Poems happy birthday daughter

Chapter 2. (Dracula)
Nine Hundred years later deep deep far in the the Shadow Forest a place called Castlevania in the black castles the kings chambers a beautiful black haired blue eyed woman named Isabell Bolton was travailing in pain as she was giving birth to her first born child, the queens maid that was there helping deliver the baby held the little child cleaned him up and wrapped him in the blanket.
“Is the Baby ok Sara?” Isabell asked very exhausted.
“Yes it’s a boy!” Sara said very excited as she gave the mother her baby.
“He’s So Handsome. Luther come quick see our boy!” Isabell said with glee.
King Luther Bolton came in and grabbed his son hugged him.
“My boy Oh my baby boy.” King Luther said very happily.
Suddenly a dark and evil witch named Festus appeared in the room with them she was pure evil.
“Oh! what do we have here aww how sweet the Dark One was finally born He will be called Dracula he will be a terror of this world he will be known all over the nation and he shall live till the end of time his power will come on his thirtieth birthday when he drinks from the cup of Shalom that’s full of blood of the wolfs tears no one will stop his destiny he is a warrior of Econdire!” The witch said with a wicked evil laugh.
King Luther drew his blade and pointed it to her as he gave the baby back to the mother.
“You will not take my child and he will not become what you said!!! You will die this night!” King Luther shouted as he charged at the witch. She disappeared as King Luther swung his blade.
“Hahahaha you can’t kill me mortal and you can’t change what is to come I’m just here to warn you if you don’t want that to happen then you must kill the baby you can change prophecy Luther Bolton! Or seek out the skull face man named Slaygar he will gladly take the child and the Prophecy will not come true! Or should I say. “Your Majesty” hahahaha! Oh Luther. Ten years from now on a day before your wife gives birth to Your fourth son you will die and Dracula will be crowned King then time will count down. Hahahahahaha!!!” Festus said laughing as she disappeared out from a window in black smoke. Luther ran to the the window she disappeared from then she went to his wife who was weeping and crying out of fear
“Honey shush it’s ok!” King Luther said as he looked with worry and concern out the window.
“We’er not calling him Dracula we’er not his name is Gabriel Luther Bolton!” Isabell said sternly. “He will be a beacon of Hope.” Isabell said smiling.
“Yes That’s Beautiful, Gabriel. I like that name. Gabriel.” King Luther said in his thoughts he was worried about the prophecy.
Years passed and Gabriel had three more brothers Drakeul, Nathen, and Samuel, Then his father got sick Gabriel was ten years old and he was trying everything he could to heal his father he was a mage a healer and he put all his herbs and couldn’t stop his father infection nor could he keep him from getting sicker. He was only able to take the pain away for a wile. But King Luther got worse and worse. The King grabbed Gabriel by the arm as he coughed and said.
“We got to get you better father I....” Gabriel said his voice shaken as he was interrupted.
“Gabriel listen it’s over there’s nothing more you can do. I feel my body shutting down before I go...” King Luther said as he winced in pain.
“No Father!” Gabriel said weeping.
“Shush! Gabriel be strong for your mother and your brothers she’s in labor now so you got to be Strong your a good man and you be a good king but I got to tell you something and you got to fight for what’s right no matter what! Your hear me son?” King Luther said as he was feeling weaker and weaker.
“Yes sir.” Gabriel said as he straightened his shoulders.
“Ten years ago when you was born a evil witch came and told us that you was the Dark One and you was to be the terror of the world til the end of time and you had a different name but I’m not at all going to speak that name and she said you was to be the warrior of Evondire.” King Luther said as he looked a his handsome boy and he smiled at him.
“Econdire? The evil prince?” Gabriel asked confused.
“Yes son and....” Luther told him all what had happened even to the point where they searched for the good witches mages sorcerers and wizards.
“They said Love is the first thing that change this fate and they said have more children as many as possible before My death and to surround you with Love and train you to be the best of yourself that love and good will overcome evil.” King Luther said as he tried hard to make sure His son knew to not loose his Live for others and those who loves him.
Gabriel looked at his father he didn’t know what to say but he swallowed and said.
Gabriel: I will live to the best of my ability to Love and be good to all.
“Good now go be with your mother and the child they need you...” King Luther didn’t finish his statement when he took his last breath and he left this world.
“Father! Father! No Father come back! Father!!!” Gabriel shouted and wept over his dead father.
King Luther died, Gabriel put his head on his fathers chest and wept the tears fell from his face on to his fathers chest. One of the Priests of Shalom walked up his name was Dagon Gibbs.
“My son he’s gone hey come here hush now.” The Priest Gibbs said with comfort.
“Bring him back Father Gibbs! Bring him Back!” Gabriel shouted still crying.
“Hush now I can’t do that I’m not God my son. I’m sorry for your loss I will prepare his ceremony but you mother gave birth to a son you need to go to her. Your coronation to be Crowned King after the ceremony of your father’s funeral. Life must go on Prince Gabriel you have a lot of priorities and obligations that Have to be done be strong Prince Gabriel.” Priest Gibbs said with a comforting voice.
Gabriel walked to the room his mother was and heard the cry of the baby he opened the doors to see his smiling mom holding her baby boy her blue eyes sparkled. She saw her firstborn and her smile faded. She then said to Gabriel.
“Gabriel come see your baby brother! I named him Logan!” Isabell said as she noticed the look on Gabriel’s face.
Gabriel held his baby brother.
“He’s so handsome and healthy, Luther would be so so happy.” Isabell said as she put her hand on Gabriel’s shoulder.
Gabriel looked at his mother and the tears fell from his eyes as well as his mothers.
“I know he be in here if he wasn’t gone but he is I know it. It was prophesied by that witch.” Isabell said as her voice shook with grief.
Gabriel put his head down.
“Oh I know baby you tried your best but his time was up sweetie. We talked long about this. I can’t grieve now you got to be ready for what’s come Gabriel.” Isabell said with sadness.
She began to weep, as she held Gabriel close to her. Gabriel gave the baby to Drakeul and hugged his mother as they wept for her for their loss. They had the beautiful ceremony for King Luther they buried him in a tomb under the castle.
Seventeen years passed the palace grew and the people where happy everything looked great Gabriel had a beautiful women they got married his it was so beautiful they had two sons identical twins Trevor and Alucard.
The year started off wonderful but then an man named John Bayn a wicked king from the deepest part north he was full of rage and sought nothing but power he attacked Transylvania and declared war against Gabriel, the king caused Gabriel to loose his source for food and he cut his supply of water king Bayn got some men inside Gabriel’s city who turned some of the people against Gabriel.
“Gabriel my brother what is your plan we have to do something we have to fight against these basters or we going to loose the city!” Drakeul said as he looked at his brother who was now king.
“Easy Drakeul getting angry at the King won’t fix this.” Samuel said as he grinned.
“He has a point Samuel we got to do something!” Nathen said to them both.
Gabriel turned around and looked at his brothers.
“Tonight we will gather the most faithful soldiers and we will attack and kill that king. I will not loose my city I will destroy my enemy!” Gabriel said with determination.
The Priest Gibbs walked up to the war table And looked at King Gabriel.
“Your Majesty. Think before you act I pray you. I dreamed of you last night, you was dark cold bitter your eyes were as red as the blood I seen you drink from the cup of Holy water from Shalom’s Temple but it was filled with blood blood that came from the Wolf’s tears you must not give in to this anger it take you far then you want to go.” Priest Gibbs Said with a Urgency and a warning.
Gabriel looked at the Priest as did everyone in the room.
“King Gabriel I beg you sir be patient don’t go wait the Lord will make away and give you Victory! Please Your Majesty stay they will come to you and the witches prophecy won’t come to pass! If you go out there, My King. The curse will happen three years early then what was told!” The Priest Gibbs said again with Urgency.
“Father Gibbs. I will not give into a witches curse I will not let a curse stop me from protecting my people I will do what has to be done and show them I am not to be played with they will know not to come against me! Like they knew not to come against my father.” King Gabriel said as he began to give out his plan.
“My King...” The Priest Gibbs said as he put his hand on King Gabriel’s shoulder.
“No Father Gibbs! They killed your son today! It stops now!” King Gabriel said as he gently put his hands on the Priest Cheek. “I will not give in to the Curse I will hold on to my Love for others and the Love y’all have for me” King Gabriel said as him and his knights went out the war room.
The Priest swallowed hard, tears fell from his eyes he didn’t know he lost his son last he spoke he sent him to the market to get bread.
“How...” He asked his voice shaky.
King Gabriel turned and looked at the Priest “They skinned him alive and put him on a spike right out the gate I’m sorry we took him down and took him to his chambers.”
Tears fell down his cheeks he walked towards Gabriel. One of the knights put their hand on the Priest shoulder to push him back, the king lift his hand stopping the knight, Gabriel walked to the Priest. The Priest put both his hands on Gabriel’s cheeks.
“Gabriel please I beg you my son is dead please heed my warning don’t make me loose another son. Listen to me don’t go out there bad things will take place that will hurt you in a way that you will curse the Lord in His temple! Please Gabriel hear me.”
Gabriel hugged the old priest as he wept over the lost of his son, not knowing that the old man was weeping over him that night was the last night of Gabriel would be a human king but Gabriel didn’t realize that the Lord himself was trying to talk through Gibbs and Gibbs was weeping because he knew Gabriel would not take heed to his warning.
Later that day just before the king and his twelve knights were going to fight for their land he kissed his wife Hope, and his two sons Trevor and Alucard.
“Here Sweet Husband.” Queen Hope Said with a sweetness in her voice.
She put a letter in his hand.
“I will be waiting their.” Hope said with love in her voice.
“Ok I’ll meet you and the kids there.” King Gabriel answered as he smiled at his beautiful wife.
Logan came running up.
“Brother!” The Prince Logan shouted.
“Logan what are you doing?” King Gabriel asked seeing Logan was decked in armor.
“Let me fight I can fight!” Logan asked determined to fight.
“No Logan you must stay here!” Gabriel demanded.
“But Brother I can fight I’m not a child I’m seventeen! I killed a Lion and stopped a thief and kept several prisoners from escaping! Please let me fight for our kingdom!” Logan asked with hope in his eyes.
“I know! What you been doing it has not been unnoticed. That’s why I need you here protect my wife and kids stay with them ok! Please Logan do this for me brother.” Gabriel said as he walked passed Logan. Logan didn’t like it but he nodded and went and stood by Hope.
They walked out the city Drakeul, Nathen, and Samuel walked side by side with their king brother Gabriel tonight was the night for Victory! The 12 Knights walked behind them as well as fifteen thousand of the faithful soldiers.
The war began the fight was harsh side by side the Bolton brother’s fault side by side and backed to back fighting the enemies as well as the twelve knights who was protecting them they fault and killed many, then faced the face King Gabriel and King Bayn began to fight each other it was a hideous battle Gabriel took a lot of wounds but before it was over King Bayn was on his knees.
“You Won but I have brothers and friends they come and avenge me! You will not stand! Your own people don’t even trust your leadership! Hahaha!” King Bayn taunted.
Gabriel swung his sword cutting Bayns head off, he picked up Bayns Crown and handed it to a red haired knight named Andrew Archer, who seemed to loose his helmet during the battle.
“Take this that will be one of my trophies.” King Gabriel said as he handed the crown to the red haired knight.
The Red head Knight Spoke.
“What about the rest any prisoners?” Andrew asked with concern.
Gabriel looked at the village that was still burning and relived walking through and seeing again what they did to those poor people. He looked at Andrew and said very coldly.
“We will show no mercy they all will die but slow I will hang them on a spike and point the towards the village they destroyed and the people they murdered so they see why they are dying so painfully!” Gabriel said with anger in his eyes. Andrew Swallowed hard and they all did as they were told and they left back to the city the screaming and pleads for mercy echoed in their ears.
Back at the castle of Transylvania a war broke out Gabriel’s soldiers was fighting for their lives against some other soldiers who was turned by the King Bayns men. Hope Trevor and Alucard was in the Temple of Shalom and the Logan was fighting to protect them Hope was a Mage she used her magic to destroy the last few guards that turned against her, she looked at Logan.
“Logan You Ben and Cole take my Sons and go!!! Go Now!!! Keep them safe!” Hope said scared for their lives.
“I can’t just Leave you!” Logan shouted.
“You must Logan protect my babies please!” Hope said with urgency.
Logan Ben and Cole took Trevor and Alucard and ran them out of the city they got on their horses and headed south. Gabriel came and saw what was going on they went and fought killing every betrayer and every last one of Bayns men. Then Gabriel remembered the note and ran to the temple and when he Got there he saw the Priest Gibbs knelt down by Hope her stomach was carved into with a knife her hands cut off her throat slit. Gabriel fell beside her.
“NO!!!! MY BABY!!!! HOPE!!!! NOOO!” King Gabriel shouted tears falling downs his cheeks as he wept. He stood up anger and raged filled him he cursed cursed the temple and the wolves he cursed everything that the temple represented and he pointed at the Priest and yelled!
“THIS IS YOUR FAULT!!!!” King Gabriel shouted in anger tears screaming down his cheeks falling to the floor.
He cursed the priest. All the 12 knights stood around him his brothers got between him and the Priest.
“Gabriel! What are you doing! It’s not his fault!” Drakeul said trying to get Gabriel under control.
“Gabriel calm down you.... Oh My God!” Samuel said as his mouth dropped open his eyes widen.
Gabriel turn to see what everyone was looking at and saw the statue of the Wolf of Shalom from its eyes were tears of blood that dropped into the Holy Water cup. Gabriel was then immediately A trance he walked to the cup.
“NO!!! STOP HIM DONT LET HIM DRINK FROM THE CUP!!!” The Priest Gibbs said with urgency.
His brothers ran to him and pulled on him he sent them flying back with a wave of his hand.
“That ain’t no magic I ever seen.” Nathen said his eyes widen and his voice shaken with fear.
Gabriel picked the cup which was full of blood and began to drink it the priest and Drakeul yelled!
Drakeul and Priest Gibbs Shouted as One. “GABRIEL!!! NOOO!!!
Gabriel drunk the cup all of the blood in the cup then the curse happened but three years early. Gabriel yelled as his body changed and his face went pale and fangs grew in his mouth and his eyes went from a beautiful blue to crimson red.
Then the Angel of the Lord appeared and said. “My name is Gabriel I am the Messenger of the Lord you have defiled this temple of the Lord and you cursed the God that created you and came against the church of the most high God you our forever cursed to walk this earth as a monster til the end of time you will bring fear and terror....”
The Angel stopped when Drakeul walked up to him, Drakeul look the Angel in the eye fear filled him he trembling knelt down grabbed the Angel by his feet he felt the Archangels Power he spoke his voice shaky.
“Please I inquire a audience with the Lord!” Drakeul asked shaking.
“You cannot see the Lord you will not survive.” The Angel Gabriel said.
“Then please tell him applaud him to have mercy no he didn’t show mercy and he did the most worse thing but please I beg you don’t let him be damned take me instead give him another chance! Please don’t let him be damned!” Drakeul pleaded with him and his brothers salvation.
Drakeul began to weep at the Angels feet, The Archangel looked at Drakeul was a little fascinated how he a soldier who Stern and cold would be weeping over his brother who did such terrible deed. Then the Lord Spoke to the Angel.
“Gabriel Bolton will still be cursed but there is away that he can redeem himself but he will have to find it but he is forever bound from the temple of the Lord until he redeems himself and only you Brothers can help him find the boy that can change him the boy must become Him and he must become the boy and the certain deeds must be done, only then shall the spirit of your Brother be redeemed however the curse of Your Brother will be on a innocent Christian who will battle to redeem the Spirit of Dracula. Your brother Gabriel’s name will change this day he will be known as Dracula the rest of this worlds time! You will share his curse soon and help him walk the right path.
The brothers looked at each other confused.
The Angel looked at the twelve knights.
“From this day till the end y’all are the wolves of Shalom there shall be many of warrior wolves through y’all and y’all will fight against Dracula and all that becomes as he is that choose evil over good and there will come a time where Vampires and Werewolves will join together to fight an even. Greater foe an evil that has been locked away. There will rise a dark mage who will set the dark lord free and become the dark lord this will be the road that may redeem Dracula. But as of now your fight is to get and keep Dracula out of the temple this day!” The Angel of the demanded.
The twelve Knights became Werewolves the first ever to walk on earth. The Angel looked at Gabriel.
“Take him Out!” The Angel commanded. Then he disappeared!
Gabriel attacked the Werewolves and the fight was extremely hideous the werewolves gave a beating but each place they clawed open healed instantly, Gabriel beat them till the turn back in human form his blood was ragging but the. The power hit them and they arose again as the werewolves and begin to drive him out of the temple.
As Gabriel taught them he saw himself in a mirror the monster he became the crimson red eyes sharp fangs pale face the sharp claw like finger nails and at that moment he saw what he done and he saw what he did to the knights and as he saw them in wolf form walking towards him wounded even but still coming he didn’t want to hurt them they were his men his people and he was hurting them and he defiled the Lords Temple. He ran out the temple his brothers followed him.
“Gabriel! Gabriel! Drakeul Shouted.
He turned around quickly he put his hand around his brothers shoulder and with that same hand lifted him off the ground like he was paper without the help of his other hand.
“My Name Is not Gabriel!!! I am Dracula!” Dracula shouted. Gabriel Bolton was no more.
He threw his brother into his other brothers Nathen and Samuel caught Drakeul and the impact knocked them three feet back they pulled themselves up off the ground and they saw his face pale as the dead his eyes which used to be beautiful blue was now bloody red, he spoke again.
“My name is Dracula every King every army will never dare to attack my country or my family I will crush them and they will know the meaning of fear!!!” Dracula shouted crazily.
Dracula said his blood boiling hot as things were transitioning in his body.
And so the prophecy was fulfilled but three years before the time. And so fear filled the land the terror of Dracula spread through each city of Transylvania and Castlevania where Dracula’s Castle was the place which was beautiful and full of light was now darkened and full of fear.
Three days later at the docks of Dragons Bridge Logan asked Ben and Cole to take his little nephews to a safe place he was going back to his brothers to help fight.
“Logan! Are you crazy man Hope asked you to get Alucard and Trevor to safety man come on with us.” Cole said with concern for Logan.
“Yea man we’re young we got to get to Safety” Ben said.
“I must go back make sure it’s safe and send for y’all. And no y’all can’t come with me y’all thirteen and fourteen” Logan said sharply.
“No I’m fifteen Logan and you need to come with us man” Ben shouted at Logan.
Cole: And I’m two days from Sixteen. And your not seventeen yet your three days from seventeen and Hope asked you to save her nephews!
“I know y’all keep them safe now please go! I will not hear anymore.” Logan said as he turned from them.
And with that Logan turns away from them in the boat and went off towards home with his friends calling for him to come back and to not be stupid, but Logan kept on walking. Ben spoke.
“Come on Cole he’s not gonna listen to us.” Ben shouted angrily.
They set out for the other side which lead to a country called Albion and to a city called Camelot where King Constantine Pendragon III ruled and Uther Pendragon was a young mighty Prince who had a Amethyst who used a spell to keep him young for a thousand years. The children would be safe there the Ben and Cole thought.
As for Logan three days passed it was his birthday he turned seventeen and he was not happy for the things he was seeing and home the enemy that attacked the city was outside the gate dead hanging from a spike he heard on of them groan he drew his sword and thrust it through the dying mans heart to end his suffering he heard more, and saw a whole line of them he went by killing them ending their suffering. Dracula stood in front of his brothers and spoke.
“No one will dare to attack me now unless they want to die which I’m more then happy to oblige, brothers with this power we’re unstoppable I can give you this gift and you can be stronger.”Dracula said to his brothers. Drakeul Samuel and Nathen couldn’t believe what they were hearing from there Brother. “Was Gabriel really gone.” They both thought. Drakeul walk up to his Brother.
“Brother! Listen to yourself this is insane! look at you! this ain’t no gift it’s a curse! The Father Shalom Cursed you made you this monster, I will not become this thing you are!” Drakeul shouted out. Dracula looked at his brother with a elite shock look the laughed mockingly
“O dear Brother you actually think I’m giving you a choice that’s rather cute.” Dracula Taunted.
In a flash he grabbed his brother he moved faster then lighting he but Drakeuls neck and began to suck his blood Drakeul went limp almost dead Dracula bit his wrist and let the blood poured down to Drakeuls lips then Drakeul died. Samuel turn to run as did Nathen out the door, Dracula flicked his hand and the door slammed shut in his face Dracula grabbed him and done the same thing to Samuel as he did Drakeul. And Nathen tried to fight Dracula but failed and suffered the same fate. Dracula took a red towel and wiped his mouth and turned around to see Logan looking straight at him fear hit him hard he watched his brother suck the blood from his other two brothers.
“Gabriel what....” Logan said scared and shaken over what he saw.
“Hush now Logan they be back and my name is no longer Gabriel it’s Dracula I am a Vampire”Dracula said with a soft a soothing voice. He was hoping to calm his baby brother.
“What Happened to you what did you do what did you become? This isn’t right Gabriel it’s not right!” Logan said still scared and shaken he never seen something like this before.
“It’s a gift Logan and I can give it to you and you never be weak again!” Dracula said trying to tempt him.
“No!!! Your a Monster this is a curse you are not my brother I don’t want your gift!” Logan shouted.
Logan turned and walked outside straight into Dracula’s arms. Fear jumped in Logan’s chest his heart started beating very fast. Dracula embraced him with a loving hug put his cheek to his brothers in a gentle hug.
“Easy baby brother I hear your heart beating way too fast trust me you be way stronger.” Dracula said as he pulled Logan back in the door and closed it then he tilted Logan’s head to the side and he bit his neck as Logan screamed.
“NOOO! BROTHER!!!! NOOO! PLEASE!!!! NOOO!” Logan screamed.
Logan died with the blood of Dracula running through his vainest and Dracula’s blood was very powerful. Dracula put his brothers in three tombs and closed them up and said. “In Three days they will be reborn more powerful then before.”
Three knights past and Dracula’s brothers came out of their tombs.
“I refuse to be evil!” Logan Shouted.
His eyes red as blood face pale white he looks like his brothers as they all looked like Dracula.
“We all refuse to be evil!” Drakeul said.
“Lets remove ourselves from this Kingdom of Dracula!” Nathen said.
“I Agree!” Samuel said.
Suddenly The Angel of the Lord appeared it was the Angel Gabriel again.
“No harm can be done to Dracula. Like you he is immortal and will forever be so as for you friends your decisions and Trevor and Alucards decisions will be the results of Dracula’s salvation or his soul forever damned. Now go you are the Guardians of Shalom save the world from your brothers wrath and hunger and save your brother.” The Angel Gabriel said. Then the Angel disappeared Logan up looked and said to his Brothers.
“Y’all go I’m going to Dracula!” Logan said as he walked to the Throne Room of Dracula.
“Little brother you can’t.” Samuel said with concern.
“Yes I have to!” Logan replied.
Logan went out to find his brother. He found his brother in the Castle sitting on his throne with a golden cup full of fresh blood.
“Logan! How’s my baby brother? You looking handsome.” Dracula asked.
“Dracula I will not follow you I will not be evil...” Logan snapped.
“Brother I’m not evil! I did what I had to do!...” Dracula interrupted and said as Logan interrupted him saying.
“Shut up Brother look at yourself look what you become look at the hideous mess you done at front gate half of them was still alive! No brother there’s nothing you can say or do to get me to follow you! You can burn in Harcarsh with the devil! But as long as I can breath you never see your children again.” Logan shouted at Dracula. Logan walked out the door and flew like lightning towards Albion and to the city Camelot he was going to do all he could to make sure those baby boys never be in reach of Dracula.
Ben and Cole made it into Albion and got off at the docks in at a small village of Noplend. No sooner then they showed up Dracula walked the land. Cole was looking at the beautiful land, Ben spoke.
“Cole this is so beautiful!” Ben said
“Yes it is!” Cole replied.
“So glad to see my little brothers friends are keeping my two boys safe.” Dracula said behind them.
They both turned around and saw their King they heard the rumors that spread about the good Great King Gabriel turned to an evil monster known as Dracula, when they saw him fear hit them their kings face was Pale white hair to his shoulders his eyes bloody red his fingernails were like claws and talons.
“My King Gabriel...” Cole said shaken as he tried to bow.
“Stop! My name is Dracula! You two kept my children alive for that I’m grateful but Logan will soon join you and I must show him something when he finds you you be dead and the message will be clear of what I can do, and when you come back as the same as he is he realize I could have kept you both dead!”
In a flash he rushed at Ben but His neck drained his blood and gave him his blood forcing him to swallow it then he broke his neck. Cole seen what happen drew his sword and attacked Dracula yelling at him for killing his best friend. Dracula drew his sword blocking Coles blade and he played with Cole speaking to him as each time the blades met.
“Cole don’t take it personal boy, it has to be this way.” Dracula said to him.
“You killed my Brother.” Cole shouted in anger trying to kill his King that looked like a monster with his red eyes and sharp fangs showing as Dracula started laughing.
“And your next it has to be this way and o yes y’all thank me later.” Dracula said as he grabbed Cole.
“Do you hear your self Dracula or who ever you are now your killing your own!” Cory shouted scared.
Dracula thrust his sword into Coles chest and pulled it out, Cole dropped his sword and feeling the life drain drone him as he felt Dracula bite his neck and drink his blood, Cole pulled away fast Dracula held his weak body closer to him Cole was getting weaker by the second, Dracula bit his wrist and forced Cole to open his mouth and the blood poured in Cole spit it out and Dracula did it again and Cole tried to resist but Dracula covered his mouth with his hand Cole kicked and and tried to get away he died with Dracula’s blood in his mouth the blood went down his throat and spreading through his veins. Dracula heard his sons crying he went and picked them up.
“Hush now it’s ok they both be back watch them and watch Logan. Logan needs to learn you can’t take my sons from me and not get away with it.” Dracula said as he kissed both his sons before he disappeared in blood red smoke.
Logan came and saw what Dracula did to his friends he fell to his knees and wept.
“NOOO!!! NOOO!!!” Logan shouted crying.
He heard Cole gasp air and he rose up quickly as did Ben they both were now vampires their eyes bloody red as Dracula’s and Logan’s was.
“What NO! I’m sorry I’m so sorry this happened to you!” Logan said as he could feel a sharp pain in his heart. The pain was intense more then usual and it stayed it didn’t ease like it used to after awhile.
Dracula laughed.
“Well now sense everyone is up and doing good let’s have a talk about my children!” Dracula said still laughing.
“Brother why did you do this?!?” Logan shouted his tears dropping to the ground like rain.
“Because I can and you learn to love it! Now as for my sons you should know better then to try to keep my children away from me. Y’all will protect my children and y’all find a good family for them and let them be raised by a mother and father and you protect them. Yes I’m not crazy look at me I know I can’t raise my children alone don’t ever try to keep them away from me?” Dracula said stern and angrily.
“Take my kids to King Arther and Queen Guinevere make sure their safe.” Dracula demanded not knowing that Arther and Guinevere didn’t exist yet.
“Um King Gabriel...” Cole said his voice shaken.
Dracula looked at him with a cold glare.
“Dracula Sorry. Um their is no King Arther Or a Queen Guinevere.” Cole corrected himself and then said plainly.
Dracula put his head down confused he started having visions that morning and he was have more he shook his head again.
“Right King Constantine III Arther Pendragon is not born yet. Take my sons to Constantine.
“Dracula are you ok? Brother” Logan said. Despite the situation Logan still Loved Dracula and he could feel the love.
“Shut up and Go!!! Get my kids there!” Dracula shouted he could feel Logan’s love and it was a warmth to his cold heart and it hurt him cause all he could think about was Hope.
When the red smoke he disappeared from them. Logan covered his face and shook his head and looked at the children sleeping and he looked at his friends and said.
“Ben, Cole, I’m sorry I’m sorry he did this to you.” Logan said tears falling from his eyes.
“It’s ok Logan I feel good and strong better then I ever had. But we need to figure out what to do to keep Trevor and Alucard safe.” Ben said hoping to make Logan feel better.
“Your right well let’s go to Camelot.” Logan replied.
“I’m so thirsty. I... I want blood!” Cole said as he held his stomach.
Logan’s thirst hit him to as well as Bens.
“Logan the babies.” Ben said with concern.
A mage appeared he was old his hair and beard was long and white his name was Amorous.
“Logan Bolton Son of Luther Bolton the Vampire that will save Emyrs and Merlin and set them on their paths to their destiny.” Amorous said very happily.
Logan, Ben, and Cole, looked at the mage their mouth was open the smelt his blood and he looked like food to them. Amorous pulled out three big water bags that were full of blood.
“Here drink and get your strength there’s much you have to learn. And let’s get the little ones to a good home.” Amorous said as he gave them the blood to drink. Their long journey began.

