It seems the common consensus is that damage wise unarmed martial builds will always trail behind martial builds that use weapons, and class feature wise and feat wise this seems true, but something has recently grabbed my attention
Wotc have seemingly tried to buff unarmed builds a few times, and they're not very coordinated about it. So they've released 3 magic items: insignia of the claw, eldritch claw tatoo, and wraps of unarmed prowess
Now +1-3 weapons do not stack in dnd 5e. Neither do +1-3 shields. However, in this case, you're gaining a boost to attack and damage rolls through trinkets, not weapons.
Trinkets that increase ac stack on top of plus whatever shields, and as far as I know there's no other trinkets that boost attack and damage rolls
So RAW, unarmed builds are the only builds that can get what is functionally a + 5 weapon. Which is completely broken in 5e because of both bounded accuracy, but also a guaranteed +5 damage is pretty strong in general
Take Monk for example, usually Monk is supposed to make up for lack of damage per hit by number of hits. And even then, the damage won't be that big. But with plus 5 to unarmed attacks, not only do they probably hit all of their attacks, but that's a guaranteed 5 extra damage in addition to their dex modifier
Even unarmed fighter also becomes much stronger this way. The problem with unarmed fighting style was always the lack of magical damage, but the items make the damage magical. So as far as I can tell, the damage of unarmed fighter becomes competitive with the highest dpr fighters no? (Despite the fact that so many features that boost damage specify weapon attacks)
Am I missing something here? How is this not completely broken
Also for any monk players out there, if you can, get a belt of giant strength if it puts your strength past 20. Just because you can use dex for attacks doesn't mean you should lmao. A belt of storm giant strength gives you a + 9 for attack and damage rolls instead of the max +5 if you're using dex

Nino Marino Signature Collection Libertà Magma, M nib [B]

• Verification and image album: https://imgur.com/a/uvaclKZ
  
• 2021 limited edition, made in the style of the old Delta Dolcevita Stantuffos. It was designed by Nino Marino (co-founder of Delta) as part of Maiora's Nino Marino Signature Collection. This particular model is the Libertà Magma, numbered 14/18.
  
• A sizeable piston-filler at 149 mm long, the pen's entire body is made of red and black ebonite reminiscent of a fiery cascade of molten rock (cynics will say it's just a wood grain pattern). Comes with gold-plated trims and an intricately carved vermeil cap band. The model name and edition number are discreetly engraved on the back of the cap, while a single cursive 'n' is engraved on the nib.
  
• 18k gold Jowo #6 medium nib: smooth, with moderate flow. The sweet spot is somewhat limited: when held in the right hand, the nib prefers to be rotated slightly to the left, similar to a oblique.
  
• Ebonite of cap and barrel in virtually mint condition, visible microscratches on grip section, and light tarnish on gold-plated trims. Comes with box and papers, plus an unopened ink bottle.
  
• Price: £299.99.
  

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Pilot Custom Heritage 912 Neo Classic Green, EF nib [N]

• Verification and image album: https://imgur.com/a/Cef8Dys
  
• 2022 special edition, sold exclusively by Pilot-approved retailers in Japan. Made of dark green translucent resin, with gold trims. A great alternative if you want something a little more eyecatching than the normal black and chrome colour scheme that Custom Heritage 912s normally come in.
  
• Uninked, in new old stock condition, with almost imperceptible storage wear. Comes with box and papers, ink cartridge, and CON-70N converter.
  
• Price: £189.99. SOLD!
  

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Leonardo Momento Magico Miele, EF nib [B+]

• Verification and image album: https://imgur.com/a/GQG2AsZ
  
• First generation version of Leonardo's Momento Magico model, no longer in production, distinguished by its large ink window. More compact than a Momento Zero Grande, but with the same generous 1.5 ml ink capacity. Numbered 543, with gold-plated trims, and a stainless steel #6 Jowo nib.
  
• Made of a warm, semi-translucent honey-inspired resin, which has likewise been discontinued. The lovely marbled pattern consists of chunks of golden orange interspersed with plenty of chatoyancy.
  
• Very lightly used, in near mint condition. Comes with box and papers.
  
• Price: £109.99. SOLD! (elsewhere)
  

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Prices are in GBP. The pen will be shipped from the United Kingdom. Tracked and insured delivery is free within the UK, and £10 for the rest of the world.

