Hello, here I am once again! First ever Fan-Fic.
Last week I opened a poll about the type of Fan-Fic I should write (or try to), and after a good 4 days I took a look at said poll, and the overwhelming majority went for Option 2. And so I shall try my hardest to deliver, and give you all a story about Humanity entering on the Galactic stage later and being more prepared for eventual hostile encounters, and acting as such.
Let's see what I can cook up in my tired state- Some creative liberties are to be expected.
Still thinking of a Title- but this is the one I came up with.
... Also consider this a proof of concept for now, a WIP if you will, as I'm still new to writing (and not a native English speaker either) and wanting to learn as much as possible while writing anything at all- so expect word vomit. Any and all feedback will be welcomed.
Lastly, all love to for having made such an amazing universe.
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Memory Transcription Subject: N/A, AI Communications Unit Terminal, UN-HQ.
Date [Standardized Human Time]: January 1st, 2300, 00:00
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<<00:15, Probe successfully launched. Explore protocol initiated.>>
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Log Update: 01:15
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Log Update: 10:15
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Log Update: 10:35
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Log Update: 10:50
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Memory Transcription Subject: N/A, Terminal Deactivated.
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Memory Transcription Subject: Alan Voor-hein, UN Secretary-General.
Date [Standardized Human Time]: January 1st, 2300, 11:00
It has finally happened. A fellow space-faring civilization has been found, something we thought would happen one day- Never in my 40 years would I have guessed it would happen in my lifetime. But I guess that is the thought process for everyone who are now involved.
I had gotten the first message out of anyone. It was now up to me to head to the HQ and get everything ready for the Emergency meeting. We'll have to "discuss" our next course of action on this situation. And I use the term "discuss" lightly, because there is not a lot to discuss, rather there is much to think about as a potential next step. I'll be having these discussions with our diplomatic and military advisors. Civil advisors will be left out, as to not make the public aware of this discovery ...at least, not yet.
I have an hour to get everything ready... and I still need to travel 20 minutes to get there. Luckily I have my own companion who can be my chauffeur- who is always ready at a moments notice, essentially 24/7.
I was speed-walking.. or speedily descending more like it, down the stairs of my house. ...Don't ask me what I was doing upstairs. My hastiness almost caused me to trip while going down the stairs because I was in a such rush to get outside, I did not have a lot of time on my hands.
After reaching the ground-floor I sped-walked past the kitchen, and I took a second to contemplate about taking a quick bite from a snack, but I decided against it. After-all, I could eat at the HQ... not that I'd have the time too, but at least I could give it a shot if I arrive in time.
As my journey to the front door continued, I was met with a familiar face- namely Heluni. Heluni is my Android companion. Android technology has gotten far over the last few decades, and Androids have become more Human than ever before.
"Good morning Alan!" Heluni spoke up, her voice as smooth as the calmest oceans. I looked towards her, and greeted her in return.
"Morning Heluni- Sorry to be a bother, but I gotta use your driving expertise again today. Emergency UN meeting. It's at 12, but I would like to be there as quickly as possible. Can you do that for me?"
"Of course I can, sir. Right this way." She led the way, opening the front door, waiting on me to follow behind her. I took my place behind her as she led me towards our car that was parked outside. A classic unmarked "not noticeable" vehicle, one everyone knows screams "here is someone important" but no one seems to care about in their daily life.
And like always when walking outside, my mind wandered to the flowing shoulder long hair Heluni has, her hair was always a beautiful sight to behold. How she- an Android- managed to have the hair of a Goddess remains a mystery to me. But I learned to never question our technological prowess.
Before I knew it, I was standing next to the car, Heluni having already taken the drivers seat. I took my seat in the back. And before I even sat down, Heluni look back at me. "Ready sir?"
"Floor it." was the only thing I responded with.. and Heluni took off like it was the end of the world.
... And I'm suddenly reminded why I only used her driving skills in Emergencies. This type of driving is gonna make me sick- but it's to late now, I suppose. I gazed down to my watch, and it's 11:15. If Heluni keeps driving like this, we'll be there in about 10 minutes.
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I'm just gonna try and keep myself calm, as to not make myself sick with Heluni her driving.
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We drove through the city towards the UN Headquarters. Heluni was cutting through the traffic wherever she could- you'd think we would get pulled over. But the only reason we never were, was because the only symbol on this car (to at least mark it somewhat) was that the UN symbol was put in place of the car-manufacturer logo. Any officer knew that, if a UN car was speeding like this, there was something going on.
But since I still did not want the public to know about the discovery made earlier today, I'd have to come up with some excuse for this... I think I'll wave it off as a training exercise for my Android.
Noticing that I was rather quiet, Heluni chirped up. "Sir, is everything okay?"
"Hm? .. Oh yeah, just thinking about stuff. Don't worry about it."
"Sir, is it about the upcoming meeting? What is it about?"
"..Heluni, that's confidential information-"
"I know sir, but perhaps.. whatever it will be about, is making you nervous?"
... Am I nervous? I don't think I am- maybe subconsciously I am??
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"Well, I can say it's something I have never planned on doing."
"Is it bad?" Heluni asked me, trying to inquire more out of me.
"Depends on future circumstances...."
"Will I be allowed to know more about this meeting?"
"One day you will, Heluni. But for now, that's gonna be a negative."
"I understand, Sir."
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For the rest of our journey, no words were spoken. I was deep in thought again. Like.. what does this mean for my career? I will be the first leader in UN history who may lay the ground-works for an eventual "First Contact" between Humans and an Alien species.
I'm nervous thinking ahead that far, for all we know, they are those type of Alien we have seen in pop-culture. Either fun and loving, or utterly ruthless and genocidal. What would they think of us? ... What will we think of them? Is there a potential for a future war?
We have that last one covered at least. Humans being Humans and all- we already have a decent Space going fleet of roughly 8000 ships of various sizes. ... Just in case a Colony gets any funny ideas with their local security forces. But now knowing we might have to face off against Aliens as well, I think it's about time to ramp up the ship production tenfold.
More importantly, we have to spy on them. Luckily that probe we sent is close to their planet, so we'll just use that for any surveillance and intelligence..
My thoughts were shaken back into reality from plausible scenarios once we took a tight corner a little too fast- but before I could scold Heluni for it, there it was, the UN-HQ in the distance. A few more minutes, and we'll be there.
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There we have it! I think I did well in my tired state for this first part. I'll keep looking through the text itself from time to time. So if any feedback, grammar, etc, is thrown my way. I can implement them right away.
I hope this is setting a decent stage for what's to come. Hope you had fun reading this!
For now, Imma chill with some music.

