Red dots on the wall of the mouth

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To my beloved Marcus
I know you will make sure
this Heart reaches every lost Bastard
or any curious soul in general
until this guide is no longer necessary.
It makes me so sad to think I won't live to see that day.
It is hard for me to say this, but if this book has made its way into your hands, it means that it is already too late for you. For some reason, whichever it may be, you are already in the middle of our situation. And taking the chance now that I already said something so depressing, here is another thing: there is no way for you to get out of it.

Are you being surrounded by strange events lately? I don’t know, maybe the lights around you blink more often than not, the radio changes stations without anyone touching the dial? The animals are suddenly extremely aggressive, or maybe unnaturally tame towards you?

Suddenly you can’t shake the feeling that someone, or something, is staring at you from somewhere unseen in the room…

I guess that I don’t need to mention how this all started. You probably saw something you weren’t meant to see, didn’t you. Some random person breaking the rules of reality in one way or another. A guy flying, a girl on the streets spitting fire, objects appearing out of nowhere.

Nothing makes sense and no one seems to care or know how to explain it. Well my friend, I am sorry to inform you that you have been infected. You are incubating the Arcane Infection, and you are now Awake.

Now, you are a Mage. A Bastard Mage, if you don’t have a master to guide you… which is most probably the case.

If this is the first time you read this book, or any kind of Draconian Text, this probably doesn’t make any sense. I know, it didn’t make sense for me either when I was in your place, almost seventy years ago. But trust me, everything will be explained in time. Just be patient, and stay with me, ok? Keep calm, and keep reading.

The first thing you need to learn is to shut up. You cannot talk about this with anyone who hasn’t experienced it and holds some sort of relevant position in society. Really. Famous scientists, politicians, Mayors, I don’t know. Anyone who tends to be trusted by non-mages. Just. Don’t.

If you already did, let’s hope they didn’t believe you. With some luck, you were disregarded as a fool, a maniac or a person with too vivid of an imagination.

If you survive past three days or so after opening your dumb mouth, you should be safe? Now don’t do that again. The Black Pages don’t like it when you try to talk about this…

Remember that sensation of being stalked? Let’s say that it will eventually go away, unless you are stupid or naive enough to try and bring attention to this deal.

Yes. Magic is real. Good for you. Now shut your piehole and keep reading unless you want to be remembered soon. Walls have eyes and ears, and they’ll probably continue to have them for two or three months. Trying to run away will only perpetuate this, so the best thing you can do is not think about it.

Do something stupid in these months and you will die. Disappear. Kaput. Remembered.

There are people who want to maintain this as a secret. That is another thing I will explain in time.

Right now you have two options: You can learn how to manage this new “gift” (if you want to call it that) in a remotely appropriate way; or you can just be another idiot, and try to live a normal life.

What? You think I am being unnecessarily aggressive? Well maybe I am. But you need to understand the gravity of this situation.

Because I lied. You have no options. Learn how to use this new capability to your advantage, or you will die in a freak accident.

If after reading this you prefer to just keep on with your life like nothing happened, then good for you. Close the book, and put it back where it was. With some luck it will land in the hands of someone less dense.

.

.

.

Still reading? Good. Excellent! Sit down, get comfortable, maybe grab a drink. This is going to be long.

Among the words of this tome in your hands, you will find all the information I have been able to gather along my eighty god damn years of life, or at least all that you need to know to keep yourself alive until getting a proper guide.

It will be a long journey, and many of the things here won't make much sense, especially because I had to take the time to adapt and translate documents three or four centuries old to a mostly understandable format.
So you better be thankful.

The first thing I want you to know: please, for the love of God, do not settle for the things I am exposing here. All the information in this book will be absolutely basic, it won’t replace a formal education.. All the information here is for you to know where you are, how to start, and where to aim.

And now is when I am going to start telling you what IS inside this book.

We will start with something simple: what is Magic (or “The Art”) exactly, how did you end up in this situation and why is it important that you study it by yourself.

Then, after the general explanation, I will talk a little about our “Society”, if we can call a bunch of lonely, grumpy jackasses a “Mage Society”. There are some non-written rules of etiquette and other details that you need to keep in mind, if you want to keep the head on your neck.

Another section of the book will talk about the dangers around us… and this section will be, ironically enough, quite short, because the less you know about it, the better.

Mystery is your greatest ally, it’s everyone’s greatest ally. All that you don’t know is as important as what you do know. And that is what the fourth chapter is about. Each Mage has their own magical system, according to which they can create a Heart. There are as many ways of Magic as Mages in the world (so, not really that many), but all of them share some similarities.

Chapter Five is about the foundations of a ritual. Not every magical system has rituals, but it is always useful to learn and understand how these work, just in case you may find yourself in a desperate situation..

Finally, Chapter Six will be a directory with Formulas, Glyphs and Thrills that should serve as a starting point for all of you. Nothing too complex, but still, very useful. I left a few blank pages here, for you to add anything you learn and feel convenient.

If any of you misuses it, I swear to the Gods.

And this would be the real reason behind this tome: take whatever you can, leave what you create for others to use. I started this book as some sort of reproduction of the classic “Metodología del Fantástico”, that dear Gwendolin de Recattio left for us almost four hundred years ago, and that is obviously beyond obsolete at this point.

That and also probably burned to ashes as many other manuals end up.

Take notes damn it, I will leave spaces for everyone to make a little mark. But for the love of the Gods don’t use your real name, don’t be an imbecile.

Let’s make something together. Let’s create something important for once in our stupid lives. Let’s make the Bastard's life a little easier.

Gato.

That casual exclamation to the so-called ‘gods’ makes it clear that this book is either heretical or very old. Then again, the Wohlian it is written in is quite modern… but that could be the effect of magic, right? After all, this thing is written in ‘draconic’, which seems to be a magical language that self-translates or something?

But that was not the only thing that kinda came to my attention. This guy, Gato, is treating magic like this incredibly serious and dangerous thing… and I can’t help but feel a little nervous about it. I mean, everyone seems to be doing just fine, even if there are a few rules that I have to consider. Was this deal really so complicated?

Well, Gato was the expert, and it felt like everyone respected them plenty so… I will abide by them!

Besides, the knowledge here is beyond promising! A part of me wants to skip right to chapter 6 and start learning new runes! But no, I have to be patient, I have to learn the way it was intended and take my time absorbing/acclimating to the knowledge!

That does remind me, I have my own runes to learn and start using, too… should I begin practicing that before I start learning new ones?

“Wait. Before you do any of that… there’s more on the page?”

Huh?

I will add as much as I can! This book is a great resource but it is also a bit outdated, after all it’s been almost 80 years since its writing!

Don’t give up! We will see this through!

— Giovanni.

If I leave that idiot in charge of the notes he will undoubtedly forget things. Take his optimism with a grain of salt.

Pay attention.

— Mustafá.

Annotations?

I quickly open the file on my computer to compare… and just as I thought, these annotations are not on the scanned version. The beginning is exactly the same, but the writing makes it obvious that these two were written at different times, by the same hand but, still, copied individually!

I look down at my physical version again. Who are these people? And why did they feel the need to vandalize the book like this? I can only beg for them to actually make sensible and useful comments. If this book is as old as they say, maybe the updates will be a good thi–

Wait, only 80 years? I thought a book like this would be at least a century old.

