Hair parts for black men

I think falling is love is equal parts selfless and selfish. I dont know why, but the idea of falling for someone, in any capacity, is so enticing and thrilling. If you couldn’t tell, this is a relationship post. Hope that’s allowed.
About me: I’m a black woman from the northeastern United States. I love animals and books, cats especially. Dogs are okay hehehe. I love learning new things about the world and society. I lean left. I’m kind but cynical.
I hope we can get to know each other well :)

She’s finally been ordered, 2025 GT with the Gt1 Package. Now is the hardest part, waiting the 60-90 days for it to get here. Beyond excited for this car. I ended up going with the Black but I cannot wait.

I don’t know what to do and it feels like it is getting out of my control 95% of the time.
I’m 16 and nonbinary or maybe trans (still trying to figure it out kinda however I am they/them or he/him) On multiple occasions my parents have made pure homophobic comments and down right insults to the whole of the lgbt community but turn around and will say something along the lines of it’s okay to be gay and joke that my dad is gay (I won’t lie he’s a bit fruity). It just confuses me.
anyway when I came out to my mam two years ago as Pansexual she said how unnecessary labels are (kind of understandable) and how I don’t know yet and I’m too young to really understand relationships however thanked me for telling her. Further along the line she asked me when was I going to get a boyfriend disregarding I said I didn’t just like men. Recently in the past few months since I got my hair cut again shorter and my brother said how people at school call me a different name my parents have been asking questions with a lot of nasty undertone. when the question first was raised I said laughed and said ‘No I don’t know why’ just kind of out of surprise at the question. I kind of want to figure myself out more and find a safe place to go or even more out incase things get bad before coming out to them. They’ll tell everyone and I just can’t deal with that- I want to finish my exams atleast to be honest.
I have a supportive friend group that I love dearly and have come out to them and I have a partner who is the sweetest. Yesterday my partner came over (well we had a sleepover so day before I guess) and my mother noticed that they used they/them on me a few times. After they left my mother came downstairs and said ‘Did ____ enjoy herself’ (I did tell my mam that they were enby and to use they/them on them but maybe it was a mistake so regretfully I ignored it) then she went straight onto ‘Are you a girl? what do you choose to be? She said ‘they left their phone in mcdonald’s’ in the car when I asked where you were’ I just played it off and said that they/them was a gender neutral pronoun anyone is called then my dad chipped in how they/them is grammatically incorrect anyway and started off on a rant different ways you couldn’t use it and I just switched off and just sat through it all. My mother then said ‘You know you need to tell us what you are because it’s a big change and we need to know what you want’.
I just assured them I was she/her excused myself and just went to my room. Should I have just come out? I’m just so tired of it all. I don’t care what they call me not like they respect me anyway. If there is another opportunity should I just come out to them?
Tldr: My parents keep saying homophobic/transphobic things then contradicting what they say with supportive things and I had the chance to come out but didn’t. Should I come out to them if I have the chance again?

Not sure why this isn’t brought up more when the poor episodes are brought up. It’s much worse than ‘A Hit is a Hit’. More awful, stereotypical dialogue and acting from the black characters, and the Vito subplot is just stupid. Nobody is going to paying a guy like Bobby to shoot them for $7000. That’s fucking insane. The Paulie mother subplot wasn’t good, either. The Jason Barone subplot was the only good part of the episode, imo.

1. When someone interprets as derogatory almost anything that is said about him (or about groups with whom he identifies) we conclude that he has inferiority feelings or low self-esteem. This tendency is pronounced among minority rights activists, whether or not they belong to the minority groups whose rights they defend. They are hypersensitive about the words used to designate minorities and about anything that is said concerning minorities. The terms “negro,” “oriental,” “handicapped” or “chick” for an African, an Asian, a disabled person or a woman originally had no derogatory connotation. “Broad” and “chick” were merely the feminine equivalents of “guy,” “dude” or “fellow.” The negative connotations have been attached to these terms by the activists themselves. Some animal rights activists have gone so far as to reject the word “pet” and insist on its replacement by “animal companion.” Leftish anthropologists go to great lengths to avoid saying anything about primitive peoples that could conceivably be interpreted as negative. They want to replace the world “primitive” by “nonliterate.” They seem almost paranoid about anything that might suggest that any primitive culture is inferior to our own. (We do not mean to imply that primitive cultures ARE inferior to ours. We merely point out the hypersensitivity of leftish anthropologists.)
   
2. Those who are most sensitive about “politically incorrect” terminology are not the average black ghetto- dweller, Asian immigrant, abused woman or disabled person, but a minority of activists, many of whom do not even belong to any “oppressed” group but come from privileged strata of society. Political correctness has its stronghold among university professors, who have secure employment with comfortable salaries, and the majority of whom are heterosexual white males from middle- to upper-middle-class families.
   
3. Many leftists have an intense identification with the problems of groups that have an image of being weak (women), defeated (American Indians), repellent (homosexuals) or otherwise inferior. The leftists themselves feel that these groups are inferior. They would never admit to themselves that they have such feelings, but it is precisely because they do see these groups as inferior that they identify with their problems. (We do not mean to suggest that women, Indians, etc. ARE inferior; we are only making a point about leftist psychology.)
   
4. Feminists are desperately anxious to prove that women are as strong and as capable as men. Clearly they are nagged by a fear that women may NOT be as strong and as capable as men.
   
5. Leftists tend to hate anything that has an image of being strong, good and successful. They hate America, they hate Western civilization, they hate white males, they hate rationality. The reasons that leftists give for hating the West, etc. clearly do not correspond with their real motives. They SAY they hate the West because it is warlike, imperialistic, sexist, ethnocentric and so forth, but where these same faults appear in socialist countries or in primitive cultures, the leftist finds excuses for them, or at best he GRUDGINGLY admits that they exist; whereas he ENTHUSIASTICALLY points out (and often greatly exaggerates) these faults where they appear in Western civilization. Thus it is clear that these faults are not the leftist’s real motive for hating America and the West. He hates America and the West because they are strong and successful.
   

I know that I’ve been posting on and off for a few years now with little to no luck. Before you tell me I’m too picky… I don’t think I am. We all have different tastes and expectations from the other people and there is nothing wrong with that. And I did try numerous dating sites but it was just… sewage. Not saying men are garbage or anything but these places are just full of horrible people. I have heard my fair share of horror stories from men about women too.
Before I move onto trying to sell myself in the best way possible so that some poor soul decides to message me, please read below:
You: -a straight man -aged 29 - 48 -located in Europe, UK or US (time difference no more than 6h; unless you work nights) -must speak English (how else are we going to communicate) -child free (and wants to remain child free; if you’re undecided it won’t work, sorry) -monogamous -no preference when it comes to looks or height; although an impeccable personal hygiene is a must (you’d be surprised how many people don’t wash daily). -loyal, affectionate, funny, patient (a lot of it needed with me), caring, kind and understanding. And yes, I am capable of giving the same back). -in full time employment (if we’re long distance, how else are you going to fund your travels) -no addictions (that includes weed, the smell is shocking); occasional alcohol consumption is fine.
And to sum this up, I’m after a best friend and a partner in crime. A soulmate even. Someone to come into my life and not change it or even change me, just to continue with me leaving everything the way it is. Someone to fall in love with me and treat me like I’m their most precious possession. Someone to navigate through this so called life. Someone who is, like myself a flawed human being but bring the best in me. Don’t give up on me and I won’t give up on you.
I won’t respond to any messages along the lines of ‘hi’ ‘hru’. I will not budge on the age or location either (no matter how amazing and mature you think you are).
If your profile contains anything inappropriate, I won’t respond either.
I’d like to think that I made myself clear.
Just one more thing (I promise this is the last one !!!):
This is not to gain any sympathy nor a cry for help, this is more of a pre warning. A lot of people would get their hopes up about me and once things didn’t go as they wanted them to go, would then drop me like a sack of spuds. Please do not think of me any differently, i am still a capable person.
I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at the very young age, as well as severe anxiety (by an actual professional, none of that self diagnosis stuff). I do take medication for it but some days are worse than the others and so on. I’ve been on a waiting list now for ages and each time I enquiry about counselling I’m being turned down due to the high demand. I cannot afford to go privately and I am 2 years away from seeing someone, as we speak.
I also suffer from fibromyalgia (don’t ask me ‘wtf is this; just google it) in late 2019 after having all possible tests done to rule out any other problems. I have days when I’m extremely exhausted and in excruciating pain. I still go to work and still try to be function normally as much as possible. I’ve been prescribed all sorts of meds to deal with any pain but just like with the antidepressants, they don’t always work.
Without any further ado.
My name is Anita and I’m a 29yo Eastern European woman, living in the UK just outside of Bristol. I’ve been here for the last 17 years and I consider myself England my home. I’m not considering moving back at any point in my life (however I’ll move elsewhere for the right reasons and right person). I will share my exact location once we’re acquainted a bit more.
I’m 6ft tall (yes I am this tall and I’m aware that it’s way too tall for a woman) and. weight approx 13st or 200lbs (my weight keeps fluctuating a lot and no, I’m not looking for any tips to lose weight). I dye my hair red but it’s more like ginger these days. I have green eyes (they’re useless as I wear glasses) and I wear a lot of black eyeliner lol. I guess you could say I’m kinda emo/goth?
An extreme introvert since I was a young one (definitely not shy, in fact I can get a bit volatile when it comes to standing up for myself). I don’t need to get out of my shell, so none of that please. I like my own company as well as my loved ones; and leaving the house only for work and groceries suits me well.
I’m a vegetarian (not a deal breaker if you’re not; your choice is to eat meat and mine isn’t. Respect it and you shall receive the same back). I think it’s time for everyone live and let others live too.
Tea, coffee and snack addict! (I love herbal tea with no sugar or milk; coffee wise I like a good cap or a caramel macchiato as a treat. Snack wise anything goes really. Fruit, crisps, cake and sweets!)
Bookworm (I haven’t read in a long time, I love books I promise. Just haven’t had much time lately. I have a stack of them which is growing. I need to finally find some time and immerse myself in one of many crime novels I have).
Apolitical (now, I read the news everyday but I do not support any of the parties. They don’t care about you or me, sorry to break this to you).
Animal lover (I have 4 rescued cats two boys and two girls aged between 10-11 who are my absolute life. In total, my mum and I have rescued about 60 cats in the last 10 years. We found them safe and loving homes but for some of them unfortunately it was too late).
No addictions here (I don’t drink or smoke; although I like my vapes a lot).
In my spare time (whatever I get of it) I like to go for walks, listen to music and podcasts, nap, watch tv, chill with my mum and cats, go shopping and grab a coffee with my ma, visit my brother in London, over eat, over think and read books.
I don’t really have any hobbies.
I don’t game religiously but I do enjoy sims 4 (someone told me that isn’t gaming although I’d say it’s a computer game so clues in the name but what do I know, right?) I don’t watch anime either, tried once and couldn’t get into it.
As you can tell, I’m just a relatively unremarkable human being, trying to find her place in this world. And I’m happy about that, being in the limelight is the last thing I know.
With that being said, if you managed to get through my ramblings and they somewhat resonated with you, shoot me a message.
Message me with your name, age and location and what caught your eye about my post. Don’t have to send me your picture right away; I won’t send mine until I’m comfortable enough. To show that you have read, end your message with ‘toodlepip’.
I will respond as soon as I can but please note that there might be delays in messaging back due to well… life being life I suppose.
And if you didn’t like what you read… well then scroll along, no need to let me know about this in the comments or to message me to call me names. It’s nice to be nice.
Thank you for reading this and looking forward to seeing some messages. If not, best of luck in your search!!!

I am looking for a very old YouTube clip consist of two parts about 2014 old or younger the channel logo was a blue ball with or without guitar
in the videos it's about a love story is called "parasite" it's about an orange ball that was all alone in the sea that was picked up by the fish (shown as a mermaid a little fatter). fish showed him how to swim he was still sad and fish gave him to bird follow showed him how to fly then on to the wolf and finally to the human the whole song is built like a story about 10 min and unfortunately I can only roughly remember the lyrics but almost the complete video in the second part start more in the old 80s pixel game style like she comes out of the hell and wants to go into a office to the boss
i don't know much more about the channel but i can answer some rough questions I definitely know that had a lot of views and the channel had over 1 million subscribers, his other videos were rather shorter and poorly drawn with text bubbles that I think were Koran
The starting picture from the clip of the second part was a black background of a red-haired girl with snow-white skin who jumped back with a face contorted in pain as if she had been hit in the stomach with an AX
In the first part the background is like a classic comic, the two carrackers are naked where one of them has two wings. I think the lower one have the wings It looks like they're falling The girl on her back is laughing and the person below her looking up at her . The intimate ones are A covered with smile or B with a pink heart. I'm not quite sure because that changes in video

Quick context about me and my situation: rew up in church, pastors kid - homophobic against myself but not against others - intense shame around sex - knew I was queer (attracted to women) by age 14, didnt come out to myself till I was 22/23 so it's only been a few years. - after my awakening, I didn't date again till I was 19 bevause "I was growing in my faith and wanted to focus on my relationship with God first". I'm a goddamn idiot. - fell in love with a cis het man in 2021, attracted to him because he was in touch with his feminine side. At first I thought he was gay, maybe bi. He's very straight. - moved in together after 6ish months and got married not long after. We've only been together a few years and I've always told myself I would date for around 2 years before thinking about marriage. What is wrong with me?! Knowingly not following my instincts?!?
We've been married for 8 months now and I think I made a mistake. When I think about sex, I think about being with a woman. I don't fantasize being with a man, much less my husband. I don't know how to do this. I know I need to separate but I also don't want to. He's been such a great part of my life and I don't want to lose that. I've lost so much in my life against my will that I can't make the move to self destruct. I want it all. That's so fucking selfish. I'm a shitty person.
I don't know if I'm in love anymore but I love him. He's not going to understand. We've had so many conversations about my sexuality so he's kind of prepared. He's certainly aware that I might be a lesbian. But I'm attracted to trans men, masc women, and non binary folks. That's going to make him feel shitty about himself. He's a man with a dick and I don't want that anymore. Please help. Any advice would be great. I know I just need to talk to him and get it out, but I'm needing validation. There's a lot of internal gaslighting. I'm going to therapy soon and I keep telling myself I just need to have a session and then I can do it. My mental health has been suffering in conjunction with this. It definitely is part of it.