Next part from The Lost Women of NXIVM:
PRODUCER: Do you have the suicide note?
HEIDI CLIFFORD (As “Anonymous Classmate”): (Reading purported “suicide note” aloud): This is a copy of the suicide note.
“I attended a course called Executive Success Programs, aka Nexium (sic), based out of Anchorage, Alaska and Albany, New York. I was brainwashed and my emotional center of the brain was killed and turned off. I still have feeling in my external skin, but my internal organs are rotting. I’m sorry, life. I didn’t know I was already dead.”
“No need to search my body.”
Was this potential suicide letter in Kris’s car coerced?
Was it her willingly writing it?
You don’t know."
As we have discussed in previous posts, nothing about the Kristin Snyder missing person case makes any sense whatsoever, and the purported “suicide note” found in her vehicle is certainly no exception.
Before we start analyzing the “suicide note,” here are a few factors to keep in mind:
• We know through information from multiple sources that Kristin was a prolific journal writer and letter writer, so we have a plethora of writing samples to compare with this alleged “suicide note.”
• We refer to “the writer” in our discussion of the “suicide note” below. The reason for this phrasing is because the actual writer of this note is unknown. Did Kristin herself write it, either as a explanation for killing herself, or for the purpose of faking her own death? Did someone else write it to make her disappearance appear to be a suicide? Was part of the text written by Kristin and added to by another party? Was the entire note faked? Was the note written by Kristin, but under duress/coercion as Heidi pondered?
• See notes under each section below regarding clear discrepancies between Kristin’s baseline writing style based on the hundreds of writing samples we have obtained from multiple sources through varying times throughout her life.
Now, without further ado, let’s take an in-depth look at this “suicide note” – line by line.
“I attended a course called Executive Success Programs (aka Nexium) based out of Anchorage, AK + Albany, NY.”
• Who is the note intended for? There is no salutation. We have tons of samples of Kristin’s letters and there is always a salutation – AND a date. If this is really her “suicide note,” why wouldn’t she address it to her partner Heidi, friends, coworkers, and/or family – as she always had addressed people in her letters? Similarly, wouldn’t she document the date of the most significant letter of her life, as she did routinely with her letters? In fact, she often even included the specific time (for instance, 7:15 p.m.) that the letter or journal entry was written.
• In addition to a salutation and date on other writing samples, Kris also typically indented her paragraphs and she also usually wrote on each line of the paper in her letters and journal entries, unlike this “suicide note,” which does neither.
• Related to the numerous writing samples we have acquired though multiple sources, Kris also primarily wrote in cursive in both her letters and in her journal. This “suicide note” is an odd hybrid of cursive and print.
• Why would anyone start a suicide note with “I attended a course…”? Clearly, the writer of this note is directing the reader to correlate ESP with the disappearance, but it seems like a very odd place for anyone to start a suicide note. Also, Kris attended two courses, not “a course”; a fact that Kris would have clearly known.
• “aka Nexium” is another oddity. Kris did not take any NXIVM classes, not even one, despite the extensive recent propaganda linking her to NXIVM. Why? Because NXIVM did not even exist at the time of Kristin’s disappearance; it was still in the planning stages. The writer had obviously heard about these plans as evidenced by the phonetic spelling. Again, it is obvious the writer of the note is clearly directing the reader’s attention to ESP/NXIVM – but if Kris were distraught enough to write a suicide note (and as functionally incapacitated as reported by her partner), why/how would she focus on minutiae like this?
• Speaking of minutiae, it gets even more obvious in the next words: “based out of Anchorage, AK + Albany, NY.” First of all, WHO CARES where ESP was based? That is in no way pertinent to the reasoning, and apparently is another clear attempt by the writer to direct the reader toward ESP/NXIVM. Secondly, this information is actually wrong. ESP wasn’t “based out of Anchorage, AK” – they held classes in Anchorage in a rented hotel space. The home base was in NY. Furthermore, Kris knew very well that this information was wrong, having recently visited their NY headquarters herself weeks before her disappearance!
•The words “based out of” (city, state) are odd as well. None of Kristin’s other writing samples did this. Nowhere does she mention elsewhere that anything is “based out of” anywhere in any of her copious writing samples we have obtained.
• Furthermore, why would the note say “Anchorage, AK” anyway? Presumably, Alaska law enforcement would be able to deduce that Anchorage is in Alaska without this unnecessary clarification.
“I was brainwashed + my emotional center of the brain was killed/turned off. I still have feeling in my external skin but my internal organs are rotting.”