Maybe magic is surprisingly modern after all!

“Fat chance. Gato quoted one of his sources, ‘Metodología del Fantástico’, which should be around five hundred years old.”

Hmmm, whatever the case… I should ask someone about this.

But I can’t just go right back to the Chatbox after saying I would be busy, that would be silly! I instead connect to the Messenger.

Pepe is not online, probably planning a cool vacation with his family or something. Vito is out drawing, Patricio is online but busy… ah, there it is! The group Gal made. Someone should know something there…

xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Hi hi! n.n Anyone here?
GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: hey Tav, just me for now! the others are busy or snoring.
GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: I wish I could go for some zzz right now
xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Is it late where you live? o.o
GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: early, we have a few hours of difference between Wohl and Rayah.

The Commonwealth of Rayah… that’s on the literal other side of Jericho, so of course we have half a day of difference!

xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Wait O.o is it like, five in the morning over there then!?
GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: eyeup
GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: today I gotta take care of granny’s business and that means waking up EARLY
xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Damn u.u I hope you have a good day, remember to keep hydrated!
GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: hah, will do, will do.
xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Hmmm… hey, sorry to bother you with this but, I gotta ask… uwu
xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Have you ever heard of Mustafá and/or Giovanni? uwu
GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: in what context?
GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: those are names, you’re saying names right now
xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: In magic contexts? O.o
GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: not a clue, sorry
xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Bah, probably just a couple of randos then u.u
xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Oh well, thank you anyways! n.n
GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: where did you even find those names?
xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Ah! I found them in the physical version of the book you sent me!
GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: why did you go looking for that?
xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: I don’t like reading in electronic media TwT
GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: hmmm ok but be careful
GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: don’t go testing the knowledge of randos or something like that
xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: I won’t, I won’t -u- I will be nice and careful!

Cracking my knuckles, I finally get back into the book. Finally, some answers at hand!

Hi there, l've been freaked out that l've had herpes for the past couple of weeks because of a rash on the inside of my thighs, arms, buttocks, and stomach. My partner convinced me it was just molluscum but now I have these red dots on my shaft and inside of the urethra and it's not where hair grows so I don't know what to think of it. It's not itchy and doesn't hurt but l'm just terrified. Thank you.
https://imgur.com/a/U16J6Ok

I blacked out by the pool in Mexico. Too much to drink, not enough food and heat stroke. Don’t remember getting out of the pool and my friends didn’t know where I was for about 15 minutes till they saw staff putting me in a wheelchair. There were so many people there and I’m terrified because literally ANYTHING could have happened in that 15 minutes. No one knows if I was in the elevator, the bathroom or anywhere else. A Canadian Dr helped my friends with me. I’m humiliated and ashamed. It’s been two days and I still feel dizzy, cold and weird. This was my nightmare last night:
Dream:
Young blond mom on the couch with her kids jumps at a sound from upstairs scaring her two kids. Then laughs apologetically telling the kids “I forgot we have cats 😅.” Her narrator voice says “this is me. I have memory problems and sometimes it causes problems with the kids.” The scene changes to her driving with her kids beside her and her narrator voice says “sometimes I think about something and have to remember to fix my face before it scares them.” Her face drops and she starts crying but fixes her face as soon as the kids look up at her. Then the scene changes to looking into the windows of an urban gym building where a big creepy dead looking guy leads a black and white cow down the stairs inside and around the corner so only the rump is visible and then a flame thrower engulfs the cow in flames and it’s charred rump disappears as he drags it out of view. Two more big creepy men come down the stairs with their gym bags and go around that corner. In my mind, they were going to be served a beef meal, but the view changes as if I’m inside standing next to the creepy gym men looking into the room the cow was dragged into. There is no cow though. There is a dark room lined with lockers, a step up and a desk to the right on the raised part of the room. An evil being, like a man with no arms, his muscular legs with gym socks are full of syringes sticking out all over with blood trickling down them, his body is unstable, shifting and morphing a sickly whitish blue grey with veins and light crawling all over him. He has no right arm and a stump for a left arm with more bloody syringes sticking out of his shoulder and the stump. His whole body writhing with the crawling light. He steps up on the platform and turns around. His head is misshapen and he has big gross buggy eyes all over his face that are morphing in shape, size and bulge until they settle into two big gross eyes roughly where a human’s should be still pulsating and bulging. He looks at us and says something like “I’M THE ONLY ONE HERE WORKING HARD TO BRING HIM OUT!!! What are all of YOU doing?” And as he’s saying all that a little blue stone like humanoid creature with a big head a stocky blocky body appears out of his head and dances triumphant down his arm that sprouted while he was talking. There is electricity and lights crackling down the arm and around the creature. Around the whole body of gross guy who now has both arms. I don’t know what the creature is, but I know it’s evil.😈 it actually looked a little like the devil emoji. Me and the two big creepy gym dudes are scared. Then I am the blond mom walking into a lobby, a big room with maroon carpet and couches all spaced apart around the perimeter and a frosted glass ceiling with plants growing all over the outside of it so you can only see them like shadows. The back wall is open and you can see jungle outside. I know this is an asylum and I’m there to see my husband. There are people wrapped in blankets on each couch. One dark haired evil man to the left on a couch facing into the room with a desk in front of it is still as stone staring blankly, there is someone on the couch immediately to my left who stirs but not much and I can only see them in my peripheral. There is a woman on the couch across from us in a pink robe who is creepily happy but incoherent. And someone on another couch to the right of her sleeping. There are strange advertisements on rectangular signs sitting on the floors between each couch. One is a close up of a used condom and I can’t tell what it says but I’m aware that it is propaganda for the evil little creature. I sit on the couch where my husband is and we are covered with a dark red blanket. We cuddle up and the woman’s narrator voice says “we don’t always get this extra time together but we cherish it when we do.” And I snuggle closer to him and he holds me. We are drifting to sleep but I’m unsettled by the strange people around us. I wake a little and hear the patients mumbling. They are all moving and making sounds now. I’m most terrified by the man that was so still and staring because I thought he was catatonic and kept sedated because he was evil. I woke my husband and he said “it’s ok! We’re just excited because SHE’S HERE!” I look at him terrified and he says, “Well, IT’S here.” And he points to the stars in the sky, “See? MARS is rising!” All the patients are looking and pointing at the stars. Then I see a huge red planet coming over the horizon and I’m scared. I look up at the frosted glass ceiling and see the silhouette of the little evil being dancing on the ceiling trying to get in and then the creepily happy woman in a pink bathrobe is at our couch and she’s grabbing my feet. I’m terrified and screaming for my husband to get her away. I woke to my boyfriend rubbing his feet on mine telling me it’s just a dream! It’s a dream! Your ok! And I could hear the weird noises I was making trying to scream.
I don’t want any more nightmares and I don’t want to remember what happened.

