paying for things, people start expecting it without ever returning the favor. So giving and taking is not something you do here, and this just made her feel a lot warmer than people usually are here. It's not just me she was kind to; she was pretty much a kind person to everybody. I guess somewhere along the line, I decided she was in the group of "good people" and that I could trust her, which led to me being perhaps a lot more open with her sooner rather than later, like I had with my oldest friends.
After a while, I started opening up to her about personal stuff, as she had done with me. She would often talk about the guys she was dating or crushing on, etc., and ask me for advice, which I tried my best to give. At some point, she would keep pressing me about how I was doing in my love life, and I opened up to her about it. Here is the gist of what I communicated to her in the span of a whole bunch of different sessions of going out for beers and just talking, which gets relevant later, so bear with me.
I don't feel like I fit in with this generation or at least this country's dating culture. I can't just move on from person to person like most people here seem to do just fine. Not because of parents teaching me stuff or religion (I was born and raised atheist), but simply because, to me, it feels wrong. Also, my parents did pretty well in that regard—I just wanted what they had. I am also very career-focused (engineering, CS with business combined honors program that's very highly regarded here, and the goal is to get to Partner at a consulting firm by the time I am 30). So setting aside time for serious stuff is just not something I can do lightly. Besides, the last relationship I was in almost cost me my spot in the program when it went south, so at least at the start of the year, I was not looking for anything, to say the least.
Another aspect of why I have not been "as active as I should be" for my age compared to peers is also because I did not want to have sex with just anybody. For me, it meant something (used to mean something now). My ideal was to pick a person who I think is "good" and hopefully we stick together (that's how I learned about relationships at least—you make things work by working through them). That's simply not something that people do where I am at in life; at least it just feels like pure lust with zero love involved, to be honest. All in all, I was waiting for the right person because I had decided the next person would have to be it, because anybody after that would simply not feel special anymore (I just kept moving the goal post like it fucking mattered XD).
Fast forward a year and half, and we were still great friends, it was just another standard day out with some friends, when i was about to leave when she came by the door to say farewell, and as i was done tying my shoes and getting my jacket she was standing really close to my face looking at me straight in the eye, this is not the first time she had done that, and i usually would just play dumb even though it was obvious every time where she wanted to go with that action. We would just never talk about it because one could always say "we were just drunk or whatever" but this time she was like insanely close, and i guess i was just a bit tired of doing this, so i whispered to her "N, we cant" (because we work together, and a piece of advice from an older friend i always tried to follow was, Dont shit where you eat, so yes even when i had for months realised i possibly had a little crush on N, i did nothing about it and was not planning on doing anything about it), To my surprise she responded with "why not, why cant we just try" and i guess that was about the limit to which i could hold back because we ended up kissing, which ended pretty quickly because another friend was coming through the hallway and i didn't want this to become a problem so i just said goodbye and left. So far no big deal i guess, i was honestly expected it to just be an awkward conversation we would have to have later on, 30 minutes later, she sent me a text, "Do you want to come over?", i said yes, and got to her place. just even talking was awkward at frist, but once i just remembered that hey, neither i or her have changed, we got back to normal, and we discussed things, i admitted my feelings for her and she did as well, i spent the rest of the evening and night talking to her (i pretty much grabbed the last bus ride back to my place) i honestly was shocked at finding out the way she claimed to feel about me, i did not think i was her type at all (yes even with the coming close my face every time she gets too drunk, i had just kept telling myself its only cause she is drunk) she even displayed jealousy and asked me to stop talking to an older lady (30F) i had started talking to (and told her about) after a weird night out with a company which was advertising its positions (Companies take us out to fancy places to try and get dibs on contracts with us)
The timing of this was a bit weird, we were going for easter break and i was actually going home the day after, and honestly i kept myself kinda skeptical about the whole thing during the entire break, i was just bracing for the "it was a mistake" to come out, cause i had been burned like that before, and i didn't want to let my feelings grow any bigger before i was sure about her feelings. When i got back, i didn't push to meet her even though i wanted to, i was trying to see what she would do, and again to my surprise she asks if she can come over, we talk more, i started to think, hey maybe this is for real, but i still wasn't 100% going in just out of caution, by the next week, we ended up sleeping together for the first time, and honestly it was great, it was also here where i actually let myself have hope that hey, maybe she is different, i mean it should be different now that i am an adult right, i mean she knows so much private shit about me, she know the way i think, she knows how i feel about these things, and she is a good person, there is no way she could play me like the previous times i had let myself get real feelings for a girl. After about a month and us hanging out even more, and me starting to get used to it, she asks me out for a beer, than tells me she wants to go back to being just friends, because she "feels closed in, and thinks its too early for her to be in a serious relationship" mind you i had not even talked directly about things being serious or whatever (I might be naive sometimes, but im not a fucking idiot i now your not supposed to put pressure like that early on.) all in all deep down i was expecting something like this, because i never have luck with these things, but i would be lying if i said i didn't feel hurt. As for how i reacted, i just told her its ok, and that we cant control the way we feel so she shouldn't feel bad, went home and started smoking weed, i always have some for certain nights but from this day i started doing it everyday since.
We were supposed to go to a party together that weekend, and we were going to pregame at her place with a few friends, ill get to this, but before that there was a job event where i pretty much did not talk to her at all, and i had not talked with her on socials like we usually did. she suddenly sends me an SMS asking if i am mad and not want to talk to her again, i said no and that everything was fine, and resumed communication like normal from here on. Truth is i just needed some space i dont hate her, i just needed a bit space, but i get that she got concerned or whatever. Anyways the weekends here, and she asks me if i am still coming over, honestly i had planned to just meet up at the party and drop the pre game but i just told her i could come if she wants me there. She obviously said yes and i went there, we had other friends there who did not know (besides a very kind friend of ours) the pre game went without mostly any trouble, and i even told her we were cool and that i was sorry if things got weird when we had a private moment. Fast forward towards the end of the night we were at a club (where i have a friend who works there foreshadowing) i was at a separate place within this club which is massive, and sometime later she finds me sits next to me, and within a few minutes she ended up kissing me again. Our friend who was also at the table, the universe bless her, grabs her and takes her away to talk (yell at her) somewhere private.
when the whole group of us returns one of the apartments for the afterparty, i decided i was going to try to figure this shit out and talk things out with her, figure out wtf is going on and all that. But she was being very childish and avoidant in our conversation. she lived close by and i lived far away so when people were leaving (it was very late as well so i would have had to walk home drunk) she asked med to come over, i went only because i was not going to let her just shove this under the rugg. I asked her what this all meant and what she meant by "feeling closed in" when she broke up, because at that point i didn't really understand it, lets say i did not get my answer, but she did however end up admitting to me that already 3 days in, the day before this day she had one of her ex FWB over at her place. Now thats would have been all fine and dandy if she had not kissed me again and told me this right after, it really hurt to know that, to the point that i walked home for 40 minutes from one end of town to the other 15 beers and a joint in, instead of sleeping on her sofa (she was also insisting that i sleep on her bed while she takes the sofa, like it fucking mattered at that point, and she was not sleeping until i did, so i used it as an excuse to leave).
I dont quite remember what i was feeling during the walk home but it was not great, now remember the friend who works part time at that club, he just happened to have been working when all this went down, and me and him and a few other friends (all from highschool who started their first year here) were chilling and decided to invite me. This friend had meet N before once at a party at my place, and apparently what seemed to me like N randomly finding me at the Club was her looking around for me, the way. i found this out was because N had ran into my friend and asked him about my whereabouts, so now i am sitting here thinking well this just went from a dumb accident to a premeditated. Lets just say i was a combination of very annoyed, pissed and sad. For my own sake i decided not talk to her for a while, and this time when she did send an sms i just simply told her something along the line of i am not mad, i just need time. she stopped bothering me for 2 weeks and then she just suddenly asked me if i wanted to go for a beer. In these two weeks i had avoided even looking at her, when we were attending a work thing again, and after this she had sent me a long as message basically being pissed at me for being like this, and me being the gigantic pushover that i am, said sorry and that "i just need a little bit more space", So when she asked if we could hang, i just said yes because it felt as if i had to.
We talked like we normally would, i tried to avoid the topic of us, after a while we went for a walk, and i honestly just tried to defuse any serious conversation with humor, at some point she mumbled something to herself, along the lines of "I fucked up", i said "what?" and she goes on about how she sabotaged us, and she feels bad about it. My initial reaction was something along the lines of "Womp Womp" but obviously i listened to her, talk then cry, then talk again about it all, and kept quiet and tried to think through the things she said, while i waited for her bus to arrive. She had a great many excuses for why things went the way the did, Like for example "being afraid of holding me back from my ambitions" (she thinks i am really smart and hardworking and that my goals are so hard to achieve she would've gotten in my way, truth is i do just enough to be in the clear for the next goalpost, i dont feel like a hard worker nor do i feel smart, its just she is not great at school and thats fine everybody has their own talents i guess), nothing she said really felt like a good explanation, and i did not see the point to this, but it did make me want to ask about it again and try to figure shit out.
So the day after i asked her out for a beer again and asked if we could talk, this time she gave a better answer, she just said, she did not feel like she could be in a relationship because she didn't feel ready to i guess settle down, but that she found me attractive but because of the things we had talked about, (my ideals when it comes to romance, see here is where the jargon got relevant) she was not going to make a move unless it was serious, and that at some point she had to try to see if she was done with fooling around and wanted to have a serious relationship but that it felt like too much pressure in the end (¯\_(ツ)_/¯, This is my fucking reaction to but belive me, this is not the first time i have heard shit like this and its completely normal in this hedonistic godless generation, at least in my circles it is). Anyways believed her and this gave me a bit closure but it still hurt, we decided to just talk about other stuff and drink since it was the weekend and we were out anyways, and she starts getting handsy and giving me the eyes again, i thought about it while talking to her, and just said, "Are we going to keep doing this stuff every time now, cause its gonna get annoying if i have to worry about it every time we are out" and that "we could maybe just do what she does with other guys while she is single" (she just has a few FWB) "she lights up and is like alright if you really are ok with that" and we ended up at my place and we ended up sleeping together again talking about the rules of our new "arrangment"
Now why did i do this, it seems hypocritical to my ideals and whatever and honestly i see that. it is fundamentally just a degradation of my boundaries and ideals, and honestly to me it just felt like a wall i have been keeping up that simply is becoming unsustainable.
The next time we ended up being together was a few weeks ago during a weekend out, we actually ended up not sleeping together cause she was tired, but more likely she was probably on her period but did not say out of fear of me being annoyed at her still saying yes to coming over (its like an unwritten rule to these things here), but i guess she did not want to say that cause she just wanted to sleep next to someone out of loneliness which is honestly understandable to me at least but a lot of guys are just assholes about that.
This is all happening while we are in the middle of the examination period so communication is being slowed down, not that i mattered much i have my own shit to do as well, but before that we had returned to talking like we normally do and me putting shit behind me, she is on her 3rd year as well so this year was obviously important for her career wise so it was not strange that we weren't talking as much, anyways i meet her yesterday just for a break and to have a few drinks and somewhere in there she gives me the heads up that she has started talking with someone and that we cant do any "stuff" until further notice, which is again fine and what she is supposed to do, and i did not react much to this, but deep inside it was like i just got another knife in the chest, i mean its been what, a month since she did all of that and told me she is not ready for a relationship and she is already talking to a new guy and wants to see if shit is gonna get serious.
Now for my feelings that i needed to get off my chest, Props to you if you bothered to read so far, this felt great to write out, but i cant belive i just wrote that much and there is no way i am proof reading this shit. I am kinda afraid of this blowing up rn, incase anybody i know in loop who might see this, but it will probably be fine, and if you are one of those brain rot instagram profiles, YOU DO NOT HAVE CONSENT to make on of those shitty AI voice videos with this.
Not that i was hoping to get together with her again at some point, i would not even if she wanted that, i am done with her in that way, but this makes the second time she has lied to me, cause what this implied just now is that she was bullshitting the whole time (Womp to the fucking Womp, i get it i am an absolute fucking idiot for even believing it in the first place) but man how can people be like this, am i just a fucking insane, or is everybody just completely detached. I trusted her so fucking much and there she was just smiling like she just got a text from Ken from barbie himself. the real hurt is the speed at which she just moved on, i had to have assumed that she must've felt at least something when she basically risked our entire friendship over it. Did she care so little about my feelings, am i just too emotional? i dont think of myself as an emotional person, i mean last night was the first time i cried since i belive when i was 15 or 16 (mostly due to my dad pavlov'ing the shit out of me cause "men dont cry", i dont hate him for this btw, he would probably agree that it was wrong now, but its just the way it was when i was child in my country)
The worst part is the moral degradation of it all, i feel like that was the last straw, the last few weeks all i have been able to listen to is fucking Future other "toxic" rap shit, usually i dont even listen to these stuff outside of parties, but for some reason i get it now, i feel toxic, i feel like i just wanna go around and sleep around, i wanna fucking break someones heart, between all the different times i have had my heart broken, to my own amazement at how many times this shit would end up happening to me, THE GUY, i mean when i growing up i was raised mostly by my grandmother since both my parents worked all the time, and all they ever taught me about stuff like this is, that as long as you are a good person, you will be fine, its always the guys that are assholes in relationships, now i dont blame her or my parents as it was mostly true for her generation, but goddamn i wish i was better equipped for this shit. I wanted to be a good person, i wanted to have something pure for once, something i can be proud of and say hey, everything is else is lowkey fucked up, but hey at least i got this part of my life that i can see is true and honest and not a two faced power play but nah, thats just wishful thinking. between the immature girls in Highschool which is like fine, okay we were all kids figuring shit out, or the getting fetishised as the "white enough to test my boundaries guy for rich white college girls" but goddamn it its getting enough for me at this point. every god damn time i get played like this, and i am just tired honestly i dont want to feel like this but i really feel bad for the next girl who ends up trying with me if they end up being genuine, because after this one i honestly cant, there is no excuses this time, every other girl before i could blame it on myself but if i couldn't tell that i should not have trusted N with my feelings than it does not feel like it was my fault for being gullible, nobody deserves that kind of trust in my eyes now and thats the saddest part, i feel like a worse person, i feel like i am turning into the kind of person i would look down on and there is nothing i can tell myself to stop that.
Sorry if this felt like a giant rant from a wussy as mofo, thats for sure what my dad would have said, and i did write this high asf, so sorry about all the typos i did not catch. i did not really have anybody i could tell this to, without completely destroying the semi-stoic character i have tried to present myself as publicly sure as hell felt better then reading for that god forsaken DBMS test i have coming up (driest fucking shit in CS, besides networking and communication protocols).

first off credit to overwhelmingautism Day 18 has finished and mony has been voted out (positions do not reflect my opinions)
vote out one of the following attackers who you think is worse not the most annoying to play against. the most upvoted comment will be the answer
bruh capitow is so strong good gun fire for force people out of power pisitions hard breach charges smokes through floor g-6 but blow torch man is still in

ONLY PICK ONE AND MAKE SURE TO UPVOTE IF SOMEBODY HAS SAID IT ALREADY

attackers: glaz, fuze, iq, blitz, monty, thermite, ash, thatcher, sledge, buck, blackbeard, capitow, hibana, jackal, ying, zofia, dokkaebi, lion, finka, maverick, nomad, gridlock, nokk, amaru, kali, iana, ace, zero, flores, osa, sens, grim, brava, ram, twitch and deimos
36th: black beard
35th: sens
34th kali
33rd: nokk
32nd amaru
31st deimos
30th: glaz
29th: fuze
28th: zofia
27th: sledge
26th: iana
25th: blitz
24th: iq
23rd: osa
22nd: finka
21st: capitow
20th: zero
19th: monty

i bought a 18 ford escape just a couple weeks ago. it has 96,000 miles on it. at first it was fine then it started having vibration and starting issues and the check engine light came on changed the spark plug and the ignition coils because when we tested the check engine light it said that there was an engine misfire and that’s what we were recommended to do. Now the check engine light is back on it now is blowing white smoke when started. Ran the check engine light again said same thing except now it says the crankcase ventilator is unplugged. I’m so upset as i just bought this car. any suggestions?

i bought a 18 ford escape just a couple weeks ago. it has 96,000 miles on it. at first it was fine then it started having vibration and starting issues and the check engine light came on changed the spark plug and the ignition coils because when we tested the check engine light it said that there was an engine misfire and that’s what we were recommended to do. Now the check engine light is back on it now is blowing white smoke when started. Ran the check engine light again said same thing except now it says the crankcase ventilator is unplugged. I’m so upset as i just bought this car. any suggestions?