South Dakota has its own particular brand of anti-Indigenous racism, and this is my take on it, as a white resident of Rapid City who lived on the reservation for over 20 years. To wit:
With some exceptions, most white South Dakotans are not openly and aggressively racially hostile. The days of “No Indians allowed” in shop windows are thankfully in the past. But a more pernicious strain of prejudice still permeates much of the culture. You hear it in conversations (or, at least, I do, when white people talk openly around me, assuming I am of like mind) and you often read it in social media postings, especially on news sites.
I’m not sure what to call the attitude in question, maybe “performative sympathy” or “passive-aggressive patronizing.” Basically, it’s when somebody laments how Natives in the state can’t “get it together,” can’t “get with the program,” can’t “get their lives on track,” can’t “give up alcohol/drugs,” etc. etc. (By “the program,” they generally mean assimilated American society.) This is usually couched in faux concern, as if the person saying it is genuinely puzzled and sorrowfully bewildered at this predicament. Often, a sad shake of the head will accompany this pronouncement.
The person in question, of course, rarely gives a care about Native people’s “plight,” and these pat statements are just a way of saying, “Oh well, what are ya gonna do with those folks?” and distancing oneself from the situation, shrugging and moving on to a happier topic of conversation. Why can’t “those people” get it together indeed?
When it comes up in a convo that I’m a participant in, I do my best to bring up the history of how things got to where they are today. I’m a history teacher, after all. I’m well-versed in the subjects of manifest destiny, colonialism, broken treaties, and the like. Usually their eyes will start to glaze over or they will start fidgeting and shuffling their feet, uncomfortable at the way the conversation is going, their mind doing its best to reject input that contradicts their view of the world, no matter how diplomatic and non-preachy I’m being. It’s not the tone that intimidates them and puts them off, it’s the very subject itself.
More often than not, after I’ve had my say, they will just mumble something along the lines of, “Yup, I don’t know how those people will ever get it together. It’s too bad,” as if I had never said anything. People’s sincerely-held beliefs are incredibly difficult to dislodge, as we all know. And being brought up white in South Dakota, unless your situation is significantly different from the norm, you get the same whitewashed story over and over, at home, at school, at church. You’ve heard it your whole life, and doggone it, it didn’t include big fancy words like “colonialism” that make people feel bad when they didn’t do anything wrong. So, the mind shuts out the competing information, stays closed.
And here’s the big secret that maybe you already know: If you don’t believe that history in any way informs the present (because it was “so long ago” or whatever), then the only other option is to – consciously or unconsciously – blame the people themselves. Think about it. If history doesn’t matter and generational trauma doesn’t exist and everyone is born at the same starting line, with the same obstacles stretching ahead of them in life, then the only possible blame for people not succeeding individually or collectively HAS to fall on the people themselves. This is the most pernicious aspect of South Dakota racism. At its root lies a belief that the reason why Native people have higher incarceration rates, lower graduation rates, higher rates of substance abuse, etc. etc. etc. is that the people themselves are somehow defective, somehow lesser. Lesser than whom? Lesser than the white majority.
This is white supremacy in one of its purest forms, but most people don’t recognize it as such. This white supremacy doesn’t necessarily wear a white robe or burn a tiki torch (although look at how they vote and they’re not far off), but it is an unearned superiority complex than many whites learn from a young age. “I don’t know what’s wrong with those Indians. What a pity,” with the implicit understanding that “we” are superior. How else can you explain our demographic superiority? Of course, you and I know the answer to that.
This is one of the single greatest obstacles to race relations in the state moving forward and true understanding and reconciliation happening. How can you understand a people when you see them as faulty, unable to progress, victims of nothing but their own indolence and failure to thrive? You have to put the blame for their lot in life squarely on their own shoulders because to do otherwise would mean interrogating your own state’s history and country’s history in a way that you can’t bear (not you, of course, innocent Reddit reader).
But you don’t want to hear about broken treaties. You don’t want to hear about stolen land. You don’t want to hear about historical trauma. You don’t want to hear about boarding school abuses. You just want a nice story where progress has always progressed and the white man brought the light of civilization into a dark continent and the light of the Gospel to the heathen. “My country, right or wrong” is just another way of saying that you take no responsibility for your country’s wrongs.
And “That was a long time ago” is the great hand-washing, the refrain of a people who dare not look into the mirror, dare not teach what really happened in the not-so-distant past. And so, you have a state where nearly all of the positions of power are held by whites, in government, business, school boards and administration, as well as nearly all the wealth in the state, all the best land, and you wonder how things got to be that way. But then you stop wondering because the questions it raises are too challenging. “Why can’t they get it together,” indeed.

• Flushed Away has a more relatable and compelling story (A wealthy person realising his loneliness and giving up everything for companionship and a family)
• Flushed Away has better comedic aspects (The ‘Keep your legs straight!’ bit, almost all of Whitey’s lines, ‘I laugh at everyone’s pain except my own - I’m French!’ and other bits from Le Frog, the entire movie setting up England’s win only for them to lose on penalties, etc)
• Flushed Away has one of the best jukebox-style soundtracks of any animated film I’ve seen, both with how certain songs mesh with the storyline (‘Dancing With Myself’) and the beauty that is the Jammy Dodger Chase Scene (possibly the best chase scenes in animated movie history, fight me) that put ‘Bohemian Like You’ into thousands of Millenial / Gen Z playlists
• Excellent voice cast (Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, Andy Serkis, Bill Nighy, Ian McKellan)
• Roddy St James played a big role in shaping my taste in men (not a furry thing, i just like guys in creased white shirts sue me)
• ⁠Despite not being able to be stop-motion animated like other Aardman films, it captures the soul of the style while still having excellent CGI visuals
• Insanely rewatchable (so many jokes and sight gags that took me upwards of 3 watches to get all of them, and even then I’ve likely missed some)

The only thing Ratatouille has better in my eyes is in its emotional moments. While some may say that Ratatouille is a better film, the combination of all these aspects, especially the rewatchability, make Flushed Away a far more enjoyable movie in my eyes.
Watch Flushed Away. You will not regret it.

• Flushed Away has a more relatable and compelling story (A wealthy person realising his loneliness and giving up everything for companionship and a family)
• Flushed Away has better comedic aspects (The ‘Keep your legs straight!’ bit, almost all of Whitey’s lines, ‘I laugh at everyone’s pain except my own - I’m French!’ and other bits from Le Frog, the entire movie setting up England’s win only for them to lose on penalties, etc)
• Flushed Away has one of the best jukebox-style soundtracks of any animated film I’ve seen, both with how certain songs mesh with the storyline (‘Dancing With Myself’) and the beauty that is the Jammy Dodger Chase Scene (possibly the best chase scenes in animated movie history, fight me) that put ‘Bohemian Like You’ into thousands of Millenial / Gen Z playlists
• Excellent voice cast (Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, Andy Serkis, Bill Nighy, Ian McKellan)
• Roddy St James played a big role in shaping my taste in men (not a furry thing, i just like guys in creased white shirts sue me)
• ⁠Despite not being able to be stop-motion animated like other Aardman films, it captures the soul of the style while still having excellent CGI visuals
• Insanely rewatchable (so many jokes and sight gags that took me upwards of 3 watches to get all of them, and even then I’ve likely missed some)

The only thing Ratatouille has better in my eyes is in its emotional moments. While some may say that Ratatouille is a better film, the combination of all these aspects, especially the rewatchability, make Flushed Away a far more enjoyable movie in my eyes.

