So, for those of you who know my story I have been through a lot during R. Those who don’t can view my post history as I wrote a lot about it.
Back in June of last year I caught WW still in communication with AP. And by communication, I mean I caught her with a hidden camera in our bedroom on a FaceTime masterbating with him while I was staying at a local AirBNB for a golf tournament.
To say I was devastated is an understatement, as it invalidated 6 months of R and put us back to below zero. Looking back, I realize now that I was the only one driving R initially. I was active on subs, reading articles and books, learning everything I could about how to recover from this devastation and keep my family whole. I was also telling WW what I needed from her for R but to her it felt forced. Like I was telling her what needed to be done and when, like being in IC.
She didn’t want to do any of it back then. She was sorry, sure. Sorry for the pain she caused me. Sorry that the kids had to hear us fighting behind closed doors. Sorry that her friends thought less of her. Sorry she got caught. In her mind, she was still blaming me for the affair but knew she couldn’t say it out loud because she couldn’t defend that feeling under scrutiny.
Since DDay 3, I have seen a remarkable shift in my WW. She started IC shortly after and has been dedicated to improving herself as a person. She confessed her actions to our families, some of her friends and one couple that we are close with. She has cut her toxic mother off for long stretches (4 months) and no longer allows her influence on her life and our marriage. This was the big one for me as it was a massive strain on our marriage for its entirety. She has read books to better understand how she could allow herself to self sabotage like this. How she could take everything good in her life for granted and jeopardize it for so little gain. She has evaluated how she interacts with others (men in particular) and established clear boundaries for her behavior. She supports me in my career and helps more with the kids on a day to day basis (also a problem pre-affair). She acknowledges all the things I do for her and our family and expresses appreciation. She reciprocates and shows me how much she respects and values me on a daily basis. She communicates what she is feeling and when she needs more from me in a particular area (also a pre-affair issue). She recognizes AP’s motivations and feels shame for not seeing it sooner.
We have had a few missteps along the way, such as some omissions from the original affair coming to light as well as a coworker acting inappropriately that she didn’t share with me until I found the voicemails and made him call the both of us with his wife on the call also to admit what he was doing (threatened to send the voicemails to HR and blow up his career). While these were serious violations, we have worked through them along with her motivations for keeping them secret. She understands and verbalizes why her motivations were misguided and realizes that therapy has been key in getting her to understand these things.
As of now we are settled back into a comfortable routine, but this time it is more even when it comes to supporting each other. We have made new friendships with others outside of her long standing and somewhat toxic friend group and distanced ourselves from the ones that don’t support us. We have an improved level of intimacy that we are both comfortable with (though I do admit I miss the hysterical bonding 🤣). We focus more on family than before and our children have become much closer with their cousins as a result. We “date” each other often and she drives half of that equation now instead of me having to pursue her as before. We spend quality time with the kids as well as alone with each other every day. In short, we have built the marriage we want out of the ashes of the old one.
There are still struggles of course. I still harbor resentment and anger at times and can face triggers on isolated occasions. She is overcoming a lifetime of conditioning and poor coping skills which is not done overnight. We argue (respectfully of course) on things at times but we communicate our frustrations immediately now instead of letting them fester. I still have some struggles with intimacy as I can get stuck in my head in the moment on occasion, which concerns me, but we make it work.
At the end of the day, we both have taken this nightmare and have turned it into an opportunity to better ourselves and our marriage. To honestly and harshly assess our flaws and shortcomings and dedicate ourselves to either fix them or at least minimize their impact.
I look back on the period before DDay 3 and still have many regrets, from ignoring my gut during the affair to how I handled things after it came to light, but I don’t fault myself. I realize I was doing the best I could with the information I had available, and was making decisions from a place of integrity and hope. While I may have been naive at times, I never betrayed my own values during this process. I always made decisions with the best interests of my family at heart. We still have a long way to go and this is a life long endeavor for improvement, but at this moment I feel content and optimistic with our progress. This is a long, ugly path that can be avoided with emotional intelligence and maturity, but unfortunately some don’t have the self introspection needed to do so. That is where the childhood trauma comes into play in my opinion.

So, for those of you who know my story I have been through a lot during R. Those who don’t can view my post history as I wrote a lot about it.
Back in June of last year I caught WW still in communication with AP. And by communication, I mean I caught her with a hidden camera in our bedroom on a FaceTime masterbating with him while I was staying at a local AirBNB for a golf tournament.
To say I was devastated is an understatement, as it invalidated 6 months of R and put us back to below zero. Looking back, I realize now that I was the only one driving R initially. I was active on subs, reading articles and books, learning everything I could about how to recover from this devastation and keep my family whole. I was also telling WW what I needed from her for R but to her it felt forced. Like I was telling her what needed to be done and when, like being in IC.
She didn’t want to do any of it back then. She was sorry, sure. Sorry for the pain she caused me. Sorry that the kids had to hear us fighting behind closed doors. Sorry that her friends thought less of her. Sorry she got caught. In her mind, she was still blaming me for the affair but knew she couldn’t say it out loud because she couldn’t defend that feeling under scrutiny.
Since DDay 3, I have seen a remarkable shift in my WW. She started IC shortly after and has been dedicated to improving herself as a person. She confessed her actions to our families, some of her friends and one couple that we are close with. She has cut her toxic mother off for long stretches (4 months) and no longer allows her influence on her life and our marriage. This was the big one for me as it was a massive strain on our marriage for its entirety. She has read books to better understand how she could allow herself to self sabotage like this. How she could take everything good in her life for granted and jeopardize it for so little gain. She has evaluated how she interacts with others (men in particular) and established clear boundaries for her behavior. She supports me in my career and helps more with the kids on a day to day basis (also a problem pre-affair). She acknowledges all the things I do for her and our family and expresses appreciation. She reciprocates and shows me how much she respects and values me on a daily basis. She communicates what she is feeling and when she needs more from me in a particular area (also a pre-affair issue). She recognizes AP’s motivations and feels shame for not seeing it sooner.
We have had a few missteps along the way, such as some omissions from the original affair coming to light as well as a coworker acting inappropriately that she didn’t share with me until I found the voicemails and made him call the both of us with his wife on the call also to admit what he was doing (threatened to send the voicemails to HR and blow up his career). While these were serious violations, we have worked through them along with her motivations for keeping them secret. She understands and verbalizes why her motivations were misguided and realizes that therapy has been key in getting her to understand these things.
As of now we are settled back into a comfortable routine, but this time it is more even when it comes to supporting each other. We have made new friendships with others outside of her long standing and somewhat toxic friend group and distanced ourselves from the ones that don’t support us. We have an improved level of intimacy that we are both comfortable with (though I do admit I miss the hysterical bonding 🤣). We focus more on family than before and our children have become much closer with their cousins as a result. We “date” each other often and she drives half of that equation now instead of me having to pursue her as before. We spend quality time with the kids as well as alone with each other every day. In short, we have built the marriage we want out of the ashes of the old one.
There are still struggles of course. I still harbor resentment and anger at times and can face triggers on isolated occasions. She is overcoming a lifetime of conditioning and poor coping skills which is not done overnight. We argue (respectfully of course) on things at times but we communicate our frustrations immediately now instead of letting them fester. I still have some struggles with intimacy as I can get stuck in my head in the moment on occasion, which concerns me, but we make it work.
At the end of the day, we both have taken this nightmare and have turned it into an opportunity to better ourselves and our marriage. To honestly and harshly assess our flaws and shortcomings and dedicate ourselves to either fix them or at least minimize their impact.
I look back on the period before DDay 3 and still have many regrets, from ignoring my gut during the affair to how I handled things after it came to light, but I don’t fault myself. I realize I was doing the best I could with the information I had available, and was making decisions from a place of integrity and hope. While I may have been naive at times, I never betrayed my own values during this process. I always made decisions with the best interests of my family at heart. We still have a long way to go and this is a life long endeavor for improvement, but at this moment I feel content and optimistic with our progress. This is a long, ugly path that can be avoided with emotional intelligence and maturity, but unfortunately some don’t have the self introspection needed to do so. That is where the childhood trauma comes into play in my opinion.

So, for those of you who know my story I have been through a lot during R. Those who don’t can view my post history as I wrote a lot about it.
Back in June of last year I caught WW still in communication with AP. And by communication, I mean I caught her with a hidden camera in our bedroom on a FaceTime masterbating with him while I was staying at a local AirBNB for a golf tournament.
To say I was devastated is an understatement, as it invalidated 6 months of R and put us back to below zero. Looking back, I realize now that I was the only one driving R initially. I was active on subs, reading articles and books, learning everything I could about how to recover from this devastation and keep my family whole. I was also telling WW what I needed from her for R but to her it felt forced. Like I was telling her what needed to be done and when, like being in IC.
She didn’t want to do any of it back then. She was sorry, sure. Sorry for the pain she caused me. Sorry that the kids had to hear us fighting behind closed doors. Sorry that her friends thought less of her. Sorry she got caught. In her mind, she was still blaming me for the affair but knew she couldn’t say it out loud because she couldn’t defend that feeling under scrutiny.
Since DDay 3, I have seen a remarkable shift in my WW. She started IC shortly after and has been dedicated to improving herself as a person. She confessed her actions to our families, some of her friends and one couple that we are close with. She has cut her toxic mother off for long stretches (4 months) and no longer allows her influence on her life and our marriage. This was the big one for me as it was a massive strain on our marriage for its entirety. She has read books to better understand how she could allow herself to self sabotage like this. How she could take everything good in her life for granted and jeopardize it for so little gain. She has evaluated how she interacts with others (men in particular) and established clear boundaries for her behavior. She supports me in my career and helps more with the kids on a day to day basis (also a problem pre-affair). She acknowledges all the things I do for her and our family and expresses appreciation. She reciprocates and shows me how much she respects and values me on a daily basis. She communicates what she is feeling and when she needs more from me in a particular area (also a pre-affair issue). She recognizes AP’s motivations and feels shame for not seeing it sooner.
We have had a few missteps along the way, such as some omissions from the original affair coming to light as well as a coworker acting inappropriately that she didn’t share with me until I found the voicemails and made him call the both of us with his wife on the call also to admit what he was doing (threatened to send the voicemails to HR and blow up his career). While these were serious violations, we have worked through them along with her motivations for keeping them secret. She understands and verbalizes why her motivations were misguided and realizes that therapy has been key in getting her to understand these things.
As of now we are settled back into a comfortable routine, but this time it is more even when it comes to supporting each other. We have made new friendships with others outside of her long standing and somewhat toxic friend group and distanced ourselves from the ones that don’t support us. We have an improved level of intimacy that we are both comfortable with (though I do admit I miss the hysterical bonding 🤣). We focus more on family than before and our children have become much closer with their cousins as a result. We “date” each other often and she drives half of that equation now instead of me having to pursue her as before. We spend quality time with the kids as well as alone with each other every day. In short, we have built the marriage we want out of the ashes of the old one.
There are still struggles of course. I still harbor resentment and anger at times and can face triggers on isolated occasions. She is overcoming a lifetime of conditioning and poor coping skills which is not done overnight. We argue (respectfully of course) on things at times but we communicate our frustrations immediately now instead of letting them fester. I still have some struggles with intimacy as I can get stuck in my head in the moment on occasion, which concerns me, but we make it work.
At the end of the day, we both have taken this nightmare and have turned it into an opportunity to better ourselves and our marriage. To honestly and harshly assess our flaws and shortcomings and dedicate ourselves to either fix them or at least minimize their impact.
I look back on the period before DDay 3 and still have many regrets, from ignoring my gut during the affair to how I handled things after it came to light, but I don’t fault myself. I realize I was doing the best I could with the information I had available, and was making decisions from a place of integrity and hope. While I may have been naive at times, I never betrayed my own values during this process. I always made decisions with the best interests of my family at heart. We still have a long way to go and this is a life long endeavor for improvement, but at this moment I feel content and optimistic with our progress. This is a long, ugly path that can be avoided with emotional intelligence and maturity, but unfortunately some don’t have the self introspection needed to do so. That is where the childhood trauma comes into play in my opinion.