Edit, it sounds like I didn't do as thorough of a job with the carb as I thought I did, so that will be my next step, to completely remove it and clean it as good as I can.
Thank you everyone!
I am a single mom of four. (which is why I am not just taking this "to the shop to have fixed, I dont have the money to pay someone else do it ")
I have an older riding lawnmower for our acre lot, and it's not working. Let me describe what it does, then what I did to fix it, and where we are now. The mower worked fine last year, for one time, then didn't work again. I got it right before the season change, so I said I would deal with it in the spring when I had time and money.
First, it wouldn't start at all, just a click. Tried to jump batt, wouldn't charge, got new batt, we were good to go there. Then it will start but it was idling HARD and when you engaged the PTO, it would choke and die, all while blowing out smoke from the front. So I looked around, the engine was filthy from oil and gunk where Id had to fix an oil leak (the guy I bought this from came highly recommended but he did this one dirty). I fixed the oil leak, it was the tube that the oil gauge goes into, had a hole in it. We're good to go there.
I got come carb cleaner, and cleaned out the carburetor as it was getting fuel and it was getting spark. The air filter is a bit dirty, so I took it off to see if it would run like that, it doesn't. I am going to get a new air filter just cause this one is sorta dirty, but I don't believe it's the filter. I took out the spark plug, and the carburetor bowl is getting gas, it's not gunky or old, it's not even a month old gas. Put the spark plug back in, and the mower started right up, but died after about 10 seconds.
got it going again, but it's super slow, like idling hard and rough and sounds terrible. then engaged the PTO again and it immediately died. Now it won't start at all, It just cranks and cranks and the fly wheel spins and spins. (at a normal speed, not super slow like before when it would start to spin, then stop).
At this point, Im at a complete loss, I just want this mf to work. I have a lawn to cut, and only have use of one arm thanks to a bought of cancer in 2016, so pushmowing is extremely difficult. Does anyone have any ideas?

Tl;dr- I went back for 6 months to smoking weed and lust after coming out of it and „repenting”. And then, after coming out of addictions again, I got some demonic Kundalini importation performed on me in fake christian church(which I also was). I don’t know if I can be forgiven, and the fact that I have this Kundalini thing makes it even harder to believe. I don’t know if there is point for me to live, this thing(trying not to use bad words) chages your emotions, your thoughts and God knows what more. (Some say that even DNA, which make me wanna throw up) I’ve led myself to point where I don’t know if I ever will be able to have children, if I ever will be free from this spirit or energy or whatever and if God will ever forgive me. All that at the age of 24. I feel like I totally lost myself
Sorry for my english
I don’t even know where to start. Whole life I was lukewarm Catholic. Last year, I stopped smoking weed and after doing it for like 3 years and also stopped watching prn first time in my life. I started reading Bible and I came up on some arguments against catholicism and it didn’t take much to concvince me. I didn’t go to any community unfortunately. After not even 4 months I just came back to dabbling in all the mud daily and stayed like that for 6 months. I knew what it has done to me, my brain and my psyche, and still I fell back into all of this. After 6 months, I stopped. But I was so mentally damaged, like high swapped with being sober. At first I was euphoric but then came up to Hebrews 10:26, 12:16 and fell into that horrific, dark condemnation state, I was literally in agony. And in that time I made things even worse. In short, I just went to „church” where I let myself get prayed over and layed hands on. Then, I started to have huge energy surges, feeling of warm and cold, since then i haven’t had a calm night of sleep(4months). Basically I fell into new age christianity and I let in some spirit that’s not from true God(i have much more kundalini symptoms). At the beginning, in the first days(I suspected something but wasn’t sure about it) I prayed over some homeless guy and also laid hands on his shoulder. This thing made me feel like im going totally crazy, like schizophrenic. Few days later, when energy surges got intensive(felt like I was about to blow up) I laid hand on my cat like I wanted to pass it onto him. I don’t know why. But basically- I got something called Reiki performed on me, and also practiced passing it on(my cat started behaving weirdly different, I’ve read that people who practise it use it on their animals). Also my sister started having weird dreams, sweating at night and feeling weird(she doesn’t know anything about it) Since 4 months, I don’t even know what to do, I think I’m damned. And this kundalini thing is also changing my emotions heavily, as it is claimed to „heal”(and feels so but it’s just even more scary knowing it’s not from God). I’m just lost, please pray to Lord that he may help me if I haven’t commited the unforgivable sin. And that he may help people I might have passed this thing to. I feel like I’m His enemy though, and thats scary.

Tl;dr- I went back for 6 months to smoking weed and lust after coming out of it and „repenting”. And then, after coming out of addictions again, I got some demonic Kundalini importation performed on me in fake christian church(which I also was). I don’t know if I can be forgiven, and the fact that I have this Kundalini thing makes it even harder to believe. I don’t know if there is point for me to live, this thing(trying not to use bad words) chages your emotions, your thoughts and God knows what more. (Some say that even DNA, which make me wanna throw up) I’ve led myself to point where I don’t know if I ever will be able to have children, if I ever will be free from this spirit or energy or whatever and if God will ever forgive me. All that at the age of 24. I feel like I totally lost myself
Sorry for my english
I don’t even know where to start. Whole life I was lukewarm Catholic. Last year, I stopped smoking weed and after doing it for like 3 years and also stopped watching prn first time in my life. I started reading Bible and I came up on some arguments against catholicism and it didn’t take much to concvince me. I didn’t go to any community unfortunately. After not even 4 months I just came back to dabbling in all the mud daily and stayed like that for 6 months. I knew what it has done to me, my brain and my psyche, and still I fell back into all of this. After 6 months, I stopped. But I was so mentally damaged, like high swapped with being sober. At first I was euphoric but then came up to Hebrews 10:26, 12:16 and fell into that horrific, dark condemnation state, I was literally in agony. And in that time I made things even worse. In short, I just went to „church” where I let myself get prayed over and layed hands on. Then, I started to have huge energy surges, feeling of warm and cold, since then i haven’t had a calm night of sleep(4months). Basically I fell into new age christianity and I let in some spirit that’s not from true God(i have much more kundalini symptoms). At the beginning, in the first days(I suspected something but wasn’t sure about it) I prayed over some homeless guy and also laid hands on his shoulder. This thing made me feel like im going totally crazy, like schizophrenic. Few days later, when energy surges got intensive(felt like I was about to blow up) I laid hand on my cat like I wanted to pass it onto him. I don’t know why. But basically- I got something called Reiki performed on me, and also practiced passing it on(my cat started behaving weirdly different, I’ve read that people who practise it use it on their animals). Also my sister started having weird dreams, sweating at night and feeling weird(she doesn’t know anything about it) Since 4 months, I don’t even know what to do, I think I’m damned. And this kundalini thing is also changing my emotions heavily, as it is claimed to „heal”(and feels so but it’s just even more scary knowing it’s not from God). I’m just lost, please pray to Lord that he may help me if I haven’t commited the unforgivable sin. And that he may help people I might have passed this thing to. I feel like I’m His enemy though, and thats scary.

Hey everyone, I put together this huge list of albums and reduced prices on stuff previously posted, hope you enjoy! New batch of sealed Jazz audiophile reissues from Spain. Most used titles include original inner sleeves. Records will be shipped outside of cover in poly sleeve. Message or comment to purchase or for more information.
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$6 Unlimited Shipping USPS Media Mail
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FREE SHIPPING ON ORDERS OVER $75!
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— Graded Vinyl/Cover —

• Steve Allen - Steve Allen's All Star Jazz Concert Vol. 1 UK RE Sealed M/M $8
  
  • Buddy Arnold - Wailing 1986 RE Spain M/M $12
• Ethel Azama - Cool Heat 1984 Spain RE Sealed M/M $10
  
• Chet Baker Quartet - Jazz At Ann Arbor 1984 Spain RE Sealed M/M $38
  
• Milt Bernhart Brass Ensemble - Modern Brass 1984 Spain RE Sealed M/M $14
  
• The Ruby Braff-Marshall Brown Sextet - S/T 1986 Spain RE M/M $12
  
• Donna Brooks - I'll Take Romance 1988 Spain RE Sealed M/M $24
  
• Bob Brookmeyer - Kansas City Revisited 1984 Spain RE Sealed M/M $12
  
• Conte Candoli - Mucho Calor (Much Heat) 1987 RE Sealed M/M $32
  
• The Teddy Charles Group - On Campus - Ivy League Jazz Concert 1987 Spain RE Sealed M/M $20
  
• Bette St. Claire - At Basin Street East 1987 Spain RE M/M $8
  
• Dick Collins And His Orchestra - King Richard The Swing Hearted 1983 Spain RE Sealed M/M $10
  
• Bill Evans Trio - Live At Balboa Jazz Club Vol. 1 Unofficial Sealed M/M $36
  
• Bill Evans Trio - Live At Balboa Jazz Club Vol. 2 Unofficial Sealed M/M $35
  
• Frederick Fennell - Hi-Fi A La Espaňola 180gm Living Presence RE Sealed M/M $90
  
• The Five - Arrangements By Shorty Rogers 1983 Spain RE Sealed M/M $11
  
• Ann Gilbert - In A Swingin' Mood 1986 Spain RE M/M $14
  
• Pedro Iturralde Quartet - Pedro Iturralde Quartet Featuring Hampton Hawes M/M $30
  
• The Bobby Jaspar All Stars - Bobby Jaspar And His All Stars 1987 Spain RE M/M $25
  
• Beverly Kenney - Come Swing With Me 1987 Spain RE M/M $38
  
• Peggy Lee - Pete Kelly's Blues 1983 UK RE Sealed M/M $12
  
• Howard Lucraft - Showcase For Modern Jazz 1986 Spain RE M/M $18
  
• Skip Martin - Dance To Swingin' Things From Cole Porter's Can-Can 1986 Spain RE M/M $7
  
• Mary Ann McCall - Detour To The Moon 1987 Spain RE Sealed M/M $12
  
• The Jack Montrose Quintet - Blues And Vanilla 1984 Spain RE Sealed M/M $20
  
• Audrey Morris - Bistro Ballads Sung By Audrey Morris 1987 Spain RE Sealed M/M $32
  
• Art Pepper Quartet - Art Pepper Quartet' 64 In San Francisco 1988 Spain Sealed M/M $28
  
• Bill Perkins Quartet - Killer Joe 1988 Spain Sealed M/M $18
  
• The Rhythm Section - Rhythm + 1 1984 Spain RE Sealed M/M $11
  
• Shorty Rogers - Collaboration 1983 Spain RE Sealed M/M $14
  
• Joe Roland Quintette - Joe Roland Quintette 1988 Spain RE Sealed M/M $14
  
• Annie Ross - Sings A Handful Of Songs 1987 Spain RE M/M $16
  
• Gene Roland - Jazzville Vol. 4 1988 Spain RE Sealed M/M $25
  
• Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars - Double Or Nothin' 1984 Spain RE Sealed M/M $20
  
• Tony Scott Quartet - Both Sides Of Tony Scott 1988 Spain RE Sealed M/M $20
  
• Tony Scott And His Buddies - Gypsy 1987 Spain RE Sealed M/M $16
  
• Ann Sexton - Love Trials 1987 UK Sealed M/M $14
  
  • Jeri Southern - Coffee, Cigarettes & Memories 1987 Spain RE Sealed M/M $14
• The Nick Travis Quintet - The Panic Is On 1984 Spain RE Sealed M/M $15
  
• Sarah Vaughan - You're Mine You 1988 Spain RE Sealed M/M $10
  
• Kitty White - Sweet Talk 1987 Spain RE M/M $10
  
• The Claude Williamson Quartet - Theatre Party Attended By The Claude Williamson Quartet 1987 Spain RE M/M $8
  
• Sonny Boy Williamson - Keep It To Ourselves 1996 RE HQ-180gm Analogue Sealed M/M $40
  

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• Cannonball Adderley And His Orchestra - African Waltz 1961 OG Sealed M/NM $35
  
• Louis Armstrong - Louis Armstrong Meets Oscar Peterson 1960 MGM NM/NM $69
  
• Azymuth - Telecommunication 2022 RE Sealed M/M $27
  
• Art Blakey - The Giants Of Jazz 1972 NM/EX $10
  
• Lenny Breau - When Lightn' Strikes... 1982 VG+/VG+ $28
  
• James Brown - Body Heat 1976 VG+/VG+ $20
  
• The Cadillacs - The Best Of The Cadillacs Volume One 1983 Comp Sealed M/M $10
  
• Ron Carter - All Blues 1974 OG Sealed M/M $45
  
• Al Jazzbo Collins - A Lovely Bunch Of Al Jazzbo Collins And The Bandidos 1967 EX/EX $12
  
• Miles Davis - Porgy And Bess 1977 RE NM/NM $15
  
• Miles Davis - In Person, At The Blackhawk 1973 RE VG+/VG+ $15
  
• Miles Davis Sextet - Someday My Prince Will Come 1961 Mono Pit VG+/NM $85
  
• Miles Davis - Seven Steps To Heaven 1963 OG SVG/VG+ $28
  
• Joe Farrell - Outback 1972 NM/EX $17
  
• Joe Farrell - Canned Funk 1975 NM/EX $17
  
• Joe Farrell - Song Of The Wind 1976 RE NM/VG+ $14
  
• Joe Farrell - Night Dancing 1978 NM/VG+ $5
  
• Marvin Gaye - What's Going On 1971 Ind VG/VG- $24
  
• Herbie Hancock - An Evening With Herbie Hancock & Chick Corea In Concert 1978 Ter NM/VG+ $8
  
