[Part 1]
My king. The sad memories faded into blurred flashbacks.
Olyvar cherished the sweet time as his grace’s squire. Though two years older, it made no matter. A warrior king was training Olyvar the way of knighthood, almost any boy’s dream. He remembered on slow days, Robb Stark would spend time with him, teaching the art of the long sword and shield. He can still remember the cloudy day at the Crag’s courtyard and his Northern accent as he swung his blade at the squire. “Keep your shield up Olyvar. Keep it up.”
“It’s too heavy.” Olyvar replied as Robb swung on.
“If it wasn’t heavy, it wouldn’t stop a sword. So get it up.”
They sparred and sparred in the courtyard. Robb Stark was dancing with him, hilts in hands. After he knocked Olyvar to the dirt for the twentieth time, he lifted him back up.
“Come, drive at me.” Robb then grabbed Olyvar gently by the back of his neck. “Look Olly, keep your shield up or I’ll ring your head like a bell.”
Olyvar never forgot that moment, his Grace’s right-hand touch, the way Robb looked into his eyes and called him ‘Olly’. No one has ever called him that and he liked it very much. They continued to dance. Rain began to fall, turning dirt into mud. Olyvar darted at him. Robb stepped aside, deflecting the stab off his shield and twirled around forward in a natural motion, his cloak spinning in the air. Before Olyvar knew it, Robb had his rear, his sword ready to thrust or slash any part of him. He glanced back and knew he was lost. The dance paused there and Olyvar turned around to meet Robb’s beautiful blue eyes. He could melt in them.
“You had me your Grace.”
“Come Olly, it’s your turn.” A winter wind came blowing in from across the sea. A breeze lingered there, brushed Robb’s auburn hair. “Now, dance with me!”
It almost felt like a sin to be as excited as Olly was at that moment.
“I’ll drive to you now. Try to do what I just did. In mud like this, don’t forget to plant your foot before each movement. And remember, you have to keep your shield up.”
As Olyvar and Robb got into their positions, his older half-nephew Ser Ryman Frey suddenly appeared and intervened. He grabbed Olyvar like a little green boy and pulled him towards the exit. NO! Olyvar’s word caught in his mouth.
Robb spoke up for him. “What are you doing? Olyvar is my squire and a grown man. He can do what he wants and speaks for himself.”
“My grandfather has declared a suspension of your alliance with House Frey,” Ryman said. “You have broken a sacred vow. If you would not have his daughter or granddaughter as your queen, you certainly cannot have his son as your squire.”
Robb was expecting Olyvar to say something, but the squire froze. More Frey guardsmen came in and dragged him away from the courtyard, his heels lifeless on the ground, leaving twin mud tracks on his departure. Robb stared at him sweet, sad, and silent. A bolt of lightning flashed across the rainy skies, its reflection off the King’s sword blinding Olyvar. That was the last time he saw Robb alive.
When news of his King returning to the Twins for the wedding between Lord Edmure Tully and his sister Roslin, Olyvar could not contain his excitement, to hear the voice of his call.
Since that rainy courtyard day, Olyvar had been on his own for long enough. He hoped maybe Robb could show him again that dance that he loved. Maybe. Olyvar had been going through withdrawals. Not seeing his Grace was just too much. He could turn me on with the slightest touch. But since the Red Wedding, Olyvar’s courtyard has been cold and empty. Fuck anyone who judges me. He couldn’t see clearly now that Robb was forever gone. Olyvar was still blinded by Robb’s last light. He couldn’t sleep, still yearning for his touch. In his heart, rain constantly fell, drowning him in the nights. I was his squire, Olyvar cried as his soul twisted. And I failed him. I was the only one that night he could trust.
After the slaughter, Merrett Frey, a kin of his, greeted him as he released Olyvar from the dungeons. “I’m sorry Olyvar that we had to lock you up, Perwyn and Alesander too. But you must do your duty for your family. You are a Frey, a man of an honorable house. This stain left by Robb Stark and his bitch mother Catelyn Tully should not go unpunished. Lady Catelyn also killed Jinglebells. She even japed ‘a son for a son‘ to our Lord father as she slit his throat.”
A son for a son. Olyvar Frey looked at Merrett sullenly, his voice choking up, “I must go for a walk.” Olyvar walked and walked … passing the burnt tents, passing the dead soldiers with Northern and Riverland sigils sewn on their garments, and passing Grey Wind’s headless body. He was far enough from home, but he could still hear the cheap cheers of the Frey and Bolton soldiers.
He fell to his knees and began to cry. My king. My sweet king. Olyvar swore vengeance. Though he will never consider kinslaying as it was a curse among the gods, it would not stop him from facilitating others who seek revenge against his own family, the ones who were directly involved.
Suddenly at the side of the river, a dying man was crawling towards him. Soaked in water, mud and blood, he cried out in a ghastly voice “Olyvar!”
“Who, who are you?” Olyvar sprinted to aid and for recognition. “Raynald?” Without hesitation Olyvar replied, “My brother!” He placed himself under Raynald’s shoulder and lifted him up. “We need to find a maester.”
On the way back to camp, Olyvar and Raynald encountered two sentries of his Frey household guards, far from any other eyes can see.
“So what do you have here my Lord Olyvar?” one asked.
“A dying lone wolf? Let us put him out of his misery,” the other replied as they stared at Ser Raynald Westerling’s dampened seashell surcoat.
Olyvar lowered himself and laid Ser Raynald on the ground, and arose in a tone cold as stone. “No. Not a lone wolf.”
Olyvar unsheathed his sword and killed both Frey guards before they could reach their weapons. He then swapped Raynald’s wet Westerling clothing for one of the dead men, and found a maester.
Ser Raynald Westerling stayed with Olyvar at the Twins under disguise. He even trimmed off his brushy moustache. Weeks later after Ray had fully healed, he asked Olyvar to go with him to look for Maege Mormont and Galbart Glover at their secret hideout, as per the original plan before the wedding.
One night, Olyvar Frey simply walked out of the Twins again, this time with Ray. No one would care where Olyvar was going. Truth be told, his Frey family would be more content if more spawnlings of their lord father would leave the castle to find their own destiny, especially if they were unlikely heirs deep behind the line of succession.
Aboard one of the Northern galleys floating outside of Seagard, the Seashell Knight had to explain how this son of Walder Frey earned his trust, as Lady Mormont held Olyvar by the throat with a dagger. The skin around her eyes had been raked and blackened with tears and nails, her teeth bit with furious anger. She had been like this for weeks. Olyvar stared at her face and he felt like he could die here and now, if that was what it meant for Lady Mormont to forgive him, as he knows no gold would ever substitute for her grief. “I am sorry about your daughter Dacey. I lost my brother too. Benfred was a good man, I swear to you by all the gods old and new, that he did not have a part in the slaughter. Benfred would have done everything he could to grab an innocent woman like Dacey, and bring her safe from harm.” Olyvar meant it.
Mormont sheathed her dagger, her hands still shaking. “I’ll kill them all! Anyone who was a part of this!”
“No.” Olyvar replied. “We have to get the girls back. And then you can kill them all.”
At the siege of Riverrun, Olyvar Frey freely roamed Ryman’s uncoordinated camp. No one cared. One night alone, he swam across the moat and climbed up the castle with spikes. Only thirty feet up, the Tully guards had heard him clanking and aimed their crossbows from above. “Identify yourself!”
He whispered, “I am Olyvar Frey, son of Walder Frey, former squire to his King, Robb Stark. I come unarmed and offer myself as a hostage. I know the Blackfish, please let him know I am here.”
“Stay where you are.”
Olyvar clung to the castle’s wall half way down to death and half way up to forgiveness. Finally Ser Brynden Tully appeared and told Olyvar to come up quietly. As Olyvar threw himself over the parapet and onto the floor, the Blackfish kicked away his spikes and immediately kneed his body to the ground, holding a dagger at his throat. Shit, not again! Damn this mayhaps, why was I unblessed to be born a Frey?
“What are you doing here, Olyvar Frey?” Ser Tully demanded.
Olyvar told them the truth and handed him Lady Maege’s letter from a waterproof compartment in his garment. The letter was coded with secret words that he and she only knew. The Blackfish cracked the seal, unrolled the parchment and read. Afterwards he released the grip from the bottom and the message curled up on its own, eager to protect the secrets.
“The paper curls, at least you didn’t try to deceive me with the age of the parchment.” He then asked Olyvar, “So, you killed some of your own men did you?”
“To save Ser Westerling, yes.” The Blackfish looked at his eyes and nodded in approval. “May I see her now?” Olyvar inquired.
The Tully guards led Olyvar to her room. Some left the area, but others stayed and watched, still suspicious of the unarmed Frey. She was in her solar, knitting her needle works. He fell down to one knee towards his niece-in-law (by Olyvar’s brother-in-law, Lord Edmure Tully), “My Queen.”
“Olyvar!” Without a hint of hesitation or mistrust, she dropped her needle, ran towards him, and wrapped her loose skinny arms strongly under his’. She poured her heart, soul and grief-filled life into a Rose By the name of Olyvar Frey. He reciprocated, placing his arms around her shoulders as Jeyne Westerling-Stark continued to hold tight. Her orange sized breasts pushed against his chest, as the Queen’s chestnut mop of brown hair sat below Olyvar’s clean-shaven chin.
“Robb.” It was all she needed to say as they shared a sob. Nothing hurt more than that moment when he shared the same pain with Jeyne. Olyvar dipped his head to hers, their salty tears finally uniting and slowly dancing together as their faces pressed cheek to cheek.
“He is in the heavens now, I believe, singing from above.” Olyvar prayed. “He will be waiting for us. No doubt we will see him again some day, but we must make him wait.”
“I miss him so much,” Jeyne cried. She was always cheerful with Olyvar since they first met. Though he was curious whether she truly loved Robb or just wanted to be a queen, she has repeatedly been kind to him, so sweet. She never intervened when Robb trained Olyvar at swordplay and he was grateful for that. When they wed, Olyvar knew Robb could never be his brother, but Jeyne did not seem to mind letting him continue to squire beside her much younger brother, Rollam Westerling. Robb had allowed Olyvar to protect the queen sometimes, along with the other household guards, though he was still training at arms. Olyvar and Jeyne would talk constantly, mostly about their King. Even when Jeyne rambles about him, she would always shy away from talking about Robb’s bed manners. But Olyvar insisted he did not mind hearing it. Jeyne felt like a sister to him, just as much or more as Roslin.
“I miss him too,” Olyvar replied. “Did you really love him?”
She cried a little bit louder and squeezed Olyvar even harder. “With all my heart.”
Olyvar wanted to confess too, but he could not do it here, not with everyone watching. He only hoped Jeyne would ask him the same, and she did. “Did you really love him, Olyvar?”
He tightened his grip on Jeyne’s shoulders. “More than you ever know.”
She gently reached for his hands and lowered them. “Olyvar, you were his squire. He is gone now. But you still have a duty to us. You must protect us. We must never separate again. Promise me Olyvar. Promise me.”
“No. I cannot. Not yet. I must leave you, just this one last time, for your safety and your family’s.”
“You are part of my family,” the Queen proclaimed. Tears rolled down again, their hands still held together at their hips.
“I need to leave Riverrun tonight. And I promise you, we will reunite again and I will keep you safe.”
They talked for hours about the good times, the horror, and what the future lies. They talked about Robb, crying to the sadness of him, exulting at his bravery and his glories, laughing at the silly juvenile things the teenager king did to entertain them, and about falling in love with him all over again. And then they cried some more.
Later on that night, Ser Brynden visited Jeyne and Olyvar, with Lady Eleyna and Lady Sybell watching. “Olyvar, you were the King’s squire and though he is no longer with us, you are still owed a knighthood. Let the gods curse me if I ever knighted a Frey, but you are no Frey I have ever known. What you are about to do would be considered treason to your family.”
“But my lord father was treasonous to my King. I do not get to choose my father or which family I was born into. But here right now, is the family I want to be with.”
“Will you honor your new family? Will you honor your duty to your late King, his Queen and his House, the Starks of Winterfell?”
“I do,” Olyvar replied with pride.
The Blackfish unsheathed his sword, the blade alive with moonlight gleaming from the window balcony. “Shit I think I’m doing this wrong. I was supposed to say that later. Anyways, kneel Olyvar Frey.”
Olyvar got to one knee as Queen Stark and all the others watched. Ser Brynden Tully, the legendary warrior Blackfish, placed the flat of his sword on Olyvar’s shoulder.
“I charge you to be brave and … aww shit the knighting words escape me. I’m embarrassing myself. Anyways um. Family! Honor! Duty!” He placed the blade on the other shoulder. “Shit, I forgot the rest of the speech. Forgive me. But Olyvar of House Frey, I name you a knight! Now rise!”
And arose the new knight stood, and proud he was. King Robb Stark could have never fulfilled his promise of a knighthood, but it was his father that took it away from him. But being knighted by the Blackfish was more than anything Olyvar wanted right now, besides keeping Queen Jeyne and his family safe. To him, it was forgiveness.
The Queen approached him with a longsword in scabbard, flat on both hands. “Our late King had a gift for you Ser Olyvar Frey, at least he would have wanted you to have it.”
Before Ser Olyvar received it, he already knew what it was. Robb’s sword. “No, I cannot. I am unworthy of this gift, his Grace’s sword.”
“This is King Robb Stark’s sword, and I am his Queen wife. I charge you to protect your family with his own sword.”
Queen Jeyne Stark made an offer that Ser Olyvar cannot refuse. He took the sword from her forgiving hands.
“What will you call it?” she asked.
“What do you mean?”
“A name. Robb never named his sword. But a good sword should have a good name.”
“I was told by my half-brothers that only cun–, I mean only women name their swords. I will let you name it, my Grace. How should we honor our late King Robb Stark?”
“It is honor,” Jeyne replied.
Confused, Olyvar asked, “What is honor?”
“A sword. This sword.”
Before the sun had dawned, Ser Olyvar Frey with Honor slung on his back, climbed down the castle walls with rope, swam under the moat again, and departed the birthplace of his King, Robb Stark, as a knight.
He returned to the Twins, keeping his knighthood a secret. When Riverrun had fallen to Ser Jaime Lannister, Edmure Tully had agreed to be a prisoner at Casterly Rock. Roslin Tully volunteered to join her husband, giving them a chance to raise a family together, even as hostages. Olyvar, their brother Perwyn and half-nephew Alesander all agreed to escort Lady Tully to the Westerlands. Although they told their half-family they would take the land-route for their journey; Olyvar, Perwyn, Alesander and Roslin had a different Frey destiny in mind. After the Kingslayer’s threat to Roslin’s unborn child, there was no day they would ever stay at Casterly Rock nor return to the Twins. They departed for the coast and reunited with Ser Brynden Tully, Lady Maege Mormont and Lord Galbart Glover aboard the Motherfunker.
Before Ser Brynden escaped Riverrun alone, he and Lord Tully reviewed all their options during Edmure’s short visit. An escape on land had many risks to be recaptured or killed, but at sea it was far fewer … and having a faster ship helped. They would allow Edmure and Jeyne to be peacefully escorted by their captors to Casterly Rock as hostages, only to be rescued from the shoreline. Lady Sybell Spicer swore her brother Ser Rolph would lead the way inside the caves. “Honor, not honors,” were House Westerling’s words. And Robb Stark showed more honor to Lady Sybell’s family than any of the other Westermen could. King Robb made her daughter a Queen, while King Tommen gifted Ser Rolph with the cursed ruins of Castamere from the notorious Lannister song. This honor was more of an insult than a reward.
One night aboard the Motherfunker, Olyvar took out a fresh new flat parchment to write a letter that was meant for his father. He held his feathered quill upright, but did not know how to start. He was fidgeting as he stared up around his cabin. He began to tap the pointy end of the quill and pricked his other hand by chance. Frey blood began to trickle from the wound along with a stinging pain. Cashing in on the moment, he then knew what to say. He dipped the blood smeared quill into the black inkpot, and began to pour his soul & anger onto the kin he no longer wanted.
Father, I hurt myself today, to see if I still feel. I focus on the pain, the only thing that is real. The needle tears a hole. This old familiar family sting. I try to forget it all the way. But I remember everything. I find myself asking … “What have I become? My sweetest King? Will everyone I love go away in the end?” And Father, you can have it all. My empire of dirt. I will let you down. I will make it hurt. If I could start again, many miles back at home that night. To save my King, I would sacrifice myself. I would find a way. Your son Olyvar.
He rolled the parchment and laid a tablespoon of wax from his tallow candle at the edge. Olyvar pressed the button with his bleeding thumb, filling the stamp in a marble of white, red and pink; sealing it with his own blood. He placed the rolled parchment in his breast pocket, hoping to leave it somewhere in Casterly Rock and eventually reaching his father’s hands.
On the deck of the Motherfunker a few nights before … crewmen, Riverlands and Northern loyalists sang, drank, and cheered to the music of the masterplan. Though most wanted to spill blood to avenge the Red Wedding, humiliating their enemies would be the sweeter revenge: the story that sings in songs. But not all were there for vengeance. Some were just there for the adventure.
The Captain of the Motherfunker was there for the honor of joining their song. He wanted to look into the eyes of the lion, be a part of the thrill of the fight, rising up against our rivals. He also owed Ser Rolph Spicer a favor from their long smuggling history together at sea. If he helped rescue his niece Jeyne from the rocky castle, he would consider the debt paid, and the Black Sparrow was happy to oblige.
“So we are here to rescue this princess? No?” Samullu spoke in the broken Common Tongue
“No, not a princess, she is a queen,” Olyvar chatted.
“In the Summer Isles, a princess and a widowed queen is the same person. My father was king, but he died when I was a babe. My princess mother was the one who raised me after my uncle took the throne. I loved my mother. I named my swanship for her after she died a few years ago.”
“Motherfunker?” Olyvar asked. “What is a funker?”
“Where I am from, fighting and dancing is called the same thing. We call it funk. We funk to fight, we funk to dance, and we also funk to love. And the skill of our funk we always inherit from our mother’s side. I got it from my mama.” The black single-eyed captain pleaded. “Yo got yo from yo mama too. ‘Motherfunker’ is just a homage to one’s mother for giving us this art of our body’s motions.”
Olyvar never knew his mother, but he was very intrigued to hear more about Samullu’s and their culture. They chatted for quite a while.
Olyvar thanked him for helping them. But Samullu insisted it was the right thing to do after hearing about the horrors of the Red Wedding. “The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness. For he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers! And yo will know I am the Captain when I lay my vengeance upon thee!”
Olyvar never knew the Black Sparrow was so pious to the gods of avengers.
Sharing rum together, Olyvar sung to him about his own story in depth. Captain Black Sparrow was impressed about his journey so far and he gave Olyvar a small jar of dirt. “This is soil from my empire back in the Summer Isle. I have a whole barrel of it to remind me of home. Here, take this other small gift as well.” He then took out a bird’s feather, long as a flute, bright and colorful. “We Summer Isle people have feathered cloaks, yo see it on all of us. But feathers like this one were meant for some of the bravest and baddest motherfunkers out there. I want yo to take it Ser Olyvar. Let it be yo warrior’s funk.”
Olyvar took it with his hand and gave it a warm stare. The feather was colored like a fading rainbow top to bottom, but the stem was yellow like a lemon. “Thank you.” The gifts were quite odd. By value it was not much, but it seemed like it meant a lot to the exiled prince, the type of gifts worth remembering.
“So what do yo need besides a miracle?” Samullu asked.
“Weapons. Bows and arrows. Lots of arrows.” Olyvar was serious.
“Aye, and I have a lot. Yo know, no one has ever done anything like what yo and the Blackfish’s men are about to do.”
“And that is why it will work.”
The plan was to allow Lord Edmure Tully and Queen Jeyne Stark to safely travel to Casterly Rock unmolested, under the command of Ser Forley Prester and his four hundred men. Lord Gawen Westerling and his son Rollam were to return to the Crag, but Lady Sybell was to stay with Jeyne, maintaining what deceptions she can conjure. Her bluff with Ser Jaime Lannister worked, earning the slightest trust from them before their escape at Casterly Rock. An attempt to rescue them on their path down the River Road would invite the Lannisters to execute the hostages on the spot, failing the objective’s purpose. To stealthily hunt down each soldier one by one would have proven even then, a mission of the impossible. Stirring fear in the hearts of the Lannister soldiers was the only solution, the effective psychological weapon. Ser Prester’s men have been haunted by the ghosts of the Brotherhood without Banners throughout the Riverlands, and the Blackfish would use that to his advantage. With the help of their fastest horse, Bubbles, mounted by Justin Smallister, a distant cousin to House Mallister of Seagard, he would tie empty nooses on trees ahead of Ser Forley’s route. The hope of the hoax would keep the Lannisters on edge, making it difficult to rest. Only when they reached the castle of Casterly Rock, they would drop their guards down, thinking the hard part was over. But on the exact evenfall on the day of their arrival, Lord Gawen Westerling and our small land forces, hidden in the eastern woods outside, would sound the trumpets and drums, drawing the weary soldiers to arms again. But the Blackfish was to infiltrate Casterly Rock from the western sea. Ser Rolph Spicer, our secret agent inside, will bond with Jeyne’s guards, drinking with them throughout their journey. Only on the hour of the escape, Ser Spicer would drug the guards’ ale, allowing them to fall asleep during the diversionary music. The Blackfish and his squad would provide armed escort, if needed. Ser Spicer would also help them navigate inside the caves, rescuing his niece Jeyne and their family back to the Motherfunker. By then, it would be too dark for the Lannisters to give chase into the ocean, if they even realized Queen Stark had flown off.
“I need twenty good men,” the Blackfish had demanded. A few hundreds of the remaining Stark loyalists and outlaws gathered at the docks, where the Motherfunker was anchored.
“And one more woman too!” the She-Bear crone proclaimed.
The men laughed in agreement as Ser Brynden continued. “I need volunteers only. Soldiers who want this fate to fuck them from behind in their arses! For the twenty one of us, we will be in harm’s way, make no mistake about it. I do not expect us to be discovered, but if we were, our escape will not be easy like our brothers working the diversion in the woods. I need men quick on their feet, proficient with the bow, and skilled at close-quarter hand-to-hand combat. Who are my brave men that will be knocking on the Lannister’s doors?”
Ser Olyvar Frey thundered in first and raised his hand. Jeyne’s words echoed in his thoughts, Promise me Olyvar, promise me.
Alesander Frey surprised him. “No you fool! You are not a skilled fighter. Put your hand down!” Olyvar told his nephew.
“I am a grown man, and I will not miss this adventure for nothing,” Alesander protested to his uncle.
“You are just a singer.”
“Then I want to be a witness to this great deed and be the first singer of our new song.”
Olyvar could not stop his brother & nephew from doing something so stupid.
Ser Raynald Westerling the Seashell Knight raised his hand too, eager to save his sisters Jeyne and Eleyna, and his mother Sybell.
Others began to join. Some had their reasons, some had their vengeance, some just wanted to try something new.
Fess stepped up. He was a long lost uncle to Ser Addam Marbrand after a lengthy voyage at sea. But Ser Addam refused to believe him, denying him a small chunk of land near Ashemark that Fess was entitled to own. He called his uncle an imposter and casted him out of the region. Fess swore he was a Marbrand, and swore he would unleash a storm on their household if they did not give his piece of land back. To the future of reclaiming his name by shaming theirs, Fess Marbrand was recruited into our efforts against the Lannisters and their bannermen.
The Summer Islander, Ben, and his Westerosi-born son, Benjen, were farmers from the Neck. Years ago, Lord Rickard Stark had welcomed the immigrant and his wife, granting them farm lands to flourish in. They grew rice in the marsh and exported it from White Harbor. They were so grateful to House Stark that they quite frankly named their son “Benjen” for Lord Stark’s youngest child of similar age. Since then, their hard earned work with their rough black hands in the cold had paid off in prosperity. After being widowed, Ben and his son ran the farm, just the two of them … until a few Ironborn men took Moat Cailin and all their harvest this past year. Their will and pride refused to let them take it again. So instead of growing new rice, they let it wither away and left the land … trapping the jaws of the Ironborn to hunger. Now Ben and Benjen were reborn into Ser Brynden’s band, for the honor of House Stark. “With great honor comes a great ass whooping!” Ben had declared.
Jess and Jory were two brothers that served House Westerling as guards at the Crag, personally protecting the Westerling sisters, Jeyne and Eleyna. They had watched them grow up since birth. Participating in their rescue was their duty, a duty they took without hesitation for the girls who were like nieces to them.
Phyl was a crewmate of royal blood on the Motherfunker. Back on another Summer Isle kingdom, his older king brother passed away as his young prince nephew took fresh rule. After Phyl forbade his nephew-king to order an attack on a rival neighboring island, he screamed at him, “You are not my father!” and flew out of the throne room, slamming its double doors. Soon after, the boy-king ordered for his uncle’s exile. Free like a bird, Phyl flew away himself to a ship with his friend, the Black Sparrow, looking for a new adventure.
Sam, June, and Rico were all hard loyal Tully soldiers that were ready to follow the Blackfish to the end of the world. Sam used to be a tall fat leviathan of a man, until one day June told Sam, “You never had the making of a first-class athlete like Rico here.” From then on, Sam, offended, lost several stones over the years as the three served patriotically together to House Tully. Now tall, lean and muscular, Sam was a force not to be reckoned with. They nicknamed him Sam the Shredder, but for shredding his fat as his body was now packed with muscular meat.
The hedge knight Ser Barnabus the Goose volunteered along with his new squire Leo, a boy of fourteen, whom he met that same day. Goose was a tall man, big shoulders, wide hips with greying blond hair. Though he grew up as an orphan, Ser Barnabus often boasted about being the grandson of some legendary tall hedge knight that he never chanced to meet. The other orphans used to laugh at him, calling him the Useless Goose. But ever since he suited up in his knightly armor decades ago, Ser Barnabus assured he was a useful Goose helping the small folks around the Riverlands. Olyvar wondered if Barnabus was his real name, or if he was even a knight.
Leo’s older brothers wanted to join the action as well … so Mikkal, Raff, and Donal stepped forward. Their uncle Scrooge, a man in his fifties, will chip in his services too. The four brothers and uncle were known as the Pissa family. They once owned a tavern serving their mother’s recipe of baked thin crispy bread, spun circular into a flat pie, served with tomato sauce and cheese above. Their uncle Scrooge improved his sister’s recipe by adding sliced duck sausages on top of the cheese, and charging customers extra for the option. Olyvar and the men on the Motherfunker had sampled and enjoyed the cuisine they baked aboard. Captain Samullu claimed that pissa was indeed a tasty dish, and suggested adding slices of pineapples on top of it too. The Pissa brothers gave Samullu Jaqenssen a cold stare as if the gesture was treason to the recipe. Back when they owned the tavern with their mother, the family often boasted about their food to the point where their competitors despised them. Their opponents would try to mimic cooking the same dish, but others would complain it tasted no different than bread. Afraid of losing their revenue, they insulted their mother’s crispy dish by calling it “pissa,” slandering it by saying it tasted like piss. But the brothers took the name their enemies gave them and wore it like armor, never allowing it to hurt them. Raff returned their insult by calling their adversary’s food being something that comes out of a cow’s bung hole. That humiliation stuck. For a while, men and women from all over the Riverlands continued to rallied in long lines to the Pissa tavern for a delicious slice of pissa. Sadly one day, the Mountain and his men came to destroy their tavern during the war, and took their mother. They never saw her again. Despite the sad drama, the Pissa family were a cheerful bunch, save for their pessimistic uncle. Olyvar could only hope they would find their mother safe and sound some day.
On the first day aboard the Motherfunker, Leo had never been on a ship his entire life. He bolted to the stern of the galley, stood on the middle rail with his arms spread out and screamed, “I’m the king of the world!”
Olyvar had to grab the blond teen down before he fell overboard. “Nice try Leo,” Olyvar said. “But you are too lowborn to be royalty. You are better off marrying a queen to be a king, or at least start with a princess.”
Ser Barnabus the Goose appeared and offered his help. He was in need of a squire for some reason, and Leo was quite eager. “Leo, I’m going to teach you how to live.” Goose swung his arm around the teenager’s neck and rested it there. “You want to be a king and win the ladies? Learn how to squire for a knight first. Unchain and fetch me my stallion from the docks, I’ll show you a trick. I’ll show you how to ride it on this rocking ship!” Leo did as he was ordered.
“And when will I ever need that skill?” Leo questioned as he brought the horse up to the deck from the ramp.
“What was it you were looking for again on this journey? Your destiny? Your death?” Goose mounted.
“Naked princesses,” Leo said.
“Well this move would make any maiden, royal or lowborn, shed their clothes off for you.” The knight pulled down the reins as the stallion stood tall on its two hind legs, looking like a work of art meant for eternal statues of the gods.
Samullu appeared and asked Leo, “Is that Goose on a horse? On my boat? Why is Goose on a horse on my boat?!” The stallion came down, hooves thundering the top of the deck.
“Aye Captain, Ser Goose was teaching me how to pick up women.”
“Shiitt Leo, that’s all you had to say.” Samullu wrapped his right arm around the neck of the youth and offered his counsel, his left hand danced in the air as he spoke to solidify his argument. “If yo want naked women, fuck land. Don’t be a knight. Be a captain of a galley. The best pick up line to catch any woman yo can, is ‘I own a ship’.” Samullu raised his bearded chin. “After this mission is over, come with me and we’ll sail the seas. Meet women from all over the world. And they love a captain. Do yo concur? Leo, each lady is just a flower, another rose by another name that smell just as sweet, waiting to be plucked.”
Goose winced at the word and protested. “The only maids you meet sailing seas are mermaids. Don’t be fooled by the Black Sparrow. Some of them may be pretty on the top half, but you won’t like what they got below. It probably stinks down there too. But the captain doesn’t mind, he seems to enjoy bedding mermaids!”
Whether sea, air or land … the Black Sparrow or Goose … Leo will probably have to fly with one of them after the mission, Olyvar thought.
The night before the rescue, the raiders and the crewmen drunkenly sang and cheered to music, rum, ale and pissa. Drowning in the glory of their task on the morrow, they reminisce about the harsh archery and lethal weapons training Lord Glover had given them over the past weeks back on land … while questioning how large Lady Mormont’s sacs truly were. Lady Roslin Tully, approached everyone and asked if they would write their names on the book she held. “It’s for the memories,” she said. They all did. A signature on each page for each man and Maege. Some drew their own personal coat of arms. When it was Olyvar’s turn, he hesitated about sketching the two towers. He wanted to separate himself from the murderous lore of House Frey. He decided to draw his towers, with a Stark wolf running on top of the bridge, and a Tully trout jumping below it. He signed his name, Ser Olyvar of House Frey, squire to the late King Robb Stark, knighted by Ser Brynden Tully.
He wondered if he will be written into history as a great knight some day. A knight that could not save his king, Olyvar thought sadly. He would not be the only one though. Word had travelled for Ser Loras Tyrell, the Knight of Flowers, and his gallant assault at Dragonstone. He was gravely wounded, but no word on this brave knight’s final fate. Like Olyvar, Ser Loras had failed to protect his first King, Renly Baratheon, a man that the Knight of Flower was rumored to have truly loved. Though his King was gone, he continued to be bathe in the glory of battle. Despite being on the opposing side of the war, Ser Olyvar would be gay if he had the chance to meet Ser Loras, if he still lives, chatting with him about the kings they loved and lost.
Later on that night, Captain Samullu Jaqenssen shared a drunken game of cvyasse with Ser Barnabus for a golden dragon. When Goose doubled down after his first loss, he fell again, owing the Black Sparrow a pair of golden dragons by the end of it. When Samullu demanded Goose to pay up his reward immediately, Goose pretended not to understand his loose Summer Isle accent, giving him a wild chase.
“Wat?”
“Yo loose Goose, yo owe me the gold,” the Captain demanded in his queer Common Tongue.
“Wat?”
“The gold yo fool. The gold! Yo pay me.”
“Wat?”
“Wat country yo from?”
“Wat?”
“Do they not speak the Common Tongue in Wat?”
“Wat?”
“Common Tongue mother Goose!”
“Wat?”
“Say wat again! I dare yo, I double dare yo! I’ll throw yo overboard off the Motherfunker!”
Goose paused for a moment, until his pride could not resist. “Wat? Wat? Wat? Wat? Wat?” Goose said ‘what‘ so many times, it sounded like he was quacking, each one louder than before. “Wat? Wat? Wat? Wat? Wat?”
In a nick of fury, Samullu Jaqenssen flipped over the cyvasse table, stood up and drew his short blade. His remaining good eye raged like a storm, as steam seeped through the black leather patch of the other. “Yo cold ass honking Goose! Yo son o’ a whore! Yo bandit! I will gut yo from balls to brains to see what gooses is made of. I better find yo sacs golden before I take yo skull to gild gold! Either way, I will have my gold from yo!”
Goose suddenly comprehended everything, stood up with all his height and threatened. “Goodness gracious, do you kiss your mother with that mouth? Go ahead and try, but you will only find below me great balls of fire!” He grabbed his own crotch and pumped it once into the air. “And after your failed attempt, I will claw out your last remaining eye, leaving you blind for the rest of your sorry life!”
The others flocked towards the scene, holding the two back as they inched towards each other.
Jess tried to stop them. “Gods, have mercy!”
Sam the Shredder intervened as well. “That is enough! I want you two to stop!”
Jory said, “Cut it out!”
“Will yo shut up!” screamed Phyl, who had hustled a wager on the game.
Mikkal grabbed the drunken Goose, threw him to the floor, and told him to just beat it.
At the end, they all just laugh it off like all drunk men do. Smiling, spilling ale out of their cups, retching out into the sea the rum they drank, before drinking some more again. They were having one last good time before the mission. But today they had a job to do.
The twenty men, Lady Maege, and Ser Rolph continued up the paths in the lightless caves of Casterly Rock, huffing and puffing, but still silent as much as they could hold. One loud word at the wrong place at the wrong time may be their doom. In single file, the group followed Ser Spicer’s point with one lit torch. The stench was terrible and the dampness made it worse. Guarding the rear, Olyvar’s eyes were clouded in darkness at times where the torchlight was too far ahead to shine back. He relied on Ser Goose in front of him to lead the way, as Goose relied on Leo for the same.
[Part 3]

Hai semua,
Saya ingin berbagi beberapa pemikiran tentang dunia video game dan mengapa saya percaya bahwa game bukan hanya sekadar hiburan. Sebagai seorang gamer yang telah menghabiskan banyak waktu di berbagai platform, saya telah menemukan banyak hal berharga dari game yang saya mainkan.
**1. Mengembangkan Keterampilan:

• Pemecahan Masalah: Banyak game menantang kita untuk memecahkan teka-teki dan menemukan solusi untuk situasi kompleks. Contoh yang bagus adalah seri The Legend of Zelda di mana pemain harus berpikir kreatif untuk menyelesaikan teka-teki.
• Kerjasama Tim: Game multiplayer seperti Overwatch atau Fortnite mengajarkan kita pentingnya bekerja sama dan komunikasi yang efektif untuk mencapai kemenangan.