• If Kris was brainwashed, she wouldn’t know (at least at the time) that she had been brainwashed. Again, this seems to be yet another clear attempt by the writer to direct the reader to look at ESP.
• Furthermore, if Kris finally did realize that she had been brainwashed, why would she then kill herself?
• The writer switches “my” and “the” in a sentence – something Kris never did, even once, in the hundreds of pages of writing we have obtained. The sentence should read “the emotional center of my brain,” not “my emotional center of the brain.”
• Another oddity is in the redundancy of “external skin.” Again, this sort of mistake does not appear to be Kris’s style, based on other writing samples. She had a Master of Science (M.S.) in Biology and she worked as an environmental consultant to the National Guard. She was a precise, clear, scientific, and articulate writer.
• This passage clearly implies that Kris was suffering from Cotard’s syndrome; per WebMD: “People with Cotard’s syndrome (also called walking corpse syndrome or Cotard’s delusion) believe that parts of their body are missing, or that they are dying, dead, or don’t exist.” We have talked to multiple people who Kris had visited in her January 2003 trip immediately prior to her February 2003 disappearance, and nobody reported any observations of any mental health issues, suicidal ideation, depression, psychosis, nor delusions of any sort. All of the people who discussed Kris’s reported mental health decline stated that they had not personally witnessed any symptoms, but rather, they were told of a rapid decline following Kris’s disappearance.
• If Kris thought she was already dead, why would she kill herself?
“Please contact my parents Bob + Jonnie Snyder at (number redacted) in Dillon, SC if you find me or this note.”
• Why would she specify to contact her parents, who lived out-of-state? Why not her partner? Why, in fact, is Heidi, the love of her life and civil union partner not mentioned AT ALL in the entire note?
• The inclusion of Kris’s parents as the sole contacts listed in the note contradicts a specific story told at the time of the disappearance alleging that Kris had uncovered memories of abuse during the class and that these purported memories were the reason/a factor in her alleged suicide. But: if that story was true, why would she include her father in the note? It should be noted that there is no evidence whatsoever that Kris was abused. As with the alleged rapid mental health decline, people who reported that story were not told of the purported abuse by Kris themselves, but rather, they were told of the purported abuse allegations after her disappearance. In fact, we even have been given a copy of a text message exchange in which the person who spread this abuse claims refers to it as “the lie.” This is yet another example of the myriad of inconsistencies and contradictions that plague Kris’s case.
• Why mention “Dillon, SC”? There is already a phone number given, so the city/state is irrelevant, and also, it is not her typical style. Again, it seems like someone with a quirky tic to mention a city and state wrote this.
• “if you find me or this note” is similarly nonsensical. If someone found her but NOT the note, they wouldn’t see the note, would they? Again, this oddity of wording is inconsistent with Kris’s typically precise style.
“I am sorry, life, I didn’t know I was already dead. May we persist into the future. KRISTN (sic) SNYDER”
• Again, if she thought she was already dead, why would she need to kill herself?
• Why is she addressing “life”?
• “May we persist into the future” is interesting. “Persist into the future” is a phrase used in ecology, which could potentially mean a couple things: a). Kristin wrote this herself; b). Kristin wrote this phrase elsewhere and someone traced/copied it onto the “suicide note”; or c). the writer had seen a document that referred to this phrase and used it.
• WHO LEAVES A LETTER OUT OF THEIR OWN NAME???? The second “I” is missing in “KRISTN.” Furthermore, as mentioned earlier, Kris predominantly wrote in cursive and she typically signed her name in cursive as well. Why, in the most important document of her life, would she BLOCK PRINT her name, and even more bizarre, why would she leave a letter out of her own name? The writer appears to drop letters and cram letters together, but there is no evidence from other writings that Kris did these things.
“No need to search for my body”
• Why was this written on the BACK of the page on the “suicide note”? And why was the note left inside of a notebook to begin with?
• Kris was a member of the Anchorage Nordic Ski Patrol, and therefore, she was involved in search and rescue. Therefore, she would already know that THEY WOULD SEARCH FOR HER ANYWAY. Also, more importantly, why would she intentionally hide her own body and therefore put her colleagues/friends on the search and rescue team through the extensive trouble and potential dangers of conducting the search for her?
• Why write “my body” on the back of the page but write “me” on the front of the page of the note? That is yet another incongruity.
• Why the emphasis on not looking for a body? The writer clearly has a very specific reason to mention this; there is a reason the writer does not want the body found. It is very rare for a person to want to hide his/her own body, and even more rare to be able to successfully do so.