• Richie Havens - Richie Havens 1974 UK Comp EX/EX $8
  
• Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson - Midnight Band: The First Minute Of A New Day 1975 Ter VG+/EX $20
  
• Gil Scott-Heron And Brian Jackson - From South Africa To South Carolina 1975 NM/VG+ $18
  
• Al Hirt - Soul In The Horn 1967 VG+/SVG $20
  
• John Lee Hooker - The Best Of John Lee Hooker 1962 RE VG+/VG+ $20
  
• Bobbi Humphrey - Bobbi Humphrey's Best 1976 NM/SVG $7
  
• Inner Life - I'm Caught Up (In A One Night Love Affair) 1979 NM/EX $20
  
• Grace Jones - Living My Life 1982 All NM/NM $11
  
• Grace Jones - Slave To The Rhythm 1985 Jac NM/EX $11
  
• Grace Jones - Inside Story 1986 SRP NM/NM $7
  
• Grace Jones - Portfolio RE EX/EX $6
  
• B.B. King - B.B. King In London 1971 OG EX/EX $18
  
  • Kool And The Gang - The Force 1977 OG NM/VG $7
• Kool & The Gang - Celebrate! 1980 VG+/EX $6
  
• Kool & The Gang - Emergency 1984 OG EX/VG+ $4
  
• La Mont Zeno Theatre - Black Fairy 2015 UK RE NM/NM $15
  
• Ronnie Laws - Pressure Sensitive 1975 Ter SVG/VG+ $5
  
• Ronnie Laws - Flame 1978 VG+/VG+ $4
  
• Taj Mahal - Recycling The Blues & Other Related Stuff 1972 OG EX/EX $14
  
• Taj Mahal - Music Keeps Me Together 1975 Canada OG NM/EX $14
  
• Steve Marshall - Do What You Will 1978 VG+/VG- $799
  
• Jimmy McGriff - Black And Blues 1972 OG Sealed M/M $47
  
• Thelonious Monk - Monk's Moods 2016 EU Sealed M/M $14
  
• Charlie Parker - The Greatest Jazz Concert Ever EX/NM 1973 RE $8
  
• Flora Purim - Open Your Eyes You Can Fly NM/NM $9
  
• Flora Purim - 500 Miles High 1976 EX/VG+ $5
  
• Flora Purim - Encounter 1977 San EX/SVG $6
  
• Flora Purim - Everyday, Everynight 1978 Jac NM/VG+ $4
  
• Flora Purim - Carry On 1979 Los EX/VG+ $6
  
• Smokey Robinson And The Miracles - Going To A Go-Go 1965 Ter VG-/VG+ $12
  
• Woody Shaw - Lotus Flower 1982 Germany Sealed M/M $35
  
• The Soulful Strings - Paint It Black 1966 VG/VG+ $5
  
• The Soulful Strings - Groovin' With The Soulful Strings 1967 VG/VG+ $5
  
• Gabor Szabo - The Best Of Gabor Szabo 1968 OG EX/EX $12
  
• The Thompsons - I'll Get Over It 2019 RE NM/NM $17
  
• Various - The Original Sound Track From The Film Black Orpheus VG+/VG+ 1966 RE $5
  
• V.S.O.P. - The Quintet 1977 EX/SVG $7
  
• War - The World Is A Ghetto 1972 Ind EX/EX $14
  
• Grover Washington, Jr. - Soul Box 1973 2LP NM/NM $14
  
• Muddy Waters - The Best Of Muddy Waters 2015 RE Europe VG+/NM $14
  
• Muddy Waters - The London Muddy Waters Sessions 2016 RE NM/NM $22
  
• The Bluesmen Of The Muddy Waters Chicago Blues Band - Volume 2 1968 OG VG/G $15
  
• Muddy Waters - Muddy Mississippi Waters Live 1979 OG Looks VG Plays SVG/VG+ Cover $11
  
• Dinah Washington - Late Late Show 1963 RE VG+/EX $6
  
• Dinah Washington - Dinah Jams 1974 RE NM/VG+ $7
  
• Dinah Washington - For Lonely Lovers 1960s RE Mono $7
  
• Dinah Washington - Golden Hits / Volume Two 1963 Mono EX/VG+ $7
  
• Weather Report - Sweetnighter 1977 RE NM/VG+ $6
  
• Weather Report - Mr. Gone 1978 San EX/VG+ $6
  
• Weather Report - 8:30 1979 San NM/VG+ $7
  
• Bill Withers - +'Justments 1974 VG/VG+ $10
  
• Stevie Wonder - Talking Book 1981 Spain RE NM/VG+ $14
  
• Stevie Wonder - Talking Book 1973 OG EX/VG+ $16
  
• Stevie Wonder - Original Musiquarium 1982 White Label Promo VG/SVG $12
  
• Big L - The Big Picture 2019 2LP RE Clear w White Smoke NM/NM $88
  
• De La Soul - 3 Feet High And Rising 2023 RE Magenta Vinyl Sealed $22
  
• De La Soul - Buddy & Ghetto Thang 1989 12” Single Promo NM/NM $12
  
• NF - Therapy Session 2016 2LP VG+/VG+ $380
  
• Showbiz & A.G. - Fat Pockets 1992 Promo VG+/GEN $18
  
• Showbiz & A.G. - Soul Clap 1992 EP Promo VG/GEN $24
  

———

• The Allman Brothers Band - S/T 70s RE NM/VG+ $20
  
• Jeff Beck - Blow By Blow 1975 Pit EX/VG+ $7
  
• Jeff Beck - Wired Ter NM/VG+ $7
  
• Jeff Beck - Live 1977 Pit EX/SVG $5
  
• Jeff Beck - There & Back 1980 Ter VG+/VG+ $5
  
• Blue Öyster Cult* - Tyranny And Mutation 1973 Ter EX/VG+ $10
  
• Blue Öyster Cult - On Your Feet Or On Your Knees 1975 2LP EX/VG- $5
  
• David Buckland & Blackjack Davey - This One's For You 1981 OG EX/NM $21
  
• John Carpenter - Anthology II (Movie Themes 1976-1988) 2023 Blue Vinyl Sealed M/M $18
  
• Les Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade - Live Frogs Set 1 & 2 2020 RE Green Splatter Vinyl NM/NM $45
  
• Eric Clapton - At His Best 1972 Ter 2LP VG+/VG+ $6
  
• Cream - Heavy Cream 1972 Ter 2LP VG++/VG+ $10
  
• Alice Cooper - Alice Cooper's Greatest Hits 2018 EU New $13
  
• Deep Purple - Deepest Purple (Best Of) 1980 Club NM/VG+ $10
  
• The Doors - The Doors 2009 RE Sealed M/M $16
  
• Bob Dylan - Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Volume II 1970s RE Ter VG+/VG+ $10
  
• Bob Dylan - New Morning 1970 Ter VG+/SVG $6
  
• Eagles - Eagles 1976 RE SP VG+/VG $6
  
• Eagles - Hotel California 1977 RE SRC w Poster EX/SVG $10
  
• Eagles - Hotel California 2017 EU RE New $15
  
• Eagles - One Of These Nights 1975 OG VG/G+$3
  
• Earth, Wind & Fire - Gratitude 1975 Ter EX/VG $5
  
• Earth, Wind & Fire - The Best Of Earth, Wind & Fire Vol. 1 2017 EX/EX $11
  
• Faces - Ohh La La 1973 OG SVG/VG+ $10
  
• Faces - A Nod Is As Good As A Wink...To A Blind Horse 1971 Ter VG+/VG $6
  
• Fleetwood Mac - Then Play On 1970s NM/SVG $16
  
• Fleetwood Mac - Kiln House 1976 RE Win NM/SVG $12
  
• Fleetwood Mac - Future Games 1975 RE Win NM/VG+ $14
  
• Fleetwood Mac - Mystery To Me 1975 RE Win NM/SVG $11
  
• Fleetwood Mac - Penguin 1973 EX/VG $8
  
• Fleetwood Mac - Heroes Are Hard To Find 1976 RE Win VG+/VG+ $8
  
• Fleetwood Mac - Tusk 1979 Los 2LP NM/VG+ $17
  
• The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Axis: Bold As Love 1970s RE Los EX/EX $25
  
• The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Electric Ladyland 1981 Club Car NM/VG+ $26
  
• The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced? 1980s RE VG+/VG- $12
  
• Jimi Hendrix - The Cry Of Love 2014 RE New $14
  
• The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Smash Hits 2016 RE New $14
  
• Kansas - Audio-Visions 1980 Pit EX/VG+ $5
  
• Kansas - Kansas 1974 Pit EX/VG+ $6
  
• Kansas - Song For America 1975 Ter VG+/SVG $6
  
• Kansas - Masque 1975 VG+/VG $5
  
• Kansas - Leftoverture 1976 Ter EX/VG+ $6
  
• Kansas - Point Of Know Return 1977 VG+/VG $6
  
• Led Zeppelin - Hiawatha Express 1977 Unofficial EX/EX $40
  
• Led Zeppelin - Untitled IV 2023 RE New Clear Vinyl New $15
  
• Led Zeppelin - Houses Of The Holy 1977 RE VG+/G+ $12
  
• Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti 2015 RE New $20
  
• The Mothers - Fillmore East 1976 RE LA NM/VG+ $14
  
• The Nice - The Thoughts Of Emerlist Davjack 1973 RE CSP NM/VG $7
  
• The Nice - Ars Longa Vita Brevis 1973 CSP VG+/VG $5
  
• Peanut Butter Conspiracy - For Children Of All Ages 1969 OG VG+/NM $24
  
• Primus - Sailing The Seas Of Cheese 2013 RE M/NM $35
  
• Primus - Pork Soda 2009 RE NM/NM $40
  
• Primus - Antipop 2019 RE Clear Blue Vinyl NM/NM $50
  
• Primus - Primus & The Chocolate Factory With The Fungi Ensemble 2014 Brown Vinyl EX/NM $19
  
• Dolly Parton - Heartbreaker 1978 OG Sealed M/NM $12
  
• Dolly Parton - Just Because I'm A Woman 1976 OG Sealed M/NM $10
  
• Pink Floyd - Obscured By Clouds 1972 1st Jac NM/EX $45
  
  • Pink Floyd - Obscured By Clouds 1972 Jac NM/VG- $22
• Pink Floyd - Meddle 1974 RE RRL VG+/VG $19
  
• Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here 1975 San VG++/VG+ $25
  
• Pink Floyd - The Final Cut 1983 Pit NM/EX $17
  
• Queen - A Day At The Races 1976 PRC NM/VG $19
  

*Rare Earth - Willie Remembers 1972 NM/VG+ $5

• Steely Dan - Katy Lied 1975 Pit VG+/VG $14
  
• Steely Dan - Can't Buy A Thrill 1972 White Label Promo VG/G $27
  
• Bruce Springsteen - Chapter And Verse 2016 OG New M/NM $8
  
• Bruce Springsteen - Born To Run 1975 San VG+/VG+ $8
  
• Robin Trower - Bridge Of Sighs 1974 San EX/SVG $5
  
• Robin Trower - Long Misty Days 1976 Ter NM/VG $5
  
• Robin Trower - In City Dreams 1977 Ter NM/VG $5
  
• Robin Trower - For Earth Below 1975 EX/VG $5
  
• Robin Trower - Robin Trower Live! 1976 EX/G $3
  
• Robin Trower - Caravan To Midnight 1978 SVG/SVG $4
  
• Van Halen - 1984 Club NM/EX $24
  
• The Edgar Winter Group - They Only Come Out At Night 80s RE VG+/VG+ $5
  
• Yes - Relayer 1974 MO EX/VG+ $7
  
• Yes - Going For The One 1977 PRC NM/SVG $6
  
• Yes - Fragile 1977 RE SP VG+/VG+ $7
  
• Yes - The Yes Album 70s RE MO EX/VG+ $6
  
• Neil Young - Harvest 1978 Jac EX/VG+ $10
  
• ZZ Top - Fandango! 1975 Pit VG+/VG $11
  
• ZZ Top - Tejas 1976 AL EX/VG $11
  
• 21 Savage - American Dream 2024 Sealed M/M $24
  
• Chet BakeChristopher Mason - Silent Nights 1986 OG VG+/VG $45
  
• Tony Bennett - The Tony Bennett Bill Evans Album 1975 OG EX/VG+ $14
  
• The Gil Evans Orchestra - Into The Hot 1974 RE VG+/VG+ $13
  
• Gil Evans And His Orchestra - America's #1 Arranger 1961 RE NM/G+ $6
  
• The Gil Evans Orchestra - Little Wing (Live In Germany) 1982 RE VG+/SVG $5
  
• Buddy DeFranco Quintet - Cooking The Blues 1958 OG VG+/VG $16
  
• Grant Green - Easy 1978 OG VG/SVG $5
  
• Bobby Hutcherson - Now! 1970 OG Looks G+ Plays VG-/VG+ Cover $32
  
• Gary McFarland /Gabor Szabo - Simpático G+/VG+ $8
  
• Lil Green - Romance In The Dark 1971 OG VG/G+ $3
  
• Jimmy Reed - T'aint No Big Thing But He Is... 1963 OG G+/VG+ $4
  
• Della Reese - Della Reese Live 1966 Sealed M/NM $8
  
• Della Reese - Della On Strings Of Blue 1967 Sealed M/NM $8
  
  • Della Reese - Black Is Beautiful 1970 Sealed M/NM $8
• Johnny Guitar Watson - A Real Mother For Ya 1977 OG VG/VG+ $4
  