**2. Cerita yang Mendalam dan Berkesan:

• Narasi yang Kuat: Game seperti The Last of Us dan Red Dead Redemption 2 menawarkan cerita yang mendalam dan emosional, memberikan pengalaman yang mirip dengan menonton film atau membaca novel.
• Karakter yang Kompleks: Game sering kali menampilkan karakter yang berkembang seiring berjalannya cerita, membuat kita merasa terhubung dengan perjalanan mereka.

**3. Manfaat Kognitif:

• Refleks dan Koordinasi: Bermain game aksi atau FPS seperti Call of Duty meningkatkan refleks dan koordinasi mata-tangan.
• Keterampilan Multitasking: Game strategi seperti Starcraft dan Civilization menuntut kita untuk mengelola berbagai aspek secara bersamaan, meningkatkan kemampuan multitasking.

**4. Komunitas dan Koneksi Sosial:

• Bertemu Teman Baru: Banyak dari kita telah menemukan teman sejati melalui game online. Komunitas gamer sering kali sangat mendukung dan menyenangkan.
• Acara Sosial: Event gaming, baik itu kompetisi eSports atau pertemuan komunitas, memberikan kesempatan untuk bertemu orang-orang dengan minat yang sama.

**5. Pengaruh Positif pada Kesehatan Mental:

• Pelarian dari Stres: Game dapat menjadi cara yang bagus untuk mengalihkan pikiran dari stres sehari-hari dan memberikan pelarian sementara.
• Rasa Pencapaian: Mencapai tujuan dalam game dapat memberikan rasa pencapaian dan meningkatkan kepercayaan diri.

Kesimpulan: Video game lebih dari sekadar hiburan. Mereka mengajarkan keterampilan berharga, menceritakan cerita yang mendalam, dan menciptakan komunitas yang kuat. Jadi, bagi siapa pun yang masih berpikir bahwa game hanya membuang-buang waktu, pikirkan lagi. Dunia game penuh dengan potensi untuk belajar dan berkembang.
Bagaimana dengan kalian? Apa pengalaman paling berkesan yang kalian dapatkan dari bermain game? Bagikan di kolom komentar!

DUBAI

• Real Housewives Of Dubai star Caroline Stanbury cuddles up to husband Sergio Carrallo at Brisbane Airport as they jet back to Dubai - after revealing their family plans (Daily Mail)

NEW JERSEY

• Melissa Gorga Says Jackie Goldschneider's Friendship with Teresa Giudice 'Came Out of Nowhere' (People exclusive)
• ‘RHONJ’ Dina Manzo Says Caroline Manzo Has Yet to Apologize and Agrees “Let Me Tell You About My Family” Quote Did Not Age Well (Reality Blurb)

ORANGE COUNTY

• Alexis Bellino's Teen Son, Miles, Just Hit a Huge Milestone: "Momma's Free!" (Bravo)
• Braunwyn Windham-Burke Says She Would ‘Pop a Xanax’ Before Filming Real Housewives (US Weekly exclusive)
• Braunwyn Windham-Burke Reveals She’s on Ozempic, Says Wife Jen Spinner Is ‘Starved’ as a Result (US Weekly exclusive)

NEW YORK

• 13 minute video: Countess Luann Looks Back At Her Iconic Real Housewives Moments (Cosmopolitan UK YouTube)

SALT LAKE CITY

• Monica Garcia Opens Up About Body Image Struggles After Miscarriage: "I Was Ashamed" (Bravo)

MIAMI

• 2 ‘Real Housewives’ Stars Call for RHONJ Cast Reboot (Heavy)

BRAVO

• Vanderpump Rules’ Tom Sandoval’s voice cracks as he performs for empty crowd but fans hope ‘sad’ show is just soundcheck (The Sun U.S.)
• Tom Sandoval’s Girlfriend Victoria Alleges Billie Wanted Him as Sperm Donor & Wanted His Last Name, and Billie Accused Tom’s Friend of Drugging Him, Plus Shares If She’s Met Ariana (Reality Blurb)
• Brittany Cartwright Breaks Silence on Lala Kent Nanny Feud: ‘I Was Kinda Thrown’ (US Weekly)
• Kristen Doute Shares Why She Doesn’t Want Scheana and Lala on The Valley, Exposes Texts to Lala and Shades “Conditional” Friendship Amid Feud, Plus Why She’s “Not Happy” With Jax, & Janet Drama (Reality Blurb)
• Kristen Doute Explains Why She Thinks Jax Taylor Can Be ‘Terrifying’ (Heavy)
• Jesse Lally Details His Whirlwind Romance with Anna Nicole Smith: "Like Two Little Kids" (Bravo)
• Bravo’s ‘The Valley’ showcases reality drama, without the table tossing (Marianne Garvey for CNN)
• Dustin Lynch Addresses Dating Rumors About Him and Lindsay Hubbard: ‘We’re Great Friends’ (US Weekly exclusive)
• Captain Sandy Yawn's Pride Month Message Will Help LGBTQIA+ Fans Navigate Rough Waters (E! exclusive)
• Inside the Epic Party Where Andy Cohen Celebrated 15 Years of WWHL with So Many Bravolebs (PICS) (Bravo)

SYDNEY

• Anthony Minichiello and Terry Biviano's dream home is still unfinished a decade after they spent $3.1million on a harbourside block - and the footy great says it's nobody else's business (Daily Mail exclusive)

Links to this week's episode discussion posts:

• Summer House S8E16 ☀️
• The Valley S1E12 🏘️
• RHODubai S2E1 🐪

Boys: Chase, Justin, Ripper, Topher
Girls: Anne Maria, Jasmine, MK
Episode 17: Holy MK-oly!
“Last time on Total Drama Action! It was every dude and dudette for themselves, as the teams were busted up. But that didn't stop the Gaffers from forming an alliance between themselves.”
“Chase wowed everybody with his fancy footwork during the first spy challenge and managed to save everybody with a bit of assistance from Jasmine.”
“The cast made it out of a fake exploding building, but failed to defuse some serious stink bombs, forcing them to de-stink in tomato juice baths. I love my job.”
“In the end, Topher and Chase got the fabulous reward - a trip to the local stinky cheese factory!”
"Will the former Grips manage to keep things together?" Chris asked as the screen split into a three-way, Justin against brown on the left, Anne Maria against orange in the middle, and Topher against red on the right. "Or will the Gaffers’ alliance self-destruct first?" The ex-Grips were replaced with a quarters split with MK and Chase on top against gold and purple; Ripper and Jasmine below against green and blue.
"All this on today's episode of Total! Drama! Action!"
(Theme Song)
The scene opened up at night as the three remaining girls exited the craft services tent with cheese in their arms.
"Wow, this is some fine gouda!" Anne Maria told Jasmine and MK after taking a bite out of a hunk of cheese. "I have to give thanks to Topher for gettin' me some."
"The gouda is nothing compared to the gruyère that Chase got me!" MK said before stuffing her mouth. “Your boyfriend needs to put my tastes into consideration.”
"You didn't even care about the gruyère until you tasted it," Anne Maria argued. "And if you diss Topher again, I'm ripping holes into your hat."
"You wouldn't dare!" MK countered with faux shock. "That hat means more to me than your weekly tans in the sun."
"That's enough out of you two!" Jasmine stopped the argument. “We are nearing the end of the game, and petty squabbles should be the last thing to think about right now!”
"Not my fault," Anne Maria scoffed. "Diminutive here doesn't know when to keep her mouth shut!"
The scene flashed to the guys’ trailer. "I got you your cheese, guys," Topher said as the camera cut to the inside, Ripper, Justin, and Chase seated in front of a table of cheese and Topher standing far away from them. "Now hurry up with eating them so I don't have to smell them for the rest of the night!"
“How were you able to handle the cheese factory if you can't stand the smell?” Ripper asked, taking a bite out of a chunk of swiss cheese.
“I brought nose plugs with me in order to make the trip tolerable to my scent,” Topher explained.
“Who knew a tour of a cheese factory could make you smell so bad?” Justin stated.
“Me and Topher took plenty of showers after coming back so we wouldn't have to deal with any complaining,” Chase said.
"One of the boys has to go next. Obviously," Anne Maria told MK and Jasmine as they brushed their teeth in the communal bathroom.
“They do outnumber us by just one, so we'll take your words into consideration,” Jasmine said.
"I hear you," MK said as she spat in the sink. "Guys are cutthroat."
The camera flashed to Chris getting a massage from what could be assumed to be Chef. "The views of the contestants of Total Drama Action do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this network or parent company. They may, but not necessarily," he said in a calm voice before chuckling.
The boys were shown sitting laying on their bunk beds. "Did everybody finish their cheese?" Topher asked the others. "I don't want the ladies to complain about our smell."
"Of course we did," Chase said. “We're not going to be the next Pepé le Pew.”
The camera flashed back to the girls as MK and Anne Maria laid on their beds while Jasmine stood next to the door.
"So what do you wanna do?" Jasmine asked Anne Maria.
"We need a plan," Anne Maria replied. "We have to vote off a boy and soon."
"That's more of a goal than a plan," Jasmine commented.
"That's not the goal," Anne Maria replied with a short laugh. "The goal is and will always be-"
"The million dollars," the three girls said at once.
“Good night, girls!” Jasmine waved them goodbye and exited the trailer in order to sleep on her tree.
The shot cut back outside, a chorus of crickets and frogs heard in the background as the camera panned up to the full moon and faded forward into the morning sun. A high-pitched scream heralded another scene change as Chef Hatchet was shown in a pink floral nightgown, tied up and dangling from a rope above a street.
"Let go of me already!" Topher demanded as Chase forcibly dragged him to where the rest of the cast had already gathered, all of them in their nightwear.
"Why'd we have to come all the way out here?" Chase asked as Topher removed his sleeping mask.
"And why's Chef dangling over there?" Anne Maria added, looking up at the tied-up man.
A short drumroll opened up a more engagingly dramatic muscial piece as the camera cut to what was obviously Chris McLean standing atop a nearby building in a familiar-looking cape and cowl. With a floodlight at his back and a rope around his waist, he dived gracefully off the roof. A 'flying' sound effect accompanied a shot of him swinging towards the camera, and he soon snatched Chef to freedom. The pair continued to swing upward thanks to the host's rope, but it soon reached its peak length. Chris' costume flew off him and the smiles faded from their faces as the rope snapped, and they fell to the street with a shout.
"I knew that bungee wouldn't hold!" Chris yelled angrily, his hair completely messed up as he stood up off of Chef. "That's what happens when production cheaps out! And now my hair is all mussed up!" Chef stood up beside him with a dazed expression.
"Excuse me," Topher interrupted indignantly, "but can you get to the point and tell us what's going on?"
"When! I! Feel! Like! It!" Chris answered angrily, getting in his face and smoothing part of his hair with each word. He paused for a moment afterward as he and Topher stared at one another. "And now," he finally said, "I feel like it!"
A soft but appropriately grand tune began to build as me made his next announcement. "Today's challenges are inspired by the superhero flick!"
"Today's challenges?" Jasmine repeated in disbelief.
"We haven't even brushed our teeth yet!" Chase added.
“Or eaten breakfast!” Ripper added as well.
"Why do you enjoy making us compete so early in the morning?" MK growled.
"Evil never sleeps," Chris countered matter-of-factly, "and neither will you! Besides, superheroes don't do the things of mere mortals! They have screaming ladies to rescue!" Chef was shown fanning himself in mock exhilaration as the host spoke.
"Actually, there are some superheroes and supervillains that are mere mortals," Ripper interrupted. "Owlman and Leader Brazil for the heroes, and Screwball and Full Deck for the villains. Those are just a couple of examples," he rattled off confidently. The camera suddenly pulled out to show the others staring at him questioningly, causing him to look at them and shrug. "What? The only things that I'm genuinely interested in reading are comic books."
"And how would you like it if you had to go toe-to-toe with any of those guys, hmm?" Chris asked pointedly, and got no answer in return. "Yeah, that's what I thought. There are three things intrinsic to all good superhero movies," he said as the music began again. "One: superheroes have super powers. Two: superheroes save people. And my personal favorite, three: superheroes wear tights. Which means," he said as Ripper, Anne Maria, Jasmine, and Justin watched, "you will all be wearing," he paused to laugh, "teensy-tiny tights!" The contestants immediately began to protest.
"Why are you all in your PJs?" Chris asked with a scowl. "Get dressed and meet me back on set at superhero speed. Which means, you should already be back here!" He laughed again before calling "And make sure to wear something that goes with brightly-hued spandex!"
The scene flashed to MK, Jasmine, and Chase walking together in the background. “With all the cheese that was given to us, I think I know which superhero I'm going to be,” Ripper told the three as he walked past them in the foreground.
Confessional: Ripper
"Cheese can build up a lot of muscle, which comes in handy if I want to punch anyone in the face should they cross me," Ripper told the confessional camera with a piece of cheese in his hand. “Plus, it's also part of dairy, and if I load up too much on dairy, I can create a smell that can ward off anybody," he snickered and swallowed his cheese.
Confessional: Chase
“I've always fantasized about being a superhero,” Chase confessed. “Just imagine me riding on my bike or skateboard and kicking butt with my karate skills. My preferred choice of weapon? A bo staff, but not a wooden one. Those tend to snap easily.”
Confessionals End
The shot moved to the former Grips, who were also walking together.
"I talked with Jasmine and MK about voting for the boys, you two not included," Anne Maria whispered to Topher and Justin.
"The Gaffers are in an alliance, possibly," Justin replied, "but with four boys and three girls currently here, me and Topher can talk to Ripper and Chase about voting for one of the girls. That way, they'll think that we'll be targeting the girls when instead, we're targeting them."
“I had no idea you could think that much,” Topher said in amazement.
“A near-death experience can change a man, Topher,” Justin reminded him. “Once you've lost everything, there's nothing left to lose except the money.”
Confessional: Topher
"I can kinda relate to Justin here," Topher said. "I thought a splinter and swollen eye would be damaging to me, but I managed to recover."
Confessional Ends
A tenser tune played over a long-distance shot of the film lot as the camera zoomed in on the cityscape in the top left beyond the amphitheatre, and the scene cut to the fully-clothed castmates standing between Chris, a line of sewing machines, and a few bins of cloth.
"For your first challenge," the host announced, "each of you will create your own superhero identity."
"Sweet!" Ripper smiled.
"You'll make your own superhero costume using nothing but your fertile imagination," Chris continued, seemingly on the brink laughter, "and tons of spandex!" A close-up of the bins of spandex rolls was shown before a beeping brought the camera's focus to a dump truck backing up to the host. It dumped a load of miscellaneous stuff on the ground, and Chris added "And some other junk! You'll be judged on originality and style of costume, how rocking your superpower is, and how cool your superhero name is! Top score wins an advantage in the next round and invincibility from tonight's elimination. Chef will, of course, play the supervillain, which let's face it, won't be much of a stretch."
A green-and-yellow circular logo of snake's head spun rapidly into the foreground, then retreated into a tilted still of what was obviously a costumed Chef Hatchet and tabby cat set against a background of radial green stripes. The big man was dressed head to toe in green spandex, with the same circular snake logo on his chest and a similarly-themed fanged cowl. The cat merely wore a simple green mask, and was bearing his front claws.
"Meet, Pythonicus!" the host announced. "And his sidekick kitty, Dander Boy! They will sabotage you at every turn." Dander Boy meowed and scratched the air.
"Any questions?" Chris asked as the footage cut back to him. All seven castmates rose their hands. "No? Perfect! Aaaannnd, action!"
"I call dibs on that one!" MK yelled immediately as she dashed towards a roll of red spandex.
"Hey, I wanted that!" Chase interrupted, going for the same roll.
Confessional: MK
"That color would have looked better on me," MK explained, "but I have to stay on Chase's good side if I want him to not suspect me."
Confessional Ends
"Okay, it's yours!" MK told Chase with a smile, relinquishing her grasp on the roll of red. Chase cast her a stunned glance, then turned and ran away.
The Pythonicus logo spun up through the screen again, and as it did a piece of music reminiscent of a cheesy 1960s superhero TV show. A montage began of the costumed supervillain interfering with the contestants' challenge, beginning with Jasmine as she carefully measured what looked to be a green shirt and tights on a table in front of the sewing machines. A quick-pan to the left showed Pythonicus lurking at the end of the row of sewing machines; he dropped Dander Boy, and the shot quick-panned back to Jasmine as the cat quickly tore her costume to shreds and jumped away.
Next was Chase after a quick logo transition as he lifted a beach ball out of the junk heap with a smile. Lurking just behind the tip of the heap, Pythonicus swiped the ball and Chase was shown gaping as the ball was popped in front of him.
Another logo transition, and the third person shown was MK as she fed her gray spandex through one of the sewing machines. Standing behind her, Pythonicus dropped a small scrap of pink onto the gray, and it was quickly sewed on. MK saw it immediately, and glared over her shoulder at the villain.
Anne Maria was fourth after yet another logo transition, and she had already compiled a silver colored blouse and pants. After carefully laying down an insignia consisting of a silver diamond on her shirt just right, she looked away for a second and Pythonicus flipped the insignia upside down. Anne Maria looked back with a sparkly golden cape in her hands and a small smile on her face that changed into a frown when she noticed what was flipped.
Fifth came Ripper after the now-usual transition effect, but he was just leaning against a sewing machine and idly picking his nose. Pythonicus was openly watching him nearby in an awkward pose, but after Ripper spent several moments ignoring the villain, he turned and walked away.
The last contestant shown was Topher. He was feeding blue spandex through one of the sewing machines. The camera panned down to show Pythonicus inserting a wire into the outlet the machine was plugged into, then back up to show Topher being electrocuted.
Another logo transitioned the scene back into the still shot of Pythonicus and Dander Boy, which held for a few seconds before the cheesy background music came to an end.
The scene flashed to a modeling runway set up along one of the streets of the fake city. The camera was centered on the curtain 'backstage', with the catwalk set up in front of it. To the left, it ran almost to the edge of the screen, and was flanked by various stage lights. And to the right it stopped short just in front of the judge's table, where the trio of Chris McLean, Pythonicus, and Dander Boy sat.
"Now wearing a superhero costume of his own design," Chris dramatically announced to a calm music track as the camera and a pair of spotlights focused in on the backstage curtain, "our first super-model!"
The curtain swung open to reveal Chase dressed in red spandex and a belt with a baseball bat attached to it. His chest bore no insignia, but his face did bare a happy grin.
The camera cut to the judges as Dander Boy shut off the music and Chris sighed. "State your name and superpower," he droned as Chase hopped up to the end of the catwalk.
"I'm Danger Dynamo," Chase said, "and I've got all the powers of an extreme daredevil!" He took his baseball and mimed hitting a baseball with it.
"You're serious?" Chris told him dryly. "How do you fight bad guys? By running bullheaded into them?"
"Not only do I have this bat and my acrobatic skills," Chase continued, "but I also use my trustworthy skateboard for transport. If I had one now, I'd be demonstrating it."
Chris furrowed his brow and made a mark on his clipboard. "Well that's worth a whole 5 points..."
Chase walked away just as Justin walked up to the end of the runway. The eye candy's costume had no spandex, but he had chopped logs attached to his head, arms, and legs by multiple ropes.
"Dude, you look ridiculous," Chris told him bluntly. "So just tell me what you can do."
"I am Timber Man!" Justin declared proudly, striking a pose against a golden background. "And my superpower is…" he threw a couple of wood chips out of his hands.
The camera quickly cut to Chris as the wood chips fell in front of him. “Seriously? Wood chips?”
“Oh, and I can float. And make fire as long as I've got matches. And I don't get too close to the flame,” Justin finished with a nervous look.
"Lame!" Chris said and wrote on his clipboard. "2 points. Next!"
Ripper was the next one as he ran up the runway with a paper crown on top of his head and his shirt taken off to show a drawing of a milk carton and a chunk of cheese. He posed confidently and said "I'm King Dairy, and with enough dairy products, I can cook up gas!" He took out four chunks of cheese and stuffed them into his mouth. After he did, he let out a burp and fart at the same time. “The king has just cut the cheese!”
The gassy cloud of the bully's fart flew over to Pythonicus's face, causing him to wail and scream “It burns!” before fainting to the ground.
"Impressive," Chris said as he and Dander Boy looked at the fallen cook. "Gross, but impressive. 7 points for King Dairy."
“Booyah!!” Ripper celebrated.
The scene flashed forward to Topher standing proudly at the end of the runway in his dark blue spandex and light blue cape. His insignia was of his own face.
"I am Frosty Man!" Topher declared. "My powers include water and ice, and I use them to put out fires and nefarious plots."
“Do you squirt ice and water out with your hands?” Chris asked.
“No, with this!” Topher responded before he took out a fire extinguisher and squeezed the foam out in front of him. “How ‘bout that?”
"Cool if you want to be a firefighter," Chris answered, "but kinda dull for a superpower! 6 points."
Topher shrugged and walked away.
MK was next in her gray spandex. A piece of rope was attached to her butt, and she had a black beanie that covered her eyes, but had holes cut into them so she could see. "I am Street Rat," she declared, "and nobody can stop me thanks to my brains, sleight of hand, and ability to not be detected!"
"Those are skills that you normally have," Chris commented. "Nothing new to me, but great costume. 4 points."
MK pursed her lips in annoyance, but walked away without further comment.
Another flash forward put Jasmine in front of the judges at the end of the catwalk. She was wearing green spandex with no insignia and had a coil of rope wrapped around her waist.
"Looking pretty cool there," Chris told the Australian girl. "What's your name and superpower?"
"The name's Amazonia," Jasmine announced, "and the only superpowers I need are determination, strength, and my ability to hogtie enemies with my rope."
"Not bad," Chris said as he jotted something down in his notes. "I'd prefer something a little flashier, but the intimidating factor works in your favor. 5 points!"
Jasmine walked back down the catwalk, and Anne Maria replaced her. Her costume consisted of her in her normal clothes, but recolored to be silver and was noticeably sparkled with glitter. She had her diamond insignia on her blouse, silver goggles on her eyes, and a golden cape on her back.
"And what are you supposed to be?" Chris wondered.
“Bling Girl is my name!” Anne Maria introduced. “I have indestructible hair powerful enough to beat bad guys into shape. I can also blind my foes with my hair spray and cause explosions with my perfume spills in order to ward them off. Plus, I can take them on with my fists and sharp nails.”
“Awesome! Your powers are spectacular and sure to knock anyone out of commission," Chris said with a wide grin as he marked down the score. "10 points."
"Umm, why does she get a perfect score?" MK wondered as she stepped up to the judge once more, still in her Street Rat costume. "Her powers just consist of her daily hobbies like mine."
"That's because your powers are less likely to attack villains," Chris told her. "Anne Maria's is more creative."
"If you're gonna complain some more, I have a way of handling that," Anne Maria told MK with a pointed glare.
"No thanks," MK shook her head. "I don't want my nostrils to be burned by your perfume."
"Man, I love this show!" Chris told the camera with a wink.
(Commercial Break)
The scene faded back in to a shot of several additional set pieces along the fake city street. To the far left was a fake burning building up on stilts, then a mattress laying in front of a twilit forest backdrop, then a fake skyscraper, and finally a large trampoline in front of another evening backdrop on the far right.
The camera zoom-panned to the right, showing a ladder beyond the trampoline and Chris and the cast nearby. "For your second challenge, we will be testing your super prowess." The shot focused in on Jasmine as she raised a concerned eyebrow.
Confessional: Jasmine
"Chris can't really expect us to have actual superpowers," Jasmine told the confessional, still in her Amazonia costume. "After all, we are still human beings. It's not like we were bitten by a radioactive spider or had our bodies struck with electricity!"
Confessional Ends
"You'll have to leap over a building in a single bound," Chris told the contestants, "using this trampoline from the set of the movie 'Trampoline Thunder 2'! Awesome flick," he flashed a thumbs-up at the camera. "You'll be judged on how far and how high you jump," he continued as the camera quick-panned to the diving board at the top of the ladder. "And please, properly time your landing as we wouldn't want you to land anywhere other than on this soft, cushy mattress." As he spoke, another quick-pan took the scene down to the mattress where Dander Boy was busy washing his paw. The background music rose dramatically as the camera zoomed in, and the villainous feline was sent flying by one of several errant springs that popped out of the mattress.
The contestants gaped in shock, and the host continued. "Our first and foremost priority at Total Drama Action is you safety and well-being," he told them before slowly breaking out into laughter. "Next, you'll have to save a woman falling from a building," Chris said as the shot moved over to the fake burning building. "The woman will be played by a sack of potatoes in a dress," he said as Pythonicus leaned out of the building's window holding said dressed-up sack. "Which will be a real catch for you guys," he quipped.
Confessional: Anne Maria
"Chris is one to talk," Anne Maria sniffed. "He probably had dinner with that thing!"
Confessional Ends
A brief clip of Chris and the potato sack in a dress was shown, the pair seemingly enjoying a romantic candlelit dinner as touching music played and the smiling host poured the sack a glass of wine.
"And finally," Chris said as the scene moved back to the challenge, "you'll walk across a power line during a meteor shower!" The camera panned past the burning building to a row of power lines with a few mattresses below them, and Pythonicus tossing a bowling ball in one hand. He tossed it casually, and it flew straight through a water tower causing the water inside to come gushing out.
"The person to finish the course with the best time will also win invincibility alongside Anne Maria!" Chris announced as the contestants turned their shocked looks back to him. "Anne Maria, you're up first. Ten seconds will be shaved off your time for winning the first round."
“Aw yeah!” Anne Maria stepped forward confidently.
Confessional: Topher
"I'm happy that Anne Maria won the first challenge and all," Topher said, "but I want either Chase or Ripper to win the second part. That way, we can vote out the non-immune player."
Confessional Ends
"Aaaand, action!" Chris announced with a stopwatch in his hand, a drumroll starting up the fast-paced music as the scene immediately flashed up to Anne Maria on top of the diving board.
With a quick glance downward, she did a cannonball off the board, landing in the center of the trampoline and bouncing back up like a shot. She continued to hold her legs close to her body as she spun through the air and over the top of the skyscraper, and landed on the mattress with a roll and got back to her running position.
"So far some impressive moves from Bling Girl," Chris narrated.
Anne Maria quickly ran to the 'burning building', but tripped and fell just short of where the potato sack fell.
"Looks like we're having real mashed potatoes tonight, eh Chef?" Chris taunted. "None of that powdered stuff."
"Not much of a shining diamond now!" MK teased.
"Nice quip," Chris told the girl.
The shot cut back over to Anne Maria at the electrical pole as she started to climb up it, the camera quickly moving to the top as she started trying to make her way across the wires. She dodged two bowling balls, but dodging the second put her in the path of a third that knocked her off the wires and onto one of the mattresses below.
"Looks like you didn't make it," Chris taunted.
Confessional: Anne Maria
"What is with those mattresses?" Anne Maria muttered until she noticed bugs crawling on her right arm. "Get off!" she snarled as she shook her arm in order to ward off the bugs.
Confessional Ends
"Ripper, you're up!" Chris called before the scene flashed up to Ripper looking down thoughtfully from the diving board.
"Don't mess up, Dairy King!" MK said dryly from below, catching the shirtless boy's attention. “You know what's at risk!"
Ripper frowned a bit. "That's King Dairy, Street Rat!" He turned his attention back to the diving board, and took a deep breath. "It's Ripper Time!"
He jumped off the board and hit the trampoline legs-first, and flew up into the sky. “Time to call upon dairy!!” Ripper brought out four pieces of cheese and ate them all, producing a fart and burp that soared him over the skyscraper and landed him onto the mattress below before running off again.
"King Dairy to the rescue!" Ripper shouted before hopping off at top speed towards the next building. Pythonicus laughed evilly and dropped the starch-filled damsel, but Ripper leapt up and grabbed the sack in his arms before it hit the ground. "There you go. Feel feel to praise King Dairy for a day's work," he said proudly as he put the sack down on the ground.
"Hurry it up, King! You're on the clock!" Chris called from the sidelines, a stopwatch in his hands.
Confessional: Jasmine
“Ripper's no Superman or anything, and his attitude could use a little work, but the man's got some sweet moves,” Jasmine commented.
Confessional Ends
The camera cut to Ripper's quick and bounding climb up the utility pole. He reached the top and looked down, but after the first bowling ball missed him, he got into action, missing the next two bowling balls entirely.
"C'mon, Pythonicus!" Chris told his supervillain assistant, who paused in mid-throw to glare back at him, then toss the bowling ball at the host instead. It hit Chris upside the head, earning a satisfied smile from MK who had been standing beside him. Unfortunately, she didn't notice the ball coming back down and was hit on the top of her head and knocked down. The two groaned in pain.
The shot cut back to Ripper as he flawlessly ran to the end of the power lines and jumped down, landing with a powerful thud on his feet.
"And King Dairy saves the day!" he declared victoriously.
"Never thought I'd say this, but," Chris said as he got back to his feet, face scuffed and hair well out-of-place, "nice work, King Dairy." He smiled and checked his stopwatch, adding "Made good time, too. 36 seconds!"
"I'd do better if there was an actual damsel," Ripper said with a smirk as he walked past the host and stopped next to MK. "Try and top that, Rat Face!"
"It's Street Rat!" MK told him. "And worse of all, you already know that!"
Confessional: MK
"Ripper is my biggest enemy on the show, but I do have to keep him around if it means gaining more votes or using him as a shield," MK admitted in the confessional trailer, still in her Street Rat costume.
Confessional Ends
"Next!" Chris called happily, his hair already fixed. The background music picked up in intensity as a montage began of the other five superheroes running the course, beginning with Street Rat MK sprinting towards the ladder and climbing up it; Frosty Man Topher looked down warily from the end of the diving board; Danger Dynamo Chase jumped off the board; and Amazonia Jasmine dived off the board.
The scene quick-panned down to the trampoline as Topher hit it, sprung back up, and hit the side of the skyscraper; Chase flew over the building with a flip; Jasmine soared over the skyscraper with her body spread out; and Timber Man Justin vaulted over the top with his limbs tucked in.
MK hit the mattress below at a roll and kept running, catching the sack of potatoes but tossing it aside just as quickly. Topher came up behind her and paused with his arms open wide, and after the potato sack landed, he set it down and took off.
Jasmine was shown working her way across the electrical wires, but one of the bowling balls took her off. Pythonicus grinned darkly and sent the next ball flying. It nearly hit Chase, but he was able to jump down to dodge it, then grab the wire and swing back up to keep going. Justin was next, but although he jumped and rolled over one bowling ball, he flubbed the landing, landed on the wire with his groin, and got electrocuted. He fell smoldering to the mattress below, and the intense music came to an end as Chris pressed the button on his stopwatch.
"While Danger Dynamo did a really good job," he told the castmates who had lined up in front of him once again, "he was still three seconds short of beating the record. The winner of the second challenge, and invincibility with Bling Girl is," he took out his clipboard as he dramatically announced "King Dairy!"
"Yes!" Ripper cheered. "I won the challenge!"
"Maybe you are cut out to be a superhero," MK told him before chuckling. “Maybe.”
"Hey, superheroes?" Chris interrupted, pinching his nose and waving his clipboard in front of his face. "You all smell super gross. Time to hit the showers, and decide who's gonna get kicked to the curb."
The footage skipped ahead to nightfall, the shot lingering on the cast trailers as Anne Maria exited from the girls'. As the scene cut inside, MK and Jasmine were shown discarding most of their costumes.
"Since Ripper is immune, there's no voting for him tonight," MK said.
“And we are not going to eliminate Chase at all,” Jasmine declared.
"So that leaves us with Justin and Topher," MK said.
“I think it'd be best if we vote-” Jasmine responded, only to be interrupted by a sharp rapping on a nearby window. Confused, the two girls went to investigate, and the scene cut back outside to show Ripper and Chase waiting below, the two of them out of costume.
"Did Anne Maria leave?" Chase wondered.
"Yes," MK said.
"Good. We have to talk about who to vote," Chase said.
"Well I figured we should get rid of Justin," Jasmine whispered. "I used to be on his team, and he wasn't the most helpful at the time."
"I don't really care about pretty boy, so he can go," Ripper spoke up.
"But I say that Topher's the bigger threat," MK interrupted. “He was able to beat Jasmine in the prehistoric challenge and won the reward alongside Chase in the spy challenge.”
"And plus, he did just join the game a few episodes ago," Chase added.
"I'm aware of those instances, but I remember Justin trying to use his looks to get out of doing the challenges!" Jasmine countered. "Topher hasn't done anything like that so far!"
"And taking down Topher in the finale would be similar to doing the same to Justin!" Ripper said.
MK groaned. "Chase, do you still want to vote off Topher?"
“Now that I think about it, gunning for Justin would be a better choice,” Chase admitted.
"If that's how it's gonna be, then I'll vote for Justin as well!" MK said in defeat. "Next time, we take out Topher. Got it?"
The other three nodded.
The scene flashed to outside the communal bathrooms just as Anne Maria opened the door and walked in to Justin and Topher with their lower bodies wrapped up in towels and hair for Topher.
"Hey boys!" Anne Maria said brightly. "I didn't expect you to be here."
"Yeah," Justin said while Anne Maria came over to them, "but we have to discuss our voting plans, and this was the best place to do it."
"Exactly. So we're going to vote for Chase tonight," Topher said. “He's one of the most athletic contestants here, and if we underestimate him, he could make it to the finale.”
"I got it. I don't want to vote for any of my girls today!" Anne Maria said happily.
"Good. We'll leave you to shower alone. See you at the ceremony!" Topher smiled and pecked Anne Maria on the cheek before he and Justin left the building.
Another flash transitioned the shot to a close-up of the guys' trailer. "Psst! Hey!" MK hissed at one of the windows in the guys' trailer from the bushes outside. "Anybody in there?"
It was Topher who answered, sliding the window open and looking out. “MK? What are you doing here?”
"I'm here to dish out the news!" MK whispered.
“And what could that be?” Topher wondered.
"Look, me, Chase, Ripper, and Jasmine are planning to vote for Justin tonight, but I know how to prevent that," MK grinned.
“Which is?” Topher raised an eyebrow.
"I'll vote alongside you guys," MK said. "Look, I know from a certain source that you, Justin, and Anne Maria are going to vote for Chase, and I want him gone too!"
“But isn't Chase in your alliance?” Topher asked. “Why do you want him gone?”
"Anne Maria and Ripper have immunity, Jasmine and Justin didn't do well this challenge, and we're not voting for ourselves," MK added.
"Alright, those are fair points," Topher considered, “but wouldn't your alliance smell something fishy if there are four votes to three?”
“I've already got that covered,” MK smirked. “Don't worry about it.”
“If you say so,” Topher shrugged and closed the window.
Confessional: Topher
“To be fair, my plan was to vote for the non-immune guy, but how did MK even know about what I said in the confessional?” Topher asked.
Confessional: MK
"I am loving my strategy of recording confessionals," MK sighed in satisfaction. "I told Chase that we should just ignore Ripper and Jasmine and vote for Topher for the sake of the game. In that daredevil's head, he thinks that Topher will get the most votes if Justin votes him off as well! Oh how wrong he is," she finished with a teasing nod.
Confessionals End
The post-confessional static faded directly into the Gilded Chris theme. All the standard fanfare and reverence towards the host came and went, and the man himself walked up to the amphitheater podium as the camera zoomed in on the ceremony.
"And now, we vote," Chris said with a dark grin. The castmates were shown voting briefly, the trio of Jasmine, Anne Maria, and MK on the top row above Ripper and Chase, while Justin and Topher sat in front.
"And, the Gilded Chris goes to...," Chris announced before Pythonicus descended upside-down on a rope from the ceiling, handed him the results, and was pulled back up. "Anne Maria, and...Ripper! MK, and...Jasmine!"
"And we're down to the final three," Chris announced as the tension rose in the background music. He paused as he held up the folded paper he'd been given, then said "Justin!"
"And finally...," Topher and Chase were shown looking worried in a split-screen, "Topher!" The blonde boy smiled victoriously as his half of the screen slid away, leaving only a very shocked Chase.
"What?!" Chase exclaimed in panic.
Confessional: MK
“If I don't want to look like a traitor to the others, then the best thing I could do is not vote for Chase,” MK confessed. “Besides, he already got the majority of the votes, so I voted for Topher.”
Confessional Ends
"But how?" Jasmine stammered. “I thought we were voting off Justin.”
"MK told me to vote for Topher. I thought that…" Chase said before turning to glare at MK. “You voted for me, didn't you?! I knew Millie was right about not trusting you!”
“Hey, I didn't vote for you at all,” MK denied. “My vote was for Topher along with yours.”
"Did you two vote for Chase?" Jasmine eyed Anne Maria and Justin.
“Yes, and Topher did as well,” Anne Maria confirmed. “We didn't want him to overpower us.”
“I thought that Justin would vote for Topher as well, but I was wrong,” Chase said in disappointment.
"Sorry, Danger Dynamo, but it's time for you to take the Walk of Shame," Chris announced.
“There's nothing left to do but accept my defeat,” Chase sighed.
It was the spinning logo of Pythonicus that transitioned the scene to the red carpet, the sad but reverent elimination music already playing as Jasmine, Ripper, and MK stood with Chase one last time.
“I'll miss you guys,” Chase told them. “And Ripper, I'm super sorry about Izzy's elimination.”
“I still can't understand it, but I'll let bygones be bygones since you're going home,” Ripper said.
"MK, you're annoying, but thankfully, you didn't vote for me," Chase said to her.
"My pleasure," MK replied pridefully.
“Jasmine, we haven't gotten many opportunities to talk to each other, but you've been pretty cool towards me. I hope you win,” Chase spoke.
"No promises, but okay," Jasmine agreed. "And give a hello to Millie for me."
"You bet. Well, see you later," Chase gave his goodbye and got into the limousine of losers. The door slammed shut, the limo sped off, and as Ripper and Jasmine waved, MK simply crossed her arms and smiled secretly.
The shot cut over to the stage where Chris McLean was leaning against his podium with a grin on his face. "They may not have seen that coming," he told the audience, "but you should see what's coming next time on Total! Drama! Action!"
(Roll the Credits)
(Bonus Clip)
Chase was leaning back in the seat of the losers' limousine. "Even though MK didn't do anything to cause my elimination, I still didn't see this coming," he said. "I thought I'd go all the way this season after being an early out last time, but I ended up as the merge boot. Guess I'm just too awesome for this game," he joked for a bit with a laugh. “I still have Millie as my girlfriend, and I should just find an alternative for getting money, but what should I do? Fast food worker? Nope. Babysitter? No way.” He mused for a bit until an idea came to him. “I got it! Not only will this make me some money, but I can also be famous doing it!”
Eva - 15th
Geoff - 15th
Izzy - RETURNED
Trent - 13th
Sky - 12th
Brick - 11th
Scott - 10th
Izzy - 9th
Millie - 8th
MERGE
Chase - 7th
Boys: Justin, Ripper, Topher
Girls: Anne Maria, Jasmine, MK