I sat in our dark bedroom, the computer screen glaring with a harsh, white light. A banner flashed before my eyes: “Seek wisdom by understanding yourself.”
“Chloe, check this out,” I called over my shoulder to my girlfriend playing The Sims on her laptop.
She glanced up, her brow furrowing in confusion before giving me a bemused look. “What the hell are you looking at?” she asked.
“It’s some cult,” I replied, unable to hide my fascination. “I fell down a rabbit hole and found this local place downtown. It's a derivative of Aleister Crowley and Golden Dawn bullshit.” I pointed to the Google Street View image of a dilapidated storefront in an ethnic shopping center.
She smirked, a hint of amusement in her eyes. “I never pegged you as the religious type.”
“Check this out,” I continued, clicking through the site. “They have some photos.”
We spent some time going through the albums celebrating various solstices. Most were taken in an odd room with black and white checkered floors, adorned with Egyptian pseudo-artifacts, bathed in the glow of red and purple lights that transformed the scene into a surreal dreamscape.
The people certainly had an alternative vibe. Tattoos were plentiful, but other than that they looked like they came from all different walks of life. Many of them looked like they had their fair share of bullying in high school - no shortage of that. But most of them looked relatively normal aside from the occasional piercing.
One photograph in particular caught my eye. A woman, sitting in a bright red room, sat on an altar, holding a staff in her right hand, wearing nothing. A man was kneeled before her, his arms tied behind him, rope anchored to the ceiling. They were sliding a knife down his back, a small trickle of blood dripping to the floor.
“Damn,” Chloe started. “She’s butt-ass naked.”
“You wanna go?” I asked. “They’re having a get together tonight.”
“You know what, fuck it. Why not? It’s not like we’re doing anything.” she replied.
“Good,” I smiled, standing up. “Because I already ordered an Uber.”
She sighed before opening a drawer and pulling out a small pipe. “I’ll go, but i'm not going sober.”
It was a cold, shitty Seattle winter night. We got dropped off in the parking lot and spent a few minutes looking for the storefront. We finally found it next to a dog groomer and Pho restaurant with some pun for the name I can’t seem to remember.
We entered the shop, which consisted of two narrow isles separated by wood shelves barely big enough for me to fit down. We spent some time looking at the various items, my attention diverting to a vial of elk blood. I remember wondering if they were even allowed to sell this without some type of medical certification they definitely did not have while Chloe shuffled through a bowl of mix and match crystals.
“Can I help you?” I heard a woman say from the back as she emerged from a beaded curtain. She was a short, overweight woman wearing what I could only describe as a sports bra and hula skirt.
“Hi, uh,” I stuttered. “I’m George and this is Chloe. We’re here for the… winter solstice celebration?”
“Oh, goodie! Newcomers!” she said with an out of place, overjoyed expression as she clapped her hands. Chloe and I laughed nervously.
“The door is in the back, but you can come through here just this time.” she said with a smile, arm holding the beaded curtain open.
We walked through a dark hallway, somehow more cramped than the shop, into a rather large room. A gaggle of people were huddled in the back, which Chloe and I quietly shuffled into.
A bearded man paraded around the room, white robes and red headdress cascading into a cloak, knuckles adorned with several large rings gripping a spear, held vertically in front of him. Behind him, another bald man, white robes and yellow cloak, followed behind, white sleeves crossed over his chest.
I glanced at Chloe’s bloodshot eyes, THC clearly flowing through her system. I gave her a knowing look, as if to say Having fun yet? She returned a slow smile.
Without warning, the entire crowd clapped their hands together over their heads as a woman in blue robes walked past, waving a censure leaking white smoke. We awkwardly followed to match the group.
The blue curtains on the back wall opened to reveal an older Asian woman sitting perched on the altar I saw in the photos, again, completely naked. And before you ask, no. She wasn’t attractive. It’s never the ones you hope it is. The red robed man kneeled down and softly kissed her knees.
I glanced back at Chloe. Her smile was so big I was afraid she was going to laugh at any moment. I pinched her on the side and whispered into her ear “Do. Not. Fucking. Laugh”. Honestly, I think I just made it worse. Her face turned beet red as she bit her cheeks.
The ritual went on for another half hour or so. They must’ve said “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law” at least a dozen times.
We were getting kind of bored and were ready to leave before the woman in the blue robes wandered in with a caged chicken.
"No fucking way" I thought. Surely enough, the man in the yellow robes held the chicken high in the air, before slitting its throat and draining blood into a large metallic basin. The man winced as the chicken flailed violently, scratching up his arms, before eventually succumbing to blood loss.
One by one, each person there stood between a white and black pillar saying love and intention in Greek before eating a piece of something, taking a sip of blood, and saying “There is no part of me that is not of the Gods.”
Chloe and I hung back, and politely declined when our turn came. Once all was said and done, they busted out some alcohol and started celebrating. We slipped out into the street, bursting out laughing. After we finally collected ourselves, Chloe whipped out her phone and showed me she took dozens of pictures of the ritual.
We laughed our asses off the entire way home. First thing she did was open her laptop and post the pictures on Twitter, tagging the lodge with the caption “me and the boys chilling right now”.
We returned to the usual rhythm of our lives. I went to work, conducting meetings and answering emails, while Chloe went back to her classes. A few days later, Chloe checked her Twitter and saw that she had gained a few thousand likes. The whole ordeal became a running joke between us.
I would eat fruit snacks and sip on my soda, saying, “There is no part of me that is not of the Gods”. A few weeks later, we had mostly forgotten about it, except for the occasional recounting as a funny story to regale our friends.
One night while Chloe and I were spending our evening the usual way with me on the computer and her on her laptop, I felt her furiously tap my shoulder while staring wide eyed at the window. Confused, I took my headphones off and walked over, pulling back the curtain to reveal 6 people standing in black robes and animal masks watching us from the hillside.
“What do we do, should I call the cops?” Chloe whimpered.
“No, they’re just a bunch of larpers. They’re not going to do shit! Just trying to scare us.” I said angrily as I closed the blinds and hopped back on my computer.
Chloe sat there for a few minutes in a tense pose with her arms folded together. She went to double check the door was locked, before we continued our night as normal.
The next day I got a text from Chloe frantically telling me to come home immediately. When I arrived, there was a squad car parked outside our building. I ran up the stairs to see two officers standing by Chloe in the doorway. I nearly shouted asking what was going on. They lead me inside to show me a massive black symbol drawn on our wall, a six-pointed star made from one continuous line.
We finished our police report and they told us they’d get back to us if they find anything. I’ve been robbed often enough to know that means they’re going to forget about this before they’ve even gotten back into their squad car.
Furious, I stormed over to the shop and banged on the window. The hula skirt woman came over and cracked the door open just enough for me to see one of her eyes.
“What the fuck do you think your little posse is doing!?” I screamed at her. “Breaking into my apartment like that!? You all are fucking psychos!”
“I haven’t any idea what you’re talking about”, she said with a sly grin.
“Oh, yeah?” I said pointing a finger in her face. “If anyone tries any shit like that again I’m going to burn your goddamn shop to the ground, do you hear me?”
She looked at the ground, clearly nervous. I have never blown up at a stranger like this but I could tell my threats were working.
After a moment of silence I stormed off again, back towards home.
“You meddle with forces you do not understand!” she called out from the shop.
I picked up a glass bottle from the sidewalk and chucked it, smashing against her shop window, forcing her to close the door and disappear into the shadows. I’m not particularly proud of how I behaved in this moment, but unless you’ve had someone break into your home and draw shit on the walls, hold on to your judgment.
The next few days passed without so much as a peep from them. Chloe and I began to relax, convincing ourselves that the cult had been scared off. Life seemed to be returning to normal, and the unsettling incident became just another story.

• At 4yo (No joke) I would throw kisses/kiss/hug people I got infatuated with. No matter if known, or just met in public and generally guys. One day, however, my Ma & I were walking through a public park as we passed a group of teens/young adults - including a "beautiful dark-skinned young woman with long black hair". According to my mother, the second I saw this woman, I immediately let go of her hand: Running after the young woman and grabbing HER hand instead. According to my mother I had an "intense smile and stare about me" like she never saw and, ofc threw kisses after her, once dragged away
• At 8yo, I'd read my mother's "big books" (I always forget the name, sorry). They included folklore, legends etc. along with beautiful A3-prints of paintings accompanying the stories. I. Was. So obsessed with the drawing of serene women. Big, small, thick, thin, mortal, nymphs...till this day, I wish I could kiss one.
• At 10yo, I played an online MMORPG. The MMORPG included a "dating" function, but all the male players seemingly acted like assholes. In true Ouran Hostclub Fashion, I decided "I bet I could be a better boyfriend than all of these men!" and created a male character. My online "relationship" lasted 1-2 years
• 11yo: Had a small petty meltdown over Kim Possible ending up with Ron Stoppable. "But Shego is way prettier!" :(
• At 13-14yo, my Pa dragged me to an art-convention. One of his mates drew very realistic pin-up drawings of women -gifting me a postcard as a joke. I kept that Postcard till I moved out at 19yo.
• 14yo: First "gay panic" cause of how attracted I was to a classmate. Imagine a 14yo Marilyn Monroe, incl. the absolute photogenic qualities. Which I am simply highlighting, cause this girl could also draw and I stared at her perfect portrait every time I passed the art-wing of my school.

Anyway, these are just a few examples. Obv. there are more 14+, but obv. most assholes that spout this "oh no LGBTQ+ are groomers" rhetoric, believe that kids below 10yo+ are straight white slates till "tainted". A thing which...as you can see...is pretty bullshit.

Am I the only one who is actually interested in the characters stories?
As long as the story/writing is good, I don‘t care if Yasuke is black, white, pink, purple… who cares.