For those considering staying
My husband has cheated multiple times on me througout our relationship, with the last being a full on affair with a woman he worked with. The affair was going on while I was planning our wedding! We had already sent out save the dates to 100 people and I had to lie to every single one of them why we were canceling our wedding. We had been together 10 years and he promised and promised it was the last time and that he would change so I took him back.
Fast forward a couple of years to today, we did get married and had a small intimate wedding, we now have a 18 month old daughter and just purchased a beautiful first home. I have everything I ever wanted.. but there is still a huge void I feel. I am still so angry at what he did, and it makes me so depressed that I have everything I've ever wanted, but I never feel happy. On the other hand, he isn't affected at all and is living a dream within the life we created.
I can barely stand to kiss him or even let him cuddle with me or give me a hug. I literally want no physical affection from him because it makes me cringe. My mind gets flooded with the thoughts of what he did and the graphic detailed messages I read between him and the woman he had an affair with. Even if I wanted to be physical, I don't feel I can compete or come close to the wild intimacy they had or ever make him feel the way he felt about her from what I read in their messages back and forth to each other.
I'm so angry that I will live with this void of sadness and resentment for the rest of my life. He absolutely ruined me and destroyed my happiness. So although some people may give you advice to work it out and that things will get better, and maybe for some they do, but that's not always the case. I wish I had run as far away as I could the very first time he cheated... my advice to the first timers out there.

I'll make it as concise as possible, if more details are needed I'll be happy to provide them:

• Us :M40, F40, plus a young child, downstairs neighbour : F40
  
• Our downstairs neighbour (we're in a condo) has had mental health issues for the last 2 years. We've known this through other people. Prior to that, we just exchanged a hello and a smile when we saw each other in the stairs, and never said more than a few words;
  
• However, she started targeting us in the last couple of months, there were 3 incidents that were out of line but individually could seem like a unhinged Karen fed up with her upstairs neighbours.
  