the prompt is 2021 Q1
https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap21-frq-english-language.pdf?course=ap-english-language-and-composition
For centuries handwriting has been our primary source of documenting data, but is it still currently? With digital technology reaching into everyones' back pockets the decline of handwriting is evident. Email's have replaced letters, Word has replaced note taking, powerpoint has replaced posters, and many more. Even though handwriting is a great skill to have, and can help you with other aspects in life, its pragmatic uses are continuously declining. Thus it should not be focused on in school as a mandated class but rather as an elective.
Undoubtably, handwriting has major benefits, more than just the physical writing it self. Cursive script is proven to develop fine motor skills and improve mental organization (SOURCE D). Even though cursive handwriting has such benefits, the uses it posses in the everyday world are exponentially declining. What would be the point of focusing valuable education time on forcing every student to learn cursive? It would be absurd, if they want to do it, they can choose to in the form of an elective. It would be deranged to force woodworking kids to join the band, same applies here. Or it would be the same thing as forcing every student to learn French, Japanese, Spanish, and Arabic, indisputably learning many languages has great benefits to one's mind, but it should be a choice especially since it is not used in everyday life. Or as SOURCE E states, Super Mario Bros can develop better motor skills. Another important factor to consider on WHY we should make it optional is its [handwriting and cursives] roots. The real reason we adopted such writing habits in the 19th century was to make our national identity and our sense of uniqueness. We differed from other scripts not limited too but including the Gothic script, or the Palmer method because they were connoted to different cultures (SOURCE C), we adopted this so we can show we are different, however in todays world that matters very little because everyone has the same Sans Serif font in their inboxes (font gmail uses). Vouching the fact that we should not make it a necessity at school for children to learn at school.
Even though mandating such a dying subject could potentially revive it, there is no practical need to do so. Doing so would most likely do more harm than good. SOURCE B portrays one of the thousands of worksheets teachers would have to print for every student to strenuously practice their cursive writing. We all know that deforestation is hurting our climate. Badly. So why waste even more paper, especially on children who have no interest in learning the skill as well. It is like buying a $100,000 racecar for a student who has no interest in racing. What will it lead to? Immense waste. To reiterate. The printing of worksheets should be encouraged for children who want to learn the skill of cursive handwriting, but shouldn't be forced upon everyone. There would be no point in encouraging penmanship in school since post-school the focus is towards technology, after all school is meant to prepare us for the future (SOURCE A). Schools that are focusing on it should reconsider and put more effort into preparing the children for the future. In 2013, writing on paper was on average 2x than writing with technology (SOURCE F), that is however 11 years ago and if numbers like that are still prominent, school administration should reconsider.
The point of school is to be prepared for the future. In today's world penmanship is almost extinct, and in tomorrow's world it will be extinct. Technology is more efficient to use, saves the environment, and is the standard for today. So why force children in learning something that will not have technical use to everyone. It [cursive handwriting] should be more of an optional elective, like woodworking or coding.