“The Darling Twins? Honestly, haven’t we all had enough of them by now?” Seneca ruminated as he tried to placate what was now the de facto triumvirate of the Ophion Occult Order.
Once again, he had been summoned to Adderwood Manor to account for his lapses in judgement, but rather than being on full public display in the Grand Hall, he instead found himself in a relatively small parlour. Across from the coffee table in front of him sat Ivy Noir, with her sister Envy to her right and her husband Erich to her left. Standing just to the side of them was the trenchcoat and fedora-wearing automaton who called himself The Mandrake. The one-eyed dream-catcher carved into his iridescent face rendered his emotions unreadable, but the spellwork pistols holstered in his belt made it clear that he was prepared to defend his employers against anything.
“I mean, this feud between them and Emrys is laughable,” Seneca went on. “They’re no threat to him now that he’s free of his chains, surely? Before there may have been a tactical element to his obsession with them, but now it’s just plain petty. Petra’s just out for revenge, and don’t get me started on the absurdity of that eldritch realtor wanting to flip their playroom. Does he think he can just relabel their torture chambers as BDSM dungeons and pass the Black Bile infestation off as some mould?”
“Seneca, I promised Emrys the Darlings, and the Covenant that we all signed binds us to fulfill that promise,” Ivy reminded him patiently, dropping a cube of sugar into her ouroboros-themed antique teacup. “You knew the Darlings better than any of us. You inducted them into the Order, you used them as assassins and bodyguards, and you let them withdraw every penny they had in your bank when they were fugitives!”
“Well, first of all, Crow, Crowley & Chamberlain is a financial institution, not a bank,” Seneca said flippantly. “Secondly, they had a numbered account and they didn’t show up in person, so the teller didn’t have the slightest idea of who they were dealing with.”
“You still could have frozen the account before they had that opportunity,” Erich stated.
Seneca made a display of languidly stirring some cream into his tea and taking a slow sip before responding.
“I’m very busy,” he claimed without an ounce of sincerity.
“You just didn’t want to get on the Darlings’ bad side,” Ivy said.
“I wasn’t aware they had a good side,” Seneca shrugged.
“There must be a paper trail we can follow,” Envy insisted. “Did the Darlings keep their assets anywhere else besides your bank?”
“Financial institution, and yes, I’m sure they have a proverbial Swiss bank account, but I haven’t the slightest notion of where to find it,” Seneca claimed. “It has come up in conversation that James invested about twenty percent of his income with me, twenty percent elsewhere, and shoved another twenty percent under their mattress. Mary enjoys being shagged on top of money, apparently. Their services commanded quite a high price on the underworld market, and sixty-plus years of compound interest have made them incredibly wealthy. They can afford to lie low for a long while.”
“Even if they can go without a paycheck indefinitely, they can’t go without killing,” Erich countered. “They need to hunt, and their egos mean they aren’t just going to cower from Emrys inside their playroom. They’re going to be out looking for victims and plotting against us, and you know what spots they’re likely to hit.”
“You’re wasting your time. James has had decades to scout out hunting grounds, and I’m sure he prepared for the possibility – no, inevitability – that he and his sister would become our enemies. He’s not going to risk showing up within a hundred miles of any of our Chapterhouses if he doesn’t need to,” Seneca said dismissively.
Ivy opened her mouth to speak, but stopped when The Mandrake took a step forward for the first time since the meeting began. He reached into his pocket and tossed a red and white pack of cigarettes with a shiny silhouette of a stag onto the coffee table.
“What is this?” Erich asked.
“Satin Stag cigarettes,” The Mandrake said flatly before shifting his gaze to Seneca. “That’s the Darlings’ brand, isn’t it, Mr. Chamberlain?”
“Um, yes. I believe I’ve seen them smoke those once or twice. What of it?” Seneca asked, failing to hide the nervousness creeping into his voice.
“These are artisanal cigarettes, and Harrowick County’s the only place you can buy them,” The Mandrake said. “That means that the Darlings, either directly or indirectly, are going to have to make the occasional sojourn back home, and the limited supply of these hand-rolled coffin nails means they can’t stock up too far in advance either. You know Harrowick County better than any of us. You know who makes these, you know who sells them. That’s how we track down the Darlings.”
“That’s preposterous. Do you really think they’d risk coming to Harrowick County rather than just switch brands?” Seneca scoffed.
“The Very Important Person at Pascal’s told me that Mary said they’ve been smoking these since they were kids, so they’re clearly pretty attached to them,” The Mandrake replied. “And somehow, I don’t think they’re the type to ever give up a bad habit.”
***
“Smoke & Mirrors ~ Fine Tobacco Products. Silvano Santoro, Proprietor. Est. 1949,” Envy read aloud as she, Seneca and The Mandrake stood outside the small, heavily fortified brick building.
Cast iron bars crisscrossed the windows and front door, which looked like it stood a decent chance of withstanding a police swat team. Security was obviously the shop’s proprietor’s key concern, as the ugly brown and yellow awning was tattered and faded, and the paint on the sign was so chipped it was barely even legible.
“How exactly does an unnoticeable and unattractive hole in the wall like this stay in business?” Envy asked.
“Repeat customers,” Seneca replied as he took a confident step towards the door. “Silvano knows me, and he doesn’t normally have a problem with me bringing guests along, but I expect both of you to be on your best behaviour!”
Envy gave him a reassuring nod, but The Mandrake continued to stoically stare at nothing with his hands in his pockets. Rolling his eyes, Seneca pressed a bulky plastic button on the antiquated door buzzer.
“Yeah, who is it?” a harsh and smoke-damaged voice demanded.
“It’s Seneca, Silvano. A pleasure to make your acquaintance again as well!” Seneca answered. “Just looking to pick up a few cases of cigars for a party, if you’ve got anything decent in stock, of course.”
“Who’s that you got with you?” Silvano asked suspiciously.
“Envy Noir, sir. I’m here on behalf of my sister Ivy, investigating a matter of considerable importance to the Ophion Occult Order,” Envy promptly introduced herself, much to Seneca’s chagrin. “The gentleman beside me is my bodyguard. Would you be so kind as to let us in?”
“Ah… of course. Just a moment, please,” Silvano replied.
“What’s he need a moment to buzz open a door for?” The Mandrake demanded, his stance immediately switching to full readiness.
“Making the place presentable for customers, I assume,” Seneca explained in exasperation.
“You mean he’s hiding evidence, or he’s running!” The Mandrake shouted.
“He’s a nonagenarian heavy smoker. He couldn’t run if his life depended on it,” Seneca insisted.
“I’ll see about that,” The Mandrake muttered.
Shoving Seneca out of the way, he kicked the door in with barely any effort. Storming into the shop, he saw a slender older man with thick white hair and rimmed glasses seated behind the front counter. His saggy, spotted skin was a living PSA against the products he peddled, and in his tobacco-stained hand, he held the receiver of an ornate rotary phone.
Staring at The Mandrake in cold fury, he calmly set the receiver back down in its cradle.
“Who were you talking to?” The Mandrake demanded.
“A client,” Silvano barked back with a shake of his head, picking up a burning cigarette from a nearby ashtray.
“Silvano, I am profusely sorry for this abject and uncouth behaviour! This being is no friend of mine, I can assure you,” Seneca asserted as he and Envy made their way inside.
“The feeling’s mutual, Chamberlain,” The Mandrake remarked. “Mr. Santoro, I apologize for the damage to the premises, but as Miss Noir has said, we’re here on urgent business.”
“Yes, that’s correct. We’ve been given to understand the Darling Twins are regular customers of yours,” Envy explained, before the smoke-saturated room sent her into a coughing spell. She fumbled around in her purse and pulled out a black N95 mask she had left over from the Pandemic.
“I’ve got plenty of regular customers,” Silvan replied defensively. “Customers who pay good money for that smoke you’re so offended by, young lady.”
“These ones have been coming here for over half a century and never aged a day,” The Mandrake said.
“That honestly doesn’t narrow it down that much,” Silvano chuckled, tapping his cigarette on his ashtray. “But yeah, I know the Darlings. What of it?”
“When was the last time they were here?” The Mandrake demanded.
“What’s it to you?” Silvano asked.
“They’re fugitives of the Order now and we want them brought in,” Envy replied, having donned her mask and mostly recovered from the smoke. “Mary Darling held a knife to my throat once in front of my sister, and later threatened to eat me alive in front of her and feed me to her pigs.”
“They were going to put me in their daughter’s doll collection,” The Mandrake muttered.
“And I have nothing but nice things to say about the Darlings, so I’m honestly not quite sure how I got dragged into this,” Seneca said. “That aside, it really would be of great help to us if you could share any information about them that you might have.”
“I don’t know what to tell you. They come in, they buy their smokes, they leave, just like most of my customers,” Silvano told them.
“But now they’re trying to lay low, so I’m guessing they’ve made some sort of arrangement with you to get their Satin Stag cigarettes without having to risk coming here in person,” The Mandrake said. “Maybe they set you up with one of their spare Retrovisions? Emrys said they had a few of those lying around, and they can use them as direct portals to their playroom.”
“Like they’d waste a fancy piece of technomancy like that on an old geezer like me. I haven’t seen them in months. Last year sometime, I think,” Silvano claimed.
The Mandrake casually strolled up to the front counter, rapping his fingers on the cheap glass display case.
“Real nice place you got here, Mr. Santoro. I mean, not really, but I’m sure you get the implication,” he said softly. “Ironic as it may be, a smoke shop isn’t exempt from municipal bylaws about smoking in public buildings and workspaces. You may not have had much trouble with local law enforcement before, but one phone call from my employers will change that real quick.”
“You think I’ve never been threatened before, punk?” Silvano asked, rising from his chair and staring him down.
“Boys, please, there’s no need for this,” Envy interjected. “Mr. Santoro, our Order has considerably more resources at its disposal than the Darlings, and we can certainly offer you a far greater reward for their capture than whatever they’re paying you for some cigarettes. You could retire; close this place down and get as far away as you like. How does that sound?”
“I’m not looking to retire, Miss. This business is all I’ve got, and it wouldn’t be good business to go around ratting out my best customers, now would it?” Silvano asked.
“It would be worse business to sacrifice everything you have to protect two customers,” The Mandrake threatened, his hands clamping down on the display cases so hard they began to creak. “Talk.”
Acknowledging him only with a furtive glance, Silvano took another drag from his cigarette and exhaled.
But this time, the smoke poured out from his mouth and nostrils without limit.
“What the hell?” The Mandrake cursed as he backed away.
Silvano pushed a button beneath the counter, putting his shop into lockdown with security shutters clamping down over every entrance point. As the smoke exuded from his body, it went limp and collapsed into a dried-out husk as the smoke coalesced into an animate form of its own, circling above them around the shop’s yellowed and textured ceiling.
“Damnit. Another egregore,” Envy muttered. “That explains his loyalties. The Darlings couldn’t eat him, but Emrys could.”
“So you’re saying we can’t negotiate it with it?” The Mandrake asked.
“Or fight it,” Envy clarified.
“In that case, it appears we’ve exhausted all our options. Time for a tactical retreat,” Seneca declared as he dashed for the now barricaded exit.
Whatever he was planning to do to get through it, the cloud of smoke cut him off before he got the chance. Rushing in through his nose and mouth, it immediately began suffocating him, sending him spasming to the ground as he choked for air.
The cloud assaulted Envy as well, but was unable to penetrate her mask.
“Godamnit, get away!” she shouted as she swatted it away from her burning eyes.
“Envy, get behind me now!” The Mandrake ordered as he drew out his pistols. “Sorry, Santoro, but you’re going to have to do a lot worse than that if you want to intimidate us!”
Seneca responded by gasping angrily and bashing his hand against the carpet.
“… A lot worse,” The Mandrake reiterated. “I may not be able to shoot you, but I will blow this health hazard you love so much to hell if you don’t tell me where I can find the Darlings!”
“There’ll be no need for that, Mr. Mandrake,” the voice of James Darling crackled in from some unseen speaker. A door off to the side slowly creaked open, revealing a Retrovision flickering with black and white static. The Mandrake wasted no time in shooting at it, but the bullets passed through the glass without causing any damage at all.
A hologram of James Darling manifested in the center of the room, a burning Satin Stag cigarette clutched neatly in his fingers. He saw Seneca suffocating on the floor, then turned his predatory and calculating gaze towards The Mandrake.
“Put the guns on the floor, and I’ll call Silvano off,” he offered.
The Mandrake didn’t seem to be the least bit tempted by this offer, but Envy tugged at his trenchcoat and gave him a commanding nudge. Reluctantly, The Mandrake tossed the guns to the carpet and placed his hands behind his head.
With only a single commanding wag of his index finger, the smoke cloud withdrew from Seneca’s lungs and collected itself above James like a thundercloud.
“No sense in killing you, Seneca. That would practically be doing Emrys a favour,” James said. “But Envy, what’s a pretty girl like you doing wearing a mask?”
“You’d better not let your sister hear you calling me that,” Envy taunted.
“Kind of you to worry, but it’s always the object of my flirtations who bear the brunt of my sister’s wrath,” James reminded her smugly. “Top-notch detective work tracking me down, Mr. Mandrake. Why don’t you walk in through the Retrovision and arrest me?”
“You knew we’d show up here looking for you. You were waiting for us,” The Mandrake growled.
“Again, brilliant detective work. You’ve truly earned that fedora,” James mocked him. “Yes, I knew you’d come here looking for us, so I’ve arranged for Mr. Santoro to set up shop inside our playroom. He was only hanging around here to set a trap for you. Let me tell you what’s going to happen. None of you, not even you, Mr. Mandrake, are going to be able to break out of this building. You can sit there and starve for all I care, or Miss Noir and The Mandrake could take their chances with us on the other side of the Retrovision. Sara Darling really would like to put you in her doll collection, Mr. Mandrake, and I can’t wait to tell Mary Darling exactly how pretty I think you are, Envy. If the two of you come across, I’ll let Seneca go and he can inform Erich and Ivy of your predicament. If they’d like to negotiate for your release, I… may be willing to consider it.”
“You’re a coward! If you’re going to threaten me, step across that screen and do it to my face!” the Mandrake ordered.
He took his hands off his head and took a step towards him, only for the acrid form of Silvano to interject itself between them. James took a casual drag from his cigarette, refusing even to flinch.
Envy took advantage of the distraction and grabbed the pair of spellwork pistols off of the floor, firing two rounds of consecrated lead into the limp body of Silvano. While the body didn’t react at all, the smoke cloud shook and screeched like a wounded animal, losing some of its integrity and dissipating across the room.
“That body’s not just a husk! Silvano’s bound to it!” Envy declared. “James, if you don’t let us go in the next thirty seconds I’ll have The Mandrake tear that body limb from limb and you’ll have to find some other cursed thoughtform to roll your cigarettes for you.”
The Mandrake looked back towards James who now, much to his satisfaction, had flinched.
“Thirty. Twenty-Nine. Twenty-Eight,” he began to count down as he theatrically cracked his knuckles.
Before James could come to a decision, a few wisps of smoke snaked their way back into Silvano’s body. They were enough to animate it like a marionette, its limbs moving jerkily as it input the code to retract the security shutters over the doors and windows.
“There, happy?” James asked facetiously. “You’re free to leave. Put those guns down.”
With a smug smile, Envy shook her head.
“Mandrake, grab that body. We’re taking him with us,” she announced.
When Silvano tried to slam the lockdown button again, Envy shot him, knocking him back into his seat. Before he was able to try a second time, The Mandrake had closed the distance between them. He grabbed him by the waist and slung him over his shoulder, impotently kicking and flailing like a toddler having a tantrum all the while.
“No!” James growled, his hologram disappearing and being replaced by countless others scattered throughout the room.
“What the hell?” Envy demanded as she fell back beside The Mandrake for protection.
“It’s a distraction! Shoot at the Retrovision! He’s coming through to get Silvano!” The Mandrake shouted.
Envy complied, firing multiple rounds at every image of James between them and the Retrovision, but all of them sailed clear through their targets. The smoke cloud suddenly condensed tightly around them, and The Mandrake made a break for the front door while he had the chance.
He was tackled from the side by someone moving at over fifty kilometers an hour, knocking him down and halfway across the room. When he looked up, he was completely surrounded by silhouettes of James bending down in the smoke to pick up Silvano. Jumping to his feet, he made his way back towards the Retrovision in the hopes of cutting James off.
Or at least, he thought that’s where he was going. The tumble to the floor and the encircling smoke had disoriented him, and he ended up tripping over Seneca, who was once again unable to stand from the sickening smoke.
James brushed by them in a blur, and Envy fired every last bullet trying to put him down. Each one either missed or succeeded only in striking Silvano, who was slung over James’ back.
The smoke retreated with them, and The Mandrake dashed after them in one final bid to keep them from escaping. They were just feet away from him before they leapt through the Retrovision, vanishing into the basement universe of the Darlings’ playroom. The Mandrake dared to reach in after them and pull them back, but his hand hit nothing but solid glass.
“Damnit!” he cursed, striking the top of the box set with his fist.
“Don’t break it!” Envy shouted. “If that Retrovision came from the Darlings’ playroom and was modified by James, it could be useful in tracking them down again!”
“It also gives them a two-way ticket to wherever we keep it!” The Mandrake shouted back.
“Oh yes, it would be a gamble taking this old girl with you. No doubt about that,” the black and white visage of James mocked them from the other side of the screen, taking a victory drag from his cigarette. “But on the other hand, it is one of my finer works. It would be a crime, an atrocity even, to destroy it.”
The Mandrake struck the box set again, but deliberately held back on damaging it.
“Mandrake, enough!” Envy commanded. “I know it’s risky, but we need it. Turn it off and pick it up. We’re getting out of this hellhole.”
“Don’t feel bad, Mr. Mandrake. I’m sure you’ll have another chance to end up in Sara Darling’s doll collection very soon,” James taunted just before The Mandrake managed to turn the Retrovision off.
“What an absolute waste of time,” he muttered as he lifted the vintage box set off the floor.
“Not entirely!” Seneca claimed, who had not only recovered from his spectral smoke inhalation but was now holding an unlit cigar. “Crow, Crowley & Chamberlain has a lien on this shop, and since Silvano just ran out on us and has thrown his lot in with the Darlings, this place and everything left in it is ours!”
He was just about to light it before Envy snatched it out of his hands.
“The Mandrake wasn’t bluffing about the municipal health bylaws,” she informed him. “From now on, this is a smoke-free building.”

"What are you doing?"
For years Sierra sat alone in the dark void of a room that she had become familiarized with. For years Sierra sat alone with her gray, tired eyes glued intensely to the television, her arms hugging her legs as she painfully watched on for the same result. But for the first time in what seemed like forever, she turned from the black and white television to face another human being. Behind her stood a replica of herself, tall and slim, a comforting smile plastered lovingly on her freckled, pale face. Light from the small screen dimly illuminated the replica's figure as she swayed contently back and forth on her feet. Just her movements and open posture radiated satisfaction and fulfillment.
Her eyes narrowed with confusion and caution, Sierra replied in a monotone voice, "Just watching T.V." She turned her head back to the television nonchalantly, almost forgetting instantaneously that somebody was behind her in the first place.
Without asking, the replica plopped down right next to her and turned her attention to the movie. Silence suffocatingly filled the air. Sierra felt compelled to say something, ask something, yell something, scream something, but all she could do was sit with her lips pursed and her eyes stuck on the light.
"You're mad at me," the replica breathed, finally breaking the silence. Shocked by the nature of the statement Sierra instinctually cocked her head in the direction of the replica once again.
"Stop pretending to be so innocent," Sierra spat. "You know what you did. You're an evil, awful person. There's nothing good about you. You pretend to be wonderful and flawless to everyone around you, but you know what you did. Stop pretending you don't. Stop trying to forget."
The replica still maintained her affectionate grin and soft gaze as Sierra's eyebrows furrowed and her mouth curved into a frown. "I know what I did. I'm not trying to forget."
"Yes, you are. If you weren't, you would shut up and watch this movie with me."
"You've watched it a million times, Sierra. What would another rewatch change?" the replica questioned. The film continued rolling, dialogue faintly emitting from the speakers.
Sierra ignored the replica. Instead, she rotated towards the television, effectively gluing herself to the screen once again. A period of soundless concentration filled the atmosphere as the two of them sat together and watched the movie play once again.
They watched as a young Sierra walked into her construction class, many pounds of books and binders cradled in her weak arms. They watched as she chatted happily with her friends, giggling and laughing as she entered the room. They watched as Sierra pulled a board down from the second shelf, feeling the roughness of the texture as she returned to her seat. They watched as Sierra listened patiently to her teacher's instructions, distracted a little by the thought of the boy she liked in her second-period class. They watched as Sierra set off to complete her assignment. They watched as she walked blissfully to one of the electric saws, making a joke to her friends about how bad she was at construction as she set the board down at the station. They watched as she half-heartedly turned the machine on, humming a peppy pop song to herself as she positioned her board. They watched as she turned away for a second to see what her friend was chuckling about, eager to be a part of whatever joke was occurring. They watched as the blade of the saw dislocated as soon as Sierra spun back around to face her board. They watched as the blade flew across the room. They watched as it struck a small, quiet girl named Remi whom Sierra had only spoken to once or twice. They watched as the blood poured from her head and her body collapsed to the ground. They watched as the class panicked, Mrs. Levi screamed, and a pool of blood formed at Remi's skull. They watched as adolescent Sierra stood unmoving in silence and shock. They watched as Remi's body was rushed to the nurse's office, Mrs. Levi frantically carrying her limp, light figure. They watched as the entire horrified class's attention turned to meek Sierra, waiting for some sort of a bombastic reaction, waiting for her to break and shatter into a million pieces on the floor. They watched as all she could do was choke out hushed sobs.
The two of them sat in silence as the film began again from the beginning.
"Remi died, Sierra," the replica mumbled. Sierra's eyes locked harder onto the screen.
"Remi's family forgives you, Sierra," the replica reminded. Sierra hugged her legs a little harder.
"Sierra, it was an accident. You didn't mean for this to happen. Remi's dead and the saw that you were using killed her. You didn't mean to, you were just young and you made a mistake that cost another child's life. You've certainly paid the price for it."
"How have I paid the price for it?! She's dead and it's my fault! I murdered her!" Sierra screamed, rising to her feet. Her hands balled into violent fists. "We're murderers! We aren't good people! We don't get to live a happy life!"
The replica reached for Sierra's hand, but she jerked away. Composing herself and fighting back tears, the replica spoke in a muffled tone. "You've hated yourself for such a long time. You've been living in this guilt and sadness because you killed a girl in a tragic accident. When she died that day, it was like you died too. You've been stuck in that day for years, but now it's time to move on. Forgive yourself, Sierra. I'm begging you. I love you."
Sierra's eyes welled up with tears. Defeated and tired, she allowed them to create moist trails down her cheeks. The replica reached for Sierra's hand. Their fingers interlocked. The replica squeezed hard. Sierra squeezed back.
"I don't know if I love you back yet, but I'll try to," Sierra sobbed. A smile stretched across both of their faces as light laughter escaped their lips.
"Come on now, let's change the channel."