• In the meantime, I learned from neighbours that on her Facebook, she talked about us, and other neighbours, and other people as well, but they were madman's rantings. I said it had to be taken seriously, was promised the account's name as I couldn't find it by myself, but in the next few days I had no news on that front.
  
• Fourth incident was yesterday: we were working from home, and suddenly heard her banging on the door and screaming at the top of her lungs. When I opened the door, she yelled at my wife and I that I raped her daughter, and that my wife poisoned her, and... a few other things that we didn't understand. Another neighbour opened her door and heard her.
  
• I called back the neighbours who mentioned the Facebook messages, explained what had just happened, and insisted that I would need the account's name urgently. They got back to me quickly, took a few screenshots, it was worse than expected. A lot of rambling messages about us, about our daughter, that we were international spies, that I had raped her, raped her daughter, that her daughter had been killed in another neighbour's apartment, with a picture of her kid and a picture of a knife, that my wife is a whore, that she slept with other men, that our daughter isn't ours, and that we should be deported and/or executed, that she wishes we were dead, that she wants us dead, that we're evil, etc, etc.
  
• Because of that, I called the police. I spared no details, told them everything. They told me there were no death threats because she didn't clearly say that she wanted to kill us, but that the repeated incidents were enough to qualify for harassment. They made the clear distinction that any slandelibel would be a civil case and that I should pursue these matters through a lawyer, but that I should know that because of the limited reach of her facebook profile it was unlikely that the endeavor would go far). However, they went to talk to her, and a service called "psycho-social emergencies" was involved.
  
• Police came back to me, told me she was to be committed immediately because of some signs given to the psycho-social emergencies, and asked me if this meant that I felt safer and still wanted to file a criminal complaint for harassment. I thought that since she's a mother, and since it seems like a mental health issue first and foremost, I would not file a complaint yet, but would if anything new ever happened. The police accepted my answer. I got the file # as a reference.
  
• More as a side note than anything: when I saw the status with a pic of her girl and a pic of a knife, I called CPS (the DPJ in Québec). The child hasn't lived with her recently though, but I thought that was one of these "better safe than sorry" situations.
  

My two questions are :

• Did I do the right thing about not filing a complaint just yet? There is now a file # that mentions the harassment situation, she was committed and will receive the care and medication that she needs, and I hope she comes back in a better place mentally.
  
• What should we do about the content on her Facebook? My wife is livid, she wants that gone. However, I say it's a blessing in disguise because at least we have a way to monitor her mental health, and could use any ranting status as a new sign of harassment, and call the police again if need be. Better that than having to wait for her to act. Especially since we have to walk right in front of her door every time we leave the building. If Facebook closed down her account, we'd lose that monitoring tool. On the other hand, while I've been unable to Google her Facebook page in private mode using specific terms and names used in her Facebook messages, I wonder if someday further down the road it could change, and say 5 years from now a future potential employer sees Facebook messages about me being accused of raping a child...
  

When I (21M) got into a relationship with my partner (20F), it was awesome. Then she involved her friends in the relationship. She came off as very codependent to her friends, even saying her friends (20F) are never wrong (you’re gonna see some red flags here that I was stupid to ignore). Met one of her friends - wonderful guy not a bad bone in his body, hope all of them could be Ike that. She expressed (I don’t even know jokingly) that her girl friends were jealous that she got a boyfriend - yet she wanted us to be friends.
I have never met such hypocritical people in my life on first meet. They would criticize my career (I earn decent money in school), my race (they continually called me a brown boy), the fact I didn’t drink underage, they would question my validity as a partner in earshot much to my partner’s silence. They would criticize my colloquialism - I would say “shut the fuck up” when a funny story came up while laughing. They would tell my partner (not me) that they didn’t like it (happy to not say it if it makes them feel uncomfortable) but then they proceeded to tell me to shut the fuck up with impunity. The double standards sucked. The dishing out but not being able to take it sucked. I was always made to be the villain. When I brought these up to my partner - “Oh you feel that way because they have siblings, and you’re an only child”. They showed up to my apartment unannounced when I was on a date with my partner (I live on the 3rd story). After the date was over, they would make plans to go out and say “This is a friends only thing”.
I held my tongue for a lot of disrespect. The people were openly known in their friend group to be third wheels in the relationship. They used to call me a bitch and a groomer (because I had friends who were 2 years younger than me). I used to call the main instigator a horseface after she made fun of my forehead and looks. But then it was too far. They could say whatever to me but the moment I come back I’m in the wrong.
They would openly ask my partner “Did he even get girls before you” to which my partner felt she had to defend her “choice” in me. They would cause fights to the point where I’m crying and hoping I’m no more. I would dream they would make fun of me so much - I would get up and walk out (I actually did this once but chalked it up to having to take a phone call).
They would criticize my race but then ask me to set them up with someone from my race. They would make fun of my career, yet ask me to get them a job. I tried to play nice with these people. On my own birthday, one of these girls was stressing out over organizing a career fair, I walked 40 minutes to help her out. These people would cause fights between us and I would apologize to them about stuff they do to me all the time saying “I just want to be accepted by the group”.
Worst part came when her friends pulled switchblades out on a moving bus as a joke and were brandishing it. I was the only voice of reason telling these people to stop, protecting my partner, motioning others to sit down and telling them that the group can get in so much trouble because of their idiotic behavior. Yet all her friends laughed at the fact I was getting serious. One of her friends had come up to me afterwards and showed me her palm, laughing. It was blood- she had cut her hands on the blades trying to play with the knives. Laughing.
Whether it was them blacking out drunk, headbutting each other, and touching each other inappropriately- I need to make sure no one falls behind or gets in trouble. Her friends would smack me for sitting on their bed by accident just to charge my phone near the wall. Everyone would laugh.
Her friends dressed up during Halloween as red flags (can’t make this up) and they kept making racial remarks to my friend. “Dance white boy”, “bathroom’s over there white boy”, etc. He took it as a joke the first few times but then started to feel uncomfortable. He told me wayyyy too late that this is what he experienced.
One day I had enough of their immaturity, their laughter at my pain, their double standards, and their unresolved hatred. I asked them to treat me with some respect. My partner stood silent as they continue to make insulting and demeaning faces at me and avoid the issue. I had a freeze response. Then my hypervigilance took a toll on me one day in the form of an extreme panic attack (first one ever) where I cried and clutched my chest on a train. They started indifferently. I sat crying with the doctor hugging me, while they called an Uber to go to a bar. They called the paramedics- they were heroes. I had enough, went up and yelled some disgusting things at the main instigator, who was making disgusting invalidating faces at me while I was approaching her for accountability. Called her a horsefaced-bitch. Told her “Why should I die on the train? You go kill yourself!”
My partner threatened to break up with me if her friends had told her to and told me I wasn’t fit to meet her dad. The next day, her friends guilt tripped her “You made a choice to go home with him instead of come with us to the bar”. They talked about how it was “bizarre” why I was so kind to the doctors and the paramedics yet yelled at them. A few days later, the pain in my chest was tough. I went to the doctor, got some tests and was diagnosed with a cardiac arrhythmia as a result of the panic attack. When she told her friends, they said “we don’t care he had a heart attack, we care more about what he yelled at us afterwards”.
Then blame was shifted. I was the scapegoat. They were the ultimate victim. The whole group - people who didn’t even have anything to do with the situation brought up 9 month old issues that I had apologized for. Ganged up. They said I brought too many bad memories to the group.
When I asked my partner why she lets such people run from accountability for their actions. She said how her father told her to never give up on her friends. How her father lets his friends insult him and his wife till she cries. And that was his takeaway.
I broke up with her. I can’t be a doormat like how her mother is to her father and his friends. I told her she was truly spineless for letting this happen to me. Went to a therapist and got my diagnosis for CPTSD. I wasn’t perfect but I tried. I really did. Lesson learned.

When I (21M) got into a relationship with my partner (20F), it was awesome. Then she involved her friends in the relationship. She came off as very codependent to her friends, even saying her friends (20F) are never wrong (you’re gonna see some red flags here that I was stupid to ignore). Met one of her friends - wonderful guy not a bad bone in his body, hope all of them could be Ike that. She expressed (I don’t even know jokingly) that her girl friends were jealous that she got a boyfriend - yet she wanted us to be friends.
I have never met such hypocritical people in my life on first meet. They would criticize my career (I earn decent money in school), my race (they continually called me a brown boy), the fact I didn’t drink underage, they would question my validity as a partner in earshot much to my partner’s silence. They would criticize my colloquialism - I would say “shut the fuck up” when a funny story came up while laughing. They would tell my partner (not me) that they didn’t like it (happy to not say it if it makes them feel uncomfortable) but then they proceeded to tell me to shut the fuck up with impunity. The double standards sucked. The dishing out but not being able to take it sucked. I was always made to be the villain. When I brought these up to my partner - “Oh you feel that way because they have siblings, and you’re an only child”. They showed up to my apartment unannounced when I was on a date with my partner (I live on the 3rd story). After the date was over, they would make plans to go out and say “This is a friends only thing”.
I held my tongue for a lot of disrespect. The people were openly known in their friend group to be third wheels in the relationship. They used to call me a bitch and a groomer (because I had friends who were 2 years younger than me). I used to call the main instigator a horseface after she made fun of my forehead and looks. But then it was too far. They could say whatever to me but the moment I come back I’m in the wrong.
They would openly ask my partner “Did he even get girls before you” to which my partner felt she had to defend her “choice” in me. They would cause fights to the point where I’m crying and hoping I’m no more. I would dream they would make fun of me so much - I would get up and walk out (I actually did this once but chalked it up to having to take a phone call).
They would criticize my race but then ask me to set them up with someone from my race. They would make fun of my career, yet ask me to get them a job. I tried to play nice with these people. On my own birthday, one of these girls was stressing out over organizing a career fair, I walked 40 minutes to help her out. These people would cause fights between us and I would apologize to them about stuff they do to me all the time saying “I just want to be accepted by the group”.
Worst part came when her friends pulled switchblades out on a moving bus as a joke and were brandishing it. I was the only voice of reason telling these people to stop, protecting my partner, motioning others to sit down and telling them that the group can get in so much trouble because of their idiotic behavior. Yet all her friends laughed at the fact I was getting serious. One of her friends had come up to me afterwards and showed me her palm, laughing. It was blood- she had cut her hands on the blades trying to play with the knives. Laughing.
Whether it was them blacking out drunk, headbutting each other, and touching each other inappropriately- I need to make sure no one falls behind or gets in trouble. Her friends would smack me for sitting on their bed by accident just to charge my phone near the wall. Everyone would laugh.
Her friends dressed up during Halloween as red flags (can’t make this up) and they kept making racial remarks to my friend. “Dance white boy”, “bathroom’s over there white boy”, etc. He took it as a joke the first few times but then started to feel uncomfortable. He told me wayyyy too late that this is what he experienced.
One day I had enough of their immaturity, their laughter at my pain, their double standards, and their unresolved hatred. I asked them to treat me with some respect. My partner stood silent as they continue to make insulting and demeaning faces at me and avoid the issue. I had a freeze response. Then my hypervigilance took a toll on me one day in the form of an extreme panic attack (first one ever) where I cried and clutched my chest on a train. They started indifferently. I sat crying with the doctor hugging me, while they called an Uber to go to a bar. They called the paramedics- they were heroes. I had enough, went up and yelled some disgusting things at the main instigator, who was making disgusting invalidating faces at me while I was approaching her for accountability. Called her a horsefaced-bitch. Told her “Why should I die on the train? You go kill yourself!”
My partner threatened to break up with me if her friends had told her to and told me I wasn’t fit to meet her dad. The next day, her friends guilt tripped her “You made a choice to go home with him instead of come with us to the bar”. They talked about how it was “bizarre” why I was so kind to the doctors and the paramedics yet yelled at them. A few days later, the pain in my chest was tough. I went to the doctor, got some tests and was diagnosed with a cardiac arrhythmia as a result of the panic attack. When she told her friends, they said “we don’t care he had a heart attack, we care more about what he yelled at us afterwards”.
Then blame was shifted. I was the scapegoat. They were the ultimate victim. The whole group - people who didn’t even have anything to do with the situation brought up 9 month old issues that I had apologized for. Ganged up. They said I brought too many bad memories to the group.
When I asked my partner why she lets such people run from accountability for their actions. She said how her father told her to never give up on her friends. How her father lets his friends insult him and his wife till she cries. And that was his takeaway.
I broke up with her. I can’t be a doormat like how her mother is to her father and his friends. I told her she was truly spineless for letting this happen to me. Went to a therapist and got my diagnosis for CPTSD. I wasn’t perfect but I tried. I really did. Lesson learned.

It’s pretty much the title. But i feel like we could use a palate cleanser from some of the awful people we see here on Reddit.
I’m Catholic, and for the first 6 years of my education, I went to a private Catholic school. In kindergarten, me and my twin brother (19f, 19m) had a friend, Wyatt (19m). My mom (54f) was his mom’s RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) sponsor, so we ended up spending a lot of time together as kids. In 4th grade, my brothers and I transferred to a different school, and we fell out of touch with Wyatt and the rest of his family.
Fast forward to 2022. My mom is at Costco, and she runs into Wyatt’s dad, Mike. The two get to talking, and they say how they want to get us kids together. That didn’t happen until about a year later. In August of 2023, we went on a joint family camping trip, and every so often when I’m home for the weekend from school, we’d do other family things. We’ve gone zip lining, axe-throwing, hiking, done escape rooms—basically just fun family stuff. It was around that first camping trip that Mom and Mike made things official. For the last four months or so, all of us kids have known on some level that they were going to get married.
They aren’t super over the top around us kids, but we do feel like one big dysfunctional family. It can be really stressful at times for me to be around so many people all at once, but I like it. My younger brother (16m) and Mike’s second son (17m) are already like brothers, and I’m slowly getting closer to his daughter (15f). She’s a sweet girl who’s super tomboyish like me, and we’re each other’s sister we never had.
Mom and Mike had another camping trip planned for this weekend, but I had a previous commitment with a friend, so I stayed home (the benefit was that Mom didn’t have to ask anyone to take care of the dog or the chickens lol). As my friend and I were driving home from our plans today, I was texting with my mom when she said she had a question for me. Seeing as she’d entrusted her house to me, my mind started going worst-case scenario when she said that. I played it cool, and I responded with “Shoot.” She then sends me a picture of her hand with an engagement ring on, and the caption was “Will you be my maid of honor?”
Apparently, she and Mike had hiked to the top of a mountain (they go on hiking trips a lot) and at the top of the mountain, he popped the question. My mom and I had discussed the potential wedding between her and Mike, and she’d said that she only wanted me and Mike’s daughter as her bridesmaids. That said, I accepted. My mother also watches our potato queen’s videos and has seen enough delulu bridezillas dump all the planning on their MOH, and she told me that I will not be responsible for any planning. I will still attempt to plan a bachelorette, which will probably be a tea party in the backyard because I’m not old enough to drink and my mom isn’t a drinker. (But if anyone has ideas for a bachelorette that a college sophomore can throw together, they are greatly appreciated.)
I haven’t even seen my mom’s face, but I was able to feel how happy she is over our texts, and I’m just as happy for her. For the last 10 years, she’s put aside her own needs and focused on making sure my brothers and I were taken care of. She’s bent over backwards for us to make sure we had whatever we needed, all while teaching middle school. My mom is an actual superhero. After all these years of her taking care of us, it makes me so happy and gives me peace of mind that she has someone to take care of her now.
I couldn’t have picked a better guy for her because not only is Mike good to her, he’s good to me and my brothers. He helps my twin get involved with jobs and is good with his boundaries. Whenever he’s working in the same area my college is in, he offers to take me to lunch, and he’s been to both of my orchestra concerts. He helps my other brother work on cars and was there for every ROTC drill competition. Basically, he’s been the father I always wished I had but didn’t get to grow up with. Well, better now than never.