(Side note: This is super long. Excuse any lousy spelling and punctuation.)
I was supposed to go out on a date with a co-worker Sergio but that didn't happen. My date was planned for the same day as my cousin Isabel's wedding day. I agreed to the date last Friday because I already knew I would not be attending Isabel's wedding. However, all that changed because my Family members were very upset and would not drop it. They didn't know my part of the story and they did not want to listen to it, they only knew Isabel's part which was an entire lie. Then they all decided that I was an a**hole and being 'overly dramatic' just from hearing her side. Overall it's a mess. I only went because I wanted the family to leave me alone. From all the drama and from Isabel running her mouth I didn't want to give her the satisfaction of thinking I was still in pain. I know her invite was just to make her seem like the bigger person but I know it's all a fake. Now the reason I was not going to attend was because Isabel stole my boyfriend Anthony and is now getting married to him. Honestly, it's all insane to me because everything has happened so fast.
Back story. Back on 12/19, I came back home early in the morning about 2am(ish) from work (I work a night shift). From the outside, you'd notice that all lights were off inside, so I assumed that Anthony was not there and would most likely be back at the apartment packing up his stuff. I recently just bought this house and already had all my stuff there. I texted him, told him I left work early, and asked if he could come home, but I got no response. I assumed he was asleep. However, he is usually up and waiting for me, but since we have been moving his stuff, it's been tiring. I had decided to shower and then get ready and get some food because I didn't have the energy to dig through boxes for pans to cook something. I got out of the car and started heading towards the front door. As I approached the door, I could hear music and stuff that no person ever wanted to hear in the early morning. I froze, and my mind went blank. I started to unlock the door slowly and quietly. I turned on the light and saw Isabel and Anthony doing the nasty on the couch. I screamed and began to cry out of anger. They screamed as well, and Isabel fell off of Anthony when he pushed her off of him. He, of course, like any cheating person, would say, "It's not what It looks like." I didn't say much because I didn't know what to say; I was speechless. I told Anthony, "Get out." and told Isabel, "Get out. I don't understand how you could do this to me. Just get out." Both of them quickly grabbed their clothing and got dressed. Anthony tried to talk to me, but I wasn't listening. He tried to hug and apologize and kept telling me he was sorry and loved me. I just told him we were over and I could never forgive him and to leave. He started to cry and just stood there staring at me, then looked over at Isabel, giving her a pissed-off look. She was standing there glaring at me. I honestly was ready to throw hands with her because I was so pissed off and the same with him. I didn't want things to escalate; I didn't want to deal with cops or wake up my new neighbors. At this point, I just wanted to sleep. I had to repeat myself multiple times for them to leave my house. They both refused to go, so I did threaten to call the cops, and that's what got them out. Anthony walked out first and didn't say anything. Isabel started to walk out, but before she walked out the door, she told me something I will never forget. She told me, and I remember what she said exactly word for word. She told me,
"You ruin everything. You ruined my love life when you stole Anthony from me. I knew him first and loved him first. You just came and stole him from me, You should know better than to be stealing someone's boyfriend. I never did anything to you for you to do what you did. You don't know how much pain you put me through. Don't talk to me ever again. I never want to see you. I don't want you around me at all. I hate you so much because you f***ed up my life. Don't talk to me. I hope your epilepsy kills you because that would make me feel so much better. It would be best for you to not be around anymore. I wish we weren't related. I wish you were dead."
There were a few things I wanted to say to that, but the 'I hope your epilepsy kills you' threw me off and hurt me even more. She walked out, slamming my door behind her. Few things I want to get clear. One when I met Anthony I didn't know she was in love with him. Two, they were not dating when we met or got together; they said they were just friends. Three, she never told me how she felt about him. I don't understand why she didn't just say something because if she had said something when he asked me out, I would have told him "No." and said the reason why. And Four, I was never told anything about the so-called 'Pain' I put her through. When she told me not to talk to or be around her, I thought it was better that way because I didn't want to talk to or be around her.
Fast forward to 2/14, I'm sitting next to Sergio and I am showing him a video on Instagram. I got a message from Isabel which was weird cause we had not talked since the cheating happened. I ignored the message and continued to show the video. I didn't care about whatever it was she messaged about nor did I even want to open it. After the video was over I went in and deleted the message without looking at it. Then I got another one from Isabel. Those messages kept coming in until I went in and blocked her. I didn't block her before because she didn't bother me after everything that happened. After the blocking, I just continued to scroll through Instagram. I stopped on a post that was posted by my cousin Eliyana (She is Isabel's youngest sister.) She posted a few videos and photos with the caption reading 'Congratulations to my sister Isa and future brother-in-law Anthony on their engagement. You guys make a beautiful couple.' Scrolling through the pictures I saw a few of my family members in it, some of our mutual friends, and then of course Isabel and Anthony. I sat at the table kind of shocked but then again not really. I was only shocked because I found it surprising that they would get married so soon and I thought it was a little too fast. Then I reminded myself that they had known each other for a very long time so I guess it might make sense in their twisted minds but it's whatever. I proceeded on with my night since the bell had rung to go back to work.