It was in a little ski town in the North Carolina mountains, five hours north from our home in Atlanta. The treeless scar on the face of the biggest hill was slick with ice and artificial snow. Southern skiers in rentals tumbled their way down to the rickety chair lifts. A pink sunset lit the still green hills.
The kids were exhausted, pulling themselves out of their snow pants in the backseat while we were parked at the pizza place at the foot of the mountain.
H, our oldest, saw the piano first. Immediately, he started to tremble. He knew what was coming.
You were on your fourth glass of wine when you approached the young guy hired to play pop songs for ski families on the baby grand. You sat our middle boy, G, about 8 years old then, down beside him on the piano bench and sang loudly along while our son played a few bars of whatever he could remember. "I Will Survive." G has always liked performing for you. Henry waited outside by the salt stained car, hyperventilating.
H feels these moments as a repeated trauma, a sort of emotional concussion that always leaves him physically shaking. You told him he had no right to get anxious about something his brother was doing. You didn't understand what he was feeling. Maybe you thought you were toughening him up somehow.
For him, it was about all the times you'd made him play for strangers. He was afraid.
I stood by the car with him while he shook, not knowing what to say that wouldn't betray you and would somehow keep our fragile peace. I'd spent months sleeping on the couch while you churned. When you were done performing, you pulled a band sticker you'd made for the boys from your purse and stuck it to the wall by the door. You can find those same stickers in the women's room of every bar and restaurant you'd ever been to in Atlanta. You were building something, turning them into the stars you never got to be.
We piled back in the car and snaked up through the dark hills towards the A-frame rental. The boys were quiet in the dark of the backseats. You had brought a plastic cup of wine for the ride back, cheap pinot grigio sloshing with the turns. You were singing along to the spotify stream— a song called Judy.
"Oh, where are you Judy? Where are you Judy? Where are you Judy...." you sang, so excited to hear your special person’s name leave your own mouth. You called out for her then: "Oh Judy!"
For months I'd tried to embrace your relationship with her. I'd seen the texts where she had sent you the names of divorce lawyers. On the surface it looked almost like an affair. But I knew you well enough to know it wasn't sexual. It was just that she had become your sun and moon.
In our marriage, you had always had a female friend that meant everything to you. Like Judy, they were usually a little older than you, usually with dark hair. Someone that could be mistaken for a big sister. Without fail, the relationships would end in an eruption. Infatuation turning on a dime into disgust.
The affection for Judy was deeper, though, than any of your other "favorite persons," and I was worried about what it would mean for you when the split inevitably came.
Once the kids were down in their bunk beds, I started a fire in the stone circle beside the A-frame, the smoke haunting the evergreens and rhododendrons in the darkness. You sat down beside me with more wine.
It was in your eyes then, that black place you go to, a pained tremble echoing in the dark brown pupils. It was never really about the alcohol. It was something deeper and more searing. You were inflamed.
“So," you asked me, "do you still want to be with someone like me?” You spat the words, staring into the fire. You were angry and righteous but fearful too, like I’d already gone.
A quiet part of you knew what was wrong. Everything else in you blamed me.
“Of course I do,” I said. I knew what it was by then, but I was still looking for answers. Some solution to lift your pain and bring you back. I thought of the children in their beds. I hadn’t told you yet what the therapist had shared with me. I had swallowed it, a secret I thought I could protect you from long enough to find a way to fix it. Some brilliant therapist or miracle drug that would plaster over the cracks. I didn’t understand why our marriage counselor wouldn't tell a client what they were going through. "She will never accept it," was her justification. "Prepare for divorce."
But the same sickness swimming in your eyes had infected me, too. It had brought out the worst in me, and I would match your anger. Our fights had become nuclear, scorched earth shouting.
Not this night, though.
This night, I was quiet while you smoldered.
We sat together, a foot of old picnic table bench between us, a wide smile on your face that I didn’t understand.
Silence, as the smoke curled up around us.
And when the fire was out, we went to our separate beds.