“Are you ready?” Yasmin Raiz places a MASSIVE bowl of fried rice onto the table. “Hi everyone, it’s Yasmin Raiz, your Season 4 Mx Congeniality, and I’m here to host our REUNION of Season 5 of Chronologica’s Drag Race!” Yamin stands to welcome the monarchs. “Welcome back the lovely contestants of CDR Season 5! Madam Maine!”
Madam Maine re-wears her finale look: a top hat, fitted black and white suit and a pair of silver boots with a cane. She bows and smiles broadly, looking nervous.
“Kaia K. Beauvoir!”
Kaia strides out confidently in an elaborate gold and silver pageant dress, with silver hair that glitters with metallic extensions.
“Cwunchie!”
Cwunchie is dressed as a little yellow plastic flower, with big petals and a tiny narrow stem. Her arms and legs are constricted at her sides in the stem and she hops along the runway towards her chair, grinning wildly.
“Now, let’s welcome the elephant in the room.” Yasmin smiles. “Bates Baghdashi, everyone!”
Bates arrives in a sepia-painted Agatha-Christie-esque detective look, with decadent shades of tan, brown, and black, an oversized magnifying glass, a briefcase, and a messy mop of Sherlockian curls.
“Oh, I love this.” Yasmin claps.
Bates lights an oversized origami faux cigarette, pretends to smoke from it, then flicks it away, where it unfurls into a bird, already aflame, and blasts away into the air, powered by a miniature firework.
Madam Maine looks very afraid for a moment, and starts to stand up.
“Before we continue, I want to let everyone know that their safety is assured! You are not in danger.” Yasmin smiles at Maine. Bates blushes.
Maine sits back down.
“Say hello, it’s Mermaid princess, Cleo Mertoris!”
Cleo wears a golden seashell bikini top stoned to the gods, showcasing some clear, recent work done on her chest, as well as a tight blue mini dress, as she flicks back her long luscious ginger hair with a smirk.
“Drag Princesita!”
Princesita waves in a sepia coloured maxi dress and bald head look, with bronze glitter on the top of her now shaved head, as she spins around with a smile on her face.
“It’s Briar Midnights!”
Briar walks out dressed quite similar to Ambrose’s traditional look- a tophat and sleek black trench coat, with jet black, wet hair and a half-smirk.
“Ms Stripes, Starzanne!”
The others look unimpressed as Starzanne walks out in an American Eagle style look, with feathers, glitter and fringe wrapped around her body.
“Ambrose NOIR!”
Amborse wears a black plaid mini skirt and white linen shirt, going for a rare fem drag look, with long black braids with hundreds of little pins wrapped into the braids.
“S-S-e-v-e-r-a!”
Severa rocks BODY on the main stage, wearing a bikini top and denim short combo, as well as a sensible pair of blue boots and pigtails to add the final touch.
“Magenta! Leigh! Simmons!”
Magenta gaps, wearing a Magenta coloured plaid look, wrapped around her body to create a fitted garment, along with a Magenta pair of sneakers.
“Jupiter Sterling!”
Jupiter rocks a head to toe, douchebag Vuitton look- jacket, shirt, pants, glasses and a backwards baseball cap.
“Apocalyptica!”
Apocalyptica looks slightly displeased- wearing a bright, toxic green look that appears to have toxic slime wrapped around her, in a similar vein to a past look.
“Lupe LaBelleza!”
Lupe wears a sensible pussycat wig, red coat and matching pencil skirt, with a black sheer turtleneck and a red fedora, along with a pair of black sheer socks being held up by garter belts and classic black pumps with a smile.
“And our winner, Nymphe d’Azote!”
Wearing her crown on her shoulders, her head too small for her crown, Nymphe is dressed in a glittering yellow robe, wearing a matching facemask looking ready for a spa moment, along with a wig, made entirely of bubbles!
Yasmin smiles, handing people plates of rice. “Now, today we're spilling ALL of the TEA. At the start of our season, we said goodbye to some girls that some fans really wanted to see more of. Say hello to Madam Maine, Miss Kaia K. Beauvoir, and…”
“CWUNCHIE!!!!” Cwunchie interrupts happily.
Severa rolls her eyes.
Cleo rolls her eyes.
Kaia rolls her eyes.
Severa glares at Cleo.
Cleo glares at Kaia.
Kaia glares at Severa.
Yasmin smiles. “Madam Maine. Once and for all, can you tell us why you’re named after a state you’re not even from?”
“Oh! Haha.” Madam Maine laughs nervously, eyeing the cameras. “I really like Maine. I have a French Canadian aunt who lives up there.”
“French Canada? Is she related to French Montana?” Magenta asks.
“Oh…no.” Madam Maine smiles awkwardly.
“A lot of our viewers this season questioned whether you were totally ready for the Drag Race experience. What’s your take?”
“I will be honest. I wasn’t.” Maine flushes. “I don’t think that I totally understood the caliber of some of these performers, and…I was in such awe of them. I feel really lucky that I’ve gotten to know some of my castmates, including all the first outs before me. Jupiter and Princesita especially, I really feel have shown me love.”
“You’re a sweetheart, honey.” Princesita smiles. “I hope you get your chance to come back someday too.”
“Are we going to do that every few seasons? Because it’ll get old, QUICK.” Severa responds. “Twists are only twists if we don’t see them coming.”
“Agreed.” Kaia says.
Princesita frowns.
Yasmin looks at Kaia. “Kaia, you represented, I believe, our first instance of a child of Drag Race–that is, your drag mom, The Mother Delilah, competed on season 2.”
“That’s right.” Kaia nods, keeping one eye warily on Severa and Cleo. “As a trans woman, it was important to me to be part of a legacy of successful trans women.”
“Delilah was successful?” Severa half jests with a smirk. “I think there have been plenty of trans women on the show who were more successful.”
Lupe looks like she wants to say something, but doesn’t.
“Whatever, I’m proud to be a daughter of Miss Delilah regardless and even more proud of having a healthy and kind relationship with the woman who inspired my craft.” Kaia says haughtily. “Not all of us can say that after all.”
“Ooooooooo…” the room roars.
Severa makes a displeased face and shrugs.
“One question about your time on the show, Kaia.” Yasmin looks around. “Why do you, in particular, think you ended up going home so early? A lot of fans were very surprised.”
“I think it’s quite obvious that Cleo’s leadership in that challenge was disastrous for me and everyone else on it. I’d assume that Cleo’s current appearance reflects how people received her during this season.”
“You mean my gorgeous knockers?” Cleo shimmies.
“I mean, your cheap bra and panty set.” Kaia snaps. “And-”
“You’re so smug.” Cleo interrupts. “As if you have anything to be smug about. Not with that mug, you don’t, mate.”
“At least I can still afford my makeup.” Kaia shoots back.
Cleo huffs and crosses her arms.
“Cwunchie! You were a force of nature for a short time with us this season.” Yasmin looks nervous to even speak to Cwunchie.
“WOOOOOOHOOOOO!” Cwunchie yells. “This show did NOT disappoint! I–”
It then cuts to an ad break.
~
“Welcome back to the Chronologica’s Drag Race Season 5 Reunion! Onto, the infamous, Bates!” Yasmin smiles. “You had one of the most DRAMATIC moments, ever in history. Let’s look back.”
Bates grins as the cast turns to watch the TV screen.
~
Will the following-
Wait.
Everyone looks concerned. For a moment, the stage is perfectly still, as the judges and racers wait with uncertainty.
In the distance, sirens are heard. The sirens get closer. And closer.
Suddenly, a group of police officers in full riot gear burst into the room through a production door. Crew members and producers look shocked and frantic. The police officers are led by a stern-faced man with a badge that reads "Officer Jeffery," who steps forward, his hand gripping a pair of handcuffs.
What?
Office Jeffrey points directly towards the racers. Everyone looks to see who he’s pointing at.
Bates stares back at the officer expressionless, blood still dripping from their look.
"Mahdi Hakimian?” The police officers crowd onto the stage towards Bates.
“Oh my god.” Magenta gasps.
Princesita starts to say something, and Jupiter reaches over to cover Princesita’s mouth.
“Yes.” Bates gulps.
Officer Jeffery reaches towards Bates. “Turn around and place your hands behind your back.”
Bates stands silently, his face expressionless.
“I am placing you under arrest in connection with the murders of Javad Tahmasb, Hamidreza Entezami, Mohamad Askari, Mostafa Shahi, Ali Reza Arjmand, Arman Nousari, Elahe Nousari, Setareh Tarokh, and Mohammed Tarokh."
Magenta falls to the ground in her bra and panty set, as everyone looks in stunned silence.
Bates slowly raises their hands as the police officers move closer, handcuffing them.
Everyone looks in disbelief. The judges look shocked and horrified.
“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.”
Bates looks at Apocalyptica, still expressionless, and speaks softly. “Christian…I’m sorry.”
“You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand these rights?”
Bates gives a nearly imperceptible nod.
Apocalyptica’s eyes well with tears. “Batesy?”
~
“Traumatic.” Apocalyptica looks at Bates, who exhales.
“To explain this….” Yasmin looks over. “Rachelle Mirage!”
Rachelle walks in with a smile.
“You two have worked hard together- tell us, what happened?!”
“I am, as we’d all know, originally from Iran. And- I knew it was a risk.” Bates exhales. “And they found out, and tried to have me extradited back from the US, for an alleged murder.”
“You killed someone?” Magenta gasps.
“A set up. Some of my former schoolmates had reported to the government that I had been cast here. So they falsified police records to make it look like I had done something which… was just because I, a Queer person, was representing the country in a way that didn’t match their… image.” Bates nods.
“Then comes… me.” Rachelle grins. “I could not let this happen.”
“Thank you, Rachelle.” Bates smiles.
“I felt something was off. And, I served as a character witness in the International Criminal Court, where… Eventually, after little evidence, we were able to not only have this gorgeous artist freed- but, I pulled some strings…”
“And I am now living in Denver.” Bates responds, holding Apocalyptica’s hand.
“What a shocking story.” Yasmin smiles. “And Apocalyptica, I must ask- are you two…?”
“We live literally across the street from each other.” Apocalyptica smiles.
The two grin.
“Now next up! She was one of our famous RETURNEES- Ms Cleo Mertoris, who won her first challenge- then proceeded to go home. Cleo, how did you feel about your journey?”
“I think… I should’ve gone much further than I did, to be honest.” Cleo shrugs.
“Girl...” Severa stares at Cleo for a few seconds. “You deserve exactly what you got- because you weren’t talented enough to survive a lipsync.”
“Not Miss ‘Double Sashay’ talking.” Cleo gasps. “At least I could pay for my tits myself, and not resort to sugar daddies huh Sevvie… Fucking bitch!” In a flash, Cleo, angrily standing, throws her drink onto Severa, who yelps.
In a flash, Yasmin tries to pull Cleo away from Severa, but Cleo does her best to claw at Severa.
“The fuck?” Jupiter yells.
“Don’t fucking call me Sevvie ever again!” Severa yells, scrubbing at her ruined dress and crying while subtly drinking the cocktail on her face.
“I’ll call you whatever I fucking want! Coming for my fucking gig!” Cleo shrieks.
“Let’s stop this-” Yasmin raises her hand.
Cleo spits at Severa. “Fuck you, fucking whore. You only transitioned to copy me! I MADE YOU! I-”
“WE’RE GOING TO ANOTHER BREAK!” Yasmin yells.
~
Severa tries to shake cocktail out of her wet wig.
Lupe covers her mouth with one hand. Kaia is laughing.
Nymphe suddenly stands and aggressively wrings out Severa’s wig, as Severa winces.
“Well!” Yasmin says sharply. “Are you okay, Severa?”
“I’m fine.” Severa huffs, bent over as Nymphe wrings her wig out. “I started my transition because, since the season aired, I came to terms with a lot about myself. Including how some of my behavior on the season was…rash. I’ve definitely been hiding from this moment. And Cleo has nothing to do with it.”
Lupe apologetically speaks up. “Pienso que, Severa, that Cleo might just be jealous of you.”
“You know it, mami.” Severa sighs. “I also really want to express some sincere apologies to you.”
Lupe looks startled.
“I think that with our time on the show, I was often jealous of you. Unlike me, or Cleo, or Kaia, you have been confidently living in your womanhood for a long time. I’ve followed you for a long time…and I fucked up.” Severa nods. “I am sorry.”
“I accept your apology, darling.” Lupe smiles. “It’s all I ever needed.”
“Now, these two were our OTHER, non finalist returnees, and both have… wild journeys.” Yasmin smiles.
“Non finalist.” Princesita frowns.
“You did good, Mami.” Lupe smiles. “I know it was hard…”
“I lip synced- a lot.” Princesita nods. “And it was hard.” Princesita begins to tear up. “Because, I believed I could do better, you know?”
Magenta holds Princesita’s hand.
“But- you must keep going. You can never push yourself too far, and maybe this wasn’t my journey. I think… I think I've accepted that now.” Princesita sighs.
“Regardless of how it ends, know that you should be proud of yourself, girl.” Kaia shrugs. “Like, we can’t all win.”
“Like me.” Starzanne jokes.
Nobody laughs.
“Well, turning to you, Starzanne, you had a controversial moment this season, in your makeover moment….” Starzanne turns. “How did it feel, watching it back?”
“I feel bad.” Starzanne closes her eyes. “And… I’m learning, I’m working on what I know, how to do it better, how to…” Starzanne sighs. “Do more than what I did, and truly, I feel shame.”
“I kinda think it’s bullshit.” Severa looks at Starzanne. “Because I think you knew better.”
Ambrose and Briar nod in agreement.
“HOWEVER…” Severa shrugs. “Good for you.”
Starzanne pouts, before nodding. “I aim to really deliver, I p-promise.”
The others look uncertain.
Bates sighs. “As the Middle Eastern refugee here, I can’t speak for Mohammed, who it’s obvious you really hurt and mistreated…and I hope he never has to see or work with you again. Because I hope you do learn, Starzanne. But also know the work is on you, not people of color.”
Severa gulps.
“Moving onto a power couple, or power ex-couple, this season. Briar and Ambrose…”
Jupiter woofs.
“How are we going since the season?” Yasmin asks.
“We’ve reconciled.” Ambrose looks at Briar with a knowing glance.
“I think both of us felt intense pressure this season.” Briar nods. “We both wanted to exist separate, but were so intrinsically tied to each other…”
“Ultimately I did think it led to our failure.” Ambrose sighs. “And- that’s fair, because it was a lesson to learn.”
“The lesson, being?”
“We are powerful- together.” Ambrose smiles, holding hands. “But, we believe it’s important to make space.”
“So, where does that mean for you now?” Yasmin asks. “The both of you.”
The two look at each other.
“We’re creating space, yet, collaborating.” Ambrose nods. “And-”
“They’re fucking again, BUT not doing duo gigs. Only attending gigs together.” Magenta chuckles.
Everyone gasps.
“Well… true.” Briar shrugs.
“Now, finally- the shocking moment… right before the semi final.” Yasmin nods. “Let’s look.”
~
I’ve made my decision.
Jupiter Sterling, Shantay you stay.
“Thank you.” Jupiter exhales. “Thank you.”
Severa closes her eyes, whispering to herself. “Severa, shantay…”
Severa and Magenta Leigh Simmons…
The others look on.
Thank you for being here, and doing great work this season. Now, I must say… sashay away.
“Damn!” Magenta yells, as Chronologica chuckles.
Everyone in the back of the stage look flabbergasted.
“No, thank you for this.” Magenta bows.
Severa looks at the judges for a split second, before walking off without a word.
“...Damn!” Magenta says again, as the others laugh. “I’m strutting off with GRACE.”
Magenta raises her hands in the air, as she walks off with a cheer.
~
“First, you- Severa, how are you feeling with time?” Yasmin asks.
“I feel as if that’s a different girl. Kinda. She’s thinking she’s giving nothing, not caring- but she cares too much, she’s lost that war. I think of myself as effortlessly fierce- but I did get stressed. I wish I… walked off and stomped the stage.” Severa sighs. “Instead of that.”
“And that’s okay, because we all- get there, sometimes.” Princesita says. “It’s about what you do next.”
“I’m going to win, girl.” Severa jokes. “They gotta make another All Stars so this diva can take the title.”
Everyone chuckles.
“Magenta, how did you feel, about being the other half?”
“I am happy, because if I’m being damn honest, I didn’t expect to make it this far!” Magenta laughs. “And I was me the whole damn time.”
“I love you for being you.” Jupiter adds. “You’re real, Ms Simmons. We honor that.”
“And not everyone can say that.” Nymphe smirks.
Apocalyptica grips Bates' hands.
“Now, it’s time for us to celebrate… some titles.” Yasmin smiles. “First, our GOLD BOOT title of the Season- ugliest outfit. Winner of a $5000 grand prize….”
…
Starzanne Stripes and September Remembers arrive in what else, but red, white, and blue. September looks patchy- his face is painted red, white and blue, in an attempt to cover his beard. Starzanne and September are both wearing fringe dresses that look straight out of a car wash, and it’s the epitome of… awkward.
“Starzanne!”
Starzanne chuckles, grabbing the trophy.
“Anything to say, Starzanne?”
“I am now wearing a lot LESS red, white and blue.” Starzanne nods.
The others awkwardly chuckle.
“Now, our title of SHADE- The Shadiest C.U.N.T this season.” Yasmin smiles. “Can I have a drumroll?”
“Cleo?” Severa looks over at the empty seat laughing.
“SEVERA!” Yasmin cheers. “Condragulations, you’ve won $10,000!”
Severa chuckles, grabbing the sash. “Thank you,I’d like to thank Cleo, Alcohol, and the rest of you for being too boring to get confessionals!”
Lupe laughs dramatically.
“I’d say I’m surprised, but I’m not!”
Everyone laughs.
….
“Finally, MY successor.” Yasmin smiles. “This year, the Congenial title will win $20,000, sponsored by Virtue Beauty.”
Everyone looks excitedly.
“The Winner is… MAGENTA LEIGH SIMMONS!” Yasmin cheers, as everyone starts clapping.
“Yes, yes!” Magenta cheers, as Yasmin puts the sash on her.
“Do you have anything to say, my Queen?”
“I-” Magenta smiles. “Damn.”
Everyone cheers.
“She’s finally out of things to say everybody!” Kaia laughs.
“Ugh…” Apocalyptica whimpers, wiping her eyes, as the others look over.
“Popsicle, are you okay?” Lupe asks.
“I’m- I’m fine.” Apocalyptica sighs. “I just- am really happy for Magenta.”
Magenta smiles.
“Bullshit.” Nymphe looks over.
The room is quiet.
“You expected this win, and again, you’re inauthentic, you’re lying, and you’re not owning up to when you want something.” Nymphe responds.
“I-” Apocalyptica tears up, holding onto Bates. “I-”
“I do have a question to ask, actually, as the crowned Ms SHADE.” Severa smirks. “Ms, Popsicle- we noticed your lack of presence at the crowning. You weren’t at any of the cast parties we held to celebrate or any of the events we planned, so what’s really up?”
Nymphe looks over.
“What happened?”
“I didn’t feel up to it. I was a bit sad, and I really did want to be there- but I-I felt physically ill, and…”
“Bullshit, again.” Severa rolls her eyes.
“Alright, you guys can have your opinions on everyone’s actions, but we don’t need to gang up on her.” Bates says, raising their voice a little..
“I don’t know what any of you mean…” Apocalyptica sighs. “I just-”
“You wanted to win, so you’re bitter. You kept denying it- but clearly, you positioned yourself in a way to do well. And you lost. So, why not own up to it?” Nymphe asks.
“Ugh, Can you go fuck yourself?” Apocalyptica snaps.
“Woah.” Magenta says.
Everyone looks spooked.
“Popsicle… You don’t have to acknowledge them…” Bates whispers.
“Of course I wanted to win.” Apocalyptica exclaims loudly. “I wanted to prove alt drag, to prove myself, and I don’t think that trying to be nice while doing so is a sin. ” Apocalyptica says. “LIKE-”
“Because you weren’t being real.” Severa looks at Apocalyptica. “Not the sweet girl who always happens to copy others.”
“I- You can think whatever you want. I…Actually I’m not going to continue to engage with this narrative.” Apocalyptica stutters as she turns to hold onto Bates.
“If you owned being unoriginal, maybe you’d have won.” Nymphe shrugs.
“Okay hold up- I’m mad she didn’t show up to our get togethers either but unoriginal?” Kaia inserts herself into the conversation. “We all get inspired and learn and take notes from others, like that’s the point of drag families, Delilah taught me so much, does that make me unoriginal? Have none of us ever felt inspired after seeing a good drag show or look?”
“I learned a lot from everyone in my short time here, my drag has changed a lot from all of you.” Madame Maine smiles.
“Girl, there’s a difference between being inspired and trying to steal my signature move the week after I leave.” Severa turns back at Kaia and Madame Maine.
“And were you the first to ever do that move? You came up with it with absolutely no influence from anyone else.” Apocalyptica bites.
“I don’t remember getting any credit or even a shoutout.” Severa stares at Popsicle.
“Do you give credits to who helped teach you how to dip every time you do it?” Apocalyptica retorts. “Whatever, i'm just so over this conversation.”
“Cool.” Nymphe bluntly states.
Apocalyptica rolls her eyes. “Cool.”
A couple of seconds pass of silence.
“Well, thank you all for a lovely season.” Yasmin smiles breaking the tension. “Now, before we go… Here's a sneak peak of SEASON 6 of Chronlogica’s DRAG RACE, coming soon!”
~
This has been… magic.
“It sure has.” Nymphe nods, sipping her pink tea. “But the magic… lives on and continues, as does the journey of the forest. It is… eternal.”
It's magic, you know…
Thirteen figures flash, as someone grabs a potion labeled ‘IMMUNITY’.