• Brian Auger's Oblivion Express - Second Wind 1972 Germany VG/VG+ $9
  
• The Dean Davis Company - IInd Time Around 1969 OG SVG/SVG (Signed) $80
  
• Franciscan Sisters - Joy 1962 VG+/VG+ $15
  
• Middle Tennessee State University- Rimusic III NM/NM 1983 $60
  
• Evelyn "Champagne" King - Smooth Talk 1977 RE VG+/VG+ $5
  
• Gloria Jones - Windstorm 1978 OG NM/SVG Signed $24
  
• The New York Community Choir - Reachin' Out 1982 OG EX/NM $20
  

*Malo - Malo 1972 OG VG/VG+ $5
*Anita Baker - Rapture 1986 OG NM/VG+ $18
*D. J. Rogers - It's Good To Be Alive 1975 OG VG-/VG+ $5
*Al Gee - Rap N' Rhythm (Programs #233 - 236) 1975 OG VG+/VG+ $14
*The Hesitations - The New Born Free 1968 OG NM/NM $12
*Syl Johnson - Back For A Taste Of Your Love 1973 OG SVG/SVG $14
*Various - Rosko's Evergreens Back On The Scene 1964 VG/VG+ $4
*The Stylistics - Round 2 1972 OG VG+/NM $8
*Johnnie Taylor - Super Taylor 1974 OG EX/VG+ $7
*Johnnie Taylor - Rated Extraordinaire 1977 OG VG+/NM $6
*Johnnie Taylor - Ever Ready 1978 OG EX/NM $7
*The Temptations - Live At The Copa 1968 OG VG/VG+ $4
*Clarence Carter - The Dynamic Clarence Carter 1969 Sealed M/EX $18
*Ray Charles - From The Pages Of My Mind 1986 OG VG+/NM $6
*Sammy Davis Jr. - Sings What Kind Of Fool Am I And Other Show-Stoppers 1962 RE M/NM $10
*Sammy Davis Jr. - Salutes The Stars Of The London Palladium 1964 OG VG/EX $4
*Blossom Dearie - Needlepoint Magic Volume V 1979 EX/EX $6
*Cat Anderson - Ellingtonia 1962 VG-/VG $2
*Duke Ellington - Ellington Indigos 1989 RE NM/NM $10
*Duke Ellington - The Early Duke Ellington 1968 OG Sealed M/NM $6
*Duke Ellington & Teresa Brewer - It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing 1981 RE NM/VG+ $5
*Louis Armstrong - Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington 1965 RE VG+/VG+ $8
*Dizzy Gillespie - 16 Rare Performances 1966 RE VG+/EX $8
*Billie Holiday - The Billie Holiday Story 1972 2LP VG+/VG+ $14
*Baby Ray - Where Soul Lives 1967 OG Sealed M/NM $10
*Don Redman And His Orchestra - For Europeans Only 1983 Denmark NM/NM $12
*Charlie Parker And His Orchestra - Night And Day 1960 RE VG/VG $8
*Ernestine Anderson - When The Sun Goes Down 1985 OG NM/EX $8
*George Benson - Breezin' 1976 VG+/VG+ $5
*Art Blakey - Gretsch Drum Night At Birdland 1960 OG VG/VG $10
*The Dave Brubeck Quartet - Bossa Nova U.S.A. 1963 OG SVG/VG+ $7
*Kenny Burrell - Handcrafted 1978 OG VG/VG+$8
*The Eddie Costa Quartet - Guys And Dolls Like Vibes 1958 OG VG/VG+ $5
*Keith Jarrett - The Köln Concert 1975 OG VG/VG+ $10
*John Klemmer - All The Children Cried VG+/VG+ $8
*Les McCann Ltd. - Live At Shelly's Manne-Hole RE NM/VG+ $5
*Johnny Smith - Phase II 1968 OG Sealed M/M $20
*Weather Report - Mr. Gone 1978 OG VG+/VG+ $9
*Bob Dylan - New Morning 1970 OG VG+/VG+ $8
*Molly Hatchet - Flirtin' With Disaster 1979 OG VG+/VG+ $6
*Heart - Bad Animals 1987 OG NM/NM $8
*Jerry Lee Lewis - Southern Roots 1973 OG Sealed M/M $10
*Oscar Brown Jr. - Finding A New Friend 1966 Mono WL Promo EX/NM $20
*Mother Night - S/T 1972 OG NM/VG- $7
*Johnny Cash - At San Quentin 1969 EX/NM $12
*Baltimora- Living In The Background 1985 VG+/VG+ $8
*Ginger Bates - Refreshingly Country VG/VG+ $18
*Roberto Jordan - Roberto Jordan 1972 Sealed (Torn Shrink) M/EX $18
*Toquinho & Vinícius - Vinícius & Toquinho 1974 Brazil NM/NM $24
*Prakash Vadehra - Magic Flutes Of North India 1969 EX/EX $8
*Father Rivers - Sings The Mass 1966 VG/VG+ $4
*Bill Withers - +'Justments 1974 VG/VG+ $10
*Jacksons - Victory 1984 VG+/EX $5
*Wilton Felder - Inherit The Wind 1980 NM/NM $5
*Wilson Pickett - The Wicked Pickett 1967 MO VG/EX $10
*SPB Ska-Jazz Review - Elephant Riddim 2016 Russia EX/EX $15
*Listener - Wooden Heart 2014 Green/Cream Vinyl NM/NM $15
*Antonio Carlos Jobim - A Certain Mr. Jobim 1967 Sealed M/NM $17
*James Williams - Magical Trio 1 1989 NM/EX $7
*James Williams - Magical Trio 2 1988 Sealed M/VG+ $9
*Chilly - For Your Love 1979 VG/G+ $10
*Tina Turner - Private Dancer 1984 Club w Inner NM/NM $12
*Mary Jane Girls - Only Four You 1985 EX/EX $7
*Average White Band - Soul Searching 1976 NM/VG+ $6
*Invisible Man's Band - Really Wanna See You 1981 NM/EX $5

• Vasant Rai - Spring Flowers 1976 NM/EX $5
  
• Aretha Franklin - Aretha Gospel 1982 RE EX/EX $6
  
• Various - A Quartet Of Soul 1967 Sealed M/M (Comp w Tommy Hunt & Charlie Foxx) $12
  
• Lord Flea And His Calypsonians - Swingin' Calypsos 1957 VG/G+ $4
  
• The Swordsmen - S/T 1969 VG+/NM $5
  
• Funkapolitan - Funkapolitan 1982 NM/SVG $5
  
• The Flirts - Blondes Brunettes & Redheads 1985 NM/NM $5
  
• The Flirts - 10¢ A Dance 1982 NM/NM $6
  
• Vesta - Special 1991 EX/VG+ $8
  
• Acoustic Alchemy - Red Dust & Spanish Lace 1987 NM/NM $10
  
• The Floaters - Float Into The Future 1979 EX/NM $4
  
• Johnny Thunder - Loop De Loop 1963 OG G+/VG $3
  
• Oingo Boingo - Flesh And Blood 1989 WL Promo 12” Single SVG/GEN $16
  
• Johnny Harris - Odyssey 1980 12” Single VG+/VG+ $17
  
• Steven Paul Perry - Backseat Lover 1990 EX/VG+ $24
  
• Marcus Law - Make It Right 1997 UK 12” Single VG+/GEN $16
  
• Gel-O - Land Of The Buddha EP EX/VG+ $16
  
  • Le Pamplemousse - Le Spank 1977 OG (Signed) VG+/VG $18
• Ultimate Spinach - Ultimate Spinach 1968 Taiwan Red Vinyl VG/VG+ $14
  
• 100 Proof Aged In Soul - 100 Proof VG/VG $9
  
• Peter Brown - Do Ya Wanna Get Funky With Me? 1977 RE EX/EX $5
  
• Lamont Dozier - Black Bach 1974 OG SVG/NM $8
  

*Lonnie Liston Smith - A Song For The Children 1979 OG VG/VG+ $5

• Wes Montgomery - The Best Of Wes Montgomery 1967 OG VG/VG+ $5
  
• Charli Persip And Superband - In Case You Missed It 1985 Italy OG NM/NM $7
  
• Oscar Peterson - Oscar Peterson 1965 OG SVG/NM $4
  
• Oscar Peterson - Stéphane Grappelli Quartet Vol. 1 1973 France OG NM/EX $8
  -Don Shirley - Tonal Expressions 1955 OG SVG/VG+ $8
  

So I got banned from the support Fiona and blow smoke up the arse of a known stalker page!!
My “crime”? I reminded “Neil” aka Fiona that I was a constituent of Jimmy Wray and I was at the meeting where she done a “Martha” on the then First Minister of Scotland, Donald Dewar, and shouted “You cannot touch me, I know my rights” as she was removed from a Meeting. A meeting in which she verbally assaulted our First Minister with her atrocious POVs regarding race and sexuality. I reminded “Neil” that it was in the Glasgow Herald the next day.
I’m now blocked!!!
Anyone wanting to know what this has to do with BR really need to ask themselves why this woman relocated to England. England have different laws to Scotland and she went on the run so to speak. She was well known above the border, especially in Glasgow East constituency for her antics. Thank god there werent any iPhones in those days.

Hi, I'm Shawn. I'm 35 and live in a charming little town in Virginia, just a quick 29-minute drive from Harrisonburg. I'm on the lookout for people who are genuinely interested in building real friendships. If you're someone who values regular communication and meaningful connections, we might really hit it off!
I don't usually like to talk myself up—I don't think of myself as particularly fascinating or charismatic—but I'm eager to step out of my comfort zone. I'm ready to pursue authentic connections, especially when it comes to romance. So, if you're up for building something real, let's get to know each other!
I'm a traditional geek at heart, who still gets weak in the knees at the thought of exploring fantastical worlds. Whether it’s diving into a comic book or navigating the digital landscapes of video games, I find immense joy in science fiction, fantasy, and anime. Currently, I'm working on creating a Magic: The Gathering deck and love getting lost in a D&D adventure (though I'm taking a short break from that right now).
By night, I work as a security guard. In my downtime, I enjoy reading, writing fanfiction, and tuning into podcasts about Bigfoot, Dogman, hauntings, aliens, and other cryptids. While I don't participate in cosplay, I have a deep appreciation for the art and effort that goes into it.
I understand that LGBTQ+ issues are significant to many people. Personally, I wouldn't label myself as an active supporter of the community, but I firmly believe that everyone should live their life as they choose, as long as they're not harming anyone or involving children. For me, "Dude" is a gender-neutral term. So weather you identify as male female non binary or anything in between you'll still be my Dude
Socially, I'm open to the 420 culture, and I find it helpful for treating my insomnia, although I'm not deeply involved beyond that. Politically, I consider myself centrist, and when it comes to religion, I identify as agnostic.
At this point in my life, I’m really looking for genuine in-person connections with people who are straightforward and honest. I'm definitely not interested in running into deceitful cam girls or romance scammers trying to get my credit card info or convince me to buy gift cards. I want to meet people I can hang out with, make great memories, and spend quality time together. It’d be great if they lived nearby or are okay with some travel now and then.
I find that I generally connect better with women and am looking for friends within the 30-49 age range. But men are welcome too, especially if you’re single, not married, and don’t have kids—I'm just not up for being a third wheel.
So, to sum it up, I’m looking for friends who are like me: single, not married, and without children. Ideally, you’d be nearby or okay with occasional travel so we can meet up easily. Building meaningful friendships through shared activities and mutual interests is what I’m after.
I've also noticed that more people are looking for deeper connections and meaningful conversations, and some are even interested in video and voice chats. While I see the appeal of these interactions and understand why people might want to put a face to a name, I believe these kinds of connections should develop naturally rather than being forced. For those who really want to get to know me better, here are a few things about me:

 THIS OR THAT 

Tattoos:: none, can’t decide what I want and in my opinion if I’m going to get something permanent on my skin it’s gotta have some significant meaning to me
Piercings:: none
Do I Smoke:: Weed Socially
Do I Drink:: Nope
My Occupation:: Security Guard
Any Offspring:: no, And Don’t want any
Any Pets:: Dog and Chickens
My Religion:: Agnostic
My Lingo:: English, Profanity and Sign Language
Early Bird or Night Owl:: Night Owl
Bookworm or Movie Buff:: Bookworm
Board games or Video games:: Both
City or Country:: Country
Favorite Color:: Purple
Favorite Season:: Summer
Musical Taste:: Variety, but Meatloaf is my favorite and I don’t like blue grass
Favorite Video Game:: Mass Effect
Favorite ME Romance:: Tali
Favorite ME Class: Sentinel
My Zombie Apocalypse Plan:: "We get in my car, drive over to Mom's. We go in, take care of Philip. 'So sorry, Philip.' Then we grab Mom, go get Liz, go to the Winchester, have a pint, and wait for this whole thing to blow over."
Gaming:: I'm all about video games, especially RPGs and sandbox games like Mass Effect and ARK: Survival Evolved.

 DEALBREAKERS 

1. Little to No Effort: I understand Life gets busy, and I don’t expect immediate responses all the time, but I do hope for some genuine interaction, consistency, and effort to keep in touch. I’ll definitely put in the same effort on my end Friendship is a two-way street. If I'm always the one initiating plans, reaching out, or investing in the relationship, while you show little to no effort or interest, it quickly becomes exhausting and one-sided for me. Friendship takes work, and if you're going to waste my time with prolonged periods of not texting me, then it's probably best we aren't friends. Relationships require effort from both sides to thrive, and it’s essential to value each other's time and commitment. If mutual respect and communication aren't present, maintaining the friendship simply isn't worthwhile.
   
   1. Poor Hygiene: Basic hygiene is important for personal and social interactions. If a friend's poor hygiene regularly makes it uncomfortable to be around them, it becomes a significant barrier in developing a close and healthy friendship. I'm a bigger guy so I always make sure my Hygiene is on point, teeth brush, shower twice a week and deodorant.
   2. Irresponsiblity:: As a 35-year-old adult, I expect my friends to act like grown-ups. I'm not here to play the role of a mom or a babysitter. If you happen to get drunk and out of control occasionally and you're usually a good friend, I'll ensure you get home safely. However, if every time we hang out, I find myself dealing with your drunken behavior and having to wrestle your keys away from you like you're a defiant child, I'm putting an end to our friendship. If you can't manage your finances because you blew all your money on weed and then come to me for a loan, I'm cutting ties with you. I have nothing against smoking weed, but if you can't function without it and it's become an addiction, then I'm walking away. If you engage in petty drama on social media like a teenager, I'm walking away. I simply want people around me to act like responsible adults. I've outgrown all the immature antics reminiscent of high school drama.

36F, I don’t smoke or drink. I take a prenatal as a daily vitamin most days when I remember. Not pregnant just finishing them up.
Last Sunday on my way to brunch I got a headache. It lingered all day and aligned with my period so wrote it off. Monday, I was coughing, congested, with headache. Tuesday same. Wednesday the worst so I took a day quill as I have a toddler and couldn’t keep up with coffee alone.
Thursday I went to the doctor and he listened to my chest and said I was fine just to rest. I felt silly for wasting his time. But last time I felt like I had something in my chest I waited too long and it was walking pneumonia.
Friday the cough was fully back and I couldn’t stop blowing my nose. But headache free.
Today I woke up and I was super dizzy. Like hungover room spins and now I have a very specific headache that started on the bottom left and has crept to the leg side of my head. It’s super bizarre. I feel nauseous and wonder if throwing up would just help the whole situation.
Is this the healing process for viruses? When should I be considered about weird headache and dizzy nauseous spells?

Me (m39) and my gf (f29) have decided that we want to buy a house. We have been together for almost 5 years now and have a daughter 1.5 years old. Since we had the baby my gf voted too work less so she can take care of the baby. She went from working 4 days to 2.5 days. I went from 4 days to 5 days working. She has no that much of income because of this. But she can pay her own bills. I pay rent atm and some other bills which i dont mind. Now with buying a house she wants to put the mortgage on both our names but she still wants me to pay the full mortgage. I told her no that i dont want the mortgage to be on both our names if i have to pay it alone. I will buy a house myself and pay the mortgage and she can then live with me. She went on a rant with me screaming that i wasted her time and that she is just a baby carrier to me. I told her she can go work more and i can stay home more to take care of the baby too. She started screaming again to me that i dont know what im saying or doing. She rolled a blow and took her carkeys and went for a smoke i guess. There has been some arguements in the past where she threatened me that she will leave me and take the baby. So im just being carefull to not go and take a mortgage with her so she can leave me and get half the house without paying anything.
So AITAH for not willing to give her a free half mortgage without paying?