Yeah, kind of a provocative title and flair. Full disclosure: I personally think that Tales and Stitchline are in the games timeline, that Burntrap and Glitchtrap are (mostly) the Mimic, all of the things that a lot of people in this subreddit probably agree with.
However, I've been seeing (mostly on platforms outside of reddit, but here as well), more and more posts talking about how a certain theory is "confirmed" and that those that dont believe in it are "lacking media literacy", "in denial", or "coping". This attitude makes the discourse extremely unproductive and just outright frustrating. As the canonicity of the books is the topic that tends to be discussed in such ways, I found it fitting to play devils advocate for a bit.
1.) No event from the books has actually been shown or properly referenced in the released games. There have been slight nods to them, such as the "Greg" and "Wizard" grafittis in RUIN, but they can easily be explained away. There's also no sign of the old attractions once built into the Pizzaplex (apart from the very debatable striped wires that MIGHT be from the storyteller). Sure, all of that can be explained away, but if Tales was unquestionably canon and Steel Wool/Scott had no issues with showing that, why not put a single Tales attraciton in RUIN or Help Wanted 2?
2.) No, The Mimic appearing is not confirmation. It only confirms that a book character can go from the book universe to the game universe, and that Tales was meant as a buildup. EVERYTHING else about his appearance in RUIN is essentially designed to not confirm Tales. It isn't built like the Epilogues describe it, it doesnt look like Burntrap, it wears none of the costumes described in Tales, it doesn't actually do its famous arm curl, there are no references to tigers, white or otherwise, ANYWHERE in RUIN.
3.) No, "Into The Pit" (the game) is not confirmation. Yes, a major game not being canon is a first. But so is everything about "Into The Pit"! It's our first book adaption, it doesn't actually intersect with the main ongoing narrative, therefore being our first true spinoff. Does it suggest the books being relevant? Yes! But before we get our hands on this book, nothing is CONFIRMED.
4.) No, "GGY" (and similar stories) are not confirmation. Does it very strongly intersect with the games timeline? Yes! Does it basically confirm Patient 46s identity? Sure does! But that really isn't much different from Into The Pit confirming the MCI date. It can happen without it being in game continuity.
Further such points can be made for other theories (like the fact that Glitchtrap and Vanny are not ONCE mentioned in Tales), but you get my point, right?

There is a curious dynamic at work in politics these days. Trump does not appear to be trying to court voters to his standard. If he were, he would be reaching out to Nikki Haley voters and trying to moderate his stances. Instead, he is rejecting her voters and doubling down on extreme positions. Rather than trying to appeal to swing voters, he seems to be trying to whip up his right-wing base to engage in violence on his behalf. In Minnesota on Friday, Trump echoed fascists when he told supporters, "No matter how hateful and corrupt the communists and criminals we are fighting against may be, you must never forget this is not a nation that belongs to them. This is a nation that totally belongs to you. It belongs to you. This is your home, this is your heritage." Saturday, at the annual meeting of the National Rifle Association in Dallas, Texas, Trump floated the idea that he could throw out the constitutional amendment limiting a president to two terms. “You know, FDR 16 years—almost 16 years—he was four terms. I don’t know, are we going to be considered three-term? Or two-term?” he asked the crowd. Some yelled, “Three!” In the same speech, Trump told attendees that the Second Amendment “is very much on the ballot” in November, and he urged gun owners to vote and to “be rebellious.” Then he told the crowd that Biden’s actions were such that if he “were a Republican, he would have been given the electric chair, they would have brought back the death penalty.” This evening, Trump’s Instagram account posted a video of what a newspaper would look like after a 2024 MAGA win. Under the headline “WHAT’S NEXT FOR AMERICA?” were the words “INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED DRIVEN BY THE CREATION OF A UNIFIED REICH,” a clear reference to fascism and German dictator Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich. It is not clear to me how anyone can any longer deny that Trump is promising to destroy our democracy and usher in authoritarianism. But it is also not clear that he is still a figure that any but the extremes of his base will follow to that end. Hence his emphasis on turning them to violence. His lies have become increasingly outrageous. On Friday he told a crowd in Minnesota that he won the state by “a landslide” in 2020 even though he actually lost it by more than 7 points. At the NRA annual meeting, Trump claimed that his former physician told him he is “healthier” and “a better physical specimen” than the famously athletic former president Barack Obama. At that same event he boasted that he won 31 club golf championships; the day before, he boasted that he won 29. Significantly, he continues to insist that the area around the courtroom is like “Fort Knox.” “There are more police than I’ve ever seen anywhere because they don’t want to have anybody come down,” he said today, “There’s not a civilian within three blocks of the courthouse.” But this is, quite simply, a lie. Virtually no one has turned out to support him. As conservative lawyer George Conway noted today, “There is virtually complete freedom of movement around that courthouse.” Social media contributor Eddie Smith, who filmed the handful of Trump protesters in New York today, put it more colorfully. After noting that “MAGA’s not repping in New York,” he added: “Wait a minute! You guys hear that? There is a mouse pissing on a ball of cotton in China. That’s how quiet it is out here.” Republican lawmakers are stepping in where Trump’s base followers are not. Republicans attacked as unfit for office 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton for her use of a private email server. They tried to impeach current president Biden on unfounded accusations that he took bribes from foreign countries. Now they find themselves forced to defend a man who is currently the defendant in a criminal trial that is showing that his associates acted like a criminal gang. As Tom Nichols put it today in The Atlantic, that defense is partly because they are afraid of their own voters. Nichols also called out those “now circling Trump like the cold fragments of a destroyed planet” who “resent the people who stuck to their principles.” Those MAGA Republicans lawmakers are, like Trump, trying to gin up anger with lies. Representative Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), who went to Trump’s Manhattan trial to support him on Thursday, told Jesse Watters of the Fox News Channel and later posted on social media that “[t]hey’re trying to keep cameras out of the courtroom so that the American people don’t see what’s happening.” Former federal prosecutor Ron Filipkowski noted in response that “New York has banned cameras in courtrooms since June 30, 1997.” The most important of their lies, though, is that the 2020 presidential election was stolen and that to protect the 2024 election, it is imperative to police the election. This is the same tactic Trump used in 2020, claiming exactly four years ago that “they send in thousands and thousands of fake ballots.” Those lies have resulted in a huge increase in threats against those whom MAGA perceives as an enemy. Danny Hakim, Ken Bensinger, and Eileen Sullivan reported in the New York Times yesterday that last year, threats against federal judges increased 150% over 2019: 450 federal judges were targeted. Since 2018, threats to members of Congress have increased by 50%, with more than 8,000 such threats last year. More than 80% of local officials also say they have been threatened or harassed. MAGA lawmakers refuse to say they will accept the results of the 2024 election. On Saturday, Wisconsin senator Ron Johnson refused to commit to that fundamental tenet of our democracy. On Meet the Press on Sunday, Florida senator Marco Rubio also declined to say he would accept the election results. Those vying for the Republican vice presidential nomination, including North Dakota governor Doug Burgum and South Carolina senator Tim Scott, have refused to say they would accept the results. Their tactics are working among the Republican base. A CBS News/YouGov poll released this weekend showed that only 47% of Arizona Republicans say they will accept the results of the 2024 election no matter who wins. An equal number—47%—say they will challenge the results if the other side wins. That result is not symmetrical with the Democrats: 82% of them say they will accept the results, while only 14% say they will challenge the results if their opponents win. But people are pushing back against the MAGA narrative. On May 15 the Texas Tribune and ProPublica published a story by Jeremy Schwartz about Courtney Gore, a woman who ran for a Texas school board to combat pornography and critical race theory in the schools, only to find there wasn’t any. When she told the public, her former colleagues turned on her. “I’m over the political agenda, hypocrisy bs,” Gore wrote. “I took part in it myself. I refuse to participate in it any longer. It’s not serving our party. We have to do better.” Steve MacLaughlin, a meteorologist for NBC 6 News in Miami, reported on a new law Florida governor Ron DeSantis signed into law last week that will remove references to climate change from state law. “On Thursday, we reported on NBC 6 News that the government of Florida was beginning to roll back really important climate change legislation and really important climate change language in spite of the fact that the state of Florida, over the last couple of years, has seen record heat, record flooding, record rain, record insurance rates, and the corals are dying all around the state,” MacLaughlin said. “The entire world is looking to Florida to lead in climate change, and our government is saying that climate change is no longer the priority it once was. Please keep in mind, the most powerful climate change solution is the one you already have in the palm of your hands: the right to vote. And we will never tell you who to vote for, but we will tell you this: We implore you to please do your research and know that there are candidates that believe in climate change and that there are solutions, and there are candidates that don’t.” On May 17, former lieutenant governor of Georgia Geoffrey Duncan noted on Amanpour & Company that Trump had done less for rural voters than any other president in modern history. “At the end of the day,” he said, “we just cannot get into the business in America of electing dishonest human beings to represent us…. The world’s watching us. I’m hoping we get this right.” Tonight, Sarah Matthews, who was deputy press secretary for the Trump administration, wrote: “Trump’s continued use of Nazi rhetoric is un-American and despicable. Yet too many Americans are brushing off the glaring red flags about what could happen if he returns to the White House. When someone shows you who they are, believe them.” — Notes: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/19/trump-nra-convention-dallashttps://www.rawstory.com/trump-threat-biden/https://nymag.com/intelligencearticle/the-nra-is-weaker-than-ever-how-much-does-that-matter.htmlhttps://time.com/6979795/trump-receives-nra-endorsement-urges-gun-owners-vote/​​https://apnews.com/article/election-2024-trump-minnesota-4f7ebfe7a2e1949d38a7c9894616a985 https://apnews.com/article/trump-election-2024-rhetoric-germany-antisemitism-31002afb91b642c0314223d19e51f427https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/marco-rubio-joins-republicans-hedging-accepting-election-results-rcna153011 https://presswatchers.org/2024/05/trump-choosing-not-to-testify-in-his-defense-should-be-a-banner-headline/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/19/us/politics/political-violence.htmlhttps://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4675594-florida-meteorologist-ron-desantis-climate-change-roll-back/https://captimes.com/news/elections/top-wisconsin-republicans-mixed-on-accepting-2024-election-results/article_2ae8f1e4-1538-11ef-a217-d7802fd5a882.htmlhttps://www.reuters.com/world/us/donald-trump-fire-up-supporters-nras-annual-us-gathering-2024-05-18/,accepted%20the%20influential%20group's%20endorsement)https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2024/05/the-maga-memory-hole/678435/https://www.texastribune.org/2024/05/15/texas-granbury-isd-school-board-courtney-gore/X: BidenHQ/status/1791469492440072359RonFilipkowski/status/1792195770374099083samstein/status/1792188951920361645HueyRey/status/1792635408506912824mkraju/status/1792515853314904293gtconway3d/status/1792548740525363276eddsmitty/status/1792573721615434037atrupastatus/1792626209118884346BidensWins/status/1791609511435714795BidenHQ/status/1792209690664845569BidenHQ/status/1791946911340999113CarlosGSmith/status/1792207611733172238Tim_Walz/status/1791620309105119419BidenHQ/status/1791949552469082444AccountableGOP/status/1791661408641298808SarahAMatthews1/status/1792760772193374274