“The Darling Twins? Honestly, haven’t we all had enough of them by now?” Seneca ruminated as he tried to placate what was now the de facto triumvirate of the Ophion Occult Order.
Once again, he had been summoned to Adderwood Manor to account for his lapses in judgement, but rather than being on full public display in the Grand Hall, he instead found himself in a relatively small parlour. Across from the coffee table in front of him sat Ivy Noir, with her sister Envy to her right and her husband Erich to her left. Standing just to the side of them was the trenchcoat and fedora-wearing automaton who called himself The Mandrake. The one-eyed dream-catcher carved into his iridescent face rendered his emotions unreadable, but the spellwork pistols holstered in his belt made it clear that he was prepared to defend his employers against anything.
“I mean, this feud between them and Emrys is laughable,” Seneca went on. “They’re no threat to him now that he’s free of his chains, surely? Before there may have been a tactical element to his obsession with them, but now it’s just plain petty. Petra’s just out for revenge, and don’t get me started on the absurdity of that eldritch realtor wanting to flip their playroom. Does he think he can just relabel their torture chambers as BDSM dungeons and pass the Black Bile infestation off as some mould?”
“Seneca, I promised Emrys the Darlings, and the Covenant that we all signed binds us to fulfill that promise,” Ivy reminded him patiently, dropping a cube of sugar into her ouroboros-themed antique teacup. “You knew the Darlings better than any of us. You inducted them into the Order, you used them as assassins and bodyguards, and you let them withdraw every penny they had in your bank when they were fugitives!”
“Well, first of all, Crow, Crowley & Chamberlain is a financial institution, not a bank,” Seneca said flippantly. “Secondly, they had a numbered account and they didn’t show up in person, so the teller didn’t have the slightest idea of who they were dealing with.”
“You still could have frozen the account before they had that opportunity,” Erich stated.
Seneca made a display of languidly stirring some cream into his tea and taking a slow sip before responding.
“I’m very busy,” he claimed without an ounce of sincerity.
“You just didn’t want to get on the Darlings’ bad side,” Ivy said.
“I wasn’t aware they had a good side,” Seneca shrugged.
“There must be a paper trail we can follow,” Envy insisted. “Did the Darlings keep their assets anywhere else besides your bank?”
“Financial institution, and yes, I’m sure they have a proverbial Swiss bank account, but I haven’t the slightest notion of where to find it,” Seneca claimed. “It has come up in conversation that James invested about twenty percent of his income with me, twenty percent elsewhere, and shoved another twenty percent under their mattress. Mary enjoys being shagged on top of money, apparently. Their services commanded quite a high price on the underworld market, and sixty-plus years of compound interest have made them incredibly wealthy. They can afford to lie low for a long while.”
“Even if they can go without a paycheck indefinitely, they can’t go without killing,” Erich countered. “They need to hunt, and their egos mean they aren’t just going to cower from Emrys inside their playroom. They’re going to be out looking for victims and plotting against us, and you know what spots they’re likely to hit.”
“You’re wasting your time. James has had decades to scout out hunting grounds, and I’m sure he prepared for the possibility – no, inevitability – that he and his sister would become our enemies. He’s not going to risk showing up within a hundred miles of any of our Chapterhouses if he doesn’t need to,” Seneca said dismissively.
Ivy opened her mouth to speak, but stopped when The Mandrake took a step forward for the first time since the meeting began. He reached into his pocket and tossed a red and white pack of cigarettes with a shiny silhouette of a stag onto the coffee table.
“What is this?” Erich asked.
“Satin Stag cigarettes,” The Mandrake said flatly before shifting his gaze to Seneca. “That’s the Darlings’ brand, isn’t it, Mr. Chamberlain?”
“Um, yes. I believe I’ve seen them smoke those once or twice. What of it?” Seneca asked, failing to hide the nervousness creeping into his voice.
“These are artisanal cigarettes, and Harrowick County’s the only place you can buy them,” The Mandrake said. “That means that the Darlings, either directly or indirectly, are going to have to make the occasional sojourn back home, and the limited supply of these hand-rolled coffin nails means they can’t stock up too far in advance either. You know Harrowick County better than any of us. You know who makes these, you know who sells them. That’s how we track down the Darlings.”
“That’s preposterous. Do you really think they’d risk coming to Harrowick County rather than just switch brands?” Seneca scoffed.
“The Very Important Person at Pascal’s told me that Mary said they’ve been smoking these since they were kids, so they’re clearly pretty attached to them,” The Mandrake replied. “And somehow, I don’t think they’re the type to ever give up a bad habit.”
***
“Smoke & Mirrors ~ Fine Tobacco Products. Silvano Santoro, Proprietor. Est. 1949,” Envy read aloud as she, Seneca and The Mandrake stood outside the small, heavily fortified brick building.
Cast iron bars crisscrossed the windows and front door, which looked like it stood a decent chance of withstanding a police swat team. Security was obviously the shop’s proprietor’s key concern, as the ugly brown and yellow awning was tattered and faded, and the paint on the sign was so chipped it was barely even legible.
“How exactly does an unnoticeable and unattractive hole in the wall like this stay in business?” Envy asked.
“Repeat customers,” Seneca replied as he took a confident step towards the door. “Silvano knows me, and he doesn’t normally have a problem with me bringing guests along, but I expect both of you to be on your best behaviour!”
Envy gave him a reassuring nod, but The Mandrake continued to stoically stare at nothing with his hands in his pockets. Rolling his eyes, Seneca pressed a bulky plastic button on the antiquated door buzzer.
“Yeah, who is it?” a harsh and smoke-damaged voice demanded.
“It’s Seneca, Silvano. A pleasure to make your acquaintance again as well!” Seneca answered. “Just looking to pick up a few cases of cigars for a party, if you’ve got anything decent in stock, of course.”
“Who’s that you got with you?” Silvano asked suspiciously.
“Envy Noir, sir. I’m here on behalf of my sister Ivy, investigating a matter of considerable importance to the Ophion Occult Order,” Envy promptly introduced herself, much to Seneca’s chagrin. “The gentleman beside me is my bodyguard. Would you be so kind as to let us in?”
“Ah… of course. Just a moment, please,” Silvano replied.
“What’s he need a moment to buzz open a door for?” The Mandrake demanded, his stance immediately switching to full readiness.
“Making the place presentable for customers, I assume,” Seneca explained in exasperation.
“You mean he’s hiding evidence, or he’s running!” The Mandrake shouted.
“He’s a nonagenarian heavy smoker. He couldn’t run if his life depended on it,” Seneca insisted.
“I’ll see about that,” The Mandrake muttered.
Shoving Seneca out of the way, he kicked the door in with barely any effort. Storming into the shop, he saw a slender older man with thick white hair and rimmed glasses seated behind the front counter. His saggy, spotted skin was a living PSA against the products he peddled, and in his tobacco-stained hand, he held the receiver of an ornate rotary phone.
Staring at The Mandrake in cold fury, he calmly set the receiver back down in its cradle.
“Who were you talking to?” The Mandrake demanded.
“A client,” Silvano barked back with a shake of his head, picking up a burning cigarette from a nearby ashtray.
“Silvano, I am profusely sorry for this abject and uncouth behaviour! This being is no friend of mine, I can assure you,” Seneca asserted as he and Envy made their way inside.
“The feeling’s mutual, Chamberlain,” The Mandrake remarked. “Mr. Santoro, I apologize for the damage to the premises, but as Miss Noir has said, we’re here on urgent business.”
“Yes, that’s correct. We’ve been given to understand the Darling Twins are regular customers of yours,” Envy explained, before the smoke-saturated room sent her into a coughing spell. She fumbled around in her purse and pulled out a black N95 mask she had left over from the Pandemic.
“I’ve got plenty of regular customers,” Silvan replied defensively. “Customers who pay good money for that smoke you’re so offended by, young lady.”
“These ones have been coming here for over half a century and never aged a day,” The Mandrake said.
“That honestly doesn’t narrow it down that much,” Silvano chuckled, tapping his cigarette on his ashtray. “But yeah, I know the Darlings. What of it?”
“When was the last time they were here?” The Mandrake demanded.
“What’s it to you?” Silvano asked.
“They’re fugitives of the Order now and we want them brought in,” Envy replied, having donned her mask and mostly recovered from the smoke. “Mary Darling held a knife to my throat once in front of my sister, and later threatened to eat me alive in front of her and feed me to her pigs.”
“They were going to put me in their daughter’s doll collection,” The Mandrake muttered.
“And I have nothing but nice things to say about the Darlings, so I’m honestly not quite sure how I got dragged into this,” Seneca said. “That aside, it really would be of great help to us if you could share any information about them that you might have.”
“I don’t know what to tell you. They come in, they buy their smokes, they leave, just like most of my customers,” Silvano told them.
“But now they’re trying to lay low, so I’m guessing they’ve made some sort of arrangement with you to get their Satin Stag cigarettes without having to risk coming here in person,” The Mandrake said. “Maybe they set you up with one of their spare Retrovisions? Emrys said they had a few of those lying around, and they can use them as direct portals to their playroom.”
“Like they’d waste a fancy piece of technomancy like that on an old geezer like me. I haven’t seen them in months. Last year sometime, I think,” Silvano claimed.
The Mandrake casually strolled up to the front counter, rapping his fingers on the cheap glass display case.
“Real nice place you got here, Mr. Santoro. I mean, not really, but I’m sure you get the implication,” he said softly. “Ironic as it may be, a smoke shop isn’t exempt from municipal bylaws about smoking in public buildings and workspaces. You may not have had much trouble with local law enforcement before, but one phone call from my employers will change that real quick.”
“You think I’ve never been threatened before, punk?” Silvano asked, rising from his chair and staring him down.
“Boys, please, there’s no need for this,” Envy interjected. “Mr. Santoro, our Order has considerably more resources at its disposal than the Darlings, and we can certainly offer you a far greater reward for their capture than whatever they’re paying you for some cigarettes. You could retire; close this place down and get as far away as you like. How does that sound?”
“I’m not looking to retire, Miss. This business is all I’ve got, and it wouldn’t be good business to go around ratting out my best customers, now would it?” Silvano asked.
“It would be worse business to sacrifice everything you have to protect two customers,” The Mandrake threatened, his hands clamping down on the display cases so hard they began to creak. “Talk.”
Acknowledging him only with a furtive glance, Silvano took another drag from his cigarette and exhaled.
But this time, the smoke poured out from his mouth and nostrils without limit.
“What the hell?” The Mandrake cursed as he backed away.
Silvano pushed a button beneath the counter, putting his shop into lockdown with security shutters clamping down over every entrance point. As the smoke exuded from his body, it went limp and collapsed into a dried-out husk as the smoke coalesced into an animate form of its own, circling above them around the shop’s yellowed and textured ceiling.
“Damnit. Another egregore,” Envy muttered. “That explains his loyalties. The Darlings couldn’t eat him, but Emrys could.”
“So you’re saying we can’t negotiate it with it?” The Mandrake asked.
“Or fight it,” Envy clarified.
“In that case, it appears we’ve exhausted all our options. Time for a tactical retreat,” Seneca declared as he dashed for the now barricaded exit.
Whatever he was planning to do to get through it, the cloud of smoke cut him off before he got the chance. Rushing in through his nose and mouth, it immediately began suffocating him, sending him spasming to the ground as he choked for air.
The cloud assaulted Envy as well, but was unable to penetrate her mask.
“Godamnit, get away!” she shouted as she swatted it away from her burning eyes.
“Envy, get behind me now!” The Mandrake ordered as he drew out his pistols. “Sorry, Santoro, but you’re going to have to do a lot worse than that if you want to intimidate us!”
Seneca responded by gasping angrily and bashing his hand against the carpet.
“… A lot worse,” The Mandrake reiterated. “I may not be able to shoot you, but I will blow this health hazard you love so much to hell if you don’t tell me where I can find the Darlings!”
“There’ll be no need for that, Mr. Mandrake,” the voice of James Darling crackled in from some unseen speaker. A door off to the side slowly creaked open, revealing a Retrovision flickering with black and white static. The Mandrake wasted no time in shooting at it, but the bullets passed through the glass without causing any damage at all.
A hologram of James Darling manifested in the center of the room, a burning Satin Stag cigarette clutched neatly in his fingers. He saw Seneca suffocating on the floor, then turned his predatory and calculating gaze towards The Mandrake.
“Put the guns on the floor, and I’ll call Silvano off,” he offered.
The Mandrake didn’t seem to be the least bit tempted by this offer, but Envy tugged at his trenchcoat and gave him a commanding nudge. Reluctantly, The Mandrake tossed the guns to the carpet and placed his hands behind his head.
With only a single commanding wag of his index finger, the smoke cloud withdrew from Seneca’s lungs and collected itself above James like a thundercloud.
“No sense in killing you, Seneca. That would practically be doing Emrys a favour,” James said. “But Envy, what’s a pretty girl like you doing wearing a mask?”
“You’d better not let your sister hear you calling me that,” Envy taunted.
“Kind of you to worry, but it’s always the object of my flirtations who bear the brunt of my sister’s wrath,” James reminded her smugly. “Top-notch detective work tracking me down, Mr. Mandrake. Why don’t you walk in through the Retrovision and arrest me?”
“You knew we’d show up here looking for you. You were waiting for us,” The Mandrake growled.
“Again, brilliant detective work. You’ve truly earned that fedora,” James mocked him. “Yes, I knew you’d come here looking for us, so I’ve arranged for Mr. Santoro to set up shop inside our playroom. He was only hanging around here to set a trap for you. Let me tell you what’s going to happen. None of you, not even you, Mr. Mandrake, are going to be able to break out of this building. You can sit there and starve for all I care, or Miss Noir and The Mandrake could take their chances with us on the other side of the Retrovision. Sara Darling really would like to put you in her doll collection, Mr. Mandrake, and I can’t wait to tell Mary Darling exactly how pretty I think you are, Envy. If the two of you come across, I’ll let Seneca go and he can inform Erich and Ivy of your predicament. If they’d like to negotiate for your release, I… may be willing to consider it.”
“You’re a coward! If you’re going to threaten me, step across that screen and do it to my face!” the Mandrake ordered.
He took his hands off his head and took a step towards him, only for the acrid form of Silvano to interject itself between them. James took a casual drag from his cigarette, refusing even to flinch.
Envy took advantage of the distraction and grabbed the pair of spellwork pistols off of the floor, firing two rounds of consecrated lead into the limp body of Silvano. While the body didn’t react at all, the smoke cloud shook and screeched like a wounded animal, losing some of its integrity and dissipating across the room.
“That body’s not just a husk! Silvano’s bound to it!” Envy declared. “James, if you don’t let us go in the next thirty seconds I’ll have The Mandrake tear that body limb from limb and you’ll have to find some other cursed thoughtform to roll your cigarettes for you.”
The Mandrake looked back towards James who now, much to his satisfaction, had flinched.
“Thirty. Twenty-Nine. Twenty-Eight,” he began to count down as he theatrically cracked his knuckles.
Before James could come to a decision, a few wisps of smoke snaked their way back into Silvano’s body. They were enough to animate it like a marionette, its limbs moving jerkily as it input the code to retract the security shutters over the doors and windows.
“There, happy?” James asked facetiously. “You’re free to leave. Put those guns down.”
With a smug smile, Envy shook her head.
“Mandrake, grab that body. We’re taking him with us,” she announced.
When Silvano tried to slam the lockdown button again, Envy shot him, knocking him back into his seat. Before he was able to try a second time, The Mandrake had closed the distance between them. He grabbed him by the waist and slung him over his shoulder, impotently kicking and flailing like a toddler having a tantrum all the while.
“No!” James growled, his hologram disappearing and being replaced by countless others scattered throughout the room.
“What the hell?” Envy demanded as she fell back beside The Mandrake for protection.
“It’s a distraction! Shoot at the Retrovision! He’s coming through to get Silvano!” The Mandrake shouted.
Envy complied, firing multiple rounds at every image of James between them and the Retrovision, but all of them sailed clear through their targets. The smoke cloud suddenly condensed tightly around them, and The Mandrake made a break for the front door while he had the chance.
He was tackled from the side by someone moving at over fifty kilometers an hour, knocking him down and halfway across the room. When he looked up, he was completely surrounded by silhouettes of James bending down in the smoke to pick up Silvano. Jumping to his feet, he made his way back towards the Retrovision in the hopes of cutting James off.
Or at least, he thought that’s where he was going. The tumble to the floor and the encircling smoke had disoriented him, and he ended up tripping over Seneca, who was once again unable to stand from the sickening smoke.
James brushed by them in a blur, and Envy fired every last bullet trying to put him down. Each one either missed or succeeded only in striking Silvano, who was slung over James’ back.
The smoke retreated with them, and The Mandrake dashed after them in one final bid to keep them from escaping. They were just feet away from him before they leapt through the Retrovision, vanishing into the basement universe of the Darlings’ playroom. The Mandrake dared to reach in after them and pull them back, but his hand hit nothing but solid glass.
“Damnit!” he cursed, striking the top of the box set with his fist.
“Don’t break it!” Envy shouted. “If that Retrovision came from the Darlings’ playroom and was modified by James, it could be useful in tracking them down again!”
“It also gives them a two-way ticket to wherever we keep it!” The Mandrake shouted back.
“Oh yes, it would be a gamble taking this old girl with you. No doubt about that,” the black and white visage of James mocked them from the other side of the screen, taking a victory drag from his cigarette. “But on the other hand, it is one of my finer works. It would be a crime, an atrocity even, to destroy it.”
The Mandrake struck the box set again, but deliberately held back on damaging it.
“Mandrake, enough!” Envy commanded. “I know it’s risky, but we need it. Turn it off and pick it up. We’re getting out of this hellhole.”
“Don’t feel bad, Mr. Mandrake. I’m sure you’ll have another chance to end up in Sara Darling’s doll collection very soon,” James taunted just before The Mandrake managed to turn the Retrovision off.
“What an absolute waste of time,” he muttered as he lifted the vintage box set off the floor.
“Not entirely!” Seneca claimed, who had not only recovered from his spectral smoke inhalation but was now holding an unlit cigar. “Crow, Crowley & Chamberlain has a lien on this shop, and since Silvano just ran out on us and has thrown his lot in with the Darlings, this place and everything left in it is ours!”
He was just about to light it before Envy snatched it out of his hands.
“The Mandrake wasn’t bluffing about the municipal health bylaws,” she informed him. “From now on, this is a smoke-free building.”