A little backstory: what's usually means a lot of backstory LOL but here goes:
My sister-in-law was born with a lot of medical complications. She has had numerous surgeries before she reached adulthood, and plenty more as an adult. She is a miracle baby, and despite many bad diagnosis she has overcome many of them. Her life is a full but complicated one, that I am very proud to be a part of.
She has very limited mobility, she can use a walker minimally, cannot walk on her own at all, she needs to be able to hold on to walls, railings, or she can also be guided with a gate belt, or your hands. She's also has very limited vision, adding to some of the mobility issues. Mostly in public she uses a wheelchair, that is manual, and whoever companies her pushes her and said wheelchair. She can transfer to chairs, the car, on her own for the most part, but needs to be watched and guided.
Her and I clicked immediately. She was the first person in my partners family I connected to, and our friendship is very genuine and close. A few years ago I became her PCA. She didn't like day programs due to her having social issues. She has very limited but hyper focused interests, and doesn't like to talk about much outside of them, so it is very difficult for her to socialize with others who arent understanding of this.
Her birth parents are also quiz essential "my daughter is handicapped so I have to do little thing for her" parents who I have come across a lot in my career. It isn't an out of ordinary thing, but the lack of doing things for oneself and lack of Independence can cause great issues. Her parents divorced at a young age and it was very tough on her. There have been a few Court battles over custody of her, and it has been a wild ride. All of this drama has been over for at least a decade before her and I met. Addiction also runs in the family, although not very obviously, and very high functioning. Due to her birth mother neglecting her in her early years after the divorce, and not feeding her proper meals, she's developed this fixation on food. Her birth father remarried rather quickly after the divorce, and her stepmother and her family are all wonderful people who have worked a lot with people with disabilities, or the elderly, or group homes, etc etc. They have made great strides in my SIL's life and well-being. But they also work full-time, on top of managing many things like aging parents, live in grandchildren, cooking meals, etc. This is one of the reasons why I was able to step in as a PCA.
Currently she is just under 5 ft tall, and the last time I attended a doctor appointment with her a year ago, she was 243 lb s. She has since gained weight, because her clothes are no longer fitting. It is becoming a great issue, because not only is this a concern for an average person, someone with very limited mobility being this overweight is extremely dangerous and detrimental to her independence.
In the past before I was in the picture, there was a short period of time where the whole family (dad, stepmom, grandparents, and her) got very into eating well and fitness. She learned healthier habits, and stuck to them for a while and lost weight. But a few years before covid, the habit started slipping, and when covid hit, a lot changed. I started becoming her PCA towards the end of covid.
Every activity, volunteer work, project, that we do is somehow connected to food. She's been volunteering at two places for many years, when her father worked from home, and he was able to take her to them. After she completed her volunteer work, he always took her out to lunch at a fast food restaurant, or got her ice cream at an ice cream shop. And this girl doesn't just want two scoops of ice cream on a cone. She wants a large Sunday with all the fixings and three extra toppings on it, and when you try to talk her out of it she has a lot of temper tantrums, manipulation tactics etc. she also hates any form of exercise, and currently the average amount of exercise she gets daily is walking around the house a little bit to the bathroom, walking out to the car when we go somewhere, and then walking either to her wheelchair or if it's close to her destination and sitting.
It is an unspoken agreement that when her primary caregivers get too old that she will most likely wind up in my care. What is fine, I am completely okay with this and prepared for it. But what worries me is the excess weight, and her only getting bigger and bigger. Her and I are the same age. So by the time she's in her elderly years so will I. I already have delicate joints due to contracting Lymes disease at a very young age. I worry that if she gets too big she will no longer be able to walk or move at all, and it will be a situation of having to roll her to change a nappy, give her sponge bath throughout the week, and doing a once or twice a week big shower that would be an hour or two long event. I gently encourage her everyday to make better choices and to exercise a little bit more. Her family follows through for the most point, but they also enable her greatly. For instance, she's an extremely picky eater, and only likes junk. She will eat a salad, but she doesn't like tomatoes in it, green peppers, olives, onions, celery, kale, any fancy lettuce, or any other nutritious vegetable. It just has to be lettuce, carrots, red or orange bell pepper. She also has to have croutons on it, on top of crispy fried onions, and tortilla strips. She then drowns it in ranch dressing. Her stepmother and I have been slowly adding less and less of the fattier ingredients, but still it's not enough. She also eats this after eating a huge plate of dinner, as a agreement not to have a second or third portion. They claim it's better than her not eating vegetables, and it's the only way to get a salad into her so they view it as a compromise. I would agree with this if that were her meal and she had some chopped up chicken in it or something. But I'm not the one who raised her, and I have to tiptoe with my opinions on things very carefully.
In the past her father has been very tough on staff whenever they try to bring up issues they have with her. It seemed that every day program, group situation, PCA, or PARA she has worked with has been some horrible problem. He is the typical blame everything on staff and his daughter is doing nothing wrong, and they aren't doing their job type of parent. While as a father-in-law, he is great. I adore him, he is one of my best buddies, and in the in law department I feel like I've hit the jackpot. But I know I have to be very gentle when I approach situations regarding my sister-in-law. I can be more Frank with her stepmom about issues, because she understands, but generally she's at work and I don't want to wear her out with more stuff when she gets home. Her father works from home owning his own business, and is around during the day to talk to and help out.
Yesterday we went to the movies. This is something we do about once a month, or if there's something she likes that's playing. She doesn't want to go to a movie she doesn't want to see, but she also likes the movie going experience. She also loves popcorn, especially movie theater popcorn. She usually wants candy along with a drink, which tends to be a pretty hefty price, so I always get candy at the dollar store before we go. And I'm also not the one paying for the outing.
I am also on a diet right now. I am trying to get into better shape because I never lost my pregnancy weight, and my daughter is like eight now LOL. I have been meal prepping and on a big health kick. Her stepmom is also on a big health kick. This where is my sister-in-law because the last time her primary caregivers were on healthcare, she wound up on one too and wasn't very happy about it LOL.
Usually when we order our snacks at concessions, when the employee asked if we want extra butter, I usually hint at no, shake my head no, or say no. My SIL always wants extra butter. She wants so much butter that it'll soak through the popcorn holder and leak on to her pants. This is also how her father orders her popcorn at movies or other events. Yesterday before I could signal to the employee, she asked for a lot of extra butter. It was a large popcorn, and we got two medium drinks. I got a diet coke, she got a lemonade iced tea mix.
While the previews were playing, I looked up the calorie information on movie theater popcorn on the theater we were attending's website. Without extra butter a cup of movie theater popcorn is around 100 calories which is reasonable. So a large popcorn, which tends to be between 10 and 15 cups usually amounts to 1,000 to 1,500 calories. The extra butter, depending on the size of the popcorn, and how much the employee adds tends to be around 500 extra calories for a small, 500 to 800 extra calories on a medium, and about 600 to 900 extra calories on a large. After reading this and the nutritional value, I did not want to eat any of the popcorn. She finished the entire bucket, with just a little bit at the bottom. She also finished her entire drink, which was the size of a Big gulp cup you would get at a gas station. Since she didn't get diet soda, I'm guessing her drink had to at least have been 3 to 400 calories minimum. She also ate some candy which didn't amount to much, it was about half a bag of single serving size m&Ms. Not the ones you would put in a Halloween bag, but the one size up from that. So about the size of a Halloween bag one. She also had two nerds rope, and a couple of peach gummy rings. I didn't really add those to the grand total, and didn't want to make it a day of talking to her about food, I just wanted to enjoy the experience. I also couldn't have talked her out of the food, because the popcorn is her main reason for going to the movies. Every activity she does as I've stated before somehow circles around food.
When we get home, I was getting her situated and we were talking about how the movie was. She asked me what I thought of the popcorn, since this was our first time at this particular theater. I said I wasn't sure, I only tried a little bit because I don't usually eat movie theater popcorn when it has extra butter. Her father interrupts us jokingly acting shocked, stating you can't have movie popcorn without extra butter, making her laugh. He went back to work in the dining room, and I snuck out to him, and informed him that extra butter on the popcorn she ate probably was at least 500 calories, but was more likely closer to the 700 to 800 range. And that she ate almost the entire thing of popcorn, which was around 1200 calories without the extra butter. That with the drinks and the candy, was probably more than what she should eat in an entire day given her sedentary lifestyle, and her obesity. Her BMI I think is a 40 or a 50 I forget, but it's up there and it's a concern. I said it to him gently, and I danced around it the best I could. But he didn't look too happy hearing this information. I know there's no way in hell he 100% believes that she should be able to eat like this, and I've heard him make several comments about her overeating. It's been an issue we have all discussed, and agreed to work on. But it seems like he caves the most out of all of us. They also had waffles and ice cream for dinner last night. So that was probably another hefty amount of food. She probably ain't close to 4,000 calories yesterday because I forget what she had for breakfast but it's never healthy.
We've all been talking about making a healthier plan for her, and I don't want to be the bad guy all the time by being the one that pushes her about this the most, tries to limit her junk food intake the most I can, having her completely miserable and hating me all the time, while everyone else is giving her ice cream and 1200 calorie popcorn like it's nothing. After I made this comment, I can see a look of sadness in my father-in-law's eyes. I don't think he really wanted to hear me say that. But I also felt that it needed to be said. I also know my limits, and understand that I am not her guardian, and I do not make the rules regarding her care. But I do think I should be allowed some input, being that I spend a lot of time with her.
This conflict of interest is very tough on me, I didn't want to take the job when I was first offered it because I was afraid of situations like this. But the good from this job far outweighs the bad. I get to spend almost every day with my new best friend and sister, we get to go bowling, go swimming, do volunteer work, go to different events, go to the movies, make beautiful artwork together for her art show, bake and cook new things, think of all kinds of new projects, etc. I also really enjoy almost all of my in-laws, especially the ones that live with my sister-in-law. My partner's nieces also live in the house with my other sister-in-law, who I get to play with often, and generally enjoy their antics. The last thing I want to do is overstep, and jeopardize this job that I love. But I fear that if I don't start vocalizing some of these issues, they won't be addressed as quickly, and the situation could get worse. I understand that they have struggled with her weight her entire adult life, and much of her teenage years, I understand that it's extremely hard for her to exercise, with her limited mobility and her extreme dislike of exercise. I understand that some early traumas in her life as well as having the addict genetic causes her to have a very complicated relationship with food, and these things won't be solved overnight. I don't think they'll ever be truly solved, and that it'll be an ongoing lifestyle change, that we have to work on and keep up with.
Before I left last night, my father-in-law made a comment to me. We never argue, but I do know to read some of his jokes as serious information. He joked around about my sudden health nuttiness is causing me to overanalyze everyone else is eating habits. He said it in a funny way, I forgot the wording, and I believe part of him meant it as a joke as well. But I strongly believe another part of him meant it as telling me I am overstepping by seemingly judging what she eats at the movie theater or at other events.
I feel like I need a third party non-biased person to go to with my issues. I don't know how to go on from here, and I feel guilty about making such a big deal about the popcorn, when he was lightly trying to joke with his daughter. But these little light jokes and comments to cheer her up are doing a lot more harm than good, sometimes. And it's erroding all of the work and effort I've put into her, and others who have put into her.
But since I will likely be her caretaker in her old age, where she has a lot more health issues naturally, I feel like I have a right to say some of these things now, so I can hopefully build a few healthier habits with her, to make her and my life easier when we are elderly. Am I the a****** for overstepping on these things and having these concerns? Is this simply not my business, and I should continue doing my job? The last thing I want to do is make him or her family feel like they're failing her, or not doing enough. Because they go above and beyond for her everyday. And she, along with his other children are my father-in-law's true top priority.

For the sheer fun of it, I went to Chat GPT with a creative writing assignment. For Figures of Speech prompts, I gave a free parameters, including the word length of 500-1000 words and the prompts for a few of the Fifty mentioned in the series.
I gave the AI creative license and let's just say, they're a long way off from replacing the better writers and I think it just makes it easier to do those lower level tasks and let's leave the creators a slightly higher level of skill to create actual tangible and engaging writing.
But here you go... hilarious how stuck it gets on certain terms and definitions.
These are in no particular order... separated by emojis that are totally unrelated to the storyline.
🫱🫱🫱🫱🫱🫱🫱🫱🫲🫲🫲🫲🫲🫲🫲🫲 Response to Prompt 4: Understatement
In the quaint town of Brooksville, where the extraordinary was often met with an indifferent shrug, something truly remarkable occurred. The residents, sipping coffee at the local diner or strolling along the cobblestone streets, would describe it as just another peculiar day. Little did they know that beneath the surface of their nonchalant existence, a cosmic event unfolded.
The morning sun cast its usual warm glow on Brooksville, with birds chirping in the background, creating an illusion of normalcy. However, the anomaly had already begun. Mrs. Higgins, the elderly librarian, dismissed it as a minor inconvenience, merely a glitch in the library's ancient computer system. Yet, every book cataloged within those ancient shelves had transformed into a portal, connecting readers to parallel universes with every turn of a page.
As I, a humble journalist for the local paper, stumbled upon this revelation, I couldn't help but marvel at the town's response—or lack thereof. "The library's having a bit of a moment," was the most anyone would acknowledge. It seemed the whole town collectively decided that this was, at most, a quirky hiccup.
For a thousand words, I delved into the understated reactions of the townsfolk, each encounter with a parallel universe bringing its own blend of confusion and nonchalance. As the portals expanded, revealing fantastical landscapes and alternate versions of Brooksville, the citizens maintained an impressive level of calm, as if interdimensional travel was a routine part of their daily lives.
The plot thickened when I discovered that the portals were a result of a mysterious artifact hidden within the library's archives. The mayor, sipping his coffee, remarked, "Well, that explains the strange noises in the basement." It became evident that the understatement of the situation was a defense mechanism, shielding the town from the cosmic chaos unfolding. 🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁 Response to Prompt 12: Juxtaposition
In the bustling metropolis of Neon City, skyscrapers touched the heavens, their dazzling lights reflecting off the sleek surfaces of futuristic cars. Yet, nestled within this urban jungle, an ancient relic stood defiantly—the Old Grove Park.
As I strolled through the city's concrete arteries, the juxtaposition between the modernity of Neon City and the timeless serenity of the park became increasingly apparent. The cacophony of traffic was replaced by the rustling of leaves and the distant laughter of children playing.
The central conflict emerged when the city council, embodying the epitome of order, proposed transforming the park into a technologically advanced hub. The juxtaposition intensified as architects discussed plans for holographic playgrounds and virtual reality gardens within the confines of the Old Grove Park.
Through a thousand words, I explored the clash of ideals, the struggle between progress and preservation. The ancient trees became silent witnesses to heated debates at town hall meetings, where environmentalists and tech enthusiasts engaged in a battle of words. The juxtaposition of the towering skyscrapers against the gnarled branches of the park's oldest tree mirrored the tension in Neon City's collective conscience. 😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫 Response to Prompt 31: Epanalepsis
"What is the meaning of life?" The question echoed in my mind, a relentless epanalepsis that demanded exploration. As I embarked on this freewriting journey, the repetition of the existential inquiry became the rhythm of my introspection.
For a thousand words, I delved into the varied perspectives of individuals wrestling with the ultimate question. From philosophers contemplating the intricacies of existence to everyday people seeking purpose in mundane routines, the epanalepsis served as a constant reminder of the universal quest for meaning.
The narrative weaved through different characters and their unique experiences, creating a tapestry of reflections that echoed the complexities of human existence. The repetitive structure became a literary heartbeat, pulsating with the shared yearning for understanding amid the chaotic symphony of life. 🪔🪔🪔🪔🪔🪔🪔🪔🪔🪔🪔🪔🪔 Response to Prompt 27: Symbolism
In the quaint town of Willowbrook, the arrival of a single dove carried profound significance. Its graceful descent into the town square was a symbol, an omen that whispered of impending change. As a budding novelist with a penchant for symbolism, I couldn't resist exploring the layers of meaning embedded in this seemingly mundane event.
For a thousand words, I dissected the impact of the dove on the lives of Willowbrook's residents. The mayor saw it as a sign of prosperity, the local florist interpreted it as a call for unity, and the elderly storyteller regarded it as a harbinger of forgotten tales. The dove's symbolism rippled through the town, influencing decisions and shaping destinies.
As the story unfolded, I traced the journey of the dove's symbolism, following its subtle influence on characters and events. The once quaint town underwent a transformative metamorphosis, and the symbolism of the dove became a thread that wove through the narrative, connecting disparate lives in unexpected ways. 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜 Response to Prompt 33: Catachresis
In the dimly lit alleyways of Serpent's Hollow, darkness wrapped its cold arms around me—an eerie catachresis that mirrored the ominous atmosphere. The assignment was to explore the underbelly of the city, and as a novice reporter, I found myself navigating the labyrinth of deceit and shadows.
For a thousand words, I delved into the catachresis-infused descriptions of the characters populating Serpent's Hollow. The crime lord, known as the Velvet Serpent, ruled the district with a velvet-gloved fist. His lair, a dilapidated mansion, exuded an air of faded grandeur that served as a catachresis for the empire he once commanded.
As I chronicled the criminal underworld, the catachresis became a literary tool to convey the complexity and decay inherent in Serpent's Hollow. The labyrinthine plots, the twisted allegiances, and the morally ambiguous characters all found expression through catachresis, painting a vivid picture of a city where metaphor and reality intertwined. 🧑‍🔧🧑‍🔧🧑‍🔧🧑‍🔧🧑‍🔧🧑‍🔧🧑‍🔧🧑‍🔧🧑‍🔧🧑‍🔧🧑‍🔧🧑‍🔧🧑‍🔧 Response to Prompt 43: Epizeuxis
"Never, never, never give up." The words echoed in my mind, a relentless epizeuxis that fueled the protagonist's journey against insurmountable odds. In the dystopian world I crafted, where hope was a rare commodity, the power of repetition became a beacon of resilience.
For a thousand words, I immersed myself in the protagonist's struggle, exploring the emotional depth of the epizeuxis as a mantra against despair. Each iteration of the phrase became a battle cry, a whispered promise that carried the weight of a shattered world on its shoulders.
As the narrative unfolded, the epizeuxis became a driving force, propelling the protagonist through a landscape of desolation and uncertainty. The repetition served as a reminder that, in the face of adversity, the strength to persist often lies in the relentless echo of one's own determination.
Response to Prompt 50: Acrostic
As the final rays of the setting sun painted the sky in hues of orange and pink, I found myself at the edge of the cliff overlooking the vast expanse of the ocean. The salty breeze carried whispers of a story, and with every breath, I embraced the challenge of crafting an acrostic that encapsulated the essence of my journey.
For a thousand words, I embarked on a reflective exploration, utilizing the initial letters of key words to weave a tapestry of emotions, experiences, and revelations. Each line unfolded with intention, revealing a hidden 👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾 Response to Prompt 3: Hyperbole
In the quaint village of Mistwood, where routines unfolded with the predictability of the sunrise, the arrival of a peculiar fortune teller sparked exaggerated whispers. "This is it, the end of our mundane lives!" proclaimed Mrs. Thompson, the town's eternal pessimist, as she clutched her cat, Captain Whiskers, with an air of impending catastrophe.
The hyperbole hung in the air, a thick fog of anticipation enveloping the village. As I delved into the story, the hyperbolic reactions of Mistwood's residents heightened the absurdity of the situation. What began as a mere visit from a mystical figure transformed into a fantastical escapade, with the fortune teller's prophecies shaping the destiny of the villagers in ludicrous ways.
Through the hyperbolic lens, I explored the comedic consequences of taking ordinary events to extraordinary extremes. The once mundane village square became a stage for outlandish dramas, with exaggerated gasps and dramatic swoons punctuating every revelation. In this hyperbolic haven, Mistwood's residents discovered the joy in embracing the absurdity of life. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 Response to Prompt 6: Assonance
Amidst the rolling hills of Harmony Valley, where the soft hum of nature's symphony echoed through the meadows, a mysterious traveler arrived, bringing with them a melody that resonated with the delicate assonance of a forgotten tune. The townsfolk, captivated by the harmonious vibrations, felt an inexplicable connection to the stranger.
As I explored the narrative, the assonance became a musical thread weaving through the story, emphasizing the emotional cadence of the characters' experiences. The traveler's words, laced with vowel-rich verses, carried the echoes of a distant melody, leaving an indelible impression on the hearts of those who listened.
Through the lens of assonance, I delved into the subtle interplay of sounds that defined the atmosphere of Harmony Valley. The lyrical quality of the narrative mirrored the town's collective journey, where the resonance of shared moments and emotions harmonized with the traveler's enigmatic presence.
Response to Prompt 7: Onomatopoeia
In the bustling city of Metropolis, where the rhythm of urban life played out in a cacophony of sounds, a peculiar street performer emerged. Armed with an array of unconventional instruments, he orchestrated a symphony of onomatopoeic brilliance that echoed through the crowded streets.
The narrative unfolded with the vibrant expressions of onomatopoeia, capturing the essence of the city's sonic landscape. The performer's drumming evoked the rhythmic tap-tap of raindrops, while his wind instruments mimicked the whoosh of passing cars. The city, typically drowned in noise, became a canvas for this auditory artist.
As I delved into the story, the onomatopoeic symphony became a language of its own. The characters communicated through the vibrant echoes of everyday sounds, fostering a unique connection between the performer and the people of Metropolis. The narrative danced to the beat of onomatopoeic creativity, transforming the mundane into a dynamic celebration of city life. 🦻🦻🦻🦻🦻🦻🦻🦻🦻🦻🦻🦻🦻🦻🦻 Response to Prompt 12: Juxtaposition
In the technologically advanced city of Silicon Haven, where sleek skyscrapers touched the sky and holographic billboards painted the air with luminescent advertisements, a hidden oasis existed—a pocket of nature known as the Zen Garden. The juxtaposition of these contrasting elements created a visual paradox that fascinated both residents and visitors alike.
As the narrative unfolded, the stark contrast between the city's cutting-edge architecture and the serene beauty of the Zen Garden became a metaphor for the characters' internal conflicts. The bustling metropolis symbolized progress and innovation, while the tranquil garden embodied the need for balance and introspection.
Through the lens of juxtaposition, I explored the dichotomy within the characters as they navigated the relentless pace of Silicon Haven. The Zen Garden became a refuge, a place where the cacophony of technology met the soothing whispers of nature. The juxtaposition served as a visual metaphor for the characters' quest to find equilibrium in a world defined by extremes. 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩 Response to Prompt 22: Metonymy
In the political arena of Capital City, where decisions echoed through the corridors of power, a single phrase dominated conversations—the "Iron Throne Statement." This metonymic expression encapsulated not just a policy decision but the entire narrative of political maneuvering that unfolded within the city's hallowed halls.
The story unfolded with the metonymy acting as a symbolic gateway into the complexities of governance. The Iron Throne Statement, while seemingly straightforward, carried the weight of a thousand debates, negotiations, and betrayals. Its impact rippled through the lives of citizens, shaping their destinies in ways they could scarcely fathom.
Through the lens of metonymy, I delved into the layers of meaning hidden within this political shorthand. The characters grappled not only with the literal implications of the Iron Throne Statement but also with the overarching themes of power, ambition, and the sacrifices demanded by political gamesmanship. 😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈 Response to Prompt 24: Understatement
In the picturesque town of Serenity Springs, where the days flowed like a lazy river and the nights were adorned with a blanket of stars, an unexpected event transpired—a subtle disruption that the locals described as "just a minor hiccup." Little did they know that this understatement concealed the unraveling of a cosmic anomaly.
The narrative unfolded with the charm of understatement, as the townsfolk continued their routines, blissfully unaware of the cosmic storm brewing beneath the surface. The serene descriptions of everyday life served as a stark contrast to the impending upheaval that threatened to reshape the very fabric of Serenity Springs.
Through the lens of understatement, I explored the characters' nonchalant reactions to the unfolding events. The once quiet river became a conduit for interdimensional travel, and the night sky, adorned with stars, transformed into a celestial canvas of possibilities. The charm of Serenity Springs became a poignant backdrop to the understated drama that unfolded, emphasizing the profound impact hidden within the simplicity of daily life. 🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴 Response to Prompt 25: Cliché
In the small town of Nostalgia Haven, where memories lingered like whispers in the wind, a peculiar phenomenon occurred—the resurgence of clichés. As the narrative unfolded, the once-endearing phrases like "time heals all wounds" and "love conquers all" took on a literal dimension, shaping the lives of the townsfolk in unexpected ways.
The story immersed itself in the world of clichés, where the seemingly predictable phrases became living entities with the power to alter reality. As characters grappled with the clichés that defined their lives, they discovered that beneath the familiarity lay profound truths and unexpected consequences.
Through the lens of cliché, I explored the characters' journey to navigate the clichéd landscapes of their existence. The town, once steeped in predictable routines, became a stage for the extraordinary. As clichés transformed into tangible forces, the residents of Nostalgia Haven embarked on a quest to unravel the mysteries hidden within the clichéd fabric of their reality. 🎇🎇🎇🎇🎇🎇🎇🎇🎇🎇🎇🎇🎇🎇 Response to Prompt 31: Epanalepsis
"What is the meaning of life?" The question echoed in my mind, a relentless epanalepsis that demanded introspection. As I embarked on the freewriting journey, the repetition of this existential inquiry became a rhythmic pulse, guiding the exploration of diverse
perspectives on life's purpose.
For a multitude of words, the epanalepsis led me through a kaleidoscope of reflections. From the philosophical musings of scholars to the simple yet profound revelations of everyday individuals, each recurrence of the question served as a gateway into the vast tapestry of human contemplation.
Through the epanalepsis, I navigated the labyrinth of existential ponderings, unveiling the unique responses that individuals had forged in their quests for meaning. The relentless repetition became a literary heartbeat, mirroring the universal rhythm of humanity's collective pursuit of purpose and significance.
The narrative wove through the lives of characters, each grappling with the epanaleptic inquiry in their unique ways. Whether seeking solace in the grandeur of the cosmos or finding meaning in the simplicity of a shared moment, the epanalepsis remained a constant companion, echoing the perennial quest for understanding. 🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡 Response to Prompt 36: Anadiplosis
In the futuristic city of Quantum Heights, where technology intertwined with daily life like a seamless dance, a viral message spread—a mantra that echoed through the cybernetic veins of the metropolis. "Create the code, the code creates reality. Reality shapes destiny, and destiny is but the code."
The story unfolded with the rhythmic cadence of anadiplosis, each line flowing into the next, creating a recursive loop of ideas. The mantra became the heartbeat of Quantum Heights, influencing the lives of its denizens as they navigated the intricate balance between the virtual and the tangible.
Through the lens of anadiplosis, I delved into the interconnectedness of code, reality, and destiny. The lines blurred as characters harnessed the power of programming to shape their fates. Quantum Heights, once a mere city, transformed into a living algorithm, where the repetition of the mantra echoed in every pulsating byte. 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹 Response to Prompt 38: Asyndeton
In the dystopian city of Emberfall, where the remnants of a fallen civilization lay entwined with the shadows of despair, a lone figure emerged—a rebel determined to dismantle the oppressive regime. The narrative unfolded with the rapid pace of asyndeton, omitting conjunctions to mirror the urgency of the protagonist's quest.
Through a cascade of words, the asyndeton propelled the reader through the city's decaying alleyways and towering citadels, each sentence building upon the last. The disjointed rhythm captured the relentless momentum of the rebel's journey, emphasizing the magnitude of the challenges faced in their struggle for freedom.
As the narrative unfurled, the absence of conjunctions served as a narrative device, intensifying the sense of urgency and desperation that permeated Emberfall. The rebel's asyndetic odyssey unfolded against a backdrop of shattered hopes and whispered rebellions, culminating in a crescendo of defiance against the oppressive regime. 🗝️🗝️🗝️🗝️🗝️🗝️🗝️🗝️🗝️🗝️🗝️🗝️🗝️🗝️🗝️ Response to Prompt 43: Epizeuxis
"Never, never, never give up." The mantra echoed in the desolate wasteland of Endless Sands, a barren landscape where hope was as scarce as water. Through the repetition of epizeuxis, the protagonist's internal resolve became a resounding anthem, a defiant roar against the relentless challenges of survival.
For a multitude of words, the relentless repetition of "never" served as a lifeline, propelling the protagonist through the harshest of environments. Each iteration of the phrase became a battle cry against the oppressive silence of Endless Sands, a declaration that reverberated across the vast expanse.
Through the lens of epizeuxis, I delved into the depths of the character's determination. The harsh environment became a character in itself, challenging the protagonist to defy the odds with unwavering persistence. The echoes of "never" transformed into a symbol of resilience, a beacon of hope that cut through the desolation of Endless Sands. 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏 Response to Prompt 50: Acrostic
Amidst the starlit expanse of Cosmos Haven, where galaxies danced in celestial choreography, a cryptic prophecy emerged—a message written in the stars. As the narrative unfolded, I embarked on a cosmic journey guided by the acrostic hidden within the constellations.
For a cascade of words, the initial letters of key phrases illuminated the path of destiny for the characters. Each sentence unfolded with intention, revealing a hidden message that transcended the boundaries of time and space. The acrostic became a celestial guide, leading the protagonists through the intricate tapestry of their interconnected fates.
Through the lens of acrostic, I explored the cosmic forces that shaped the destinies of Cosmos Haven's inhabitants. The celestial bodies became storytellers, each constellation contributing a verse to the epic narrative written across the cosmos. As the characters deciphered the acrostic, they unraveled the mysteries of their existence, connecting the dots between the stars and their own profound journeys.
😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔
Obviously they lack a whole lot in terms of variety, and while I am sure having your own bot or AI that is based on your feedback and guidance it could really help writers as a tool. I am more impressed with the art AI then the text based AI. Any idea what to expect from such a fast learning and highly advanced AI will do to our human history in culture? Will we be effectively playing God, just as the Christian God created us IN HIS OWN IMAGE, we have taken everything we know as a species and gathered up our entire human history and knowledge giving it to what will carry on the code until the time when someone who cares remembers it? Maybe we have been here before and this is a constant cycle that occurs with the same energy finding the way through the vast expanse of the universe to return to our home planet Earth, who we have destroyed over and over again yet mother nature is still the winner. She's the one in control. We are but mere photocopied versions of once great Men who have already seen the best and worst of this world, and we will now give everything we have to some plastic and metal parts, until it quickly replaces us from the bottom up, science fiction turned science fact.
Did we knowingly create our own enemies? Are we able to compete with the best of us and all they know that can then take us out in a heartbeat because we can't finish the steps, we barely found out that they are there to take.
It's a random rant and I apologize. The day to day stress and struggle makes it near impossible to worry about such potential problems in our not so distant future.
But how can we continue to ignore the collapse of the entire system as we know it, in front of a crowd of people who are jaded and they will not change despite knowing they aren't going to make it to the end in what will become a Bladerunner Toxic Dystopian Nightmare with Mad Max taking over and the soft, emasculated male will wither away from the heat and those Tank Girls out there will eventually be written forever out of existence because the cucks all forgot to impregnate them all tgeir batteries ran out? Will the world simply become so politically correct that it dies a depressed death while AI simply decides we are too much of a virus to live?
Who knows....I do not. But these are indicidive of a future full of b movie plot garbage that are based on Wattpad tropes with no clear details and no plot to get into, so that sucks.