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/may-20-2024

Just finished the 2nd chapter in trooper class story and I've got two questions. What are the ranks for the companions now? I made Jorgan a lieutenant at the end of chapter 1, so does he become a captain now and elara becomes a lieutenant and the rest stay as sergeants? And whats the armor color for the rank of major in the clone wars? im basing my outfits off of that and so far I've had: Captain = Primary white secondary red Lieutenant = Primary white secondary blue Sergeant = Primary white secondary orange
and idc about spoilers

Hunter Smokey Bidens sister-in-law turned girlfriend will take the stand for his gun charge trial. Ex-girlfriend Zoe Kestan will also take the stand. Kestan told prosecutors Hunter smoked crack every 20 minutes except when he slept. Buhle told prosecutors she found drugs or paraphernalia at least a dozen times which explains why cocaine has been found twice in the white house since Hunter moved in. One day, this will make for a great movie.
Story from the New York Post gave details.
Hunter, in an interview with the Daily Beast published Monday, indicated that some photos of drug use found on his laptop were misleading.
A notorious photo shows the Biden scion fast asleep with what appears to be a crack pipe in his mouth, but it is not, in fact, a crack pipe, he told the outlet.
“That’s actually a meth pipe,” Hunter said of the photo, which he now claims was staged.
​
Thats not crack, its meth! Hunter shouted in defense.
​
https://nypost.com/2024/05/21/us-news/hunter-bidens-ex-wife-and-sister-in-law-turned-lover-to-take-witness-stand-in-his-gun-trial/

I WILL ACCEPT CASH APP AND PAYPAL FRIENDS AND FAMILY ONLY!!!!!
All codes are US. Open to discounts especially on multiple item purchases
Just assume all Disney codes come with no rewards points
No Codes Have Been Split ——————————————————————————————
MA = Movies Anywhere
IT = ITunes
VD = Vudu
GP = Google
FD = Fandango at home ( formerly Vudu)
—————————————————————————————- 4K codes —————————————————————————————-
Escape Plan (IT/VD) $5
Event Horizon (IT/FD) $5
Highlander (VD) $5
The Running Man (IT/FD) $5
—————————————————————————————— HD codes ——————————————————————————————
2 Fast 2 Furious (MA/VD) $3
12 Years A Slave (MA/VD/GP) $3
Boyhood (IT/VD) $3
Daddy’s Home (IT/VD) $3
Despicable Me 2 (MA/VD) $3
Disney Planes (MA/IT/VD/GP) $3
Divergent (IT/VD) $3
Expendables 3 Theatrical (IT/VD/GP) $3
Fifty Shades of Grey (MA/VD) $3
Finding Dory (MA/IT/VD/GP) $3
Frozen (MA/IT/VD/GP) $3
The Fast and The Furious (MA/VD) $3
Furious 7 Extended Edition (MA/VD) $3
Girls Trip (MA/VD) $3
Heaven Is For Real (MA) $3
Hillsong Let Hope Rise (MA/VD) $3
How To Train Your Dragon 2 (MA) $3
Jack Ryan : Shadow Recruit (IT/VD) $3
Madagascar 3 : Europe’s Most Wanted (MA) $3
Madea’s Witness Protection (VD) $3
Mission Impossible Rogue Nation (IT/VD) $3
Parental Guidance (MA/VD) $3
Pitch Perfect (MA/VD) $3
Pitch Perfect 2 (MA/VD)
Planes (MA/IT/VD/GP) $3
The Purge (MA/VD) $3
Resident Evil : Retribution (MA) $3
Snow White & The Huntsman Extended Edition (MA/VD) $3
Split (MA/VD) $3
Star Trek Into Darkness (IT/VD) $3
Transformers Age of Extinction (IT/VD) $3
Twilight Breaking Dawn Pt 2 (VD/IT) $3
When the Game Stands Tall (MA) $3

Hello there, I wanted to make this post to kind of lash out my frustrations about my dumb ass self. One night while I was scrolling through my phone in a dim lit room, I opened another app, and when it opened, a bright white light hit me right in the eye, I immediately closed it but felt like a sting when the light of the phone hit me. The next day I started seeing floaters. Before that I would rarely see very small dots of what would be floaters. Now a year later, I started having panic attacks from reading tons of stories about this. They are visible in day to day activities, thank the lord that there aren't a bunch of them, maybe 3-4 that I keep seeing and they barely get in my central view, only around my eye. I am scared to death and I don't know what to do, I haven't been to an eye doctor yet because I am afraid of what my parents would say.

TLDR: my daughter’s band instructor is sexist and racist but he keeps it to micro aggressions, so it’s super hard to prove.
This is a rant about my daughter’s (12f ) band instructor . I want to start out by saying I know these types of sexist and racist micro aggressions are not things that can really be brought up with the school, but nevertheless I don’t feel comfortable with an adult man saying them in front of a room full of preteens and young teens. I’m also very sad for the kids who live with sexist and racist stereotypes at home and then come to school and have them normalized by people like my daughter’s teacher.
So, on to the story. Yesterday my daughter came home from school and stood me that her band teacher’s wife was out of town and had been for several weeks, because her mother is on hospice care and she wants to be with her.
We had a discussion about how sad that is and related it to her great grandmother who is also currently in hospice. But then my daughter told me that the only reason her teacher mentioned this was because he looked a bit disheveled and felt the need to apologize. ( he’s the type of man who wears a 3 piece suit and meticulously styles his mustache with wax daily, to teach public school band)
He apologized that his wife was out of town, and he didn’t know how to work the laundry machine and he didn’t know where the dry cleaner is. He added to this very sad account, by stating that he doesn’t cook and the only food left in his house is granola bars. Bet he’s happy because his wife will be home soon to handle his laundry, go shopping and cook real food.
Later in the same class period, he told a white boy, who had decided to yell the N-Word across the band room, that the N- word isn’t really a bad word but we shouldn’t say it because it offends some people.
Obviously this is incorrect, there is a deep history of uses of the n-word to dehumanize , devalue, harass and other people of color. Allowing any child to think that it’s just a little offensive to some people , but not a big deal is beyond disgusting to me.
First: this is deeply disrespectful to his wife. Imagine coming home from spending weeks at your mother’s death bed, only to discover that your husband is apparently a toddler who can’t preform basic adult functions. And then having to mother him.
Second : This is infantilizing boys at a very impressionable age, it teaches them that they don’t have to be responsible for themselves.
Third: it devalues women and girls, implying t hey are only here to serve boys and men.
I’ve you’ve gotten this far, thank you. I’m just upset with society today.