The Battle for Zor'thal
The skies of Zor'thal burned red as the Insectoid swarm darkened the horizon, their shrill war cries piercing the air. Amid the chaos, Commander Sarah Williams stood at the edge of a crumbling barricade, her uniform scorched and tattered. She wiped the soot from her face and looked back at the terrified Zor'thali huddled behind her—a once-proud avian species now reduced to desperate survivors.
"Hold the line!" she shouted, her voice hoarse from days of relentless fighting. Human soldiers, battered but unbroken, snapped to attention, their faces steeled with determination. They had come to Zor'thal not for conquest, but to protect these gentle beings who painted the skies with colors unseen on Earth.
The battle raged on, and the humans fought with a ferocity that defied their exhaustion. Sarah's mind flashed back to a moment when a young Zor'thali child had handed her a small, hand-carved figure of a bird. "For luck," the child had said, eyes wide with hope.
Hours turned into days, and the Insectoids seemed endless. Sarah watched as Corporal James Reed, a seasoned soldier with a heart of gold, charged into the fray to save a wounded Zor'thali elder. He took a hit meant for the elder, his scream lost in the roar of the battle. Sarah's heart clenched, but she pressed on, her duty clear.
Finally, after a brutal final assault, the Insectoids were purged from the area. The battlefield was a graveyard of broken bodies and shattered dreams, but Zor'thal was saved. The Zor'thali wept as they mourned their dead and honored the humans who had fought so bravely.
Years later, at an interstellar summit, the Zor'thali Chancellor stood before a vast assembly. His feathers, once vibrant, were now dull with age, but his eyes shone with gratitude. He recounted the darkest days of the invasion, his voice trembling as he spoke of the human sacrifices.
A Xendari representative, known for his cynicism, interrupted, "Why should we trust the humans? They are known for their aggression and self-interest."
The room fell silent. Commander Sarah Williams, now an ambassador, rose from her seat. Her gaze was steady as she walked to the center of the hall. "When the Insectoids descended upon Zor'thal, they intended to eradicate every living being. We fought not for gain, but because it was the right thing to do. Thousands of our soldiers lie buried on Zor'thal, having given their lives to protect those who could not protect themselves."
She paused, her voice cracking with emotion. "I still carry the figure of a bird given to me by a Zor'thali child. It reminds me of why we fought. For them, for their future."
The Xendari representative, known for his bluster, found himself speechless. The truth hung heavily in the air.
The Defense of Iylara
The lush forests of Iylara were a living tapestry of greens and blues, now marred by the fiery onslaught of the Insectoids. Admiral James Harris stood on a ridge, his heart heavy as he surveyed the burning landscape. The Iylari, an aquatic species known for their wisdom, were fighting a losing battle. Their beautiful coral cities, once vibrant with life, were being reduced to rubble.
"Admiral, we need to fall back," a young lieutenant urged, his voice tinged with fear.
"No," Harris replied firmly. "We hold our ground. We are their last hope."
As the humans dug in, the Insectoids advanced, their insectile drones tearing through defenses. Harris watched as a group of Iylari children, their scales shimmering with tears, were shepherded to safety by human medics. He clenched his fists, determined to give them a future.
The battle was fierce. Harris led charge after charge, his mind a blur of strategy and survival. He saw Lieutenant Davis, barely twenty, carrying an injured Iylari on his back through a hail of enemy fire. Davis fell, his body shielding the Iylari from harm. Harris's chest tightened, but he couldn't afford to grieve—not yet.
After nearly a year of unrelenting combat, the Insectoids were finally repelled. The humans had paid a steep price, but the Iylari were saved. The once-pastoral fields of Iylara were scarred with the memory of their sacrifice.
Decades later, during a historic Galactic Council meeting, an elderly Iylari senator stood to speak. His scales had lost their luster, but his voice carried the weight of lived experience. "When the Insectoids came, we were doomed. It was the humans who stood with us, who fought and died for our freedom."
A Myraxian representative, known for his disdain of human involvement, sneered. "Why should we trust these humans? They are warriors, not diplomats."
The senator's eyes narrowed. "The humans are indeed warriors, but they are also protectors. When the Insectoids ravaged and consumed our forests and slaughtered and ate our people, it was the humans who stood with us. They asked for nothing in return, except to see justice done. I remember a young soldier, David, who carried me from the flames. He was just nineteen Terra years! "
Admiral Harris, now retired and attending as an honorary guest, nodded solemnly. The Myraxian opened his mouth to retort but found no words. The senator's voice trembled as he continued, "David gave his life so I could live. How many of us owe our lives to such sacrifice?"
The assembly was silent, the weight of their debt to humanity undeniable.
The Liberation of Vornax
The frigid plains of Vornax were a harsh and unforgiving battlefield. The Insectoids had invaded, enslaving the crystalline Vornaxians for use as biofuel. General Marcus Lee stood on the front lines, his breath visible in the freezing air. His troops were exhausted, but their resolve was unbreakable.
"General, our supplies are running low," Captain Rodriguez reported, her voice shaking from the cold.
"We can't stop now," Lee replied. "The Vornaxians are counting on us."
As they advanced through the ice and snow, Lee saw the desperation in the eyes of the Vornaxians. They had endured unimaginable horrors, and the humans had come to be their last hope. The humans fought in subzero temperatures, their bodies pushed to the brink, but they never wavered.
One night, as they set up camp, Lee sat by a fire with a young Vornaxian girl who had lost her family. She handed him a small, crystalline shard. "For courage," she whispered, her voice barely audible.
Lee held the shard tightly, feeling the weight of her trust. The next morning, they launched a final assault on the Insectoids hive stronghold. The battle was fierce, and the humans fought with a primal fury. Lee watched as Sergeant Johnson, a father of two, charged into enemy lines to protect a group of Vornaxian prisoners. He fell, but his sacrifice allowed the prisoners to escape.
After two grueling years, the Insectoids were scorched from Vornax. The humans had liberated the planet, but the cost was high. The Vornaxians wept as they buried their saviors, their crystalline tears shimmering in the cold light.
Years later, at a commemoration ceremony on Vornax, an elder Vornaxian spoke before a gathered assembly of intergalactic dignitaries. His voice was filled with emotion as he recounted the sacrifices made by the humans. "They came to us in our darkest hour, not as conquerors, but as liberators."
A Kreeva representative, known for their isolationist views, scoffed. "Why do you honor the humans so? They are known for their imperial ambitions."
General Lee, attending as a guest of honor, stepped forward, his voice steady and powerful. "When the Insectoids enslaved the Vornaxians, we fought and died for their freedom. We did not conquer; we liberated. Thousands of human lives were lost to ensure that the Vornaxians could live free from tyranny."
The elder Vornaxian, crystalline eyes glistening, added, "The humans gave everything so that we could have our future. I still visit the grave of a human soldier who saved my family, who lies buried in our soil as one of our own. His name was Michael, and he was just twenty-three."
The Kreeva representative, usually quick to argue, found himself silent in the face of such conviction and sacrifice. The weight of the moment pressed down on the assembly.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
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M32 here, generally healthy with no smoking and very minor drinking just on special occasions.
https://imgur.com/a/dwHT5zu
Recently have had pain swallowing for 13 days. Swallowing food and drink is fine, but when just swallowing saliva I feel throat pain.
Also feel the need to cough a dry cough every 5 minutes or so. Every time I cough the right side of my throat has a sharp quick pain. Have had this symptom about 5 days.
Another symptom is the right side of my neck has a constant, almost warm-feeling, dull ache. Feels like a muscle pull but going to mention as in the same area as the rest and I can't consciously remember pulling it.
Finally, I've just been checking my throat and mouth and noticed three things under my tongue; being the dark red mark, the lighter red on the underside of the tongue and the swollen lingual frenulum.
Based on the above, could you please let me know if these symptoms point to anything and whether they should have me worried.
Thank you.

Hi, I'm new here. Completely new to this whole thing in general. Long story short I had oral surgery which resulted in nerve damage. I read that red light has been a bit promising at aiding the healing process as it improves blood flow and oxygen to the area? I got a red light want which I can use inside of my mouth. I need to know which wave?length and for how long. Can anyone help me with this? Sorry if I'm missing something i have zero knowledge and research on Google just says it's helpful without the details.

This is the 1st time George weasley Is coming home Since Fred weasley's death Nobody has seen him for months When he arrives His hair Is a grouse Blue green color and Chopped up horribly
Molly: George Fabian weasley What have you done Do your hair?!
George: I've cut it
Molly: Why? Why on earth Would you do that to You're beautiful red hair
George: Do you want to know why?
Molly: Yes I would
George: Because I can't look in the mirror anymore Without seeing him!!
Silence
Percy: We all miss him Georgie
George: This is your fault Percy It's your fault he's gone!
Percy: How is my fault The wall exploded A rock hit his head! I couldn't do anything!!
George: You know what?!
Percy: WHAT!
George: I WISH YOU DIED INSTEAD OF FRED
Percy: AT LEAST WE FINALLY AGREE ON SOMETHING!!!!!
George leaves the burrow Slam the door behind him Percy goes to his Old room

Hello! Last night I was eating a tuna sandwich and began experiencing mild throbbing pain and swelling on either side of the roof of my mouth just behind the molars which subsided shortly after I finished eating. It felt like the pain one might experience after burning the roof of your mouth on pizza or something but I had not burned myself at all. Today I've eaten an apple and some ramen and experienced the same issue both times. After looking in my mouth a few minutes ago, I can see what appear to be red pinpricks in the affected area almost like small blackheads and the tissue right around that looks a little pale (link to photos below). Does anyone know what this could be/are those normal?
Side question unrelated to this issue and out of curiosity: What are those two dimples slightly farther back on the palate (flanking the center line and just to the right of the pinpricks in photos 2 and 3)?
Additional info: 26M, affected by oral herpes, no current health issues or dental concerns, not a smoker, drink socially on weekends, no drug use.
Photos: https://imgur.com/a/i0McBie

Today is VOID threat.
I’ll post the 2nd pair of switches here when I find em
EDIT: First switch is right after the switches from last week, where you drop down in the room with the snipers and captain on the jumping puzzle. Learn to the left wall and you’ll find the first one.
Second one is right before the wall jump section, where when you drop down near the red pipes, you look to your left and it’ll be on the wall.
Link to puzzle room paths: https://imgur.com/KiYjeFr