“The Darling Twins? Honestly, haven’t we all had enough of them by now?” Seneca ruminated as he tried to placate what was now the de facto triumvirate of the Ophion Occult Order.
Once again, he had been summoned to Adderwood Manor to account for his lapses in judgement, but rather than being on full public display in the Grand Hall, he instead found himself in a relatively small parlour. Across from the coffee table in front of him sat Ivy Noir, with her sister Envy to her right and her husband Erich to her left. Standing just to the side of them was the trenchcoat and fedora-wearing automaton who called himself The Mandrake. The one-eyed dream-catcher carved into his iridescent face rendered his emotions unreadable, but the spellwork pistols holstered in his belt made it clear that he was prepared to defend his employers against anything.
“I mean, this feud between them and Emrys is laughable,” Seneca went on. “They’re no threat to him now that he’s free of his chains, surely? Before there may have been a tactical element to his obsession with them, but now it’s just plain petty. Petra’s just out for revenge, and don’t get me started on the absurdity of that eldritch realtor wanting to flip their playroom. Does he think he can just relabel their torture chambers as BDSM dungeons and pass the Black Bile infestation off as some mould?”
“Seneca, I promised Emrys the Darlings, and the Covenant that we all signed binds us to fulfill that promise,” Ivy reminded him patiently, dropping a cube of sugar into her ouroboros-themed antique teacup. “You knew the Darlings better than any of us. You inducted them into the Order, you used them as assassins and bodyguards, and you let them withdraw every penny they had in your bank when they were fugitives!”
“Well, first of all, Crow, Crowley & Chamberlain is a financial institution, not a bank,” Seneca said flippantly. “Secondly, they had a numbered account and they didn’t show up in person, so the teller didn’t have the slightest idea of who they were dealing with.”
“You still could have frozen the account before they had that opportunity,” Erich stated.
Seneca made a display of languidly stirring some cream into his tea and taking a slow sip before responding.
“I’m very busy,” he claimed without an ounce of sincerity.
“You just didn’t want to get on the Darlings’ bad side,” Ivy said.
“I wasn’t aware they had a good side,” Seneca shrugged.
“There must be a paper trail we can follow,” Envy insisted. “Did the Darlings keep their assets anywhere else besides your bank?”
“Financial institution, and yes, I’m sure they have a proverbial Swiss bank account, but I haven’t the slightest notion of where to find it,” Seneca claimed. “It has come up in conversation that James invested about twenty percent of his income with me, twenty percent elsewhere, and shoved another twenty percent under their mattress. Mary enjoys being shagged on top of money, apparently. Their services commanded quite a high price on the underworld market, and sixty-plus years of compound interest have made them incredibly wealthy. They can afford to lie low for a long while.”
“Even if they can go without a paycheck indefinitely, they can’t go without killing,” Erich countered. “They need to hunt, and their egos mean they aren’t just going to cower from Emrys inside their playroom. They’re going to be out looking for victims and plotting against us, and you know what spots they’re likely to hit.”
“You’re wasting your time. James has had decades to scout out hunting grounds, and I’m sure he prepared for the possibility – no, inevitability – that he and his sister would become our enemies. He’s not going to risk showing up within a hundred miles of any of our Chapterhouses if he doesn’t need to,” Seneca said dismissively.
Ivy opened her mouth to speak, but stopped when The Mandrake took a step forward for the first time since the meeting began. He reached into his pocket and tossed a red and white pack of cigarettes with a shiny silhouette of a stag onto the coffee table.
“What is this?” Erich asked.
“Satin Stag cigarettes,” The Mandrake said flatly before shifting his gaze to Seneca. “That’s the Darlings’ brand, isn’t it, Mr. Chamberlain?”
“Um, yes. I believe I’ve seen them smoke those once or twice. What of it?” Seneca asked, failing to hide the nervousness creeping into his voice.
“These are artisanal cigarettes, and Harrowick County’s the only place you can buy them,” The Mandrake said. “That means that the Darlings, either directly or indirectly, are going to have to make the occasional sojourn back home, and the limited supply of these hand-rolled coffin nails means they can’t stock up too far in advance either. You know Harrowick County better than any of us. You know who makes these, you know who sells them. That’s how we track down the Darlings.”
“That’s preposterous. Do you really think they’d risk coming to Harrowick County rather than just switch brands?” Seneca scoffed.
“The Very Important Person at Pascal’s told me that Mary said they’ve been smoking these since they were kids, so they’re clearly pretty attached to them,” The Mandrake replied. “And somehow, I don’t think they’re the type to ever give up a bad habit.”
***
“Smoke & Mirrors ~ Fine Tobacco Products. Silvano Santoro, Proprietor. Est. 1949,” Envy read aloud as she, Seneca and The Mandrake stood outside the small, heavily fortified brick building.
Cast iron bars crisscrossed the windows and front door, which looked like it stood a decent chance of withstanding a police swat team. Security was obviously the shop’s proprietor’s key concern, as the ugly brown and yellow awning was tattered and faded, and the paint on the sign was so chipped it was barely even legible.
“How exactly does an unnoticeable and unattractive hole in the wall like this stay in business?” Envy asked.
“Repeat customers,” Seneca replied as he took a confident step towards the door. “Silvano knows me, and he doesn’t normally have a problem with me bringing guests along, but I expect both of you to be on your best behaviour!”
Envy gave him a reassuring nod, but The Mandrake continued to stoically stare at nothing with his hands in his pockets. Rolling his eyes, Seneca pressed a bulky plastic button on the antiquated door buzzer.
“Yeah, who is it?” a harsh and smoke-damaged voice demanded.
“It’s Seneca, Silvano. A pleasure to make your acquaintance again as well!” Seneca answered. “Just looking to pick up a few cases of cigars for a party, if you’ve got anything decent in stock, of course.”
“Who’s that you got with you?” Silvano asked suspiciously.
“Envy Noir, sir. I’m here on behalf of my sister Ivy, investigating a matter of considerable importance to the Ophion Occult Order,” Envy promptly introduced herself, much to Seneca’s chagrin. “The gentleman beside me is my bodyguard. Would you be so kind as to let us in?”
“Ah… of course. Just a moment, please,” Silvano replied.
“What’s he need a moment to buzz open a door for?” The Mandrake demanded, his stance immediately switching to full readiness.
“Making the place presentable for customers, I assume,” Seneca explained in exasperation.
“You mean he’s hiding evidence, or he’s running!” The Mandrake shouted.
“He’s a nonagenarian heavy smoker. He couldn’t run if his life depended on it,” Seneca insisted.
“I’ll see about that,” The Mandrake muttered.
Shoving Seneca out of the way, he kicked the door in with barely any effort. Storming into the shop, he saw a slender older man with thick white hair and rimmed glasses seated behind the front counter. His saggy, spotted skin was a living PSA against the products he peddled, and in his tobacco-stained hand, he held the receiver of an ornate rotary phone.
Staring at The Mandrake in cold fury, he calmly set the receiver back down in its cradle.
“Who were you talking to?” The Mandrake demanded.
“A client,” Silvano barked back with a shake of his head, picking up a burning cigarette from a nearby ashtray.
“Silvano, I am profusely sorry for this abject and uncouth behaviour! This being is no friend of mine, I can assure you,” Seneca asserted as he and Envy made their way inside.
“The feeling’s mutual, Chamberlain,” The Mandrake remarked. “Mr. Santoro, I apologize for the damage to the premises, but as Miss Noir has said, we’re here on urgent business.”
“Yes, that’s correct. We’ve been given to understand the Darling Twins are regular customers of yours,” Envy explained, before the smoke-saturated room sent her into a coughing spell. She fumbled around in her purse and pulled out a black N95 mask she had left over from the Pandemic.
“I’ve got plenty of regular customers,” Silvan replied defensively. “Customers who pay good money for that smoke you’re so offended by, young lady.”
“These ones have been coming here for over half a century and never aged a day,” The Mandrake said.
“That honestly doesn’t narrow it down that much,” Silvano chuckled, tapping his cigarette on his ashtray. “But yeah, I know the Darlings. What of it?”
“When was the last time they were here?” The Mandrake demanded.
“What’s it to you?” Silvano asked.
“They’re fugitives of the Order now and we want them brought in,” Envy replied, having donned her mask and mostly recovered from the smoke. “Mary Darling held a knife to my throat once in front of my sister, and later threatened to eat me alive in front of her and feed me to her pigs.”
“They were going to put me in their daughter’s doll collection,” The Mandrake muttered.
“And I have nothing but nice things to say about the Darlings, so I’m honestly not quite sure how I got dragged into this,” Seneca said. “That aside, it really would be of great help to us if you could share any information about them that you might have.”
“I don’t know what to tell you. They come in, they buy their smokes, they leave, just like most of my customers,” Silvano told them.
“But now they’re trying to lay low, so I’m guessing they’ve made some sort of arrangement with you to get their Satin Stag cigarettes without having to risk coming here in person,” The Mandrake said. “Maybe they set you up with one of their spare Retrovisions? Emrys said they had a few of those lying around, and they can use them as direct portals to their playroom.”
“Like they’d waste a fancy piece of technomancy like that on an old geezer like me. I haven’t seen them in months. Last year sometime, I think,” Silvano claimed.
The Mandrake casually strolled up to the front counter, rapping his fingers on the cheap glass display case.
“Real nice place you got here, Mr. Santoro. I mean, not really, but I’m sure you get the implication,” he said softly. “Ironic as it may be, a smoke shop isn’t exempt from municipal bylaws about smoking in public buildings and workspaces. You may not have had much trouble with local law enforcement before, but one phone call from my employers will change that real quick.”
“You think I’ve never been threatened before, punk?” Silvano asked, rising from his chair and staring him down.
“Boys, please, there’s no need for this,” Envy interjected. “Mr. Santoro, our Order has considerably more resources at its disposal than the Darlings, and we can certainly offer you a far greater reward for their capture than whatever they’re paying you for some cigarettes. You could retire; close this place down and get as far away as you like. How does that sound?”
“I’m not looking to retire, Miss. This business is all I’ve got, and it wouldn’t be good business to go around ratting out my best customers, now would it?” Silvano asked.
“It would be worse business to sacrifice everything you have to protect two customers,” The Mandrake threatened, his hands clamping down on the display cases so hard they began to creak. “Talk.”
Acknowledging him only with a furtive glance, Silvano took another drag from his cigarette and exhaled.
But this time, the smoke poured out from his mouth and nostrils without limit.
“What the hell?” The Mandrake cursed as he backed away.
Silvano pushed a button beneath the counter, putting his shop into lockdown with security shutters clamping down over every entrance point. As the smoke exuded from his body, it went limp and collapsed into a dried-out husk as the smoke coalesced into an animate form of its own, circling above them around the shop’s yellowed and textured ceiling.
“Damnit. Another egregore,” Envy muttered. “That explains his loyalties. The Darlings couldn’t eat him, but Emrys could.”
“So you’re saying we can’t negotiate it with it?” The Mandrake asked.
“Or fight it,” Envy clarified.
“In that case, it appears we’ve exhausted all our options. Time for a tactical retreat,” Seneca declared as he dashed for the now barricaded exit.
Whatever he was planning to do to get through it, the cloud of smoke cut him off before he got the chance. Rushing in through his nose and mouth, it immediately began suffocating him, sending him spasming to the ground as he choked for air.
The cloud assaulted Envy as well, but was unable to penetrate her mask.
“Godamnit, get away!” she shouted as she swatted it away from her burning eyes.
“Envy, get behind me now!” The Mandrake ordered as he drew out his pistols. “Sorry, Santoro, but you’re going to have to do a lot worse than that if you want to intimidate us!”
Seneca responded by gasping angrily and bashing his hand against the carpet.
“… A lot worse,” The Mandrake reiterated. “I may not be able to shoot you, but I will blow this health hazard you love so much to hell if you don’t tell me where I can find the Darlings!”
“There’ll be no need for that, Mr. Mandrake,” the voice of James Darling crackled in from some unseen speaker. A door off to the side slowly creaked open, revealing a Retrovision flickering with black and white static. The Mandrake wasted no time in shooting at it, but the bullets passed through the glass without causing any damage at all.
A hologram of James Darling manifested in the center of the room, a burning Satin Stag cigarette clutched neatly in his fingers. He saw Seneca suffocating on the floor, then turned his predatory and calculating gaze towards The Mandrake.
“Put the guns on the floor, and I’ll call Silvano off,” he offered.
The Mandrake didn’t seem to be the least bit tempted by this offer, but Envy tugged at his trenchcoat and gave him a commanding nudge. Reluctantly, The Mandrake tossed the guns to the carpet and placed his hands behind his head.
With only a single commanding wag of his index finger, the smoke cloud withdrew from Seneca’s lungs and collected itself above James like a thundercloud.
“No sense in killing you, Seneca. That would practically be doing Emrys a favour,” James said. “But Envy, what’s a pretty girl like you doing wearing a mask?”
“You’d better not let your sister hear you calling me that,” Envy taunted.
“Kind of you to worry, but it’s always the object of my flirtations who bear the brunt of my sister’s wrath,” James reminded her smugly. “Top-notch detective work tracking me down, Mr. Mandrake. Why don’t you walk in through the Retrovision and arrest me?”
“You knew we’d show up here looking for you. You were waiting for us,” The Mandrake growled.
“Again, brilliant detective work. You’ve truly earned that fedora,” James mocked him. “Yes, I knew you’d come here looking for us, so I’ve arranged for Mr. Santoro to set up shop inside our playroom. He was only hanging around here to set a trap for you. Let me tell you what’s going to happen. None of you, not even you, Mr. Mandrake, are going to be able to break out of this building. You can sit there and starve for all I care, or Miss Noir and The Mandrake could take their chances with us on the other side of the Retrovision. Sara Darling really would like to put you in her doll collection, Mr. Mandrake, and I can’t wait to tell Mary Darling exactly how pretty I think you are, Envy. If the two of you come across, I’ll let Seneca go and he can inform Erich and Ivy of your predicament. If they’d like to negotiate for your release, I… may be willing to consider it.”
“You’re a coward! If you’re going to threaten me, step across that screen and do it to my face!” the Mandrake ordered.
He took his hands off his head and took a step towards him, only for the acrid form of Silvano to interject itself between them. James took a casual drag from his cigarette, refusing even to flinch.
Envy took advantage of the distraction and grabbed the pair of spellwork pistols off of the floor, firing two rounds of consecrated lead into the limp body of Silvano. While the body didn’t react at all, the smoke cloud shook and screeched like a wounded animal, losing some of its integrity and dissipating across the room.
“That body’s not just a husk! Silvano’s bound to it!” Envy declared. “James, if you don’t let us go in the next thirty seconds I’ll have The Mandrake tear that body limb from limb and you’ll have to find some other cursed thoughtform to roll your cigarettes for you.”
The Mandrake looked back towards James who now, much to his satisfaction, had flinched.
“Thirty. Twenty-Nine. Twenty-Eight,” he began to count down as he theatrically cracked his knuckles.
Before James could come to a decision, a few wisps of smoke snaked their way back into Silvano’s body. They were enough to animate it like a marionette, its limbs moving jerkily as it input the code to retract the security shutters over the doors and windows.
“There, happy?” James asked facetiously. “You’re free to leave. Put those guns down.”
With a smug smile, Envy shook her head.
“Mandrake, grab that body. We’re taking him with us,” she announced.
When Silvano tried to slam the lockdown button again, Envy shot him, knocking him back into his seat. Before he was able to try a second time, The Mandrake had closed the distance between them. He grabbed him by the waist and slung him over his shoulder, impotently kicking and flailing like a toddler having a tantrum all the while.
“No!” James growled, his hologram disappearing and being replaced by countless others scattered throughout the room.
“What the hell?” Envy demanded as she fell back beside The Mandrake for protection.
“It’s a distraction! Shoot at the Retrovision! He’s coming through to get Silvano!” The Mandrake shouted.
Envy complied, firing multiple rounds at every image of James between them and the Retrovision, but all of them sailed clear through their targets. The smoke cloud suddenly condensed tightly around them, and The Mandrake made a break for the front door while he had the chance.
He was tackled from the side by someone moving at over fifty kilometers an hour, knocking him down and halfway across the room. When he looked up, he was completely surrounded by silhouettes of James bending down in the smoke to pick up Silvano. Jumping to his feet, he made his way back towards the Retrovision in the hopes of cutting James off.
Or at least, he thought that’s where he was going. The tumble to the floor and the encircling smoke had disoriented him, and he ended up tripping over Seneca, who was once again unable to stand from the sickening smoke.
James brushed by them in a blur, and Envy fired every last bullet trying to put him down. Each one either missed or succeeded only in striking Silvano, who was slung over James’ back.
The smoke retreated with them, and The Mandrake dashed after them in one final bid to keep them from escaping. They were just feet away from him before they leapt through the Retrovision, vanishing into the basement universe of the Darlings’ playroom. The Mandrake dared to reach in after them and pull them back, but his hand hit nothing but solid glass.
“Damnit!” he cursed, striking the top of the box set with his fist.
“Don’t break it!” Envy shouted. “If that Retrovision came from the Darlings’ playroom and was modified by James, it could be useful in tracking them down again!”
“It also gives them a two-way ticket to wherever we keep it!” The Mandrake shouted back.
“Oh yes, it would be a gamble taking this old girl with you. No doubt about that,” the black and white visage of James mocked them from the other side of the screen, taking a victory drag from his cigarette. “But on the other hand, it is one of my finer works. It would be a crime, an atrocity even, to destroy it.”
The Mandrake struck the box set again, but deliberately held back on damaging it.
“Mandrake, enough!” Envy commanded. “I know it’s risky, but we need it. Turn it off and pick it up. We’re getting out of this hellhole.”
“Don’t feel bad, Mr. Mandrake. I’m sure you’ll have another chance to end up in Sara Darling’s doll collection very soon,” James taunted just before The Mandrake managed to turn the Retrovision off.
“What an absolute waste of time,” he muttered as he lifted the vintage box set off the floor.
“Not entirely!” Seneca claimed, who had not only recovered from his spectral smoke inhalation but was now holding an unlit cigar. “Crow, Crowley & Chamberlain has a lien on this shop, and since Silvano just ran out on us and has thrown his lot in with the Darlings, this place and everything left in it is ours!”
He was just about to light it before Envy snatched it out of his hands.
“The Mandrake wasn’t bluffing about the municipal health bylaws,” she informed him. “From now on, this is a smoke-free building.”

(THIS ISNT FAKE) if you see this comment, do not and i repeat DO NOT go to bryce. i’ve been there 2 times with my cousion and a buddy of mine and there’s a lot of shit that happened in just the two times, this is gonna make sense later in the story but when my aunt was about our age she went with three friends, and then there was 3 people that walked out of the woods out of no where and they said they can show them where all the craziest rooms are, i don’t know how true this is or not, but they’re said to be ghosts. fast forward to the 1st time we go, my buddy brought a spirit radar with us to see if it says anything, we get in the main part which is the jemison center, we walk around until we see a tiny bird come out of another room, the bird literally starts flying over us wherever we went it went right with us, and we turn a corner and there’s “the bird is the word” written on the wall, as soon as we look at that and look back, the bird was gone, none of us never heard it fly away, another part that will make sense and i don’t know if it’s true, but of my buddies from school went here around 4 to 5 years ago and saw a mattress lit on fire by its self in the middle of a room, i shit you not bro, we walk down a hallway and the radar randomly says “fire” and then right after it said it we turn into the first room in the hallway and there’s was a half burnt mattress on the floor. if that isn’t a sign of it being haunted i don’t know wtf is man. when we’re about to walk out of the building to go to the other building the radar goes “please leave” so we deadass left, fast forward a week later, the three of us go back to bryce to finish the other building, and we’re walking down the path, and we end up seeing a random group of three people, they came out of the woods, but we never heard leaves crunching and they didn’t have flashlights, as soon as we saw them we said we were chill and we met up with them, one of them had a baseball bat, i immediately got sketched out as fuck, they said they can show us where all of the best rooms are. so we explore the second building with them, next thing you know we go in a room and we come back out and they were no where to be found, never heard them leave or saw flashlights. we got creeped out again and we end up walking back to my car, i never mentioned this but we parked at a church by the old trails to the hospital, and it’s a big ass open field that you can see the church from the hospital, we see the top of a black tahoe with a light bar on the top, my heart immediately fucking drops bc we had weed on us, but he ends up leaving the parking lot so we hurry back to my car, and we see him in another parking lot waiting for us, he had to go a little bit of a way because of a gate surrounding the whole parking lot, we see him and immediately book it to my car, we get in and start driving to get out, as soon as we’re about to turn out this cop pulls in the church with his white lights on, not the blue ones, i immediately tell my buddy to fucking go, we bust a hard right and then he immediately cuts the blue lights on and starts coming for us, and we literally start going 100 mph down neighborhood roads, my cousin looked behind us when we took this left and the cop ended up going straight with his lights off, it just feels weird that he just dipped on us like he did. which i feel like something was telling us to leave and he was the one who ended up making us leave. we stop at a dead end of the neighborhood to chill out for a second, my aunt calls me and told us that our grandmother had just passed away. the same exact fucking night dude not even 10 mins after running from the cop. so we end up going back to my house to gts. fast forward another few days, we’re riding home at like 3 am on a backroad, we see what looks like a light or a small fire, dude it was literally a car in fucking flames, in the middle of the road where nothing can catch it on fire, it had just happened to bc we spint back and passed the fire department. another few days after that, we have a shit ton of woods around my house, and the woods kept catching on fire on a span of like every 2 days for a week straight. i know most of yall aren’t gonna believe this, but i promise if yall went yall would see and say the same exact type of shit man. bryce is genuinely haunted, things ain’t felt right ever since that night, if you ever go be prepared to come back out with the spirit energy from there for a long ass time.

I (24F) have been talking/texting this guy (27M) I really like and he really likes me too. But everytime I text something for example (in regards to discussing the Percy Jackson books and the old Percy Jackson movie) I texted him "As someone who bonds heavily with every book I read, I too would be livid if they not only changed things, but if they changed the whole story?? Bro I would lose my shit"
And he was like "you did not just bro me" and I thought he was just messin at the time but now he brings it up everytime I say it and I feel like he genuinely wants me to stop saying bro to him.
He also does the same thing when I say "bruh" as well as when I tell him he's "cute". He HATES the word cute and like I would totally be more sympathetic if he was considered short and especially if he was shorter than me (I'm 5'7") I would totally back off and not say it bc I know that's gotta be something that could feel insulting even if I never have meant it in a "cute bc small" way (usually I mean it in a: cute like your really handsome but handsome feels too creepy and out dated and old fashioned to say bc I associate the word handsome with elderly/old people telling grandkids they are 'growing up to be so handsome' and or elderly/old women describing men younger than them as handsome)
Anyways.... he's 6'4" and also not small in other place so it feels weird that he gets offended by the word cute. I also tell him he's hot all the time so it's not just me only telling him he's cute as a compliment.
All in all, I explained to him that I've been saying bro since I was a little kid, and I honestly only use it with people I feel I feel close to and/or am friends with but he said he just doesn't like it.
I know it's not that deep but I really don't wanna stop saying bro bc it's kind of like a big part of me expressing my emotions and just part of my personality. He's not throwing major fits or giving me ultimatums or anything toxic, just expressing to me that he doesn't like it. So I just kind of feel like I'm an asshole for saying I'm not gonna stop saying something I've said since I was little and also like to say especially bc I do kind of come off more tomboy in my personality/expressions. I grew up with an older brother that always had tons of guy friends over and they let me hang out with them. I don't wanna change parts of who I am for him even if it's as simple as just not calling him bro. But if he doesn't like something super simple like that and everything else is going great with him, I feel selfish for not even trying to be considerate of what makes him uncomfortable and working to remove "bro" from my vocabulary around him.
Geez didn't mean to write this much lol but AITAH here? What are yall's thoughts?
TLDR: guy I really like and have been talking to for a while, dislikes when I say "bro" "bruh" and call him "cute" sometimes even tho he's really tall and I mean mean cute in the handsome way and not the small way. AITAH for saying I'm not gonna stop saying those words to him?