I have an announcement about the future of this series. Some IRL stuff is taking up a lot of my time. It's nothing serious, so don't worry. As it stands, I simply don't have the time to write as much as I was before. This does not mean that I'm putting NiTH on hiatus. The series will continue. But, and there is a but. Since I don't have as much time to put into writing it, updates will likely be slower. As such, I won't be able to promise a consistent schedule. Or even a schedule at all.
I'll still try to keep it somewhat consistent. I just don't want people to freak out if there's a week with no update.
Many thanks to u/SpacePaladin15 for this universe.
Prev - First - Next
--------------------------------------
Chapter 16:
- Memory Transcription Subject: Meba, Venlil Computer Scientist
Date [Standardized Human Time]: October 20th, 2136
The boot was cool against my back. So was the rain, which was beating down again. Mud caked on my fur like resin, and the taste of dirt wouldn’t leave my mouth. The sound of wind beat on my eardrums like sticks on a drum. Gusts came in waves, bringing sheets of water careening through the air at an almost horizontal angle. I couldn’t see above the hips of our attackers with my head pressed to the ground. There was another sense that only Arlene was privy to, but that didn’t stop the experience from being thoroughly miserable.
I spit some of the grit out of my mouth. The only thing I could think of was how cold it was.
They must be warm, in their insulated suits.
“Why are you doing this?” I wanted to ask, though I didn’t.
Arlene was to my right, shivering. She would get hypothermia if she didn’t get out of the rain soon.
I was heaved to my feet, with a throbbing head, and shaky legs. I struggled in their grip, but that only netted me another blow to the face. My feet played hot potato with the ground, as it swayed out from under me, around, and back again. I almost wished it would open up and swallow me, swallow us all, just to be done with it.
One of the three brandished a baton, the others held Arlene and I. Were they the group from before? I couldn’t tell beneath the suits. My stomach exploded with pain, and I lost the fancy bunt leaf salad that Gram bought me.
The moment stretched on to infinity. My muscles clenching, my teeth chattering, and a bit of my drool getting to know the puddle on the ground. My wool helped a bit. Arlene didn’t have the luxury of padding.
Don’t look, don’t look, don’t look.
I looked.
Her usually white teeth were stained pink. The mask was lying in the mud, completely covered in it.
I looked away before I could glean anything else.
“Hey, buddy, you still with me?” Said the leader. Or, something along those lines; I couldn’t really hear him. He placed the baton under my snout and raised my head. Soon, he removed the baton and said something to his lackeys.
The ground started moving. No, I started moving. I was being dragged towards a tree, by my scruff. Arlene too. They pressed me up against the trunk; the wind was a little quieter under the canopy.
“There we go.” Said the leader. His voice sounded familiar. “Think you’re a tough guy, huh? Friends in high places? You gave us some real trouble, didn’t you!”
“Stop!” Arlene screamed.
Pain. Another blow. To my head. My vision blurred. I tried to stand. I couldn’t. Arlene. Was she okay? I couldn’t see. My chest lurched forward. Coughing. My coughing. I gasped for air. I tried to speak. I failed. He went for a kick. I was only partially able to block with my arms.
I fell to my side, gathering even more mud in my coat. I summoned every ounce of strength in my body, and raised my head. Arlene was there, struggling in their grasp. I don’t know how she could function through the pain.
She grabbed the exterminator behind her, and threw him over her shoulder, then slipped in the mud, and fell down… right on top of the him. He yelped in pain. The one with the baton turned their back to me. I groped around in the dark for something, anything. I found a rock.
“Freeze!” The exterminator yelled, barely audible over the storm.
NO!
I slammed the rock into the only vulnerable area I could reach: the groin. The suit had padding, but it wasn’t enough. He instantly dropped his sidearm, or rather, his sidearm dropped him, because he hit the ground first. I might have felt bad, if not—no, no I wouldn’t have.
Arlene struggled to her feet, blood still burning with alcohol. She stumbled towards us, hopped into the air, bringing one leg back behind her, and the other into the ground with all her weight. In an instant, her elevated leg swung forth with terrifying speed, boot blurring in the rain, mud flying off in an arc. I was lucky I wasn’t in the splash zone, because some would have gone into my mouth, which was hanging open like a faulty airlock.
It connected.
His head jerked backwards at an ugly angle, with such force that it might have snapped his neck, if he didn’t have the strong neck of a venlil. He fell over backwards, though so did Arlene, as inertia carried her leg higher and higher, until it was above her head, which soon found its place in the mud.
“Arlene!”
There was still one more exterminator. Arlene was down, and I was too far away. If the last one decided to pull his gun, one of us was going to die. I tried. I tried so hard to stand… but I couldn’t.
No sound pierced the rain.
I looked to the third, who was quite literally shaking in his boots. He didn’t pull any weapons, though he was cursing vehemently under his breath. He took a step towards Arlene.
“Don’t touch her!” I screamed, though he only froze for a moment before continuing.
He passed Arlene, and bent down by the leader. Both of the officers Arlene attacked were writhing in pain on the ground. The third looked to me, then to Arlene, and back to his squad. “Oh stars…” He heaved his boss up around his shoulders, and helped him limp away out of the yard.
“Dammit Lanek! Don’t leave me!” Said the one Arlene fell on, struggling to rise.
“I’ll be back!” Lanek replied.
While they were occupied, I crawled over to Arlene, clutching my stomach. “Arlene? Arlene, are you okay?”
She was pulling herself out of the mud. “Never better…” She growled. Arlene gave me a thumbs up; her face was discolored.
The second officer starting limping away, while Lanek returned to help him. Lanek offered his squad mate a shoulder, but he declined, only shuffling away faster. “Go brahk yourself!” He said, and Lanek was left standing near the gate.
He looked like a lost kid, glancing around the yard all worried. He locked eyes with me. I couldn’t think of anything snarky, or intimidating to say, so I just sighed.
Lanek bowed. “I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.” He said, voice cracking. He scurried away, but I could only relax once the sound of the squad car’s engine was drowned out by the rain.
Arlene stood up, dragging me along with her. “Fuck, I’m too drunk for this.” She slurred.
Getting inside in the rain was a group effort. The wind pushed us to and fro, and out combined strength barely kept us upright. I collapsed at the bottom of the staircase, gasping and shaking. She pulled me up by my scruff, causing a considerable amount of pain. I would have complained, if there was another way I was getting up those stairs.
“Sweet baby jesus, please tell me you have your key.” She panted.
I was too focused on digging through my belongings to ask about the nickname, adhering even more mud to my already mud-covered bag. At least I didn’t have to worry about ruining my datapad, since it was already dead.
“Found it.” I shoved the key into the door, and ripped it open with all of my might.
Arlene dragged me the rest of the way in, slammed the door, and collapsed on my couch. I was left to close the locks. As I did so, I found my door looking a little sparse.
A few more locks wouldn’t hurt.
I chewed on my thoughts for a while. Yes, more locks sounded good. Very good. The more exotic the better. A bio-metric scanner was a must. Hell, why don’t we throw in a vault door while we’re at it? Locks don’t do anything unless the door is impenetrable. An auto-turret would go nicely with my new vault. I had to discourage intruders somehow. Scratch that, fifty would be better. I needed an air filtration system as well, so people couldn’t smoke me out. The walls would also need to be reinforced. No, moving inside a mountain would be better. I wasn’t made of money after all, and stone is just as good as steel if you have enough of it. I could have a hydroponics area, and a water recycling plant, so I wouldn’t have to go out to buy food. The only problem was power. Brahk it, I could just sap some illegally. No one would notice, right? Who was I kidding? Everyone would notice.
I laughed.
A fusion plant would be required as well then. It couldn’t be that hard. I could just have robots manage it. Real people would be cheaper, but that would defeat the purpose. Maybe I could make fake people too? Make an artificial town? That would be great! Everything would be perfect. I could make everything stable and safe. No one would mess it up. Not even Uanta. And I wouldn’t even need to worry about raids because it would be hidden inside a mountain.
It was time to stop messing around. I needed to clean myself. I needed to get a blanket for Arlene. And, I needed to check both our injuries.
The blanket was the easiest, and was done in no time at all. Cleaning myself was a little more time consuming. Besides my everything hurting, I was falling asleep, and my bathtub was being difficult. After an inordinate amount of messing with it, I concluded the boiler had broken… again.
Lovely place I’ve got here. Cold water it is!
I lowered myself into the glacial depths, cursing everything I could think of to curse. I ended up scrubbing the mud out of my coat while standing, almost falling over more than once. After I was clean, I inspected my body. I was pretty sure nothing was broken, but lots of things hurt. My head especially.
Trudging into the living room, I found Arlene laying on the couch. She had removed her coat and boots, leaving them by the front door. She had also turned the blanket the other way around so the side without the mud was on her. Everything would need to be cleaned next paw. Everything. Now she was well and truly sleeping, so I didn’t wake her. I did take a closer look at her face, which was bruised with blotches of yellow and purple not unlike the human protecting his friend at the riot. At least her nose stopped bleeding.
My heart finally stopped racing, and I yearned for sleep. But I couldn’t rest yet.
I went to my computer, and booted it up. The scarcely opened desktop messaging app would finally get some use. One to Uanta, and one to Gram.
“Do you know anyone called Lanek?”
“I’ll do it.”
- Memory Transcription Subject: Meba, Venlil Computer Scientist
Date [Standardized Human Time]: October 21st, 2136
I awoke to the sound of running water, and to sore muscles. Peeling myself out of my chair, I found my living room devoid of humans. That explained the noise coming from the bathroom. Taking a look around, I noticed that the mud she tracked in was gone, and my couch was in a somewhat better condition. There was a note written on a paper towel laying on one of the cushions. I think she forgot I couldn’t read human script.
Well, I would just have to ask her about it when she finished in the shower. If I had the time, that is. Looking at the clock, it was already time to leave for work. I didn’t even have the luxury of groaning in annoyance if I wanted to get there on time. So I grabbed my bag, shoved some stuff in the muddy thing, and opened the door.
Sidewalk, station, tube ride, station, and sidewalk passed by in a haze, and I soon found myself standing outside the building. I passed by several coworkers on the way up, all of whom gave me looks on varying levels of ‘Who is this homeless guy and why is he in the building?’. The ones who recognized me asked me what happened, to which my only reply was: “Rain.”
That didn’t explain the bruises, but it didn’t need to. My tone assured them that no matter what they said, their questions wouldn’t be answered. I did not get enough sleep for this. Not that it would have been any better if I did.
At my desk, there was a note taped to my computer. It said something about a party after work, to which everyone in the office was invited. I couldn’t glean anything more before I ripped it off and threw it in the trash. I inspected the rest of the area for other disturbances. No one touches my work space. No one. I spent the next eighth of a claw removing the residue left from the adhesive, wondering how I would install a lock on a doorless cubicle.
Once my desk was restored, I booted up my computer in preparation for work. There was quite a backlog. My paws felt clammy, and so did my brain. I had never been so furious in my entire life. Every time I thought of those bastards, my paws shook, and my ears twitched with anger. I felt so powerless. I had to do something.
But they’re exterminators. What can I do against them?
Crush them.
And how?
There wasn’t time to be daydreaming; I needed to focus. Even if I could get back at them right that second, it wouldn’t matter if I was starving on the streets, so I was resigned to work. I took a deep breath and began, fueled by the promise of a chance to fix my situation. Despite this, I didn’t get through half of it before I was called to the meeting room. I grumbled to myself before stomping out of my cubicle. The denizens of the water cooler watched me as I walked past. It reminded me of the restaurant.
I entered the meeting room, and faced my boss. There was an arrangement of folding tables forming a hollow square, with chairs lining the outer edge. The room was a similar shape to the table, with good lighting and clear air. Almost like a hospital. Behind the spot he was standing, was a whiteboard with various incoherent scribbles that I had no desire, much less hope of deciphering. This particular room functioned as both a meeting room and his office. Even after almost 9 rotations of business, the place still hadn’t lost all of its tech startup quirks. I would have liked to see the way the place was before it became reputable.
“Meba, good. It’s good to see you.” He said. Everything was always ‘good’ with him.
I signed a greeting with my tail.