I was just watching yet another video of Indian drivers doing some Fast & Furious type shit on a rainy mountain road and remembered all the videos from India and China where people seem to almost court death in their daily lives. Hanging off the side of trains, not checking on people hit by cars, working in highly dangerous environments, etc.
I'm wondering if there's some unexplored anthropological reason why that may be. Since our instincts of survival and procreation are there to motivate us to pass on our genes, when a person can see that there's an absolutely enormous amount of people around who match his genetic profile pretty closely, do those instincts just kind of take a back seat relatively speaking? Sort of like an aunt who doesn't want children of her own. I also saw a stat somewhere that younger siblings are more likely to turn out gay. Perhaps all of that is nature's way of helping with resource conservation?
Idk, am I completely reaching and this is bro science, or am I onto smth here?

For my son's 6th and 3rd birthdays my sister bought Blippi world tour tickets. $208 for all 4 of us to go. My 6 year old looked like this 😐 the whole time. And the 2 year old started asking to watch a phone and go home after 30 minutes. We stayed until intermission, and then finally left when Blippi walked off stage. Am I the asshole for not staying the whole show, and ultimately wasting my brother in laws money?

I'm gonna give a little ⚠️content warning⚠️ here as this experience involves violence that resulted in deep rooted trauma for me.
Hi! I'm new to the reddit community but definitely not new to Charlotte's channel. As soon as I heard her mention this subreddit I RAN🏃🏻‍♀️ to download the app because I love sharing the wild sh*t that has happened in my life! Let's start with an oldie but a goodie because I got an invite to my 10 year high school reunion recently.
I grew up and attended high school in the Appalachian mountain area. There was still, of course, cliques like there are in any public school. I never really claimed to be part of a specific "clique" though. My style was "dress as punk as my Christian mother will allow me to" whereas the most popular style was Justin boots and Carhartt jackets at the time. Anyway, we would sometimes get out of our last class early if there was an "in-school" basketball game scheduled. My best friend at the time met up with me after class so we could sit at one of these basketball games together. We were sharing earbuds, listening to her iPod, when I was tapped on my shoulder by a girl standing behind me. I recognized her because we had classes together in the past but we were never close. We'll call her Becka I guess.
Becka proceeds to ask me why I was "talkin' sht" about her? I tell her that I had no reason to do that because I barely knew her, which was the truth. She walks away from me and my friend and goes back down the bleachers to talk with her group of friends. While it is a small town, I didn't even know this girl's friends well enough to be "talkin' sht" to them about her. Becka approaches me a second time to say "I KNOW for a fact now that you've been talkin' sh*t about me so why are you lyin'?" At this point I was annoyed, so I rolled my eyes and gave her the same response. Before she could say anything else I put my headphone back in to ignore her. I then watch her buzz all around the bleachers talking to everyone and not so subtly gesturing toward me.
BECKA APPROACHES ME A THIRD TIME. She sits one step above me in the bleachers to lean down and smack my foot that was propped in the seat in order to get my attention. I take out the headphone once more to ask what the f*ck she wanted, because at this point I didn't think she would escelate the situation any further. "My friends literally told me that they heard you talkin' shit so why even still lie about it?!" she asked. As soon as I turned my body away from her, she saw her chance and she took it like a cheap shot at the local pub. She pulled my head back by my hair and started hitting my face repeatedly. I had never been in a fight before in my life, so I was stunned to say the least. We later found out that not only were my glasses broken, but my nose was fractured and my tooth was chipped. My mother, infuriated, dealt with the matter legally as we didn't have the extra money to fix these things ourselves.
For those wondering where my "best friend" was during all of this, she was right there equally as stunned. I don't blame her for not jumping in to help me, but I blame every single student in that gymnasium who witnessed a girl being attacked by another girl, and chose to pull out their cell phones to video the incident rather than getting an adult involved. LITERALLY. ANY. ADULT. The whole student body and faculty were there. I made it all the way out of the gym into the commons area before a teacher seen my bleeding face and followed me to the bathroom to demand I explain what happened. I held it together until I got into the bathroom so no one would see me crying out of pure embarrassment and anger. I appreciate that this teacher was doing her job to the best of her ability by taking me to the front office to speak with the principal, but that only resulted in Becka getting suspended for a few days.
As soon as she was back in the hallways, she had convinced her whole group of friends to bark the word "snitch" at me every time they saw me. THAT is bullying. Being violently attacked is FAR WORSE than bullying. I say this because I saw a post in our 10yr Reunion event page that made me absolutely cackle. It reads:
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I’m aware there are people with mixed feelings about having our high school reunion. I’m fully aware some don’t want to show up because they don’t want to face people that bullied them in high school. I understand that completely. That is your choice you’re allowed to make. However, with that being said we are all grown adults now. Each and every one of us was also bullied in our own way. No it’s not okay. No it’s not acceptable. We all regret things in life when it’s too late. This is a chance to possibly get that apology you’ve always wanted. This is a chance to really get to know the adult version of our high school self. We’ve all changed in so many ways!! I’m proud of each and every one of you guys!"
I didn't expect anyone to acknowledge my specific situation in that post. Honestly, no one may even remember it because it wasn't them being traumatized in that moment. Anyway, I'm choosing not to attend because I've thought of every possible conversation I could have at this event, and none of them sound appealing to me in the slightest. If anyone wanted to befriend me after high school or see what I'm doing with my life, they could easily do that through their phone screen as I'm very present on most social media.
To conclude, I'm not sure if you'd classify this as petty revenge or just life taking a horrible turn, but I was told that Becka now enjoys doing dr*gs in her free time (meth to be exact)! I'm going to refrain from saying anything else about that because I personally feel yucky joking about addiction as I have two family members struggling with it themselves. Anyway, thanks for letting me dump my tea here!☕

I started seeing this girl a couple of months ago. We met while I was on orders with the Army Reserves. We matched on Hinge and just got to talking while I wasn’t working. She’s funny and so well spoken, I really didn’t expect to meet someone like her. My intentions were to go on a single date, have a fun evening, and move on with my life. I lived over 500 miles from the area, so a relationship didn’t seem all that realistic.
Fast forward a week from us matching, and we went on our date. I remember seeing her get out of her car, she was a little shy and nervous, I was too. We spent so much time talking over text that we built the other person up so much in our heads. Neither one of us wanted to mess it up. Admittedly, the dinner was a bit awkward, we already did all the small talk through the week prior. Luckily, our server was a little more awkward than us, and it was a launching pad for us to talk about something. We laughed, told each other a bit more about ourselves, and had an amazing evening. I remember the feeling I had, this warm sensation in my chest, like everything was okay. On our way back to her apartment, I knew I had to tell her the truth. I didn’t want to just have one night with her and let it be a memory of my youth. When we parked, I took a deep breath, and told her everything. How I wasn’t a local, how I travel for military work, and I told her I’ve been in a long term divorce.
It was a lot to throw at someone after a first date. She had me elaborate more on certain topics, and I understood where she was coming from. At the end of it, she told me she needed to think. I told her to have a goodnight, and to do whatever is going to be healthy for her. Ultimately, I want what’s best for her, but I’d like to be that good thing for her.
To my surprise, she asked me to see her the next day, and the day after, and so on. I had roughly a week with her before I left for home. And while I was scared at first that she was just going to put me down gently, it didn’t take long for me to understand she did have interest in me. We kept texting, called a few times in between, and things were good. I still came up to the area fairly regularly for work. So anytime I did I made sure to make time for her. Any moment that wasn’t on the clock I dedicated to her. I started to have feelings for her so fast. It felt like she did for me too. She’s the first person I met since my ex wife that made me feel like I could be fine with any situation life threw at me, as long she was by my side.
We started making plans, going camping, maybe see some concerts, meet my family. Just the regular couple’s thing. Last week, I came up for work. The weekend with her was great. We ate good food, went to a light festival, laughed, and just enjoyed each other. But when I left, something felt wrong.
First and foremost, when we went to the light festival I met her best friend for the first time. At the time I was tired and irritated from work. I didn’t put the best foot forward. I did reach out to her to apologize. If she ever saw that apology, I don’t know. I told my s/o I probably just needed to eat. Finding food was a whole ordeal. Long story short, the lines were incredibly long and I didn’t want to waste my evening waiting for over priced mediocre food. I told her I don’t want to be at the light festival and I’d rather be home, but I know she wanted to come to this and be with her friend. With that in mind, I don’t want to wait for the food and rather do what we paid to do. After that, she got quiet for a bit. After some time passed she was a bit more lively and it felt normal again. Until I got to her apartment. I went and got food after we were done and she was already in bed. I figured she was just tired, but looking back at it maybe she just didn’t want to talk to me.
The next day we got to her apartment around the same time. Her sister borrowed her car so we were waiting on her to bring it back. I got to meet her and her husband. Mostly spoke with the husband, we got along fine. We’re both military so we had an easy topic to relate to. My s/o mostly stayed on the couch. She looked exhausted and she just wanted to get food. Eventually they left and we went to one of her favorite restaurants. We brought it home, watched tv, and had a romantic evening in.
The next day, we woke up together, got ready, had some breakfast, and I left to get home. When I was leaving something felt off. Like I could feel that she had something on her mind. I asked her if she was okay and she assured me that she was. But since I got home the text started getting shorter and further apart from each other. I know she was a bit scared starting a relationship with me. I’m a little bit older than her and she’s a bit scared of commitment. I told her I’d meet her needs as much as I can and she can always ask for space from me. But this last week she’s lost motivation for her hobbies and hasn’t been going out as much as she use to. I talked to her a little but I didn’t want to pressure her to talk unless she wanted to. Sometimes I feel like that was the wrong decision, I don’t want her to feel like I wasn’t interested in checking on her well being. But I also know some people don’t want to talk about it unless it’s on their terms.
No fights, no disagreements, but just a feeling of distance. More than just the physical aspect of it. I don’t expect her to talk to me 24/7, but it just felt off. I grew concerned I did something wrong. I know she wants to go a bit slower and I’m trying my best to do so for her, but I’m head over heels for this girl. Today, she said she wanted to talk. We haven’t had the conversation yet, but I’m scared. Maybe I’m just over thinking, but I don’t want to think about the possibility that I pushed her away by smothering her.
So now we wait, chest tight from the anxiety. In trying my best to calm myself, but fuck man, I really like this girl. I hope I’m just over analyzing a situation, and that everything is okay.