This post isn’t meant to bash good fathers; I (F22) wish I had one myself. I just need to talk to someone who would listen.
I don’t want to call him my dad (M59), he’s just a birth-father to me. I swear, all that man cares about is money. He married my mother (F54) out of obligation had kids out of obligation, and now is just doing whatever the fuck he wants. He forced me into Speech Pathology as a career (one that I’m struggling to achieve, luckily I like the career) and my little brother (M17) into Engineering. Sometimes my brother behaves just like my dad and it scares me.
I had a talk with him a few hours ago, about university acceptances, his concerning behaviours and just him in general. He opened up that he no longer had much of a passion for engineering. In that talk I suggested he gets a degree in Law (he’s really good at arguing lol) or a degree in a job he’d be happy/find fun in doing. In this talk I told him I knew why he always follows my dad around and tried to please him - he wanted my dad’s love and approval. He wanted my dad to (for once) ask him what he wanted in life. He wanted a father who loved him without conditions. I told him it was impossible. That in chasing my dad’s approval, he’d just lose himself, and I told him it wasn’t worth it at all. I saw his face fall - I’m such a cruel big sister, huh? Telling her own brother that their dad never loved them - never has, never will and that even though their mom isn’t much better, she is still better than him. I hope he can forgive me for that, and that he’ll allow himself to find out who he is (outside of my parents) sooner, so he doesn’t have to suffer like me.
I’ve been talking with my mom a lot. I don’t know how she lives with that man. I don’t understand why she always chooses him when he is so terrible to her. He takes her for granted, he verbally and physically abuses her, and has crippled her into an anxious mess. It makes me so mad, if only she was stronger - maybe then my brother and I would have a happier life.
He constantly makes me do his secretary work for his company that he wants to start up or anything. I have not been speaking to him for a week now. I’m so sick and tired of him using me and then not appreciating me in return. It might seem like I’m overreacting, but I’ve sacrificed so much of my life just to make my family happy. I feel like I’m the only adult in my house now. I used to cower like my mom, yell and cry, now I just stay silent. I stay silent as he tries to open the room to my bedroom door (which I have locked), I stay silent as he calls me useless and worthless, I stay silent as he goes upstairs to verbally abuse my brother and mother. Why? Because all he wants is for me to react. All he wants out of this altercation is for me to snap so he can blame me for everything that has happened. I won’t let him do it. I won’t let him use me like that anymore.
Whenever I’m with my immediate family, I feel so used. I can’t wait for the day I move out for good, the times I have in university with my friends now though, is the most alive I have ever been in my life. I don’t have to chase that feeling, I have love all around me now. I don’t need that man anymore (emotionally). Financially for now, I’m pretty stuck (I’m trying to find a job) but that’s okay. I can survive, I’m no longer that scared little girl who’d just cry herself to sleep, I’m a strong young woman.
I don’t know if it is advice I want, maybe I’m just wondering how I can continue to deal with this for the next 3 months. Maybe I also just don’t want to feel alone. As strong as I am, I do still wish I didn’t have to rely on my strength. I wish I could for once have a dad to listen to me as their daughter, to love and cherish me unconditionally. I wish I didn’t have to promise myself to never marry a man like my father in order to be happy. I wish I was happy now.

When I (21M) got into a relationship with my partner (20F), it was awesome. Then she involved her friends in the relationship. She came off as very codependent to her friends, even saying her friends (20F) are never wrong (you’re gonna see some red flags here that I was stupid to ignore). Met one of her friends - wonderful guy not a bad bone in his body, hope all of them could be Ike that. She expressed (I don’t even know jokingly) that her girl friends were jealous that she got a boyfriend - yet she wanted us to be friends.
I have never met such hypocritical people in my life on first meet. They would criticize my career (I earn decent money in school), my race (they continually called me a brown boy), the fact I didn’t drink underage, they would question my validity as a partner in earshot much to my partner’s silence. They would criticize my colloquialism - I would say “shut the fuck up” when a funny story came up while laughing. They would tell my partner (not me) that they didn’t like it (happy to not say it if it makes them feel uncomfortable) but then they proceeded to tell me to shut the fuck up with impunity. The double standards sucked. The dishing out but not being able to take it sucked. I was always made to be the villain. When I brought these up to my partner - “Oh you feel that way because they have siblings, and you’re an only child”. They showed up to my apartment unannounced when I was on a date with my partner (I live on the 3rd story). After the date was over, they would make plans to go out and say “This is a friends only thing”.
I held my tongue for a lot of disrespect. The people were openly known in their friend group to be third wheels in the relationship. They used to call me a bitch and a groomer (because I had friends who were 2 years younger than me). I used to call the main instigator a horseface after she made fun of my forehead and looks. But then it was too far. They could say whatever to me but the moment I come back I’m in the wrong.
They would openly ask my partner “Did he even get girls before you” to which my partner felt she had to defend her “choice” in me. They would cause fights to the point where I’m crying and hoping I’m no more. I would dream they would make fun of me so much - I would get up and walk out (I actually did this once but chalked it up to having to take a phone call).
They would criticize my race but then ask me to set them up with someone from my race. They would make fun of my career, yet ask me to get them a job. I tried to play nice with these people. On my own birthday, one of these girls was stressing out over organizing a career fair, I walked 40 minutes to help her out. These people would cause fights between us and I would apologize to them about stuff they do to me all the time saying “I just want to be accepted by the group”.
Worst part came when her friends pulled switchblades out on a moving bus as a joke and were brandishing it. I was the only voice of reason telling these people to stop, protecting my partner, motioning others to sit down and telling them that the group can get in so much trouble because of their idiotic behavior. Yet all her friends laughed at the fact I was getting serious. One of her friends had come up to me afterwards and showed me her palm, laughing. It was blood- she had cut her hands on the blades trying to play with the knives. Laughing.
Whether it was them blacking out drunk, headbutting each other, and touching each other inappropriately- I need to make sure no one falls behind or gets in trouble. Her friends would smack me for sitting on their bed by accident just to charge my phone near the wall. Everyone would laugh.
Her friends dressed up during Halloween as red flags (can’t make this up) and they kept making racial remarks to my friend. “Dance white boy”, “bathroom’s over there white boy”, etc. He took it as a joke the first few times but then started to feel uncomfortable. He told me wayyyy too late that this is what he experienced.
One day I had enough of their immaturity, their laughter at my pain, their double standards, and their unresolved hatred. I asked them to treat me with some respect. My partner stood silent as they continue to make insulting and demeaning faces at me and avoid the issue. I had a freeze response. Then my hypervigilance took a toll on me one day in the form of an extreme panic attack (first one ever) where I cried and clutched my chest on a train. They started indifferently. I sat crying with the doctor hugging me, while they called an Uber to go to a bar. They called the paramedics- they were heroes. I had enough, went up and yelled some disgusting things at the main instigator, who was making disgusting invalidating faces at me while I was approaching her for accountability. Called her a horsefaced-bitch. Told her “Why should I die on the train? You go kill yourself!”
My partner threatened to break up with me if her friends had told her to and told me I wasn’t fit to meet her dad. The next day, her friends guilt tripped her “You made a choice to go home with him instead of come with us to the bar”. They talked about how it was “bizarre” why I was so kind to the doctors and the paramedics yet yelled at them. A few days later, the pain in my chest was tough. I went to the doctor, got some tests and was diagnosed with a cardiac arrhythmia as a result of the panic attack. When she told her friends, they said “we don’t care he had a heart attack, we care more about what he yelled at us afterwards”.
Then blame was shifted. I was the scapegoat. They were the ultimate victim. The whole group - people who didn’t even have anything to do with the situation brought up 9 month old issues that I had apologized for. Ganged up. They said I brought too many bad memories to the group.
When I asked my partner why she lets such people run from accountability for their actions. She said how her father told her to never give up on her friends. How her father lets his friends insult him and his wife till she cries. And that was his takeaway.
I broke up with her. I can’t be a doormat like how her mother is to her father and his friends. I told her she was truly spineless for letting this happen to me. Went to a therapist and got my diagnosis for CPTSD. I wasn’t perfect but I tried. I really did. Lesson learned.
Was it fair for me to blame her friends for the panic attack? I feel like an idiot trying to explain all the stuff they did to cause it but then they can blame me for the way I reacted/ deflect with past issues.

I can't get over this. We were on vacation with our respective kids, she messaged me accusing me of two things that aren't true and are provable by me, blocked me and ignored my milestone birthday 3 days later. She since unblocked me, probably by accident and can't re-block me for 48 hours. I sent her a thoughtful message outlining why her accusations were untrue, how hurtful she is being, nothing rude/angry but honest and candid. She's been online but hasn't read it (very unlike her). I messaged earlier wishing her 2 year old a happy birthday after she ignored mine. She said she'd let the 2 year old know.
I feel like such an idiot thinking she was my very dear friend. I'm too old for this nonsense and game playing. We have vacationed together and done all kinds of things with our own kids. We talked for hours at times, and every little thing that passed either of our minds, we'd share and laugh or comment on. I would have dropped what I was doing and drove the long distance to her house if she needed me. I feel so betrayed and screwed over and I don't understand how people can do this to others and not care about hurting them. I'm in tears and panicking and I feel like I should know better by my age. This is so hurtful and she won't even talk to me. I don't deserve this. How do I move on and fill this Friend sized hole in my life?