“Don’t be shy, take a seat.” He motioned to a chair.
Of course he wanted me to take a seat. Presumably while he remained standing, just to show me how below him I was. Well, I had no choice, it would be a faux pas to decline. My standing in the office was already low enough as the resident recluse. I sat down.
He sat down across the table from me and took a deep breath. I hated how calm he was.
“I have some concerns about your work.” ‘Some concerns’. That’s shorthand for ‘I don’t like you’.
My heart rate sped up considerably. “Such as? I’ve always been productive, and I’m never late to work.” I almost hissed, utterly failing to keep my cool.
“Yes, well…” He paused for a second, studying me, as if I was on display in a museum. “You have been having some trouble lately, haven’t you?”
My ears stood straight up. “Just some minor setbacks. It’s nothing.”
“Minor.” He echoed.
“Y-yes.”
“Meba, you’ve delayed five requests.”
“I was just finishing them up as we speak.” I snapped back.
He sighed. “You see, this isn’t helping anything. I’m not trying to attack you.”
I didn’t reply.
“Look, I like you. You’re good at what you do. But, you’ve been slipping lately.”
I gulped, and my ears twitched.
He put his paws together on the table, and leaned over to me. “I think you should take some time off.” He said softly.
What does he think I am, a child?
“Not a chance.” I replied.
“Why not?”
“I’m not going to take time off.”
He sat back in his chair. “You still have all of this rotation’s vacation time. You know it doesn’t stack, right?” I almost couldn’t believe he said that to my face.
“I am well aware of how this company handles vacations.” I growled.
“Then why don’t you take one?” He said, ignoring, or perhaps unaware of my anger. “You haven’t taken a single paw off the entire time you’ve worked here.” He signed false concern.
“There’s no reason to.” I explained.
“If it’s the office you’re worrying about, don’t. It won’t explode just because you take some time for yourself.” He retorted.
‘We don’t need you’, huh?
“I know.”
He ruffled the fur on his head in frustration. “I can’t let you keep working like this. Not in good conscience. Please, just go home for a few paws. Go home and rest up.” He flicked his tail towards the door to send me off.
“I can’t.”
He gawked at me, incredulous. “Why not?”
“I just can’t. I have to work. It’s part of my schedule.” I mumbled.
“Your vacation would be paid.”
“That’s not it!” I snapped, speaking frantically. “That’s not it at all. What will I do instead of working, then? What? There would be no balance. Don’t you get it? Does anybody get it? I need this, or else everything will be messed up.” I gasped after running out of air, placing a paw over my mouth before the regret spilled out.
He stared at me, mouth hanging open, but saying nothing.
I glanced around the room, considering flight, but instead mumbling. “Sorry…”
We sat in awkward silence for a few moments, until he began to speak, solemnly. “Meba. That was extremely unprofessional. However, I’m going to let you off the hook this time. I don’t want to see anything like that again. You may keep working if you wish, but if your poor performance continues, I will be forced to fire you. I highly suggest you take some time off. I’ve seen people, good people, drive themselves into the ground doing this. I don’t want to see it happen again.”
I replied with a meek ear flick.
“You may leave.”
I replied by doing just that, hopefully not to return anytime soon. The march of shame back to my desk was punctuated by more stares. Every eye was burning with curiosity. I tried to ignore them, to varying success. My injuries were becoming quite hard to ignore too, with all the attention brought to them. The pain only made me angrier.
They trespassed. On my time. On my friend. In my own home.
Flopping back down in my chair, I got back to work. I couldn’t make anymore mistakes. No getting manipulated. No getting coerced. No getting ambushed. Certainly no setbacks at work. I wouldn’t make anymore mistakes. After all, I had faced not one, but two humans. I had survived an exterminator attack. As long as I kept my head, I would be in control. I wouldn’t be powerless.
Not anymore.
---
I returned home, satisfied that I had just done at least warded off the deadlines for a while. There was still much to be done, but for now, I could relax. This tranquility lasted for a few minutes, unill it dawned on me that I didn’t do the homework. Yet again, I had completely forgotten.
It’s fine, isn’t it? What are they gonna do, arrest me?
A shiver crawled up my spine and whispered into my ear, that yes, that is exactly what they would do. I would be arrested under suspicion of predator disease, and rot in a cell for the rest of my natural lifespan.
I pushed that thought into the corner of my mind before it could start causing problems. Arlene would protect me if that happened, I reasoned, though that logic was faulty. It didn’t matter. As long as I kept my head on straight, I didn’t care if I was lying to myself.
In my apartment, the TV was playing reruns of some tacky game-show, while Arlene lay passed out on the couch. There was an unfinished bowl of fruit on the table, sitting next to another one of her felting projects. This one wasn’t a venlil. I wasn’t sure what it was exactly. It was quadrupedal, with a pointy snout, and ears that were even more so. There was a little bump that barely passed as a tail on the backside of the thing. The most noticeable aspect though, was the two piercing eyes… which weren’t so piercing because their scale was of cartoon proportion, but I suspect a venlil unaccustomed to front facing eyes might have found it disturbing. Some earth animal, probably.
Now that I was getting a closer look at her, it was pretty bad. Well, the lack of fur might have made it look worse, but I couldn’t tell. There were bumps on her face of varying colors, and her bottom lip had been split open. Around one of her eyes sat a nasty ring of discolored skin, that look particularly painful. I couldn’t get a look at the rest of her, unless I removed the blanket, and probably her clothes too. Like I was going to do that. They were furless, after all. I would do a verbal check up on her after she woke.
After gawking long enough to get tired of standing, I sat my bag down and went to go check my messages. It was annoying to go to the desktop to do so. I would have to get my datapad fixed sooner rather than later.
There were replies from both Uanta and Gram. I decided to check Gram’s first.
“Good to hear! I’ll meet you after work next paw, yeah? I’ll be at the park by the library. We can talk more then.”
“P.S. Be ready to start by the time you get there. Don’t be late.”
I replied. “Got it.” Then, I checked Uanta’s.
“Yes. Why do you ask?”
“Also, you didn’t reply to my last message.”
I should have expected that response. There was no way I could tell her what actually happened, or she would know that I was interacting with a human. That would be a first-class ticket to the facility. So, I would have to lie. And she was amazing at discerning lies.
A cold spot formed in the back of my head. There were so many ways it could go wrong. What would I do if she found out? What would my cover story even be? I clenched my jaw.
Keep cool, this has to be perfect. She’ll catch onto it if I’m sloppy.
“We ran into each other at-
No, that won’t work.
“He was patrolling near my-
Neither will that.
“He-
My drafting was interrupted by a knocking on the door.
Arlene.
“Brahk!” I hissed, shutting off my computer as fast as possible, and rushing to the living room. A second set of knocks signified the intruder’s impatience. Arlene was sitting up, still dazed from sleep. I shook her awake and dragged her towards the closet.
“Who’s there?” She whispered, eyes wide with fear.
“I don’t know. Just hide.” I replied in a similar tone, while opening the door for her.
She scrunched into place, shuffling behind a vacuum cleaner, and cursing. “My mask.” Arlene hissed. It was sitting under the table.
Another set of knocks, these much louder, made it clear that the owner was at no shortage of knocks of all shapes and sizes. “Meba?” Uanta called from the other side.
“Coming!” I lied, yanking the mask off the floor and passing it to Arlene as fast as my limbs permitted. While I was at it, I shoved her coat under the blanket along with her boots. Now that the human presence was sufficiently obscured, I unlocked the door and opened it, panting.
“Oh, did I interrupt something?” Uanta asked. She was wearing her suit, but the helmet was under her arm. “Are you alright?” She continued, when I didn’t respond.
“Fine. I’m fine.” I stammered, heart pounding.
She glanced behind me, towards the TV, which was still blaring the game-show’s theme song, and then back to me, with a look that could only say ‘you look like shit’. “I’m sorry to intrude on your rest claw. I’ve got some down time, so I thought I’d check up on you.”
I flicked an ear, unsure of what to say.
She blinked. “May I come in?”
“O-oh. Yes, of course.” I stepped out of the doorway, and once she entered, closed it behind her. I very deliberately led her to the kitchen counter, rather than the couch, to keep distance between us and Arlene. “Would you like something to drink?”
“Sure.” She swayed her tail happily behind her, placing her helmet on the counter. It looked stuffy. “Nothing alcoholic though. I’ve got to get back on the job in a quarter claw.”
There wasn’t any alcohol to offer anyway. Juice was the only drink I had besides water, so that’s what she got. After pouring us both a cup, I sat down on the stool on the other side of the counter. Anything to put something between us. It made me feel safer, though it didn’t have any such effect.
“How have you been?” She signed concern in tail language.
“Fine.” I sipped on my juice, trying to stay calm.
She scoffed. “You don’t look fine. What the brahk happened to you?”
Speh. Speh, speh, speh. I am so brahked.
“I…” I tapped on the side of my cup. I had never noticed its texture before. They were from a garage sale, on the other side of town; some old lady had them, but she was… expiring, mentally; didn’t need them anymore. Since- no, I couldn’t think of this right now. What do old people do? “I fell down the stairs.”
She gave me a disappointed look. “Stars, Meba. You have to be more careful.”
I shrugged, though the inside of my head was a dance floor.
She bought it? She bought it! I did it, I did it, I did it!
Uanta glanced off to the side, staring at the couch for a second, then locking eyes with me. “You haven’t been replying to my messages. Do you have any idea how worried I was?”
At least I had an excuse for this. “S-sorry, my datapad broke. I um, got caught in the rain, and it got wet.” I gestured to my muddy bag.
“You still have your home computer, don’t you? You messaged me last paw.” Uanta tilted her head to the side, ever so slightly. She was talking to me like she did to her exterminator colleagues. It scared me.
“W-well, I’m not home most of the time.”
Uanta took a sip of juice, and rolled her eyes. “Speaking of which. What business do you have with Lanek?”
My mind went blank. I didn’t have a cover story yet. I gulped down the rest of my juice, resisting the urge to say any form of ‘um’. “Um,” Obviously, I failed. “h-how do I put this?” I let out a stupid chuckle. “I met him a-after dinner last paw. He helped me up after I fell down the stairs. I wanted to thank him.”
“That’s it? I’ll pass on the message.” She sipped her juice.
“I-I was actually hoping to tell him myself.”
“I’m sorry. Exterminators are very busy. He’s relatively new, so he’ll be busy with training for a while. It’ll be easier if I tell him for you.”
I couldn’t let this lead slip through my claws. “B-but, I thought it would be good to… t-talk to more people.”
She gave me a reassuring tail sign. “Okay. I’ll see if I can get his info for you. Providing he’s okay with it.” She paused, taking my paws in her own. “I’m really happy you’re reaching out.” This was the first time since she enlisted that I heard her so giddy. It made me feel homesick, but there was no home to be sick for. Not anymore. I’d have to settle for phantom pains, I guess.
“Thank you.” I refilled both our cups.
She was easier to deceive than I thought. She always seemed so perceptive, but maybe I had been blowing it out of proportion.
“What’s that thing on your table?” She inquired.
“What thing?” I snapped back, worried.
“That little figurine.” She pointed to the felted creature with her tail.
My whole body froze, and any confidence I had vanished in an instant.
“Meba?”
“I-I… made it.”
“Oh? I thought you weren’t interested in the arts.” Disregarding the irony of her calling a human made object art, this was bad. Very bad. “What is it?” She stared at me.
“A wool doll.” I stated reflexively.
She chuckled. “That doesn’t really explain much.”
“It’s a doll made out of wool…”
Uanta rolled her eyes. “No, you’re pulling my tail. It couldn’t possibly be that.”
“I don’t know how else to explain it!” I grumbled.
“What’s it supposed to be?”
This, I did not know. What did it look like? “It’s a… a shadestalker.”
“What are you making that sort of thing for?” She asked gravely.
I coughed. “I uh… I thought I could use it as a distraction if a human approached me.”
That was perhaps the dumbest thing you could have said.
Uanta clicked her tongue in a similar way to Arlene. It was uncanny. “I told you to stop with those stupid defense tactics. You’re gonna get yourself killed!” She jabbed a claw at my chest, and I flinched. “Stars… I’m sorry, Meba. It’s just, you worry me to death. I don’t know what I would do if you got hurt.”
“Y-yeah.” I put my paws on my thighs.
“I’m so tired. Of all this predator shit.” She held her head in her paws. “It’s only getting worse. The whole galaxy is going to hell. Just like home. I don’t want that.” She took a shaky breath. “I don’t want to see that again.”
“Me neither.”
Uanta composed herself “I’m sorry. I should get going. There’s work to be done.” She said, gulping down the last of her drink. “I’ll come by next paw. We’ll have more time to talk then.” She turned her gaze to the couch again, lingering there for a moment, then turning back to me. “Goodbye.”
She left, and I locked the door behind her with a sigh of relief.
“She seems nice.” Arlene said, crawling out of the closet.
I rolled my eyes.