[ [FIRST] [NEXT>]

Season 10 “Days of Fury” - Episode 2 “Visiting Omen”

He had hoped for a boring day. Boring days are good at work, and Santos was already expecting to not have many of them for a while.
The first couple of days were boring, as usual- Blackriver is a small town, and the worst that had happened was Nila and Kessa making a few wellness checks after worried calls from neighbors. A couple of people in denial, a few ashamed at their own violent outbursts and a stern warning to Tamm about painting others’ properties without asking first.
This morning, however, began with an all-hands meeting. There were no meeting rooms in the office, so they made do in the general workspace room, they all stood there at the center while Keya looked them over.
“We have received a report from a neighboring city about a convoy of protestors making its way to Blackriver” she describes without tone. At this point nobody bothers interrupting.
“This convoy is comprised of approximately four hundred and seventy eight individuals of multiple species, primarily human and venlil but with operationally relevant representations of the entire spectrum of size and mobility types” her paws are behind her back, her ears focused directly ahead, her eyes centered to keep the entire team on the core of her focus “They have crossed multiple cities already, generally engaging in verbal sparring with any figure of authority, parading signs and banners denouncing all manners of authorities as well as occasionally engaging in physical altercations with officers.”
“They are also known to engage in vandalism. Though primarily aimed at exterminator and police precincts as well as public offices, they have already caused considerable collateral to others they have identified as ‘collaborators’” there’s a single heartbeat of waiting for breath before she continues “They have, however, not shown to be an incredibly organized group or one with a clear goal and objective. The convoy appears to contain only extremely emotionally charged people with no clear overarching goal.”
“We are incapable of dealing with the situation should they turn aggressive, as such we will be simply maintaining watch and relocating the populace should they become a problem.” Then, she picks up her holopad and passes it to Lunek beside her “They can only follow one path with the entire convoy, the central street, therefore I have divided it into four sectors. One of each will be assigned to a sector.”
First her ears turn to the first target “Lunek, sector one at the entrance. As the most approachable member of the precinct your task is to give an initial image of harmlessness. Do not engage first, do not take initiative against them. Ensure the members of the herd in the area are warned of their approach. If they become aggressive, retreat and focus on the escape of the herd.”
She tilts her head a little bit, turning her ears the other way “Marik, sector two. Mostly the commercial area, your task is ostensive protection to lower the chances of them initiating aggression. Whereas protection of the herd is first priority your second priority is ensuring Tenve’s Hardware Store as well as Sunbreeze Meals and Watchful Café remain capable of providing anyone whose residences become damaged.” suddenly, she turns her head entirely to face Marik “Ostensive protection means dissuasion, ensure that they know they are not under threat and as long as those specific areas are not engaged, do not provoke”
Next in her line of fire is Santos “As our human officer you will be in sector three, nearby the precinct. They are liable to become most agitated in this area and your presence may serve to calm them. You are not to engage, if deemed necessary the precinct’s materials are considered expendable, do not attempt to stop them”
“Sector four, the exit of town, will be with me to ensure that they have fully left Blackriver and will not attempt to turn back” then she tilts her ears again “Aren, you will gear up with a CCG and remain out of view range, your task will be quick emergency response should the need arise.” she then points her tail at the last three officers “Vess, your task will be to inform the herd and ensure a clear path for the convoy while Nila and Kessa will gather all of our medical supplies and set a staging area out of the convoy’s range. Organize ambulance assistance from Striped Hill and Everrain”
Then, she turns her ears around to focus each one in turn “As any attempt at aggression will end only in negative consequences, and in order to reduce the apparent levels of threat you will be unarmed. The estimated time of arrival is a third of a claw, ready yourselves and be at your post in time. Dismissed.”
“Not sure if I like or I don’t that we had the cold bastard right now” Aren says, as soon as Keya had left the room “Maybe we should move in closer when the convoy gets to sector four?”
“Probably a good idea to be nearby” Santos adds with a sigh “They might take umbrage with her demeanor, hopefully they won’t be set off too hard.”
And with silent signs of agreement all of the officers of Blackriver depart for preparations. The first ones to leave the precinct are the ones in charge of support, the two girls set off early to find someone willing to permit usage of their lawn as a possible impromptu field hospital and a little while later Aren leaves with a heavy CCG.
Slowly, the clock ticks to the appointed claw… And soon enough, Lunek can see in the distance the incoming omen of people. At first a distant line in the horizon, slowly the dark mark on the road coalesces into distinct shapes, the shapes of hundreds of vehicles slowly rolling down the road.
When the first few get close to the initial buildings of the main street, the entire convoy slows down. Their process of preparation is seemingly laborious, each vehicle houses multiple people at a time, smaller cars full to the brim, flatbeds with more people on their cargo space than can safely be contained, even buses conscripted for the effort. They carry with them signs, flags, a multitude of symbols as they dismount their vehicles and start spreading out to fill the street.
They seem to naturally form two distinct yet highly mixed groups, at its most distinctive is the pack of humans who keep a good distance from each other. But they are not alone in this group as takkan, mazic, yotul, zurulian and even drilvar form this central group. But flowing around them, not avoiding their presence but never infringing in their space is the grey mass of venlil, packed tight together, and mixed in there adding color to the monochromatic flux are krakotl, tilfish, sulean, iftali, sivkit and even a seemingly very confused duerten.
And at the very core of the moving group are their vehicles, which gently start rolling forward again as the group starts moving. Lunek simply waits, silently, by the side of the road, his ears attentively swiveling from one side to the other, expression having given way to function. Before the first of the convoy even arrives close he turns to the side, making a pointing sign with his tail. A woman who had been watching from her yard flicks her right ear and runs back inside.
He continues to wait, scanning around at all times for the presence of… Anything. The street is empty of locals when the first visitors start to alight. The convoy is loud, their symbols carry a loudness of colors and their vehicles make as much noise as they can to draw attention, but those who walk seem content in allowing their tools to speak for them, for now. Lunek tries to make sense of the banners and signs, but the messages are disparate as the group- Some speak of injustices against their people, some speak of anger at invaders, some speak of betrayal.
“Fuck off, fireman!” comes the harsh bark of a human, causing Lunek to flinch. But flinch is all he does, he simply starts walking alongside the moving convoy.
The exterminator’s attention is drawn to the details of the few people he can distinguish amongst the mass. Something tickles at his pattern-recognition but he cannot quite ascertain what for a while, until a lightly limping mazic makes her way to the edge of the mass “Want to finish the job?!” she trumpets, her form towering over his.
“I’m just observing, ma’am.” Though the tremor of his voice is noticeable, he remains stoic. But her proximity makes him notice something about her body, marks in her wrists, neck and feet. Though mazic have powerful wrists and knuckles upon which they support the front half of their weight, her left wrist seems completely incapable of it, giving her a limp particular to a three-point walk. “To make sure there’s no impediment on your path” he notices the leathery skin around her left wrist is deeply blackened.
“Oh, ‘no impediment’ is that it? So everyone that lives here is an impediment?!” her voice booms.
“Ma’am” still, he does not yield nor does he break his pace following the convoy “We have not done anything other than inform our people of your presence…” for a half second all he hears is the sound of his own heart “We can’t do anything else.”
Those words, then, sealed his fate. The first shout to echo in his direction was a yotul howling “Yeah you’re useless!” and soon the avalanche came in multiple voices and languages “Can’t do shit!” “You’re just here to hurt people!” “Useless crap!” “Idiot!” and many more.
With every step and twitch the very average exterminator puts all of his focus on just being there. He lets himself cower a little bit, against the barrage it is difficult not to, but he continues to accompany. A few curious coats step out from their houses to watch, but the front of the convoy seems far too focused on the sole exterminator in view to bother anyone else.
A few steps ahead, an older venlil with a cane has moved the closest to the convoy as any watcher has up to now. Seeing her proximity to the increasingly rowdy crowd causes Lunek to speed up, quickly approaching her “Leva-”
But his words are stalled when she puts a paw on his shoulder, she gently puts her head against his for just a second “You’re doing good pup, keep at it” she mutters to him before breaking contact and turning around to walk back inside. He can spy her grandchildren looking on through the door. Lunek looks back at the still-shouting moving convoy, takes a deep breath, and continues to accompany them forward. A small pawful of them, however, seem to have fallen silent.
Once having reached the limit of his assigned zone, however, Lunek stops. He watches the convoy move forward, past the houses, now noisier than before. The initial hollering at him had turned into disjointed screams at some indistinct foe- Though the herd had been noticed of a foe, it was yet unaware of who, or what, said foe was. So for now it howled at the ineptitude of… Someone. And as the last of the convoy passes beyond the imaginary line of his duty, Lunek lets out a deep sigh and allows himself to sit down on the ground.
He stays there for a moment, without thought, simply letting the tension, confusion and fear permeate his body until a gentle paw touches his arm. He doesn’t need to look to identify it, he lets his lover use her strength to prop him up, raising him to his feet “Keina you shouldn’t-”
“Neighbor’s looking over Tiss” his wife wraps her arms and tail around him “I’m not leaving you alone.” she stays like that for a second, before breaking off “Do you need to go after them?”
“No”
Marik stalks through the sidewalk, moving with energy. His speed outpaces the movement of the convoy, his paws twitch to grasp at something that isn’t there and a deep and intense motion makes his short fur stand on end. He had let the convoy’s head move in front of him, simply standing still as he assessed as many as he could in the mass, and now he had begun to move towards the front again.
As he stalked forward he focused his sight on every member of the convoy that seemed of interest. A human whose clothes seemed suspiciously loose, a venlil whose movements were far too stiff, a gojid who kept his claws behind his back. He stared at each like they were his quarry, analyzing every piece of movement they made for threats, and yet aside from the challenge in the human’s gaze he saw no danger arise.
Tenve had closed his shop, so as the convoy moved forward Marik simply continued to follow along, scanning the crowd for threats. But the next point of interest arrives, and he rushes ahead placing himself in front of the only restaurant of the town. Sunbreeze Meals wasn’t a very common sort of restaurant, Blackriver did not have enough visitors for a normal restaurant to be profitable and was small enough most people had their meals at home, it most often served takeout for those farmers who’d spend so long in the field they would return home without the energy to feed themselves.
Sparing a look inside at the only five tables, Marik couldn’t keep a small thought away from his mind. How most who got their meals from Sunbreeze these days did so because they enjoyed the cooking rather than their need of work, ever since the sunspeck population has been brought under control and the maintenance of the fields had become much smaller. He feels the presence long before he can recognize what led him to feel it and turns to stare at a group of six that approach the entrance: Two humans, a tilfish, two gojids and a takkan had broken off from the convoy and approached the restaurant.
He traces his color band over each in turn, and they all bristle at his stare. One of the humans hesitates before continuing to walk inside, and Marik simply remains by the door with his arms crossed, left ear twisted as far back as he could to listen to the inside.
“What have you got here?”
“W-we mostly ha-have ready ma-made meals to go or- or- Or you can look over the menu”
“There’s no need to stutter, y’know”
“So-sorry-”
“Really, after everything y’all are still with this predator crap?”
The chimes on the door echo for the second time in sequence as Marik makes his way inside. The tilfish had started to lean over the counter while the other five had arrayed themselves behind her. They all turn their attention to him as he enters, including the venlil manning the counter. Marik keeps his gaze directly on the tilfish for a few uncomfortable seconds, before looking at the man behind the counter and making a simple sign with his tail, a short vertical bob with the tip and a slow horizontal swipe. It’s meaning simple: >Safe<.
After a few seconds someone else appears from the kitchen. The tall venlil carries a large stack of plastic boxes in his arms, all of them seemingly designed to attach to themselves so as to be carried with ease. He puts them down with a resounding crash on the counter, and opens up his voice with ice “Farmer’s Pots, good meal when you’re working and can’t go home.” With each word the owner of the restaurant and main cook comes closer and closer to the tilfish, until the last “Ten credits each.”
Nobody moves for a couple of seconds, and then one of the humans steps closer and brings a holopad over to the credit reader. There’s a noise indicating payment, and then the owner raises his head and tilts it to focus his favored eye and both of his ears at the man who paid “Now,” he shifts register in his voice and the language he speaks in “fuck off” he finishes.
With no small amount of surprise the group of six retrieve the stack of packaged meals, carefully walking out and back into the convoy. Marik stays behind for a moment “Didn’t know you spoke human”
“Pup’s enamored with their languages. Of course, first greek words he learns is swearing.”
Outside, Marik stalks further ahead to the next point of interest. He moves faster than the convoy, and has time to move in front of it. For a few meters the street is still clear as he arrives to find a group of people standing in front of the Watchful. Standing there were all of its employees, and even all of its regulars, twenty people total standing there as if they were having the most normal day. If not for their raised ears tracking every noise coming from down the street and their swaying tails swinging about like angry beasts.