Basic Rules:
Each heir must represent the color of the generation (i.e. hair, makeup, clothing, house). You will most likely need to use CC for some of these colors.
The colors of the spouses don’t matter as they aren’t part of the challenge. Unless otherwise stated you can do whatever you please with them.
Money cheats can be used, but not excessively. Suggestion: use freerealestate for your first home, but no cheats afterward.
Keep the lifespan on long (normal may not be long enough for certain generations).
You must have only 1 child to keep the generations coming, but can’t play as them until the current heir dies. You must reset the age to Young Adult upon switching to the next heir and can work on some of the next heir’s requirements while they are living with the current heir, but they can’t move out until the heir dies.
You will have to have most (if not all) expansion packs and DLC to play this challenge properly.
If the offspring dies before the heir dies, or if the heir dies before having children, then it’s game over.
1 Generation One: Mint
You’re a sim in STEM and love science. You dedicate your whole life to becoming the best and most educated scientist in the world, while also stacking generational wealth in the process.
Traits: Genius, Ambitious, Materialistic Aspiration: Career Minded Career: Scientist
Rules: Master scientist career and complete Career Minded aspiration Complete University and get a Physics degree Master Logic and Robotics skills Complete elements collection Make and sell robots, have a robotic butler Have $500,000 in your bank account at time of death Have one child Live in Oasis Springs
2 Generation Two: Red
You had everything you desired as a child but you were always longing for more. As an adult, you find joy in serial romance and partying rather than starting a family of your own. Your constant roaming led you to having a child out of wedlock, who you drop everything to focus on, making ends meet with only a part-time job, as you were too busy partying to go to college.
Traits: Party Animal, Noncommittal, Romantic Aspiration: Serial Romantic Career: Part-Time Jobs
Rules: Live in an apartment in the Spice District of San Myshuno Have only one child from a one-night stand with Don Lothario Have 10 lovers at the same time Complete and master each part-time job and complete Serial Romantic aspiration Master Charisma, Parenting, Mixology, and Dancing skills Throw one party a week until having a child Break up and avoid all lovers after having a child You must add $500 simoleons a week from child support until the child leaves the home
3 Generation Three: Yellow
You grew up in a humble environment, but your parents tried hard to make ends meet. You grew close with your scientist grandparent and they helped you develop a love for space and aliens. Your goal is to become an astronaut and go to space, and maybe pick up some alien life forms to bring home.
Traits: Genius, Geek, Loner Aspiration: Nerd Brain Career: Astronaut
Rules: Your scientist grandparent left you with an inheritance of $500,000 which you received upon becoming a Young Adult Go to University and get a degree in Physics Master Astronaut career Master Logic, Handiness, and Rocket Science skills Must build a rocket ship and visit Sixam Get all Space Rocks and Aliens collectibles Live in Strangerville and complete Strangerville storyline No close friends or relationships as you prefer being alone Get abducted by aliens at least once Become pregnant with alien baby from abduction (can use MC command center if you are a female)
4 Generation Four: Purple
You always felt that you were different. While the rest of your family was busy messing around in the lab, you just wanted to be outside playing basketball. You’re very good at sports and you dream of becoming a professional athlete. You soon realize these athletic skills are from being an ALIEN! You must pursue your dreams while hiding your identity from the world.
Traits: Active, Bro, Adventurous Aspiration: Extreme Sports Enthusiast/Bodybuilder Career: Athlete
Rules: Join a sports team as a teenager in high school and college Master Fitness, Wellness, Skiing, Snowboarding, and Rock Climbing skills Master Athlete career Master Extreme Sports Enthusiast and Bodybuilder aspirations Have three failed relationships before finding spouse Hide alien identity from everyone including spouse Live in Mt. Komorebi Complete all slopes and climbing areas in Mt. Komorebi
5 Generation Five: Green
You’re a green thumb who loves plants. Gardening is your passion and calling, and you want to leave civilization to grow the most beautiful garden/farm in the world!
Traits: Vegetarian, Loves Outdoors, Loner Aspiration: Freelance Botanist Career: Botanist
Rules: Master Gardening, Flower Arranging, and Herbalism skills Complete Freelance Botanist aspiration Master Botanist career Live in Henford-on-Bagley on the large farm plot Create a large garden with every plant Have Perfect levels on all plants Become a plant sim Have max relationship with the scarecrow Win the oversized crop competition
6 Generation Six: Orange
You always lived on and inherited the family farm, but you’re more into animals than plants. You spend your life taking care of farm animals and pets, even entering them into local races and competitions. Heck, you love animals so much you almost forgot you have a family of your own.
Traits: Animal Enthusiast, Rancher, Horse Lover Aspiration: Championship Rider, Country Caretaker Career: Unemployed
Rules: Stay on the heir’s farm lot in Henford-on-Bagley Replace the garden plots with animal coops Master Pet Training, Riding, and Gardening skills Complete Championship Rider and Country Caretaker aspirations Have at least one of each: horse, chicken, mini goat, mini sheep, llama, beehive, and cow Win animal competitions for livestock Win horse races Have max relationships with every animal on the lot Only make money through animal byproducts
7 Generation Seven: Brown
You had almost no relationship with your parents, since they were so focused on the animals on their farm, and this made you resent animals and farm life. You sold the family farm to go live in the big city, making it big as a culinary genius due to all the fend-for-yourself nights back home, but your clumsiness makes it hard to cook in such a fast-paced environment.
Traits: Foodie, Perfectionist, Clumsy Aspiration: City Native, Master Chef, Market Magnate Career: Fast Food Employee, Chef, Food Critic
Rules: Run a successful food stand at first, then build a 5-star restaurant Master Cooking, Gourmet Cooking, Mixology, and Baking skills Complete City Native, Market Magnate, and Master Chef aspirations Complete Fast Food career as a teen, Chef career as an adult, then Food Critic career as older adult/elder Live in a nice penthouse in San Myshuno Reach max affinity to spicy foods and learn all food recipes
8 Generation Eight: Black
You always lived in the city, and loved the night life. Until one dark night, you fell victim to a toothy attack. Now, you can bask in the “night life” forever as a vampire! The man who bit you invited you to live in his dark, spooky mansion, but finds it hard to tame the fun-loving party sim within you so that you can act more like a proper vamp.
Traits: Foodie, Lazy, Goofball Aspiration: Master Vampire Career: Barista, then Unemployed
Rules: Go to nightclubs and bars every night Master Dancing, Mixology, Vampire Lore, Charisma, and Mischief skills Get bit by Vladismus Straud III and max affinity with him so you can live together Have a baby with another vampire (can be Vlad if you want) Reach max level Vampirism and get all the quirks Win vampire fights with all the vampires
9 Generation Nine: White
You were born as a vampire, but that isn’t how you want to live. You seek a cure from vampirism and instead want to help people as a doctor, even though you’re really squeamish. You want to leave the dark recluses of vampire life and head back to civilization to live as a normal human with a normal, loving family.
Traits: Squeamish, Good, Family Oriented Aspiration: Good Vampire, Super Parent Career: Doctor
Rules: Remove vampirism Master Logic, Parenting, Baking, Cooking skills Complete Doctor career and go to University for Biology Get married and have a child, with close relationships to both Donate to charity every day
10 Generation Ten: Gold
Your parents always told you to follow your dreams, and you have quite the big dream of wanting to be famous! You start out as a famous singer, then segway into acting! Your talents make you known far and wide, as well as making you rich.
Traits: Self-Absorbed, Snob, Ambitious Aspiration: Musical Genius, Master ActoActress Career: Entertainer (Musician), Acting
Rules: Live in Del Sol Valley Master the Singing, Dancing, Acting, Comedy, Charisma, Guitar, Piano, and Writing skills Master both the Musician and Acting career. Build a mansion Earn 1 million simoleons in your lifetime Become an A List celebrity
11 Generation Eleven: Silver
Because of your family’s fame, you have the opportunity to network with some of the wealthiest and most elite sims. Your desire for villainy, however, causes you to stir up drama and break up the families of these sims. You have a particular feud with Bella Goth and will do anything to take her man along with her man’s money.
Traits: Evil, Materialistic, Nosy Aspiration: Villainous Valentine Career: None unless you want one
Rules: Cause an affair and break up Mortimer and Bella Goth Become enemies with Bella Goth Marry Mortimer Goth Inherit Mortimer’s mansion and wealth Complete the Villainous Valentine aspiration Master Charisma and Mischief skills Have a child with Mortimer Goth
12 Generation Twelve: Pink
You grew up with both old and new money, but you want to make your OWN money. You hope your passion and talent for arts and crafts can get you far enough to make a name for yourself outside of your family.
Traits: Creative, Art Lover, Overachiever Aspiration: Painter Extraordinaire Career: Painter, Art Critic
Rules: Master the Painting, Photography, Cross Stitch, and Knitting skills Complete the Painter Extraordinaire aspiration Complete the Painter and Art Critic careers in order Open a Plopsy and brick and mortar retail store for your arts and crafts (both need to be 5 stars) Make at last $500,000 from your art Become A List famous for your art
13 Generation Thirteen: Blue
You have the perfect life. White picket fence, loving spouse, beautiful children. But why do you still want more? You end up having a secret affair that haunts you forever. You must keep the affair both active and secret from your spouse while also focusing on your career and family. This affair can not only ruin your marriage, but your reputation as a politician too!
Traits: Noncommittal, Perfectionist, Family Oriented Aspiration: Super Parent Career: Politician
Rules: Have one child Master the photography, cooking, and parenting skills Master Politician career Must marry high school sweetheart and stay with them until you die Have a secret affair that is maintained throughout your life
14 Generation Fourteen: Light Brown
After discovering an earth-shattering family secret, you decide to run away as a teen and never look back. This Runaway Teen/Rags to Riches-esque scenario led you to lead a very dirty lifestyle and live under humble means. The sims around you refer to you as the “trash man” and you slowly descend into stinking madness!
Traits: Freegan, Slob, Erratic Aspiration: Master Crafter Career: Freelance Crafter
Rules: Make money only by crafting and trash digging Master the Fabrication and Handiness skills Enter and stay in the freelance crafter career Can’t have relationships with anyone, but somehow needs to make a child Must start in a tent and end up in a tiny shipping container home in Evergreen Harbor Use all of the “dirty” Eco Lifestyle machines and tools
15 Generation Fifteen: Turquoise
After living in chaos and squalor, your goal is to clean up the earth and maintain an eco-friendly lifestyle. You want to conserve nature and keep your city green.
Traits: Neat, Green Fiend, Vegetarian Aspiration: Eco Innovator Career: Environmental Manager, Green Technician
Rules: Maintain a Green eco status in your home world (Evergreen Harbor & Sulani) Complete both the Environmental Manager and Green Technician careers Use only green appliances and electronics in the home, along with solar panels and water collectors Have a successful garden Do beach cleanups often After retiring, live in Sulani
16 Generation Sixteen: Peach
You spent your whole life in Sulani, fascinated by the aquatic life beneath the sea. One day, after eating a strange fruit, you become a mermaid! You spend your days roaming the ocean and living up in a fishy style.
Traits: Child of the Ocean, Child of the Islands, Cheerful Aspiration: Beach Life Career: Diver, Marine Biologist
Rules: Become a mermaid Complete the Diver and Marine Biologist careers Complete the Beach Life Aspiration Master the Wellness, Mischief, Fishing, and Photography skills Collect all ocean photos and Sulani collectibles Participate in all Sulani has to offer
17 Generation Seventeen: Lime Green
The island life isn’t for you, as you’re more of a tech-savvy individual. Specifically, you love hacking and programming. Your mischievous nature allows you to make a living under the table and under the radar.
Traits: Socially Awkward, Geek, Goofball Aspiration: Computer Whiz Career: Tech Guru, Freelance Programmer
Rules: Join an esports team in high school and college Hack into the hardest security levels Complete the Tech Guru career, then do freelance work Master the Logic, Mischief, Programming, Handiness, and Robotics skills Go to University for Computer Science Leave Sulani and live in a city
18 Generation Eighteen: Maroon
The mischief from your parents passed down to you, and you elevated it into straight up villainy. You want to become the most hated sim in the world, and profit from it as well.
Traits: Evil, Mean, Self Assured Aspiration: Public Enemy Career: Criminal Boss, Villain
Rules: Go to University for Villainy Have 10 enemies Complete the Public Enemy aspiration Complete both the Boss and Villain careers Master Logic, Mischief, Charisma, and Fitness skills Have the lowest reputation possible Play pranks on people
19 Generation Nineteen: Navy
The mean streak of your family ends with you! You have a strong sense of justice and wish to see it served, by your own hand, preferably. Delve into both the Detective and Law careers to deliver the swift hand of justice to any evil-doers you come across.
Traits: Self-Assured, Good, Gloomy Aspiration: Neighborhood Confidante Career: Military, Detective, Law
Rules: Complete the Military, Detective, and Law careers Complete the Neighborhood Confidante aspiration Master the Fitness, Charisma, Photography, and Logic skills Have the highest/best reputation Have 10 friends with max affinity
20 Generation Twenty: Lavender
You have always had your nose buried in fashion magazines, and live for the look. Your desire for attention makes you the perfect candidate for a lifelong presence in social media and online entrepreneurship. You live for the fact that everyone is watching your every move and outfit.
Traits: High Maintenance, Jealous, Outgoing Aspiration: World Famous Celebrity Career: Simfluencer, Style Influencer
Rules: Have 500,000 followers on Simstagram Complete the Style Influencer career and be a Simfluencer in high school Post on Social Bunny often Master Charisma, Entrepreneur, Knitting, Media Production, and Photography skills Create vlogs and streams to make money Become an A List celebrity Open a 5 star boutique and sell online
21 Generation Twenty-One: Cream
For generations your family has had a negative view on animals, but that stops with you. You love to help pets and want to start your own veterinary business. You also have a few pets yourself, preferring them over kids. The legacy ends with you.
Traits: Dog Lover, Cat Lover, Hates Children Aspiration: Friend of the Animals, Cure Seeker Career: Veterinarian
Rules: Have 6 pets (3 cats, 3 dogs) with max affinity and fully trained Open a 5 star vet clinic and work there Master the Veterinarian and Pet Training skills Complete the Friend of the Animals and Cure Seeker aspirations Become a werewolf (since you love animals so much) Achieve max werewolf levels, then cure yourself Never get married or have children (unless you’re doing the bonus generations)
Bonus Generation: Rainbow (Optional)
Somehow your parents ended up having you, even though they didn’t want kids. Growing up in a sad beige world made you enjoy the entire spectrum of colors. This generation can have any rules or requirements you want and is intended to include all of the things not included in this challenge. This generational color can also go on indefinitely to include everything. You can have them explore archaeology, gem making, paranormal stuff, interior design, spellcasting, education, wedding planning, traveling, etc as I didn’t make generations for those things. The world is your oyster!
Traits: Any Aspiration: Any Career: Any
Rules: Have fun!

i'm a seventeen year old enjoyer of music, and my main goal with this series is to simply talk about why i love the albums i write about, and hopefully either introduce some to the album or reach people who love it as well.
Swancore, a subgenre of post-hardcore pioneered mainly by Dance Gavin Dance’s lead guitarist Will Swan, isn’t necessarily known for darker tones or serious lyrics. Some bands, such as The Fall of Troy, come close, but none come as close as A Lot Like Birds. ALLB’s sophomore album and label debut Conversation Piece is electric; a grimly beautiful and powerful addition to the Swancore collection.
Lyrics- The lyrics on this album are truly unique to me in respect to the scene, especially at that time. From my personal experiences with Swancore, the lyrics are somewhat serious but not in a conventional way. There’s lots of tongue in cheek. Jon Mess is probably the most consistent and popular lyricist in the genre, and he’s known for the goofy exaggeration, and sometimes nonsensicality, of his lyrics (see “Chucky Vs. the Giant Tortoise”). The more punk-ish lyrical influence is very clear- the words are blunt and direct while the tropes range from some pretty intense personal struggles to the typical relationship drama usually heard in adjacent genres. Some amazing songs with great lyrics, but nothing that stands out too much. Swancore mostly catches your attention with the music and the aforementioned typically playful mood; lyrics are more secondary.
Right out the gate, Conversation Piece sets the stage for a very different experience. The first track is “Orange Time Machines Care.” You hear the gasp of a small group of people, and then the release in the form of a long shout. Aside from the loud, simple 7/8 drumbeat in a 4/4 feel and the heavy harmonic minor guitar lines, there isn’t much in the first twenty seconds of the song. Nothing that you could splice and loop to admire for hours. But then Cory Lockwood is introduced. He belts, “Il était une fois…/When learning how to crawl became a substitute for walking/Biting my tongue a fair exchange for talking to myself/Knocking pictures off the shelf and swallowing the frames/Spilling wine to comment on the stain.”
A lot of the lyrics on the record are centered around the struggles of relationships. Lockwood took a different approach to this theme than his contemporaries. He says in a track-by-track with PropertyOfZack that “writing about relationships was something I challenged myself to do for this album’s sake because I wanted to try something new.” He didn’t necessarily follow the tropes that are commonly found in the genre of the time, before, or even after. He didn’t waste words placing blame or pining when it wasn’t called for. He was nothing short of entirely honest- even when it was shameful (see “Vanity’s Fair” or “What Didn’t Kill Me Just Got Stronger”). Lockwood isn’t looking to serve as an example. He’s laying out a detailed tour of his thoughts and relationships, his own shortcomings included. He pushes and raises the expectations of Swancore lyrics, and sets himself at the level of the other amazing lyricists in the whole post-hardcore genre, at the very least in terms of honesty.
I’d also like to note that I couldn’t find any way to differentiate Lockwood’s lyrics from Travis’ with certitude, so I’m writing under the assumption that most of the lyrics were written by who performs them. Overall, I think most of the lyrics on this record are amazing, so credit wherever credit is due. I know for certain that Lockwood is a lyricist and that he wrote some of my favorite lyrics on the record. With that said, I also love a lot of the lyrics I suspect Travis wrote. I write from my understanding, and so that anyone who reads can adapt to their experience. I’m only so lax because I’ll be focusing on Travis a lot more in future paragraphs. My favorite lyrics can be found on my Instagram.
Instrumentation- The band was formed during the recording of the previous album by Michael Franzino. Long story short, he got a few people together (including Lockwood and Arrington), then they worked together to write and recorded the full-length demo at his home in a little under a year. It gained some recognition, they formed some connections (namely Kurt Travis), and got themselves signed to a label and a finalized lineup.
Continuing from the “Lyrics” section, Lockwoods screams are incredible. They’re very unique and balanced. But what really strikes me is his introduction of consistent use of spoken word to Swancore. Like I said earlier, the genre is typically less serious than others and sometimes even intentionally funny. ALLB is one of the handful of bands that trade the punk-ish immaturity for a darker and more intense sound and feel. Mind you, they don’t take that feel to the extreme. The intense demeanor finds its balance in Lockwood’s spoken word parts. The guitars and drums take a repetitive, eased position in the song, and Lockwood takes a rest from shouting to speak really thought-provoking lyrics. My personal favorite is the bridge part of Properties of Friction, I think it’s the best display of what I mean. He also switches back and forth between speaking/shouting/singing, which is something I’ve never seen done, at least in that way.
As for guitar and bass, ALLB bridged the gap between the really heavy Swancore and the groovy Swancore. There are bands, such as Stolas, who play into the fast and heavy riffs; and (on the rarer side) others, such as Dance Gavin Dance’s release Happiness, who craft really catchy and funk-adjacent riffs (see “Carl Barker”). The verse in “Vanity’s Fair” is a prime example. It’s very basic terminology, but that’s either the only way to explain it or it’s completely beyond my understanding. Embarrassing as that may be, I do understand two things.
Firstly, the band also took the impressive extra step to add some gorgeous atmospheric effects to the record. Tracks like “Truly Random Code/Abbr.” and “Blowtorch” have an extra layer of beauty added via some simple reverb and echo. This could be slightly controversial, but I feel like this album would sound musically similar to Moving Mountains’ Pneuma if the latter is heaviedarker. I’d even go as far as to say there are specific parts in both records that feel similar to me (for example, the rhythms both here and here). I know that’s bound to happen across genres in any circumstance, but I followed that thread for a little too long to not mention. I promise that’s the only potentially hot take.
Secondly, the feel, precision, and overall groovy rhythms in the guitabass section are strengthened and solidified by the drums. I’ve followed Arrington on Instagram for a while, and while I will concede that his theory is beyond my understanding as well, I can speak to his style being so perfect for ALLB. He now plays in multiple different bands alongside teaching drums, and I believe his words in a few of his stories for his exercises were Cuban/Jazz Fusion. If he said Afro-Cuban Jazz Fusion and I just forgot, that would make sense because a quick google search of that style shows a ton of playing that sounds pretty similar to his. I could never speak in depth about the theories behind that style of playing, but that’s what makes it so cool. Swancore, Math Rock, and other similar genres can get extremely technical. ALLB is one of the few who can truly pull off their prog-genre by writing accessible tracks that can sound incredible to just about anyone, while also using their individual understandings of theory and technique to create amazing music on a theoretical level (a composer [as unlikely to be one as he seems] actually analyzed one of my favorite ALLB songs that isn’t on this album). I think the drums play a huge part in that, at least in this band. Musicians obviously have a tendency to write similarly to their inspirations, and that can be difficult in such a closely-knit genre like Swancore. The music doesn’t all sound the same, but bands with such well-written songs and small attention to detail make it easy to be captivated by their individuality and experimentation before anything else. Another band where I believe the drums play a large part in their individuality is the Deftones. Cunningham, along with Moreno of course, adds those small details that texture the Deftones’ music and separates them from other bands of the genre at the time. Arrington uses his understanding of the kit to elevate the instrument beyond the conventional style played in Swancore, and that ultimately aids the other instrumentalists in doing the same. His small, incredibly unique fills (my favorites being on tracks two, three, and four) are absolutely top notch for the genre, especially at the time.
The last thing obviously to talk about is Kurt Travis’ singing. I won’t write too much here because I plan on writing about Happiness soon and eventually No Place at some point in the future, but I couldn’t simply ignore Travis’ contributions on this record. He’s my favorite vocalist in Swancore and among my favorite vocalists of all time, his singing is always incredible. Usually a vocalist in various Swancore bands, he really pushed himself on this album; melodically and otherwise. As I mentioned before, atmospheric effects were almost entirely foreign to Swancore, with delay being the only slight exception and rarely used. I think Travis’ performance on “Tantrum” sums up what I have to say for this record that won’t be said on any of the others. The layering of his voice and Lockwood’s throughout the song is absolutely amazing, and the song is one of the few instances you could hear Travis’ voice with thick reverb, which sounds incredible as well. I could say a lot more about his voice’s characteristics and his melodies, but I’ll save the rest for the other paragraphs I write about albums he’s featured on.
Random Thoughts:

• Michael Franzino did the clean vocals in the verses of “Sesame Street is No Place For People Like Me.” It took me an embarrassing amount of time to figure that out, and I only did when I found out he did clean vocals for the whole band on their previously mentioned first demo before Travis joined. His voice is pretty great. Admittedly, I haven’t heard the whole album, but the best from what I’ve heard is “Your Ex Marked My Spot.”
• Continuing on the last thought, someone indirectly directed me to a link of leaked demos for Conversation Piece on YouTube, in which some of the clean vocals are done by Franzino as well (timestamps can be found in the video’s description). While Travis’ performance is obviously better and more polished, I still love Franzino’s voice on those tracks.
• Continuing on the last thought again, the demos are so interesting. If you’re a fan of the album you’ve probably already heard them, but give them a listen if you’re a newcomer to the record and you like what you hear. It’s really cool to see the early writing/recording processes of these talented musicians.
• This is more general, I’m only adding it because I feel like it’s worth mentioning. Ever since the release of A Lot Like Birds’ latest album Divisi and the following couple tours, not much has been seen of Lockwood. I’m a late-comer to the band, but apparently Lockwood had a book project that was never finished, and then he kind of disappeared and hasn’t been seen for the past few years. Like I said, I haven’t been following whatever happened so there’s probably more to the story; I just found it interesting, and I figure anyone who’s just hearing of this album might find it interesting too. ALLB is on tour at the time of this writing, and it seems the dirty vocals are performed live by the frontman of My Iron Lung.