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My second to last quarter just ended and I'm pretty swamped with final reports right now, but I'm almost through. Not to mention, the next seven weeks are going to be pretty light because of a sudden lack of classes, since I busted my butt finishing up my remaining credits. I've decided to dedicate this time to (among other things) a writing frenzy! I wanna get some serioussss backlogs up because who knows how busy I'm going to be after graduation. (Not to mention, I'm having some troubles getting my VISA renewed, but that's a personal issue).
Anyways, don't wanna bore you with irl stuff. You're here for food and gay furry romance! So as always, I hope you enjoy reading! :D
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Note: This is a Fanfic of the Nature of Predators series by u/Spacepaladin15, that is being reposted from the NatureofPredators sub. Please support the original content.
Thank you to Philodox on discord for proofreading and editing RfD.
Thank you to Pampanope on reddit for the cover art.
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Memory Transcript Subject: Sylvan, Venlil Citizen
Date: [Standardized Human Time]: December 13, 2136
​
It wasn’t too long that I was absent from the event. Sure, Kenta and I had run into a few hiccups when trying to load up the cart, but that was to be expected. Just looking at the absolute behemoth of an edible pile that he had somehow been able to put together in such a short amount of time, it was a wonder just how we were able to fit them all on there in the first place. And the promise that there was still more yet to be brought out had left me astonished. If I hadn’t already seen the ravenous vortex of Venlil that had so efficiently done away with the other dishes, I might have actually been worried about leftovers.
The food in question, long tubes made out of some kind of starchy form of strayu and packaged in an even starchier husk, were stacked in circular pyramids atop three large trays. As it turned out, this delicacy was the same “Tamale” recipe that I had heard mentioned the day before, the sheer amount being the product of Kenta’s, Julio’s, and even Jeela’s preparations. Unfortunately, I hadn’t received the full explanation of what they were just yet, but Kenta had thankfully given me at least a quick rundown.
Using the same steaming methods as the gyoza, these tamales had been folded carefully over a mix of fresh, crisp vegetables whose scent floated around each in a rich aura. They were hot out of the steamer, a cloud of gaseous water encircling the air above it in a decadent plume. If I hadn’t known better, with the combined mass of the tamales and the sheer volume of steam they collectively released, it might have made me believe the cart itself to be on fire. But of course, there was no such thing, and the cloud that spread into the sky only served to sweeten the air.
As I rolled out the cart, I looked at one last addition to the ensemble. There in a large bowl was something that Kenta hadn’t mentioned in the slightest when explaining the recipe and reasonings behind the tamales, and I had been so urgent to get these out the door that I’d forgotten to press for more details. It had been left in the refrigerator since the day before, which I had only noticed when doing inventory after the fiasco of event preparations.
‘It completely slipped my mind until now… I’m glad I didn’t forget it. Especially after what that note said.’
When I had found the bowl, a small piece of paper had been taped to it. On which, an alien text had been inscribed that required me to use my visual translator to make any sense of. It had been nothing but obvious that holding up the translator informed me that the language was indeed Terran. But what confused me was that instead of the morphemic script that I had come to slightly recognize from Kenta’s subculture, it instead appeared to be something more alphabetic.
On it, the note simply read: “Make sure to serve this with the tamales, my friend. Don’t forget!”
Additionally, below those words had appeared to be an additional message. That one, however, was partially scribbled out. When I scanned that one as well, the translator had taken a long time to process, and its output remained considerably fractured: “**od l*ck wit* y*u* n*w boyf***nd.”
Having not thought much of the note, I had just barely remembered to retrieve the bowl from the fridge and put it on the card while Kenta was off busy grabbing one last batch of tamales before rushing me out the door. I shook it out of my mind for the time being. After all, right now there were more pressing things to manage.
Wheeling the cart back outside, I was hit with the briefest shortage of breath. It had only been a momentary respite, but shifting from the quiet of the empty diner to the lively atmosphere of a crowded party would never not be a shock. By now, enough people had shown up that the event could already be considered at max capacity. People from all over filled the street, chatting and conversing in a rambunctious, lively gusto.
To see so many people take the time out of their schedules and come down to my family’s diner just because of the promise of our food… It was almost overwhelming, enough to bring a brief tear to the eye reminiscent of my reaction to that very first wave of people Ginro had brought soon after I first hired Kenta. I took a moment just to bask in it. A feeling I had all but begun to grow almost too accustomed to. A feeling of success, and of pride. And as I once again continued pushing the cart past the crowds of chatty party attendees, along with the piles of wool that it entailed, that feeling continued to pour into me. It was all almost too much to hear at once.
“Hey Sylvan! Great party!” said one voice to my left.
“Amazing food as always, Lackadaisy guy! I can’t get enough of these little strayu things in the salad!” piped another to my right.
“Ooooo! What are those things?” asked one more as I passed by them, who excitedly eyed up the stack of tamales I was delivering.
I laughed along and chatted with people on my way to one of the tables, chuckling at their jokes and accepting their praise on behalf of both myself and the mysterious ‘Kahnta.’ With each pleased guest and hungry gaze, I couldn’t help but feel myself bloom in sheer joy at the tidal wave of enthusiastic complements.
That was… until one otherwise innocent comment sounded from behind me.
“So you’re telling me this was all made by one chef?” they asked one of their friends, not intending me to hear as they talked with their mouth half stuffed with food. Looking closer, I could see that they were two Gojids chatting with one another. “Better enjoy it now, I guess. Not gonna be long before some fancy place in the Capital comes and recruits them. Honestly, if the owner of this place wants to have any hope of holding on to them, he better marry them or something.”
The partygoer’s friend laughed, “Well if he doesn’t, then I will! Can you imagine eating something like this every day?”
I couldn’t help but bloom even more overhearing this. But this was a different kind of feeling. Not the gentle warmth of normal delight, but instead the torrid heat of surging emotions. And as I began nonchalantly transferring the steaming tamales to one of the tables, these emotions steamed to the surface of my mind as well.
It was a mix of things that fueled my silent reaction. At first, the implication of asking Kenta into matehood was… well it was certainly something. I was sure the two Gojids were simply making innocent remarks, assuming that the lie about my precious chef being another, completely ordinary Venlil was correct, not realizing in the slightest just how much the implication left me flummoxed. And in normal circumstances, it would have been just that, a simple perk of the ears and a brief daydream of something so far away from me. But after yesterday, things had changed.
The previous day had been eventful, to say the least. I had eaten some amazing pastries and listened to an even more amazing alien melody. Only for it all to come crashing down when my idiotic brain forgot to turn back on the translator before pouring out my entire menagerie of pent up emotions before Kenta. My one chance to seize an opportunity at the height of a courageous high, only to tumble and fall flat during the execution. Even worse, I couldn’t muster the bravery to say the same thing even one more time.
I had completely blown it. And needless to say, I wasn’t exactly keen on remembering my mistakes from that previous day, especially during such a pivotal event. The only mediocre condolence I could take from the whole ordeal being the opportunity of waking up next to Kenta that same day. But even that was cut much too short by the mad rush to get preparation ready for the event.
‘I can still remember how warm he felt… And how peaceful he looked when his eyes were closed…’ I thought to myself in deep reminiscence.
“Hey there Sylvan!”
‘I can’t get it out of my head…! Ugh! I wish it wasn’t just a one time thing…’
“Sylvan?”
‘If we really were together romantically, then maybe I could see that every day… But that’s not–’
“Sylvan!!”
The moment my attention was pulled away from my internal thoughts, I audibly bleated out a high pitched noise of surprise, “Eeep!”
My ears jutted up and my tail straightened like a steel beam. My attention shifted over to my side, where I soon realized Fehnel now stood. She had her paws held firmly on her hips, with a head tilted to the side in a half puzzled, half amused demeanor. Then, when I realized I had been staring a little too long without saying anything, I quickly turned my attention back to the table.
“Oh hey Fehnel!” I stuttered out. “Didn’t see you there!”
“Sorry if I sneaked up on ya, hun,” Fehnel replied with a single wag of the tail. “Got somethin’ on the mind, I’m assumin’?”
The image of Kenta and I huddled together on my couch flashed through my mind once more, before I quickly shook it away. “Uhhhh… Nope! I’m just really focussing here on getting these tamales out.”
“‘Tamales,’ huh?” Fehnel chuckled. “Well between this and that ‘gee-yo-za’ stuff, I think I’m startin’ to give up on predictin’ what crazy name Kahnta’ll come up with next.”
“Yeah it’s pretty… uh–” I coughed awkwardly, clearing something nonexistent out of my throat. “It’s pretty creative.”
“You can say that again. By this point, they’re startin’ to sound almost alien!” Fehnel laughed again, and I cringed as the irony fell over deaf ears. “But hey, who am I to judge! I mean, to me all the stuff on this planet is alien, so what’s another ‘Tamale’ added to the pile, yeah?”
I had to stop my ears and head from shrinking too far towards the ground.
“Anyways, I’m assumin’ these are the actual foods I requested Kahnta to create, right?” Fehnel continued to ask.
“Uh– Y-yeah, yes they ar–” I tried to say before one of Fehnel’s paws suddenly reached out and grabbed my wrist.
“Great!” she beamed, before dragging me away into one of the many chatty piles of fluffy wool that constituted our event.
It didn’t take more than a few rushed steps before I was suddenly pulled in front of another Yotul and Venlil, who I did well to recognize immediately. It seemed as though Kadew and Vuilen had arrived, the former of which looking just about as nervous as I had expected. Vuilen, on the other paw, was anything but. Her tail was wagging furiously, almost impossibly giddy with enthusiasm as her ears shifted around a swivel, likely allowing every new smell and sound to pull her attention to and fro.
Fehnel dragged me forward and plopped me down right in front of the two, before saying, “Tell them what you just told me.”
Vuilen leaned forward, bestowing me her full attention, while Kadew remained stationary, only doing as much as to straighten a single, skeptical ear.
“W-well, uh…” I stumbled, before quickly getting my act together. “Among a number of new strayu recipes, the main entree for today’s event is called ‘Tamales.’”
“Oooo!” Vuilen beamed. “What’s that, Lackadaisy guy? It sounds awesome!”
“According to Kahnta, it’s a mix of vegetables folded in a spongy strayu wrap and steamed inside a starchy husk. And…” I tilted my ears towards Kadew, “It’s supposedly a specialty that is designed to be eaten during times of celebration with family. Regardless of whether they be by blood, or found.”
Kadew huffed a short breath, before folding her arms. But before she got the chance to speak, Vuilen’s enthused voice overtook it. The black and white wooled Venlil leaned into her smaller Yotul partner and pulled them into a strong hug.
“Hear that, Dew? It’s like this food was MADE for your Running Day!” Vuilen piped, bouncing up and down like a cub and bringing the now deeply blooming Kadew along for the ride. “Well… I guess it literally was, but you know what I mean! Either way, there’s like a million new kinds of strayu foods here! Can you believe that? I think I even saw some sylvanas over on that table there! Can you even begin to wonder what they taste like? Oh my Sol, I’m so excited!”
Kadew, whose previously unimpressed countenance now had more steam coming out of her ears than the tamales off in the distance, stuttered out her response. “Uh– Uhmm– That’s… that’s great…”
“I know right!” Vuilen squealed. “This is going to be the BEST Running Day ever! I’m so happy for you!”
I couldn’t help but giggle out in response to this, something which Fehnel had long since been doing on her own volition. Unfortunately for Kadew, this did nothing to ease the sheer amount of embarrassment already flying around her dazed face.
“Of course, all guests are free to eat their fill, especially those invited by the Claw’s Lady herself,” I said, before gesturing a paw towards Fehnel. “All of it has been covered in advance by our generous sponsor.”
Vuilen retreated from her hug just as quickly as it had started, twisting her attention back towards Fehnel and I. “Really? I still can’t believe you’re just giving away all this for free!”
She walked towards the two of us, leaving a still dazed Kadew behind her, before rushing to give Fehnel herself another brief hug. “Thank you so much again for organizing something like this, ma’am.”
Fehnel returned the embrace, having nothing but pure pride and joy radiate through her voice. “Of course, hun. I hope you and my daughter enjoy your date.”
“Oh we will!” Vuilen replied quickly, pulling back once again. Just as fast, she began making a beeline for the buffet tables, almost disappearing into the crowd of fellow Venlil fluff before her voice was heard once more. “I’ll be back in a jiffy, Dew! I just gotta try some of this stuff before it’s all gone!”
Before she was out of range, I twisted around, raised a paw up to my mouth, and stood up high to help carry my voice after her. “Don’t forget to save room for dessert!”
Turning back, I joined Fehnel once again in her chuckling. It didn’t take long for Fehnel to comment on the situation now that Vuilen was out of earshot.
She leaned over and gently nudged me in the leg with her tail. “She’s a riot, ain’t she? Does my daughter know how to pick em’, or what?”
“Oh yeah, I’ve seen them together in the diner all the time. Honestly, I’ve been wondering how long it was going to take to knit that scarf,” I commented, referencing one of the more common and romantic Venlil courtship rituals.
“Guys I can HEAR YOU!” Kadew yelped, now seemingly freed of her hug-induced daze.
“Oh hun don’t you worry yourself about us,” Fehnel replied, a slight hum to her voice. “Us adults can’t help but watch the young love bloom.”
“That guy’s barely older than I am!” Kadew shot back, raising a finger to point at me.
I raised two paws in defence, much too similar to the way Kenta does when he’s been caught teasing me. “Hey, doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate it when I see it. You’re doing great, by the way.”
The teasing, however, had been lost on her. I had meant it in good will, but my words had only served to aggravate Kadew, and she huffed out an annoyed breath. Then, she started stomping rapidly in place, her trained legs moving in a blur like overclocked turbines. From even the briefest glance, I could tell that something had been pulling away at her tail, and our comments were doing it no favours.
“Uhh… are you alright?” I asked tentatively.
“ARGH!” she groaned back. “No! No, I am very much NOT alright! Running Day’s here already, I feel like a pile of speh, my fur’s a mess, and I’m FREAKING THE BRAHK OUT!!”
‘Quite the vocabulary on this one, apparently,’ I judged silently, wondering how my mother would have reacted to hearing me talk like that.
“Honey, Vuilen’s not gonna care about any of that silly stuff,” Fehnel said jovially. “Why, I remember bein’ covered in dried mud the first time I went on a date with your father. We went down to the creek together and took turns tossing water at each other. Then, we went down to the local actin’ house and watched a show. But even after all of that, I still had a bit of dried mud crusted on my fur, but your father didn’t mind. Said it gave me ‘character,’ of all the silly things.”
“Isn’t dried mud just dirt?” I asked.
“Naw, see, dirt is sand, silt, and clay, but it only becomes mud when it has a higher content of clay.”
“So then what happens when dirt gets wet but doesn’t have a lot of clay?”
“Wet dirt.”
“Ah.”
“WHAT ARE YOU BRAHKING TALKING ABOUT!?” Kadew squealed in a panic, her stomping had not ceased in the slightest. She threw her paws up and pulled her ears down over her eyes. “Dirt and mud! That’s all that we Yotul talk about apparently! And trains! Can’t forget the brahking trains! Stars above, that’s all people ever say!”
“Trains are cool,” I said indifferently.
“I don’t care!” she huffed, before turning to Fehnel. “Mom. What if Vuilen comes back and sees you talking about dirt? She’ll just see that it’s the only thing a primitive uplift is capable of understanding! Do you really want to prove her right?”
Fehnel looked shocked, but replied nonetheless. “Has… she said something like that before?”
“Well…! No…! But…” Kadew stomped again. “She might, okay!? Especially if she sees you actively talking about it!”
“To be fair, I asked,” I replied. “Besides, Vuilen seems like a smart girl. She wouldn’t make a rash assumption about the Yotul based off some random remark. Relationships are stronger than that. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
“What do you know about it!?” Kadew shot back, releasing her ears and letting them perk up to max height. “Unless I missed something, I don’t see you dating any other Venlil in that restaurant of yours! How do you know if any of this is fine!?”
Fehnel’s voice soured immediately. “Kadew! That is no way to talk to our new business partner! He was just tryin’ to help! Apologize this instant!”
Realizing something had shifted without my notice, I tried to mellow my voice in an attempt to calm the situation down. “Oh, that won’t be necessar–”
“No,” Fehnel interrupted. “I refuse to let my daughter be rude to anyone. We might not have much, but we at least have manners.” She turned her attention back to her daughter. “Kadew, if you have a problem, then I want you to tell me about it. If there’s somethin’ we can do to help, then–”
“No no, it’s not…” Kadew replied, bringing two fingers up to pinch the bridge of her snout. “It’s not that…”
“It’s not what?” Fehnel tried to guess. “It’s with Vuilen, isn’t it? You’re afraid she’ll not be able to appreciate the Runnin’ Day? Listen, I know this isn’t Leirn, but Sylvan and I are kickin’ our hardest to make it special for you regardless. Sure, it’s not the most traditional, but I’m sure Vuilen won’t mind! I understand that livin’ on a new planet is taxin’, the gravity here especially, but as foreigners it’s our job to show these nice people where we come from. We’re Yotul, and nothin’ will change that!”
“Mom…” Kadew grunted back, before taking a deep breath.
Before she could speak, Fehnel continued with a proud wag to her tail. “Do you remember what a Runnin’ Day is all about, Kadew? It’s about all the cubs that came of age that year comin’ together and sayin’ that they’ll be fine by themselves. But it’s also about family. It’s about knowin’ that no matter where you run off to, I’ll be there to support you. But you’re makin’ it real hard to do that every time you don’t tell me what the matter is! And if you don’t, how can I make this Runnin’ Day the best it can–”
“But it’s not a Running Day, is it!” Kadew yelled, instantly shutting Fehnel up.
Her mother stared forward blankly, stumbling over a few unclear words. “Wh-what do you…”
“It’s not a Running Day!” Kadew repeated. “It’s not! I mean look around you!” She lifted her arms up dramatically, motioning towards the crowds of unaware Venlil around us. “We’re the only Yotul here! We’re the only two people that even know what a Running Day is, and I’m pretty sure we’re the only people that care!”
I tried to speak, “Umm… I know what a Running Day i–” but the look of animosity Kadew immediately shot my way gave me Jeela flashbacks, and I shut up just as quick.
“Kadew… Hun, that’s not true,” Fehnel tried to defend. “I’m sure they’d be willing to open their minds if we just–”
“What? Tell them all about how great it is to come from an Uplift planet? Talk about brahking DIRT some more!? Careful there Mom, don’t want to spoil their meal!” Kadew continued her berating. “Because you and I both know that the only reason anyone even showed up to this thing is because of that guy’s food!” Another finger was shot out in my direction. “Even you know there’s nothing special about your stupid Uplift culture! There’s nothing here even remotely related to the Yotul! It’s all just Venlil decorations and Venlil food, for our solely Venlil guests! And look!!” She pointed directly at the statue Jeela had placed as the centerpiece. “They have a statue of a Venlil as the center of everything! It’s the star attraction, not us! They couldn’t give a damn about me or Running Day or our culture or… or anything!”
Fehnel appeared to be on the verge of tears.
“And now I’ve got to find some kind of excuse for all this!” Kadew added. “It’s bad enough I had to drag Vuilen into pretending to care about the Yotul. But now the entire town is a part of it too! They’re laughing at us, Mom! Just like at school! Just like everywhere else I go! They’re laughing at us and you’re proud about it!”
From the verge of tears, Fehnel’s voice had croaked into a soft weep. A glimmering stream of water had begun to crawl down the ridge of her rust-coloured face.
“I hate being born a Yotul! I hate this gross, rusty fur! I hate everyone thinking I’m primitive and that I must be in love with trains and steam engines! And I hate you trying to push your culture on me! Cause guess what? I’ve never even seen Leirn! It’s NOT my home and you need to stop pretending it is!”
Fehnel stood simply aghast, the occasional choked-up garble of sounds emerging from her throat. Meanwhile, I stood speechless as well. Obviously, I had accidentally walked in on and been exposed to something that had been going on for quite a while. But even worse, it seems as though I had done nothing but fanned the flame of this long-fueled fire. Instinctively, I began taking a few steps back to give the two their space, which went unnoticed by either party.
Fehnel swallowed, her eyes still welling tears. “I… I…” she tried to say, but no words would form. Instead, she choked on her own voice. And Kadew, who stood waiting for a response, sucked in heavy loads of air in the fleeting hope to catch her breath.
But instead of an answer, all that any of us heard was a scream.
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The boy who took my heart
but gave it back after crumbling it
Daylan Meadows my first heartbreak, it was truly one of the biggest learning experiences I’ve had so far. I loved him, I really did, and I know he loved me. But, not a single relationship is perfect. We weren't even close to perfect, but it felt perfect. He felt perfect. What I didn't realize was how emotionally damaging that relationship was until I lost him.
It was the summer of 2020, mid June when we first met. I was thirteen and he was seventeen. That night I was with all of my friends, we picked him up from his mamaw's house. At the time we were in different relationships. He was with a girl named Ciara, and was living with her in Berea. I was with a boy named Sam. Which was Daylans cousin, but I had met him through Jayla way before Daylan. But that night I remember seeing him, there was something different and special about him. We all drove around for a while talking and laughing about the most random things. We haven't really talked that night or after, there were times we would catch each other looking at the other. After a week or two Sam and I broke up. Jayla and I wanted to go do something before we packed her stuff to her apartment, so we invited Daylan. While driving around he had asked me how my relationship was going. Before I could say anything, Jayla told him that Sam and I broke up. He told me he was sorry to hear that but when I looked at the rearview mirror he had a big beautiful smile on his face. He started flirting with me, and we instantly connected. He told me how he and Ciara were over but he was still trying to get the stuff his papaw gave him. He never lied to me about their relationship. So we were always hanging out with each other, but he didn’t want everyone knowing, because he didn't want to hurt Sam. We hid it for a little bit. Then one day we were riding around with everyone, me and him were in the back seat. I had laid my head down because I had gotten car sick. When he saw he laid his head down with me making sure I was okay. Afterwards, he laid his hand on my knee showing me he was there for me not caring who saw.
I was falling for him. Everything about him I was falling for, the way his eyes form a yellow sunflower in the brightest baby blue, how they glistened in the sun, the way his big smile could bring light to every dark corner, the freckles that are placed perfectly on his skin, the way his voice made me feel at home, or how his jokes was always funny, but the way he looked at me, the way his skin peacefully touched mine, and the way he spoke to me with love are some of the many reasons I was falling in love with him. There was a night I never wanted to let him go. We laid there, soaking in every moment. He thought I had already fallen asleep, he pulled me in closer rubbing his finger against my cheek. I could feel him looking at me, but not just looking at me he saw me for who I was. He saw me. That’s all I ever wanted, and he gave it to me. The next morning It was just me and him and things started to progress. But the one thing I didn’t want him seeing, he saw. I was waiting for him to judge me, he never did. Instead he asked me why, the one thing no one took the time to ask. I opened up to him and he saw me, he understood me. He helped me. We were never apart, we were figuring out life together. He ended up living with me for a couple months. He was the first person to meet my mom. After we had gone and seen her, we had to stay at my aunt's house after we got back. The day we were leaving she had gotten into an argument with me. A lot of it was because of our age. Then that night he had to go back and live at his mamaws, but he was always there when I needed him. It never made us any different. He never left, he always chose me.
A year goes by 2021, we did everything together, we were experiencing everything together. Even though we had a hard time with our relationship we promised we will get through it together. We facetimed everyday, and sleep on the phone together. We even had a good night saying that we would say every night. We had gotten a dog, her name was lady may. We called her lady. After we had her for a while we had gotten willow. He and I did everything together and we always supported each other. I always made sure everyone knew I was his biggest fan. One time he let me bleach his hair and it had turned out orange. It was the funniest thing ever. We laughed about it for days. It was the little things that truly meant the most. We went to birthday parties, dinners, get-togethers, we were always there for one another. We opened up to each other more about our past. There were times we held each other on my bedroom floor as we cried together. We were learning more about each other everyday. He helped me eat when I couldn't even move out of bed. He would set alarms for every hour, so I could at least take a bite of something. He helped me when everyone was against me. He always stuck up for me. We loved each other more everyday.
After two years 2022, he got his own place, Sam and his dad Matt were also living with him. The relationship was getting hard, he would want me to stay the night with him but wouldn't want me to stay alone with Sam. I had understood why, that wasn't the problem though. The problem was he didn't trust me, so I would have to get Alicia to come over when he worked. Then he would still tell me how he dont trust me. I told him I could go home when he was going to work. Then that would lead to another argument because I didn't want to spend time with him. But we promised we would get through it together, and we did. That September he went 3 hours away for trade school. It sucked at first we missed seeing each other everyday but we still stayed. We got through it together. He came home and signed up for the marines. I didn't know about it until after. At first I was mad he didn't talk to me about it, after i supported him in every way possible. I was so proud of him, I still am. He had come so far in life and was chasing his dreams. How could i not support the boy who was so excited, the boy i loved more than anything, more than myself, the boy i wanted to be happy. He was happy so I supported him and that December he left. We wrote letters back and forth for three months. I was the first person he called when he only had one phone call and hadn't talked to anyone. When he came home it was like we had never been apart. Every little moment meant so much to us. Trying to salvage every ounce of each other before he had to go. Most of the time we sat in bed watching our favorite shows, talking about everything that has happened in the past three months. Then he had to leave all over again.
Summer 2023 was the hardest. He had gone back but was moved to North Carolina. We were doing so good, until we weren't. We argued all the time, he wouldn't call me or he would stay out all night and ignore me. I tried so hard to work it out. We promised we will get through it together. I went to visit him 9 hours away from home with my brother, Savannah, and sissy. The whole time we were there I had a feeling, I didn't know what it was.Then that night I ended up going through his phone. I didn't find anything serious but it did cause an argument. He had blamed it on me because I went through his phone and the only reason he was mad was because I woke him up. But I forgave him and pushed it away. He always apologized and tried to make it up to me, we always got through it together. I had ended up getting home 3 days after, that night we were on FaceTime and he was already asleep. I kept getting the feeling that I wanted to login to his Snapchat. At first I didn’t but the thought of it was making me sick. I knew something wasn’t right, and when I did I found it. I'll never be able to describe the sinking feeling in my chest, the feeling of wanting to throw up because your world is crumbling down, that full minute of silence, betrayal, heartbreak, how every breath felt harder and harder to reach, the way my hands started shaking with nothing but the thoughts racing through my head, and how my knees felt like giving out each step i took when walking down stairs to savannah. I don’t even know how I formed enough words or power to tell her I needed her to come upstairs with me. She could just see the look on my face. Running up the stairs I handed her my phone. Before she could even say anything I was on my knees bawling cursing him. I had woken him up, and he seemed so worried about me. Asking me what was wrong, what happened, am I okay? But I told him I knew about kaylee, the girl he was in the marines with and he went silent. Every question he said nothing, I called him every name in the book. Nothing. After 3 hours he finally told me. And I got off the phone. He checked on me every hour begging me to call him. I had ended things, I was so wrapped up in our relationship that I didn't think I could live without him. But at that moment I could. That was the first time he broke my heart, because even though we got back together, that wasn’t the end of it for him.
Two weeks later we found out I was pregnant, we were fixing everything we were doing well. I was still hurt but I had a baby to worry about now. We were so excited, we were planning everything. Until I started bleeding I knew something was wrong the first time it happened, everyone told me it was normal to spot in your first trimester. After a couple of days of bleeding more I went to the hospital. They did all kinds of tests and told me to come back in forty eight hours to check my hcg levels. When I went back my levels were dropping, they told me to come back in forty eight again. The day I was supposed to go back was horrible. I got up that morning, and was going to make myself some oatmeal. I was washing a bowl out, and got every light headed. I sat down for a minute, once I wasn't light headed anymore I got back up and continued to make the oatmeal. Not even a minute after standing back up I felt like I was going to pass out and throw up at the same time. Savannah was in the kitchen with me and she helped me sit down. She was going to finish making my oatmeal but I had to get up and run to the bathroom. I was trying to throw up but I couldn't. I had put myself on the toilet and pushed. My whole body drained, I was in so much pain. I managed to wipe myself and pull my underwear up, then I was on the floor screaming and crying. Savannah was trying to give me medicine but I was throwing everything up. She had called my sister, once she got there they put me in the car. I was passing in and out from the pain, my sister was rushing me to the hospital. After they took what feels like every test in the world, they finally told me. I was having a miscarriage. At first I didn't know how to feel but that night Savannah laid in bed holding me as I was bawling, asking God why he is doing this to me. Daylan tried to be there but didn’t know how. The next two weeks were really hard. Daylan got to come home, we never talked about the miscarriage. We fought the whole time because I found more stuff on his phone. I promised him I would never touch his phone again that I put it on our baby, and the words I never thought I would hear from him hurt me more than anything I’ve experienced. He told me we didn’t have a baby together. He broke my heart again. Those three weeks we were together again, I would cry almost every day in fear of an argument because I didn't want him out all night drinking. I had to beg him numerous times to not drink, he would be a complete asshole. But at the end of the day I would try and do everything I could to show I was a good girlfriend and that I was worth keeping. Then he left again, we were off and on that whole time nothing really changed. We argued or wouldn’t talk at all, there would be times where we would laugh and joke about everything because we saw each other. We were the only people who knew each other inside and out. The special FaceTime movie nights and how he would beg me to sing him to sleep. That never changed. My love for him always stayed the same. We’ll get through this together. We had to, we promised we would. Maybe this time we can fix it, maybe when he comes back home.
I never thought that when he did come home it would be the last time I saw him. I was so excited to be with him to be able to spend time together. But this would be the time he proves to me that he is changing and becoming better for us. The first night was amazing. We laid on the couch laughing and crying because we didn’t want to let each other go. He asked me if we were going to be okay with tears in his eyes. While holding him I told him yes we are going to be okay we are going to get through this together. He left the next morning. I didn't see him for two days. He told me he was going to hang out with buddies, but I never heard of them until then. I knew something wasn’t right, so I told him that. He told me I have nothing to worry about because he wants to come see me when I get home. On my way to my sisters I was telling Jayla about him going to Leslie co and that’s when she told me a girl named alyssa from there is reacting to his Facebook post. I ended up texting him about it and the whole time he lied to me. So I texted her and she told me the truth, and that indescribable feeling in your chest, the silence, the breaths, it all came flowing back as I’m on the kitchen floor of my sister's house bawling, begging god for us to be okay, begging god to not let me lose him. That’s when he texted me saying we will never be okay and we know that. He broke my heart again. I was begging for him not to go. I was laying in bed that night with the worst ache in my chest begging him to choose me. But he didn’t, after three years and everything we’ve been through he didn’t choose me. As my world was crumbling he handed me my crumble up heart, and chose hers. I packed up everything over the past three years for him to come get. And he did, he held me for the last time as I buried my wet face into where his neck met his shoulder. I wanted to memorize his scent as he drove away. I watched him turn away to leave and I swear to you I wanted to scream. I wanted to run after him, I wanted to beg him one more time to choose me, to love me, I wanted him. Then he drove away perfectly fine, not looking back, leaving me and my crumbled heart behind.
It’s been six months. You didn't tell me happy birthday three months ago, I waited all day. It was so hard at first, I didn't know how to be without him. He’s all I’ve ever known. But now I've felt so relieved and happy. I made plans to actually hang out with my friends again, focus on school and I've passed all of my classes for the first time in years. I know he would be so proud of me, we would be celebrating. I’ve hardly cried. And I still miss him everyday and hope for a text or call. He meant the world to me, he was honestly my best friend. I wouldn't change anything about us, I would never choose anyone else to go through it with. I will always care for him, and I'll forever wish he would come back one day so we can make it right. Maybe one day when we have grown up our paths will lead us back to each other, and we won't give up. But right now I feel like myself again. And they seem happy together. I would never want to get in their way or ruin their relationship. All I want is for him to be happy and if she's what makes him happy that's good enough for me. Although I was scared to lose him, I now love myself. I love him and I always will, but with loving him, I figured out how to love myself because Corinthians 13:4-8 “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” I hope love never fails you, I hope you never have to question your worth, I hope you find peace in your sad moments because hunny you deserve the world and its entirety. You're a reminder that there is love on the hardest days. A reminder that even though I was in a bad place, I don’t need anyone but myself to be happy and honest. You showed me everything I was capable of. You showed me the importance of loving myself before I lose myself. You showed me how important I am to others. I lost myself through it all but in the end I picked myself back up and continued walking forward. I finally see myself with love and beauty, as if all my insecurities had gone away. I see myself how you once saw me. I know how happy you would be for me and all of my accomplishments. You would be hyping me up for days, you would remind me every hour that I'm doing amazing, how proud you are, and how you knew I could do it. I just wish you realize before it’s too late, you need to love yourself before others. You could lose yourself on the way. Not all stories have a happy ending, but ours had a happy middle and beginning and that will always be enough because it means that we are a story worth remembering. That our love was real, because loving you is easy and letting go is hard. I so deeply love you Daylan Meadows. I hope one day we can come together, and love won’t fail us. So please don't forget the songs we listened to, or the things we talked about, the little inside jokes we had, or the laughs we shared. Please don't forget my smile, or the sound of my voice. Just please don't forget me.
Love, Neo<3