One of them simply points his tail at the other side of the street as Marik comes closer, and the hunter doesn’t need a second command to understand the meaning. They have this, he has a less practical but just as important duty. He crosses the street quickly before the convoy starts coming closer, and heads towards the park.
As the regulars of the Watchful had feared, it took little time until a large group had broken off from the convoy. With the town on alert about the convoy they had found themselves bereft of prey and now this group had set out to find some, anyone who might be willing, or not, to listen to their grievances. And what is clearly a place designed for people to congregate looked most appetizing.
Marik shadowed the group as they moved through the park, but they were accompanied by nothing but silence. It wasn’t until they ran into the centerpiece of the park that he took initiative, stepping ahead of the group and simply… Standing there a distance away from the tree of many scions, between it and the group.
“What’s so important over there, fireman?” it was a venlil who asked, but his usage of an english word was not lost on Marik.
“A place you will respect” the exterminator has his arms crossed, the one good portion of his gaze set on the man who asked “This is a grave.”
Though the group that now prowled was large, those who heard were taken aback. One such, however, approaches closer. He was a venlil whose fur shifted between a soft, brownish color and a dirty white “A tradition of the tenets right? One of those family trees?” The man would have been distinctive in any other group due to his missing patches of fur around neck, wrists, even portions around his head. But such signs of long term damage were common in the convoy.
Interest. They had shown true interest, or at least one of them had. “No, but similar… The forgotten tree is a grave for the forgotten.” He felt like these people, at least the ones before him, could probably understand the meaning of this place “It is of no tradition. Someone, a long time ago, wanted to honor someone who was gone but whose name was not meant to be remembered. Someone who had disappeared in the system… So they borrowed on another’s tradition, and added a scion to this tree, with something in their memory. Others have done so similarly, until it became… A grave for the forgotten”
“Didn’t think you’d be worried about this kind of place” it’s a human that speaks up this time
“Our duty is to protect this town, what you think-” but Marik’s words are interrupted by that same venlil who had asked before. His demeanor suddenly shifts, his ears perk up and his entire body shifts forward for a moment. He hesitates, for a second everyone’s focus is on him, and then he runs towards the tree.
Marik follows behind, stopping just by the man’s side as he finds himself at the base of the tree. The man makes a direct line to somewhere, something he had found from the distance, as if it had called him. He finds a thick and heavy branch that had been bent down by the weight of its scions and memories, near its base and speaking of a memory left behind long ago is a braid of fur made of three colors, a dirty white, a soft brown and a dark grey, bound by the braids are two beads.
The man raises up a paw, but does not touch it. As if cradling it, he recites the words engraved in one of the beads “I will cross every star to return home” others have come closer to listen to the man’s hoarse voice “There will always be a home for you” he reads of the second one. The names on the beads have been scratched out. The man falls on his knees “S-she kept her promise and… I couldn’t keep mine…”
Marik steps back as he watches two others come closer to comfort the man. He looks as a few others approach with more caution, looking up at the tree with a bit more reverence than they had before. Then, he turns around and starts heading back towards the main street.
Gazing out as the convoy gains a new flux, some leave it as it passes to move towards the park while others leave the park to rejoin the convoy, Marik simply stays there at the side of the street looking as stern as he could. Though the noise of the convoy remains great, here in this portion it seems to die down a little. A thought crosses his mind as he turns an ear as far back as he can, a thought he can’t help but voice “I wonder how many are looking at their own graves…”
As the convoy progresses, Santos simply stands by the front of the precinct, hands in his pockets. He watches the convoy arrive, heart beating fast, constrained hands the only reason he hasn't started shaking quite yet. He starts tapping his right foot as he watches the first few people cross by without noticing what this place is yet, everyone knows where the precinct is, so aside from the words printed on the sign by the entrance there is no other marker of what this building’s purpose might be.
Of course, it is impossible for nobody to notice. The entire convoy seems to stop as soon as a zurulian riding on the shoulders of a human points a claw at the building and says something. A large group breaks away at the command, all of them holding disparate signs and messages. They turn on the building with enough roars that whatever they are attempting to transmit is lost on him.
Santos is thankful his hearing isn’t nearly as good as his coworkers’, as the cacophony is already overwhelming him. He changes stances slightly, taking his hands out of his pockets and crossing his arms. This prompts a small group to turn their looks at him, the focus easily identifiable with the humans in their midst, focus which made the hair in the back of Santos’ neck stand on end. Living in this place had refined his sense of danger, but he didn’t need that to realize what could happen.
It was a group of five that approached, four humans and a venlil. “Didn’t think they’d be letting humans live out here in the boonies” said one of his kin.
Santos just shrugs “Got hired to work here. Honestly, rural folk get a needlessly bad reputation, most of the time they just don’t care as long as you’re not bothering them”
“Really? In my-”
Santos interrupts the man “Cut it out” there are many ways in which humans make themselves obvious, many of which are their eyes. Santos did understand the fear of them and why it was primal, it was not the fear of the eyes but the fear of attention, it was knowing you were under the scrutiny and judgment of another that set off that emotion. It was rarely the eyes that showed this attention for most species, but for humans it was, and the man’s clear gaze on his badge made the entire situation clear to him “Stop beating around the bush and say it already.”
Someone else is who speaks. The tall woman starts not with words, however, but by spitting on Santos’ uniform “You fucking traitor” her voice is both fierce and cold at the same time. A very emotional coldness.
“There we go” he sighs “Just… Move on. We’re not getting anything out of this conversation”
“Why?” It was the venlil in the group that started this time “These people hate you, they hate you for what you are! Why do you work for them?!”
Santos rubs his eyes and sighs “Because someone has to. Change only happens when you make it happen, simple as that”
“Change?!” another one of the humans howls “Do you think those people can change?! You know the truth, those fuckers have never done anything good!”
“You know, if you had read your history books…” Santos stares at the one who had just had their outburst “You’d remember that we once thought the very same about the police” there’s the sound of glass breaking, but he doesn’t reaction “And a lot of us still do”
The human staring him down shifts their gaze slightly at the broken window of the precinct, then back at Santos “A broken window is easy to fix” he shrugs “As I was saying. Same shit.” he crosses his arms again “There’s a role those people play, a role that needs to be played because it’s important. Different name, different problems, still the same shit. Gotta fix this, I’m doing my part” he then stares at the venlil in the group “You do yours. Simple as that.”
“Role?!” the venlil of the group steps closer “What role could they possibly have?! They only exist to hurt people!”
Santos steps back, and raises his eyes a little bit. Of course, the classics had shown themselves in this instance. With as many humans as there are in the crowd there were now quite a few objects in the air, most clearly aimed at the precinct behind him. Though given the failed arc of some of them it was clearly not just the humans indulging in such a tried and true method.
“I used to be a wildlife preserve ranger” Santos then focuses his gaze on the aggravated venlil “This is a frontier town, if you walk in the brushes with shorts you’ll walk out with your ankles numb. The athai out there are rather harmless, but they keep the sunspecks under control.” He takes another step back “Since coming here I’ve been pest control, had to catch an exotic animal set loose, investigated a murder, helped stop a child from taking her own life, stopped large scale fights, helped a dozen people avoid being arrested for self defense and helped break a fucking siege”
Santos cracks his knuckles “There’s roles. Jobs that need done and there is one fucking organization doing it all. That is a problem.” Then, he sighs and takes a few more steps to the side, offering indifference from this point on “There’s nothing I can say that would make you calm down.” he says one final time “Just make sure not to injure yourselves in the process, alright?” His words seemed to be enough to make the small group cease trying to interact, as the convoy had begun moving again. Though the one human who had called him a traitor gets one final parting shot at the precinct “Where the hell did you get an egg in this planet…” Santos says with a raised eyebrow as the projectile impacts the front door.
Keya stands by a large sign, the same one that welcomes you into Blackriver on one side and sees you out at the other, the official limit of the town. Her arms behind her back, her attention directly towards the front of the convoy as they march. Something gains the whole of her attention, the car in the front. Someone draws her focus, a human with a megaphone on top of the car. The man shouts words of encouragement at the people behind him with the megaphone before turning to his holopad, then he bends over downwards to discuss something with the driver.
She simply remains there, waiting for the convoy to pass. But instead of moving on out of the city, here the convoy stops completely. Keya observes as the further end of the convoy starts to slowly compact upon itself, and her ears pick up something “Alright everyone, start getting ready, next town over is more than a claw away, make sure you’ve left nothing behind” the words were not meant for her, nor for anyone too far. They come from the same man she had seen standing on top of the car, but he had now climbed down and was talking with a group of multiple species.
It is clear they have some degree of leadership, though the convoy does not stop cleanly nor does it begin to organize with alacrity they do respond to the group’s organization. So Keya keeps her focus on them as they point, wave and talk between themselves, others and devices. But at least one of them has noticed her attention, a gangly and light-skinned human with fire-red hair, the man that was atop the car. He starts walking in her direction, before turning around for one final set of commands as he walks backwards “And make sure the guys at the back got all the crap! We’re here to be heard, not to trash the city!” he says before turning back again to head towards her. A venlil with pure white fur erupts from inside the car he was riding, quickly dashing to his side as they notice where he was going.
In a few moments both have come up to her, the human looking down at her with the venlil bristles at his side “Saw anything interesting, fireman?”
“What are you doing here?”
“What? Isn’t it obvious?!” it was the venlil that roared a response “You saw all of it! You know what they’ve done to us! What they’ve done to everyone! And you still work for those brahking monsters! It’s like you’re thankful they made you a cripple!”
The human puts a hand on the venlil’s shoulder, calming her demeanor just a little bit “We’re here because honestly, we’re all too tired of being fucking ignored is what. So what the fuck are you gonna do?!”
“I have put the wrong emphasis” Keya says with her lack of tone. She can see the human shiver just a little bit “My task is to ensure the safety of this town. Your convoy is a danger. We have eight field-capable officers, we cannot ensure the safety of the residents against a group like yours. People will take actions for reasons, you have broadcast your reasons clearly. You have chosen this place for a reason which I cannot ascertain.”
She makes sure her ears are trained towards both the human and the venlil, an action which causes the venlil to cower behind her partner “We do not house government agencies. This is a farming town of little note. The local precinct is a simple precinct, we have no regulatory or command authority. The town population is approximately double that of the number of your convoy. We have no individuals of appreciable social or political reach. There is nothing in Blackriver of interest to people attempting to change government policy, nor have there been actions taken here that I can identify as being cause for retaliatory actions within the context of your message.”
“I must ensure this does not happen again and the only way of doing so is minimizing our attractivity as targets. A logical assumption of your choice of quarry would be a town with the presence of politicians, a large city with constant news coverage, cities housing important government agencies or those containing the Regional Firebases”
“So I ask again. What are you doing here?”
The two remain silent for a few seconds, before the human turns around with a mouth noise “Whatever, I don’t need to explain myself to someone that won’t listen. Come on!” he starts to stalk back towards the car, but stops once he notices his venlil companion wasn’t moving.
The snow-white venlil has their focus on Keya, who offers a simple low forward swipe of her tail, a sign to proceed. Still, the venlil seems frozen in place until the human comes back and grabs hold of their paw with a gentle touch. At which point both finally return to the convoy.
Keya remains at the side of the road, watching as the convoy readies itself again to leave. People get back inside cars, they hop on the back of trucks and load themselves into buses. She continues to watch as the convoy takes its time riding out, making their way out of the town.
Once it is finally gone, multiple footsteps sound behind her. When she turns around she meets her officers, having returned from their assigned positions “They have left. I expect your reports of what happened in each sector by the end of your shifts” she states plainly, before looking at Santos “They did not appear to have a specific reason for targeting Blackriver.” The question remains unspoken.
The human officer just shrugs “Sometimes, you don’t know what you’re doing. We’re just a little town, I doubt they even know what exactly they’re angry about.” He looks at the tail end of the convoy as it leaves “Town was probably just a place they felt safe going to.”
“D-do you think we might get more like that” Lunek says, at the back of the group.
“Who knows…” Santos sighs “But if human history applies anywhere here… This is just a sign of worse things to come”
[ [FIRST] [NEXT>]
And thus the omen passes by. Feelings, emotions of all sorts, without a plan or a reason other than just their own rage and distress.
Did any of these even know what they were doing? And how much worse can it be when they do?