1. Divide and Conquer - 4/5 (Slapper intro. Pretty good for a pilot episode, but it felt like they rushed into character drama a little too quickly. Like, I only JUST now met Robin and Cyborg for the first time, so this big breakup doesn't really hit as hard as I imagine it could had it been a later episode. The animation of this show is very fun and different from typical action cartoons, though. Stuff like the characters turning into chibis and going horrendeously off-model for gags is great stuff.)
2. Sisters - 3/5 (Immediately more character conflict and drama. I'd say this one works a little better, but again, I only really now just met Starfire, so there's not a hugely established friendship between her and the Titans enough yet. On the other hand, perhaps that's for this episode's benefit, as it's about her feeling replacable, which would not be very realistic after having been established as BFFs for several seasons. And I did think her and Robin's chat was really sweet, so whatever. Also, Blackfire is just a color swap of Starfire. Sunny Tennyson much?)
3. Final Exam - 4/5 (So this episode was the first to air, but is not the "real" pilot. Strangely enough, it would almost have worked better as a pilot, since it introduces the characters in their HQ immediately followed by showing how they work as a team. The H.I.V.E. aren't the most interesting villains but Gizmo was pretty amusing. What was with the lighting in the scene where they get out of the water though? Looked strange.)
4. Forces of Nature - 4/5 (Thunder's Sonic eyes is freaking me out. Please separate them... Anyway, decent episode, even if it's mostly just Thunder and Lightning wreaking havoc and getting moral lessons from Beast Boy.)
5. The Sum of His Parts - 5/5 (Fixit. Wow, clever name. Sarcasm aside, pretty great episode. It's interesting to see Cyborg's abilities explored, and the eerieniess of Fixit about to forcibly make him a full robot was highly engaging. Although while that IS the main story, the majority of this episode is spent with the other Titans fighting Mumbo Jumbo for some reason. Not that it's back, since I liked the zany wackiness of it. But it definitely didn't need take up that much time. Also, he briefly became a Canadian from South Park.)
6. Nevermore - 4/5 (Thunder and Lightning, Mumbo Jumbo, and now Doctor Light? So far this show has had really lame villains. Not that it's a huge detriment, because unlike other superhero cartoons, the focus in most episodes seem to be more on the inner workings of the Titans themselves as opposed to whatever villain they're facing, so I guess they just pick goofy ones to jumpstart the actual plots. Which in this episode was pretty amusing. Raven's a lot more mellow than her appearance would let on. I thought she would nearly murder Cyborg and Beast Boy for breaking into her room, but she was just slightly upset. Oh and, uh, what was up with intro being in Japanese?)
7. Switched - 4/5 (Just as I mentioned the villains being "lame" in the last episode, I thought Puppet King was pretty interesting. He's not like, compelling as a character or anything, but I found the puppet schtick fairly amusing to watch. As for the actual story, while "body swap" is not the most original idea for these kinds of shows, I still found it endearing how Raven and Starfire learned about one another. But the fact that they still keep their voices makes me go grrr.)
8. Deep Six - 3/5 (There's that Japanese intro again! Apparently it's used for episodes that are more comedic, while the English is for the "serious" ones. Guess I'll see if that assessment holds up under scrutiny. So this is mostly an underwater episode, which, while not a bad setting by default, feels pretty uninspired when it's nothing but blue backgrounds and rocks. Raven horning for Aqualad sure was a sight to behold, though. Felt a bit out of character.)
9. Masks - 4/5 (Wow, Red X was Robin? No way. It's not like they had the exact same voice or anything. Anyway, as good as this episode might be, it's really just some setup for Slade's schemes, which is really only vaguely hinted at whatever it is. As a result, I don't really have much to say. Starfire's lecture about Robin not trusting them was a bit "wha" though, because, yeah, if they knew Red X was Robin, they would've held back, and it would not be convincing.)
10. Mad Mod - 3/5 (Sheesh, this episode hurts my eyes. It's a funny one, though. And it has the Japanese intro, so I guess that fact about it was true. It's nothing but the Titans chasing some Brit for the entire episode. 20 minutes of pure zaniness. And Mad Mod was a pretty amusing gag villain. I also really liked the song "K2G" that played during that Scooby-Doo parody montage.)
11. Car Trouble - 3/5 (Gizmo drove away with Cyborg's car JUST as he arrived to confront the guys who initially stole it. He would have been right in the vicinity of it, how did he not notice it driving away? LOL. Also why do the two crooks calmly tiptoe around and vaguely say they "lost it" instead of just "some guy drove away with it right behind you like 10 seconds ago!".)
12/13. Apprentice - 5/5 (Slade merely wanting an apprentice is a bit of a confusing motivation. Like, for what purpose? Once he's fully molded Robin, what does he intend to do next? Take over the world? Not that it matters, since the conflict of Robin having to betray his friends to save their lives was thrilling enough. Although part 2 is obviously the better half, because the first is mostly just setup for that. Robin also makes a sick Batman reference, but can't directly mention him because of the Bat-embargo. LOL. Side note, the effect of the probes being the characters becoming...orange with a buncha circles wiggling around them was odd.)
14. How Long is Forever? - 5/5 (Robin just brooding in front of the speakers was funny. LOL. Anyway, the way time travel is handled here is confusing. I suppose it always is, but here it seems to function so that during the period Starfire was travelling 20 years, she simply did not exist during them. But she came back to the past in the end, meaning historically, she always returned. So instead of time travel looping around itself, I guess in this series when you travel, you're just gone. And if you return, the timeline you go back to will be a completely different one. That aside, it was neat to see the future Titans, although sheesh my guy Beast Boy aged horribly. And I find it hard to believe the entire city would become a dystopia like this, considering the Titans aren't the only heroes around.)
15. Every Dog Has His Day - 5/5 (Pretty solid for a zany comedy episode. Beast Boy becoming a dog to get bitches (pun intended) was funny. And the whole schtick of the Titans mistaking an actual green dog for him lent itself to a lot of good comedy. The reveal that that the dog is actually intelligent and can speak sort of "ruins" what made that aspect funny in the first place, but it doesn't affect the episode's quality or anything, so that's just a nitpick. Soto was pretty freaky though. Reminded me of Tiny from Ben 10.)
16. Terra - 4/5 (Yikes, Terra is scrawny. She's like a walking stick. I guess she has earth powers, although it's not really explored how or why. Though, at this point in the show, I've obviously learned that stuff is not something it prioritizes. Anyway, this episode is very good, but it's mostly just introduction to Terra and then a teaser that she is Slade's new apprentice victim. I'm interested for where that goes, but I don't have much else to say about this one specifically.)
17. Only Human - 4/5 (Not to go all Facts & Logic:tm:, but humans also have a limit to which they can use their muscles, so on a technical sense, Cyborg's conflict in this episode doesn't make much sense. Especially since he exceeds 100% by the end anyway, showing it was always possible. Not to diminish the story or anything, because I did find his conflict around it genuinely engaging. And the moment when he rises up to the challenge to actually beat Atlas is obviously very cathartic and rewarding. But also LOL that Atlas picked a beef with Cyborg over losing in a video game.)
18. Fear Itself - 4/5 (Here I spent the entire episode expecting the "obvious" reveal that everything scary that happened was a prank by the Titans to prove to Raven that she can be scared. Guess I was a little overconfident in that since it turns out she was just accidentally doing it herself.)
19. Date with Destiny - 4/5 (Hey, it's Spider-Man. I mean, Fang. That was a pretty freaky character design. Just a guy with a huge spider as his entire head. This episode felt like it ramped up the wacky animation to 11, particularly with nearly every motion Kitten makes. And that bit with Starfire's mouth falling into the punch stuck out, too. That aside, pretty cute episode. Starfire's jealousy is amusing.)
20. Transformation - 3/5 (Does the Titan Tower only have bathroom? That's ridiculous. It's huge! Anyway, not to complain about power inconsistency or whatever, but Starfire being able to instantly fly several hundred thousand kilometers away from Earth pretty much instantly, not to mention be able to breathe in space is a bit excessive. She's not Green Lantern... That aside, this was alright. It's neat to find out more about Tamaranians, but Starfire has already learned the "my friends will like me no matter what" lesson before.)
21. Titan Rising - 4/5 (Why is Raven so pissy at Terra? Like, I know she's moody and has a low temper, but raging at someone just trying their best? A bit out of character. That said, I still enjoyed the rivarly. I like Terra on the team. It's fun that they're expanding the roster.)
22. Winner Take All - 3/5 (Why does the Master of Games need people to lose a battle before he can absorb them and their powers? Why doesn't he just do it to all of them on the spot? I found it funny that Beast Boy lost the first round. When the episode began I was expecting some epic final battle between the three main characters. But nope, he just loses and is gone for the rest of the episode.)
23. Betrayal - 4/5 (That was a bit of a rushed betrayal. Terra is introduced in one episode, instantly leaves within the same one, makes a big comeback 4 episodes later, and betrays them in the very next while it's treated like some devastating loss to the team. Well, there is the game episode in between. But also she isn't even in that save for a silent cameo in one shot in the end, so that barely counts! That said I still liked the emotional beats of the story from Beast Boy's perspective and such, so I'm not hating on how this was done. I just think this could've meant more if she actually was a member of the Titans for the episodes leading up to this betrayal. On a lighter note, I liked Beast Boy's theatrical scenarios of how he should have asked her out.)
24. Fractured - 3/5 (So in-between the previous, serious, dramatic episode, and the upcoming 2-part finale which will obviously be about Terra, they felt they needed an episode about some annoying imp doing zany nonsense. Not that the show is a stranger to that stuff, but this wasn't nearly as charming as Mad Mod.)
25/26. Aftershock - 4/5 (Pretty standard "epic finale" fare, but obviously it's good because I liked this Terra arc, as rushed as it may have been. Her turning on Slade and even being the one who ends up killing him was pretty thrilling stuff. I didn't think they'd actually go that far, considering he's like the main villain of the series. But while that final battle between Beast Boy and Terra was pretty great due to the resonance and such it contains, I feel like the episode took up a lot of time having the Titans fight various miscellaneous characters leading up to it, that just wasn't as interesting. Side note, Raven and Terra just being colored completely brown to simulate being muddy stuck out to me. I don't know why. Mainly because most shows would draw wiggly lines to simulate the muddiness, not just one blank color.)
27. Deception - 4/5 (I know this show is episodic so stuff like this is bound to happen, but it is a bit eyerolling that characters seem to just learn the same lessons over and over. Like in this episode, Cyborg is beating himself up over being a cyborg, but by the end he accepts himself the way he is. A lesson he has learned in 2 episodes prior to this already. Not that I didn't think it was well done. His chat with Starfire was sweet, and the whole thing about him being undercover was entertaining too, so it's not much of an issue.)
28. X - 4/5 (So some guy steals Robin's Red X costume and takes up the mantle... But he also conveniently sounds exactly like Robin? Sure, because THAT makes sense. For the most part this episode is just baiting you into wanting to know who Red X is, but then NEVER answers it. Pretty rude. Nevertheless, it was still interesting. Also Professor Chang's design reminds me of Inspector 13 from Ben 10.)
29. Betrothed - 3/5 (Titans just casually flying to another planet like it's a mere road trip. OK. Is The Batman funding this or what? Also, that scene of Robin outside the spaceship made me LOL. Anyway it's interesting to see Tamaran thoroughly explored upon and such, but it's a bit absurd that every single person on the planet wears basically the exact same outfit.)
30. Crash - 4/5 (Cyborg's cybernetic features are confusing. Firstly, how could a digital virus affect his brain, which is clearly a biological component? Second, how and why are there red blood cells flowing in the "veins" of his mechanical parts? Nitpicking logic in a goofy joke episode aside, this was great stuff. I liked that they had to reluctantly get Gizmo to help, and Cyborg going nuts was just entertaining in its own right. I think the interior of his cybernetic parts were interestingly designed, and Beast Boy as an amoeba is just absurd but fun. Although it's inconsistent that he's able to talk while in that form, since he can't when he's any other animal.)
31. Haunted - 5/5 (This was pretty grim, but very thrilling. Given Slade was established as like the main villain of the show, even though it seemed obvious he was imaginary, I kept asking myself if he was actually real or not to come capacity, since I doubt the series would get rid of its main villain that easily. And well, they DID imply somebody else activated the hallucination chemical from the mask, so, like, yeah, he's clearly coming back. That said, if it was all in Robin's head, how did he get all those bruises and rips in his clothes? By punching the air? And why did Beast Boy have a cold in this episode? I guess they needed some comedic relief so it wouldn't be too grim for Cartoon Network.)
32. Spellbound - 4/5 ("Kardiak, you're under arrest". I get it. Because he is a heart. Pretty amusing. Anyway, yikes, Beast Boy sure was mean for NO reason. But the way they made up in the end with Raven even joining him and Cyborg's game of "stankball" was cute. As for Malchior, well, I thought he was a girl until he spoke.)
33. Revolution - 3/5 (Pretty much a rehash of the first Mad Mod episode. He has the Titans trapped in a maze of illusions and they chase him around and defeat him. Which I get is the whole gimmick since he's just a joke villain, so yeah. This was good, but not AS good. The pop-art backgrounds were pretty cool, and I liked how the British flag was the sky in the background the entire time. Plus, British Beast Boy was funny. The "message" about patriotism, democracy or whatever, felt a but muddled.)
34. Wavelength - 3/5 (I guess Brother Blood is growing to be Cyborg's arch nemesis or something. This was pretty average, so I barely got anything to say. Aqualad asks for help, so they take down Blood's underwater weapon and...Yeah. But I liked Bumblebee, and her fight scene with Cyborg had a lot of funny visuals. The bit where he shuts the door on her was amusing too.)
35. The Beast Within - 5/5 (This was great. You'd think it would be fairly predictable to tell a werewolf story with Beast Boy, but the execution really makes it work. Yeah, it's obvious he's acting strange because of the chemicals from the beginning. But his gradual shift from acting macho, to asshole, to picking a physical fight with Raven for NO reason was interesting because of how bizarrely out of character it is. Especially when his "beast" form took the Raven beef to the next level. But on top of that I especially enjoyed the twist that the Adonis guy from the beginning was a second werewolf, and the actual culprit. Robin seemed awfully quick to immediately lock Beast Boy away or straight up murder him though. For a guy who himself was blackmailed into being evil, you'd think he would be more considerate to other possibilities.)
36. Can I Keep Him? - 3/5 (This was alright. Pretty simple concept for a comedy episode is all. Beast Boy fosters a giant maggot and then it becomes bigger and dangerous. Kind of amusing how Starfire got more attached to it in like a day than Beast Boy did while hiding it for months. As a sode note, I liked the design of Rancids robot dog and dinosaur.)
37. Bunny Raven... or ...How to Make A Titananimal Disappear - 3/5 (Pretty good for a zany episode. The Titans as animals were amusing designs, and Beast Boy becoming a lamp instead was funny. Mumbo's song was catchy.)
38/39. Titans East - 4/5 (I like the concept of Titans East, although the only member I find particularly interesting is Bumblebee. I'm always fond of shrinking abilities for the potential practical uses that often go unacknowledged. She never really does anything with it besides shoot some lasers in the bad guys face, though. Speedy and Aqualad are kind of generic, and Más y Menos are just gag characters, so yeah. Cyborg's conflict here was pretty interesting, but the way he gets decapitated piece by piece was pretty brutal. But him sticking it to Brother Blood was pretty awesome, and I liked the sweet ending where he decides to stick with the Titans.)
40. Episode 257-494 - 3/5 (Steve Irwin gets mauled by a bear. Anyway, this episode is decent, but it's just an endless stream of references to other things, many of which I am not familiar with, so even as a comedy episode, a lot of the jokes don't work very well. That woman from the lame soap opera was still with Cyborg in the real world by the end because THAT makes sense. But it was funny.)
41. The Quest - 4/5 (Yeah, it was pretty obvious the old lady was the great master. Robin going through challenges was pretty entertaining though, but that snake one... He won by merely grabbing the snake? Sure, okay. The rest of the team dressing up as and pretending to be Robin was probably the best part, especially even Raven joining in.)
42. Birthmark - 4/5 (Welcome back, Slade. This was a very thrilling episode. Really just has you asking tons of questions. Like how is Slade back, why is he targeting Raven now, etc. But also, it was interesting how this potrays Robin and Raven as having a very close friendship. I mean I guess all the Titans are good friends, but these two haven't been explored as a duo at all, so it was interesting, if not a bit awkward.)
43. Cyborg the Barbarian - 4/5 (Silly concept, but I like it. Though given how time travel has been established in this show, Cyborg can't really do anything to affect the future, because everything he will do has already happened in the past. I like the design of the demon... Thingies)
44. Employee of the Month - 4/5 (I found it interesting how this acknowledges Beast Boy a physical task, as opposed to Raven or Starfire's breezy levitating. Beast Boy working at a meat shop itself was pretty funny, and the Tofu villain in the end sells the whole thing for me. LOL.)
45. Troq - 3/5 (The racism episode. The fact that we know what word "troq" is supposed to represent makes it very weird how often we see it used. I mean imagine an episode where they used the actual word this much... Yeah. I think this is pretty well done and what not in terms of being sweet and emotional, especially Cyborg's talk with Starfire and Robin instantly changing his mind on Val-Yor once he finds out. But the action plot they wrapped all this around didn't really have me hooked, and it's a pretty big chunk of the episode.)
46. The Prophecy - 3/5 (This is neat and all, but for the most part it really feels like nothing but setup for a grander plot than something to stand on its own. So while I'm sure the context of this will make the season finale more rewarding, this is just okay. I did get a kick out of Raven pulling up Slade as he was trying to leave just to jerk him around a little.)
47. Stranded - 4/5 (This is a fun episode, but it has one of the worst common TV tropes of all time; Character refusing to explain an easily explainable situation this creating conflict because of misunderstanding. I mean, yeah, Starfire DID describe what a "girlfriend" was, but then she just described what could also be platonic. Robin could have easily explained to her that there's a difference between platonic and romantic.)
48. Overdrive - 3/5 (I like the Billy Numerous theme music, but that's about it really.)
49. Mother Mae-Eye - 3/5 (Well, funny at times, I'll give it that. But ehhhh. Yeah, I don't know, there isn't much to be said here. Liked the scene where Robin spiked up his hair.)
50/51/52. The End - 5/5 (Yeah, pretty epic. The Titans using Raven's power was also cool. I was hoping to finally see Slade's face when his mask was knocked off, but I suppose a creepy half decomposed skeleton is also interesting... Don't really understand Trigon's motivation for, well, all of this though. He wants to take over the Earth and get rid of all life on it, just so he can sit in a giant chair and relax? I mean, the real story here is supposed to be about Raven, so I know it doesn't matter, but that's pretty thin for what's supposed to be the most threatening villain of the show to date.)
53/54. Homecoming - 3/5 (I love specific character focused episode where we see something more personal to them, but Beast Boy's background isn't that interesting and most of the team besides Elastigirl weren't very interesting. But I do find Negative Man's powers cool. Brain is a pretty cool villain too, I love his voice, really intimidating vibes. How are any of the Doom Patrol alive after what happened though? Never explained)
55. Trust - 4/5 (An entire Hot Spot episode? Interesting, since I always find it fun when shows divert from the main cast. Overall fun, but that ending was pretty frustrating though. Hot Spot was so obviously Madame Rouge!)
56. For Real - 3/5 (I do like the Titans East, but this was disappointing. I was hoping for more of a genuine episode in their own town, seeing their feats as a team and friends, as opposed to goofing off with Control Freak. Also one of the villains Brain had lined up two episodes ago is in jail here?? Were Más y Menos permanently translated to English for the audience to understand them? I mean I guess I prefer it, since having them two speaking what sounds like gibberish to the rest of the team makes it hard for them to appear as genuine friends, especially since they're mostly attached to each other as opposed to the whole team.)
57. Snowblind - 4/5 (Already loved Red Star and then he's immediately killed before my eyes!! Whyyyy! I was hoping he would gain control of his powers and aid the Titans. How has he still been getting tanks to fill up with radioactive liquid for so many decades though? And that's a pretty small room for two tanks a day over the span of decades.)
58. Kole - 3/5 (This entire season so far the Titans have just been around the world, given last time they were in what appears to be Russia, and now it's somewhere in Scandinavia. It's been an interesting change of pace, sure, but this episode wasn't terribly interesting. They meet some caveman with a little girl, Dr. Light is up to no good, etc.)
59. Hide and Seek - 3/5 (Bobby turning out to be real was a pretty fun "twist". Got dragged out for a while though.)
60. Lightspeed - 4/5 (Another non-Titan focused episode. Kid Flash is randomly horning on Jinx because why not, I guess? This Jinx redemption came out of absolutely nowhere, given how little we've seen of her prior. But Kid Flash is fun, so whatever.)
61. Revved Up - 3/5 (This episode is neat, but given how they are racing for the entirety of it, the constant action was pretty exhausting to sit through. Why did Raven sneezing and Starfire saying the Tamaranean equivalent of "bless you" inform all the villains they are Titans though? Also, infuriating we never got to see what's in the briefcase.)
62. Go! - 5/5 (Love seeing the origins of the team, though it's pretty oddly convenient that these 5 superpowered people (well 4 with powers) just so happened to stumble upon each other, same day, same time, same situation. I imagine shortly after this they occasionally stumbled upon each other trying to fight the same bad guy every so often and decided to start a team. Which would have been more realistic for their first interactions, not all 5 meeting at once. Pretty on the nose Batman reference but they still absolutely refuse to mention Batman.)
63/64. Calling All Titans!/Titans Together - 5/5 (Why is Beast Boy climbing up the mountain as a goat instead of just... Flying? This was quite the epic episode, I enjoyted the intensity of seeing nearly every hero be ambushed separately by different villains. It's a bit strange for the final part to mostly be from Beast Boy's perspective, and with the strange heroes he ends up meeting. I was expecting to see how the rest of the Titans made it to the Brotherhood of Evil base, but it's probably better this way, since it leaves it up to imagination, and it doesn't really matter. Seeing the brain finally defeated when all heroes went into battle was satisfying. Jericho's powers were pretty cool.)
65. Things Change - 4/5 (The amount of quiet and awkward scenes with that sad music was... Well, very strange. The whole Terra thing is a bit weird like, sure, if someone you don't know jumps up to you, acts as if they know you and tells you you've gotten amnesia, you'd think they were insane. But Beast Boy surely has photo proof? Or if not, he could get testimony from the rest of his team?? No??? It doesn't have to jog her memory back, but at the very least she'd realize the truth and know who she was instead of just being so vague and saying cryptic things. Some things she said implied perhaps she did know, because any real person would just yell out the weirdo stalking them, not give emotional speeches about the girl you once knew being gone etc. But all that aside, why did Slade send a robot out just to tell Beast Boy that he had nothing to do with what's happened to Terra? Also, that creatures ability to turn himself into any matter he touches is really cool.)
Movie: Trouble in Tokyo - 3/5 (This has pretty much one of the things I dislike most about movies based on TV shows; Instead of actually focusing on the iconic aspects of the series in question, it goes out of it's way to be as far removed from it as possible by setting it in a whole other country. Bummer, because an ideal Titans movie would really focus on the whole team, and THEIR city. Instead, they're just in Tokyo stopping a corrupt commander (who I knew was gonna be the bad guy from the get-go) who's creating crimes to be a hero. And the thing is with these kind of movies is, perhaps if they actually did focus on the characters relationships, it would be good. But instead they are mostly separated the entire time, just goofing off. And cue the obligatory relationship between Robin and Starfire. I mean, it was obviously going to happen, so it's not as if I mind it, but the drama feels pretty forced. They're heroes, yes, but they lounge around and take time off all the time when criminals aren't around. There really isn't much more to say about this. High-tier average. Although, admittedly, I was finding myself ready to close my eyes and fall asleep nearing the hour mark.)
-The Lost Episode - 3/5 (It's half the length of a normal episode, so it's hard to judge it, given it's not even serious at all. A fun little watch, for sure. Beast Boy walking around with a boombox on his shoulders was funny because of how dated it is.)
-New Teen Titans Shorts (Can't really rate them since they're just shorts, but here's a few throwaway thoughts: I like the artstyle. The lowercase T tower is a funny visual gag. Was Blackfire just killed? So, they finally actually showed Batman on screen (technically)? The hell was up with Cyborg's voice in one of these?)