(Cong Rats u/Xerxes250! You've been FICNAPPED, EKEKEKEK! Thanks to u/Espazilious, u/CaptainMatthew1, and u/T00Dense for supporting me in Group 3 of the Ficnapping!
That's right, I've Ficnapped Hazardous Recovery, a very well-written fic. I'd recommend it to those looking for a more... tech-inspired fic.
So, enjoy the dumb stuff.)
-====================================-
Memory Transcription Subject: Kimmich, currently dying inside
Date [standardized human time]: October 25, 2136
If I had been made aware that one of the first days we were on Earth was going to be spent sitting in a predator's house, looking at sheets of paper, and listening to said predator prattle on about silly plastic shapes with numbers on them I'd have refused the trip as a whole. The whole concept seemed like a massive waste of time, not only for us but for him too. Unfortunately, I was trapped here by the whims of Vemnka and Sevkan, and they never let up a chance to see new human past times.
Andre, for his part, had been slow with us, letting us ease into the new living situation with relative laxity on where we were allowed to go. We'd already watched a few movies, played a few "video games", and even listened to some of his music. It was... enjoyable. Even with the obvious attempts to cover up a whole heap of predatory behaviors, Andre had managed to get us feeling somewhat welcome.
Until he had us sit at his kitchen table and write out the Venlilian numerical system, to which he responded with a chuckle, "Looks like Skaven Scratch." He did not elaborate. At first, I thought the exercise was going to be a simple lesson on how to read human numbers. But no, it was far worse. Instead, Andre went to his workshop, scanned all the numbers, and began printing a bunch of geometric prisms with the numbers on them. Vemnka was the first to ask about their purpose as she picked up a dodecahedron, each side holding a numeral.
"Well, I figured we'd play a game, and these," he held up a worn version of the same shape Vemnka was holding, this one with human numbers on it, "are how we play."
Not even a minute later we were watching as he 'rolled' the 'dice' across a little pad on the table. "So, basically, these dice, the 'd6's will help us make our characters. I use the '4d6 minus the lowest rolled' method for stats, but there are other ways to do it."
Sevkan picked up a triangular prism and poked his paw pad with it. "And what about the rest of them," he asked as he tossed the plastic shape onto the pad.
"The one you just rolled is a 'd4', it's a damage dice. Same with the d6, 'd8', 'd10', and 'd12'. This," he held up a dice with ten sides, but with two separate numbers on each face, "is a percentile dice. Helps when I need to see what outcome happens when a random encounter starts, though we'll not be using it because we're doing a oneshot." He flicked it up with a click and caught it. Next, he picked up the same dodecahedron as before and rolled it. "Ouph, nat 1, less than ideal when starting a game."
"What does that mean," I asked, looking down at the twenty-sided dice; the side displaying '1' was facing up.
"A nat 1 is the worst roll on a 'd20'. It's a critical failure, which means if you roll a nat 1, something bad happens." He rolled it again as he talked, "The d20 is the most used dice because it's the 'check dice', you use it to figure out how well you did on an action. For instance," he reached across the table for a sheet of paper. Looking it over, I could see it was a 'character sheet', as Andre called them. "This is the strength stat," He pointed at a block on the left side of the paper, "It shows how strong your character is. If I were to roll this d20 and get a 13, but your strength stat is a 14, plus whatever save modifier you have, then I'd fail the check and either nothing would happen, or you'd get a reaction to my failure." He shifted his weight as he reached for the ground. With a plap, Andre brought up a hardbacked book. My translator had a bit of difficulty translating the text due to the font, but in the end, it spat out 'D&D Player's Handbook'. A small script of subtext under the cover art, which I ignored due to its content, read 'Everything a player needs to create heroic characters for the world's greatest roleplaying game.'
"A roleplaying game," Vamnka asked before Sevkan or I could formulate the words.
"Yep! A TTRPG, Dungeons and Dragons, D&D. I played this once or twice before my accident with the reactor room, but I think I still remember enough to DM for it."
This time Sevkan asked the question, "TTRPG and DM?"
"Tabletop roleplaying game, and Dungeon Master. I run the game, so I'm the dungeon master." He laid out three sets of three pieces of paper at each seat. It had the same words and markings as the one before him. "So, as I said, we're doing a one-shot because I can't be bothered with doing a whole ass campaign. Plus you won't be here forever and we have work to do at some point."
"I'll be making your characters with input from each of you. We're doing basic fifth edition rules because the newer editions, sixth up to ninth, all suck." He grabbed four of the d6 and held them aloft, looking at Sevkan, then Vemnka, and finally landing his gaze on me. I felt my fur rise but paid it no mind as he looked down at the dice before him. "Vemnka, you're going first." He picked up and tossed the dice to Vemnka who scrambled to grab all four before they had a chance to fall off the table.
"So, I just... toss them?" The quizzical flap of her left ear was met by a curt nod from Andre. "Alright," she said as her paw flicked the dice across the table. One landed on 1, another on 2, another on 3, and the final one on 6. "Twelve in total," she announced.
"Good, now remove the lowest number rolled and mark it down somewhere on the back of your sheet."
After five more rolls, Vemnka's stats totaled 11 in strength, 15 in intelligence, another 15 in constitution, 16 in wisdom, 16 in charisma, and 13 in dexterity.
Next was my turn. I rolled a 13, which I put into dexterity, a 14 in constitution, a 15 in charisma, a 16 in strength, another 16 in wisdom, and a 12 in intelligence.
Finally, Sevkan rolled a 12, which was placed in dexterity, a 13 in charisma, a 16 in constitution, a 10 in both wisdom and intelligence and, as Andre put it, the ever elusive 18 was put in strength.
With all that tedious, boring, unimportant, and downright torturous work out of the way, now was the time to get into character creation. Andre gave us the book to look over and told us to ask any questions we wanted if we needed to. I pulled up my pad's visual translator and began skimming the text.
-====================================-
Memory Transcription Subject: Vemnka, having the time of her life!
The book wasn't big, not by a long shot. I'd read books three to four times as long in [a day] or two. What the book contained, however, was an entirely different story. It wasn't just a rulebook, or handbook, as the cover suggested, it was a way to shape the wild imagination, to tame the itch to create.
And by the stars am I creating!
Andre told us we'd start by choosing class, race, and background. Of course, we had no idea what that meant, so he took us through it one at a time at a leisurely pace. He flipped through the book's pages before landing near the beginning, showcasing a stout-looking human with the undertext 'Dwarf' printed to the left.
After running through all of the vaguely human-like races to pick and a few classes that would shape our table-side adventure, I'd chosen to be a gnome cleric, which was a humorous choice. Andre said I'd primarily be healing, helping my team by keeping them in battle. I didn't mind the idea of being a sideliner, as long as I could help.
Dad had chosen to be a human 'paladin'. Andre explained that the term equated pretty easily to a form of holy guardian, in the form of a mortal, who the god of their faith gifted to defend those around them. Dad thought is was a pretty cool idea, especially the idea of "burning heretics away with holy fire," as Andre put it. It took him a bit longer to choose his race because he kept returning to the page with the almost-Arxur-looking Dragonborn. Still, after some coaxing, he finally let up on whatever was going on in his head and chose the easiest option, and the one Andre had recommended.
Finally, Sevkan had looked a bit farther into the game itself, finding a non-classified databook called "Player's Companion". Andre described it as a supplemental read, adding a bit more variety to the already large amount of options presented in the Player's Handbook. Sevkan took one look at it and immediately chose the Aarakocra, causing Andre to flinch. He said it'd be fine because the Aarakocra looked nothing like Krakotl, but Sevkan still apologized as best he could. He chose the fighter class, which was about as self-explanatory as possible.
Next was backgrounds, I chose to be an acolyte. It made sense in my head that a religious healer would have a background in religion. Dad leaned toward Folk Hero as his background, an option that both he and Andrew agreed would suit his character. Sev chose to be a hermit, which caught me and dad off guard after Andre gave us a rough rundown of what it was. An isolationist fighter, the sort of stuff that got you locked away.
"Alright," Andre said, leaning forward, looking between each of us again. I noticed Dad's fur rise a bit less than last time. Progress is progress. "We've got a Gnome Cleric, a Human Paladin, and an Aarakocra Fighter. Pretty good party dynamics for your first time even hearing about DnD. Now, for the most part, we've done everything we need to do together. From here you would have normally gone through stats and equipment, but I don't want to, and this is a oneshot so those aren't that important. Vem, on that last sheet, please mark down 'Spare the Dying', 'Sacred Flame', and 'Guidance'. Kimmich, on your last sheet, mark down 'Lay on Hands', 'Divine Smite', and 'Divine Sense'. Sev... you can just throw that sheet away. You won't be moving past where you are now."
Sevkan looked down at the sheet with a hint of sadness. To be fair to him, 'Spare the Dying' and 'Divine Smite' sounded cool, but before I could ask what they meant, Dad beat me to it. "What are these for? What do you mean?"
Andre rolled a D20 absent-mindedly, "Spare the Dying is a Cleric Cantrip that stabilizes a person who's taken fatal damage and is rolling death saves. Divine Smite is that whole 'BURN IN HOLY FIRE' thing I was talking about. Depending on how you flavor it, it's you wrapping your weapon in divine fire and burning away at your enemy's soul."
Despite his previous misgivings, ones which were practically plastered over his fur, Dad seemed honestly interested in the concept behind the Divine Smite. "And I just get to use it? Any time I want?"
"Well, not really." Andre pointed a finger toward me. "She has three cantrips which can be used at any time, you only have two. Divine Smite is an actual spell, as in its magic that requires you to utilize a spell slot. Lay on Hands is a contrip that can heal and Divine Sense allows you to detect certain types of creatures based on their alignment. Good and Evil in particular."
Sev spoke up, displaying confusion with his ears. "So why don't I get any spells or cantrips?" There was a degree of disappointment in his voice.
Andre leaned back with a chuckle, flexing his dexterous prosthetics as he clutched the d20 he'd been rolling. "Because, as a fighter, you probably have the most useful ability of them all. It's called 'Second Wind' and its essentially Lay on Hands but only you gain from it. It's an ability you can only use once per short rest, which we won't be needing to get into, which heals you for 1d10 plus your level, which all of you will be set at level 2.
"Again, we won't need much of the stuff in the books because this is A. Your first time and I want it to be fun, and B. A oneshot where nothing matters and we're here to have a good time. So, real quick," Andre grabbed a d8s and a d10 and began rolling them. "Vem," the d8 clacked across the table, landing on a 4, "you've got 15 health total. Because you're a light class, always expect to be on the lower side of health. Kimmich, you've got," he rolled the d10, it landed on an 8, "20 health, not a bad roll. And finally Sevkan," the d10 rolled across the table once more, the 5 side facing up. "18 health. Not too bad either, given your ability to heal yourself."
"How did you get those numbers," I asked, looking across the table at each of our sheets.
"While you all were reading, I put your modifiers where they belong, and changed what needed to be changed with your stats." Andre leaned over and pointed at Dad's sheet, "I increased each of your scores by one because you're human." He moved to mine, "I increased your intelligence by two." Then he moved to Sevkan's "And I increased your dexterity by 2 and wisdom by one. I made a slight mistake when asking you guys to roll, as usually, you'd choose race and class before putting your stat rolls anywhere, but you all seem to have put them in pretty good spots."
The three of us gave Andre amused looks, to which he raised an eyebrow. "Humans get an additional point in everything?" Sev asked with a small whistling laugh.
"Oh, uh. Yeah, now that there are actual other intelligent races in the galaxy that doesn't look too good does it?"
"It's fine," I said. It was plenty understandable, thinking you're the best at everything you do when there's no one to compare to. "So are we going to start?"
"Yep! Just one more thing. Weapons and armor are important to this, even if you don't have to use them all the time." Andre flipped to a page with a list of item names which I couldn't make ears or tails of. I recognized 'sword', 'bow', and 'spear' as ancient primitive weapons, but other than that everything else escaped me.
"I'm noting a lot of confusion. Anything you need to know?" Andre looked at us expectantly.
"What's a 'maul'," came Sevkan's response.
"Oh, that's a term for a large, two-handed warhammer. Usually, it's depicted as spiked on both ends. Imagine a very large, very crude sledgehammer with spikey bits."
"And a 'glaive'?" Dad asked next.
"I assume you know what a sword is?" We flicked our ears in affirmation. "Well, it's essentially a curved sword attached to a pole. It's made to look a specific way, if it wasn't then it'd probably just be called a Dao. Or maybe the Dao would be called a glaive. Maybe Glaive is just a type of polearm. I have no idea. Anyway, to speed this up, I'll be choosing the weapons and armor you can have for you, and don't worry, I'll use your attitudes as a reference for what you get. For you, Vemnka, I think the mace and shield combo will do nicely with the scale mail. Kimmich, you'd work well with two long swords to accompany your chainmail armor. And finally, Sevkan, a halberd with your chainmail will work fine. Sound good to everyone?"
I was a little disappointed at the stolen opportunity to continue building my character, I'd yet to come up with a name or backstory, as I was sure was the norm, but with the idea of starting taking center stage, I couldn't help but wag my tail.
-====================================-
Memory Transcription Subject: Sevkan, going down the rabbit hole
Andre put a thin plastic sheet over most of the table, took out a bundle of markers, and began drawing, much to our collective surprise.
The sheet was was smooth and cool to the touch, though not through any internal system, probably just from the back of the garage where Andre had found it. It had a grid printed over it, which Andre seemed to be using as a guide as he drew a boxy shape, marking certain areas with certain colors. There must have been a system he was following, one that none of us Venlil in the room had managed to pick up on, and we didn't want to interrupt Andre as we worked in case we caused him to mess up.
I looked over my character sheet, made mostly by Andre with small additions I felt like I needed to add. I still felt a little bad for not realizing how raw the image of a Krakotl must have been to Andre as I chose the Aarakocra, but he'd brushed it off swiftly and curtly, clearly not wanting to continue the line of thought. Still, I should've chosen a different race. The goliath looked cool and probably would have been a better fighter than a bird with hollow bones, but I also didn't want to drag the others much longer, so I kept silent.
At long last Andre stood at his full height and analyzed his work. "There we go. The battle map is set up, now for the tokens." He reached into his back pocket and pulled out three little white objects. I immediately recognized them as chess pieces. A rook, a knight, and a bishop were placed on the table, along with a dozen white pawns, some of which came from a different chess set, and four black pawns as well as a black king. The black pawns were marked with the colors, yellow, beige, green, and white. We quietly agreed which pieces we would be. Dad would be the knight, I would be the rook, and Vemnka would be the bishop.
Andre sat down and we began. "Alright, I've decided to pull the classic 'wake up in a tavern' DnD start because it's funny and I also didn't exactly plan this. So here we go. Please leave your questions for after I'm done talking."
"You wake up, each of you, around a wooden table in a comfortable tavern with candles above you and empty tankards before you. You look at each other and recognize if only barely, the friends you made last night through a bout of drinking and dancing. You feel the roaring of a hangover in your head as you each groan and attempt to lift your heads."
Andre pointed at the chess pieces, which must have represented our characters. "Please roll constitution to see if the hangover affects you in any major way. It's a d20 plus the number below the stat itself."
We looked at each other with slight confusion. Not at the command to roll, nor for its circumstance, but for the setting. Is this a human board game? I mean, I guess I expected something more akin to chess. but this is nothing like it. It's so... alien.
Dad rolled his d20 first; it landed on a 16, "An 18?"
"Yep, Kimmich, your character brushes off the hangover with ease. You still feel a buzzing in your head, but other than that, you're fit as a fiddle." Oh, I get it now. How interesting. I could see Dad and Vemnka twitch their ears in understanding as I rolled my d20.
It landed on 8. "Plus two, so an 11."
"Sevkan, your head hurts like hell but you're still able to function to a normal degree. If it weren't for your fellow drunkards you're sure you'd have to stumble around by your lonesome for a while."
Vemnka let out a laugh as she rolled her dice. While she had been aiming for the center of the table, the dice had other plans and shot off to the right, flying off the table and rolling under a stool in the kitchen. "Oops! I'll get it," she said, jumping out of her seat and lifting the stool. "It landed on 19," she beeped excitedly.
"Nope," Andre said, much to our surprise. "Rule two of dice: if it goes off the table, its results are null. I didn't make that rule, but I still follow it. Roll again."
Vemnka's ears drooped a bit, but she set herself and climbed back into her seat to roll again. This time the dice did as it was meant to and rolled across the table without falling off. It landed on... "A nat 20!"
"No shit?" Andre lept out of his chair to peer across the table toward the dice. "Well, I'll be damned, a 19 and a 20 in succession. Well, I guess you're just better than those other two. Your character's hangover is completely gone, you felt it for all but a second as you raise your head to see your Aarakocra companion still struggling with his."
"Is there anything I can do to help him?" She asked. Andre's lip curled upward slightly.
"Now you're getting it. It's a role-playing game. You have your roles, the ones you set up for yourself, and now you get to play them. And yes, there is something you can do to help. Roll me a medicine check. I'll add your modifier myself." The sound of a die rattling across the table ended with... "Another Nat 20?!"