“The Darling Twins? Honestly, haven’t we all had enough of them by now?” Seneca ruminated as he tried to placate what was now the de facto triumvirate of the Ophion Occult Order.
Once again, he had been summoned to Adderwood Manor to account for his lapses in judgement, but rather than being on full public display in the Grand Hall, he instead found himself in a relatively small parlour. Across from the coffee table in front of him sat Ivy Noir, with her sister Envy to her right and her husband Erich to her left. Standing just to the side of them was the trenchcoat and fedora-wearing automaton who called himself The Mandrake. The one-eyed dream-catcher carved into his iridescent face rendered his emotions unreadable, but the spellwork pistols holstered in his belt made it clear that he was prepared to defend his employers against anything.
“I mean, this feud between them and Emrys is laughable,” Seneca went on. “They’re no threat to him now that he’s free of his chains, surely? Before there may have been a tactical element to his obsession with them, but now it’s just plain petty. Petra’s just out for revenge, and don’t get me started on the absurdity of that eldritch realtor wanting to flip their playroom. Does he think he can just relabel their torture chambers as BDSM dungeons and pass the Black Bile infestation off as some mould?”
“Seneca, I promised Emrys the Darlings, and the Covenant that we all signed binds us to fulfill that promise,” Ivy reminded him patiently, dropping a cube of sugar into her ouroboros-themed antique teacup. “You knew the Darlings better than any of us. You inducted them into the Order, you used them as assassins and bodyguards, and you let them withdraw every penny they had in your bank when they were fugitives!”
“Well, first of all, Crow, Crowley & Chamberlain is a financial institution, not a bank,” Seneca said flippantly. “Secondly, they had a numbered account and they didn’t show up in person, so the teller didn’t have the slightest idea of who they were dealing with.”
“You still could have frozen the account before they had that opportunity,” Erich stated.
Seneca made a display of languidly stirring some cream into his tea and taking a slow sip before responding.
“I’m very busy,” he claimed without an ounce of sincerity.
“You just didn’t want to get on the Darlings’ bad side,” Ivy said.
“I wasn’t aware they had a good side,” Seneca shrugged.
“There must be a paper trail we can follow,” Envy insisted. “Did the Darlings keep their assets anywhere else besides your bank?”
“Financial institution, and yes, I’m sure they have a proverbial Swiss bank account, but I haven’t the slightest notion of where to find it,” Seneca claimed. “It has come up in conversation that James invested about twenty percent of his income with me, twenty percent elsewhere, and shoved another twenty percent under their mattress. Mary enjoys being shagged on top of money, apparently. Their services commanded quite a high price on the underworld market, and sixty-plus years of compound interest have made them incredibly wealthy. They can afford to lie low for a long while.”
“Even if they can go without a paycheck indefinitely, they can’t go without killing,” Erich countered. “They need to hunt, and their egos mean they aren’t just going to cower from Emrys inside their playroom. They’re going to be out looking for victims and plotting against us, and you know what spots they’re likely to hit.”
“You’re wasting your time. James has had decades to scout out hunting grounds, and I’m sure he prepared for the possibility – no, inevitability – that he and his sister would become our enemies. He’s not going to risk showing up within a hundred miles of any of our Chapterhouses if he doesn’t need to,” Seneca said dismissively.
Ivy opened her mouth to speak, but stopped when The Mandrake took a step forward for the first time since the meeting began. He reached into his pocket and tossed a red and white pack of cigarettes with a shiny silhouette of a stag onto the coffee table.
“What is this?” Erich asked.
“Satin Stag cigarettes,” The Mandrake said flatly before shifting his gaze to Seneca. “That’s the Darlings’ brand, isn’t it, Mr. Chamberlain?”
“Um, yes. I believe I’ve seen them smoke those once or twice. What of it?” Seneca asked, failing to hide the nervousness creeping into his voice.
“These are artisanal cigarettes, and Harrowick County’s the only place you can buy them,” The Mandrake said. “That means that the Darlings, either directly or indirectly, are going to have to make the occasional sojourn back home, and the limited supply of these hand-rolled coffin nails means they can’t stock up too far in advance either. You know Harrowick County better than any of us. You know who makes these, you know who sells them. That’s how we track down the Darlings.”
“That’s preposterous. Do you really think they’d risk coming to Harrowick County rather than just switch brands?” Seneca scoffed.
“The Very Important Person at Pascal’s told me that Mary said they’ve been smoking these since they were kids, so they’re clearly pretty attached to them,” The Mandrake replied. “And somehow, I don’t think they’re the type to ever give up a bad habit.”
***
“Smoke & Mirrors ~ Fine Tobacco Products. Silvano Santoro, Proprietor. Est. 1949,” Envy read aloud as she, Seneca and The Mandrake stood outside the small, heavily fortified brick building.
Cast iron bars crisscrossed the windows and front door, which looked like it stood a decent chance of withstanding a police swat team. Security was obviously the shop’s proprietor’s key concern, as the ugly brown and yellow awning was tattered and faded, and the paint on the sign was so chipped it was barely even legible.
“How exactly does an unnoticeable and unattractive hole in the wall like this stay in business?” Envy asked.
“Repeat customers,” Seneca replied as he took a confident step towards the door. “Silvano knows me, and he doesn’t normally have a problem with me bringing guests along, but I expect both of you to be on your best behaviour!”
Envy gave him a reassuring nod, but The Mandrake continued to stoically stare at nothing with his hands in his pockets. Rolling his eyes, Seneca pressed a bulky plastic button on the antiquated door buzzer.
“Yeah, who is it?” a harsh and smoke-damaged voice demanded.
“It’s Seneca, Silvano. A pleasure to make your acquaintance again as well!” Seneca answered. “Just looking to pick up a few cases of cigars for a party, if you’ve got anything decent in stock, of course.”
“Who’s that you got with you?” Silvano asked suspiciously.
“Envy Noir, sir. I’m here on behalf of my sister Ivy, investigating a matter of considerable importance to the Ophion Occult Order,” Envy promptly introduced herself, much to Seneca’s chagrin. “The gentleman beside me is my bodyguard. Would you be so kind as to let us in?”
“Ah… of course. Just a moment, please,” Silvano replied.
“What’s he need a moment to buzz open a door for?” The Mandrake demanded, his stance immediately switching to full readiness.
“Making the place presentable for customers, I assume,” Seneca explained in exasperation.
“You mean he’s hiding evidence, or he’s running!” The Mandrake shouted.
“He’s a nonagenarian heavy smoker. He couldn’t run if his life depended on it,” Seneca insisted.
“I’ll see about that,” The Mandrake muttered.
Shoving Seneca out of the way, he kicked the door in with barely any effort. Storming into the shop, he saw a slender older man with thick white hair and rimmed glasses seated behind the front counter. His saggy, spotted skin was a living PSA against the products he peddled, and in his tobacco-stained hand, he held the receiver of an ornate rotary phone.
Staring at The Mandrake in cold fury, he calmly set the receiver back down in its cradle.
“Who were you talking to?” The Mandrake demanded.
“A client,” Silvano barked back with a shake of his head, picking up a burning cigarette from a nearby ashtray.
“Silvano, I am profusely sorry for this abject and uncouth behaviour! This being is no friend of mine, I can assure you,” Seneca asserted as he and Envy made their way inside.
“The feeling’s mutual, Chamberlain,” The Mandrake remarked. “Mr. Santoro, I apologize for the damage to the premises, but as Miss Noir has said, we’re here on urgent business.”
“Yes, that’s correct. We’ve been given to understand the Darling Twins are regular customers of yours,” Envy explained, before the smoke-saturated room sent her into a coughing spell. She fumbled around in her purse and pulled out a black N95 mask she had left over from the Pandemic.
“I’ve got plenty of regular customers,” Silvan replied defensively. “Customers who pay good money for that smoke you’re so offended by, young lady.”
“These ones have been coming here for over half a century and never aged a day,” The Mandrake said.
“That honestly doesn’t narrow it down that much,” Silvano chuckled, tapping his cigarette on his ashtray. “But yeah, I know the Darlings. What of it?”
“When was the last time they were here?” The Mandrake demanded.
“What’s it to you?” Silvano asked.
“They’re fugitives of the Order now and we want them brought in,” Envy replied, having donned her mask and mostly recovered from the smoke. “Mary Darling held a knife to my throat once in front of my sister, and later threatened to eat me alive in front of her and feed me to her pigs.”
“They were going to put me in their daughter’s doll collection,” The Mandrake muttered.
“And I have nothing but nice things to say about the Darlings, so I’m honestly not quite sure how I got dragged into this,” Seneca said. “That aside, it really would be of great help to us if you could share any information about them that you might have.”
“I don’t know what to tell you. They come in, they buy their smokes, they leave, just like most of my customers,” Silvano told them.
“But now they’re trying to lay low, so I’m guessing they’ve made some sort of arrangement with you to get their Satin Stag cigarettes without having to risk coming here in person,” The Mandrake said. “Maybe they set you up with one of their spare Retrovisions? Emrys said they had a few of those lying around, and they can use them as direct portals to their playroom.”
“Like they’d waste a fancy piece of technomancy like that on an old geezer like me. I haven’t seen them in months. Last year sometime, I think,” Silvano claimed.
The Mandrake casually strolled up to the front counter, rapping his fingers on the cheap glass display case.
“Real nice place you got here, Mr. Santoro. I mean, not really, but I’m sure you get the implication,” he said softly. “Ironic as it may be, a smoke shop isn’t exempt from municipal bylaws about smoking in public buildings and workspaces. You may not have had much trouble with local law enforcement before, but one phone call from my employers will change that real quick.”
“You think I’ve never been threatened before, punk?” Silvano asked, rising from his chair and staring him down.
“Boys, please, there’s no need for this,” Envy interjected. “Mr. Santoro, our Order has considerably more resources at its disposal than the Darlings, and we can certainly offer you a far greater reward for their capture than whatever they’re paying you for some cigarettes. You could retire; close this place down and get as far away as you like. How does that sound?”
“I’m not looking to retire, Miss. This business is all I’ve got, and it wouldn’t be good business to go around ratting out my best customers, now would it?” Silvano asked.
“It would be worse business to sacrifice everything you have to protect two customers,” The Mandrake threatened, his hands clamping down on the display cases so hard they began to creak. “Talk.”
Acknowledging him only with a furtive glance, Silvano took another drag from his cigarette and exhaled.
But this time, the smoke poured out from his mouth and nostrils without limit.
“What the hell?” The Mandrake cursed as he backed away.
Silvano pushed a button beneath the counter, putting his shop into lockdown with security shutters clamping down over every entrance point. As the smoke exuded from his body, it went limp and collapsed into a dried-out husk as the smoke coalesced into an animate form of its own, circling above them around the shop’s yellowed and textured ceiling.
“Damnit. Another egregore,” Envy muttered. “That explains his loyalties. The Darlings couldn’t eat him, but Emrys could.”
“So you’re saying we can’t negotiate it with it?” The Mandrake asked.
“Or fight it,” Envy clarified.
“In that case, it appears we’ve exhausted all our options. Time for a tactical retreat,” Seneca declared as he dashed for the now barricaded exit.
Whatever he was planning to do to get through it, the cloud of smoke cut him off before he got the chance. Rushing in through his nose and mouth, it immediately began suffocating him, sending him spasming to the ground as he choked for air.
The cloud assaulted Envy as well, but was unable to penetrate her mask.
“Godamnit, get away!” she shouted as she swatted it away from her burning eyes.
“Envy, get behind me now!” The Mandrake ordered as he drew out his pistols. “Sorry, Santoro, but you’re going to have to do a lot worse than that if you want to intimidate us!”
Seneca responded by gasping angrily and bashing his hand against the carpet.
“… A lot worse,” The Mandrake reiterated. “I may not be able to shoot you, but I will blow this health hazard you love so much to hell if you don’t tell me where I can find the Darlings!”
“There’ll be no need for that, Mr. Mandrake,” the voice of James Darling crackled in from some unseen speaker. A door off to the side slowly creaked open, revealing a Retrovision flickering with black and white static. The Mandrake wasted no time in shooting at it, but the bullets passed through the glass without causing any damage at all.
A hologram of James Darling manifested in the center of the room, a burning Satin Stag cigarette clutched neatly in his fingers. He saw Seneca suffocating on the floor, then turned his predatory and calculating gaze towards The Mandrake.
“Put the guns on the floor, and I’ll call Silvano off,” he offered.
The Mandrake didn’t seem to be the least bit tempted by this offer, but Envy tugged at his trenchcoat and gave him a commanding nudge. Reluctantly, The Mandrake tossed the guns to the carpet and placed his hands behind his head.
With only a single commanding wag of his index finger, the smoke cloud withdrew from Seneca’s lungs and collected itself above James like a thundercloud.
“No sense in killing you, Seneca. That would practically be doing Emrys a favour,” James said. “But Envy, what’s a pretty girl like you doing wearing a mask?”
“You’d better not let your sister hear you calling me that,” Envy taunted.
“Kind of you to worry, but it’s always the object of my flirtations who bear the brunt of my sister’s wrath,” James reminded her smugly. “Top-notch detective work tracking me down, Mr. Mandrake. Why don’t you walk in through the Retrovision and arrest me?”
“You knew we’d show up here looking for you. You were waiting for us,” The Mandrake growled.
“Again, brilliant detective work. You’ve truly earned that fedora,” James mocked him. “Yes, I knew you’d come here looking for us, so I’ve arranged for Mr. Santoro to set up shop inside our playroom. He was only hanging around here to set a trap for you. Let me tell you what’s going to happen. None of you, not even you, Mr. Mandrake, are going to be able to break out of this building. You can sit there and starve for all I care, or Miss Noir and The Mandrake could take their chances with us on the other side of the Retrovision. Sara Darling really would like to put you in her doll collection, Mr. Mandrake, and I can’t wait to tell Mary Darling exactly how pretty I think you are, Envy. If the two of you come across, I’ll let Seneca go and he can inform Erich and Ivy of your predicament. If they’d like to negotiate for your release, I… may be willing to consider it.”
“You’re a coward! If you’re going to threaten me, step across that screen and do it to my face!” the Mandrake ordered.
He took his hands off his head and took a step towards him, only for the acrid form of Silvano to interject itself between them. James took a casual drag from his cigarette, refusing even to flinch.
Envy took advantage of the distraction and grabbed the pair of spellwork pistols off of the floor, firing two rounds of consecrated lead into the limp body of Silvano. While the body didn’t react at all, the smoke cloud shook and screeched like a wounded animal, losing some of its integrity and dissipating across the room.
“That body’s not just a husk! Silvano’s bound to it!” Envy declared. “James, if you don’t let us go in the next thirty seconds I’ll have The Mandrake tear that body limb from limb and you’ll have to find some other cursed thoughtform to roll your cigarettes for you.”
The Mandrake looked back towards James who now, much to his satisfaction, had flinched.
“Thirty. Twenty-Nine. Twenty-Eight,” he began to count down as he theatrically cracked his knuckles.
Before James could come to a decision, a few wisps of smoke snaked their way back into Silvano’s body. They were enough to animate it like a marionette, its limbs moving jerkily as it input the code to retract the security shutters over the doors and windows.
“There, happy?” James asked facetiously. “You’re free to leave. Put those guns down.”
With a smug smile, Envy shook her head.
“Mandrake, grab that body. We’re taking him with us,” she announced.
When Silvano tried to slam the lockdown button again, Envy shot him, knocking him back into his seat. Before he was able to try a second time, The Mandrake had closed the distance between them. He grabbed him by the waist and slung him over his shoulder, impotently kicking and flailing like a toddler having a tantrum all the while.
“No!” James growled, his hologram disappearing and being replaced by countless others scattered throughout the room.
“What the hell?” Envy demanded as she fell back beside The Mandrake for protection.
“It’s a distraction! Shoot at the Retrovision! He’s coming through to get Silvano!” The Mandrake shouted.
Envy complied, firing multiple rounds at every image of James between them and the Retrovision, but all of them sailed clear through their targets. The smoke cloud suddenly condensed tightly around them, and The Mandrake made a break for the front door while he had the chance.
He was tackled from the side by someone moving at over fifty kilometers an hour, knocking him down and halfway across the room. When he looked up, he was completely surrounded by silhouettes of James bending down in the smoke to pick up Silvano. Jumping to his feet, he made his way back towards the Retrovision in the hopes of cutting James off.
Or at least, he thought that’s where he was going. The tumble to the floor and the encircling smoke had disoriented him, and he ended up tripping over Seneca, who was once again unable to stand from the sickening smoke.
James brushed by them in a blur, and Envy fired every last bullet trying to put him down. Each one either missed or succeeded only in striking Silvano, who was slung over James’ back.
The smoke retreated with them, and The Mandrake dashed after them in one final bid to keep them from escaping. They were just feet away from him before they leapt through the Retrovision, vanishing into the basement universe of the Darlings’ playroom. The Mandrake dared to reach in after them and pull them back, but his hand hit nothing but solid glass.
“Damnit!” he cursed, striking the top of the box set with his fist.
“Don’t break it!” Envy shouted. “If that Retrovision came from the Darlings’ playroom and was modified by James, it could be useful in tracking them down again!”
“It also gives them a two-way ticket to wherever we keep it!” The Mandrake shouted back.
“Oh yes, it would be a gamble taking this old girl with you. No doubt about that,” the black and white visage of James mocked them from the other side of the screen, taking a victory drag from his cigarette. “But on the other hand, it is one of my finer works. It would be a crime, an atrocity even, to destroy it.”
The Mandrake struck the box set again, but deliberately held back on damaging it.
“Mandrake, enough!” Envy commanded. “I know it’s risky, but we need it. Turn it off and pick it up. We’re getting out of this hellhole.”
“Don’t feel bad, Mr. Mandrake. I’m sure you’ll have another chance to end up in Sara Darling’s doll collection very soon,” James taunted just before The Mandrake managed to turn the Retrovision off.
“What an absolute waste of time,” he muttered as he lifted the vintage box set off the floor.
“Not entirely!” Seneca claimed, who had not only recovered from his spectral smoke inhalation but was now holding an unlit cigar. “Crow, Crowley & Chamberlain has a lien on this shop, and since Silvano just ran out on us and has thrown his lot in with the Darlings, this place and everything left in it is ours!”
He was just about to light it before Envy snatched it out of his hands.
“The Mandrake wasn’t bluffing about the municipal health bylaws,” she informed him. “From now on, this is a smoke-free building.”

When Luffy & his crew are at Sabaody and prepare their travel through redline to reach the second part of Grand Line, they learn that they can either pass through Marie-Geoise, or dive 10 000 meters to Fishman Island.
We see a picture map from Oda, locating Marie-Geoise at the exact vertical of Fishman Island, one on top of the Red Line, the other at the bottom of it, in some sort of alcove/tunnel.
Finally, when reaching Fishman Island, it is contained within a bubbles system, itself floating between gigantic roots that carry sunlight from the surface to the bottom of the ocean.
Here, they learn they are the roots of Sunlight Eve, a kind of super-tree.
This is intriguing. Where is this Eve Tree located?
Is it at Marie-Geoise? Every time there was a focus on Marie-Geoise we mostly saw Castle Pangaea. Never a gigantic tree.
Looking at the location of Fishman Island, this tree and its roots surely has to be embedded into Red Line, and what's directly vertical on top of Fishman Island / these roots is the city of Marie-Geoise.
Except if Marie-Geoise is not at the exact vertical of Fishman-Island. But the map from Oda say it is, it has to be correct, right?
This is more a collection of questions and subsequents hypothesis than a theory:
Was the gigantic tree cut? And the City of Marie-Geoise built at its old place? Leaving only its root system?
Or maybe, is this Sunlight Tree Eve located inside red line? It's a silly idea. How would it catch sunlight if that was the case?
Or maybe, is this Sunlight Tree Eve located elsewhere? Does its root system extend through a big part of Red Line? Or even farther? If that's the case, it is intriguing that the surroundings of Fishman Island are not sunlighted, only the island.
We know the Adam Tree is also a thing: Franky built the Thousand Sunny with exceptional wood he purchased (with honest money). These two trees have to be linked. But we never saw either if them in the world building.
Are they giant trees from Elbaf? Or ancient trees linked to the Ancient Kingdom and lost during the Void Century? If so, would that make sense that wood from the Adam Tree is still available on the black market to build ships with? And that roots from the Eve Tree are still illuminating the depth of the ocean at the bottom of Red Line?
Or, if they are still there, alive, part of redline in some capacity, why does Oda didn't show at least the Eve one during the many moments we saw Marie-Geoise? For example during the Reverie.
Finally, we know the Lunarians were living up high on Red Line, but got kicked by the Celestial Dragons to establish Marie-Geoise. Legendary flying people living on a sky high continent is very thematic, but it is even more fitting if this sky-high continent is the ground for two legendary super trees.
These two trees might only be a background detail, or even a small plot hole... but I wonder if they won't take a bigger place in the plot at some point. Because two gigantic trees seem to be [spoilers for latest chapter, 1113] an excellent refuge to build entire kingdoms in, when the world is going to be flooded.