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My second to last quarter just ended and I'm pretty swamped with final reports right now, but I'm almost through. Not to mention, the next seven weeks are going to be pretty light because of a sudden lack of classes, since I busted my butt finishing up my remaining credits. I've decided to dedicate this time to (among other things) a writing frenzy! I wanna get some serioussss backlogs up because who knows how busy I'm going to be after graduation. (Not to mention, I'm having some troubles getting my VISA renewed, but that's a personal issue).
Anyways, don't wanna bore you with irl stuff. You're here for food and gay furry romance! So as always, I hope you enjoy reading! :D
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Thank you to Philodox on discord for proofreading and editing RfD.
Thank you to Pampanope on reddit for the cover art.
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Memory Transcript Subject: Sylvan, Venlil Citizen
Date: [Standardized Human Time]: December 13, 2136
​
It wasn’t too long that I was absent from the event. Sure, Kenta and I had run into a few hiccups when trying to load up the cart, but that was to be expected. Just looking at the absolute behemoth of an edible pile that he had somehow been able to put together in such a short amount of time, it was a wonder just how we were able to fit them all on there in the first place. And the promise that there was still more yet to be brought out had left me astonished. If I hadn’t already seen the ravenous vortex of Venlil that had so efficiently done away with the other dishes, I might have actually been worried about leftovers.
The food in question, long tubes made out of some kind of starchy form of strayu and packaged in an even starchier husk, were stacked in circular pyramids atop three large trays. As it turned out, this delicacy was the same “Tamale” recipe that I had heard mentioned the day before, the sheer amount being the product of Kenta’s, Julio’s, and even Jeela’s preparations. Unfortunately, I hadn’t received the full explanation of what they were just yet, but Kenta had thankfully given me at least a quick rundown.
Using the same steaming methods as the gyoza, these tamales had been folded carefully over a mix of fresh, crisp vegetables whose scent floated around each in a rich aura. They were hot out of the steamer, a cloud of gaseous water encircling the air above it in a decadent plume. If I hadn’t known better, with the combined mass of the tamales and the sheer volume of steam they collectively released, it might have made me believe the cart itself to be on fire. But of course, there was no such thing, and the cloud that spread into the sky only served to sweeten the air.
As I rolled out the cart, I looked at one last addition to the ensemble. There in a large bowl was something that Kenta hadn’t mentioned in the slightest when explaining the recipe and reasonings behind the tamales, and I had been so urgent to get these out the door that I’d forgotten to press for more details. It had been left in the refrigerator since the day before, which I had only noticed when doing inventory after the fiasco of event preparations.
‘It completely slipped my mind until now… I’m glad I didn’t forget it. Especially after what that note said.’
When I had found the bowl, a small piece of paper had been taped to it. On which, an alien text had been inscribed that required me to use my visual translator to make any sense of. It had been nothing but obvious that holding up the translator informed me that the language was indeed Terran. But what confused me was that instead of the morphemic script that I had come to slightly recognize from Kenta’s subculture, it instead appeared to be something more alphabetic.
On it, the note simply read: “Make sure to serve this with the tamales, my friend. Don’t forget!”
Additionally, below those words had appeared to be an additional message. That one, however, was partially scribbled out. When I scanned that one as well, the translator had taken a long time to process, and its output remained considerably fractured: “**od l*ck wit* y*u* n*w boyf***nd.”
Having not thought much of the note, I had just barely remembered to retrieve the bowl from the fridge and put it on the card while Kenta was off busy grabbing one last batch of tamales before rushing me out the door. I shook it out of my mind for the time being. After all, right now there were more pressing things to manage.
Wheeling the cart back outside, I was hit with the briefest shortage of breath. It had only been a momentary respite, but shifting from the quiet of the empty diner to the lively atmosphere of a crowded party would never not be a shock. By now, enough people had shown up that the event could already be considered at max capacity. People from all over filled the street, chatting and conversing in a rambunctious, lively gusto.
To see so many people take the time out of their schedules and come down to my family’s diner just because of the promise of our food… It was almost overwhelming, enough to bring a brief tear to the eye reminiscent of my reaction to that very first wave of people Ginro had brought soon after I first hired Kenta. I took a moment just to bask in it. A feeling I had all but begun to grow almost too accustomed to. A feeling of success, and of pride. And as I once again continued pushing the cart past the crowds of chatty party attendees, along with the piles of wool that it entailed, that feeling continued to pour into me. It was all almost too much to hear at once.
“Hey Sylvan! Great party!” said one voice to my left.
“Amazing food as always, Lackadaisy guy! I can’t get enough of these little strayu things in the salad!” piped another to my right.
“Ooooo! What are those things?” asked one more as I passed by them, who excitedly eyed up the stack of tamales I was delivering.
I laughed along and chatted with people on my way to one of the tables, chuckling at their jokes and accepting their praise on behalf of both myself and the mysterious ‘Kahnta.’ With each pleased guest and hungry gaze, I couldn’t help but feel myself bloom in sheer joy at the tidal wave of enthusiastic complements.
That was… until one otherwise innocent comment sounded from behind me.
“So you’re telling me this was all made by one chef?” they asked one of their friends, not intending me to hear as they talked with their mouth half stuffed with food. Looking closer, I could see that they were two Gojids chatting with one another. “Better enjoy it now, I guess. Not gonna be long before some fancy place in the Capital comes and recruits them. Honestly, if the owner of this place wants to have any hope of holding on to them, he better marry them or something.”
The partygoer’s friend laughed, “Well if he doesn’t, then I will! Can you imagine eating something like this every day?”
I couldn’t help but bloom even more overhearing this. But this was a different kind of feeling. Not the gentle warmth of normal delight, but instead the torrid heat of surging emotions. And as I began nonchalantly transferring the steaming tamales to one of the tables, these emotions steamed to the surface of my mind as well.
It was a mix of things that fueled my silent reaction. At first, the implication of asking Kenta into matehood was… well it was certainly something. I was sure the two Gojids were simply making innocent remarks, assuming that the lie about my precious chef being another, completely ordinary Venlil was correct, not realizing in the slightest just how much the implication left me flummoxed. And in normal circumstances, it would have been just that, a simple perk of the ears and a brief daydream of something so far away from me. But after yesterday, things had changed.
The previous day had been eventful, to say the least. I had eaten some amazing pastries and listened to an even more amazing alien melody. Only for it all to come crashing down when my idiotic brain forgot to turn back on the translator before pouring out my entire menagerie of pent up emotions before Kenta. My one chance to seize an opportunity at the height of a courageous high, only to tumble and fall flat during the execution. Even worse, I couldn’t muster the bravery to say the same thing even one more time.
I had completely blown it. And needless to say, I wasn’t exactly keen on remembering my mistakes from that previous day, especially during such a pivotal event. The only mediocre condolence I could take from the whole ordeal being the opportunity of waking up next to Kenta that same day. But even that was cut much too short by the mad rush to get preparation ready for the event.
‘I can still remember how warm he felt… And how peaceful he looked when his eyes were closed…’ I thought to myself in deep reminiscence.
“Hey there Sylvan!”
‘I can’t get it out of my head…! Ugh! I wish it wasn’t just a one time thing…’
“Sylvan?”
‘If we really were together romantically, then maybe I could see that every day… But that’s not–’
“Sylvan!!”
The moment my attention was pulled away from my internal thoughts, I audibly bleated out a high pitched noise of surprise, “Eeep!”
My ears jutted up and my tail straightened like a steel beam. My attention shifted over to my side, where I soon realized Fehnel now stood. She had her paws held firmly on her hips, with a head tilted to the side in a half puzzled, half amused demeanor. Then, when I realized I had been staring a little too long without saying anything, I quickly turned my attention back to the table.
“Oh hey Fehnel!” I stuttered out. “Didn’t see you there!”
“Sorry if I sneaked up on ya, hun,” Fehnel replied with a single wag of the tail. “Got somethin’ on the mind, I’m assumin’?”
The image of Kenta and I huddled together on my couch flashed through my mind once more, before I quickly shook it away. “Uhhhh… Nope! I’m just really focussing here on getting these tamales out.”
“‘Tamales,’ huh?” Fehnel chuckled. “Well between this and that ‘gee-yo-za’ stuff, I think I’m startin’ to give up on predictin’ what crazy name Kahnta’ll come up with next.”
“Yeah it’s pretty… uh–” I coughed awkwardly, clearing something nonexistent out of my throat. “It’s pretty creative.”
“You can say that again. By this point, they’re startin’ to sound almost alien!” Fehnel laughed again, and I cringed as the irony fell over deaf ears. “But hey, who am I to judge! I mean, to me all the stuff on this planet is alien, so what’s another ‘Tamale’ added to the pile, yeah?”
I had to stop my ears and head from shrinking too far towards the ground.
“Anyways, I’m assumin’ these are the actual foods I requested Kahnta to create, right?” Fehnel continued to ask.
“Uh– Y-yeah, yes they ar–” I tried to say before one of Fehnel’s paws suddenly reached out and grabbed my wrist.
“Great!” she beamed, before dragging me away into one of the many chatty piles of fluffy wool that constituted our event.
It didn’t take more than a few rushed steps before I was suddenly pulled in front of another Yotul and Venlil, who I did well to recognize immediately. It seemed as though Kadew and Vuilen had arrived, the former of which looking just about as nervous as I had expected. Vuilen, on the other paw, was anything but. Her tail was wagging furiously, almost impossibly giddy with enthusiasm as her ears shifted around a swivel, likely allowing every new smell and sound to pull her attention to and fro.
Fehnel dragged me forward and plopped me down right in front of the two, before saying, “Tell them what you just told me.”
Vuilen leaned forward, bestowing me her full attention, while Kadew remained stationary, only doing as much as to straighten a single, skeptical ear.
“W-well, uh…” I stumbled, before quickly getting my act together. “Among a number of new strayu recipes, the main entree for today’s event is called ‘Tamales.’”
“Oooo!” Vuilen beamed. “What’s that, Lackadaisy guy? It sounds awesome!”
“According to Kahnta, it’s a mix of vegetables folded in a spongy strayu wrap and steamed inside a starchy husk. And…” I tilted my ears towards Kadew, “It’s supposedly a specialty that is designed to be eaten during times of celebration with family. Regardless of whether they be by blood, or found.”
Kadew huffed a short breath, before folding her arms. But before she got the chance to speak, Vuilen’s enthused voice overtook it. The black and white wooled Venlil leaned into her smaller Yotul partner and pulled them into a strong hug.
“Hear that, Dew? It’s like this food was MADE for your Running Day!” Vuilen piped, bouncing up and down like a cub and bringing the now deeply blooming Kadew along for the ride. “Well… I guess it literally was, but you know what I mean! Either way, there’s like a million new kinds of strayu foods here! Can you believe that? I think I even saw some sylvanas over on that table there! Can you even begin to wonder what they taste like? Oh my Sol, I’m so excited!”
Kadew, whose previously unimpressed countenance now had more steam coming out of her ears than the tamales off in the distance, stuttered out her response. “Uh– Uhmm– That’s… that’s great…”
“I know right!” Vuilen squealed. “This is going to be the BEST Running Day ever! I’m so happy for you!”
I couldn’t help but giggle out in response to this, something which Fehnel had long since been doing on her own volition. Unfortunately for Kadew, this did nothing to ease the sheer amount of embarrassment already flying around her dazed face.
“Of course, all guests are free to eat their fill, especially those invited by the Claw’s Lady herself,” I said, before gesturing a paw towards Fehnel. “All of it has been covered in advance by our generous sponsor.”
Vuilen retreated from her hug just as quickly as it had started, twisting her attention back towards Fehnel and I. “Really? I still can’t believe you’re just giving away all this for free!”
She walked towards the two of us, leaving a still dazed Kadew behind her, before rushing to give Fehnel herself another brief hug. “Thank you so much again for organizing something like this, ma’am.”
Fehnel returned the embrace, having nothing but pure pride and joy radiate through her voice. “Of course, hun. I hope you and my daughter enjoy your date.”
“Oh we will!” Vuilen replied quickly, pulling back once again. Just as fast, she began making a beeline for the buffet tables, almost disappearing into the crowd of fellow Venlil fluff before her voice was heard once more. “I’ll be back in a jiffy, Dew! I just gotta try some of this stuff before it’s all gone!”
Before she was out of range, I twisted around, raised a paw up to my mouth, and stood up high to help carry my voice after her. “Don’t forget to save room for dessert!”
Turning back, I joined Fehnel once again in her chuckling. It didn’t take long for Fehnel to comment on the situation now that Vuilen was out of earshot.
She leaned over and gently nudged me in the leg with her tail. “She’s a riot, ain’t she? Does my daughter know how to pick em’, or what?”
“Oh yeah, I’ve seen them together in the diner all the time. Honestly, I’ve been wondering how long it was going to take to knit that scarf,” I commented, referencing one of the more common and romantic Venlil courtship rituals.
“Guys I can HEAR YOU!” Kadew yelped, now seemingly freed of her hug-induced daze.
“Oh hun don’t you worry yourself about us,” Fehnel replied, a slight hum to her voice. “Us adults can’t help but watch the young love bloom.”
“That guy’s barely older than I am!” Kadew shot back, raising a finger to point at me.
I raised two paws in defence, much too similar to the way Kenta does when he’s been caught teasing me. “Hey, doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate it when I see it. You’re doing great, by the way.”
The teasing, however, had been lost on her. I had meant it in good will, but my words had only served to aggravate Kadew, and she huffed out an annoyed breath. Then, she started stomping rapidly in place, her trained legs moving in a blur like overclocked turbines. From even the briefest glance, I could tell that something had been pulling away at her tail, and our comments were doing it no favours.
“Uhh… are you alright?” I asked tentatively.
“ARGH!” she groaned back. “No! No, I am very much NOT alright! Running Day’s here already, I feel like a pile of speh, my fur’s a mess, and I’m FREAKING THE BRAHK OUT!!”
‘Quite the vocabulary on this one, apparently,’ I judged silently, wondering how my mother would have reacted to hearing me talk like that.
“Honey, Vuilen’s not gonna care about any of that silly stuff,” Fehnel said jovially. “Why, I remember bein’ covered in dried mud the first time I went on a date with your father. We went down to the creek together and took turns tossing water at each other. Then, we went down to the local actin’ house and watched a show. But even after all of that, I still had a bit of dried mud crusted on my fur, but your father didn’t mind. Said it gave me ‘character,’ of all the silly things.”
“Isn’t dried mud just dirt?” I asked.
“Naw, see, dirt is sand, silt, and clay, but it only becomes mud when it has a higher content of clay.”
“So then what happens when dirt gets wet but doesn’t have a lot of clay?”
“Wet dirt.”
“Ah.”
“WHAT ARE YOU BRAHKING TALKING ABOUT!?” Kadew squealed in a panic, her stomping had not ceased in the slightest. She threw her paws up and pulled her ears down over her eyes. “Dirt and mud! That’s all that we Yotul talk about apparently! And trains! Can’t forget the brahking trains! Stars above, that’s all people ever say!”
“Trains are cool,” I said indifferently.
“I don’t care!” she huffed, before turning to Fehnel. “Mom. What if Vuilen comes back and sees you talking about dirt? She’ll just see that it’s the only thing a primitive uplift is capable of understanding! Do you really want to prove her right?”
Fehnel looked shocked, but replied nonetheless. “Has… she said something like that before?”
“Well…! No…! But…” Kadew stomped again. “She might, okay!? Especially if she sees you actively talking about it!”
“To be fair, I asked,” I replied. “Besides, Vuilen seems like a smart girl. She wouldn’t make a rash assumption about the Yotul based off some random remark. Relationships are stronger than that. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
“What do you know about it!?” Kadew shot back, releasing her ears and letting them perk up to max height. “Unless I missed something, I don’t see you dating any other Venlil in that restaurant of yours! How do you know if any of this is fine!?”
Fehnel’s voice soured immediately. “Kadew! That is no way to talk to our new business partner! He was just tryin’ to help! Apologize this instant!”
Realizing something had shifted without my notice, I tried to mellow my voice in an attempt to calm the situation down. “Oh, that won’t be necessar–”
“No,” Fehnel interrupted. “I refuse to let my daughter be rude to anyone. We might not have much, but we at least have manners.” She turned her attention back to her daughter. “Kadew, if you have a problem, then I want you to tell me about it. If there’s somethin’ we can do to help, then–”
“No no, it’s not…” Kadew replied, bringing two fingers up to pinch the bridge of her snout. “It’s not that…”
“It’s not what?” Fehnel tried to guess. “It’s with Vuilen, isn’t it? You’re afraid she’ll not be able to appreciate the Runnin’ Day? Listen, I know this isn’t Leirn, but Sylvan and I are kickin’ our hardest to make it special for you regardless. Sure, it’s not the most traditional, but I’m sure Vuilen won’t mind! I understand that livin’ on a new planet is taxin’, the gravity here especially, but as foreigners it’s our job to show these nice people where we come from. We’re Yotul, and nothin’ will change that!”
“Mom…” Kadew grunted back, before taking a deep breath.
Before she could speak, Fehnel continued with a proud wag to her tail. “Do you remember what a Runnin’ Day is all about, Kadew? It’s about all the cubs that came of age that year comin’ together and sayin’ that they’ll be fine by themselves. But it’s also about family. It’s about knowin’ that no matter where you run off to, I’ll be there to support you. But you’re makin’ it real hard to do that every time you don’t tell me what the matter is! And if you don’t, how can I make this Runnin’ Day the best it can–”
“But it’s not a Running Day, is it!” Kadew yelled, instantly shutting Fehnel up.
Her mother stared forward blankly, stumbling over a few unclear words. “Wh-what do you…”
“It’s not a Running Day!” Kadew repeated. “It’s not! I mean look around you!” She lifted her arms up dramatically, motioning towards the crowds of unaware Venlil around us. “We’re the only Yotul here! We’re the only two people that even know what a Running Day is, and I’m pretty sure we’re the only people that care!”
I tried to speak, “Umm… I know what a Running Day i–” but the look of animosity Kadew immediately shot my way gave me Jeela flashbacks, and I shut up just as quick.
“Kadew… Hun, that’s not true,” Fehnel tried to defend. “I’m sure they’d be willing to open their minds if we just–”
“What? Tell them all about how great it is to come from an Uplift planet? Talk about brahking DIRT some more!? Careful there Mom, don’t want to spoil their meal!” Kadew continued her berating. “Because you and I both know that the only reason anyone even showed up to this thing is because of that guy’s food!” Another finger was shot out in my direction. “Even you know there’s nothing special about your stupid Uplift culture! There’s nothing here even remotely related to the Yotul! It’s all just Venlil decorations and Venlil food, for our solely Venlil guests! And look!!” She pointed directly at the statue Jeela had placed as the centerpiece. “They have a statue of a Venlil as the center of everything! It’s the star attraction, not us! They couldn’t give a damn about me or Running Day or our culture or… or anything!”
Fehnel appeared to be on the verge of tears.
“And now I’ve got to find some kind of excuse for all this!” Kadew added. “It’s bad enough I had to drag Vuilen into pretending to care about the Yotul. But now the entire town is a part of it too! They’re laughing at us, Mom! Just like at school! Just like everywhere else I go! They’re laughing at us and you’re proud about it!”
From the verge of tears, Fehnel’s voice had croaked into a soft weep. A glimmering stream of water had begun to crawl down the ridge of her rust-coloured face.
“I hate being born a Yotul! I hate this gross, rusty fur! I hate everyone thinking I’m primitive and that I must be in love with trains and steam engines! And I hate you trying to push your culture on me! Cause guess what? I’ve never even seen Leirn! It’s NOT my home and you need to stop pretending it is!”
Fehnel stood simply aghast, the occasional choked-up garble of sounds emerging from her throat. Meanwhile, I stood speechless as well. Obviously, I had accidentally walked in on and been exposed to something that had been going on for quite a while. But even worse, it seems as though I had done nothing but fanned the flame of this long-fueled fire. Instinctively, I began taking a few steps back to give the two their space, which went unnoticed by either party.
Fehnel swallowed, her eyes still welling tears. “I… I…” she tried to say, but no words would form. Instead, she choked on her own voice. And Kadew, who stood waiting for a response, sucked in heavy loads of air in the fleeting hope to catch her breath.
But instead of an answer, all that any of us heard was a scream.
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I got my permanent client almost two months ago and she has significantly progressed and mastered a lot of her trials since I’ve started working with her, and her mom seems to be happy with the results of my work. My client wasn’t very vocal but now she’s saying up to 7 word sentences. My last session my client (under 6 years old) was instructed to wash her hands but was in the sink playing with dirty dishes while the water was running. The family has expressed to me that they do not like to waste any type of water so I asked my client “Are you still washing your hands?” To get a response so we can move on to the next activity. After I asked my client that, the grandma says “just leave her alone” but then begins to yell at her telling her to stop multiple times (which is worse in my opinion) and of course she didn’t listen to grandma… I have a feeling grandma is getting jealous because I can communicate with my client better than her, so she kind of makes me feel uncomfortable. I do notice my client isn’t listening to her as much but I can see why as I can’t understand the grandmas broken English that great either but we try our best. In addition to that when I ask grandma questions she ignored me then answers her daughter and has her daughter speak instead. There’s also times where I notice grandma trying to hit my client when I’m there which results in my client tantruming and I’m left to calm her down! I am pretty sure she hit my client in the mouth and caused her to have a tantrum for over an hr and she told the mom to tell me a reason that didn’t make sense at all! Grandma also gives in when the client refuses to use the toilet and she doesn’t change her diaper after potty even if there’s waste in it so I have to sit in a stinky hot room until session is over. She gets annoyed when client poops in her diaper and even hoses her down with cold water in the shower when I’m there causing more tantrums. She has to be in her 80s but I just feel annoyed by all this. Everytime me and the BCBA ask the parent to get reinforcers for things or do maintenance on certain things at home, they don’t do it. The parents are very wealthy yet they are tight asses and don’t buy necessary supplies. I’m just over this job tbh… I can suck it up but they gave me one kid with very low hrs so it’s not even worth it. I’m thinking about going into a different field after this.