We jumped at Andre's incredulous shout as he glared at the die before him. He seemed more angry at the dice than at Vemnka so I assumed we were probably not in trouble. How can we be? We didn't do anything that would make him angry. Why's he yelling?
"Sorry, but the chance of rolling two nat 20s in a row, while not astronomical, is pretty fucking low. Something like a one in four hundred chance, maybe more," Andre said, sitting back down and sighing deeply. "It's fine, just funny is all. Usually, RNJesus is on the DM's side, not the party's. Kinda nice to see a change of pace."
"RNJesus," we asked collectively.
"Don't worry about it, let's continue. Vemnka, you put your hand on Sevkan's shoulder and do some voodoo magic bullshit and pray to your god to heal his aching body. Miraculously, it works and Sevkan sits upright feeling light as a feather. The Aarakocra's headache is now on par with Kimmich's."
"Just like that?"
"Just like that, now let's get on with it. As Sevkan gets up and shakes off the remaining ebbing in his head, you all notice five less-than-reputable figures sitting in a booth at the far end of the tavern. Each wears a hood or cowl accompanied by a cloak, which hides their race and weapons from you, however, you can tell that one of them is considerably larger than the others. If you had to, you'd place it at about 226 cm (7'5") while those around it are around the average human height of 180 cm (6'0"). Roll me perception too."
We looked at each other at the description but shrugged it off as we rolled. I rolled a 7, Dad rolled a 19, and Vemnka rolled a 17.
"Both of you," he said, pointing at Vemnka and Dad with one hand, "See that they are pointing in your direction while the big one holds a piece of paper in his hand. It shows artistic renditions of the three of you, along with a long string of words you can't make out from your current distance. Kimmich, you hear them talking about a bounty and that you are the specified targets. Now it's time for you to react, how do you want to move forward?"
"Well," Vemnka said nervously. I could see her tail flick in my direction, looking for guidance, but I had none. "I suppose I'll confront them? I'm not sure what a bounty is exactly..."
"Really?"
We looked at Andre and the obviousness of the situation. If we didn't know what a word was, we knew it must have been predatory. "Right, sorry. Bounties are orders given to hired people to hunt people. For one reason or another, if someone wants someone dead then they'll place a bounty on their head. I'm not sure if it was ever actually a thing, but bounty hunters were popular during the Wild West days of the US. They usually brought criminals in for trial though, and usually didn't kill them."
"Okay, but why do they want us dead," Dad asked, his ears falling back slightly.
"That's the neat part, you have no idea," Andre said as he leaned forward and moved the green-tipped black pawn a space on the map. "Vemnka, as you get up, you notice that one of the figures is moving towards the door with slight urgency. Before you can make a move, however, the large figure stands up and doffs his cloak, revealing the tattooed grey skin of a Goliath wielding a greatsword in the executioner's style. He shouts over the tavern for everyone other than your group to leave immediately as things are about to get bloody. His three other goons, the one moving toward the door exempt, move in unison towards you. Roll initiative. It's a d20, same as all the others."
I looked toward my sister to see her tail freaking out, her bishop is the closest to the enemy party, meaning she was more likely to be targeted first. I had to protect her, not only because of our sibling relationship but also because she could heal us if we got hurt. The three of us rolled as one, I got a 10, Dad a 14, and Vemnka got a 4. Andre himself rolled a few dice before moving the chess pieces into place and writing down something on a sheet of paper. "Alright, perfect. Initiative rolled, time to start combat. First up, yellow pawn."
He moved the pawn toward Vemnka's bishop, immediately putting her in danger. "One of the vagabonds rushes you, Vemnka, and you see the flash of Tabaxi claws as they raise their hand to strike at you." Andre's dice rolled, clattering to a halt inside the pad on his end, obscuring the results. "Does a 14 hit?"
"How do I check that," she asked, her tail going even crazier. Though, I couldn't tell if it was excitement or panic.
"AC," Andre responded flatly, "Armor Class."
"Right, yep." She looked down at her paper and flicked he ears 'no' then shook her head.
"The Tabaxi's claws swipe right above your head and miss by a hair. You can even feel the air move past you as you flinch backward. Next, the Goliath moves toward you, hefting his greatsword. Kimmich, if looks could kill, you'd be halfway to Valhalla by now. He glares at you with a mighty fire in his eyes. It's hard to tell, but you think he might have it out for you. He takes a swing with his sword and..." Andre rolled and looked back up at the table, his eyes focusing rather intensely on the black king representing the Goliath. "Meh, Nat 1. He swings and you dodge, causing his swing to miss wildly and land on the Tabaxi nearby. She takes," he rolls, "A sizable chunk of damage as blood flows from her lower abdomen."
"Wouldn't she be writhing in pain right now," Dad asked, pointing to the yellow-topped pawn.
"In real life? Yes. Here? I control the game, and while she is certainly hurt, she still has enough will to fight. Money is a powerful incentive for some people, especially bandits and vagabonds. Next, Sevkan, you notice the flash of steel as a dehooded human rushes you with a shortsword in hand. He has a keen eye and sharp nose, but your reflexes are faster as you dodge his swipe. He stumbles a bit, but recovers before you have a chance to harm him." Andre looks at Dad, who doesn't even seem to register the human's gaze as he looks over his sheet. "Kimmich, it's your turn. You can attack, retreat, use a spell-"
"Divine smite the Goliath, I'll use Divine Smite on the Goliath."
Andre lets out a chuckling laugh, "Now we're talkin'. Let's do this. Roll for attack."
Dad rolled, and I watched as the dice skipped across the table and finally landed on 11. "Plus five, so 16."
"Very good, that is a successful hit. Please roll both damage and the Divine Smite's 2d8."
Dad rolled his d8 three separate times, coalescing in a massive 18 damage, a 7, an 8, and a 3. "18 damage total against the Goliath."
Andre did a weird whistle as he marked down the information on what I could only assume was the stat sheet for the enemies. "18 against big guy. Sevkan, your turn. D-"
"Actually," Dad interrupted, "it says here that I have an extra action and a bonus action."
"Oh."
"So I'm going to attack him again."
"Okay."
Dad rolled another d8 which landed 6 side up. "Another six damage and I end my turn."
"Thank you, finally. Sevkan, go, please. Attack or... Well, all you can do is attack." Andre leaned back in his chair, stare planted squarely on me. I looked down at my sheet for any actions I had. I had a normal and bonus action, and that was it. I looked at the section marked features and traits and noticed that I could do three actions with action surge. "Alright, I'll attack three times. Twice with my halberd using action surge and once with that dagger, you forgot to give everyone that we all had the option to take." I glared right back at him.
"Yes, I didn't give you all the tools you could have had because it would have just wasted more time. But fine, if you want to use it, fine. It's a d6 slashing damage."
I rolled the 2d10 for damage. One landed on 8 while the other landed on 9. My d6 lands true on a 4. "21 damage to the beige-tipped pawn. That's the human, right?"
"Yep," Andre nodded as he wrote down the damage. "You take two swipes at the human with your halberd, both connect with both his arms and torso, slowing him considerably. It's only when he remains standing that you pull your dagger from its sheath and plunge it into his chest. You miss his heart by millimeters, but it does the job as he collapses in a pool of blood. Congrats, first knockout of the game."
I shudder at Andre's description of my character, who might as well be interchangeable with a Krakotl, killing a man. A human, for that matter. I look over to see Dad glaring daggers at Andre and Vemnka staring at me worriedly. I wave her off with my tail and focus back on Andre.
"Retribution is in store for you, though, as an Elf leaps over a table with two daggers drawn, ready to avenge her slain comrade. She..." Andre rolls and whoops as he punches a fist into the air. "She comes down with blinding speed and rakes her metal blades across your chest," He rolls again and lets out a slightly disappointed 'oh' before continuing. "You take a total of 8 damage from the Elf's daggers."
Andre, once again, leans forward, this time to remove the beige-tipped pawn from the table and replace it with a red cross, as well as move the green tipped toward where all the white pawns were. I assumed the gap in the markings must have been a door, as Andre had moved all the white pawns out of it when combat started. The green pawn must be escaping or blocking ours. Either way, we have to deal with the three remaining in front of us before we can handle that one.
"I see gears turning, always a good sign, but let's continue. Vemnka your combat turn. Make it count. You can use your bonus action to heal or attack with your mace, it doesn't matter as long as you do a different action when using it."
Vemnka looks over at me, then to the board with a contemplative look. "I'd like to use my first action to bless the two of them, then I'd like to use my bonus action to bonk the -what did you call it?"
"A Tabaxi."
"Yeah, that, I want to bonk that." Her tail swayed with contentment as she rolled her damage dice. It rolled into the batch of white pawns before landing on 6.
"Ouph, 'fraid that's not gonna be enough to hit anyone, but, Kimmich, Sevkan, both of you can now roll a d4 to accompany your attack roll." He flicked his d4 into the air but somehow missed it as it fell. It clattered onto the table and got flung into the living room as Andre tried to grab it. "Fuck, alright, hold on. Damned carpet's gonna be the death of me."
He went looking for the die, leaving us Venlil staring at the table before us.
"So what do you think," I asked abruptly.
"I don't know," Dad responded, his tone careful but gruff. "It's very clearly predatory. I mean, we wake up in a tavern after a night of drinking so hard our heads feel like they're about to explode and once the hangover clears we've got a band of roughnecks out for blood from the get-go." He squinted at the chess pieces representing our characters, they were all next to each other. "And I can't even really argue that we should stop because I'm fine with what's being depicted. Even if his description of you... knocking out that human was a bit over the top, I think that's the point."
"I agree," Vemnka spoke up, "The whole game is very fantastical, not meant to be compared to real life. I mean, sure, the concept of bounty hunters is a real thing, but I don't think there are humans as tall as that Goliath walking around. Or whatever a Tabaxi is."
"Fantastical and weird. If those don't describe humanity, I don't know what does," I said with a bemused flick of my tail.
"How about tired of hearing you talk about me behind my back," Andre's voice shouted from behind the couch, where he was scrounging for the lost die. Finally, he seemed to have found it, poking his head out from the backrest and looking over at us. "I'm joking of course, I don't mind at all. Unless you're insulting my taste in music, then we'll have a problem."
"I-I mean it's just-"
"Not for everyone, yadda yadda yadda. Anyway," Andre stood up, holding the d4 in his hand. "Lets continue. Tabaxi time." He took his seat and leaned forward to adjust the white pawns before rolling the hit dice. "Bruh. Another Nat 1. And here I was imagining the Goliath and Tabaxi to be the leaders of the group. Whatever. The Tabaxi attempts another swipe at you, or so it appears because she ends up cat-scratching the arm of the Goliath next to her. That's five damage, and it moves to the Goliath who is slightly pissed at everyone except for the Elf, who's, y'know, actually put in some work. The Goliath makes a wide swing, hoping to cut you all down in one fell swoop." He rolls the d20 three more times, once with a 'whoop' of success, another with a 'aww' of failure, and a final with a 'oh come the fuck on.' I could only assume it was a horrible failure. Andre's sigh fills the room. "Alright, Kimmich, you take 18 damage, he crit succeeded. Sevkan, you take no damage, and instead duck low as the swipe passes over you. Vemnka, you feel the blade move over you, but it does not connect due to your short stature. No, instead, he once again hits the fucking Tabaxi with his swing because he crit failed. Again. And because the human is no longer available to fight, it's now your turn Kimmich."
"I would like to smite again."
"Oh fuck, right you get two 1st level spell slots." Andre almost sounded annoyed when it was brought up, but relented nonetheless. "Take the hit dice."
Dad rolled, and it landed on 14. He rolled the d4 for the blessing Vemnka gave us. It landed on a 3. "Plus the five-"
"Yeah, yeah, it hits. Roll me damage."
"I'm sensing some hostilities from you," Dad said smugly.
"I'm starting to understand why my DMs hated being DMs, that's all. Please, fuck up that Goliath." And so he did, rolling a 15 in total. "You swing one of your longswords upward and cleave the Goliath's jaw in two, but he does not die. A mere flesh wound such as that would do little to dampen the giant-kin's will. No, what killed him was the bright light that engulfed his head after the strike landed. His face was the first to go as he tried to breathe through the holy flames surrounding him. His screams ended abruptly as his larynx melted away, leaving only writhing agony. He died a pitiable death in all fairness, as any sinner does. The second knockout of the game goes to Kimmich. Yay."
Again, the feeling of discomfort appeared as Andre described in unnecessary detail the visual of... someone burning alive. Oh stars, he planned that out, didn't he?
"Let's move on. Sev, your turn. First, lemme see you all roll perception again."
I rolled a 10 while both Dad and Vemnka rolled 16s. Adding modifiers made their 16s into 19s. "Alright. Again, Vemnka and Kimmich only, you see the figure who'd been moving toward the door at the beginning of the fight, now make a break for it as the Goliath collapses into a burnt-out husk. His hood is removed by the movement revealing it to be a green-scaled Dragonborn." Andre moves the Dragonborn's piece next to the door and through it, stopping it just within our sightlines. "He has a chance to escape, will you let him?" He looked at us expectantly.
I turned to Dad to see him eyeing the piece like a fresh firefruit. "Dad, no. If he leaves then that leaves the Elf and the Tub- Taba- Tabasi, whatever it's called. We can end this soon." Vemnka put her tail on his shoulder in an attempt to get his attention. He flinches at the touch and lowers his raised fur.
"Yes, yeah. Let him go," he says hoarsely.
"Alright, letting the Dragonborn go. Now it's Sev's turn. Go ahead and do something about his pesky elf." Andre moves the Elf's pawn a bit to put it back on the right square.
I shrug, attempting to fight off the conflicting feelings. On one paw, it's a game and no one is going to get hurt by me doing these things. But on the other, if I do this willingly does that make me any better than someone who would kill in real life?
Andre's voice snapped me out of my stupor. "Don't overthink it. It's a game, and this situation is self-defence. Kimmich is the only person here who's killed someone so far. The human will probably live in prison and the Dragonborn might find new meaning in life. It's not like any of this properly reflects the real world anyway. Just focus on the game, nothing more, nothing less."
I shook my body to rid myself of those thoughts and rolled my d20 and d4 from the blessing. "18 to hit."
"And hit it does. Halberd is a go!"
With another roll, it lands on a zero. "Got a 0?"
"Oh, yeah, the model I imposed the numbers on only uses one character for each side, but that's a 10. Good roll. Elf takes 10 damage and doesn't like you right now. I'm super tired of talking, so I'll just roll the hit dice. She attacks you for 19. Your AC is 19. Meets it beats it, that's a hit. Rolling damage, she lands a solid blow of 9 damage for her twin daggers. Now both you and Kimmich should have 3 health. Vem, your turn."
"Hit the tab?"
"Hit the tab."
"Hitting tab." Vemnka rolled her d20 and it landed on a 19. "19 plus whatever, I already know it hits."
"That it does," Andre responded. With a flick of his wrist, he knocks over the Tabaxi's pawn and places a cross where it was, he does the same with the Goliath's king. "Wait, why did you do that? I hadn't rolled damage."
"The Tabaxi had one health, there's no feasible way you do zero damage when rolling a dice with no zero on it. Anyway, let's wrap this up, it feels like we've been at this forever. Kimmich, your turn."
Dad sighed a deep whistling sigh. "I'll just roll to attack the Elf." He rolled his two dice, one landed on a 12 and the other landed on a 7, plus the 5 to his hits. "17 and 12. Rolling damage for that 17."
"Roll for both, the Elf's AC isn't that high."
"Really," I asked, bewildered.
"Really. The Goliath had the most AC at 16, but meets it beats it and Kimmich met it in the first round." The clack of dice interrupted him as Dad rolled his two damage die. Andre leaned forward to announce the numbers. "A total of 13. Congratulations, the three of you have just won a skewed encounter of DnD."
"Skewed encounter?"
"The Goliath had 40 health while everyone other than the Tabaxi had 20. The Tabaxi had 17. The Goliath had an AC of 16 while the rest had between 12 and 14. At least one of you should have died. I was betting on Kimmich because I had the Goliath go after him, but the nat 1s kinda stopped that from happening." Andre shook his prosthetic hands and brought them up to his chin. "Anyway, I'm dead tired. Never want to do that again, ever."
"I can't say I'm in the same cruiser as you, I found it quite fun, even with the gruesome descriptions," I said, probably unconvincingly. I did have fun, but it was a lot to take in all at once.
"I had fun too. Just, if we do do this again, try to tone back the predatory stuff. The fighting was fine, but the description was a bit... spot on I think." Vemnka's tail curled a bit as she probably imagined the images Andre described in her head.
Dad only gave a small 'hmph' as he scooted off his chair and went toward our rooms.
"Well," Andre started, "that's about what I expected from a bunch of scared space sheep."
I let out a whistle as Vemnka gently lowered herself to the ground, marched up to Andre, and bopped him on the thigh with all her might.
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2015 S-550 4matic only 88k miles.
Cylinder 2 is misfiring and has gotten progressively worse. Dealer refuses or is unable to work on it. Local shop quoted $8k to pull the entire motor and investigate the heads/valves, then later said they’d rather not do it and passed me to another local Mercedes enthusiast/expert with a good track record of “fixing hard stuff”.
This new guy feels that there’s just a lot of blow-by somewhere that’s fouling the plug and coil. He plans to do a compression test and leak down test and further diagnose. there’s a very small puff of smoke when the car starts but beyond that there’s no smoking or oil leaks of any kind.
I am looking for a short term fix as I plan to exit this vehicle once it’s operating properly.
Had anyone here fixed a single cylinder problem without pulling the whole engine and removing the heads?