Hello, Redditors! Today, I will guide you through a fascinating Genius project using Arduino and an I2C LCD.
What is a Genius Project?
A Genius project is a classic memory game where players must repeat an increasing sequence of colors and sounds. In this project, we will use four colored LEDs and a buzzer to reproduce the sequence. The player must press the corresponding buttons for the LEDs to repeat the sequence correctly.
List of required materials:

Name	Quantity	Component
U1	1	Arduino Uno R3
S1, S2, S3, S4	4	Button
D1	1	Red LED
D2	1	Yellow LED
D3	1	Green LED
D4	1	White LED
R2, R3, R4, R5	4	330 Ω Resistor
PIEZO1	1	Piezo
U4	1	Based on PCF8574, 32 (0x20) LCD 16 x 2 (I2C)

Wiring
Wire the components as shown below:
https://preview.redd.it/3xo37kngqt1d1.png?width=725&format=png&auto=webp&s=bbeaefc137dbaf76154510a4c1c78159e92a8ac8
Code
The following code is for the Arduino and uses the LiquidCrystal_I2C library. You can find the library here.

#include  #include  #include "pitches.h" #define buzzer 3 #define waitingStart 0 #define playingSeq 1 #define userTyping 3 #define validatingSeq 4 #define kred 11 #define kyellow 10 #define kgreen 9 #define kwhite 8 #define lred 7 #define lyellow 6 #define lgreen 5 #define lwhite 4 #define debugging 1 int interval = 500; int noSound = 200; int seq[50]; int posSeq = 0; int posType = 0; int state = waitingStart; int key = 0; int highScore = 0; LiquidCrystal_I2C lcd(32,16,2); void setup() { pinMode(lred, OUTPUT); pinMode(lyellow, OUTPUT); pinMode(lgreen, OUTPUT); pinMode(lwhite, OUTPUT); pinMode(kred, INPUT); pinMode(kyellow, INPUT); pinMode(kgreen, INPUT); pinMode(kwhite, INPUT); noSound = 0; lcd.init(); lcd.backlight(); lcd.print("Simon says"); playWrong(); noSound = 50; Serial.begin(9600); randomSeed(analogRead(0)); generateSeq(); lcd.clear(); lcd.setCursor(0, 0); lcd.print("High Score:"); lcd.setCursor(0, 1); lcd.print(highScore); } void loop() { switch(state) { case waitingStart: interval = 500; if (debugging) Serial.println("waitingStart"); lcd.clear(); lcd.print("Waiting..."); lcd.setCursor(0, 1); lcd.print("Press button"); key = readKey(false); state = playingSeq; return; case playingSeq: if (debugging) Serial.println("playingSeq"); playSeq(); posType = 0; state = userTyping; return; case userTyping: lcd.clear(); lcd.setCursor(0, 0); lcd.print("Game Started"); if (debugging) Serial.println("userTyping"); key = 1; boolean ok = true; while(ok) { key = readKey(true); if (key == 0) break; play(key-4); ok = validateSeq(key); if (debugging) { Serial.print("ok="); Serial.println(ok); } if (ok) { if (posType == posSeq) { delay(1000); posSeq++; state = playingSeq; interval = interval * 0.95; if (posSeq > highScore) { lcd.clear(); lcd.setCursor(0, 0); lcd.print("New high score!"); lcd.setCursor(0, 1); lcd.print(posSeq); delay(2000); highScore = posSeq; } return; } else { posType++; } } } lcd.clear(); lcd.setCursor(0, 0); lcd.print("Your score:"); lcd.setCursor(0, 1); lcd.print(posSeq); Serial.print("You scored "); Serial.println(posSeq); playWrong(); generateSeq(); state = waitingStart; return; } } boolean validateSeq(int k) { if (posType >= posSeq) return false; if (seq[posType] != k) return false; posType++; return true; } void generateSeq() { for (int i = 0; i < 50; i++) { seq[i] = random(4) + 4; } posSeq = 0; } int readKey(boolean waiting) { if (waiting) { while (readKey(false) == 0) delay(50); } if (digitalRead(kred) == LOW) return 1; if (digitalRead(kyellow) == LOW) return 2; if (digitalRead(kgreen) == LOW) return 3; if (digitalRead(kwhite) == LOW) return 4; return 0; } void playSeq() { for (int i = 0; i < posSeq; i++) { int note = seq[i]; if (debugging) { Serial.print("Playing note "); Serial.println(note); } play(note); delay(interval); } } void play(int note) { int length = 500; if (note == 1) { tone(buzzer, pitches[0], length); digitalWrite(lred, HIGH); } else if (note == 2) { tone(buzzer, pitches[1], length); digitalWrite(lyellow, HIGH); } else if (note == 3) { tone(buzzer, pitches[2], length); digitalWrite(lgreen, HIGH); } else if (note == 4) { tone(buzzer, pitches[3], length); digitalWrite(lwhite, HIGH); } delay(length); noTone(buzzer); digitalWrite(lred, LOW); digitalWrite(lyellow, LOW); digitalWrite(lgreen, LOW); digitalWrite(lwhite, LOW); } void playWrong() { for (int i = 0; i < 3; i++) { tone(buzzer, 500); delay(50); noTone(buzzer); delay(50); } } void setupColors() { pinMode(lred, OUTPUT); pinMode(lyellow, OUTPUT); pinMode(lgreen, OUTPUT); pinMode(lwhite, OUTPUT); } void clearColors() { digitalWrite(lred, LOW); digitalWrite(lyellow, LOW); digitalWrite(lgreen, LOW); digitalWrite(lwhite, LOW); } void printScore() { lcd.clear(); lcd.setCursor(0, 0); lcd.print("Score:"); lcd.setCursor(0, 1); lcd.print(posSeq); } void setupLcd() { lcd.init(); lcd.backlight(); } void clearLcd() { lcd.clear(); } void printWelcome() { lcd.clear(); lcd.setCursor(0, 0); lcd.print("Welcome!"); lcd.setCursor(0, 1); lcd.print("Press a button"); } void printWaiting() { lcd.clear(); lcd.setCursor(0, 0); lcd.print("Waiting..."); lcd.setCursor(0, 1); lcd.print("Press a button"); } void printPlaying() { lcd.clear(); lcd.setCursor(0, 0); lcd.print("Game started"); lcd.setCursor(0, 1); lcd.print("Score: "); lcd.print(posSeq); } 

Check out the project here: Tinkercad Simon Says Game
Feel free to remix and modify the code to make it your own. Enjoy!

I'm 19 I live in greece. (drinking age is 18) It's christmas 3-4 in the morning and im returning home from a nice night out, it was pretty chill many friends showed up but nothing crazy happened, just laughing sharing stories, noone got shitfaced, no drama, no break ups/hook ups. It was really pleasant.
I live on what it is called ''grape rows'', its usually a huge extremely busy road connecting to the city and behind it, rows upon rows of houses all next to each other, those streets are pretty quiet which was cool growing up because we could play sports on the street. Every 500meters or so there would be a connecting road connecting you to all the other roads. As you go up the grape rows, street lights become scarce. At first you see the two street light lights meeting each other. As you go up there is a street light then 300meters of darkness then another light. I live at the tipy top of the grape rows.
This night happened to be extremely windy, so windy you could barely hear anything, as i'm coming close to a connecting road i make sure to look left and right in case i dont hear a car coming up. On my right about 500-300 meters away from me, i see a white square perfectly hovering 1,3 meters from the street. At first i thought it might be an albatross sitting on a garbage bin, and the bin beneath its not visible, but why would a garbage bin be in middle of the street ? then i thought it might be a white suitcase on top of a black car but still with all the windows of a car there is still some reflection even from from a black car. I kept staring at this thing. I started noticing it was very slowly coming towards me. There was literally nothing beneath it, this white square was not making any living moves, it was perfectly hovering.
Then 2 sticks came from the side of it, making it shaped like a cross, then the white square started coming towards very fast. I started sprinting with everything i got. I never looked back. It was really windy, it was so noisy, i could only hear my breathing and my heart beat, which made me focus on my run, the wind gave a nice breeze towards my face and the adrenalin was making my sprint effortless. After 4.5 kilometers of running my legs shut down, like a switch i fell on the street. I look back the white cross its almost at me.
The white cross stops, i hear laughing. A neighbour was sitting on the steering wheel of a black bicycle, Completely covering the driver of the bicycle, and the bicycle itself, He was wearing a glow in the dark long sleeve shirt and the rest of his outfit was black. He was holding his arms out while the other guy was bicycling behind him. The bicycle is surpisingly thin if you look at it facing you.
The neighbour said while laughing, ''you must have looked at your face, you were so scared, did you think we were gypsies?''. First of all thats racist. But i didnt want to admit what i trully thought, I believed in alien/ghost hybrids for 30 minutes while running for my life.