So, for some context: I've (26nb) been in a relationship with my partner (44m) for about 2 and a half years. I was struggling pretty hard with drinking when we became involved, but I was extremely upfront about that, the extent to which it affected me, and that it may be difficult to have a relationship for that reason. He decided he wanted to date me anyway, but part of the strain we're experiencing is because though I've become far more sober than I was, I still struggle with it. I accept that part of our conflict as my responsibility, and am doing my best to work on it (trying to find a therapist I click with, attending some online meetings, trying to add structure to my life where I can, etc). That's not really why I'm writing this.
TLDR; I'm realizing I've lost a lot of my identity in this relationship, that it revolves pretty heavily around my partner's comfort, and that there's a pretty jarring lack of reciprocity in our relationship in a lot of ways (enumerated in the following novel, sorry this is so long).
I feel like our conversations are often one-sided, or there's not room for me to have feelings that aren't accommodating to him. Many of our conversations are retellings of my partners' run ins with famous musicians and past opportunities to be a career musician, successful pranks he pulled as a teenager, and listening to his old projects. That never used to bother me; now, I often feel like a receptacle for everything that feeds his ego. If I repeat a story, he tells me he's heard that like twenty times before, or sometimes, "why would you tell me that" if it's a story related to addiction (he has also experienced addiction, and I let him talk about that without judgement). I don't make him feel less than for sharing the same things he has already or for sharing difficult experiences, and I don't understand why he can't offer me the same.
I don't think he really knows a lot of sides of me that I view as integral to who I am. I realized recently, that though I was in art school before we met, was a prolific songwriter and poet, he hasn't expressed interest in seeing any of my art. I think he heard maybe one of my songs when we first started hanging out, and never expressed interest in what I was working on or the things I've made like I do for him. Since we've been dating, I've maybe written one poem, and stopped making art and music; I think that's partially to do with being very depressed in sobriety. It used to be such an integral part of my life and identity. His disinterest didn't really hit me until he reacted skeptically when I expressed interest in going back to school to be a graphic designer a couple of days ago. He asked if I even "had design experience" when I've completed three years of a fine arts degree and used to spend a lot of my free time illustrating and making prints. Also, regardless, why would you react so nastily to something your partner aspires to?
Lately, I've noticed that he often checks out when I start bringing up something he didn't bring up, or I just talk about what's on my mind. When he needs to vent about people at work or his roommate, or his home situation (he does have a lot of stressful health related things happening with his family, as do I), I let him, and I don't try to shut him down. Conversely, when I mention my anxiety over my job search (currently unemployed), he often says he "just wants to have a good day" and that he "doesn't know why I can't put it out of my mind" (because I have bills to pay, and it's anxiety provoking to struggle to find a job, and I thought I could vent to him like he does to me; it's not like I'm asking to make our whole day about my anxiety). He reacts the same way when I'm having a day where I'm feeling down, and I've expressed that sometimes I just need a little time to shake it off, but he always wonders if we "should be hanging out" because he "just wants to have a good day" and that makes me feel totally insane, because I feel like even in a relationship that's only platonic, I wouldn't expect a friend to sequester themselves from me for having negative feelings, I'd just hang with them and maybe do something that cheered them up until they felt a bit better. Is that unreasonable? I recently had a period of suicidal ideation, and the first time I saw him in person after telling him on the phone, he could only talk about how he could never go through that again. I understand concern, I express concern for him when I've spent his miserable days with him, but I'd never express that in a way that made it all about how I felt, at least never intentionally.
As far as the lack of reciprocity continues, when we spend time together, it's always at his apartment, though he lives with a roommate (who is a close friend of mine who he often expresses disdain for) and I live alone, and he frequently complains about her "always being there." When he moved in, I accompanied him to target to get supplies and helped him get all his art and gadgets set up. He said he'd help me make my place more homey by helping me move things from storage and stay over more (he's been here exactly twice), and it's been a full year, no dice. My father and brother have helped my more with my home situation, and I see them probably once a month, and they live 40 minutes away by car while my partner lives a 10 minute walk away. When we meet up, even if we're not going to his place, I have to go to him. Even small things like what we watch, what we listen to, what we eat together, seem to need his approval more so than mine.
As I briefly mentioned, I'm currently unemployed (working on it, have several interviews this week), and struggling with my finances. That said, I still usually need to spot him or split everything when we go out. I don't begrudge him help, if I had consistent work, I wouldn't care at all, but I expect that he would return the favor within reason. Last time we hung out, I asked if I could maybe pay him back twenty dollars we'd spent out together next week, after I'm able to make some money selling clothes or picking up temp shifts (Yes, I'm that broke right now, yikes). He brought up his own financial struggles (he is often broke though he's employed full time because he has debt and he's been taking off about one shift per week lately). That made me feel so crazy, because I've never asked him for help, and I'm in a really difficult situation right now. For context, I've had a lot of job instability in the past year and have still lent him hundreds of dollars just outright and in terms of buying our food, while I'm unemployed and unable to collect unemployment, and he has a full time job. He pays me back, but it really stresses me out that he asks me for money and to buy things I don't feel like I should spend money on, this is partially a boundary issue on my part. I have difficulty saying no to him even though it makes me really uncomfortable; it wouldn't make me so uncomfortable if I didn't feel kind of pressured into it, though I don't think he's doing that intentionally. I think I also feel some resentment that he's 18 years older than me and hasn't figured out how to manage his money a bit better. This also relates to our intimacy in that, he never buys contraception unless we're splitting it, and when we've needed plan b, though I've asked him to alternate with me on buying any form of contraception, and he agreed, he hasn't done so and made me feel out of line for asking, again, after he agreed to do so.
I'm tired of having no space to exist/feeling like an accessory, almost, but at the same time, I'm having a lot of difficulty breaking it off, because every time I've tried to in a meaningful way, I get hit with the "I don't want to lose you" and how our love for each other is "so pure." He'll drag me through endless conversations about whether we should "be in a serious relationship" and simultaneously never want to be without access to me in some way. I've said that he can't have both, and we've talked about taking breaks to work on ourselves, and nothing goes anywhere. He also has a habit of bringing this up when we're out in public when I've asked him specifically not to because it's a hard, emotional conversation that I'd like to have in private, and he'll get worked up about me getting emotional, and then act like I've started a fight by getting emotional. I've also discussed with him that in a lot of ways, this doesn't feel like a "serious" relationship despite the time we've spent in it, because he was really bizarre about meeting my family and me meeting his (I had to talk him into it this past Christmas, or else I wouldn't have met them, and I haven't seen them since, whereas his previous ex was very close with his family), we haven't celebrated either of our anniversaries (I actually scaled back his gift for valentine's this year because I didn't want to go through all the agita of being the only one who acknowledged that we had an anniversary we agreed on), and the only time he's put effort into dates were my birthdays, and at the very beginning of our relationship, whereas most times we went to shows in the past year or so, it was because I bought tickets. There's been loose talk of wanting to move in together, but I've already told him I don't expect that to ever happen (though he made me feel like I was being a bitch or trying to be nasty by saying so) because we can't go a week without him making me feel insane by bringing up the "should we be in a serious relationship" shit after a couple days we spent happily together without conflict. I didn't phrase it like that, I just said I have no expectation of it happening necessarily, and definitely not in the near future because of the way things are going.
I'm so confused by how he's affectionate one day and cold the next, how fights are somehow always my fault for being emotional (though he says he's never said that and doesn't mean to make me feel that way), and how his actions and words never line up/he always seems to have the right thing to say that makes me feel like I am being insane somehow, and that something will be different soon.
All my mental health and family struggles aside (not even cracking that open because this is already a lot), I think I'm really unhappy, but this is my first longer relationship, and I keep questioning whether my expectations are unreasonable, and whether the bad truly outweighs the things I've loved about him. I've outlined all my dislikes here, but there have been many times when I felt very loved and special with this man, like I'd found my best friend, and that's why I'm so unsure. I also think, as unproductive and infuriating as a lot of conversations about our relationship have been (I almost feel like I'm dealing with a teenager and not a man who's 18 years older than me), I really don't think he means to make me feel so unsure of myself and upset. Though I think he's self centered at times, I don't believe it's malicious.
TLDR; This is my first long term relationship and I think it needs to end, but our discussions of the relationship are unproductive/cyclical and really make me feel crazy. Are these reasonable things to take issue with? Should I break it off? How do you break it off when the person you're with is non-committal to being with you "seriously" but won't let you go?