why is it so hard to make friends?
m19 here from (still in) maryland, and lately i've realized how lonely I am, lmao. I have my hobbies and stuff but yet, I'm so lonely, i have one friend, who's been my friend since middle school, he's my bro. but i realized i legit have no friends..or a friend like me, here's some points I've seen/made 👇🏾
° fake people: there's too many fake people in the world today, worried about “worldly” bull crap or something stupid, wanting to be in drama, coming to you, then completely ignoring you or ghosting, I find it fake, sorta bummy and immature. people don't know the definition of a “friendship” or a “very close bond” like i'm gonna stick beside you no matter what, people don't seem to get that, then play victim when you call them out. people will use you, talk poorly of you, do all things wrong, i can't stand that. which is why i enjoy being more of a loner..i hate fake friends and i am not no fake friend, im sorta clingy
° people have weird interests/and are boring: this is, i guess controversial, tough one? but people have their interests but i've met some people (school/outside) that's into some weird crap, pronouns for one, i dislike folk whose interests are gender crap, not much into anime honestly, i do love harry potter though. i find a lot of people boring and never knowing how to have a conversation, never wanna be like “come over and chill, or let's watch a horror film” or anything like that, i've always wanted a male friend to explore stuff with, let's ride our skateboards around and learn tricks/let's ride through the night, i'd love to explore abandoned places honestly, guess i'm more of an that “emo boy that's always up to something”. i also love a childish person, stupid jokes/pranks are always the best, where's the trustworthy people who'd wanna skate all night and go to a pizza joint and chill at each other places all night watching horror films, (and i love horror. anyone seen the movie terrifer? the conjuring? house of 1000 corpses? lords of salem!!) talking about whatever, even deep conversations all night with pizza. play video games with me if you'd want, im a console player, i enjoy my xbox, we can facetime and play stupid stuff or id come to you and chill. who still plays minecraft lmao, im a huge lover of the grunge, skateboard theme, nighttime themed things, yeah i'm a slytherin 🐍. i can't find people like that. also, any other song writers out there? i love making my own music, rock is dope but it depends on the rock..
° bad places and everyone is untrustworthy/ghetto: i grew up in the hood, not to be prideful but it's sorta easy to see through people and know when stupid crap is going down. it's hard finding friends like you in the area you live in. this goes along with fake friends cause people are fake, users, and ghetto af. like what the hell? i mean like dude, if I'm your friend, i mean that, im not gonna use you for money or betray you for some chick or whoever. people don't seem to get that. i also find it stupid how guys, other males are such simps for women and will completely throw you under the bus for a woman, women do the same with men, it's fake af.
° i hate people/large crowds/groups: this i feel like a lot of people can relate to. i absolutely hate people and not on a “woke" level, but on a “people do too much” level, yes people do too much and they always deny that they're doing too much. i hate big groups, because they always fall, which is a heartbreaker dude..it can be 4 of us, then 3, then 2, then none. i've always prefered a group of 3 or just one guy and myself. this gonna sound weird but i've always wanted a male friend, a guys guy really. i don't really go to skate parks, cause it's usually to many people, doing the most per usual, like there's one by the baltimore harbor, i'd rather go at night due to the amount of people there during the day. it sounds cheesy but i hate people. i really do.
° no one has my interest: this is the same as people having weird interests, but this is true. no one has the same interest as me, and i hear that people with the same interest are the ones that argue a lot, fall apart quickly, or just can't get along, i don't know how true that is entirely. but that's where the communication falls in, talk to me man. if there's an issue, open your mouth! don't be a pussy and keep it to yourself and talk poorly of me and hate me. that's not right, it's wack and lame af. people who do that really need to get themselves in check. like again, i love horror, i love the hell out of horror, its all I watch, anyone here watch mr.nightmare ? on youtube, also people enjoy stupid stuff and stay indoors to much. i get it, being in your space in your smelly room is cool and all, it's america, we hate it here, but personally i think there so much more, like I said I love night time stuff, abandoned houses/churches/stores, etc, i'm always down for it all, guess it's my emo horror obsession haha. anyone want to work and save up money together? where's the people like that who wouldn't steal your money, and dip off, like we save and use it for stuff like pizza, new skateboards, deep woods campfires and outings man. spending the night at each other's place, sneaking into spots! and one thing, building each other up, im the type to help you out, if you feel bad or something, let me know and id help, I know depression runs through a lot of people, and if I had that friend that in looking for in gonna be there, no matter what. that's just the kinda person I am, not satanic lol, just..emo? or grunge? i don't know..
° no one is loyal/have bad families/too sensitive: this is a tough one but im just gonna say it. people aways hated that I have no filter, not that I have a nasty mouth and I always have to put my opinion in stuff, i'm more so very quiet. i also have a dark sense of humor, im black, so i definitely do say racial jokes, not as a insult, but a little humor or whatever. dark humor is always the best. but i have no filter, i'm gonna tell you the truth of what it is, what I enjoy, what I hate, just point blank period, and people hate that, i'm nor gonna sugar coat anything! a true friendship circles and stays strong through truth and open words, if you can't handle that, something is honestly wrong with you fr. families, now. i won't judge you for having a bad home, but what i mean is, completely putting all that, that's not your responsibility in the way. i did that once, as an older sibling, i believe younger siblings aren't no one's responsibility, i once canceled plans to “watch and take care” of siblings when their old enough to watch themselves, which i regret. if you're having a bad time, you always got me there. which falls into loyal, people aren't loyal. which is basically people are fake. im a longterm friendship kinda dude. you're my homie, just like that.
° finally, judging and redflags: i don't judge at all, ask ill tell, but I don't judge at all. I don't see a point? none of us is perfect, so I don't see a point, saying what you feel is different than judging fr. same with redflags, guess mines would be im clingy 😂 i love clingy people as well, im not sure. but red flags falls into the same with, people do too much, people are fake, and users. and it amazes me completely how someone will use you, for however long, then completely ditch you in the end, or when you're caught, times get rough, or something like that. I really really hate that and that's what destroys friendships. don't really care if someone is clingy.
guess that's all, i think friendships in 2018-2024 are absolutely awful, and I hate that so much. there's no one else around really, like what the hell 😂 and still today, no friends. i be hoping i can find someone like me, like if you'll be there forever man mean that and stand on it. i think the future of friendships will die out honestly. no one can trust each other, no one can spend nights no more, go out, or anything..im not into politics, I don't care about presidents or anything, nor money, I need it, I know, which is why I'm still job searching, I just think there's more to a friendship besides money, arguing, drama, stupid stuff. that's it from me i guess 😂 just a lil rant since I joined this group. show me your skateboard, songs and favorite bands! mines is behemoth and a few grunge ones.. hopefully id find a friend ..

[Major League Soccer - 2024]

Houston vs FC Dallas

Match Info:
Date: May 18th, 2024
Time: 19:30 (US/Central)
Venue: Shell Energy Stadium
Recent form
FC Dallas: WLWLD
Houston: LWDLL

How to Watch

The match will be streamed in both English and Spanish on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.

How to Listen

English: You can listen to all the action on the FC Dallas app and Talk Radio 1190AM. Host Sam Hale will provide pregame and postgame coverage beginning at 7PM with broadcasters Owen Newkirk and Steve Davis calling the game.
Spanish: Carlos Alvarado and Rafa Calderon will call the game in Spanish on the FC Dallas app starting at 7:30PM.

Useful resources

Set the Stage 3rd Degree's Lineup Predictions Match Details

Match Day Pre-Game Discussion and Match Thread

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Both excellent points.

• I will most likely regret not being around for Avi and Niam's growth. I could learn to be a good, caring, supportive, nurturing person.
  
  • Fear: Failure at teaching? (Skill. Build exercises for them to do; learn teaching! Grow!) Besides, not the only thing you can do. Allow hobbies! Help with their projects! They might want to do something you know how to do.
• Niki raises good points. My self-isolation is a trauma response. It causes me to regret how my relationships fall away...
  
  • Even with you, Bee. I wish we were talking. I know you prefer taking time away. But I'd... I'd want you to feel safe in coming back. And even if I'm not Him now, I can be; if I surround myself with them, if I study. and if you believe in me

I can't keep waiting.
I feel like I've waited too long - yet my grandma points out a few months isn't that long. (why didn't I ask her sooner?! She's quiet, but soo freaking emotionally well adjusted! You'd like her I think... She just was quiet around my mom and grandpa; but... She's sooo freaking smart. I'll learn a bit about growing plants from her if I can ^^)
It feels like an eternity to me; yet one I've been okay not reaching out in, being not-healed, not my consistent Unified thread, not my self-secure self. Nothing's changed.
She understands and affirms my struggle, approves of my plan. Surround myself with N, H, hell her even - positive influences who can help me heal. (oh my god... Grief... :/) Study, reparent myself, and handle my shit at work so I wrest victory from the jaws of defeat (he's not bigger than I thought, I'm not in a cage; he's quite literally a mid boss. Emphasis on "mid". Cliff's right. 😂
Niki, Bara Mummy, Kenny - Positive influences. Well-adjusted self-secure beings; surround self with, learn from implicitly. People I'm safe with.
Cliff - Somewhat secure, but chewing on something too. Handles his own stuff.
Cory? Rebi?
Mom, Arie,
Bee - similar trauma responses to my own - I think I'm FA, based on what Niki said. She's right; she's helped me identify my trauma response is to shut down and distance myself too.
With the extended family... I feel so unsupported. I felt so unsupported. (Friggin' ycc.)
With Bee... it's that I feel afraid. I let that get to me; and BM is right, I can reach out when I'm self-secure enough or optimistic enough that I can get there. What I'm doing is part of it; but it's also who's around me. Secure people. Relationships. Vis as healthy nodes.

• And I know BM said it, and I know you believe it - "there are other people". But I don't want it to be other people. I want it to be you, I wanted us to at least try. It doesn't have to be forever, it can be for a while. (You're right. Maybe if I start showing you how I arrive at the things I agreed with with you myself, you'd be better able to understand that I'm not just "yes"-ing you?)