IGSRep Page
RULES: NO NEW/BLANK/THROWAWAY accounts.
(IF i buy) KILLER BUNDLE 30 everything excluding GetsuFumaden, Rain World: Downpour DLC, Unity of Command 2, Sands of Aura, Devil May Cry 4 SE
2 slots open (excluding Valfaris Mecha Therion https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/build-your-own-trinity-bundle)
River City Girls
Mediterranea Inferno
Book of Hours
Fights in Tight Spaces
Marvel Midnight Suns Digital+
Saints Row 2023
Builder Simulator
Honey, I Joined a Cult
Shotgun King
Re-Legion
Conglomerate 451
Pinball FX 3 Marvel Heavy Hitters
Pinball FX3 Star Wars Original Pack
The Red Lantern
WANT:
Full list on my Barter
Undernauts, Astria Ascending (from current Fanatical Bento Deluxe bundle)
GetsuFumaden, Rain World: Downpour DLC, Unity of Command 2, Sands of Aura, Devil May Cry 4 SE (From Killer Bundle 30)
Tiny Tina's Wonderland Chaotic Great Edition (NA key)
Wanted: Dead
Valfaris Mecha Therion (if i dont buy the $5 bundle)
Back 4 Blood (NA)
Ghost Song, Axiom Verge 1 + 2
Doomblade, Tails of Iron, Justice Sucks, Liberte, Koa and five pirates (in current Fanatical platinum bundle)
Batbarian
Samurai Maiden
Bosorka, Battle Axe, GearShifters, Metal Mutation
Wall World, Shadow Kin, Good Knight, Trouble Juice, Anomalous, Orbital Bullet, Gunlocked Deluxe
Guardians of Holme
Pseudoregalia
Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara
Scathe
God of Weapons
Jupiter Hell
Redout 2, Indiana Jones Pinball, House of the Dead Remake
NecroBouncer
Unsouled
Deep Rock Galactic
Kingdom Rush Origins, KR Vengeance, Legends of KR
Trine 1-3
Nine Parchments

IGSRep Page
RULES: NO NEW/BLANK/THROWAWAY accounts.
(IF i buy) KILLER BUNDLE 30 everything excluding GetsuFumaden, Rain World: Downpour DLC, Unity of Command 2, Sands of Aura, Devil May Cry 4 SE
2 slots open (excluding Valfaris Mecha Therion https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/build-your-own-trinity-bundle)
River City Girls
Mediterranea Inferno
Book of Hours
Fights in Tight Spaces
Marvel Midnight Suns Digital+
Saints Row 2023
Builder Simulator
Honey, I Joined a Cult
Shotgun King
Re-Legion
Conglomerate 451
Pinball FX 3 Marvel Heavy Hitters
Pinball FX3 Star Wars Original Pack
The Red Lantern
WANT:
Full list on my Barter
Undernauts, Astria Ascending (from current Fanatical Bento Deluxe bundle)
GetsuFumaden, Rain World: Downpour DLC, Unity of Command 2, Sands of Aura, Devil May Cry 4 SE (From Killer Bundle 30)
Tiny Tina's Wonderland Chaotic Great Edition (NA key)
Wanted: Dead
Valfaris Mecha Therion (if i dont buy the $5 bundle)
Back 4 Blood (NA)
Ghost Song, Axiom Verge 1 + 2
Doomblade, Tails of Iron, Justice Sucks, Liberte, Koa and five pirates (in current Fanatical platinum bundle)
Batbarian
Samurai Maiden
Bosorka, Battle Axe, GearShifters, Metal Mutation
Wall World, Shadow Kin, Good Knight, Trouble Juice, Anomalous, Orbital Bullet, Gunlocked Deluxe
Guardians of Holme
Pseudoregalia
Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara
Scathe
God of Weapons
Jupiter Hell
Redout 2, Indiana Jones Pinball, House of the Dead Remake
NecroBouncer
Unsouled
Deep Rock Galactic
Kingdom Rush Origins, KR Vengeance, Legends of KR
Trine 1-3
Nine Parchments

From when I was three to ten years old, my family lived in a tiny second-floor walkup apartment in a large city. Our apartment was long and narrow, and my family had to walk through my bedroom to get to the bathroom, so it was a cramped lifestyle, to say the least.
Around when I turned eight, my parents decided to offer me a bit of privacy, asking me if I wanted to move into a separate bedroom that had its own entrance/exit from the entry stairwell. It was extremely small, basically a closet, but I was eager to move in there because it was private and at least away from my parents and baby brothers.
From the very first night they moved my bed into this room, I saw a very dark shadowy presence fading in and out of the wall. It had no eyes but razor teeth. His mouth opened to silently scream.
I thought I was going crazy. I never told another soul about it. I saw it nearly every night for two years. He was tall and thin and a living shadow; that’s all I can do to describe him.
The walls were plastered with children’s animal-themed wallpaper from the previous owners. If I recall, it had strange little toy animals repeated over and over. Because of the bizarre events happening in that room, this innocent décor seemed ominous.
My mother would occasionally come into my room to check on me, and I would be soaked through my pajamas in my own sweat from hiding under the cheap blankets. I was petrified of that room. I was living in hell, but I had no options because my baby brothers now slept in my old room. I became sleep-deprived and unhealthy. I think my teachers might have commented on my deteriorating mental state to my parents.
Over that time, I became obsessed with the occult and paranormal. Now that I am over 50 years old, I feel like that same shadowy entity is still inside me, and has been with me my entire life. Could I be possessed by it?

From when I was three to ten years old, my family lived in a tiny second-floor walkup apartment in a large city. Our apartment was long and narrow, and my family had to walk through my bedroom to get to the bathroom, so it was a cramped lifestyle, to say the least.
Around when I turned eight, my parents decided to offer me a bit of privacy, asking me if I wanted to move into a separate bedroom that had its own entrance/exit from the entry stairwell. It was extremely small, basically a closet, but I was eager to move in there because it was private and at least away from my parents and baby brothers.
From the very first night they moved my bed into this room, I saw a very dark shadowy presence fading in and out of the wall. It had no eyes but razor teeth. His mouth opened to silently scream.
I thought I was going crazy. I never told another soul about it. I saw it nearly every night for two years. He was tall and thin and a living shadow; that’s all I can do to describe him.
The walls were plastered with children’s animal-themed wallpaper from the previous owners. If I recall, it had strange little toy animals repeated over and over. Because of the bizarre events happening in that room, this innocent décor seemed ominous.
My mother would occasionally come into my room to check on me, and I would be soaked through my pajamas in my own sweat from hiding under the cheap blankets. I was petrified of that room. I was living in hell, but I had no options because my baby brothers now slept in my old room. I became sleep-deprived and unhealthy. I think my teachers might have commented on my deteriorating mental state to my parents.
Over that time, I became obsessed with the occult and paranormal. Now that I am over 50 years old, I feel like that same shadowy entity is still inside me, and has been with me my entire life. Could I be possessed by it?

Alright, so… I (18F) kinda made this reddit account just to get some feedback about this situation, since I’m too ashamed to ask my parents. The girl in question is 16, and is probably one of the most annoying people I’ve ever met…
(TLDR: This girl I was pretending to be friends with in High School obsessively fantasized about murdering someone for an entire semester, is overbearing as a person, interrogates people on a daily basis and is nosy, injects herself into drama that isn’t her own, throws temper tantrums when she doesn’t get her way, constantly touches people and makes unwarranted comments about girl’s bodies, asked me to draw CP for her, and MADE FUN OF HER SUICIDAL BROTHER. And I wrote a hate-letter telling her that all of this stuff is a problem, but now I feel bad about it because I think she might actually have mental issues. It’s a really wild ride and a long story, so if you choose to read it, you should expect to be here for a while. And it’s High School drama, so I’ll try to discard the boring details.)
There’s this girl, who… I’ll call her Storm. You’ll find out why. Storm quickly became the most annoying person in one of my classes. Any time she talked, she didn’t have anything interesting to say, but just kept going on and on and on endlessly. It was annoying, but we just kinda played along to be nice.