I don’t even think I have friends anymore I have a group of friends but they never really even talk to me. Just does no one want to be around me because I’m depressed? I always try to be positive and happy around others. I’m always the funny guy that likes to make others laugh. I just feel so secluded from others. Everyone’s knows I’ve had a super rough past 8 months or so but it seems no one cares and just has left me to rot alone. I do t feel I’ll ever find a gf (I’m 22M) like I’m just too awkward or weird for anyone to love me. I’m a decently attractive person so it’s got to be my personality. What’s wrong with me why does no one enjoy being around me? I am never negative or dark because ik ppl don’t like to be around that type of attitude. I don’t have anything I can go do to meet new people. I have 2 children 2 yr old son and 1 yr old daughter who are the only reason I haven’t done myself in yet. I fell into a bad drug addiction for about 6 months and have been sober now for almost 2 1/2 months so that impacted my life and view of myself quite a bit. I feel like my life is over and it hasn’t ever really started yet. I’m starting to think now even my children will be better off without me here. For them to see me as this lonely, weird, useless, lazy, waste of a life. Is there any hope for me to ever be happy? Will I ever be able to make something of my life? Will anyone ever love me? Why should I keep living? How would it not just be completely better for everyone else to just not have me around?

Forgive me if this turns into a ramble. And please forgive me if I ask anything offensive. I am truly coming from a place of love and wanting to learn and understand.
My (27F) 5yo (I’ll call them V) was born a boy, but they have expressed wanting to be a girl for about 4 months.
Been doing my best to switch the pronouns and calling her sistedaughter per her request, but still slip up sometimes. V and her little sister are good about correcting me when I do. I took V clothes shopping this week and let her lead the way where she ended up picking 3 pretty dresses and hasn’t wanted to wear anything else since.
Husband (30M) and I were both born Mormon but have been out for years mainly due to that churches sexism and anti LGBTQ beliefs. I am determined to give my kids a different upbringing than what I had and teach them to have love and respect for all by going to drag story times, pride events, and whatnot.
So if this isn’t a phase, then no issues here, but thinking about the challenges coming V’s way is freaking me out. I’m scared of the discrimination they will face. I can’t think about the suicide statistics without crying myself to sleep. I feel guilty thinking this, but this isn’t the life I want for V. Yes she’s perfect just the way she is, and I can’t help but think how her life would be easier if her sex and gender matched.
I am also feeling grateful to live in a progressive city and school district. I am grateful that she was born in her generation instead of a previous one. I am SO grateful to all of you fine people who are paving the way for a better future for all the children.
V is so goofy and the biggest ball of joy. Her life is unproblematic and I want it to stay that way for as long as it can. I want to shield her from the harshness in the world but I know that’s not possible.
What can I do as a parent to best support V and give her the best life possible? What did your parents do that helped you or what do you wish they would have done better?
How do I vet a supportive therapist?
For those of you who knew at a young age, how did you feel? What was it like coming to that realization? I want a peak into her mind haha.
I keep deleting this one because I can’t think of a way to make it not sound offensive, but I’m just going to go for it and hope there’s understanding. Do you wish you weren’t trans or are you happy you are? I’m bisexual and love that part of me, but being trans seems like a different ballpark. Maybe it’s not.
What challenges have you faced or are currently facing? What successes have you had? I don’t have much exposure but joining this sub is my first step to better understand the T in LGBTQ. I want to know your stories.
I realize I’m asking a lot but any contribution will be so so appreciated. Looking forward to all I can learn from this sub.

Happy birthday to me🎶🎶🎶🎉💃🎉and everyone else who's birthday is today💕