So I understand now. With you, with AD, with my parents - I can be around those people, but maybe - it'll go better when I'm Secure.
Yet my grandma also makes good points - I can just tell you about that, keep it light; share what's going on with me, ask what's going on with you.
When I'm secure, when I listen - then I'll feel happy to talk it through, but her "So just keep in touch?" and gently reminding me of something you said, we can just blob, we don't have to talk so seriously - but I understand now, I have to reconcile my fears with an understanding that we can't, we're not trying to be, together right now. We both have stuff to work on. Trade you cheerings-on for cheerings-on. I get it, Bee. I get it.
In the past, I was like... Doing that while maybe still trying to impress you, hope for you-and-me. I sincerely don't want to poison the well there anymore. If you're healed someday, if I'm healed someday - I want them to have that conversation, it doesn't have to be you and me.

• Brightly: You and I don't have to worry about us; let that be a problem for future-us'es. You were right; we have plenty of time. Why are we in such a rush?
  
  • With that said, I really do want to contact you. Lots going on in my life right now; and I've always been curious to hear more about yours.
  • But... I also want to be more like the Secures I know. Grr. Maybe the timelocked sharings? So we don't get distracted, and I prove to you I can (overtly, anyway) stick to contact constraints, even as I ramble away here? :joy:

I don't want you to feel alone, Bee. I don't know how you're feeling, and my sis is right - I'll work on empathy as my lack of it is a fear of mine that I don't have to offload onto you, but. I'll work on bettering myself, and reach out to you as soon as I consistently feel like I'm safe, that I can manage my own emotions, that they're never overtly or covertly on your mind.
I do want it to be you. But I'll stop saying the thing until I know it's you. =) (There's knowing, and then there's knowing - oh hell. If you're her you're right, our storms could blend well cohesively; and if you're not her
I'm not perfect, by the way. I don't know your inner voice, and I assume and see "you" in other people. I'm not some perfect gift to you... I'm just a lad who cares about you enough to try to be special-someone's with you, if you'd ever want to. 😅)

• ✓ BUT I WILL HEAL MYSELF FIRST memory of a goldfish ohmygod 😂
  
  • And on that mark; notes system, unified-self, extended brain to not forget things. Ez. It's all coming together. (These are things I knew I always wanted to figure out, Bee!)
  • yeah, making TS a firstclass prio will help me motivationally; so I have to set aside time for that. (Along with psych, work, moving... gah lol)

Growing up, it was me, my sister (5 or 6), and our stepbrother (4 or 5), and we would all play together in the room. One day my mom came in and noticed that someone wrote in crayon on the TV (I'm not even sure I noticed it was there til she pointed it out.) She asked which one of us did it and we all said we didn't. She said since no one will come clean and admit to writing on the TV, she would spank us all.
At this point, my head snapped up in confusion and disbelief.
I watched my stepbrother get spanked. I watched my sister get spanked. When it came time for me, I said, "But I didn't do it! Why am I getting spanked for something I didn't do?"
This grew into a whole thing between she and I. I told her she was being unfair; she said I was getting spanked. I cried and ran away; she chased after me, hitting me. At some point, I ended up in the bathroom, half-naked, running away, crying, telling her that she was being unfair, while she chased me around, hitting me.
In the end, because of the way I resisted, I got the worst beating of all.
I'm in my 40s now, but I've never forgotten that day. I think there's a part of me that has never quite forgiven her for that.

Throwaway account because I still want to keep my job 💀
I started at Walmart last year and I’ve never been happier at a job. I went from part-time associate to CSXF DM ASAP. I thought I was hot shit.
WRONG. I’m realizing after a year as a DM that I got the promotion because no one has a god damn brain, and everyone who does, is already a DM. Now that we switched to the GM/Consumables roles, I’m one of several DM’s for my team. Which you’d think is great, except half of them are brain dead. One is old and slow enough that I’m sure she’s going to croak on shift (if she ever actually shows up to one!!!!), another flipped off a customer recently so I’m sure she’ll be terminated (which sucks cuz she’s the one who inspired me to be a DM), another acts like she’s the fucking Lead (which doesn’t exist at my store), so when I come back from lunch, she’ll ask me what “Tim” and “Jim” and “Steve” have done, and I’ll say “I don’t know, I just came back from lunch!” And she’ll go “Hmph. Okay.” AS IF SHE WASNT THERE THE WHOLE HOUR EITHER!!! Go fucking check for yourself lady!!
For a long time my store only did the Purples. We did ALL the blues, for GM and Top 6, on a Wednesday. Yes, the same day. Except it was shit every week because we only have 6 people at a fucking time!!!! Make that 5 because someone is in Electronics! So 5 fucking people doing Blues for EVERY department on a single day.
We changed it now so we do the Blues/Purps for GM every day, which starts as a 1 person job, and then whoever finishes their Top 6 first goes to help. We do Blues and Purps for Top 6 every day at 7am, and Pets or HBA is usually the smallest, so the associate for HBA is double assigned to Infants. PapeChem and Foods usually have 3 or 4 RC’s a day, just from the morning alone, with one associate working on it all day.
AND NOW!!!!! Now, my ASM is saying we’re going to do the Blue/Purps for PapeChem and Pets at 7am, 1pm, AND 7PM. BY 7PM WE HAVE TWO PEOPLE!!!!!! There’s the safety sweeps, the temp checks, break coverage, oh did I mention we all have to share OMNI responsibilities? So we have that to keep in check too, add in photo lab because we’re all on call for that too!!! Don’t forget Dairy and Produce, because the morning ASM will publicly scold the closing DM if they don’t fill Every. Single. Spot. In the milk coolers.
And on top of that, we aren’t hiring anyone else for my team. But we can hire all the CSMs as their ASM wants! And of course the two CSMs who are fucking (while married to other people!!!) get the exact same shifts together, so all the cashiers have to stand there and watch them flirt and touch each other the whole time!!!
Garden Centre employees? Yeah, fuck that! We aren’t hiring anyone. So now out of my 5 !!!! available associates, I have to assign one to the Garden Centre. “Oh well watering should only take 2 hours” Shut the fuck up!!! 2 hours for the entire Garden Centre, but you can’t use the heavy duty spray settings, and make sure the ones in the middle are saturated too?? Okay sure ASM who hasn’t touched a hose in three years, I’d love to see you do that, while ALSO making sure the hose doesn’t get tangled, and your hands and clothes are soaked because our hose is broken, OH and don’t forget all the old ass customers who are stopping us to ask if we have that tree or this flower, and we should really take all the plants in at night (all 15 racks????), and “oh you’re finally watering them huh!!!!!”
OH, and as DM’s, we have to “follow up more”. So now instead of actually helping my team work Vizpicks, or covering breaks, or doing Photo Lab, or any actual fucking work that makes everyone’s day a little bit easier, I have to spend my whole shift walking around and asking people, “Are you done yet? Are you done yet? What are you doing now? Why are you talking? What are you working on now?” Which is REALLY going to improve morale when there’s 2 DM’s walking around nagging the 3 fucking associates who are doing everything!!!
Most days I love my job, but oh my GOD. I need a workplace where people don’t have their heads buried so far up their ass all they spew is SHIT.

I'm a 23 year old guy. I come from a background of just not really knowing myself. This is just for a little context. Some of us unfortunately had to deal with toxic households. And as a result maybe contributed to depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts. Cool. So years go by of just planning your escape while also trying to finish school and not off yourself. During high school I admired artists, animators, musicians, etc. I was brainstorming ideas of being in that world. I would watch these animation student thesis films on YouTube. These things were great to admire but I never felt such a strong interest or connection to participate. I was writing my own stories. I thought maybe I would want to write for comics or animation or even live action TV/Film. I applied to Ringling College of Art & Design as well as New Hampshire Institute of Art. I got accepted to both but I decided to just go to community college because while I had some scholarship, both were still a lot of money. And I really stopped having an interest to participate in writing as years went by. I want to keep this post more so focused on the job part so I'm going to leave out info that might raise questions but oh well. I finished high school and started college Fall 2019. Then the pandemic came so I left college. Then I was trying to figure out how to be productive. I really did not have an interest in school. To be fair I did not have much of an interest in life. I only stayed alive due to my belief. So I decided to just work, make some money and figure it out. I wanted to save for when I finally move out and progress in life. Didn't end up happening. I actually did end up going back to school. I didn't care about any of the majors I just did business for my associates and communications for bachelors. It was online but they also had a center downtown for students to do work. So I went there everyday in the summer of 2023 to graduate faster and be done with school one and for all. And I did. November 2023 I graduated with my BA in communications. In September 2023 that's when I was finished with school, the ceremony was just in November. So since September I was job searching. I was working with the career counselor they offer. She helped me with my resume, cover letter and showing me useful sites. I wasn't getting any jobs. I applied A LOT EVERY DAY. A few interviews. A lot of scam offers. I never really had a focus or a career I always wanted to do. So I applied to anything. But I had some ideas kind of. And I knew what I would not do. February I got an offer from this place that does job coaching for high school students. The salary was 55k. Now that sounds like something I would definitely not be interested in. Just not my thing. But also, I had no other offers. And especially none with that starting salary which I saw was okay I guess for entry level out of college. So I had no choice but to take it. It had been five months. I'm 23. I need money. I'm trying to save. So I did. And so far I caught on very quickly. There were a few bumps on the road but that's life. After a few months I can confidently say that this job is definitely not the one for me. It's a hybrid which was nice but sometimes they have you on your remote days going other places and to me that was a little annoying. They introduced a new in-office things twice a month on Mondays so that took away two of my remote days that were guaranteed lol. I would prefer to be more independent and remote. But I think I can do another hybrid, probably. Just not at a school. Also the school things isn't so bad. Yes some of the kids were annoying. It's just not my vibe. I'm not interested in working at schools. I'm not interested in interacting with students. And I'm just so lost in the meetings. I'm like "Why am I here? I have no idea what they are talking about and I do not care." I feel like such a phony. Such a fake. I don't know how I was hired. I must have been a great actor in the interviews. They even had a written activity I had to do. I must have a way with words. And the vice president of the company keeps telling me how happy she is that she hired me and I am here at the organization. I think that's so hilarious and sad lol. I reached out to my college career counselor again and we started trying to find things. We looked at different careers and I saw technical writing and copywriting. I started applying to those and haven't seen anything yet. But also I'm not after a specific job. I just want to not work with students and be more independent. That's why I mentioned remote work. So I'm still applying I never really stopped that job search process. Even when I accepted the job I have I was still searching. I just thought after college I would have a decent job I could stay at and FINALLY move out and be ok. Decent. Just ok. That's all. I already have absolutely no guidance, no help. But yeah I have sent out more applications for other jobs. I kind of feel done with the job I'm at now. I just don't want to be here. But I know I can't leave unless I get an offer from somewhere else. It's just I don't know why I'm worried I won't. I just want to be able to move out and support myself and stay at a place I feel like I can stay and I don't have to plot to quit.