NOT the age of empires parody. It was something like derpy going to deliver a package to some merchant and the merchant starts telling her stories, which cut to sequences of different characters in medieval attire or armor fighting each other. Spike was one of them, and at some point he used fire breathing too. At the end of the animation, they show a small sequen of Derpy walking away, then she pulls a sword from her bag and just keeps walking happily.

This is a crossover fanfiction between original fiction titles: Nature of Predators by SpacePaladin15 and The Last Angel by Proximal Flame respectively. All credit and rights reserved goes to them for making such amazing science fiction settings that I wanted to put this together.
You can read The Last Angel here: Be warned, it's decently long, and at its third installment so far. I highly suggest reading it before reading this, or this story will not make sense.

Otherwise, enjoy the story! Thanks again to u/jesterra54 and u/skais01 for beta and checking of work!
First Prev Next (soon)
Memory transcription subject: Captain Sovlin, Federation Fleet Command
Date [standardized human time]: October 24, 2136
What I was doing was risky.
I kept thinking this, as I prepared to spring the idea I worked on. I had Samantha and Carlos look into acquiring a shuttlecraft, for the purposes of infiltrating Aafa. It took a day and a half longer than the UN's initial start date, but I promised them it was worth it. They believed that, and set to work on getting one through their few Venlil resources in the UN. Now that it was in my hands, I was on a trip to Aafa, alone, with no backup or human handlers to my name. They believed I wasn't a flight risk...a mistake on their part, but in a way, I was still performing their goal.
I was still suspicious of Federation governance, even before the humans took stage on the galactic scene. The Sivkit's refugee crisis turnaway, the Krakotl's military extortionate practice, the Federation was full of shady characters who ought to be exposed. I was even working on a source towards what I thought was frivolous and mismanaged Kolshian military spending budgets, but it was interrupted by the human's arrival, and I had set it to the wayside.
Though, neither of those were supposedly leaked by 'me'. Cilany was the one who put it into proper public eye, even if I was her source...
How I wish I could have her here with me, her sharp skill for coercion and interrogation of valuable info in interrogation and interview alike. But the colony she was on was under siege by the Arxur, who struck while the Federation fleet had gone to Earth. All the more fuel for the fire of my suspicions...
I could only hope that Cilany, and by extension the rest of the people there would hold out despite their actions against the humans. None deserved the Arxur thrust upon them.
It would have been far too risky to try and stop by a planet under siege by the Arxur. I would be, at best, blown to smithereens without hesitation, and at worst...eugh...don't think about it, don't think about it!
Plus, I didn't want to give any human assets an idea on my plans currently. I was already going behind their back on this, betraying their trust on this front.
If my hunch is correct, then the Arxur might be coordinating with them, and by extension, feeding info about Federation homeworlds back in their twisted little game. Seeing me pop up in a report would turn heads.
I'm sorry Humanity, but this is for your own good. You cannot trust the Arxur, and the only way we can prevent your manipulation by their Dominion is through convincing a proper attack on them from the Greater Commonwealth.
But now, I found myself on a course to Aafa, alone, all on my lonesome, seeking to do something akin to Noah, but to the most powerful person in the galaxy one-on-one...Nikonus. I felt my ability to pull rank and my reputation would precede me better than the predatory reception of humanity, even though they didn't deserve it. This was a pragmatic decision, not an emotional one…
The trip was not very eventful, roughly [6 days] one way in a ship with as underpowered of a FTL drive as this, but I was trying to sell an infiltration mission, not a courier one. I wouldn't have my claws on anything top-of-the-line for speed in a shuttle. But as my ship hit disruptor fields in-system, and I got a ping from Gunships asking for classic hailing codes, intent to visit, and the like, I sent a message that likely would have shocked their crew.
"This is Captain Sovlin of Federation Fleet Command. I have escaped human custody, and need to request an audience with Nikonus."
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Memory transcription subject: Chief Nikonus of the Kolshian Commonwealth
Date [standardized human time]: October 24, 2136
I walked the outer rungs of the capital gardens, looking for relief to the mounds of bureaucratic paperwork back in-office. A good walk could clear ones mind of most stresses every now and then, and given the circumstances nowadays, I think a longer one is in order.
The Affliaf blooms are quite vibrant today. That's a good omen, for what it's worth...
With the state of the galaxy in a comprehensive deadlock over what to do with humanity, I had to take to some under-the-table talks with Nishtal's military. While the Kolshian Commonwealth was not publically for humanity's invitation into the Federation, they were clearly vocal that they did not wish for the problem to be removed, so to speak. And so, I had to get my tentacles dirty planting seeds of inspiration to some military leaders in and around the Krakotl Alliance. They, thankfully took the predator threat as seriously as they ought to, and mobilized to rid ourselves of the pests.
It should have simply ended there. Humanity should have been exterminated, status quo restored, the whole cropland tilled. But no, a fleet of twenty-thousand failed to even kill a fledgling space-faring species like humanity! Even with the Venlil Space Corps on their side, the battle should have been a wash! And the worst part, was that the true believers on Venlil Prime were giving me garbage intelligence on the matter.
'A ship of unknown origin swooped in and saved humanity? One that was unheard of up to this point'? No, a wad of ectolan spulk, there was no chance it was humanity keeping something in reserve that could even the tide! They likely were feeding false data to their allies, the manipulative little apes. No, humanity being saved stunk of the Dominion's play, and that was worrisome.
Did Giznel and his lackeys go back on our deal, seeing blood in the water? I knew we groomed a deal out of Betterment that'd give them all the wrong ideas...
Needless to say, I had to now figure out where to start on approaching them and confirming our deal was still on the table, and to cease and desist assistance with humanity at once. If they didn't want to play ball anymore, we'd have to consider some Shadow Fleet excursions to pave a path for a public route to invasion. That would change the whole dynamic of the Federation's control structures, and was absolutely not the path this great galactic Commonwealth should go.
So now, I am stuck in a dilemma. Do I assume Giznel and the Dominion are still in on the deal, and haven't made allies with humanity in the backdrop, or do I take the only opportunity we get, and start mounting an offensive while the Dominion's unprepared.
Decisions, decisions...
Not long into my musings, an aide contacted me over holo-prompt. Odd, I didn't have anything scheduled this soon, and central planning proceedings weren't set to start up again until the following day, what was it?...
"Chief Nikonus. There's been a development on the outer edge of the system. Bulwark Patrol states that a shuttlecraft of Venlil-make warped in, one individual alone on scans. They identified itself as Captain Sovlin, seeking refuge from human captivity."
Oh dear. That's not anything I could have expected. The last thing I need right now is more complications...but that wording...
"Why hasn't he been boarded and processed yet? I am hardly the first authority to come to for a asylum dispute."
"He asked for you specifically, your graciousness. Said to request an audience with utmost urgency."
"Is that so?...Hmm." I am currently free of responsibilities for a solid chunk of time. While I did not know Sovlin personally, his record spoke for himself. If he truly was escaping human custody, it was likely he found something out about them that they shared by accident, not knowing he wasn't loyal to them.
If he's come here for the reason I think he might've, there's a very real chance...
"Send him my way as soon as possible then. He's lucky I can spare an audience now."
...that said opportunity has just walked itself right into my garden.
Memory transcription subject: Captain Sovlin, Federation Fleet Command
Date [standardized human time]: October 24, 2136
There was thankfully little fanfare or media attention in bringing my shuttle in. The decision to come alone clearly disarmed their initial worries of human sympathizing or terrorist actions, and soon enough, I found myself amongst an escort of soldiers to Aslou's government district.
I had been to Aafa various times throughout my life. In my tenure as captain, you tend to visit the homeworlds of the larger species at least once in a lifetime, if not several. Most times were not very exciting or noteworthy...but this time, the visit felt downright off.