Well… Around a month into school, Storme started opening up and became comfortable talking about personal topics. She told us this story about how one of her other friends (I’ll call her Katie) “betrayed” her the previous year, and then went on to talk about how much she hated Katie and didn’t care if she lived or died. (Honestly, Katie’s offense was miniscule. At most, she replaced Storm with someone else as her best friend. You know… Regular High School drama that wasn’t that deep.) 

Then Storme started saying ludicrous stuff like “I hope she falls into a volcano”, or “I hope she gets eaten by sharks falling from the sky. Like Sharknado.”. But like… She kept saying it constantly, out loud in class. She ranted about how she wanted Katie to get kidnapped by the Mafia, be flown up to the moon, and be dropped into a black hole to become “Katie-spaghetti”. It was honestly really funny at first, so me and a few other people in the class joined in a little bit and added our own stupid, childlike scenarios. (Katie has a reputation for being… A slut. That’s why it was funny at first.)
But then after this schtick got old, Storm just kept going and going and going… She ranted about Katie until it physically hurt to hear her talk anymore. Instead of adjusting herself like a normal person, she just kept yapping until everyone rolled their eyes every time she opened her mouth, because we knew she would just keep going on and on about all of the stupid ways she wanted Katie to die. Even the damn teacher told her to stop doing that, but she never listened and the teacher eventually just gave up.
Katie then gradually started to get more morbid with the things she was saying, to the point where I genuinely considered calling the cops and getting this girl some grippy socks. She talked until she became red-faced, started tweaking, and laughed in a neurotic, nervous angry way while she started wringing out her trembling hands. She genuinely looked and sounded unhinged, and what didn’t help was that she started saying stuff like “There aren’t metal detectors in this school, right?”, and “I wish I wasn’t such a good person, because if I wasn’t, I’d be acting on my impulse to cave her skull in the next time I see her. One of these days I’m going to snap and then just do it..” …Yeah, so I was genuinely considering getting the police involved in this because of those two sentences. Thankfully Katie is safe and sound to this day and Storm never acted on these “impulses”. I’m so glad it worked out that I didn’t have to call the cops, but I was seriously worried for a minute…
She continued to talk about Katie, but mostly to me. She talked about this topic endlessly, her words getting increasingly violent until Christmas break. Yeah… 5 months. She ranted about the ways she wanted Katie to die for 5 whole months. Months. But then when she was done ranting, she finally shut up.
She wrote a note to Katie after Christmas break explaining “You hurt me really badly, but I’m a Christian so I forgive you and I hope you the best”... As if she didn’t rant about her for 5 months straight. Make it make sense. But enough about that. Here’s where my fuck ups began.
I gave her my number and we started saying we were friends, even though I never liked her. I started sending her some art (I'm an artist), and she started asking me some questions about it. She asked if I had ever drawn p0rn in my life. Of course, I said no because I didn't.
And then my worst nightmare: “Have you ever drawn p0rn of them?” …Of course I didn’t, because that would be CP… Plus I’ve never thought of those characters as being “sexual”... They’re literally 14 and 15 years old.
Then basically, she made an indirect “suggestion” for me to draw them together. I said fuck no. Hell fucking no. She tried to convince me to draw them “aged up”, but again I refused. She put me off from drawing those characters ever again. I haven’t drawn them since and I don’t take my sketchbook to school anymore because I don’t want her to see my drawings and be reminded of that BS.
But enough about that… Storm is a church-going girl, and so she has a few church-going friends. (This also makes everything I’ve said before all the more ironic.).
I’ve heard many stories about how Storm interrogates other people, too. If she sees a guy/girl’s name pop up on the screen of someone she knows, she’ll pester them until they give her one of two answers: either “I’ll tell you later”, or the actual answer. She’s done that to me too, in front of everyone in class.
The thing that upsets me about this is that she claims to be “nosy”, but thinks it’s a positive attribute rather than an annoying one. She brags about being “nosy” sometimes.
And the sexual assault… Since we were in a sports medicine class, our projects involved a lot of hands-on things. That didn’t bother me by itself, but with Storm, it was a nightmare. This girl, in the process of strapping an ice bag to my thigh, called my thighs “small”, and said that I have a “beautiful body”. We also did shoulder stretching stuff the next week, and I happened to fall under her care while she stared into my eyes and made weird faces at me, all the while she made sound effects and made the process much more uncomfortable than it needed to be.
One week, we ended up as partners again and she ended up wrapping my shoulder. This shoulder-wrap wasn’t an issue for me, but having her as a partner made it an issue. As expected, she made sound effects, but this time she stated the obvious as if it was new information that nobody would have ever suspected: “Wow, this is squishing your boobies huh?”... Emphasis on the word “boobies”. Jesus Fucking Christ, it was already awkward as hell before she even brought that up, why would she say something like that?? I didn’t even realize that until she brought it up.

In fear of being subjected to her uncomfortable BS again and feeling violated, I texted her and told her that she’s been making me feel uncomfortable, and to please stop being so…. Weird. I get it’s an awkward thing to wrap up your classmate’s thigh, but that’s a moment to keep comments to yourself. Her response? “I’M SORRY I’M SORRY I’M SORRY I’M SORRY I’M SORRY I’M SORRY I’M SORRY I’M SORRY I’M SORRY-” Just… Stop it. I didn’t introduce the topic as a big deal and told her not to worry about it, but she kept apologizing for it nonstop. Just endlessly, like everything else. Even when I tried to change the subject to something else, she just kept apologizing for it practically until she went to bed. (She has a bedtime at 9:30… At 16 years old.) All of this stuff contributed to my overall hatred toward her. I don’t like her at all, and it’s a wonder I didn’t explode and insult her entire personality and deplorable behavior to her face (Meg Griffin style). Things are just so awkward and awful whenever she opens her mouth, and it just doesn't ever stop. But because of all of this, when it came time for my Senior prom, I decided to secretly invite one of my friends from that class as a plus one, and NOT Storm. I was worried that if I told her that to her face, I would all of a sudden be the new “Katie” in her conversations, because the infraction Katie did was so miniscule that it seemed to be less like a “betrayal” than what I did. (In hindsight, it was probably the other way around.) So… I just kept the whole thing to myself and so did the friend I took to prom (I’ll call her Beyonce. Because… She loves Beyonce.). If this wasn’t bad enough, strap in because not even three weeks ago, Beyonce was doing her usual schtick of making fun of random things. She once made fun of cool whip and the entire state of Texas at the same time and somehow made it make perfect sense. She should really have a comedy show, I swear. But this time, Beyonce was making fun of the name “Gage”, saying “Why would anyone name their kid after a 12-gage shotgun?” and “People named Gage seem untrustworthy. I wouldn’t want to be near one in a zombie apocalypse, because he’d just feed me to those fuckers.”. Funny stuff. Storm then said “My brother’s name is Gage”, and in order to preserve the flow of the conversation (and also to tick her off a little, I’m ngl), Beyonce asked her: “Is your brother untrustworthy?” And then without a single millisecond wasted, she said, in a Disney Channel comedy fashion: “Welll… We can’t trust him with his own life, sooo…”.. And then she laughed as if it was funny. Like.. Rib-stitches type of laughing. ….So then the others (understandably) went quiet, which left only me and her. Then my idiot ass decided to say what I was thinking at that moment: “You don’t seem to be taking it seriously. That’s your brother, but you don’t sound sympathetic at all.” I felt bad for that statement, so I apologized for it over text when I got home from school. Quickly, we erupted into an argument, (with me holding back), and she ended up saying “What does it matter to you? He’s not your brother. If Beyonce said that about her brother, you’d laugh. But when I do, it’s bad.”. Beyonce’s brother is 8 years old…. So no, that would be even worse. …So then I had to explain to her how human decency works, and how making fun of your s*icidal siblings isn’t funny whatsoever and how that joke could be considered to be in very poor taste, even for people who like dark humor. When me, Beyonce or Mark made “suicide” jokes, it was about OURSELVES and it was usually in a statement like “I don’t want to take a test next period, I’m gonna kms.”... …Storm ended up getting so mad that we weren’t having a conversation anymore; we were just throwing shit around. I told her that if she was being livestreamed at that moment, she’d be bashed on the whole internet for a week or so and be called “evil” for that joke. In hindsight I shouldn’t have said that, but my goal was to tell her how people perceive those jokes. I ended the conversation and the next day, I apologized to her again. I retracted my statements and told her that I was sorry for talking out of line. She accepted the apology, and things went back to “normal”. She forgot about it, but I didn’t. …So here are the reasons why I feel bad, before I delve into the contents of the “hate letter” I wrote to her. Here’s a list of my crimes: 