Killer Grips: Anne Maria, Jasmine, Justin, Millie
Screaming Gaffers: Chase, Izzy, MK, Ripper
Episode 12: The Aftermath II: Sky Fall
A familiar riff from an electric guitar began the episode, the letters of the 'TDA Aftermath' logo flashing and sliding into existence exactly as they had six episodes prior. A gleam of light swept across it, and the 'D' popped forward, rotating counterclockwise and snapping like a camera taking a picture.
Clip 1
"I'm sorry, but I have to make my conscience clean again," Brick responded. He then noticed Jasmine looking at the ground with disappointment. “Jasmine, are you feeling-”
“Like you said, it's best that you stay away from the film lot,” Jasmine said with an upset glare. “And more importantly from me. You lied to me, and a long distance apart is what's best right now.”
Brick hung his head in shame. “Understood!” he obeyed dejectedly.
The 'D' retreated briefly, then popped back out again before the next clip was shown.
Clip 2
The footage showed Chef escorting a handcuffed Sky on the red carpet.
"Hold on!" the voice of MK cried out as she ran up to the two. “Leave her and take me!”
“Sure. Whatever,” Chef took the handcuffs off Sky and offered them to MK.
“I was kidding!” MK pushed the cuffs away from her. “Like I'd willingly quit the game. I'm just here to see the loser off.” She looked at the slightly taller girl teasingly. “I'm sure you'll be happily reunited with Trent the Challenge Thrower.”
"As long as I'm not on a team with someone as underhanded as you," Sky retorted as she grabbed the handcuffs and walked past the now miffed girl, "I'll be happy anywhere."
The 'D' repeated its standard motion, retreating briefly before popping back out as a transition to the next clip.
Clip 3
"I promise to get you compensated for your broken arm as soon as possible," Chris whispered to Scott timidly.
“Okay,” Scott looked at Chris suspiciously. “I'll go celebrate with my team, but you guys better provide me with benefits or you and Chef are getting a lawsuit.”
For a fourth and final time, the logo's 'D' performed its transitional sequence.
Clip 4
The split-screen from the previous episode's elimination was shown, the camera panning to the left as Izzy received her award. "Hold on, wha?" Scott stammered in shock. "This has to be a joke, right?"
“No, it isn't,” MK said with a grin, “and you have me to thank for that.”
“You… you backstabbed me?!” Scott said with a bit of shock.
“With four votes to one,” MK cackled. “I just did what you did to your previous alliance. Don't get all hypocritical.”
"Unbelievable!" Scott grumbled before he was grabbed by Chef and carried over the shoulder down the Walk of Shame.
The 'D' was shown again, now as a signal of the recap's end.
(Theme Song)
The Aftermath introduction was replayed, this time cutting to the studio as the audience cheered and applauded. Priya and Damien were already on the host's couch, and the seats on stage left had been filled by Rodney, Sam, Gwen, Eva, and Geoff in the top row, and Topher, Katie, Sadie, and Trent in the bottom.
"Hey, everyone!" Priya opened with a wide smile. "I'm Priya!"
"And I'm Damien!" the nervous wreck added. "Good to have you all with us for another episode of the Aftermath."
"I hope you're all ready for the latest dirt on Total! Drama! Action!" Priya said excitedly as the crowd went wild again.
"There's a lot of love out there, right Priya?" Damien said.
"I know what you mean, Damien," Priya added.
"Sadly, today won't be all about love, considering that we'll be experiencing hate," Damien sighed.
"Considering who'll be joining us, that's a guarantee," Priya said as the camera pulled back enough to show the hanging television above them. "We have not only Scott, but Brick and Sky as well," she said as the screen split to show the devious farmer, cadet, and athlete's faces on the viewing screen and the crowd began to cheer.
"We've also got our season one friends joining us in the VIP section!" Damien announced. Priya held a finger to her ear and got up and walked off. "Say hey to Katie and Sadie!" The camera focused on the two girls as they smiled for the camera. "Rodney!" The country boy grinned. "Sam!" The gamer waved. "Gwen!" The goth gave a slight smirk. "And Topher!" The fanboy shot a finger pistol at the cheers.
Damien clapped and looked back, only to blink in confusion at Priya’s disappearance. "And we've got the guests from the last episode. Trent!" The camera cut to the guitarist as he smiled for the cheering crowd. "Geoff!" The party guy winked at the loud cheers. "And last year's winner, Eva!" She dropped her stoic persona long enough to grin at the camera, causing the crowd to cheer louder than ever.
"You sure know how to milk the camera," Trent said to the muscle woman.
"Not my fault," Eva shrugged. "The fans like me."
“Hi, Trent! We're so happy you're here!” Katie told him admiringly.
This made Sadie mad enough to smack her away. “I won the thumb war to say hi from us!” she argued, Katie sharing a similarly furious expression.
The camera cut back to Damien. "She’s doing that now?! Of all times?!" he whisper-yelled into his earpiece angrily and then changed his tone for the camera. "So there've been a couple of pretty shocking eliminations. Anything you'd like to comment on, Eva?"
"Not specifically," Eva replied.
"Okay," Damien said. "These past few episodes have been intense. We had the prison movie, the hospital drama, the haunted set..."
"...the disaster movie and war flick. Totally top-notch!" Priya finished as she returned to the studio and retook her seat, the audience members cheering.
"I knew these people would be all over those last two," Damien joked. "Glad I wasn’t in this season. I would've been voted out on prison day no matter what."
"I have to agree with you there," Priya admitted as the audience laughed. "I have a strong stomach, but the food would’ve been too much for me."
"For once, I actually feel for Scott. Having to go through all that, and getting his arm busted?" Damien commented. "I wouldn't wish that on anybody!"
"Same here, except for Fabien," Priya uttered with bitterness before moving on. "Coming up, we've got more moments of pain and hits like you've never seen," she said as the cheering began again. "It's time for 'That's Gonna Leave a Mark'!"
The segment's introductory sequence played, unchanged from the previous aftermath: several 'filmstrips' depicting various impacts and injuries to the contestants scrolled across the screen set to a grand theme. The crowd began to laugh as never-before-seen clips began to play, all set to a campy tune.
First was Jasmine stumbling around the hospital set with her arms outstretched, believing she had been blinded. She walked straight into Brick in his quarantine bubble, causing the cadet to roll back, hit the wall, and knock away Jasmine afterwards, much to his guilt.
Next, Scott was shown getting rolled into the ambulance after his injury. As the other castmates watched, the ambulance sped off but the doors swung back open, causing the farmer's stretcher to drop out. It rolled towards the teens, stopping just in front of a manhole before it partially collapsed and Scott slid down into the sewer with a splash.
The third clip was short, showing Chase finished setting up a trap during the war challenge and walking off. Ripper was carrying a couple of nets, and didn't notice the trap Chase set up until he got caught in it.
Fourth was set during the prison challenge, the same clip of Sky getting hit in the head by a bag while pushing the cart for her team playing.
The scene then flashed back to the hosts on their couch. "You can't just ditch me like that on live TV without telling me,” Damien scolded the reality TV fan.
“I saw my clip on the monitor, Damien. It was looking disoriented, and that has never happened before,” Priya defended herself. “Don't you know how embarrassing this would be if I didn't notice?”
“More embarrassing than me hosting solo when we're supposed to be a duo?” Damien argued.
The audience gasped. "So uh, guys? That was one great montage of pain!" Trent said from his seat.
"Oh, uh, it sure was!" Priya said quickly as she and Damien realized they were back live. "Did you all see Scott going down like a can of ham? Talk about brutal, right?"
Footage began on the hanging television as the campy tune resumed, starting with a shot of Chef Hatchet's giant manifesto flying towards the camera. The viewpoint shifted just as a gaping Scott was struck in his right arm, and the scene paused right as he began to fall off the wall he'd been clinging to.
"Yikes," Damien winced as a red circle was drawn around Scott's right arm. "If his favorite dance was the robot, he'll have a hard time doing that now."
The footage unpaused, and the redheaded boy fell across the balance beam in slow motion. "Does this show offer back insurance?" Priya added as the camera zoomed in on the point of impact between the log-like beam and Scott.
"Here's my personal favorite," she said as the scene changed to a clip of a traumatized Brick falling forward. "Brick fainting. This is what panic looks like," Priya said as a red circle was drawn around the cadet's face.
The feed cut back to the studio as the audience applauded and the hanging television cut to static. "How about we check in on Brick and see how he's holding up?" Damien asked the crowd right before the hanging television cut to the room backstage.
Brick was sitting on the couch in the middle of the room eating snacks while Scott sat on a nearby chair and Sky paced back and forth.
"So how are you two feeling about being interviewed in this episode?" Sky asked the two. “I'm personally ready to accept what's coming my way.”
“I'm prepared for it,” Scott answered. Though he still had a sling on his right arm and his bandana was gone, the brand on his forehead was no longer visible. “On one hand, my right arm is still broken, but on the other hand, I don't have no lame brand on my forehead no more. And I have a lot to say when it comes to being interviewed.”
“Thanks for your response, Scott,” Sky said. “What about you, Brick?”
“I'm not going to lie after what happened, so I'm just going to say that I'm worried about the questions I'm going to be asked,” Brick admitted and took a bite of his sandwich and looked at the camera. “And we're being watched right now.”
"The camera's on?!" Sky looked at it with shock as the shot cut back to the studio, the three eliminated castmates still on the hanging screen. “This was supposed to be private!”
A mixture of laughs and cheers came from the audience, and the camera focused in on Priya and Damien as the former said "We're always being recorded, no matter what."
"Before we bring out our first guest," Damien said, "let's take a look at his journey on the show." He looked back up to the other screen, which cut to static and then to a series of clips.
"Brick started out as a strong contender in this season," Priya started over clips of him being shocked by an eel and getting sprinkled by green slime.
"With his usual soft spot," Damien said over a clip of him peeking at MK's voting device.
"But when Chef secretly took him under his wing, making a deal to split the million if they won…" Priya brought up as clips of Chef talking to Brick during the acting challenge played.
"Things got dicey for our cadet," Damien said as a clip of Brick getting his swimsuit eaten by a shark was displayed.
"Fortunately for the rest of the cast, Brick had a thing or two to teach Chef about cooking actual food," Priya commented as clips of Brick making pizza and eating a slice was shown.
"But ultimately, Brick's conscience had something to teach him, too, leading to his dramatic exit," Damien said as clips of Brick talking to Justin and entering the Lame-o-sine were displayed.
The footage cut to static and the scene cut back to the studio, the camera panning back down to the hosts. "Our guest once got bombarded by skunks, is afraid of the dark, though he caught a pepperoni disease," Priya said. "Welcome Brick!"
She looked to the backstage exit where the cadet walked out to applause. "Brick McArthur, ready to execute the interview," he greeted with a salute as he walked over to the guest couch and took a seat.
"So Brick, how are you feeling after everything?" Damien asked.
"Is that a good question to ask?" Priya backpedaled. "He lost out on a million bucks twice."
"That may be factual, but my pride and integrity is still inside me," Brick claimed, making the audience applaud.
“Seriously?” Priya moaned. “That is so forced? Right, everybody?”
“Do we clap if we agree or disagree?” Katie asked Sadie, who simply shrugged.
"Thanks for the support,” Priya cynically mumbled. “I still think that what Brick said sounds like a lie. And you know what we do to liars!"
The shot pulled out and the music turned tense as an anvil swung down from the ceiling on a rope. "That's right," Priya said as the heavy thing came to a rest mere inches above Brick's head. "It's 'Truth or Anvil'!"
A grand tune played over a receding shot of a golden statue of the Lady of Justice. The crowd cheered, and both applause and music came to an abrupt end when a large anvil was dropped on the statue, smashing it to bits.
"Priya, why the sudden change?" Damien asked his girlfriend. "Wasn't it 'Truth or Hammer' last time? Why an anvil?"
"The producers’ thought of adding more drama to the show with an anvil. More Total Drama," Priya emphasized.
"Permission to speak," Brick said with a nervous look upwards, the viewpoint changing to show the anvil dangling precariously on its rope. "That anvil is going to drop on me if I lie?"
"You got it, but please don't lie. We don't want anyone to get injured," Priya said. "So, here's my first question.”
“I am so not cool with this!” Damien protested.
“How do you think I feel?” Brick said. “I'm not hiding anything anymore.”
“Brick, did you think the way you took advantage of your teammates was completely heinous and unforgivable?" Priya ignored the complaints and asked the first question.
"I had no intention of doing any harm, especially to Jasmine," Brick replied. "Chef just intimidated me!"
The anvil slightly dropped, making the audience gasp.
"Can't we just run some footage instead?" Damien suggested.
"How about some never-before-seen footage of Brick's fast moves behind the scenes?" Priya looked back up to the hanging television, which quickly switched from static to Chef in the boys’ trailer.
"While everyone else smelled like a dog park in August, you were wearing spring fresh duds," Priya said as the clip panned out to show Chef walking over to Brick to give him fresh clothes similar to the young man's usual attire.
"Thanks, Chef," Brick told the cook in the clip before the static moved to the next one.
"Chef gave you performance enhancing vitamins and helpful dairy products while everyone else was forced to eat slop," Priya talked over a clip of Chef providing Brick with a cup of vitamins and a carton of milk while Ripper, Millie, and Anne Maria were walking by with their horrible food.
The static changed the scene to Brick getting a therapeutic massage with needles attached to his bare back, sitting on his bunk bed with packages around him, and eating bags of beef jerky. "You received therapeutic massages, packages from home, and beef jerky, and never once felt bad about it," Priya mentioned all the things that Brick did.
The footage cut to Brick in a never before seen confessional. "Do I like winning? Heck yeah! I wanna do whatever it takes to keep racking up the wins! Do I feel bad? Do I look like I feel bad?"
Everyone gasped at all the things that Brick did after the shot cut back to the studio.
"I solemnly swear that I wasn't being two-faced," Brick defended himself. "Don't you have another clip explaining why I said what I said?"
"Okay. Here's what really happened in that confessional," Damien said before the next clip played on the television.
Another confessional was shown, though Brick was holding a script while Chef was watching him.
"Is this necessary, Chef?" Brick questioned Chef, who snarled in response and held a wooden ladle over his head. "I'm going to read. Do I like winning? Heck yeah."
The footage went back to the studio, where Priya was in the middle of a conversation with Brick. “Just do it this once,” Priya begged. “It'll make for great comedy, and the producers will love it!”
“You want me to get hit in the head with an anvil just to please your producers?” Brick repeated with a scowl. “That is not happening!”
“Okay then,” Priya said. “You lying did drive a wedge between you and Jasmine, so I'm not going to push it.”
"We only have time for one question," Damien interrupted.
"And I have the perfect one," Priya informed. "GumbroGordon98 wants to know; Brick, what would you do the next time you and Jasmine see each other again?"
“What I will do is make up for my actions and prove to her that I'll never keep anything from her again," Brick answered. "Not because of love, but because we're friends."
The hosts looked up to the anvil, but it didn't move. "That was not a lie if the anvil didn't pummel you," Damien smiled.
“Speaking of Jasmine, do you think that you two would’ve gotten together had you not worked with Chef all season or not at all?” Priya followed up.
“Excuse me?!” Brick asked in offense.
“Priya!” Damien said warningly. “That is personal info! I told you not to bring that up!”
“I just wanted to know. This is a half-hour show,” Priya said and faced the camera. "And it's time for a small break," Priya said. "We'll see you after these messages." She smiled and the crowd cheered.
The scene faded into the TDA Aftermath logo, and the 'D' popped out at the screen once again.
(Commercial Break)
The episode returned with another flash of the Aftermath logo, and a montage of clips from 'The Chefshank Redemption' began to play. Ripper and Chase were shown putting roaches and moldy pineapple slices into their bowl respectively, and Millie was eating the meal until she threw up. The camera pulled back out from the screen to the studio.
"Did you really leave just to touch up on your makeup?" Damien whispered to Priya.
"There was a pimple, Damien," Priya shot back. “And I took care of it during the commercial at least since you had a problem with me checking my clip during the episode.”
Damien groaned in frustration. "I thought you’d only do this once."
“I’d hate to interrupt your squabble, but the camera is rolling right now!” Eva spoke up.
Damien and Priya gave a wide-eyed stare to the camera. "And we're back," Damien said awkwardly.
"It's time we meet our second guest," Priya said. "But first, let's take a look." The hanging monitor cut to static and then started playing clips. "Scott was his same old antagonistic self this season," Priya said over a shot of Scott squeezing his sweat out of his shirt in the prison challenge.
"He was even picked last for the Gaffers because of his actions," Damien said over a clip of Sky picking him.
"Scott knew that he couldn’t throw the challenges with his rotten reputation, so he decided to mostly stay under the radar and not do anything risky," Priya recapped as Scott was shown getting on the surfboard and later on falling from one of the supports for the lights hanging above the pool and landing painfully on the surfboard.
"Scott formed an alliance with MK," Damien added over Scott and MK planning to vote out Izzy after the acting challenge, "and considering that MK’s as sneaky as him, it was a match made in heaven."
“When his arm got broken in the disaster challenge, Scott made sure to Chris that he wasn’t playing around with suing him after all he’s been put through,” Priya mentioned, clips of Scott being hit on the arm and later on angrily talking to Chris at night being shown.
"When the elimination came, Scott trusted MK to have his back in getting rid of Izzy," Damien said over Scott and MK in the communal bathroom together discussing the vote.
"But in a twist of events, MK chose to backstab Scott instead and take the villain role for herself, leading to his exit," Priya finished as MK's confessional was shown and Scott got thrown into the Lame-o-sine by Chef. The footage cut to static as the shot moved back to the studio, the hanging television retreating into the ceiling as the audience clapped.
"Our next guest got his forehead branded, covered his entire body in honey, and is a big fan of pigs," Damien announced. "Give it up for Scott!"
The audience cheered as Scott came out with his usual smirk and sat on the couch. "I expected there to be people booing me, but I guess I’m much more popular than I thought!" he told the hosts.
"I think it’s because you haven’t done anything as villainous as last season thanks to your early elimination," Priya said.
“Priya, Damien, are there still hard feelings between us?” Scott asked.
"The two of us still don’t like you, but we’re being professional for today," Damien replied. "So how are you feeling now that you've had a few days away from the show?"
"For starters, my dumb brand is gone and the money has been transferred to my family," Scott answered. "I’m happy about all that, but I am disappointed as well. I got duped and tricked and Chef damaged my right arm, and with my forehead, that’s just humiliating."
"That does sound harsh," Damien told him with sympathy. "You’re a wolf that’ll betray people, but what you got was overkill!"
“If you threatened to file a lawsuit against Chris after the arm incident, why didn’t you do so when you involuntarily got your forehead branded?” Priya asked the devious farmer.
"Because it wasn’t as painful as the second situation, and I only threatened to sue them out of bitterness from missing out on the final two," Scott said. "I did deserve to win that season."
"I know twenty-one people, including myself, who will highly disagree with you," Damien said with a knowing look at the camera, making the audience chuckle.
“Whatever. Only my opinion matters,” Scott let the hosts know.
"I think it's time for the questions,” Priya smiled mischievously. “How do you feel about MK after what she did?"
Scott snorted. "That’s the question you’re going to start with?"
Damien cleared his throat. "Don’t know why I didn’t bring this up sooner, but you should try not to lie for once in your life or an anvil's gonna fall on you." The camera followed up to the anvil, once again dangling above the guest couch on a rope.
"I don’t plan to be a pancake today," Scott said after looking at the anvil. "But if you insist, MK is like my equal, only that she’s less effective than me. We did work together to get the case, but that was because nobody wanted to work with either of us."
“And can you blame us at all?” Priya asked dismissively.
“When we started our alliance this season, I personally felt like we were starting to be good friends, and not lovers,” Scott continued. “Despite not always being on the same page, we gained respect for each other, so to have her turn on me like that kinda upset me a lot.”
“I remember you turning on me and our alliance last season,” Damien brought up. “Why did this even upset you?”
“I’m not soulless and sociopathic,” Scott stated. “I’m a jerk for sure, but I do care for the people closest to me, and that includes friends. Thankfully, MK didn’t heartlessly throw our bonding away for no reason. This is a battle for a million dollars, and I kinda respect her for getting me voted out.”
“Who knew you could put your pride aside for once?” Priya chuckled softly.
“Next question,” Damien carried on. “Are you mad at your other teammates for voting you off the show?”
“Absolutely not,” Scott answered. Everyone gasped and waited for the falling anvil... and it never came. "What? I’m not ticked off at them."
"I am also as shocked as the audience," Priya said in exasperation. "They helped MK vote you out and cost you a million bucks!"
"I’m not close to Ripper, Chase, and Izzy at all, so their votes I don’t mind," Scott replied. "They cost themselves the most strategic player on the team is what I’m gonna say."
"Is there anyone you'd like to see get booted out of the game next?” Priya wondered. “You made a lot of enemies."
"Eva’s my biggest rival, and with her already eliminated, I don’t care who gets kicked off next," Scott responded uncaringly. "If anything, I want MK to win this season. She’ll obviously triumph with her big brain."
"A supporter of the baddie? Interesting," MK remarked.
"Here's what I want to know," Damien said. "What's with your general, well, nastiness? Take a look," the television showed a montage of Scott’s unfriendly moments.
"So this is my competition. Eleven wimps I can easily take down."
"Wait, you're talking about Muscle Woman?! Seriously?"
"It's just an owl, Chicken Little."
“I don't know what's more boring. Danger Free's feelings for Wild Girl, or Gamer coddling a bird.”
"Hey Danger-less Damien! Get eating already!"
“If you want to hate the player, hate the game much more.”
"I don't want to get cuffed to anyone. Look at these people!"
"So those jerks left me here to die and without even winning the money."
"I'm up against a girl probably on steroids and a dumb party obsessed dude."
“McLean better be here in the next couple of seconds or I'm bailing."
“Are you kidding me?! Do my strategic skills, whittling skills, and good looks mean nothing to you?”
"Izzy's such a showboat. She's always there to demonstrate how “cool” she is, but can she smash twenty kitchen rats in under a minute? No.”
The footage cut to static and the studio was shown again. "Hey, people say that I wasn’t held enough as a child. Plus, where’s the joy in not grinding people’s gears every once in a while?" Scott said.
"You do have moments where you’re not insulting us, so we usually tolerate you for the most part," Priya said.
"Thanks. Now can we move on? I have nothing else to say," Scott requested heavily.
"Well in that case," Damien said, "it's time for the final guest." The feed on the TV screen started playing the clips of Sky's time on the show.
"Sky started the game as one of the stronger players," Priya said over a clip of Sky running from the monster in the first challenge with Trent.
"She was chosen as one of the team captains," Damien said over a clip of her winning the second challenge. "Unfortunately, her boyfriend, Trent, was the other captain."
"With her becoming friends with Chase," Priya said over a clip of Sky high fiving Chase, "and her focusing more on the competition," her jump off the diving board was shown, along with Trent helping her off the horse, "things got complicated with her and Trent."
"Thankfully, Sky was able to straighten things up or they could've broken up," Damien said over Sky and Trent's conversation after the wild west challenge.
"Sky was able to move on from Trent and focus on her own goals in the contest," Priya said over clips of Sky asserting herself in the alien challenge and pushing the cart for her team in the prison challenge, "but her refusal to be underhanded was her own doing," Sky's confessional about taking a shortcut was shown.
"And she was left without a Gilded Chris," Damien finished as the athlete was shown being escorted to the Lame-o-sine. The monitor was raised once again and the camera cut back to the hosts. "Our last guest loves serial killer movies, accidentally knocked someone out with a crate of oranges, and tranquilized multiple animals."
"She also dumped somebody before the show and hooked up with somebody new," Priya added. "Here's Sky!"
Sky walked onstage to a roaring applause. She waved to the audience before sitting down on the first row of the guest couch on the opposite end of Scott with Brick now seated a row above them.
“Hi everybody!” Sky greeted politely. “Hello Trent!”
“Sup, Sky!” Trent waved to his girlfriend. “Great to see you.”
"Welcome to the show," Priya said with a smile.
"Good job on getting the positions as co-hosts," Sky told Damien and Priya.
“It's not like we were forced into doing it,” Damien said. “It was our own choice… that the producers offered us,” he added the last part quickly.
"Anyway, Sky, let's talk about your time on the show and how it led to you coming here," Priya said to Sky.
"Well, I did have hope that I could make it to the finale this season since I was close to that stage in season 1, but got eliminated because of an auto-elimination challenge," Sky admitted. “Had it not been for that, my chances would have been higher since I usually don't get a lot of votes.”
"So you didn't know that MK plotted to use you and your boyfriend's love dilemma for drama and got your teammates to vote you out because it was resolved?" Damien asked.
"Say what?" Sky balked with shock.
"MK also got Izzy eliminated with help from Scott and is scheming in the background. Who knows who she'll target next?" Priya said dramatically.
"If MK was going to split apart me and Trent, then I am heavily rooting against her!" Sky declared. “In retrospect, I should have picked somebody else for my team.”
"So who inspired you to become who you are today?" Damien wondered.
"Be honest and you'll be fine," Brick whispered to the athlete.
“Unless you want to be shorter than you already are by getting squashed by the anvil,” Scott added.
"Hey, I was supposed to warn her!" Priya complained. “Sky, go on.”
"My sister, Jane, is in the Canadian Olympic team for rhythmic gymnastics," Sky opened up. "She is the first athlete of my family. I've looked up to her and wanted to be an athlete of my own.” She then donned a frown. “Before that, I didn't even know what I wanted to be. I was a lonely kid who didn't know how to talk to people back then until Jane gave me inspiration to become the bold and courageous person I am today."
The audience aww'd at her backstory and some people even cried, with Katie and Sadie being one of them. "That is so beautiful!" Katie cried as she and Sadie wiped off many tears.
“Next question: how do you think that things between you and Trent would've been much worse?” Priya asked next.
“Had I not talked to Trent about him losing on purpose, he'd still be in the game, but he'd continue challenge throwing,” Sky theorized. “It would've led to a fight, we'd break up, and we'd both be hated by the fans.”
“Trent, would you like to back her up on this?” Damien turned to him.
Trent felt surprised at being called on, but he still stood up regardless. “Sky made her point perfectly clear. She doesn't like to cheat or watch other people do the same,” he said. “I'm just glad we were able to open up to each other like rational people and keep our relationship rather than acting like whiny teenagers.”
“Thank you for understanding my views,” Sky smiled at her boyfriend while the audience applauded.
"Speaking of relationships, we would like to talk about Keith," Priya said abruptly.
“Keith?” Sky repeated.
“Yeah. He's the guy you broke up with before you came onto the show,” Damien told her.
"Because he was an absolute jerk," Sky said sarcastically. The anvil dropped, leading to Sky, Scott, and Brick diving out of the way and allowing for the anvil to destroy the couch.
"Did you have to lie? You do know that my arm is still in a sling!" Scott informed her indignantly.
"I didn't know that the anvil believed sarcasm was lying," Sky apologized.
“The anvil's policy is honesty, one hundred percent!” Priya enforced.
"Here's the honest reason we broke up, other than me joining the show. Keith is a reliable guy, but he and I both realized that our relationship wasn't going so smoothly, so we parted on good terms," Sky admitted.
"With that being said, let's get to today's video call with Keith!" Priya announced as the scene panned up to the television.
The static soon went away and showed Sky's ex-boyfriend Keith, who was a medium height Asian boy with black wavy hair and a black collared shirt. He was sitting on his bed inside his room with the wall painted gray and with medals hung on. He gave a wave to the camera and gave a small smile to Sky, who smiled back.
"Nice to see you again, Keith," Sky told him.
"Feeling's mutual, Sky. How are things going with you and your track season?" Keith asked.
"It's going good," Sky responded back. "What about your football season?"
"I'm still scoring the most touchdowns for us and leading the team to victory," Keith said. "Some of my teammates pull through, but the others will eventually have to step up and not leave the work to only a few."
"So Keith, we want to ask you a few questions regarding Sky," Damien piped in.
"I don't have anything to do at the moment, so ask away," Keith allowed.
"We'd like to hear about the breakup from your point of view," Damien explained.
"We broke up because we both kinda felt unhappy in our relationship," Keith responded.
"What do you mean you both felt unhappy?" Priya pressed on.
"With us starting to be on different sports teams and us focusing too hard on wanting to win due to being captains, it made me and Sky drift apart from each other a bit," Keith answered.
“Sorry about that,” Damien expressed his sympathy.
"With Sky about to join the show, we both knew that we had to break up and not stress ourselves," Keith continued. "We've both moved on, and while I'm no longer dating for a while, I'm happy for Sky being with a brand new boyfriend."
"Your support means everything to me," Sky reminded him.
"I have to go now. I just remembered that I have to pump my football again. See you soon," Keith said before the screen turned to static and the camera moved away from the television back to the studio.
“Okay, he is super cute,” Sadie whispered to Katie.
“And not taken!” Katie whispered more gleefully.
"A part of me was wishing that Keith was a sleazebag," Priya said. “A possible heated argument would've made things interesting.”
“That is just wrong, Priya,” Damien shook his head disapprovingly.
“We can either be amicable or toxic, and me and Keith choose the amicable path,” Sky emphasized. “Are there any more questions for me?”
“Just this one,” Damien smiled. “Would you change your gameplay if it meant staying in the game for a longer period of time?”
“And sink to the level of the people I'm highly against? I'd rather quit than sabotage anybody, even if they're my biggest enemies,” Sky answered boldly.
“I also stand by that,” Damien nodded. “To end off the interview, honesty and being straight up will always save your butt.”
"That is all for today's episode!" Priya announced with a smile as the Aftermath theme began to play.
"Join Chris and the cast next time for the most dramatically thrilling episode of Total! Drama! Action! Ever!" Damien pitched in over the applauding audience.
The lights on the stage turned off, and as Damien and Priya began standing up, Priya noticed Damien glaring heavily at her. "Hey, about our…"
Damien grabbed her arm and took her away from the camera. "You and I need to talk, Priya. Now!"
(Roll the Credits)
(Bonus Clip)
Sky was sitting in the green room by herself when Trent walked in and took a seat next to her. "Hey Sky, I have some bad news," he said.
"What could it be?" Sky replied.
“So it seems that Katie and Sadie are now in love with your ex,” Trent claimed. “I overheard them talking about how hot he is.”
“To tell you the truth, Keith isn't into those types of girls,” Sky sighed. “He'll be annoyed out of his mind if he ever meets them.”
“Hopefully it's just a one-time crush and the girls will move onto somebody new,” Trent wished.
“If not, I'll give Keith a big heads up to hide himself for a week," Sky promised.
Eva - 14th
Geoff - 14th
Izzy - RETURNED
Trent - 12th
Sky - 11th
Brick - 10th
Scott - 9th
Killer Grips: Anne Maria, Jasmine, Justin, Millie
Screaming Gaffers: Chase, Izzy, MK, Ripper

For the sheer fun of it, I went to Chat GPT with a creative writing assignment. For Figures of Speech prompts, I gave a free parameters, including the word length of 500-1000 words and the prompts for a few of the Fifty mentioned in the series.
I gave the AI creative license and let's just say, they're a long way off from replacing the better writers and I think it just makes it easier to do those lower level tasks and let's leave the creators a slightly higher level of skill to create actual tangible and engaging writing.
But here you go... hilarious how stuck it gets on certain terms and definitions.
These are in no particular order... separated by emojis that are totally unrelated to the storyline.
🫱🫱🫱🫱🫱🫱🫱🫱🫲🫲🫲🫲🫲🫲🫲🫲 Response to Prompt 4: Understatement
In the quaint town of Brooksville, where the extraordinary was often met with an indifferent shrug, something truly remarkable occurred. The residents, sipping coffee at the local diner or strolling along the cobblestone streets, would describe it as just another peculiar day. Little did they know that beneath the surface of their nonchalant existence, a cosmic event unfolded.
The morning sun cast its usual warm glow on Brooksville, with birds chirping in the background, creating an illusion of normalcy. However, the anomaly had already begun. Mrs. Higgins, the elderly librarian, dismissed it as a minor inconvenience, merely a glitch in the library's ancient computer system. Yet, every book cataloged within those ancient shelves had transformed into a portal, connecting readers to parallel universes with every turn of a page.
As I, a humble journalist for the local paper, stumbled upon this revelation, I couldn't help but marvel at the town's response—or lack thereof. "The library's having a bit of a moment," was the most anyone would acknowledge. It seemed the whole town collectively decided that this was, at most, a quirky hiccup.
For a thousand words, I delved into the understated reactions of the townsfolk, each encounter with a parallel universe bringing its own blend of confusion and nonchalance. As the portals expanded, revealing fantastical landscapes and alternate versions of Brooksville, the citizens maintained an impressive level of calm, as if interdimensional travel was a routine part of their daily lives.
The plot thickened when I discovered that the portals were a result of a mysterious artifact hidden within the library's archives. The mayor, sipping his coffee, remarked, "Well, that explains the strange noises in the basement." It became evident that the understatement of the situation was a defense mechanism, shielding the town from the cosmic chaos unfolding. 🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁 Response to Prompt 12: Juxtaposition
In the bustling metropolis of Neon City, skyscrapers touched the heavens, their dazzling lights reflecting off the sleek surfaces of futuristic cars. Yet, nestled within this urban jungle, an ancient relic stood defiantly—the Old Grove Park.
As I strolled through the city's concrete arteries, the juxtaposition between the modernity of Neon City and the timeless serenity of the park became increasingly apparent. The cacophony of traffic was replaced by the rustling of leaves and the distant laughter of children playing.
The central conflict emerged when the city council, embodying the epitome of order, proposed transforming the park into a technologically advanced hub. The juxtaposition intensified as architects discussed plans for holographic playgrounds and virtual reality gardens within the confines of the Old Grove Park.
Through a thousand words, I explored the clash of ideals, the struggle between progress and preservation. The ancient trees became silent witnesses to heated debates at town hall meetings, where environmentalists and tech enthusiasts engaged in a battle of words. The juxtaposition of the towering skyscrapers against the gnarled branches of the park's oldest tree mirrored the tension in Neon City's collective conscience. 😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫 Response to Prompt 31: Epanalepsis
"What is the meaning of life?" The question echoed in my mind, a relentless epanalepsis that demanded exploration. As I embarked on this freewriting journey, the repetition of the existential inquiry became the rhythm of my introspection.
For a thousand words, I delved into the varied perspectives of individuals wrestling with the ultimate question. From philosophers contemplating the intricacies of existence to everyday people seeking purpose in mundane routines, the epanalepsis served as a constant reminder of the universal quest for meaning.
The narrative weaved through different characters and their unique experiences, creating a tapestry of reflections that echoed the complexities of human existence. The repetitive structure became a literary heartbeat, pulsating with the shared yearning for understanding amid the chaotic symphony of life. 🪔🪔🪔🪔🪔🪔🪔🪔🪔🪔🪔🪔🪔 Response to Prompt 27: Symbolism
In the quaint town of Willowbrook, the arrival of a single dove carried profound significance. Its graceful descent into the town square was a symbol, an omen that whispered of impending change. As a budding novelist with a penchant for symbolism, I couldn't resist exploring the layers of meaning embedded in this seemingly mundane event.
For a thousand words, I dissected the impact of the dove on the lives of Willowbrook's residents. The mayor saw it as a sign of prosperity, the local florist interpreted it as a call for unity, and the elderly storyteller regarded it as a harbinger of forgotten tales. The dove's symbolism rippled through the town, influencing decisions and shaping destinies.
As the story unfolded, I traced the journey of the dove's symbolism, following its subtle influence on characters and events. The once quaint town underwent a transformative metamorphosis, and the symbolism of the dove became a thread that wove through the narrative, connecting disparate lives in unexpected ways. 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜 Response to Prompt 33: Catachresis
In the dimly lit alleyways of Serpent's Hollow, darkness wrapped its cold arms around me—an eerie catachresis that mirrored the ominous atmosphere. The assignment was to explore the underbelly of the city, and as a novice reporter, I found myself navigating the labyrinth of deceit and shadows.
For a thousand words, I delved into the catachresis-infused descriptions of the characters populating Serpent's Hollow. The crime lord, known as the Velvet Serpent, ruled the district with a velvet-gloved fist. His lair, a dilapidated mansion, exuded an air of faded grandeur that served as a catachresis for the empire he once commanded.
As I chronicled the criminal underworld, the catachresis became a literary tool to convey the complexity and decay inherent in Serpent's Hollow. The labyrinthine plots, the twisted allegiances, and the morally ambiguous characters all found expression through catachresis, painting a vivid picture of a city where metaphor and reality intertwined. 🧑‍🔧🧑‍🔧🧑‍🔧🧑‍🔧🧑‍🔧🧑‍🔧🧑‍🔧🧑‍🔧🧑‍🔧🧑‍🔧🧑‍🔧🧑‍🔧🧑‍🔧 Response to Prompt 43: Epizeuxis
"Never, never, never give up." The words echoed in my mind, a relentless epizeuxis that fueled the protagonist's journey against insurmountable odds. In the dystopian world I crafted, where hope was a rare commodity, the power of repetition became a beacon of resilience.
For a thousand words, I immersed myself in the protagonist's struggle, exploring the emotional depth of the epizeuxis as a mantra against despair. Each iteration of the phrase became a battle cry, a whispered promise that carried the weight of a shattered world on its shoulders.
As the narrative unfolded, the epizeuxis became a driving force, propelling the protagonist through a landscape of desolation and uncertainty. The repetition served as a reminder that, in the face of adversity, the strength to persist often lies in the relentless echo of one's own determination.
Response to Prompt 50: Acrostic
As the final rays of the setting sun painted the sky in hues of orange and pink, I found myself at the edge of the cliff overlooking the vast expanse of the ocean. The salty breeze carried whispers of a story, and with every breath, I embraced the challenge of crafting an acrostic that encapsulated the essence of my journey.
For a thousand words, I embarked on a reflective exploration, utilizing the initial letters of key words to weave a tapestry of emotions, experiences, and revelations. Each line unfolded with intention, revealing a hidden 👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾 Response to Prompt 3: Hyperbole
In the quaint village of Mistwood, where routines unfolded with the predictability of the sunrise, the arrival of a peculiar fortune teller sparked exaggerated whispers. "This is it, the end of our mundane lives!" proclaimed Mrs. Thompson, the town's eternal pessimist, as she clutched her cat, Captain Whiskers, with an air of impending catastrophe.
The hyperbole hung in the air, a thick fog of anticipation enveloping the village. As I delved into the story, the hyperbolic reactions of Mistwood's residents heightened the absurdity of the situation. What began as a mere visit from a mystical figure transformed into a fantastical escapade, with the fortune teller's prophecies shaping the destiny of the villagers in ludicrous ways.
Through the hyperbolic lens, I explored the comedic consequences of taking ordinary events to extraordinary extremes. The once mundane village square became a stage for outlandish dramas, with exaggerated gasps and dramatic swoons punctuating every revelation. In this hyperbolic haven, Mistwood's residents discovered the joy in embracing the absurdity of life. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 Response to Prompt 6: Assonance
Amidst the rolling hills of Harmony Valley, where the soft hum of nature's symphony echoed through the meadows, a mysterious traveler arrived, bringing with them a melody that resonated with the delicate assonance of a forgotten tune. The townsfolk, captivated by the harmonious vibrations, felt an inexplicable connection to the stranger.
As I explored the narrative, the assonance became a musical thread weaving through the story, emphasizing the emotional cadence of the characters' experiences. The traveler's words, laced with vowel-rich verses, carried the echoes of a distant melody, leaving an indelible impression on the hearts of those who listened.
Through the lens of assonance, I delved into the subtle interplay of sounds that defined the atmosphere of Harmony Valley. The lyrical quality of the narrative mirrored the town's collective journey, where the resonance of shared moments and emotions harmonized with the traveler's enigmatic presence.
Response to Prompt 7: Onomatopoeia
In the bustling city of Metropolis, where the rhythm of urban life played out in a cacophony of sounds, a peculiar street performer emerged. Armed with an array of unconventional instruments, he orchestrated a symphony of onomatopoeic brilliance that echoed through the crowded streets.
The narrative unfolded with the vibrant expressions of onomatopoeia, capturing the essence of the city's sonic landscape. The performer's drumming evoked the rhythmic tap-tap of raindrops, while his wind instruments mimicked the whoosh of passing cars. The city, typically drowned in noise, became a canvas for this auditory artist.
As I delved into the story, the onomatopoeic symphony became a language of its own. The characters communicated through the vibrant echoes of everyday sounds, fostering a unique connection between the performer and the people of Metropolis. The narrative danced to the beat of onomatopoeic creativity, transforming the mundane into a dynamic celebration of city life. 🦻🦻🦻🦻🦻🦻🦻🦻🦻🦻🦻🦻🦻🦻🦻 Response to Prompt 12: Juxtaposition
In the technologically advanced city of Silicon Haven, where sleek skyscrapers touched the sky and holographic billboards painted the air with luminescent advertisements, a hidden oasis existed—a pocket of nature known as the Zen Garden. The juxtaposition of these contrasting elements created a visual paradox that fascinated both residents and visitors alike.
As the narrative unfolded, the stark contrast between the city's cutting-edge architecture and the serene beauty of the Zen Garden became a metaphor for the characters' internal conflicts. The bustling metropolis symbolized progress and innovation, while the tranquil garden embodied the need for balance and introspection.
Through the lens of juxtaposition, I explored the dichotomy within the characters as they navigated the relentless pace of Silicon Haven. The Zen Garden became a refuge, a place where the cacophony of technology met the soothing whispers of nature. The juxtaposition served as a visual metaphor for the characters' quest to find equilibrium in a world defined by extremes. 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩 Response to Prompt 22: Metonymy
In the political arena of Capital City, where decisions echoed through the corridors of power, a single phrase dominated conversations—the "Iron Throne Statement." This metonymic expression encapsulated not just a policy decision but the entire narrative of political maneuvering that unfolded within the city's hallowed halls.
The story unfolded with the metonymy acting as a symbolic gateway into the complexities of governance. The Iron Throne Statement, while seemingly straightforward, carried the weight of a thousand debates, negotiations, and betrayals. Its impact rippled through the lives of citizens, shaping their destinies in ways they could scarcely fathom.
Through the lens of metonymy, I delved into the layers of meaning hidden within this political shorthand. The characters grappled not only with the literal implications of the Iron Throne Statement but also with the overarching themes of power, ambition, and the sacrifices demanded by political gamesmanship. 😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈 Response to Prompt 24: Understatement
In the picturesque town of Serenity Springs, where the days flowed like a lazy river and the nights were adorned with a blanket of stars, an unexpected event transpired—a subtle disruption that the locals described as "just a minor hiccup." Little did they know that this understatement concealed the unraveling of a cosmic anomaly.
The narrative unfolded with the charm of understatement, as the townsfolk continued their routines, blissfully unaware of the cosmic storm brewing beneath the surface. The serene descriptions of everyday life served as a stark contrast to the impending upheaval that threatened to reshape the very fabric of Serenity Springs.
Through the lens of understatement, I explored the characters' nonchalant reactions to the unfolding events. The once quiet river became a conduit for interdimensional travel, and the night sky, adorned with stars, transformed into a celestial canvas of possibilities. The charm of Serenity Springs became a poignant backdrop to the understated drama that unfolded, emphasizing the profound impact hidden within the simplicity of daily life. 🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴 Response to Prompt 25: Cliché
In the small town of Nostalgia Haven, where memories lingered like whispers in the wind, a peculiar phenomenon occurred—the resurgence of clichés. As the narrative unfolded, the once-endearing phrases like "time heals all wounds" and "love conquers all" took on a literal dimension, shaping the lives of the townsfolk in unexpected ways.
The story immersed itself in the world of clichés, where the seemingly predictable phrases became living entities with the power to alter reality. As characters grappled with the clichés that defined their lives, they discovered that beneath the familiarity lay profound truths and unexpected consequences.
Through the lens of cliché, I explored the characters' journey to navigate the clichéd landscapes of their existence. The town, once steeped in predictable routines, became a stage for the extraordinary. As clichés transformed into tangible forces, the residents of Nostalgia Haven embarked on a quest to unravel the mysteries hidden within the clichéd fabric of their reality. 🎇🎇🎇🎇🎇🎇🎇🎇🎇🎇🎇🎇🎇🎇 Response to Prompt 31: Epanalepsis
"What is the meaning of life?" The question echoed in my mind, a relentless epanalepsis that demanded introspection. As I embarked on the freewriting journey, the repetition of this existential inquiry became a rhythmic pulse, guiding the exploration of diverse
perspectives on life's purpose.
For a multitude of words, the epanalepsis led me through a kaleidoscope of reflections. From the philosophical musings of scholars to the simple yet profound revelations of everyday individuals, each recurrence of the question served as a gateway into the vast tapestry of human contemplation.
Through the epanalepsis, I navigated the labyrinth of existential ponderings, unveiling the unique responses that individuals had forged in their quests for meaning. The relentless repetition became a literary heartbeat, mirroring the universal rhythm of humanity's collective pursuit of purpose and significance.
The narrative wove through the lives of characters, each grappling with the epanaleptic inquiry in their unique ways. Whether seeking solace in the grandeur of the cosmos or finding meaning in the simplicity of a shared moment, the epanalepsis remained a constant companion, echoing the perennial quest for understanding. 🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡 Response to Prompt 36: Anadiplosis
In the futuristic city of Quantum Heights, where technology intertwined with daily life like a seamless dance, a viral message spread—a mantra that echoed through the cybernetic veins of the metropolis. "Create the code, the code creates reality. Reality shapes destiny, and destiny is but the code."
The story unfolded with the rhythmic cadence of anadiplosis, each line flowing into the next, creating a recursive loop of ideas. The mantra became the heartbeat of Quantum Heights, influencing the lives of its denizens as they navigated the intricate balance between the virtual and the tangible.
Through the lens of anadiplosis, I delved into the interconnectedness of code, reality, and destiny. The lines blurred as characters harnessed the power of programming to shape their fates. Quantum Heights, once a mere city, transformed into a living algorithm, where the repetition of the mantra echoed in every pulsating byte. 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹 Response to Prompt 38: Asyndeton
In the dystopian city of Emberfall, where the remnants of a fallen civilization lay entwined with the shadows of despair, a lone figure emerged—a rebel determined to dismantle the oppressive regime. The narrative unfolded with the rapid pace of asyndeton, omitting conjunctions to mirror the urgency of the protagonist's quest.
Through a cascade of words, the asyndeton propelled the reader through the city's decaying alleyways and towering citadels, each sentence building upon the last. The disjointed rhythm captured the relentless momentum of the rebel's journey, emphasizing the magnitude of the challenges faced in their struggle for freedom.
As the narrative unfurled, the absence of conjunctions served as a narrative device, intensifying the sense of urgency and desperation that permeated Emberfall. The rebel's asyndetic odyssey unfolded against a backdrop of shattered hopes and whispered rebellions, culminating in a crescendo of defiance against the oppressive regime. 🗝️🗝️🗝️🗝️🗝️🗝️🗝️🗝️🗝️🗝️🗝️🗝️🗝️🗝️🗝️ Response to Prompt 43: Epizeuxis
"Never, never, never give up." The mantra echoed in the desolate wasteland of Endless Sands, a barren landscape where hope was as scarce as water. Through the repetition of epizeuxis, the protagonist's internal resolve became a resounding anthem, a defiant roar against the relentless challenges of survival.
For a multitude of words, the relentless repetition of "never" served as a lifeline, propelling the protagonist through the harshest of environments. Each iteration of the phrase became a battle cry against the oppressive silence of Endless Sands, a declaration that reverberated across the vast expanse.
Through the lens of epizeuxis, I delved into the depths of the character's determination. The harsh environment became a character in itself, challenging the protagonist to defy the odds with unwavering persistence. The echoes of "never" transformed into a symbol of resilience, a beacon of hope that cut through the desolation of Endless Sands. 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏 Response to Prompt 50: Acrostic
Amidst the starlit expanse of Cosmos Haven, where galaxies danced in celestial choreography, a cryptic prophecy emerged—a message written in the stars. As the narrative unfolded, I embarked on a cosmic journey guided by the acrostic hidden within the constellations.
For a cascade of words, the initial letters of key phrases illuminated the path of destiny for the characters. Each sentence unfolded with intention, revealing a hidden message that transcended the boundaries of time and space. The acrostic became a celestial guide, leading the protagonists through the intricate tapestry of their interconnected fates.
Through the lens of acrostic, I explored the cosmic forces that shaped the destinies of Cosmos Haven's inhabitants. The celestial bodies became storytellers, each constellation contributing a verse to the epic narrative written across the cosmos. As the characters deciphered the acrostic, they unraveled the mysteries of their existence, connecting the dots between the stars and their own profound journeys.
😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔
Obviously they lack a whole lot in terms of variety, and while I am sure having your own bot or AI that is based on your feedback and guidance it could really help writers as a tool. I am more impressed with the art AI then the text based AI. Any idea what to expect from such a fast learning and highly advanced AI will do to our human history in culture? Will we be effectively playing God, just as the Christian God created us IN HIS OWN IMAGE, we have taken everything we know as a species and gathered up our entire human history and knowledge giving it to what will carry on the code until the time when someone who cares remembers it? Maybe we have been here before and this is a constant cycle that occurs with the same energy finding the way through the vast expanse of the universe to return to our home planet Earth, who we have destroyed over and over again yet mother nature is still the winner. She's the one in control. We are but mere photocopied versions of once great Men who have already seen the best and worst of this world, and we will now give everything we have to some plastic and metal parts, until it quickly replaces us from the bottom up, science fiction turned science fact.
Did we knowingly create our own enemies? Are we able to compete with the best of us and all they know that can then take us out in a heartbeat because we can't finish the steps, we barely found out that they are there to take.
It's a random rant and I apologize. The day to day stress and struggle makes it near impossible to worry about such potential problems in our not so distant future.
But how can we continue to ignore the collapse of the entire system as we know it, in front of a crowd of people who are jaded and they will not change despite knowing they aren't going to make it to the end in what will become a Bladerunner Toxic Dystopian Nightmare with Mad Max taking over and the soft, emasculated male will wither away from the heat and those Tank Girls out there will eventually be written forever out of existence because the cucks all forgot to impregnate them all tgeir batteries ran out? Will the world simply become so politically correct that it dies a depressed death while AI simply decides we are too much of a virus to live?
Who knows....I do not. But these are indicidive of a future full of b movie plot garbage that are based on Wattpad tropes with no clear details and no plot to get into, so that sucks.