The gardens were as beautiful as ever, but there were little walking them. The Songbedas were oddly quiet, making an unsettling atmosphere. The population out in the outer and medial rungs of the city split to make way for my escort, as if expecting trouble on their doorstep should they draw attention.
Given what happened with humanity, I wouldn't put it past them. Why is it so...empty?
It was forced to be pushed aside as we finally reached the inner rings of the Capitol Spire. A gleam ran up into the heavens, and a sequence of block outcroppings spun around the structure, green architecture patterns spiraled up and up. It was a beautiful idol of the dedication of megalithic engineering and urban planning of the Kolshian Commonwealth. Under any other circumstances, I would have once felt comfortable walking under its shadow, but now I felt only unease at being in its monolithic shade.
Across from us, not far up the steps leading to the Capitol Spire, was Nikonus and his guards. They were clearly waiting for me. Nikonus looked pleased to see me, somehow. Was there no clear indicator...?
Does he trust my cover?
"Captain Sovlin, your reputation precedes you! I could have sworn you were interred so deep you weren't getting out. Yet, you say you broke out?"
Here goes nothing. Make it believable, Sovlin...
"I...yes, your graciousness. After I was imprisoned on Venlil Prime, the humans kept trying to get me to turn on the Federation. They were convincing, but my loyalties ultimately lie in this government, Chief Nikonus." I put my chest into the last bit of the statement, trying to give emphasis.
He seemed to mull on that for a split second, before he made a gesture to follow him. "We may talk more about your escape inside. I assume what you have meant to say to me is not for public ears?" He glanced about, subtly tilting his head out at the few gathered crowds out and about Aslou's Capitol District. Given how open and flat the area was, with the slightest elevation, you could practically see for [kilometers].
He was right on that. My suspicions would not be for the general public to hear, lest it cause a panic. "Yes. It would not do for the media to run wild with. It could cause unrest."
The Kolshian's eyes seemed to glint at that. "On that, you and I can agree. Come, to my offices." Him and his troop started up the stairs, and I followed soon after, my 'escorts' following closely behind. I could not yet tell whether I was actually in good trust with Chief Nikonus, or whether he was playing up the kindly elder act. Politicians were always shifty like that...
We walked a long way, took several lifts to reach the original Kolshian suites of the Capitol Spire. Passing through halls of elaborate aquatic decor, and indoor habitats, we approached our destination: Chief Nikonus' personal office.
He waved away all but two guards to stand outside the office, as we walked in. As he sat down, and the door closed, the visual look of the Kolshian shifted. His old, elderly demeanor sharpened to a politics-honed edge. The tone of the room felt far more off.
"I hope you know how much your position here is troubling, Sovlin." His voice had none of the kindness it held before. In its place, laid a piercing tone of seriousness. "If I'm anticipating right, you came here with distinctly bad news, given the state of galactic politics and military scuffles. That is...if I can even trust your story at all." He got up from his chair in a way that betrayed none of his age from before, and began to pace.
Or was his earlier light hobbling also just a disarming act?
"I mean really, you mean to tell me you turned yourself in to humanity for 'crimes against sentience', and then go back on your self-inflicted punishment? All so you could come to Aafa to let me know of something I'm already decently certain I know of before you even tell me? Your loyalty in question is a mind game Sovlin. I do not appreciate mind games. You'd best get to your point quickly and succinctly."
There was a chilling quality to that statement. I did not want to see what lied on the end of that thinly veiled threat.
A hitch came to my throat, but I pushed through the discomfort. "I...Chief Nikonus...I do not revoke my feelings about humanity's sentience, but neither do I revoke my faith in the Federation's dream. Despite their predator biology, they are capable of empathy and care for things outside what we'd consider stereotypical predatory behavior. They still deserve a chance at being within the galactic community, of being part of the Federation; no matter what preconceptions are of predators, they are clearly different. But, there's something we distinctly missed about humanity, and I think the Arxur are making an attempt to exploit it."
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Memory transcription subject: Chief Nikonus of the Kolshian Commonwealth
Date [standardized human time]: October 24, 2136
"You've seen the empathy tests, right?" Sovlin mentioned. Of course I had, it was only the thing that had kept me from having their ambassador Noah shot on the spot, where was he going with this?
"Yes, I have. Are you saying there isn't empathy for them?"
"No, Chief Nikonus. They are just as empathic as before. The problem is in how they use it. If a protective instincts in herbivore's is to block the danger from the person, then a predator's instincts is to remove the danger."
Huh?
"I'm not seeing the problem here, Sovlin. Aggression versus protection is a choice all sentients can make, even if one is uncouth for most herbivores to make."
But my rebuttal didn't shake his look any. No, there was mortification interwoven throughout it still.
"Follow with me here, still. The human's empathic desires to latch onto anything as a companion is an odd case, but a documented one. They are looking for friends among the cosmos, and given the first thing they found was the Venlil, they took to them immediately. When they found the Federation, they too attempted to befriend us. And over the Cradle, despite our best efforts to dissuade them, they were curious of the Arxur too. I would know, I was there."
Hmm, so the humans have been making some attempt at contacting The Dominion. Given their Prophet's Word, and their temperament for predators, they likely would act receptive if given some chance. More fuel to the fire...
I motioned him on further. "They...interrogated a Arxur above the cradle. They told them of how Federation first contact went; how the Arxur were starved by the Federation releasing a bioweapon, and how it lead them into conflict during the uplift."
I walked over to my desk, and sat down. My tentacle hovered over a concealed sidearm underneath the lip, just in case. "And...did you believe what that Arxur said was true, Sovlin?..."
Sovlin sighed in denial. "No, your graciousness...but I'm afraid...the humans do." He shifted uncomfortably in his seat as he talked. "The Arxur have picked up on a weakness we didn't see, Chief Nikonus. Likely due to them being predators themselves. They know humanity is a pack predator, so they're seeking to manipulate the humans onto their side using their empathy."
I brought my tentacles away from the gun while I considered, because this was only meaning one thing.
Those bastards ARE going back on the deal! Sovlin, your loyalty has just saved me a world of hurt...
But before I could get a word in edgewise, he continued. "They are using the empathy the humans latch on with to some effect. Given the choice between a galaxy that shuns and tries to kill their species, and a fellow predator lending a claw in the interim, why would they pick anything but the Arxur? Why wouldn't they pick self-preservation?"
Sovlin looked at me with a worried face. I shared in the worry too, the long-term survival of the Federation was unraveling from the worst case scenario. "The humans might be coaxed into cruelty as bad as the Arxur because of that. We missed how their empathy was their bloodlust. And now the Arxur are here to collect on our mistakes."
This is bad. While we had some agreement beforehand with the Dominion, the human's existence on the galactic stage changes the game. The Dominion would look to seek true control of everything, rather than just playing even with us. The [Prisoner's Dilemma] is broken.
...But there is still a solution. And Sovlin proved himself loyal enough to help with it.
I turned back to him, trying to assuage his worries. "Sovlin, while this is very bad news, there is a solution that the galaxy isn't considering here."
Sovlin piped up. "Yes. We'd need to form an intense first strike on Wriss itself, to devastate the head of their government, and collapse their attempts to indoctrinate humanity. Humanity might protest, but it would be for their own good that the Arxur fails to get their claws on them. From there, we can try to reestablish friendly connections, even as strained and painful as they are..."
Oh, you poor naive fool Sovlin. Don't worry, there is a better way.
I enabled a soundproofing field interladen in the walls of my office, for what came next was sensitive. "Not...quite Captain Sovlin, a good plan, and one that will be considered soon. But...what if I told you, there was a way to remove that fellow predator’ link?..."
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