• I pretended to be her friend for an entire school year.
• I hid the fact that I was going to prom with Beyonce from her, and then lied to her face repeatedly whenever she asked if I went to prom or not.
• I got into business that wasn’t my own and criticized her.
• I wrote a hate-letter to her that I directed her to read at home on the last day of school.

…Here’s why I feel bad: Storm doesn’t seem to be emotionally intelligent and is unable to control her mouth whenever she feels strong emotions. All she wants is to be listened to and understood, but nobody can and nobody truly wants to. She feigns confidence and goes overboard with compliments in the hopes of catching the attention of people who want to be friends with her. She’s not used to change and is very naive, to the point where (just yesterday) she quit her job at a fast food restaurant after only the first day of working there. For the longest time she didn’t have access to the internet, so she doesn’t really have a means to connect with other people through sharing videos or memes or whatever.

…I feel like a bad person because I knowingly, intentionally played into all of this just for the pathetic reason of making her shut up in class. It’s despicable what I did, and I’m beating myself up for it every day. I was just originally going to leave the school, block her and never talk to her ever again in my life, but when she made that joke about her brother, I decided (stupidly) to take it upon myself to be the bearer of bad news. I gave her a letter. Within the “hate letter”, it isn’t actually hate, per se. It’s more like… A report on the behavior she needs to fix, as well as an admission to my lies over the course of this whole year. I told her the awful truth. I told her about everything I mentioned in this post and tried to keep it “professional”, though I did end up going as far as to say “you have all of the attributes of an obnoxious piece of stale bread”........... And what’s worse is… I told her to read it on the last day of school, and my reasoning is pathetic at best. I told her to read it on the last day of school because I didn’t want her to burden the class with her nonstop ranting about me, since she, Mark and Beyonce are sophomores and I’m the only senior in the “friend group”, which means that I left the school an entire week earlier than them. I’ve been intentionally delaying her pain and still talking to her over text acting like things are “normal” so that she doesn’t read it early, knowing damn well that on that last day of school, my words are going to hurt her so badly that she might not be able to recover for a while. In the letter, I told her that by the time she reads it, I would have already blocked her because I don’t want any more conversation with her due to me feeling so bad and having nothing more to say. If the plan goes right, she’ll read it on May 23rd, and on that day I will block her. I feel awful for all of this. I feel like a monster for this. It’s painful knowing that I’m going to cause her pain and that I planned when it’s going to happen, but at the same time I feel like she deserves it. But at the same time, I know damn well that it wasn’t my place to do that. I should have left everything alone. Nobody I can talk to irl would even hear me out; they’d just stop at the words “hate letter”, which means my only option is to seek advice from people on Reddit. Do my motives for doing things make sense? Am I actually a bad person for this? Am I the asshole? Does she deserve what she’s getting? 

Edit 1: I removed some asterisks (they're annoying). Edit 2: I attempted to shorten it or say things in simple terms. I also fixed spacing and stuff. Sorry.

So I went on a date with this guy and we hit it off immediately. He seemed really smart , well mannered, has a really good job, well educated, stable life, like someone who has his shit together. It wasn’t an immediate attraction on my part, but I got more attracted to him as the night went on.
Within an hour into the date he was already talking about how he’d take me on a road trip to the English countryside and have us stay at at a BnB, which is something I’ve always wanted to do.
The conversation was flowing seamlessly and effortlessly with pretty much no silences at all. When I asked what his type was, he pointed at me. I thought that was really sweet. Anyway so after dinner and a couple of glasses of wine, we decided to head out and go for a "walk". We clearly just wanted to make out. It was raining, so we found this little secluded spot sheltered from the rain, i grabbed his head to kiss him and we went to TOWN. It started off with slow kissing but quickly escalated to HEAVY making out. It was heating up quickly so he reaches down for my dick and starts rubbing it. I was resisting taking it there first, but once he did it, I reached for his, too. He was rock hard. The kissing intensified as he pushed me against the wall, I slid my hand under his pants and started stroking his rock hard cock. The tip was creaming with juicy viscous precum, so I tilted his dick upward, so that the tip would stick out of the top of his jeans, and I continued to run my finger in circles around his precum covered uncut cock. He started moaning, then stopped to tell me how much he loved kissing me, so I looked him in the eye and stuck my precum covered finger into my mouth and slowly pulled it out clean, then proceeded to kiss him some more.
This continued for a good 10 minutes until we noticed that it had stopped raining and we decided to call it a night.
In the moment, it felt right, hot, spontaneous, thrilling, and reckless, but I loved it, and so did he, it seemed. In hindsight however, I feel like I may have acted too slutty?
Both our profiles say that we are looking for something meaningful, but I can’t help but feel that our behaviour may have gone against that.
I’m a very sexual person, so it’s just who I am, especially when I’m tipsy and I like the guy, I can’t help it; impatience is my toxic trait, I want it all I can barely control myself.
Did that make me look easy? Would that hinder my chances of being taken seriously? I hear some people don’t even kiss on the first date which is foreign to me. Should I show more restrain and take things slow? I’m curious to know what you guys think and about your own experiences. Cheers x