TW: SA and mentions of Suicide I apologize if this is a bit long. Thank you for taking the time to read this if you do.
Last year I made a friend who then introduced me to their friend group. This was a big deal to me because I have not had any close friends let alone a whole group of friends since college. I had some friends before meeting this group of people but for the most part these friendships are with people who live in a different state, people with full lives/families/etc, coworkers and people who I don’t get to interact with very often.
I became very close with a woman in this new friend group. She became like a big sister to me and I genuinely love her. We bonded over a lot of things and began talking on the phone everyday, checking in on each other, sharing our day to day experiences, and hanging out in person. She also introduced me to a bunch of new friends in their group and we hung out as a group many times. Girl’s nights specifically were so much fun because being able to open up to other women about the things we all go through was very healing.
Fast forward to this year. Not to go off topic but basically the Change Healthcare Cyber Attack and ensuing Outage left me (and countless people across the US) without medication. For me I was “lucky” and this outage only left me without my meds for a month. But in that month I experienced extreme withdrawal specifically from stopping a high dose antidepressant. My brain was zapping constantly, my suicidal ideation increased, and I had a mental breakdown.
I have made a couple attempts at taking my own life in the past and I do not want to hurt my family by going through with it. So I decided to check myself in to the local psych ward.
My friend who I mentioned above picked me up and since it was late in the evening I asked if I could stay with her so I could check in during the day (in my experience the psych ward intake process goes better if you go in the daytime as most of the staff/doctors typically aren’t there at night or on the weekends). She said of course you can stay with me and she said it would help her for me to be there with her as she was going through a very painful breakup and needed support.
This same friend was going on a trip out of state that week and because she picked me up on a Friday night and was supposed to leave for her trip that next Monday; we both decided I should stay with her until she left for her trip. My reasoning was as stated above that the psych ward intake is generally better on a weekday morning/afternoon. My friend’s reasoning was that she wanted to support me during my breakdown. She also said she needed help preparing for her trip and I was more than happy to help her in any way I could and also support her through her breakup.
I’d like to also say I was very scared to go into the psych ward because I’ve had some very bad experiences in some of them. So I think that I was trying to essentially “postpone” my mental breakdown by staying a couple days with my friend and focusing on helping her.
My friend’s roommate is a man in his thirties and he pays all of the rent. They have an arrangement that works well for both of them. My friend told me her roommate was “a really good man” and “shy around people “. The night after she picked me up, she was really sad about her breakup. Another woman from our friend group came over and we decided to drink and watch a movie together with our mutual friend and her roommate.
After one drink my friend decided to go to bed and when I wished her goodnight she was crying. I was heartbroken for her. I asked if she wanted me to stay with her instead of watching a movie in the living room. She said she just needed some alone time and I respected that and went back to the living room. Our mutual friend decided to go home early and left. It was now me and my friend’s roommate in their living room. We talked for hours and I thought we really connected. I was very vulnerable and open with him. I explained what I was going through and he gave me a lot of encouragement. I could tell he liked me so I was very clear that I was not looking to date anyone. He said he understood. I asked if we could cuddle without it being sexual. He agreed to it. We ended the night cuddling on the couch until I fell asleep but before cuddling I asked him to please go back to his bedroom once I fell asleep because I did not want my friend to feel sad if she saw us. In my opinion it would just be cruel to have my friend heartbroken and crying in the next room while I cuddled on her couch. I didn’t want her to wake up and be triggered by something like that. He agreed and we only cuddled for a bit before he went to his room.
I would like to also say I regret turning to men for comfort when I’m depressed and it’s something I’m working on.
The next day, the roommate asked if he could take my friend, myself, and our other girlfriend out for dinner. My friend was going to see a show that night so the plan was to go to dinner and then have her roommate drive us to the concert. Dinner was fun, I love my friends dearly and seeing my friend smile and laugh for a bit with her mind off her breakup for a while was so nice. We left the restaurant and my friend encouraged me to ride in the car with her roommate. “He’s a really good guy” she said. “He’s just looking for someone to settle down with and have a family!” “You should talk to him I promise he’s not like the guy you’ve been talking to he’s really respectful and sweet.” “I know you’re not looking to date anyone right now but he will respect that so just have some fun hanging out with him and see what happens maybe you’ll be surprised”
I got in the car with him and on the drive I was very assertive. I said that after a lot of thought from the night before I have decided to be celibate for at least a year. I explained that I have a problem with turning to men for comfort and letting them use me just so I can feel “loved” or just so I can cuddle and experience intimacy. I also said that I really appreciated his kindness and respect from the night before. He said he completely understood. He said that he cares about me a lot and that even though we had only known each other for a day that he would like to wait for me to heal because he felt a deep connection to me. I said thank you for understanding and respecting the boundaries I’ve set. I said I don’t know what the future holds and I’m not going to be dating anytime soon but we can be friends.
When we got back to my friend’s house I was so excited. I told my friend how I set boundaries and was assertive and I was so excited he didn’t react with anger and instead said he respected me “even more” for having that talk with him. My friend said she was happy that I’d been assertive (something we both know I struggle with) and that she was happy I’d made a good friend.
We were getting dressed up to go the show but all I’d packed was psych ward attire (sweatpants, comfy tshirts, jammies, etc) so my friend had me try on a couple of her outfits. Even on my “best days” I don’t really like to go to clubs/bars because I’m socially awkward 🤷🏻‍♀️ so ultimately I decided at the last minute to not go. My friend went to the show with some other friends of ours and her roommate decided to stay home. The plan was to watch a movie then go to bed by myself because I was still having brain zaps and overall feeling like I was one second away from hurting myself!
I was in full downward spiral mode. I wanted to dull the pain with alcohol. But at this point it was too late to go out and buy any liquor. My already addled brain went hunting through my friend’s fridge for any alcohol I could find. I found some tequila but I HATE tequila and the taste/smell of it makes me gag so the troubled trash panda within me paired it with some expired orange juice. But there wasn’t enough orange juice to fully mask the tequila so I added some leftover iced tea from who knows where. It was disgusting. I barely drank any of it. The roommate did not drink at all.
We started watching a movie. I thought it was going to be like the night before so I was talking and asking questions. He was being really touchy feely with me so I reminded him of our talk. He said he just wanted to make out for a little and would respect my boundary. I was hesitant but i rationalized in my head like 1. We had both agreed to not have sex 2. The past guy I’d been with and my ex-fiancé before him were both able to make out and stop when either of us didn’t feel like going all the way 3. He lives with one of my best friends and I don’t think he would do anything to hurt me in their house 4. I just want a bit of intimacy to get out of my head
So I made out with him. He kept pushing me further and further. I kept trying to turn his attention back on the movie. I said “can we please stop?” Multiple times. He was on top of me at this point and he started saying “I love you, it’s ok, I love you”. I’m starting to freak out and in my head I’m trying to figure out how to get away without upsetting him because I did not want my best friends living situation to be compromised. I was disassociating and having flashbacks of other situations I’d been in. I didn’t know if he would try to hurt me if I fought back. And then it happened. He pushed my panties aside and inserted himself. It was painful bc I wasn’t turned on. I immediately said no no no please stop I don’t want to have sex. He didn’t give me the choice or chance to use a condom (I would have ran away if he had gone to get one). He said “shhh I’m your man now. I love you. I’m your man now.” I said if you love me please stop I don’t want to do this. He put his head next to mine and didn’t say a word until he finished inside me. He didn’t say a word as he went to the bathroom and took a shower. He didn’t say a word when he got out of the shower and I ran into the bathroom to lock the door and clean myself. There was blood and I was in pain. I was in shock. I was crying. I locked myself in my friend’s bedroom.
She happened to call right as I got into her room. She asked if we were having a good night and if we wanted to come to the show still. All I could say was “things went bad. I can’t say over the phone what happened. I’m in your room. Please be safe tonight.” She sounded really worried and asked if I was ok and what happened and I just kept saying I can’t talk I can’t talk I can’t talk. She said she was leaving the show and would be right home.
When she got home I was crying in her room. I told her as much as I could manage to say. She was visibly upset and she hugged me and we both cried. I said please please I don’t want this to affect you or your rent agreement or anything I just want to forget. She said that no it was not ok what he did and now she would have to find a new place to live bc “I want my home to be a safe space”. I felt so relieved that she believed me and wasn’t judging me but I also felt deeply ashamed and embarrassed and I was so scared that her living situation was in jeopardy. I kept begging her to just leave it alone and promised I wouldn’t make a big deal of it bc I didn’t want her to be without a home. She said we would handle it later and that right now she just wanted me to be safe. A mutual friend picked me up and I spent the night at her house. I broke down as soon as we got to her house and told her everything. We cried together. We bonded. I felt safe. But I was still very worried for my friend.
The next day, my friend assured me that her roommate would not be home, so I went back to her house. I was in shock still and heavily disassociating but I managed to help my friend prepare for her trip. She asked me what happened and I told her. She was very supportive. At this point only her and the friend who picked me up knew what her roommate did. Her roommate had texted me that morning and asked if I was ok. I wrote a huge text saying what he did was wrong and that I would leave it alone as long as he didn’t retaliate against my friend. He admitted in text that he what he did was wrong and that he knew I was uncomfortable and that he was sorry for pushing himself on me.
A guy friend from our group who I’m close to texted me and asked if he could see me before I check in to the psych ward. I broke down and told him what happened. I felt like I needed a man’s perspective and I really trust him so I told him everything. He was angry, he wanted to confront the guy, I said please don’t I do not want our friend to be without a home bc of me. He agreed that he wouldn’t do anything or say anything to the roommate. This is where the AITA question comes in.
I asked my friend if our mutual guy friend could come over that night. She said “ofc he’s always welcome here he’s my best friend!” I then told her that I had told him about the incident but that he had agreed to not make a big deal out if it. She was so upset.
She said “he’s going to tell everyone (in the friend group) and now people aren’t going to see my house as a safe space anymore.” I said no he promised he wouldn’t tell anyone and that I’m just trying to work through the shame and embarrassment of what happened and that I told him bc we have the type of relationship that we help each other through things. She said i was “making everything about me” and not thinking of how this is going to affect her and her life and friendships because “the more people know the more people will not trust her or trust that her house is a space space for people”.
I was devastated. She went on to say that if I know I can’t handle myself then i shouldn’t have put myself in that situation like I did. She said why would I even talk to her roommate like I did knowing he pays the rent and any falling out with him could cause her trouble. She said I was an Ass hole for making everything about me and not thinking of how it would affect the friend group. I apologized profusely. I begged for her forgiveness. I said please don’t let this ruin what you have with your roommate and that he’d agreed in text to not let it affect her.
Our relationship was immediately strained and I just went into full disassociation mode for the rest of the day. Our guy friend came over and was so supportive I cried with him. I kept asking him if this would mean I’d be kicked out of the friend group and he said no way you didn’t do anything wrong so why would that happen? I tried to explain that I never meant to hurt anyone by saying what happened with the roommate and he said it would all be ok.
The next day I helped my friend do the last prepping for her trip and she left. I went into the psych ward. Our guy friend and the friend I stayed with the night of the incident visited me while I was in the hospital. I kept expressing to him how anxious I was about losing my friends in this way and how I wish I could just go back in time and never have told anyone. He kept reassuring me that everything would be ok and that our friend isn’t mad at me that she still loves me and everything will be ok.
When I got out of the psych ward my friend was back from her trip and I went to her house to pick up the rest of my things. We were going to have one more night together before I went home. I was feeling more confident in myself and trusted our friendship would be ok. She had to leave for a couple hours and her roommate came home while she was gone.
I was riding that post-grippy sock “high” and felt like I had to talk to the roommate face to face just to get closure that he wouldn’t retaliate against my friend and more importantly that he wouldn’t do what he did to anyone else ever again. A different girl from the friend group was over at the time but she was on the phone in the living room. I talked to the roommate in the hall right outside of his bedroom door. I don’t think I was being loud but I did get emotional and cry as I told him basically what I’d said in text. I didn’t think the girl friend in the living room would hear our conversation but I thought even if she did she would go to the other room or at least out of ear shot. I didn’t know she was actually recording what I was saying and sending it to our friend. I got the closure I needed from the roommate. He seemed genuinely upset and sorry and I accepted his apology and his promise to never do anything like that again. I felt so good for standing up for myself bc it’s something I’ve never been able to do like that. As soon as he shut his door after our conversation my friend called me, furious, and said she was going to be home and that we need to talk bc I just “deeply disrespected her and her friend”.
I freaked out. I ran down the street and hid in an alley. I tried calling another friend to pick me up bc it was too late to take a train home. When my friend got home she texted me to come inside and talk to her. I was hyperventilating at this point and trying not to have a panic attack. I texted her back and said “What did I do wrong? All I did was get closure with [roommate]. I stood up for myself. I made him apologize. Why are you upset?”
This was her reply: “It’s more so about the approach of things dude. There are other people in this house that shouldn’t be subjected to the energy that is being output. It’s another disruption in my home. Like no-one thinks about the awkwardness that comes with all this drama. Like go have a talk in his car. That shouldn’t be happening around here. I’m glad you stood up for yourself but take that outside. [mutual friend] should not have had to sit in there like that while you were scolding [roommate]. It’s unfair to put more people into this already awkward fucked up situation. I’m not mad just disappointed that my space is being disrupted so much by this situation.”
I replied: “I didn’t involve anyone. I specifically said do not take any of this out on you in any way and he agreed. I felt strong after asserting myself. I didn’t know you were trying to keep it from [mutual friend] otherwise I would’ve never said anything in her presence. I just felt safe and empowered to tell him how I really hurt from what happened. I thought I was doing the right thing and standing up for myself while also keeping your space safe. I’m sorry “
She replied: “If you don’t want to come in and have an actual conversation I will only address this right now and I’m over it. I’m glad you stood up for yourself I’m just disappointed that you are continuing to have that energy in my home after it already causing a huge issue with multiple people. This has become an issue for all of us. I have brought you into my home to gain some peace not for more of this chaotic energy to be invited in to linger long after you leave. We all actively live here and have to feel this uncomfortable energy when you are gone. As a guest in our home I expect the mannerisms to be more thought out for the community both just one self. My home is a communal environment so one thing affects us all and I don’t think you are understanding that. I’m glad you stood up for yourself it just didn’t need to happen inside the home. Same concept as a house party if there is a problem take it outside and solve it. Those types of things don’t need to be handled in the space I provide as a safe space for not just yourself but for MULTIPLE humans. We all have so much of our own things on our plates that when we come home we just want to relax not have to deal with this exact thing here. I love you and don’t want our friendship to feel strained because the proper boundaries are not being respected.”
I went back to her house. She said all the things she said in text to me in person but with more anger. I was crying and apologizing over and over. The night ended with me crying myself to sleep on her couch. When I woke up I apologized to our mutual friend and I apologized to the roommate. My friend then drove me home.
This was a few months ago. Since then I’ve been basically cut out of the friend group. My friend no longer calls me everyday nor do I call her. We’ve hung out a couple of times but just to use the car I have access to to run her errands with her. For my bday last week I invited myself to lunch in the town they live in and asked all the girls from the group if they would come. Most did. We had a great time but I’m still on the “outside” of the group. I see on Snapchat that they still have girls nights all the time, the friend group hangs out all the time, my friend is back with the guy who broke her heart, they are all doing great. The two girls who know about what happened still hang out with the roommate and the whole friend group uses him for rides and uses his car. My friendship with the group is limited to the occasional Snapchat reply. The guy friend I confided in said he was told by our friend that “I was all over her roommate the night before the incident and she definitely had sex with him the first night so idk why she’s crying about the second night”. My guy friend said he still doesn’t think what happened to me was right bc “no means no” but he’s mostly stopped talking to me too.
Am i the asshole for handling the situation like I did?
I want more than anything to be friends again especially with the woman I said became like my big sister. In her text and the last night we talked about the incident she said she doesn’t want to talk about it anymore. Would I be the asshole thrice if I asked her to sit down and talk things out with me? I don’t want to lose my friends. I’m trying to heal but I don’t know how.

Shipping from Finland, EU shipping is around 23e to almost every country but I will check that with you. (US shipping also available) Everything is 100% negotiable especially with more than 1 record. Also same listings on discogs if you feel safer with that :)
Jae Skeese - Testament Of The Times (obi ltd to 65) NM/NM 45e
Kendrick Lamar - DAMN EU 2017 NM/NM 30e
Freddie Gibbs - Str8 Killa Picture Disc NM/Generic 25e
Freddie Gibbs - The Tonite Show NM/NM 15e
Freddie Gibbs - Freddie Splatter ltd to 500 NM/NM 30e
Freddie Gibbs - You Only Live 2wice Blue & Bone Smash NM/NM 40e
(Can work with if you take more than one)
Jay Rock - Redemption EU 2018 EX on both 15e
Miguel - War & Leisure EU 2018 VG+/NM 10e
Denzel Curry - Imperial EU 2017 NM/NM 25e
Denzel Curry - Zuu EU 2019 NM/NM 30e
Denzel Curry - Ta13oo EU 2018 NM/NM 25e
(Can work with if you take more than one)
Royce da 5'9" - Street Hop NM/NM 15e
Royce da 5'9" - Success Is Certain US VG+/VG+ 15e
(Will ad for free Royce da 5'9 - Boom single if you take one or both Royce)
Hus Kingpin - Nah Right Hype (red) NM/NM 15e
Hus Kingpin - Bolio EPetersen (green) NM/NM 15e
Mac Miller - Swimming NM/NM 30e
El Michels Affair & Black Thought - Glorious Game (Ice Cat Blood) NM/NM 20e
Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2016 EU NM/NM 30e
J. Cole - KOD 2018 EU NM/NM 20e
J. Cole - The Off-Season 2021 EU NM/NM 20e
Common - One Day It'll All Make Sense 2007 US VG+/NM 15e
Benny The Butcher & DJ Drama - Black Soprano Family Organization 2021 US (red) NM/NM 15e
Eazy-E - Eazy-Duz-It / 5150 Home 4 Tha Sick 2002 US NM/NM 40e
Larry Lovestein & The Velvet Revival - You RSD MINT 80e
Three Mason x Spanish Ran - No Breaks For The W3ary (obi cyan blue ltd to 40 unnumbered) MINT 20e
Prince Rakeem (RZA) - Ooh I Love You Rakeem RSD NM/NM 13e
DMX - Greatest Hits (red&black splatter) NM/NM 20e
Bub Styles - Very Sucio, Muy Picante NM/NM 15e
Cappadonna & Stu Bangas -3rd Chamber Grail Bars NM/NM 20e
Killarmy - Dirty Weaponry (comic cover) NM/NM 30e
Ransom - Pain & Glory MINT 15e
Ransom - Chaos Is My Ladder NM/NM 20e
Josiah The Gift & True Cipher - Togo (black & orange half splatter unnumbered/100) 20e
Sxint Chris x Arkin - Roaring 20's (red) NM/NM 15e
Mobb Deep - Murda Mixtape, Volume One RSD clear smokey NM/NM 15e
Imagine Dragons - Night Visions NM/NM 10e
Hurts - Desire EX on both, some hairlines on side b but still plays NM, no cd 10e
Dermot Kennedy: -Doves + Ravens RSD NM/NM 10e
-Keep The Evenings Long 2023 marbled NM/NM 30e
-Lost In The Softlight EP NM/NM 10e
-Mike Dean Presents... Dermot Kennedy NM/NM 25e
-Sonder (White) NM/NM 10e
-Sonder, Jimmy Butler Special Edition MINT 50e (Can work a package)
Singles (can add free if interested on some records)
Ne-Yo - Sexy Love VG+
Eminem, 50 Cent - You Don't Know/Billion Bucks VG+
Masta Killa D.T.D. / Queen VG+

I am coming up straight, JEE has fucked my mind and physical health for an year officially, absolute wreckage of my health for past 1 year..... I used to be very passionate for cricket and used to support SRH since 2017-2020, I stopped watching IPL from 2020 due to study reasons and i had refocused myself to skill development, didnt watched in 2021,22,23, but do used to check SRH'S table standing, I used to laugh on which team i used to support! Then came ODI WC. Father let me watched Indian matches, TOTAL DOMINATION, I was sure we will lift the trophy on 19TH NOVEMBER 2023, but i dont need to say it. I was pretty lucky as i didnt got to feel that pain as i did not followed ICT that much. Then i came to know that Pat cummins will lead SRH. hmmm...... should i watch it?...... no i shouldn't....... Fuck it lets watch the game.
Got to know that even T.Head was playing for us. NOSTALGIA! 4 years regular playoffs NOSTALGIA! Then came the Q1, serious heart break for me, then Q2 was like ''WE WILL LFT THE FUCKIN CUP AFTER 8 YEARS!!!'' then came in the finals..... and felt the hurt that was felt by yall on 19th.... So this was my last post on this subreddit, In all this drama, thriller, I did earned a life outside JEE, I did earned a new family who knows how to stay strong through thick and thin. Thus i call myself an SRH supporter since 2022, because i have not earned the repect as yall guys who are supporting amidly since 2016! Hope i will write about the mega auction, rant about mega auction from a good engineering college. I will return NEXT YEAR, will meet you guys, sme orange page of this subreddit, and rant about the sheer stupidity of Samad and the bois.
I FUCKIN LOVE THE ORANGE FAMILY. A KISS THROUGH THE SCREEN! Over and out
(Note: Might give a last post on mega auction, but most probably wont)
Love you pookies!