Last week's post https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1cfhmzj/roundup_ufos_reported_on_here_last_week_countries/
Archive https://web.archive.org/web/20240428213053/https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1cfhmzj/roundup_ufos_reported_on_here_last_week_countries/
Moon phase waning gibbous, three days before half
Mars Right Ascension 23h 58m 10s
.1 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1cfhlti/i_saw_something_unusual_today/ photo, nighttime cloudy sky, contemporaneous report, single light object, flareup observed, was bright white and blinked twice with an additional red 🔴 light, then it just disappeared., vanished, brief duration 5-6 seconds, silent, over water, river, Regio Nijmegen the Netherlands 🇳🇱 elongated,possible oval-shaped, repeat visitor, I already saw near by a similar object this afternoon. Same short appearance. But it was further away and shone twice in a white metallic colour before it just ‘dissolved’.
.2 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1cfejk6/possible_ufo_following_a_rocket_launch_videos/ sighting description and video, near rocket launch, single light object, red 🔴, moving fast, contemporaneous report, backyard, two witnesses, low over treeline, savannah Georgia, trajectory change ,similar sighting in comments
.3 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1cff7ik/what_do_you_think_this_is/ video, nighttime sky, single object multiple lights, one flashing, possible triangle 🔺️ , from car, observed stationary, possibly pacing car, Bristol England the UK 🇬🇧, red and yellow 🔴🟡, downvoted to zero
.4 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1cfybk7/all_the_relevant_uap_updates_from_april_2228/ information, state of disclosure USA https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1cfjzdo/mexican_and_peruvian_ufo_disclosure_weekly/ information, state of disclosure, Mexico and Peru
.5 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1cfp27v/s%C3%A3o_paulo_2024_28_april/ video, daytime sky, from car, contemporaneous report, over airport, urban area, Sao Paulo Brazil 🇧🇷, single light object, angular, reddish glow, two witnesses, elongated, vertical orientation, square ⬛️ or rectangular shape https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1cfoldd/is_this_a_uap_over_s%C3%A3o_paulo_airport_this_morning/ original video, link to Google drive in comments , downvoted to zero
.6 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1cfqcqc/help_needed_identifying_a_bright_flashing_light_i/ sighting description and video, contemporaneous report, nighttime, from car, west coast of Canada 🇨🇦, near water pacific ocean, single light object, flashing erratically or jumpy movement, diffuse, downvoted to zero
.7 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1cfrx1d/saw_a_large_amount_of_interesting_lights_in_the/ video, nighttime cloudy sky, fleet, contemporaneous report, urban area, Albuquerque new Mexico, low over treeline , moving slowly, horizontal trajectory, [GOODPOST]
.8 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1cfnvx2/last_night_in_orange_county_ca_this_is_our_second/ video, nighttime sky, single light object, repeat visitor, orange county California, contemporaneous report, two witnesses, observed moving and stationary and moving, trajectory change, brightness change, flareup and dimming, witness followed it, vanished, possible military response helicopter, Within a few minutes, a helicopter showed up and was circling the area for about 5-10 mins before leaving.
.9 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1cff5in/nosy_chase video, twolights, one bright one dim, diffuse, near Monterey California, one following another, possible chase, silent
.10 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1cfg1p7/in_my_adventures_today_i_realized_i_was_close_to/ photo of monument, historical event, Kecksburg Pennsylvania, local residents in comments, there was an event and the military came. The large transport vehicles were in town, and it went into total lockdown relative to the period.
.11 https://old.reddit.com/HighStrangeness/comments/1cfujcw/what_the_hell_is_this_noise_in_my_shed_at_2_in/ audio, at home, nighttime, whistling
.12 https://old.reddit.com/HighStrangeness/comments/1cfo904/have_you_ever_had_an_experience_that_youve_been/ discussion of experiences
.13 https://old.reddit.com/ufo/comments/1cfwei1/ufo_sightings_and_related_experiences/ sighting description, military, US army, southeastern Georgia, nighttime, two witnesses, single light object, triangle 🔺️, appeared out of nowhere, moving fast, similar sightings in comments
.14 https://old.reddit.com/USOS/comments/1cg5jum/green_light_near_t%C5%8Dmy%C5%8Dd%C5%8D_lighthouse_in_japan/ photo and video, single light object, underwater, green 🟢, near Tomyo-do lighthouse in Japan 🇯🇵, stationary or moving slowly, USO
.15 https://old.reddit.com/StrangeEarth/comments/1cftvb4/what_was_happening_to_this_water_or_under_it/ video, possible USO, from Coronado Island, underwater, San Diego Bay California, hottub, duration two minutes, single dark object, strange waves, two witnesses
.16 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1cgbu7k/my_highschool_math_teache information, high school teacher was ex airforce, USAF, I remember the smile, and he said, I can say this for sure it's a lot unknown out there .
.17 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1cgvzd6/any_thoughts_on_this/ photo, daytime sky, single object blackwhite, not seen by eye, Sedona Arizona, hiking, cubensphere, subsequent single light object moving erratically, link to Google drive in comments, downvoted to zero https://old.reddit.com/useSabineRittecomments/1cgyl7j/fast_mover_over_sedona_arizona/ drawing I did
.18 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1cgyqkd/the_bob_universal_object_tracker_software_beta/ live stream, BoB Universal Object Tracker Beta Version 1.0
.19 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1cgi6d0/just_saw_this_over_rockwall_texas_any_ideas/ video, nighttime sky, contemporaneous report, happening at time of posting, single light object stationary, angular, urban area, Rockwall Texas, multicolored, low over rooftop, Sirius?, similar sightings in comments , duration 30 minutes
.20 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1cgmduv/photos_and_video_taken_on_sunday_in_manila/ sighting description, single dark object moving erratically, two witnesses, Manila harbour the Philippines 🇵🇭
.21 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1cgr2oz/spherical_object_steadily_cruising_over_north/ video, daytime sky, north Zealand Denmark 🇩🇰, single light object moving fast and straight, reddish glow, possible metallic sphere, horizontal trajectory, OP comments downvoted, big debunker energy
.22 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1cgsgw7/what_is_this_thing/ photo and video, nighttime sky, two witnesses, single light object moving, silent, curved trajectory, floated from north to south west., at home, south of colombo Sri lanka 🇱🇰 , downvoted to zero, OP comments downvoted, big debunker energy
.23 https://old.reddit.com/HighStrangeness/comments/1cgd28b/what_happened_to_the_sky_that_day/ sighting description, daytime cloudy sky, Knoxville Tennessee, I saw the sky open up almost like a tear in the sky but it was completely dark on the inside., brief duration, As quick as it happened, it closed back up., has anyone seen?, similar sightings in comments
.24 https://old.reddit.com/HighStrangeness/comments/1cgelf6/i_met_god_apparently/ experience description, entity, humanoid, possible healing, communication, repeated this 3 time....As long as you have peace in your eyes and love in your heart you will be ok.
.25 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1ch0z05/potentially_multiple_ufos_edgewood_nm_42924/ video, nighttime sky, fleet, repeat visitors, contemporaneous report, edgewood new Mexico, past few weeks I started to see just one random bright light in the sky. A few nights later there were two lights circling around each other. A few nights later three lights so on and so forth.
.26 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1ch1x7weird_object_in_sky_castle_rock_colorado/ photos, daytime sky, single dark object, stationary observed, possibly pacing car, elongated, V-shaped or worm 🪱, plane for comparison observed, witness looked away and looked back, vanished, as the plane went to pass the object, a semi blocked my view. When we got past the semi, the object was gone, and the plane was continuing to fly. , castle rock Colorado, powerlines, low over ridgeline,
.27 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1ch6ogj/plane_drone_or_ufo/ video, nighttime sky, st augustine Florida, single light object moving, multicolored, silent, repeat visitor,
.28 ➡️ https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1ch80cf/orb_ufo_megapost_connecting_the_dots/ original compilation, single light object, characteristics, [GOODPOST], discussion of orbs
.29 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1chcsul/possibly_ufos/ video, nighttime sky, threelights, line formation, angled from the horizon, from car, contemporaneous report, possibly pacing car
.30 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1chd7uj/super_bright_flashing_light_and_orb_over_dc/ video and video from home security camera, nighttime sky, at home, outside bedroom window, single light object, toward the Capitol building Washington DC, smaller objects accompany it, flashing in pattern, powerlines, very bright, possibly illuminating clouds, [GOODPOST], similar sighting in comments
.31 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1cho7s7/ufo_i_saw_in_my_backyard/ video, nighttime sky, threelights, close triangle formation, horizontal orientation, horizontal trajectory, low over rooftop, silent, at home, backyard, emotional reaction shock and happiness https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1chocey/moving_white_orb/ same OP, different event, video, nighttime sky, single light object moving, low over treeline, tuskegee alabama, satellite?
.32 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1chpq8v/freinds_video_of_ufo/ video, possible metapod type, daytime
.33 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1chf798/disappearing_lights_over_oconee_county_ga/ sighting description, fleet, appearing and vanishing, plane for comparison observed, possible interaction with airplane, they were waiting for the airspace to clear before doing anymore shenanigans. All of a sudden no activity for a couple minutes, then a plane would fly overhead and once he cleared the airspace it would start right back up., contemporaneous report, Oconee County Georgia, nighttime, duration 10 minutes , trajectory change, one light travel from left to right come to stop for a second and then proceed to travel back in the opposite direction right to left, moving and stationary and moving, brightness change, flareup and dimming, additional single light object low below treeline, possible animal reaction coyotes going crazy and neighbors dogs barking insane right at the time of peak activity.
.34 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1cgw198/april_27_2am_star_split/ video, nighttime cloudy sky, just off I5 Los Banos California, single light object, lighting configuration change, splitting, twolights, one stationary and one moving, repeat visitor, downvoted to zero https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1chirrg/april_28th_los_banos_ca/ same OP, the next day, video, nighttime, [GOODPOST], threelights, triangle formation, flying in formation, similar sighting same area in comments
.35 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1chj6ot/strange_lights_over_worcester_ma_usa/ sighting description, nighttime, duration 20 minutes, witness followed it, from car, fleet, threelights, from car, Worcester Massachusetts, possible formation change, flying pretty high up when the lights appeared more clustered, and when flying low the lights appeared more linear, silent, circling, it was making large circles above the city. , moving slowly, jumpy movement, when I looked away for a bit it looked like it was off in the distance further than I would expect for how slow it was. There was a red 🔴 light, but no discernible green light. I think there was a blinking white light., downvoted to zero
.36 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1chjolg/was_it_a_ufo/ sighting description, southwest Nova Scotia Canada 🇨🇦, single light object, orange 🟠, trail formed, stationary and moving, witness looked away and looked back, vanished, when I looked back it was gone. I kept looking at the sky to see it and I could faintly see it moving in and out of view, there were no clouds I don’t think but it was faint as it moved out of view around the house., disappeared behind rooftops
.37 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1chkcc2/ufo_sighting_in_vienna/ video, nighttime sky, contemporaneous report, urban area, Floridsdorfer Markt Vienna Austria 🇦🇹 , single light object moving, possible trajectory change, satellite?
.38 https://old.reddit.com/aliens/comments/1ch2mqq/i_had_several_strange_and_terrifying_experiences/ childhood experience description, possible abduction, near Naples Italy 🇮🇹, entities, inside bedroom, repeat visitors, at home, nighttime, witness woke up, fleet, inside bedroom, stationary, These lights were green-ish in color, had the most bizarre shapes, and were slightly fluorescent. , emotion of fear, physical effects goosebumps and paralysis, hyperventilated and started sweating profusely., possible men in black response to telling the story on Reddit, [GOODPOST]
.39 https://old.reddit.com/ufo/comments/1chrgft/what_is_it_ufo/ photo, nighttime sky, single light object, trail, haze, curved trajectory, Samara Russia 🇷🇺, rocket launch?
.40 https://old.reddit.com/ufo/comments/1chir0j/fast_uap_passing_sta video, nighttime sky, single dim object moving fast
.41 https://old.reddit.com/HighStrangeness/comments/1ch44dd/for_people_who_experience_way_too_many_tech_issues/ discussion of humans causing electronic effects
.42 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1chuvn5/this_is_a_recreation_has_anyone_seen_something/ video recreation of sighting description, nighttime, brief duration, jumpy movement, plane-shaped, had no dimension to it. It looked more like an image than a physical object. , has anyone seen?, white-blueish, over water, Manahawkin bay new jersey, https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1chw8e6/repost_this_is_a_recreation_has_anyone_seen/ reposted
.43 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1chvyjw/completely_stationary_hovering_silver_sphere_nea sighting description, has anyone seen?,single light object, metallic sphere, stationary, reaction to being observed, vanishing, repeat visitor, made two passes, electronic effects camera can't detect it, I tried to get a better view with my eyes and poof it seriously just vanished. , near USAF, DMAFB, tuscon Arizona
.44 https://old.reddit.com/Experiencers/comments/1ch845u/my_experience_with_a_blue_jellyfish_object_as_a/ childhood sighting description or dream, at home, nighttime, near water, reservoir, witness woke up, light shining in bedroom window, golden, single object irregular shape, blue 🔵, gigantic flying jellyfish 🪼 with rings of rotating smoky tentacles. The inner ring dropped down and rotated around the surface of the water. the jellyfish was taking on water., dull, sort of golden titanium looking, mirror-type panels that would distort everything in the field of view as they passed., emotional reaction shock, communication, "This is nothing. You should go back to bed.", saw something I wasn't supposed to., compelled to go to sleep, [GOODPOST]
.45 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1ci995p/high_altitude_ufo_sightings/ sighting descriptions, repeat visitors, Washington state, single light object moving, pulsating, trajectory change, subsequent single light object moving fast, wavy trajectory, subsequent single light object, trajectory change, contemporaneous report, has anyone seen?
.46 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1cij45u/what_is_this_thing_floating_over_bali_indonesia/ photo, nighttime cloudy sky, single dark object, irregular shape, vertical orientation, stationary, duration 30 minutes, contemporaneous report, happening at time of posting, urban area, Bali Indonesia 🇮🇩, kite?
.47 https://old.reddit.com/HighStrangeness/comments/1cigpvb/what_could_this_be/ video, nighttime sky, from home security camera, electronic effects motion detection, northern Wisconsin,single light object moving, descending below treeline, illuminating trees
.48 https://old.reddit.com/HighStrangeness/comments/1ci471l/what_are_these_flashing_red_lights/ sighting description and video, nighttime sky, single light object, green 🟢, flashing erratically, repeat visitor, I keep seeing a green light in my neighbors backyard, always around 5:30am, when there are typically no lights back there. , Kalamazoo Michigan
.49 https://old.reddit.com/aliens/comments/1ci1v99/took_a_flight_42924_saw_uap/ sighting description and reference image, from airplane, east coast USA, daytime, single light object, metallic sphere, moving fast, I saw a metal sphere fly fast, really fast, past and slightly above the airplane going to opposite direction we were flying., possible porthole, similar sightings in comments
.50 https://old.reddit.com/ufo/comments/1cijlvt/my_wife_took_this_pic_last_yea photo, nighttime sky, threelights, triangle formation, low over treeline, near airport
.51 https://old.reddit.com/ufo/comments/1chvltt/ive_seen_a_ufo_sighting_today/ sighting description, contemporaneous report, from airplane, from Birmingham the UK 🇬🇧 to Seville Spain 🇪🇸, daytime cloudy sky, single dark object, possible interaction with airplane, witness felt observed, large black object in the clouds. It was tall and rectangular and then kind of went on its side and became thin and wide and flew off away from us., two witnesses
.52 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1cin2lh/my_terrifying_true_childhood_story_a_ufo_turns/ childhood sighting description, Goole in East Yorkshire the UK 🇬🇧, at home, nighttime, witness woke up, flying saucer, outside bedroom window, also had several small bright lights spinning around as it moved in the sky., single object multiple lights, rotating, audio description faint humming sound., event amnesia, For whatever reason however, I quickly forgot about what I saw that night ., repeat visitor or second object, daytime, multiple witnesses, single object, disk shape, approach, flew overhead, emotion of fear in other witnesses, left the area, When I look back to what I think is a "UFO", all of a sudden what I'm seeing isn't a flying saucer, but an RAF fighter jet flying dangerously low before it quickly turns and flies away. , mimicking airplane, similar sighting in comments, [GOODPOST] https://old.reddit.com/ufouk/comments/1cin9sh/my_terrifying_true_childhood_story_a_ufo_turns/ reference images
.53 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1cinow3/heres_a_compilation_of_cases_where_ufos_used/ original compilation, historical events, light beams, bending or pulling
.54 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1cipk67/what_could_it_be/ video, hard to see , spotlights type
.55 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1cipw6p/what_is_this/ video, nighttime sky, contemporaneous report, single light object, diffuse, spiral trail, rocket launch?, Finland 🇫🇮, similar sighting in comments from Sweden 🇸🇪 and Poland 🇵🇱 , https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1ciq28y/now_from_ukraine/ Ukraine 🇺🇦
.56 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1cistzk/ufos_filmed_in_natick_massachusetts/ video, nighttime sky, fleet, Pagan Hill in Natick Massachusetts, two witnesses, contemporaneous report, red, submission statement issues, removed
.57 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1cjbmdn/top_left/ video, daytime cloudy sky, single light object, splitting, submission statement issues
.58 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1cj2il1/ufo_info_from_sighting_10_years_ago/ sighting description, downvoted to zero, nighttime, two witnesses, single light object, blue 🔵, approach, moving fast and stationary overhead, possibly rotating, doing sort of a twirl motion., physical effects paralysis, transfixed, emotion of fear and awe, sudden departure upward, zoomed out of view slightly angled and up into the sky going from its original shape to a dot that disappeared into darkness as it went further and faster away., witnesses left the area, we immediately ran back down the driveway to his house. The sense of fear and dread was very real.Near the Devil's Tramping ground in North Carolina, silent
.59 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1cisc8c/unshared_footage_of_2021_canadian_sighting/ sighting description, Richmond British Columbia Canada 🇨🇦, nighttime, observed moving and stationary and moving, flareup or size change,
.60 https://old.reddit.com/ufo/comments/1cj3icg/ufo_caught_in_waterloo_ny_may_1st_2024/ video, daytime sky, contemporaneous report, single light object, elongated, horizontal orientation, tictac, horizontal trajectory, moving slowly, plane for comparison, waterloo new York state
.61 https://old.reddit.com/ufo/comments/1cj7x9u/if_this_alien_abduction/ experience description, possible abduction, physical effects pain
.62 https://old.reddit.com/StrangeEarth/comments/1ciymal/strange_light/ experience description and video, no craft, from home security camera, single flash, illuminating trees, from the sky in front of me I got hit with a white/bluish laser for a split second, brief duration
.63 https://old.reddit.com/UFOB/comments/1cisg7c/taken_in_upstate_ny_today/ photo, daytime sky, contemporaneous report, single dark object, elongated, plane for comparison, angled from the horizon, upstate new York state,
.64 https://old.reddit.com/CLOUDS/comments/1cicotduring_flight_what_is_this_discshaped_cloud/ photo, daytime cloudy sky, from airplane, cloud anomaly, disk shape
.65 https://old.reddit.com/CLOUDS/comments/1ciawdu/may_1_silent_lighting_storm_south_us/ video, nighttime cloudy sky, diffuse light flashing erratically, silent, lightning anomaly , southern USA
.66 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1cjfj7k/i_know_this_isnt_a_ufo_but_i_would_really_like_to/ photos, daytime sky, contemporaneous report, airplane anomaly, Richmond Virginia, 2 very, very large rings, with an airplane/jet going straight up. It was going faster than any plane I've seen go across the sky., powerlines, duration 5 minutes
.67 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1cje9ei_saw_a_ufo_when_i_was_13_now_21_and_i_used_ai_to/ sighting description and drawing, single dark object, jellyfish 🪼, dark black "ballish" drone flying towards me., approach, flew overhead, audio description humming sound, It had tentacles coming out of it. , I saw them expand and contract individually., downvoted to zero
.68 ➡️ https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1cjla34/kinross_plane_sighting/ sighting description and reference image, airplane anomaly, from car, contemporaneous report, daytime, highway 61 about an hour north of Duluth Minnesota, low over water, lake superior, I saw this plane hovering about 300ft above ground, just offshore over the water, single object, stationary, mimicking airplane, The props were not even moving., two witnesses, emotional reaction freaked out, overwhelmed, shock, Pupils really dilated, couldn't control my body temp, lots of frantic pacing., historical event, Kinross incident, dark green RCAF C47 Dakota., [GOODPOST], silent
.69 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1cjn0qo/any_idea_what_this_light_could_have_been/ video, nighttime cloudy sky, fourlights, diffuse, spotlights type, splitting, circling, merging, long Island New York state, observed duration 2 minutes, felt compelled to look up, something told me to look up and it was very gloomy., felt like something huge was above the clouds projecting these lights.,
.70 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1cjqfc7/oc_i_wasnt_going_to_post_this_but_it_just_looks/ video, daytime cloudy sky, single dark object, low over rooftop, elongated, vertical orientation, observed descending, jellyfish 🪼 or squid 🐙 , bountiful Utah, at home , [GOODPOST] , three witnesses
.71 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1cjv2da/day_of_the_eclipse_njny/ photos, daytime cloudy sky, eclipse day, multiple objects, dark, moving fast, new jersey , downvoted to zero, video analysis requested
.72 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1ck2whw/is_this_a_balloon/ video, daytime cloudy sky, single dark object, irregular shape, possible star 🌟 shaped, wobbling, descending below rooftop, balloon 🎈?, urban area, Upper East Side NYC New York state, contemporaneous report, duration 30 seconds https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1ck3rf8/is_this_a_ballon/ reposted
.73 https://old.reddit.com/aliens/comments/1cjnqfk/my_experience_with_the_marfa_lights_the_entities/ sighting description, three witnesses, Marfa Lights, Marfa Texas, single red 🔴 light blinking., lighting configuration change to threelights, line formation, vertical orientation, appeared out of nowhere , Then directly below it another red light starts pulsating. Then a third until there's 3 lights in a vertical row pulsating, Then they go solid red. And slowly start to hover in all directions. Then fade in and out. , appearing and vanishing, formation change, color change, multicolored, splitting, duration 2 hours, emotional reaction shock, paralysis, transfixed, I was jaw dropped in shock. I had a camera. I'm a professional cinematographer. And I never lifted my camera., felt compelled to look, something told me to "listen" and not document., sudden departure, all 5 lights quickly shot into a horizontal line and turned blue. Then they faded away., apathy in other witness, witness followed it, fleet observed, witness went to sleep, subsequent entities, inside bedroom, At the edge of the bed, was standing 3 tall silhouettes of skinny long, big headed entities. , emotion of fear, sudden departure, repeat visitors, human initiated contact, similar sightings in comments, [GOODPOST]
.74 https://old.reddit.com/ufo/comments/1cjw9ks/im_gonna_just_leave_this_right_hererandomly_found/ photo, daytime cloudy sky, single object blackwhite, not seen by eye, possible disk shape with dome, urban area, powerlines, near water Atlantic Ocean, Freeport Grand bahama The Bahamas 🇧🇸
.75 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1ck4214/october_26th_2022/ video, nighttime cloudy sky, Kennewick Washington state, single light object flashing in pattern, low below treeline, possible single object multiple lights, stationary
.76 https://old.reddit.com/Thetruthishere/comments/1cjzedo/clown_doll_in_my_ceiling_talking_to_me/ childhood sighting description, entity, repeat visitor, at home, inside bedroom, communication
.77 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1ck60dj/is_that_a_weather_baloon/ video, daytime cloudy sky, single light object, splitting, twolights, rotating around each other, plane for comparison, contemporaneous report, urban area, Vienna Austria 🇦🇹
.78 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1ck6di0/strange_lights_at_the_hollywood_bowl_last_night/ sighting description, contemporaneous report, two witnesses, Hollywood California, single light object, loops, doing something similar to a figure 8 movement, has anyone seen?
.79 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1ck9b1y/what_is_that/ video, nighttime cloudy sky, single light object, multicolored, contemporaneous report, urban area, st Petersburg Florida, low over rooftop , near water, gulf of Mexico, possible smaller objects accompany it, as I zoomed in that video I noticed three black dots that seemed to be hovering over the flashing circle in which would become distorted., Sirius?
.80 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1ckaznc/whats_this/ photo, daytime sky, single light object, elongated, horizontal orientation, tictac, horizontal trajectory, northwestern Ontario Canada 🇨🇦, duration 10 minutes, downvoted to zero in 27 minutes,
.81 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1ckb8xo/something_spotted_in_north_london_today/ video, daytime cloudy sky, contemporaneous report, urban area, North London England the UK 🇬🇧, single light object, flickering, vanishing, plane for comparison observed
.82 https://old.reddit.com/aliens/comments/1ckbept/are_those_stars/ video recreation of sighting description, nighttime, from car, unusual route, anomalous silence, two witnesses, Utah, fleet, formation change, sudden departure downward, the formation of stars began to move, they would condense and expand in the space between them. Then, in an instant, they flew down to the earth below.
.83 https://old.reddit.com/astrophotography/comments/1ck93y3/meteor_captured_last_night_3rd_may_2024_by/ photo, nighttime sky, single light object moving fast, angled from the horizon, meteor?, plane for comparison
.84 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1ckcb2y/object_id_help/ video, nighttime sky, Panamint Valley California, three witnesses, single light object, appeared out of nowhere, yellow 🟡, crescent 🌙 shape, approach, flew overhead, color change to white, flareup, diffuse, haze, The light appeared as semicircular “wings” on either side, with gaps in front of and behind of the object., moving fast, silent, vanishing and reappearing, lighting configuration change, the bright lights were in a ring shape,,SpaceX?
.85 https://old.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1ckpybw/2013_middle_of_nowhere_texas/ photo, daytime cloudy sky, powerlines, fleet or single object multiple lights, horizontal orientation, powerlines, at home, backyard, south of San Antonio Texas, appeared out of nowhere, brief duration, vanishing, line of light appears and lasts only a brief moment. It looked like they “glistened?” in and out.,
.86 https://old.reddit.com/aliens/comments/1ckl5iv/this_appears_regularly_hoping_its_a_drone_nz_btw/ photo, nighttime sky, repeat visitor, new zealand 🇳🇿, single light object, low over treeline,
.87 https://old.reddit.com/aliens/comments/1cklvx8/planehelicopter_2nd_light/ video, nighttime sky, single light object moving, descending at an angle, plane for comparison, urban area
.88 https://old.reddit.com/atoptics/comments/1ckr8rx/black_vertical_line_in_sky/ video, daytime cloudy sky, cloud anomaly, vertical contrail, dark, contemporaneous report, Bath England the UK 🇬🇧