So, I like Glocks and have a few already, recently joined the GSSF, and now I have a coupon to get a discount on one glock this year.
I'm leaning towards a G34 because I am not into red dots, and figure the longer sight radius could be nice to have, especially since I plan to do some steel challenge type competitions this year. There is a store near me that claims to have one of the elusive non-MOS G34.5's for sale in stock at a good deal with the coupon.
However, I already have a G17 Gen 5, so the G34 is really only going to be like my G17, but a little longer, right?
My G17 is what I carry now when I am willing to carry a full-size gun, it fits perfectly for carrying in my Hill People Gear Runners kit, and I have a couple nice waistband holsters, and a shoulder holster that fit the G17 already. Two of those are leather holsters with an open muzzle, so I assume the G34 would also fit those holsters.
I'm wondering if I get the G34 if I won't end up feeling like I basically just got a 2nd G17?
Also, I already have the G41, which is basically the .45acp version of the G34, so maybe I should get something different? Although I do like my G41, even more than my steel 1911.
I also have a G44 (.22lr), and a G20 (10mm). I love shooting the .22 a lot, but don't really need a second one. My pinky finger doesn't quite fit on the grip of the .22 glock, but the recoil is so light I can still enjoy shooting it and shoot it well. The 10mm G20 has a good sized grip for me, but it is a bit heavy for carry, and while I can shot the .45acp well, full power 10mm loads aren't so easy to shoot well.
I have gigantic Ogre hands, so the "baby Glocks" suck for me to shoot. I was gifted a G27 in the past but got rid of it because I just couldn't enjoy shooting it, or trusting that I'd be able to shoot well in an urgent situation, even after I got a pinky grip extension magazine for it.
Thoughts?

I think it’s a good time for people to revisit some of Min Heejin’s previous personal and creative choices. When you see everything together it no longer looks like a couple of coincidences but a long leading pattern of behavior
I’ve tried to link as much as I can. Please let me know if need to edit or add anything. None of the MV links are the actual music videos and are instead stills posted on Imgur
-Hyein’s top in the Attention MV was a bralette while the older members all were more covered up. Hyein is 14 in this MV
-In the Attention MV their laptop falls to the ground as they’re on a video call and the people on the other end watch them dance
-Minji wears a shirt that says pimp is yours
-Min Heejin does a interview with BE(ATTITUDE) Magazine. She talks a bit about Hyein

Our youngest member is cool and sophisticated. She came to my home one day and we ate together, went to the bookstore, and walked around the neighborhood, talking about this and that. There was a passing awkwardness, but after a while it felt like I was taking a walk with a friend. She’s got so many talents and amazing skills. She’s young, but thoughtful, with that innocence they have at that age. I still remember bathing in her refreshing energy, and the sublime weather only added to the effect.

-NewJeans officially releases Cookie which is filled with sexual innuendo lyrics. Their ages at this point are 18, 17, 17, 16, and 14. Cookie was written by two native English speakers.
-Min Heejin posts a picture on Instagram that includes the Histoire de Melody Nelson album by Serge Gainsbourg on display in her apartment. The album’s storyline is about a middle age man who takes a 14 year old’s virginity
-Min Heejin posts a picture on Instagram of Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting’s nude scene from the 1968 movie Romeo and Juliet. Olivia was 15 at the time of filming and Leonard was 16. (The actors have actually sued Paramount over the nudity in this scene you can read about it here)
-Min Heejin posts several pictures that include a “Baby Brooke” picture as decoration in her apartment. Brooke Shields was extremely sexually exploited as a child
-Min Heejin posts a picture that includes a still from the 1974 film Le Farò de Padre. The IMDb page for the film. The plot is an older man plans to marry a mentally-challenged, sex-crazed, adolescent girl.
-Danielle gets styled like Mathilda from Léon the Professional. Mathilda is played by 12 year old Natalie Portman and there are many inappropriate themes/hintings between her and the titular character who was portrayed by 46 year old Jean Reno.
There are also these two posts that she made but I do not know who they are if they are also celebrities/actors. I’m also sorry for the bad screenshot quality of her Instagram posts, she has since deleted these so these screenshots are from Twitter
-Min Heejin responds to the Instagram post controversy in a interview with JoongAng Ilbo.She says that all of the pictures of minors she had on her wall were gifted to her from a couple years ago. She also says that pimp is yours and Cookie are slang.
-The music video of OMG is taking place in a mental hospital with all of the members having different mental issues.
-Haters are directly talked to at the end of the OMG MV as one of the members stops another one from writing a hate comment on Twitter and tells the other member it’s time to go. The hate comment says “Does anyone else feel uncomfortable watching the MV?”
-NewJeans gets into a controversy ahead of their ETA release as there are many similarities with a Spanish terrorist cult(Euskadi Ta Askatasuna). The teaser video said starting Mikel, Maria, and Eva which are names people connected to the cult. The release date of ETA(July 21st) was also the date of two separate cult attacks in different years.
-The MV for Cool With You stars Jung Hoyeon as a woman who follows around and falls in love with a man who is unable to see her as she is some sort of invisible entity like Eros. She is able to become human after standing naked in the rain. The 5 members of NewJeans are basically her guardian angels and have been watching over her the entire time including a scene where Hoyeon gets on top of the man as he’s sleeping
Min Heejin worked at SM Entertainment from 2002 until 2018. These are some controversial moments that she was involved in during that time at SM
please note that I did not actively follow her career at that point so if I got any information wrong please let me know
-The Happiness MV from Red Velvet references the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and 9/11. The MV was edited to get rid of the collage.
-Red Velvet releases Ice Cream Cake which is filled with sexual innuendos. The ages of the members at this point are 23, 21, 21, 18, and Yeri being 16.
-This photoshoot for Red Velvet’s Rookie which I personally think fetishizes the members in a Lolita style. Yeri is 17
-Shinee’s topless photoshoot for Sherlock. Jonghyun’s body had too much muscle definition so they photoshopped it to make his body more boyish.
-The MV for NCT Dream’s My First And Last includes the members being students who are in love with their female teacher. The members ages at this point are also 18, 17, 16, 16, 16, 15, and 15.
-The MV for NCT 127’s Fire Truck includes shooting a young looking girl with water.
-The MV for Super Junior’s Devil had a 14 year old actress
Related to the recent Kakaotalk texts that were leaked where Min Heejin calls some of the members fat - here is a predebut video of the members of NewJeans talking with Min Heejin. The girls are only eating vegetables

Min Hee Jin: How is it?
Hyein: It’s so good. I think after coming here, I got used to this healthy taste. So now I like such foods.
Min Hee Jin: Wow, finally something good to hear. Hyein originally liked meat, though.
Hyein: Yeah. I still like meat but, well.

I am 23y, fair-light skin, dry sensitive skin with some redness, pores,and dark circles. Recently my under-eye looks so yellow to me when I have makeup on,especially in photos. I thought it was my bad shade matching but I have been using the same concealer shade for years before this issue. I’m also thinking it could be my powder which is apparently ‘translucent’. Or could it be my eye cream making my concealer oxidize? Has anyone had this before or can anyone advise me on what to do? I was thinking of buying pink powder like the Huda Beauty Easy Bake to balance it out? Or should I buy a light concleaer that doesn’t need setting like NYX serum concealer?
Current products:

• Concealers:

1- Maybelline Fit Me Concealer in shade 15 (used this shade for at least 5 years it matches my skintone to the dot) 2- Tarte Shape Tape Radiant Concealer in shade 16N 3- Hourglass Vanish Concealer in Cotton

• Powder: Laura Mercier Ultra Blur Loose Powder
  
• Eye cream: Kiehl’s Super Multi-Corrective Eye Zone Treatment
  

My undertone should be cool as I have blue veins and fair-light skin with some redness but I’m not even sure of that anymore🥲