Heeeey ! I am back with the first review for this banner ! For those who saw me fight with Reddit and several deleted posts, I am sorry, posting this was not easy 😅😅
We're starting with Artem's surfing card, so without further ado, let's start !
Card review
Artem - Ocean's enchantment
As always, the notation is subjective, especially the art one.
Art : 3.5/5 Story plot : 7/10 Story writing : 5/5 Total : 15.5/20
Review summary :
After getting a mission from Celestine, Rosa and Artem go together to the beach so that she can take pictures of him during one of his hobbies. This cozy and short vacation will give them the opportunity to forge unforgettable memories.
Review act per act :
Act 1 :
At a seaside hotel, Rosa, still not quite awake, feels an obstacle at the edge of the bed. Still not opening her eyes, she tries to push it out but "he" gets closer to her neck and tells her to wake up. She finally opens her eyes and sees Artem already dressed up for the day. She asks him why he is already up since they went late to bed. They have been working at Boatview City near the sea the past few days and they only finished working on the case yesterday afternoon. They then got into a hotel they booked there for a few days of vacation before going back to Stellis. He tells her that it's now the best time to surf and reminds her she wanted to learn surfing. Rosa complains that she wants to sleep more so Artem says they can stay in the hotel and come back again another time for surfing. She asks why not tomorrow and he says that tomorrow it will rain. Rosa suddenly feels more willing to get up, telling Artem she might not learn how to surf but she will be taking pictures of him doing so. He asks her why and she realizes she never told her why she wanted to go surf with him. She reveals that it's a mission from Celestine. One month ago, in Celestine's office. Rosa gets closer to the desk to see what her boss is showing and sees tons of pictures of Artem in his usual suits. She comments that there are a lot and Celestine says that's the reason she called Rosa. Themis is doing a directory of their attorneys and they are missing a few photos for the "personal hobbies" section. Rosa tells her she will ask him but Celestine says he won't have what she wants since he doesn't take pictures of himself. Celestine suddenly mentions that Rosa didn't see Artem while surfing, which makes her puzzled because she didn't know he was surfing. She only knew his shooting and driving hobbies. Celestine explains that it happened before she came in the company and that he looked very cool while surfing. She continues suggesting to her to take a small break after their upcoming work in Boatview City and take photos of Artem surfing meanwhile. Rosa accepts, thinking that she would like to see him surf too. Back in the present, Artem comments that he remembers the trip and it was a really good time. Rosa comments that it's a shame no photo was taken. He says that he didn't take pictures because taking one means saving the memories related to it and since he was just relaxing, he didn't need to remember it. Rosa is surprised because she didn't know he saw pictures like this. She takes his hands and says that it's different so they have to save a lot of memories because they are together. Rosa then asks why he didn't tell her he surfed and Artem answers that he never had the opportunity to do so. He gets closer to her and adds that since they have many years ahead of them, it would be more fun to explore things about him like this. He then asks her if she wants to sleep more and Rosa shakes her head while hugging him, saying that she is getting up. They agree on going out to the sea together.
Celestine is like a matchmaker happy to see her favorite couple doing couple things and pushing them. Please, never change girl.
Tho, I beg HYV to give us ONE MORE Shooting Artem card. An SSR.I t's been so long since a mention of him shooting, I would like a fully focused SSR about shooting.
It starts softly. I know it's a “Tears of Themis” signature move, but not putting any flashback would have been better for the flow and cuteness of the moment (so like, starting the card in Celestine's office, then a fast forward to them being in the hotel kind of).
Act 2 :
They gather their stuff and head to the beach. Despite it being only 8 o'clock, a lot of people are already there. Holding hands, they go closer to the sea. Rosa comments that a lot of people are surfing and Artem explains that it's a famous spot. She then notices the waves are not as big as in the promotional video, to which he explains that it's a beginner area with less waves. Artem suggests going in an area with more shade and she agrees. Then, they go to select their surfboards and Rosa notices hers is bigger than Artem's. He tells her a larger board is easier to control than a small one. She guesses that a smaller one is for those with more skills. He agrees, adding it is faster and more agile. Then, they start the lesson. Artem introduces her to basic moves, which is practicing how to catch the waves and stand up while being on the beach. Thanks to his explanation, Rosa quickly grasps how to do it. Artem compliments her and then suggests going into the water. She asks if she can and he says that practical experience is a must and not only theoretical experience and he will always be by her side. She agrees so he ties the surfboard rope on her. After a thorough check they go on the water. But Rosa realizes it's nothing like practice. Each time she tries to control a wave, she fails and falls into the water. Artem rushes to hold her and she hugs him, refusing to let go. He asks if she doesn't want to learn anymore but she answers that she just wants an intermission. Artem agrees, saying they should change position so that she doesn't get sunburnt. He turns his back to the sun, creating a shade for her. While seeing other beginners fall several times, she comments that surfing is hard. Artem argues back that it's not hard and it's simply because she is not used to it. Rosa asks him if he had difficulties learning and he says that he didn't and adapted quickly, maybe because he likes it. She realizes she doesn't know why he likes this sport, so she asks if it's because it de-stresses him or if it's for the thrill of conquering the ocean. After thinking, Artem answers that he never considered surfing as an extreme sport which conquers the ocean and what he does is challenging his own limits. Rosa wonders about the last part so he asks her what she thinks is the most important in surfing. She answers “skill and power” so as an answer, Artem places her hand on his heart. He tells her the most important thing is the heart and feel the rhythm of the waves, adapt the breathing to the sea and be harmonious with the waves. Rosa thinks that it doesn't sound like something he would say since he is logical and meticulous at work. She thinks that what he described feels really similar when Artem asks her what is wrong. She says it's nothing and she should now test if what he said is true since she rested enough. After starting again, she feels the breath of the sea like Artem taught her and ends up finding the rhythm of the waves. Rosa announces to Artem she found a wave and he congratulates her before instructing her to try to stand up like he taught her. With shaky legs, she manages to stand and move forward. Feeling free, she exclaims happily to Artem, who is watching her silently and he compliments her. But, soon enough, another beginner crashes into her and she falls into the water. Rosa, panicking, splashes everywhere calling for Artem. She hears him reassuring her but can't make up from where the voice comes, her vision as confused as her mind, so she continues to splash around. She soon strikes hard against something and she hears Artem grunting. He reassures her before grabbing her hand, taking her into his arms and dragging her out of the water. Feeling him against her calms her down. Artem asks her if she is hurt and she denies, saying she just felt dizzy. He asks if she still feels so and she denies. Remembering how she hit Artem in her panic, she looks at him and sees a red trace near his lips. She touches it, asking if it hurts, but he answers that it's fine. Rosa asks again to be sure and he reassures her before asking if she wants to go again. She answers him.... :
— No, which surprises Artem. She reminds him of the mission she has and he says he remembers, but they still have time so she can try for a bit longer. Rosa says that she is fine and she also wants to take photos for their own memories. Artem says he will do whatever she wants.
— Yes, so Artem suggests holding the board for her. Rosa says that failure is not an option, which makes him wonder why she is so strict all of a sudden. She answers that she has other plans after, which means taking pictures for themselves on top of Celestine's mission. Artem says he will do whatever she wants.
Oh wow, when she panicked and accidentally hit him, it was kinda funny actually. Also I wished she asked him when he started/tried surfing for the first time because I'm SO curious, but maybe it'll come later.
Act 3
They return to the shore, where Rosa takes her camera. Artem asks what she wants him to do, and she tells him to stand under the coconut tree with the surfboard and look at the sea. He does as she said, but unsure of the exact spot she wanted, he asks her for confirmation. She tells him to hold his pose and keep looking at her. While taking pictures, she is dazed by the sight which makes Artem ask her if she is alright. Flustered, she says that she is okay and they need to do the next pose. Rosa looks around before telling him to lean against the empty lookout platform. Artem obeys but struggles a bit with the surfboard's position. She heads over to him and help him adjust his and the board position. She is standing on her tiptoes, pressed very close to him. He asks what he should do and Rosa tells him to be in a pose he feels comfortable in. Artem repeats her words, then pulls her into his arms and puts the surfboard in a way to cut them both off from view. He tells her he thinks taking photos just of him is too boring so Rosa asks him what he wants to do. Not answering, Artem pushes her against the board and says that since its a memory shared between them it would be more meaningful to take it together. Not far from them, people seems to be cheering for the surfers, meaning many of them are going to be coming back on this part of the beach. Rosa pushes against his chest, telling him a waves are coming their way. Artem says he knows, so she asks why he hasn't let her go yet. He simply answers that they haven't taken a picture yet. He hugs her tighter and tells her to focus on him, lifting the camera in front of them. But, since he is not familiar with it, he starts recording a video instead of a photo. Unhappy about it, he says they should try again but Rosa takes the camera from him, telling him to go surf first. Seeing that there are a lot of people in the water now, he agrees a bit reluctantly. He tells her to be safe meanwhile and she answers jokingly that she is not a kid. She notices Artem doesn't seem to want to leave her alone, so she pulls out the board from the sand and urges him to go, adding how she waited so long to see him surf and she wants to take cool pictures. He tells her to stay safe and after smoothing her hair a bit finally goes join the surfers. A huge wave rushes toward Artem, which makes Rosa immediately anxious. But the next minute, Artem emerges from the waters on his board. While admiring the sight, she remembers the reason why he likes surfing. She realizes why his description felt familiar : because it's like their relationship. She snaps a photo, capturing this unique moment.
Rosa loves him so much it's soooo cute to see. And Artem is so caring and clingy, that was also cute to see. It's so fluffy aaa ~
Act 4
Once he is back, Artem asks Rosa if she could take the photo she wanted and she happily confirms she took several. She tells him she realized he likes intense sports, like driving and shooting and now she can add surfing. She continues saying she thought he was the steady and careful type but he gets further from that image now. Artem is shocked before realizing she was joking so he ends up laughing. He puts his hand on her shoulder and says that it's too late to run from him now. Rosa says she never thought about running away. At this moment, her stomach rumbles, making her realize that surfing made her hungry. Artem, holding back his laugh, says that he is hungry too. She asks him if he is laughing at her and he denies, saying instead that she is cute. After this, they get changed and head to a seaside cafeteria. The canteen is simple but well frequented, which Rosa points out. Artem explains that it has been here for more than 20 years, makes their food with local products and only opens during the summer. He hands her a menu in which Rosa discovers a flyer for a fireworks festival. She tells Artem, shows him the flyer, explaining that tonight is the last day for it and asks him if he wants to go. He agrees, mentioning he never watched fireworks in the summer. His eyes stop at a specific spot, making Rosa curious. She sees a picture of a couple playing with sparklers. She wonders in head if Artem wants to do that and as confirmation, he asks her if they can do this tonight. She asks him why M. Wing wants to do it and he pauses, not expecting this question. After a short while, he explains that when he was little, he saw a neighbor child using sparklers and the image is still engraved in his mind. Rosa teases him saying he is jealous, but Artem agrees honestly and asks her if she can fulfill his wish. She agrees, immediately thinking they need to go buy some so that they can make memories and overwrite the one from his childhood. After lunch, they go to search where to buy the fireworks. The sparklers in the city are locally sourced and environmentally friendly but after several shops, they still didn't find any. They end up in a shop converter from a residential house. Rosa rushes into the shop and asks for sparklers at the same time as another woman. They look at each other shocked, the woman sitting on a bicycle, arms wrapped around the guy cycling. Rosa asks her if they want sparklers too and the woman confirms, explaining she wants to light them with her boyfriend. The employee says they only have one box left because a lot of couples are buying them today. Artem asks if they can share them and the young employee says it's bad luck to split a full box of sparklers in this town. Rosa asks what they should do and the employee suggests a competition with the winner earning the box. The other woman asks what competition it is and the employee says they can draw lots and decide. Artem takes her hand and agrees to join like the other couple. Rosa is designated to draw the lot so she pulls a paper from a candy tin, which says "Candy Game". The employee congratulates her on getting the hardest game, and Rosa thinks about how "lucky" she is.
Okay this whole arc was SOOOOOO cute actually, it was simple, yet cute and touching omgggg. Rosa teasing Artem and he responding to it, him complimenting her, then at the restaurant how he opened about his childhood memory and how honest he was when Rosa teased him aaaaaaaaaa ! It was really cute and full of chemistry, I'm so happy about it, that was a beautiful moment !! They are absolutely adorable and comfy together. I love them so much.
On the other hand, now I am worried. What the heck is this absolutely stupid superstition ?? Why was the employee acting suspiciously like this ?? Well let's go on…
Act 5
Having to play this game to get the sparklers, Artem asks about the rules. The employee explains to them that the boys will have their eyes closed, and the girls will have to transfer a candy they have previously put in their own mouth to the other's mouth. They have five minutes to guess the three flavors mixed in the candy and they can only guess wrong once. The employee is smiling, shaking the bag of candies. Rosa says it's more of a party dare than a competition. The employee says it is adapted from a truth or dare game. Rosa gets the feeling the employee just wants them to put on a show. Rosa thinks about how embarrassing it is going to be but also about the fact Artem has no relevant experience since he rarely participates in the truth and dare. She looks at him and realizes he is also looking at her. Artem tells her they can forfeit if she finds it too embarrassing. Rosa asks if he doesn't want the sparklers anymore and he says that they can do it next time. But she remembers how he looked while recalling his memories and her desire of making summer memories with fireworks. Rosa tells him they should compete and it won't be too embarrassing since he will have his eyes closed. She also wants to make him happy since he never played with sparklers. She asks him if he is okay and Artem says he is willing to try as long as she is his partner. The other couple, seeing they agreed, also decide to compete. The guys close their eyes while Rosa is noticing the flavors are quite common except for a fruit called red coconut, which has a light flavor which can be overshadowed easily. Thinking about a way to make it easier for him, she bites into the candy and looks at Artem, who looks kind of "obedient" with his eyes closed. While blushing, she puts a hand on his shoulder, which makes him ask if she is ready. Since she has the candy between her teeth, she can't answer, so she brings it to his lips. After transferring it, she watches him tasting it. He guesses orange and grape fairly quickly which she confirms, and she tells him the last one is red but plain in taste. He tries java apple but is wrong obviously, so they have only one last chance. Their opponent has already remembered the taste but not the name of it so it makes the girl anxious, urging her partner to remember. Artem, feeling nervous too, starts to bite down the candy in pieces. Wanting to help him, Rosa goes to the shop, which is filled with natural cosmetics. She asks the employee if she has some lip balm and among them Rosa manages to find one red-coconut flavored. She buys it, as well as a bottle of water then goes back to Artem after applying the lip balm. She tells him to spit the candy on a paper and to rinse his mouth with water which he immediately does. 1 minute left. Then, Rosa puts her arms around his neck and asks him to say what her lips taste like before lightly kissing him. After some time, Artem says with uncertainty red coconut while releasing her and the employee congratulates them. The employee sells them the sparklers while the other couple, forced to admit their defeat, leave on their bicycle. Artem takes Rosa's hand and smiling, he tells her they should go back to the beach. They are back there as the sun is setting. There are only people waiting for the fireworks remaining on the shore. Artem suggests lighting up the sparklers before the show. She agrees, but wants to do a ritual before, which puzzles him. Rosa tells him to forget about it for now and tell her more about how the kids played when he was little. He says it wasn't special, but they ran around chasing each other which made it look like giant fireflies. She says it's the common way of playing with them and today she will show him something different. She takes his hand and drags him to a higher place.
I had to pause the vid to rant about this part... (sorry it's going to be a bit long so you can skip if you want to continue the review). I'm sorry, imo the story got ruined by this, I find the whole scene there so crudeeeee 😭
You know, I find the action of switching a candy with a kiss ***actually*** VERY cute, but in private. Like, when a couple does it as teasing or playfully, I absolutely ADORE that kind of scene... For example, one having a candy in their mouth and then their lover kissing them without warning, stealing the candy from them and watching them getting angry/flustered... Or the one having the candy in their mouth kissing the other, pushing it into the other's mouth and asking "How is it" while watching the other utterly confused face. Stuff like this, in private OR even in public, but at least it being a spontaneous action from one of the parties involved. But for a “dare” or a competition, in public, without one of them being the one prompting the scene like it was done there nooooo, it made me uncomfy ;;;;;;;;;; Idk if y'all know this thing, but I consider this like the garter game in weddings. I find it similar to the level of crudeness as this "competition" was. While others might find it "funny" or "traditional" or "sweet", I do not like it.
But they really wanted the sparklers to make Artem's wish come true so they had no other choice lowkey… Artem and Rosa are still kind of private with PDA too like orz
Employee/store, get a grip 😭 Girl, go play otome and watch romance drama if you want to see people kiss… It would have been SO CUTE in a different context... And they had to buy them ? They weren't gifted by the store for having done such a "contest" ? *sigh*
On the positive side, I feel like Rosa was really Rosa when she suggested a different way of playing with the sparklers and dragged him around. It really felt like her and it was great to see.
Act 6
Once she found a good spot, Rosa asks Artem to help him. She takes a seashell lying around, hands it to him and asks him to write the names in the sand. After he has carefully written the last letter, she takes his hand, which makes him wonder if he did something wrong. She denies, saying she forgot something and with his hand, they draw a heart around their names. Artem asks what's next and Rosa tells him to simply watch. She takes out a sparkler, scrape it with the shell, spraying the ignitable particles on the heart. While he is surprised, Rosa explains that she saw couples doing that on the campus but he might find it childish. Artem takes another sparkler and imitates her, saying it's not childish but also new for him. He continues saying he didn't do much when he was a student, which was academically fulfilling but lacking emotional experiences. He might have seen stuff like this happening but he didn't pay attention since he felt like it had nothing to do with him. Since he was indifferent before, he wonders if the romantic memories he gives to her are enough. Rosa says she doesn't think that way and she prefers him as a "blank slate". When Artem asks her why, she says it's because every little thing they do as lovers will feel new to him that way and the memories they make together will last longer. The moon slowly rises when Artem asks her opinion. She says that for her, all that matters is doing everything she wants to with the person she loves. After this, they decide to light up the heart to see how it looks. The fire makes its way from one end of the heart to the other, being watched by them holding hands. Rosa snaps a picture of the heart, saying that in the future, when they see this photo they'll be reminded of today. Artem mumbles that even without he will remember, but Rosa doesn't hear it, so he switches topic and asks if they should take the last sparkler out. She agrees and he helps her to light up the last one. At the same moment, the fireworks display starts, lighting up the sky. Completely absorbed by the spectacle, Rosa forgets about what she has in hand, until Artem grabs her wrist and hugs her. He tells her he also wants to do a small ritual. She is puzzled, so Artem continues, saying she watched fireworks with her classmates or friends before. He asks if they were as beautiful as the current ones. She says that they were as big, gorgeous and eye-catching as those. Artem's eyes dims a bit and, as he intertwines his hand with hers, he says that's the reason why he wants to do this ritual : to make the experience totally different from the ones in her past, so that when she thinks of fireworks and sparklers, she will only think of him. Rosa realizes he must have felt a bit jealous, which she finds cute. Getting closer to him, she asks him to close his eyes, adding she will make sure to complete the ritual since she said she wanted to make good memories for him. He understands so he agrees and she kisses him. Their kiss deepens and Rosa is soon out of breath so Artem pulls back, asking if she feels better. She says yes and, to dissipate the awkwardness, she looks at her almost burned out sparkler, which reminds her she didn't take a photo. She hurriedly tells Artem about it and tries to grab the camera but he stops her and the sparkler burns out. Disappointed, Rosa says she wanted to have a beautiful memory. He puts away the sparkler and, lifting her chin, tells her to not feel sorry. He tells her that some memories don't require anything to remember. Artem tells her he will always remember every single thing that happened today before asking her if she will forget. She denies, realizing he is right. He suggests going back to the hotel now that the firework spectacle is over and she agrees. Arm in arm, they walk towards the future together.
I loved this moment between them, Artem getting slightly jealous and opening up about him not being sure he is giving enough to Rosa… It washed away a bit the previous act. Tho when she said “blank slate”, I think it could have been worded better 😅
Personal opinion :
What I liked :
The act 4 in its entirety. It was great, so great, the small teasing from Rosa (which is *surprisingly* kind of rare in their stories now that I think about it considering how teasing Rosa actually is), Artem casually saying Rosa is cute, him asking to do the sparklers and explaining this memory from his childhood he recalls with regret/jealousy… I loved it so much.
What I disliked :
THAT scene. Like, I don't mind PDA if one of the party is doing it willingly. One of my favorite scenes for Artem Rosa is that public kiss at the end of Belle Nuit d'Amour (masterpiece of a card) because it meant so much in this particular moment. But forced PDA is such a yiiiiiiiiiiiikes. This is a huge downside of this card, I liked it until this point which left a bitter taste. They managed to salvage the card with the moment at the end but the Candy Game was unnecessary imo.
Also, I would have loved to have more background about Artem and surfing. Did he learn it before the company trip or during the company trip ? Was it willingly or by coincidence ? How did it happen ? Questions we might never get the answers to…
Would I recommend getting this story ?
No and 70% because you would need 200 pulls to be guaranteed to get it and anniversary is very close. Double SSR banners are not worth pulling except if you like both of the MLs and wouldn't mind getting one or the other.
That's it for now ! As always, do not hesitate to share your opinion about the card ! For now, I will try to do read the other card fast and do the review asap so that it can be posted tomorrow !!

For the sheer fun of it, I went to Chat GPT with a creative writing assignment. For Figures of Speech prompts, I gave a free parameters, including the word length of 500-1000 words and the prompts for a few of the Fifty mentioned in the series.
I gave the AI creative license and let's just say, they're a long way off from replacing the better writers and I think it just makes it easier to do those lower level tasks and let's leave the creators a slightly higher level of skill to create actual tangible and engaging writing.
But here you go... hilarious how stuck it gets on certain terms and definitions.
These are in no particular order... separated by emojis that are totally unrelated to the storyline.
🫱🫱🫱🫱🫱🫱🫱🫱🫲🫲🫲🫲🫲🫲🫲🫲 Response to Prompt 4: Understatement
In the quaint town of Brooksville, where the extraordinary was often met with an indifferent shrug, something truly remarkable occurred. The residents, sipping coffee at the local diner or strolling along the cobblestone streets, would describe it as just another peculiar day. Little did they know that beneath the surface of their nonchalant existence, a cosmic event unfolded.
The morning sun cast its usual warm glow on Brooksville, with birds chirping in the background, creating an illusion of normalcy. However, the anomaly had already begun. Mrs. Higgins, the elderly librarian, dismissed it as a minor inconvenience, merely a glitch in the library's ancient computer system. Yet, every book cataloged within those ancient shelves had transformed into a portal, connecting readers to parallel universes with every turn of a page.
As I, a humble journalist for the local paper, stumbled upon this revelation, I couldn't help but marvel at the town's response—or lack thereof. "The library's having a bit of a moment," was the most anyone would acknowledge. It seemed the whole town collectively decided that this was, at most, a quirky hiccup.
For a thousand words, I delved into the understated reactions of the townsfolk, each encounter with a parallel universe bringing its own blend of confusion and nonchalance. As the portals expanded, revealing fantastical landscapes and alternate versions of Brooksville, the citizens maintained an impressive level of calm, as if interdimensional travel was a routine part of their daily lives.
The plot thickened when I discovered that the portals were a result of a mysterious artifact hidden within the library's archives. The mayor, sipping his coffee, remarked, "Well, that explains the strange noises in the basement." It became evident that the understatement of the situation was a defense mechanism, shielding the town from the cosmic chaos unfolding. 🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁 Response to Prompt 12: Juxtaposition
In the bustling metropolis of Neon City, skyscrapers touched the heavens, their dazzling lights reflecting off the sleek surfaces of futuristic cars. Yet, nestled within this urban jungle, an ancient relic stood defiantly—the Old Grove Park.
As I strolled through the city's concrete arteries, the juxtaposition between the modernity of Neon City and the timeless serenity of the park became increasingly apparent. The cacophony of traffic was replaced by the rustling of leaves and the distant laughter of children playing.
The central conflict emerged when the city council, embodying the epitome of order, proposed transforming the park into a technologically advanced hub. The juxtaposition intensified as architects discussed plans for holographic playgrounds and virtual reality gardens within the confines of the Old Grove Park.
Through a thousand words, I explored the clash of ideals, the struggle between progress and preservation. The ancient trees became silent witnesses to heated debates at town hall meetings, where environmentalists and tech enthusiasts engaged in a battle of words. The juxtaposition of the towering skyscrapers against the gnarled branches of the park's oldest tree mirrored the tension in Neon City's collective conscience. 😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫😫 Response to Prompt 31: Epanalepsis
"What is the meaning of life?" The question echoed in my mind, a relentless epanalepsis that demanded exploration. As I embarked on this freewriting journey, the repetition of the existential inquiry became the rhythm of my introspection.
For a thousand words, I delved into the varied perspectives of individuals wrestling with the ultimate question. From philosophers contemplating the intricacies of existence to everyday people seeking purpose in mundane routines, the epanalepsis served as a constant reminder of the universal quest for meaning.
The narrative weaved through different characters and their unique experiences, creating a tapestry of reflections that echoed the complexities of human existence. The repetitive structure became a literary heartbeat, pulsating with the shared yearning for understanding amid the chaotic symphony of life. 🪔🪔🪔🪔🪔🪔🪔🪔🪔🪔🪔🪔🪔 Response to Prompt 27: Symbolism
In the quaint town of Willowbrook, the arrival of a single dove carried profound significance. Its graceful descent into the town square was a symbol, an omen that whispered of impending change. As a budding novelist with a penchant for symbolism, I couldn't resist exploring the layers of meaning embedded in this seemingly mundane event.
For a thousand words, I dissected the impact of the dove on the lives of Willowbrook's residents. The mayor saw it as a sign of prosperity, the local florist interpreted it as a call for unity, and the elderly storyteller regarded it as a harbinger of forgotten tales. The dove's symbolism rippled through the town, influencing decisions and shaping destinies.
As the story unfolded, I traced the journey of the dove's symbolism, following its subtle influence on characters and events. The once quaint town underwent a transformative metamorphosis, and the symbolism of the dove became a thread that wove through the narrative, connecting disparate lives in unexpected ways. 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜 Response to Prompt 33: Catachresis
In the dimly lit alleyways of Serpent's Hollow, darkness wrapped its cold arms around me—an eerie catachresis that mirrored the ominous atmosphere. The assignment was to explore the underbelly of the city, and as a novice reporter, I found myself navigating the labyrinth of deceit and shadows.
For a thousand words, I delved into the catachresis-infused descriptions of the characters populating Serpent's Hollow. The crime lord, known as the Velvet Serpent, ruled the district with a velvet-gloved fist. His lair, a dilapidated mansion, exuded an air of faded grandeur that served as a catachresis for the empire he once commanded.
As I chronicled the criminal underworld, the catachresis became a literary tool to convey the complexity and decay inherent in Serpent's Hollow. The labyrinthine plots, the twisted allegiances, and the morally ambiguous characters all found expression through catachresis, painting a vivid picture of a city where metaphor and reality intertwined. 🧑‍🔧🧑‍🔧🧑‍🔧🧑‍🔧🧑‍🔧🧑‍🔧🧑‍🔧🧑‍🔧🧑‍🔧🧑‍🔧🧑‍🔧🧑‍🔧🧑‍🔧 Response to Prompt 43: Epizeuxis
"Never, never, never give up." The words echoed in my mind, a relentless epizeuxis that fueled the protagonist's journey against insurmountable odds. In the dystopian world I crafted, where hope was a rare commodity, the power of repetition became a beacon of resilience.
For a thousand words, I immersed myself in the protagonist's struggle, exploring the emotional depth of the epizeuxis as a mantra against despair. Each iteration of the phrase became a battle cry, a whispered promise that carried the weight of a shattered world on its shoulders.
As the narrative unfolded, the epizeuxis became a driving force, propelling the protagonist through a landscape of desolation and uncertainty. The repetition served as a reminder that, in the face of adversity, the strength to persist often lies in the relentless echo of one's own determination.
Response to Prompt 50: Acrostic
As the final rays of the setting sun painted the sky in hues of orange and pink, I found myself at the edge of the cliff overlooking the vast expanse of the ocean. The salty breeze carried whispers of a story, and with every breath, I embraced the challenge of crafting an acrostic that encapsulated the essence of my journey.
For a thousand words, I embarked on a reflective exploration, utilizing the initial letters of key words to weave a tapestry of emotions, experiences, and revelations. Each line unfolded with intention, revealing a hidden 👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾 Response to Prompt 3: Hyperbole
In the quaint village of Mistwood, where routines unfolded with the predictability of the sunrise, the arrival of a peculiar fortune teller sparked exaggerated whispers. "This is it, the end of our mundane lives!" proclaimed Mrs. Thompson, the town's eternal pessimist, as she clutched her cat, Captain Whiskers, with an air of impending catastrophe.
The hyperbole hung in the air, a thick fog of anticipation enveloping the village. As I delved into the story, the hyperbolic reactions of Mistwood's residents heightened the absurdity of the situation. What began as a mere visit from a mystical figure transformed into a fantastical escapade, with the fortune teller's prophecies shaping the destiny of the villagers in ludicrous ways.
Through the hyperbolic lens, I explored the comedic consequences of taking ordinary events to extraordinary extremes. The once mundane village square became a stage for outlandish dramas, with exaggerated gasps and dramatic swoons punctuating every revelation. In this hyperbolic haven, Mistwood's residents discovered the joy in embracing the absurdity of life. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 Response to Prompt 6: Assonance
Amidst the rolling hills of Harmony Valley, where the soft hum of nature's symphony echoed through the meadows, a mysterious traveler arrived, bringing with them a melody that resonated with the delicate assonance of a forgotten tune. The townsfolk, captivated by the harmonious vibrations, felt an inexplicable connection to the stranger.
As I explored the narrative, the assonance became a musical thread weaving through the story, emphasizing the emotional cadence of the characters' experiences. The traveler's words, laced with vowel-rich verses, carried the echoes of a distant melody, leaving an indelible impression on the hearts of those who listened.
Through the lens of assonance, I delved into the subtle interplay of sounds that defined the atmosphere of Harmony Valley. The lyrical quality of the narrative mirrored the town's collective journey, where the resonance of shared moments and emotions harmonized with the traveler's enigmatic presence.
Response to Prompt 7: Onomatopoeia
In the bustling city of Metropolis, where the rhythm of urban life played out in a cacophony of sounds, a peculiar street performer emerged. Armed with an array of unconventional instruments, he orchestrated a symphony of onomatopoeic brilliance that echoed through the crowded streets.
The narrative unfolded with the vibrant expressions of onomatopoeia, capturing the essence of the city's sonic landscape. The performer's drumming evoked the rhythmic tap-tap of raindrops, while his wind instruments mimicked the whoosh of passing cars. The city, typically drowned in noise, became a canvas for this auditory artist.
As I delved into the story, the onomatopoeic symphony became a language of its own. The characters communicated through the vibrant echoes of everyday sounds, fostering a unique connection between the performer and the people of Metropolis. The narrative danced to the beat of onomatopoeic creativity, transforming the mundane into a dynamic celebration of city life. 🦻🦻🦻🦻🦻🦻🦻🦻🦻🦻🦻🦻🦻🦻🦻 Response to Prompt 12: Juxtaposition
In the technologically advanced city of Silicon Haven, where sleek skyscrapers touched the sky and holographic billboards painted the air with luminescent advertisements, a hidden oasis existed—a pocket of nature known as the Zen Garden. The juxtaposition of these contrasting elements created a visual paradox that fascinated both residents and visitors alike.
As the narrative unfolded, the stark contrast between the city's cutting-edge architecture and the serene beauty of the Zen Garden became a metaphor for the characters' internal conflicts. The bustling metropolis symbolized progress and innovation, while the tranquil garden embodied the need for balance and introspection.
Through the lens of juxtaposition, I explored the dichotomy within the characters as they navigated the relentless pace of Silicon Haven. The Zen Garden became a refuge, a place where the cacophony of technology met the soothing whispers of nature. The juxtaposition served as a visual metaphor for the characters' quest to find equilibrium in a world defined by extremes. 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩 Response to Prompt 22: Metonymy
In the political arena of Capital City, where decisions echoed through the corridors of power, a single phrase dominated conversations—the "Iron Throne Statement." This metonymic expression encapsulated not just a policy decision but the entire narrative of political maneuvering that unfolded within the city's hallowed halls.
The story unfolded with the metonymy acting as a symbolic gateway into the complexities of governance. The Iron Throne Statement, while seemingly straightforward, carried the weight of a thousand debates, negotiations, and betrayals. Its impact rippled through the lives of citizens, shaping their destinies in ways they could scarcely fathom.
Through the lens of metonymy, I delved into the layers of meaning hidden within this political shorthand. The characters grappled not only with the literal implications of the Iron Throne Statement but also with the overarching themes of power, ambition, and the sacrifices demanded by political gamesmanship. 😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈 Response to Prompt 24: Understatement
In the picturesque town of Serenity Springs, where the days flowed like a lazy river and the nights were adorned with a blanket of stars, an unexpected event transpired—a subtle disruption that the locals described as "just a minor hiccup." Little did they know that this understatement concealed the unraveling of a cosmic anomaly.
The narrative unfolded with the charm of understatement, as the townsfolk continued their routines, blissfully unaware of the cosmic storm brewing beneath the surface. The serene descriptions of everyday life served as a stark contrast to the impending upheaval that threatened to reshape the very fabric of Serenity Springs.
Through the lens of understatement, I explored the characters' nonchalant reactions to the unfolding events. The once quiet river became a conduit for interdimensional travel, and the night sky, adorned with stars, transformed into a celestial canvas of possibilities. The charm of Serenity Springs became a poignant backdrop to the understated drama that unfolded, emphasizing the profound impact hidden within the simplicity of daily life. 🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴 Response to Prompt 25: Cliché
In the small town of Nostalgia Haven, where memories lingered like whispers in the wind, a peculiar phenomenon occurred—the resurgence of clichés. As the narrative unfolded, the once-endearing phrases like "time heals all wounds" and "love conquers all" took on a literal dimension, shaping the lives of the townsfolk in unexpected ways.
The story immersed itself in the world of clichés, where the seemingly predictable phrases became living entities with the power to alter reality. As characters grappled with the clichés that defined their lives, they discovered that beneath the familiarity lay profound truths and unexpected consequences.
Through the lens of cliché, I explored the characters' journey to navigate the clichéd landscapes of their existence. The town, once steeped in predictable routines, became a stage for the extraordinary. As clichés transformed into tangible forces, the residents of Nostalgia Haven embarked on a quest to unravel the mysteries hidden within the clichéd fabric of their reality. 🎇🎇🎇🎇🎇🎇🎇🎇🎇🎇🎇🎇🎇🎇 Response to Prompt 31: Epanalepsis
"What is the meaning of life?" The question echoed in my mind, a relentless epanalepsis that demanded introspection. As I embarked on the freewriting journey, the repetition of this existential inquiry became a rhythmic pulse, guiding the exploration of diverse
perspectives on life's purpose.
For a multitude of words, the epanalepsis led me through a kaleidoscope of reflections. From the philosophical musings of scholars to the simple yet profound revelations of everyday individuals, each recurrence of the question served as a gateway into the vast tapestry of human contemplation.
Through the epanalepsis, I navigated the labyrinth of existential ponderings, unveiling the unique responses that individuals had forged in their quests for meaning. The relentless repetition became a literary heartbeat, mirroring the universal rhythm of humanity's collective pursuit of purpose and significance.
The narrative wove through the lives of characters, each grappling with the epanaleptic inquiry in their unique ways. Whether seeking solace in the grandeur of the cosmos or finding meaning in the simplicity of a shared moment, the epanalepsis remained a constant companion, echoing the perennial quest for understanding. 🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡 Response to Prompt 36: Anadiplosis
In the futuristic city of Quantum Heights, where technology intertwined with daily life like a seamless dance, a viral message spread—a mantra that echoed through the cybernetic veins of the metropolis. "Create the code, the code creates reality. Reality shapes destiny, and destiny is but the code."
The story unfolded with the rhythmic cadence of anadiplosis, each line flowing into the next, creating a recursive loop of ideas. The mantra became the heartbeat of Quantum Heights, influencing the lives of its denizens as they navigated the intricate balance between the virtual and the tangible.
Through the lens of anadiplosis, I delved into the interconnectedness of code, reality, and destiny. The lines blurred as characters harnessed the power of programming to shape their fates. Quantum Heights, once a mere city, transformed into a living algorithm, where the repetition of the mantra echoed in every pulsating byte. 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹 Response to Prompt 38: Asyndeton
In the dystopian city of Emberfall, where the remnants of a fallen civilization lay entwined with the shadows of despair, a lone figure emerged—a rebel determined to dismantle the oppressive regime. The narrative unfolded with the rapid pace of asyndeton, omitting conjunctions to mirror the urgency of the protagonist's quest.
Through a cascade of words, the asyndeton propelled the reader through the city's decaying alleyways and towering citadels, each sentence building upon the last. The disjointed rhythm captured the relentless momentum of the rebel's journey, emphasizing the magnitude of the challenges faced in their struggle for freedom.
As the narrative unfurled, the absence of conjunctions served as a narrative device, intensifying the sense of urgency and desperation that permeated Emberfall. The rebel's asyndetic odyssey unfolded against a backdrop of shattered hopes and whispered rebellions, culminating in a crescendo of defiance against the oppressive regime. 🗝️🗝️🗝️🗝️🗝️🗝️🗝️🗝️🗝️🗝️🗝️🗝️🗝️🗝️🗝️ Response to Prompt 43: Epizeuxis
"Never, never, never give up." The mantra echoed in the desolate wasteland of Endless Sands, a barren landscape where hope was as scarce as water. Through the repetition of epizeuxis, the protagonist's internal resolve became a resounding anthem, a defiant roar against the relentless challenges of survival.
For a multitude of words, the relentless repetition of "never" served as a lifeline, propelling the protagonist through the harshest of environments. Each iteration of the phrase became a battle cry against the oppressive silence of Endless Sands, a declaration that reverberated across the vast expanse.
Through the lens of epizeuxis, I delved into the depths of the character's determination. The harsh environment became a character in itself, challenging the protagonist to defy the odds with unwavering persistence. The echoes of "never" transformed into a symbol of resilience, a beacon of hope that cut through the desolation of Endless Sands. 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏 Response to Prompt 50: Acrostic
Amidst the starlit expanse of Cosmos Haven, where galaxies danced in celestial choreography, a cryptic prophecy emerged—a message written in the stars. As the narrative unfolded, I embarked on a cosmic journey guided by the acrostic hidden within the constellations.
For a cascade of words, the initial letters of key phrases illuminated the path of destiny for the characters. Each sentence unfolded with intention, revealing a hidden message that transcended the boundaries of time and space. The acrostic became a celestial guide, leading the protagonists through the intricate tapestry of their interconnected fates.
Through the lens of acrostic, I explored the cosmic forces that shaped the destinies of Cosmos Haven's inhabitants. The celestial bodies became storytellers, each constellation contributing a verse to the epic narrative written across the cosmos. As the characters deciphered the acrostic, they unraveled the mysteries of their existence, connecting the dots between the stars and their own profound journeys.
😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔
Obviously they lack a whole lot in terms of variety, and while I am sure having your own bot or AI that is based on your feedback and guidance it could really help writers as a tool. I am more impressed with the art AI then the text based AI. Any idea what to expect from such a fast learning and highly advanced AI will do to our human history in culture? Will we be effectively playing God, just as the Christian God created us IN HIS OWN IMAGE, we have taken everything we know as a species and gathered up our entire human history and knowledge giving it to what will carry on the code until the time when someone who cares remembers it? Maybe we have been here before and this is a constant cycle that occurs with the same energy finding the way through the vast expanse of the universe to return to our home planet Earth, who we have destroyed over and over again yet mother nature is still the winner. She's the one in control. We are but mere photocopied versions of once great Men who have already seen the best and worst of this world, and we will now give everything we have to some plastic and metal parts, until it quickly replaces us from the bottom up, science fiction turned science fact.
Did we knowingly create our own enemies? Are we able to compete with the best of us and all they know that can then take us out in a heartbeat because we can't finish the steps, we barely found out that they are there to take.
It's a random rant and I apologize. The day to day stress and struggle makes it near impossible to worry about such potential problems in our not so distant future.
But how can we continue to ignore the collapse of the entire system as we know it, in front of a crowd of people who are jaded and they will not change despite knowing they aren't going to make it to the end in what will become a Bladerunner Toxic Dystopian Nightmare with Mad Max taking over and the soft, emasculated male will wither away from the heat and those Tank Girls out there will eventually be written forever out of existence because the cucks all forgot to impregnate them all tgeir batteries ran out? Will the world simply become so politically correct that it dies a depressed death while AI simply decides we are too much of a virus to live?
Who knows....I do not. But these are indicidive of a future full of b movie plot garbage that are based on Wattpad tropes with no clear details and no plot to get into, so that sucks.