My wife (38) grew up very sheltered. She was actually a virgin when we met in our early 30s and had never even masturbated until after we got together. I’ve slowly tried to encourage her to explore her sexual desires more. Recently we read a book together that introduced her to kink and explained some basic kink terminology. We went through the book together and each made a list of potential kinks we’d like to explore together. We kept it semi private so that we could only see what we mutually agreed on and therefore neither of us felt self conscious about what we were into. One of the things she wanted to explore was porn. She had never watched porn before. For weeks now she’s been saying she wants to try it but has been nervous about it. She’s been self conscious that she won’t live up to it. Last night I finally talked her into it…
I should mention now that I’m a bit of a sissy. My wife has no idea. Usually I’m thinking about cock more than pussy and it’s a struggle to even get hard to fuck my wife. I spend most of the day edging to sissy porn and talking online to my new domme sissy mommy who I’m absolutely smitten by. She encouraged me to write this account of last night. Hehe.
Back to the story at hand. I knew my wife would want to have sex last night because she told me she was ovulating and we’ve been trying to get her pregnant (which I’ve failed at so far—probably because I’m a pathetic sissy). I asked her if she wanted to finally try porn and she agreed. I edged myself all day. And not normal edging like a normal straight man would do. I would rub my little cock like it was a clit and stop if it ever got hard. I did this for hours. This method usually made it very difficult for me to get hard with my wife and even if I could I would usually cum almost immediately. It made me feel so pathetic. But I couldn’t stop it. I had to edge. I had to rub my little clit all day. My balls were aching and full of cum. In fact it had been days since I had cum. I had been edging for days.
When the time came, we got my wife’s computer and both got in bed with just our underwear on. We laid next to each other. My wife grabbed her vibrator and some lube and took her panties off, exposing her massive bush. When I say massive, I mean massive. It’s overgrown and comes out the sides of her panties. You can almost smell it just by laying next to her. Anyway, we got her computer and went to pornhub. I had to explain how pornhub works to her. How to navigate categories, preview videos, etc. I asked her what she might be interested in watching for her first time. She sheepishly said she might like to watch a lesbian video. This didn’t surprise me because she often tells me about sexual dreams she has with other girls. I think she secretly might be a little (or a lot) gay. So we go to the lesbian category and start scrolling through. She says she wants to find something with a little bit of build up. She is scrolling and stops on a video with two women she finds attractive. It’s called “kinky brunette gets submissive towards her hot therapist.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to start with something a bit more vanilla?” I ask.
“No, I think they’re hot,” she says.
We start the video.
There’s about 10 minutes of build up. It’s about a woman seeing a sex therapist and learning about bdsm for the first time. Telling her therapist she thinks she’s submissive and wants to explore it. My wife gets her vibrator out and starts rubbing her hairy pussy with it as we watch. I start stroking my little limp cock. She looks over at me from time to time to see my reaction. I assume she’s checking to see if I’m getting turned on. I’m still pretty limp. The only thing that starts to turn me on is thinking how my wife might be wondering why I’m so limp and pathetic.
Finally the video picks up a bit. The therapist asks the patient to get on her knees. Makes her take her heels off. Makes her tell her how submissive she feels and beg to eat her pussy. I’m imagining myself as the woman on her knees. Imagining my mistress as the woman in the chair. That’s right. My mistress, not my wife. I’m thinking about what it would be like to serve my mistress. Beg her to suck her cock. To please her. This starts to turn me on. I’m finally getting a bit hard as I continue to rub my cock. My wife is getting turned on too. She starts to moan a bit. I wonder which woman she’s imagining herself as. I think to myself that she’s probably also wishing she were the sub on the floor. Wishing she could taste the therapist’s pussy.
The video starts to get really steamy now. The domme woman forces the sub to rub herself and occasionally slaps her pussy. Finally, in the hottest scene, the domme woman sits on the sub’s face. Grinding her pussy into the other woman’s mouth. Meanwhile the bottom woman is rubbing her pussy and clearly enjoying being dominated. While this is all happening, my wife turns up the speed of her vibrator. By this point she’s very close to cumming. She’s moaning and very into the video. She’s stopped looking at me at all by this point. She’s focused on what’s on screen. I’m fully hard now. Edging myself and trying not to cum myself. I’ve been edging for so long that by the time I actually get hard I’m ready to blow. This whole scene is almost too much for me to contain it. I’m picturing myself as the woman on screen having her face sat on. Only it’s not pussy I’m eating, it’s my mistress’ ass. Picturing myself getting my tongue deep inside her hole. Imagining her smell. Imagining the taste of her hole. I’m not even watching my wife at this point. I’m fully immersed in my own fantasy of being used. But I know I still have a job to do. I still have to fuck my wife. So I hold off from cumming. Barely. But my wife doesn’t. She cums hard. Moaning and convulsing as the domme on screen is grinding on the sub’s face and bending over and slapping her pussy.
After she cums, my wife turns off the vibe and pulls it out of herself. On screen the two women start making out as the scene comes to an end. I know it’s time. I shut the computer and throw it to the end of the bed. I lean over and start kissing my wife. I pull her on top of me and slide inside of her soaking wet pussy in one motion. At this point I’m only turned on because of my fantasy earlier. Once I slip inside her pussy I barely even feel any pleasure. It’s wet and somewhat loose and just doesn’t turn me on that much. But I know I need to cum in her. I’m close. I ask her if she’d rather me fuck her doggy. She eagerly says yes. She rolls off of me and gets on all fours and I get behind her and slide inside. This is my favorite position. She has a plump, beautiful ass. I can spread her cheeks in this position and admire her smooth asshole and imagine it as someone else’s. As a smooth femboy or trans girl’s ass. Wishing my wife had a cock and balls hanging below while I fucked her. At this point it’s all too much…her ass bouncing on me, my cock barely hard but my balls full of cum from edging for days, and my imagination running wild. I cum hard. I moan and collapse on top of her. I’m relieved I was able to perform and actually cum in my wife but ashamed of how I had to do it. That’s usually the case. Hell it’s always the case. I’m a pathetic sissy and my wife deserves to be fucked by a real man sometime. Maybe as we explore more porn she’ll realize that too…

Kena: Bridge of Spirits is such a good game despite being so… well… basic.
It’s simple — almost overly so — yet it is beloved by so many seasoned and experienced gamers.
What I got curious about after playing the game myself and reading a number of pseudo-reviews online was how exactly it achieved this.
How did a package so entry-level-looking garner such respect by 201 and 301 students?
--
The ‘Fields’ region is a great example of Kena’s dichotomy.
It’s gorgeous and inviting, with sea-foamed vistas, lush landscape and rushing waterways. There’s a even a big, lovable pet bull towering over the myriad of cute little Rot dudes scampering through the foliage. The whole place is just friendly.
Why then, does it end up being one of the game’s longest, deepest and most complex sections? Consider its many scattered puzzles, which ask you to combine platforming, archery, environmental awareness and combat proficiency. There’s even a handful of red herring platforms that you can’t properly interact with until later in your puzzle solving endeavor.
The ‘Fields’ are a microcosm of the game as a whole. A childish, Pixar-esque shell which, when uncovered, reveals a complex, involved gameplay experience underneath.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits invites you to be a kid, but treats you like an adult. This is something very few games manage — or even attempt — and it’s what makes Kena so unique, memorable and special.
--
Kena crushes its tone and aesthetic on all fronts to create something that’s desirable and attainable to a group outside of hardcore gamers.
Kena’s visuals are youthful and welcoming by using cartoonish and fairytale-esque art design. The game’s companions do the same — the Rot are your constant brigade of adorable little plush-like, Pikimin-esque comrades who hop as you walk, munch on berries, clumsily trip over each other, and squeak in pitches that can only described as ‘cute.’ You can even give them little hats to wear. They’re pets and it’s all so mired in youthful innocence that I cringe even typing it.
From a distance, Kena appears childish and immature based on its outward appearance. That is, until you peel back its outer layer.
--
The game looks like something your five-year-old might enjoying toying with on your iPad, “you-got-games-on-yo-phone?” style. But there are four elements in its building blocks that make it a game not optimized for your five-year-old on their own;

1. Narrative
2. Puzzles
3. Platforming
4. Combat

Narrative
As far as the game’s story is concerned, it may begin bright and innocent enough, but it deals not-abstractly with death and loss.
Consider that all three boys you meet in the early game — Taro, Benni and Saiya are actually dead, I-see-dead-people style. Consider also that Kena’s entire journey revolves around the loss of her own father and her desire to reconnect with him.
Additionally, it is Toshi’s selfishness and his desire to be the hero that actually ends up bringing death and destruction to his village when he jumps the gun and kills and the mountain spirit in cold blood.
Merciless affronts on nature and an up-front dealing with death and grief are not exactly for the young of age, despite their youthful packaging.
Puzzles
It would be a waste of word count to explain in detail the steps necessary to complete certain puzzles in Kena just as a set of examples to prove the point.
If you’ve played or watched gameplay, you know the puzzles are surprisingly involved, consisting often of multiple steps to complete that build on each other and require the use of all of your abilities in tandem.
One of the bigger “ah-hah” moments I recall was when I realized I could order my Rot minions to move objects while Kena stood on top of said object in order to give me a leg up to jump to a previously unreachable ledge.
Platforming
Speaking of ledges, jumping to and from them is tight and precise in Kena.
Platforming challenges are often timed (your aura-bomb weapon only activates platforms for specifically-timed bursts). Combining their scheduled nature with the need to rotate them via precise archery, mid-air grappling segments and more makes for a movement experience that is involved enough to demand the player’s full attention for every tick of the clock.
Kena and her world’s gravity also have a decided, predictable weight to them that’s not exactly forgiving, meaning the act of jumping to and fro is exact while also requiring exactness.
Combat
Fighting the enemies of Kena is similarly involved.
The cadence with which the game throws opponents your way combined with the complexities of dealing meaningful damage to said opponents creates a combat scenario which demands the player fluidly wield and swap between both melee and ranged options while carefully managing space on the battlefield.
Kamikaze-style enemies often rush Kena in carefully-spaced and well-timed waves, while enemies with shields and shells hide their weak points from visibility. Enemies like this require certain sequences to beat — be it a well-placed bomb and arrow combo, a parry, or a maneuvering to an enemy’s backside.
Boss encounters lean into these mechanics but also present new wrinkles — The Hunter fight asks the player to rethink their tactics and find a way to deal with an airborne opponent who is apt at dodging bombs and arrows, for example.
The final few bosses ask you to take everything you’ve learned throughout your journey and apply it all at once, and if you don’t… it’s defeat for Kena.
--
The above sounds like I’m describing a souls-like with platforming elements as the ‘fresh take’ in addition to the enrapturing combat.
Games that provide this much of a challenging, involved experience are typically darker in tone — be it music, environment, or what-have-you. I don’t think too many people would call Kena ‘hard,’ but these are the same people who died 10+ times to The Hunter or Corrupted Toshi.
If this game had a darker, moodier skin, would more people describe it as hard or not for the faint of heart?
In this way, Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
It is accessible to new players and younger gamers due to its pleasing and friendly atmosphere. But by its conclusion, it is likely to season them into better gamers. If a newbie gamer picks up Kena, they’re in for a surprise and (hopefully) delight when they find something deeper than that which they first expected.
On the other hand, Kena is a worthwhile experience for veteran gamers if they drop their toxic masculinity and play a goofy kids game with a female protagonist. This is a game that will undoubtedly earn their respect by requiring their attention, precision and commitment throughout its experience. Like the newbie gamers, gaming veterans are in for a surprise and (certainly) delight when they find something deeper than that which they first expected.
--
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a good experience for everyone. By balancing being adorable with being difficult, it earns the respect and appreciation of everyone who plays it. Its accessibility makes it easy to recommend to anyone and the game thus earns itself a bigger audience as a result.
Its narrative and gameplay might not separate themselves in terms of newness from a saturated market, but the surprise and delight the game provides delivers an experience to its players that isn’t typical of the space.
By striking the balance between wolf and sheep, Kena elevates its quality to something beyond just the content within.
--
…and yet…
I can’t help but think, as I summarize this article, that if a game is for everyone, doesn’t that, on some level, mean it is also for no one?
I mean, when you look at the game’s narrative or gameplay, it’s not exactly reinventing the wheel here. In fact, Kena does just about nothing new. It spits out the same exact version of a game we’ve been playing for decades in the form of Tomb Raider or Uncharted or The Legend of Zelda or God of War.
Critically speaking, both the gameplay and narrative are pretty damn milquetoast.
You’re in a world infected by some arbitrary Darkness and since you’re Special and The Chosen One™ it’s your job to go around cleansing the world of evil using a combination of environmental platforming, lever and pressure plate puzzle-solving and lock-on-based, sword-swinging driven combat.
It wouldn’t be difficult to make the argument that Kena is bland.
But the discourse around the game just isn’t about that.
The game’s scored an 81 on Metacritic and has a 92% positive review rating on Steam at time of writing. It recouped its development costs in just one month, meaning every sale since then is hitting the bottom line.
People like this game.