Are you the One Ring? Cuz you're Precious.
I'm 5'3", white, with an average build, green eyes, brown hair (currently shaved), and a mustache.
I'm a fan of sci-fi, fantasy, horror, video games, D&D, comics/manga, and animation. I enjoy learning about history, mythology, culture, religion, and philosophy. I listen to heavy metal, punk, and synth music. A few favorites include Judas Priest, Testament, Black Sabbath, Blind Guardian, Candlemass, Skeletonwitch, Darkthrone, Erang, Arcanist, and Gulch.I dabble in concert promotion. I'm teaching myself screenwriting with the goal of pitching an animated fantasy series. I'm 420 friendly, left-leaning, and don't want children.
I love women who are smart, funny, passionate, affectionate, empathetic, and open-minded. Bonus points for shared interests. I'm also a sucker for women who are tall, busty, muscular, or can rock an alternative aesthetic.
Let's talk! :)

“The Darling Twins? Honestly, haven’t we all had enough of them by now?” Seneca ruminated as he tried to placate what was now the de facto triumvirate of the Ophion Occult Order.
Once again, he had been summoned to Adderwood Manor to account for his lapses in judgement, but rather than being on full public display in the Grand Hall, he instead found himself in a relatively small parlour. Across from the coffee table in front of him sat Ivy Noir, with her sister Envy to her right and her husband Erich to her left. Standing just to the side of them was the trenchcoat and fedora-wearing automaton who called himself The Mandrake. The one-eyed dream-catcher carved into his iridescent face rendered his emotions unreadable, but the spellwork pistols holstered in his belt made it clear that he was prepared to defend his employers against anything.
“I mean, this feud between them and Emrys is laughable,” Seneca went on. “They’re no threat to him now that he’s free of his chains, surely? Before there may have been a tactical element to his obsession with them, but now it’s just plain petty. Petra’s just out for revenge, and don’t get me started on the absurdity of that eldritch realtor wanting to flip their playroom. Does he think he can just relabel their torture chambers as BDSM dungeons and pass the Black Bile infestation off as some mould?”
“Seneca, I promised Emrys the Darlings, and the Covenant that we all signed binds us to fulfill that promise,” Ivy reminded him patiently, dropping a cube of sugar into her ouroboros-themed antique teacup. “You knew the Darlings better than any of us. You inducted them into the Order, you used them as assassins and bodyguards, and you let them withdraw every penny they had in your bank when they were fugitives!”
“Well, first of all, Crow, Crowley & Chamberlain is a financial institution, not a bank,” Seneca said flippantly. “Secondly, they had a numbered account and they didn’t show up in person, so the teller didn’t have the slightest idea of who they were dealing with.”
“You still could have frozen the account before they had that opportunity,” Erich stated.
Seneca made a display of languidly stirring some cream into his tea and taking a slow sip before responding.
“I’m very busy,” he claimed without an ounce of sincerity.
“You just didn’t want to get on the Darlings’ bad side,” Ivy said.
“I wasn’t aware they had a good side,” Seneca shrugged.
“There must be a paper trail we can follow,” Envy insisted. “Did the Darlings keep their assets anywhere else besides your bank?”
“Financial institution, and yes, I’m sure they have a proverbial Swiss bank account, but I haven’t the slightest notion of where to find it,” Seneca claimed. “It has come up in conversation that James invested about twenty percent of his income with me, twenty percent elsewhere, and shoved another twenty percent under their mattress. Mary enjoys being shagged on top of money, apparently. Their services commanded quite a high price on the underworld market, and sixty-plus years of compound interest have made them incredibly wealthy. They can afford to lie low for a long while.”
“Even if they can go without a paycheck indefinitely, they can’t go without killing,” Erich countered. “They need to hunt, and their egos mean they aren’t just going to cower from Emrys inside their playroom. They’re going to be out looking for victims and plotting against us, and you know what spots they’re likely to hit.”
“You’re wasting your time. James has had decades to scout out hunting grounds, and I’m sure he prepared for the possibility – no, inevitability – that he and his sister would become our enemies. He’s not going to risk showing up within a hundred miles of any of our Chapterhouses if he doesn’t need to,” Seneca said dismissively.
Ivy opened her mouth to speak, but stopped when The Mandrake took a step forward for the first time since the meeting began. He reached into his pocket and tossed a red and white pack of cigarettes with a shiny silhouette of a stag onto the coffee table.
“What is this?” Erich asked.
“Satin Stag cigarettes,” The Mandrake said flatly before shifting his gaze to Seneca. “That’s the Darlings’ brand, isn’t it, Mr. Chamberlain?”
“Um, yes. I believe I’ve seen them smoke those once or twice. What of it?” Seneca asked, failing to hide the nervousness creeping into his voice.
“These are artisanal cigarettes, and Harrowick County’s the only place you can buy them,” The Mandrake said. “That means that the Darlings, either directly or indirectly, are going to have to make the occasional sojourn back home, and the limited supply of these hand-rolled coffin nails means they can’t stock up too far in advance either. You know Harrowick County better than any of us. You know who makes these, you know who sells them. That’s how we track down the Darlings.”
“That’s preposterous. Do you really think they’d risk coming to Harrowick County rather than just switch brands?” Seneca scoffed.
“The Very Important Person at Pascal’s told me that Mary said they’ve been smoking these since they were kids, so they’re clearly pretty attached to them,” The Mandrake replied. “And somehow, I don’t think they’re the type to ever give up a bad habit.”
***
“Smoke & Mirrors ~ Fine Tobacco Products. Silvano Santoro, Proprietor. Est. 1949,” Envy read aloud as she, Seneca and The Mandrake stood outside the small, heavily fortified brick building.
Cast iron bars crisscrossed the windows and front door, which looked like it stood a decent chance of withstanding a police swat team. Security was obviously the shop’s proprietor’s key concern, as the ugly brown and yellow awning was tattered and faded, and the paint on the sign was so chipped it was barely even legible.
“How exactly does an unnoticeable and unattractive hole in the wall like this stay in business?” Envy asked.
“Repeat customers,” Seneca replied as he took a confident step towards the door. “Silvano knows me, and he doesn’t normally have a problem with me bringing guests along, but I expect both of you to be on your best behaviour!”
Envy gave him a reassuring nod, but The Mandrake continued to stoically stare at nothing with his hands in his pockets. Rolling his eyes, Seneca pressed a bulky plastic button on the antiquated door buzzer.
“Yeah, who is it?” a harsh and smoke-damaged voice demanded.
“It’s Seneca, Silvano. A pleasure to make your acquaintance again as well!” Seneca answered. “Just looking to pick up a few cases of cigars for a party, if you’ve got anything decent in stock, of course.”
“Who’s that you got with you?” Silvano asked suspiciously.
“Envy Noir, sir. I’m here on behalf of my sister Ivy, investigating a matter of considerable importance to the Ophion Occult Order,” Envy promptly introduced herself, much to Seneca’s chagrin. “The gentleman beside me is my bodyguard. Would you be so kind as to let us in?”
“Ah… of course. Just a moment, please,” Silvano replied.
“What’s he need a moment to buzz open a door for?” The Mandrake demanded, his stance immediately switching to full readiness.
“Making the place presentable for customers, I assume,” Seneca explained in exasperation.
“You mean he’s hiding evidence, or he’s running!” The Mandrake shouted.
“He’s a nonagenarian heavy smoker. He couldn’t run if his life depended on it,” Seneca insisted.
“I’ll see about that,” The Mandrake muttered.
Shoving Seneca out of the way, he kicked the door in with barely any effort. Storming into the shop, he saw a slender older man with thick white hair and rimmed glasses seated behind the front counter. His saggy, spotted skin was a living PSA against the products he peddled, and in his tobacco-stained hand, he held the receiver of an ornate rotary phone.
Staring at The Mandrake in cold fury, he calmly set the receiver back down in its cradle.
“Who were you talking to?” The Mandrake demanded.
“A client,” Silvano barked back with a shake of his head, picking up a burning cigarette from a nearby ashtray.
“Silvano, I am profusely sorry for this abject and uncouth behaviour! This being is no friend of mine, I can assure you,” Seneca asserted as he and Envy made their way inside.
“The feeling’s mutual, Chamberlain,” The Mandrake remarked. “Mr. Santoro, I apologize for the damage to the premises, but as Miss Noir has said, we’re here on urgent business.”
“Yes, that’s correct. We’ve been given to understand the Darling Twins are regular customers of yours,” Envy explained, before the smoke-saturated room sent her into a coughing spell. She fumbled around in her purse and pulled out a black N95 mask she had left over from the Pandemic.
“I’ve got plenty of regular customers,” Silvan replied defensively. “Customers who pay good money for that smoke you’re so offended by, young lady.”
“These ones have been coming here for over half a century and never aged a day,” The Mandrake said.
“That honestly doesn’t narrow it down that much,” Silvano chuckled, tapping his cigarette on his ashtray. “But yeah, I know the Darlings. What of it?”
“When was the last time they were here?” The Mandrake demanded.
“What’s it to you?” Silvano asked.
“They’re fugitives of the Order now and we want them brought in,” Envy replied, having donned her mask and mostly recovered from the smoke. “Mary Darling held a knife to my throat once in front of my sister, and later threatened to eat me alive in front of her and feed me to her pigs.”
“They were going to put me in their daughter’s doll collection,” The Mandrake muttered.
“And I have nothing but nice things to say about the Darlings, so I’m honestly not quite sure how I got dragged into this,” Seneca said. “That aside, it really would be of great help to us if you could share any information about them that you might have.”
“I don’t know what to tell you. They come in, they buy their smokes, they leave, just like most of my customers,” Silvano told them.
“But now they’re trying to lay low, so I’m guessing they’ve made some sort of arrangement with you to get their Satin Stag cigarettes without having to risk coming here in person,” The Mandrake said. “Maybe they set you up with one of their spare Retrovisions? Emrys said they had a few of those lying around, and they can use them as direct portals to their playroom.”
“Like they’d waste a fancy piece of technomancy like that on an old geezer like me. I haven’t seen them in months. Last year sometime, I think,” Silvano claimed.
The Mandrake casually strolled up to the front counter, rapping his fingers on the cheap glass display case.
“Real nice place you got here, Mr. Santoro. I mean, not really, but I’m sure you get the implication,” he said softly. “Ironic as it may be, a smoke shop isn’t exempt from municipal bylaws about smoking in public buildings and workspaces. You may not have had much trouble with local law enforcement before, but one phone call from my employers will change that real quick.”
“You think I’ve never been threatened before, punk?” Silvano asked, rising from his chair and staring him down.
“Boys, please, there’s no need for this,” Envy interjected. “Mr. Santoro, our Order has considerably more resources at its disposal than the Darlings, and we can certainly offer you a far greater reward for their capture than whatever they’re paying you for some cigarettes. You could retire; close this place down and get as far away as you like. How does that sound?”
“I’m not looking to retire, Miss. This business is all I’ve got, and it wouldn’t be good business to go around ratting out my best customers, now would it?” Silvano asked.
“It would be worse business to sacrifice everything you have to protect two customers,” The Mandrake threatened, his hands clamping down on the display cases so hard they began to creak. “Talk.”
Acknowledging him only with a furtive glance, Silvano took another drag from his cigarette and exhaled.
But this time, the smoke poured out from his mouth and nostrils without limit.
“What the hell?” The Mandrake cursed as he backed away.
Silvano pushed a button beneath the counter, putting his shop into lockdown with security shutters clamping down over every entrance point. As the smoke exuded from his body, it went limp and collapsed into a dried-out husk as the smoke coalesced into an animate form of its own, circling above them around the shop’s yellowed and textured ceiling.
“Damnit. Another egregore,” Envy muttered. “That explains his loyalties. The Darlings couldn’t eat him, but Emrys could.”
“So you’re saying we can’t negotiate it with it?” The Mandrake asked.
“Or fight it,” Envy clarified.
“In that case, it appears we’ve exhausted all our options. Time for a tactical retreat,” Seneca declared as he dashed for the now barricaded exit.
Whatever he was planning to do to get through it, the cloud of smoke cut him off before he got the chance. Rushing in through his nose and mouth, it immediately began suffocating him, sending him spasming to the ground as he choked for air.
The cloud assaulted Envy as well, but was unable to penetrate her mask.
“Godamnit, get away!” she shouted as she swatted it away from her burning eyes.
“Envy, get behind me now!” The Mandrake ordered as he drew out his pistols. “Sorry, Santoro, but you’re going to have to do a lot worse than that if you want to intimidate us!”
Seneca responded by gasping angrily and bashing his hand against the carpet.
“… A lot worse,” The Mandrake reiterated. “I may not be able to shoot you, but I will blow this health hazard you love so much to hell if you don’t tell me where I can find the Darlings!”
“There’ll be no need for that, Mr. Mandrake,” the voice of James Darling crackled in from some unseen speaker. A door off to the side slowly creaked open, revealing a Retrovision flickering with black and white static. The Mandrake wasted no time in shooting at it, but the bullets passed through the glass without causing any damage at all.
A hologram of James Darling manifested in the center of the room, a burning Satin Stag cigarette clutched neatly in his fingers. He saw Seneca suffocating on the floor, then turned his predatory and calculating gaze towards The Mandrake.
“Put the guns on the floor, and I’ll call Silvano off,” he offered.
The Mandrake didn’t seem to be the least bit tempted by this offer, but Envy tugged at his trenchcoat and gave him a commanding nudge. Reluctantly, The Mandrake tossed the guns to the carpet and placed his hands behind his head.
With only a single commanding wag of his index finger, the smoke cloud withdrew from Seneca’s lungs and collected itself above James like a thundercloud.
“No sense in killing you, Seneca. That would practically be doing Emrys a favour,” James said. “But Envy, what’s a pretty girl like you doing wearing a mask?”
“You’d better not let your sister hear you calling me that,” Envy taunted.
“Kind of you to worry, but it’s always the object of my flirtations who bear the brunt of my sister’s wrath,” James reminded her smugly. “Top-notch detective work tracking me down, Mr. Mandrake. Why don’t you walk in through the Retrovision and arrest me?”
“You knew we’d show up here looking for you. You were waiting for us,” The Mandrake growled.
“Again, brilliant detective work. You’ve truly earned that fedora,” James mocked him. “Yes, I knew you’d come here looking for us, so I’ve arranged for Mr. Santoro to set up shop inside our playroom. He was only hanging around here to set a trap for you. Let me tell you what’s going to happen. None of you, not even you, Mr. Mandrake, are going to be able to break out of this building. You can sit there and starve for all I care, or Miss Noir and The Mandrake could take their chances with us on the other side of the Retrovision. Sara Darling really would like to put you in her doll collection, Mr. Mandrake, and I can’t wait to tell Mary Darling exactly how pretty I think you are, Envy. If the two of you come across, I’ll let Seneca go and he can inform Erich and Ivy of your predicament. If they’d like to negotiate for your release, I… may be willing to consider it.”
“You’re a coward! If you’re going to threaten me, step across that screen and do it to my face!” the Mandrake ordered.
He took his hands off his head and took a step towards him, only for the acrid form of Silvano to interject itself between them. James took a casual drag from his cigarette, refusing even to flinch.
Envy took advantage of the distraction and grabbed the pair of spellwork pistols off of the floor, firing two rounds of consecrated lead into the limp body of Silvano. While the body didn’t react at all, the smoke cloud shook and screeched like a wounded animal, losing some of its integrity and dissipating across the room.
“That body’s not just a husk! Silvano’s bound to it!” Envy declared. “James, if you don’t let us go in the next thirty seconds I’ll have The Mandrake tear that body limb from limb and you’ll have to find some other cursed thoughtform to roll your cigarettes for you.”
The Mandrake looked back towards James who now, much to his satisfaction, had flinched.
“Thirty. Twenty-Nine. Twenty-Eight,” he began to count down as he theatrically cracked his knuckles.
Before James could come to a decision, a few wisps of smoke snaked their way back into Silvano’s body. They were enough to animate it like a marionette, its limbs moving jerkily as it input the code to retract the security shutters over the doors and windows.
“There, happy?” James asked facetiously. “You’re free to leave. Put those guns down.”
With a smug smile, Envy shook her head.
“Mandrake, grab that body. We’re taking him with us,” she announced.
When Silvano tried to slam the lockdown button again, Envy shot him, knocking him back into his seat. Before he was able to try a second time, The Mandrake had closed the distance between them. He grabbed him by the waist and slung him over his shoulder, impotently kicking and flailing like a toddler having a tantrum all the while.
“No!” James growled, his hologram disappearing and being replaced by countless others scattered throughout the room.
“What the hell?” Envy demanded as she fell back beside The Mandrake for protection.
“It’s a distraction! Shoot at the Retrovision! He’s coming through to get Silvano!” The Mandrake shouted.
Envy complied, firing multiple rounds at every image of James between them and the Retrovision, but all of them sailed clear through their targets. The smoke cloud suddenly condensed tightly around them, and The Mandrake made a break for the front door while he had the chance.
He was tackled from the side by someone moving at over fifty kilometers an hour, knocking him down and halfway across the room. When he looked up, he was completely surrounded by silhouettes of James bending down in the smoke to pick up Silvano. Jumping to his feet, he made his way back towards the Retrovision in the hopes of cutting James off.
Or at least, he thought that’s where he was going. The tumble to the floor and the encircling smoke had disoriented him, and he ended up tripping over Seneca, who was once again unable to stand from the sickening smoke.
James brushed by them in a blur, and Envy fired every last bullet trying to put him down. Each one either missed or succeeded only in striking Silvano, who was slung over James’ back.
The smoke retreated with them, and The Mandrake dashed after them in one final bid to keep them from escaping. They were just feet away from him before they leapt through the Retrovision, vanishing into the basement universe of the Darlings’ playroom. The Mandrake dared to reach in after them and pull them back, but his hand hit nothing but solid glass.
“Damnit!” he cursed, striking the top of the box set with his fist.
“Don’t break it!” Envy shouted. “If that Retrovision came from the Darlings’ playroom and was modified by James, it could be useful in tracking them down again!”
“It also gives them a two-way ticket to wherever we keep it!” The Mandrake shouted back.
“Oh yes, it would be a gamble taking this old girl with you. No doubt about that,” the black and white visage of James mocked them from the other side of the screen, taking a victory drag from his cigarette. “But on the other hand, it is one of my finer works. It would be a crime, an atrocity even, to destroy it.”
The Mandrake struck the box set again, but deliberately held back on damaging it.
“Mandrake, enough!” Envy commanded. “I know it’s risky, but we need it. Turn it off and pick it up. We’re getting out of this hellhole.”
“Don’t feel bad, Mr. Mandrake. I’m sure you’ll have another chance to end up in Sara Darling’s doll collection very soon,” James taunted just before The Mandrake managed to turn the Retrovision off.
“What an absolute waste of time,” he muttered as he lifted the vintage box set off the floor.
“Not entirely!” Seneca claimed, who had not only recovered from his spectral smoke inhalation but was now holding an unlit cigar. “Crow, Crowley & Chamberlain has a lien on this shop, and since Silvano just ran out on us and has thrown his lot in with the Darlings, this place and everything left in it is ours!”
He was just about to light it before Envy snatched it out of his hands.
“The Mandrake wasn’t bluffing about the municipal health bylaws,” she informed him. “From now on, this is a smoke-free building.”

First the good parts. Crew interactions are great as always, Uta is likable until the third act (even her introductory episodes in the anime are cute fillers), the action is vibrant and flowing (if a little difficult to track) and the fact that the Red hair Pirate and the Straw Hats work in tandem is a beautiful fight that I'd love to see in the cannon story. Even the songs are pretty damn catchy. Also, I'm a sucker for all the other character appearances, I can't help it, it's cool to Coby step up as a leader, truly steping into the role of Garp to Luffy's Roger.
As for other aspects.
I think Uta is a little... evil. I mean, she lured people who trusted her into a death trap with the intention of leading them to a new peaceful world like a cult leader. She found out she released a demon by accident a year after it happened and decided she would do it again, only bigger. That's like being in a fugue state, launching a nuke to destroy a country, finding out you did it and deciding to do it again while fully conscious and willing, knowing the result will potentially be the death of 70% of the population on the planet. I'm sorry but if they had left out that she knew she did it, I would be way more sympathetic to her mental health issues. Seriously, she must suffer from something to think this plan would lead to peace.
This sapped a lot of sympathy I had for her and distracted me during the finale, to the point where me, being the weepy crybaby I am, didn't feel anything for her death.
I feel like the writers don't really grasp how a musical works. The songs, while good, don't progress the story. Its pop hits sung by a character. Only the lament Uta sings really has any double meaning, showcasing how she longs for her friend and father in her lonely life as well as a reflection of losing herself and her dreams. A good musical allows the song to convey important plot points, character motivations or changes. One idea could have been to have Uta sing a song in a minor key like she shows resentment, only to reveal it was the lullaby Shanks sang to her as a baby, only she sings it like this to show how she's grow resentful of Shanks and pirates in general but still clings onto minor hope they will come back.
The cast can sing, so in a movie involving singing powers, why didn't they take advantage of this to make the characters sing. It could be a comedic we don't want to sing but we're forced to if we want to live. Heck, Brook should have been a major player as the official musician who Luffy was inspired to recruit by Uta. In fact, how cool would it be to end this anniversary movie, commemorating 25 years, with the Straw Hats banding together to save Uta by singing 'We Are'. Brooks could compose a song that helps Uta come to her senses and Luffy has to sing it but gets back up from his crew. This would make 'We Are' a diagetic song that exists in universe and created by Brooks. It could be a song of hope.
"Come aboard and bring along all your hopes and dreams, Together we will find everything that we're looking for."
Each crew member sings a part that shows what freedom means to them and how they can still strive for their dreams. Just like all those triumphant moments in the other movies and the series, its sung as the heroes succeed in swaying the antagonist to their side.