Quick aside from me here on something that made me smile — when double-checking the score on Steam for the above info, I found these as the first two reviews at the very top of the queue: “yo wtf. bought this game to chill, why does it feels like im playing souls-like difficulty ass game HAHAHAH.” “Don’t be fooled by the graphics. This game can be a challenge at times, but it is worth the experience.”

So maybe being an experience for everyone really was the kicker?
Or, maybe, it was something else.
In fact, yeah, I can confidently say it was. It’s a game reviewer’s buzzword, but it’s oh-so apt here: polish.
--
The entire experience of playing Kena is smooth. There are no framerate drops, no bugs, no broken quests or puzzles, no desynced dialogue and facial animations. Not a single hiccup to speak of.
The game features exacting archery, precise platforming, telegraphed and accurate hitboxes, as well as an unimpeding camera, responsive and weighty combat and legible visual design that accurately communicates with the player.
You can move through Kena virtually unobstructed (until you come across a puzzle you can’t solve, but that’s your problem, not the game’s). Everything is built carefully and gels together in a cohesion that works so fluidly that playing Kena is simply frictionless.
The game’s developers — Ember Lab — nailed the fundamentals, paid attention to detail and play-tested perfectly. Their effort to go above and beyond saved this game from sinking into the obscurity of being completely and utterly Mid.
--
It’s frictionlessness that elevates Kena beyond itself. It makes the game greater than the sum of its parts. It makes Kena a complete, finished and polished experience.
Kena presents itself like it’s Disney Pixar’s latest goofy-ass, lame-ass, sub-par video game, but lying underneath the childish aesthetic is a challenging and engaging experience that’s not only a boon for all audiences of gamers, but a worthwhile one thanks to its extreme polish and dedication.
You should play it.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits is such a good game despite being so… well… basic.
It’s simple — almost overly so — yet it is beloved by so many seasoned and experienced gamers.
What I got curious about after playing the game myself and reading a number of pseudo-reviews online was how exactly it achieved this.
How did a package so entry-level-looking garner such respect by 201 and 301 students?
--
The ‘Fields’ region is a great example of Kena’s dichotomy.
It’s gorgeous and inviting, with sea-foamed vistas, lush landscape and rushing waterways. There’s a even a big, lovable pet bull towering over the myriad of cute little Rot dudes scampering through the foliage. The whole place is just friendly.
Why then, does it end up being one of the game’s longest, deepest and most complex sections? Consider its many scattered puzzles, which ask you to combine platforming, archery, environmental awareness and combat proficiency. There’s even a handful of red herring platforms that you can’t properly interact with until later in your puzzle solving endeavor.
The ‘Fields’ are a microcosm of the game as a whole. A childish, Pixar-esque shell which, when uncovered, reveals a complex, involved gameplay experience underneath.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits invites you to be a kid, but treats you like an adult. This is something very few games manage — or even attempt — and it’s what makes Kena so unique, memorable and special.
--
Kena crushes its tone and aesthetic on all fronts to create something that’s desirable and attainable to a group outside of hardcore gamers.
Kena’s visuals are youthful and welcoming by using cartoonish and fairytale-esque art design. The game’s companions do the same — the Rot are your constant brigade of adorable little plush-like, Pikimin-esque comrades who hop as you walk, munch on berries, clumsily trip over each other, and squeak in pitches that can only described as ‘cute.’ You can even give them little hats to wear. They’re pets and it’s all so mired in youthful innocence that I cringe even typing it.
From a distance, Kena appears childish and immature based on its outward appearance. That is, until you peel back its outer layer.
--
The game looks like something your five-year-old might enjoying toying with on your iPad, “you-got-games-on-yo-phone?” style. But there are four elements in its building blocks that make it a game not optimized for your five-year-old on their own;

1. Narrative
2. Puzzles
3. Platforming
4. Combat

Narrative
As far as the game’s story is concerned, it may begin bright and innocent enough, but it deals not-abstractly with death and loss.
Consider that all three boys you meet in the early game — Taro, Benni and Saiya are actually dead, I-see-dead-people style. Consider also that Kena’s entire journey revolves around the loss of her own father and her desire to reconnect with him.
Additionally, it is Toshi’s selfishness and his desire to be the hero that actually ends up bringing death and destruction to his village when he jumps the gun and kills and the mountain spirit in cold blood.
Merciless affronts on nature and an up-front dealing with death and grief are not exactly for the young of age, despite their youthful packaging.
Puzzles
It would be a waste of word count to explain in detail the steps necessary to complete certain puzzles in Kena just as a set of examples to prove the point.
If you’ve played or watched gameplay, you know the puzzles are surprisingly involved, consisting often of multiple steps to complete that build on each other and require the use of all of your abilities in tandem.
One of the bigger “ah-hah” moments I recall was when I realized I could order my Rot minions to move objects while Kena stood on top of said object in order to give me a leg up to jump to a previously unreachable ledge.
Platforming
Speaking of ledges, jumping to and from them is tight and precise in Kena.
Platforming challenges are often timed (your aura-bomb weapon only activates platforms for specifically-timed bursts). Combining their scheduled nature with the need to rotate them via precise archery, mid-air grappling segments and more makes for a movement experience that is involved enough to demand the player’s full attention for every tick of the clock.
Kena and her world’s gravity also have a decided, predictable weight to them that’s not exactly forgiving, meaning the act of jumping to and fro is exact while also requiring exactness.
Combat
Fighting the enemies of Kena is similarly involved.
The cadence with which the game throws opponents your way combined with the complexities of dealing meaningful damage to said opponents creates a combat scenario which demands the player fluidly wield and swap between both melee and ranged options while carefully managing space on the battlefield.
Kamikaze-style enemies often rush Kena in carefully-spaced and well-timed waves, while enemies with shields and shells hide their weak points from visibility. Enemies like this require certain sequences to beat — be it a well-placed bomb and arrow combo, a parry, or a maneuvering to an enemy’s backside.
Boss encounters lean into these mechanics but also present new wrinkles — The Hunter fight asks the player to rethink their tactics and find a way to deal with an airborne opponent who is apt at dodging bombs and arrows, for example.
The final few bosses ask you to take everything you’ve learned throughout your journey and apply it all at once, and if you don’t… it’s defeat for Kena.
--
The above sounds like I’m describing a souls-like with platforming elements as the ‘fresh take’ in addition to the enrapturing combat.
Games that provide this much of a challenging, involved experience are typically darker in tone — be it music, environment, or what-have-you. I don’t think too many people would call Kena ‘hard,’ but these are the same people who died 10+ times to The Hunter or Corrupted Toshi.
If this game had a darker, moodier skin, would more people describe it as hard or not for the faint of heart?
In this way, Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
It is accessible to new players and younger gamers due to its pleasing and friendly atmosphere. But by its conclusion, it is likely to season them into better gamers. If a newbie gamer picks up Kena, they’re in for a surprise and (hopefully) delight when they find something deeper than that which they first expected.
On the other hand, Kena is a worthwhile experience for veteran gamers if they drop their toxic masculinity and play a goofy kids game with a female protagonist. This is a game that will undoubtedly earn their respect by requiring their attention, precision and commitment throughout its experience. Like the newbie gamers, gaming veterans are in for a surprise and (certainly) delight when they find something deeper than that which they first expected.
--
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a good experience for everyone. By balancing being adorable with being difficult, it earns the respect and appreciation of everyone who plays it. Its accessibility makes it easy to recommend to anyone and the game thus earns itself a bigger audience as a result.
Its narrative and gameplay might not separate themselves in terms of newness from a saturated market, but the surprise and delight the game provides delivers an experience to its players that isn’t typical of the space.
By striking the balance between wolf and sheep, Kena elevates its quality to something beyond just the content within.
--
…and yet…
I can’t help but think, as I summarize this article, that if a game is for everyone, doesn’t that, on some level, mean it is also for no one?
I mean, when you look at the game’s narrative or gameplay, it’s not exactly reinventing the wheel here. In fact, Kena does just about nothing new. It spits out the same exact version of a game we’ve been playing for decades in the form of Tomb Raider or Uncharted or The Legend of Zelda or God of War.
Critically speaking, both the gameplay and narrative are pretty damn milquetoast.
You’re in a world infected by some arbitrary Darkness and since you’re Special and The Chosen One™ it’s your job to go around cleansing the world of evil using a combination of environmental platforming, lever and pressure plate puzzle-solving and lock-on-based, sword-swinging driven combat.
It wouldn’t be difficult to make the argument that Kena is bland.
But the discourse around the game just isn’t about that.
The game’s scored an 81 on Metacritic and has a 92% positive review rating on Steam at time of writing. It recouped its development costs in just one month, meaning every sale since then is hitting the bottom line.
People like this game.

Quick aside from me here on something that made me smile — when double-checking the score on Steam for the above info, I found these as the first two reviews at the very top of the queue: “yo wtf. bought this game to chill, why does it feels like im playing souls-like difficulty ass game HAHAHAH.” “Don’t be fooled by the graphics. This game can be a challenge at times, but it is worth the experience.”

So maybe being an experience for everyone really was the kicker?
Or, maybe, it was something else.
In fact, yeah, I can confidently say it was. It’s a game reviewer’s buzzword, but it’s oh-so apt here: polish.
--
The entire experience of playing Kena is smooth. There are no framerate drops, no bugs, no broken quests or puzzles, no desynced dialogue and facial animations. Not a single hiccup to speak of.
The game features exacting archery, precise platforming, telegraphed and accurate hitboxes, as well as an unimpeding camera, responsive and weighty combat and legible visual design that accurately communicates with the player.
You can move through Kena virtually unobstructed (until you come across a puzzle you can’t solve, but that’s your problem, not the game’s). Everything is built carefully and gels together in a cohesion that works so fluidly that playing Kena is simply frictionless.
The game’s developers — Ember Lab — nailed the fundamentals, paid attention to detail and play-tested perfectly. Their effort to go above and beyond saved this game from sinking into the obscurity of being completely and utterly Mid.
--
It’s frictionlessness that elevates Kena beyond itself. It makes the game greater than the sum of its parts. It makes Kena a complete, finished and polished experience.
Kena presents itself like it’s Disney Pixar’s latest goofy-ass, lame-ass, sub-par video game, but lying underneath the childish aesthetic is a challenging and engaging experience that’s not only a boon for all audiences of gamers, but a worthwhile one thanks to its extreme polish and dedication.
You should play it.