Time skip to when I got out of work the next day 2/15 technically speaking. I stood outside my work building waiting for my friends to come out. I checked my phone because I had left it in my bag in the breakroom cubby-hole thingy. While checking the notifications I had seen I got missed calls and a bunch of text messages from the family. Then got an incoming call from my cousin Ryan (Isabel's oldest brother). I answered it but as soon as I answered my friends came out. I had to tell Ryan that I would call him when I got home because I was busy at work. I hung up on him but doing so he was trying to talk. I continued to talk to my friends. We stood outside the work building for a good 15 minutes or so to wait for the parking lot to clear. Everyone is so in a hurry to get home it's insane but understandable because it's early as f*** and everyone is tired. When most of the lot was cleared we started to go our separate ways. I had given Sergio are ride so he was with me. We started walking to my car and reflecting on how the rest of our shifts went after lunch. Once we got to my car I unlocked threw my phone on the seat and opened up the trunk. I started to throw my lunch box, backpack, and other stuff in the trunk while Sergio put all his stuff in the back seat and got in the car. My phone started ringing again and I told Sergio to answer it. Didn't know it was my cousin trying to call me again. When Sergio answered he didn't even get a word in because my cousin started talking saying... "Dude. I know you are busy and you are at work but I need to talk to you about Isa and I don't- who the f*** are you? where's my cousin?" Lol, I did not know it was a FaceTime call and for me, it was kind of funny. Sergio proceeded to tell my cousin I was doing something and for him to hold on. My cousin was trying to yell at Sergio asking who he was and other nonsense. I got in the car and Sergio handed me my phone and told him "You didn't tell me if was a FaceTime call. haha." He laughed and said "Dude I wasn't even paying attention. I just answered it." Then we both laughed and I got on the FaceTime call. Saw my cousin sitting with his Girlfriend but she wasn't paying attention she had her headset on and was playing a video game. "What's up?" I asked. He proceeded to spill all that went down at my cousin's party. He told me how she made a speech and practically dragged my name through the mud. He told me to ignore all messages, vm, voicemails, and other methods when it came to the family trying to contact me. I told him I didn't plan on viewing anything or hearing anything and I was not surprised she talked sh*t about me. I also told him I wouldn't have answered the phone if he called either because I didn't know if he took her side or not. He understood why I told him that but he also said he could tell that she was lying but he wanted to also get my side of the story. I told him I'd have to talk to him once I got home and I would call him back later. He agreed and apologized to Sergio because he thought he had stolen my phone or something.
Once I had gotten back home I called my cousin before I passed out. I explained to him what happened when I got home from work that day. Then told him what she said to me about my epilepsy and how that added to not wanting to be around her but mainly because she said she didn't want me around. I told him word for word about what she said. I gave him every detail he needed and I spoke the truth. Then he gave me the breakdown of the story she told the family. She told the family that we were not together anymore but we were just living together because of the bills and both our names being on the apartment lease. She also advised the family that she was staying at the apartment because she was moving in once I was out. She told the family that everything that happened was at the apartment and I did what I did was out of jealousy and because I was crazy. She claimed I was just being a bch and didn't like that I was being replaced because he dumped me. She said she did nothing wrong because we were already broken up. She claimed to have reached out to me to talk about what happened but when she called I answered and told her to fk off and that I said some other nasty things to her that 'broke her heart' because words like that aren't meant to be said to family. During her speech that she did, she talked so much sh*t about me and some of the family agreed but some of the other family didn't.
Ryan went into detail about a lot of things she said. He explained to me that from his perspective her story did not make any sense. I explained my side of the story to him and he said it made more sense to him about what happened. He believed me and told me which family members believed her side was confusing because they knew some details the other side didn't. For example, they knew I got a house and from their understanding, we were still together because of a video I posted to Facebook about being so happy we got a house together. Another thing was that Anthony tried to keep it a secret but he opened up his big mouth about wanting to propose to me soon after getting everything situated. Therefore one side knew and the other didn't and I don't understand how they didn't. Overall Ryan believed me and apologized for Isa's behavior even though he shouldn't because he's not Isa and he had nothing to do with what happened.
My relationship with Anthony wasn't exactly perfect because what relationship is? However, we hardly fought and always trusted each other. When we did fight it was over the little things like washing dishes, taking trash out, and other stuff. We talked things out like we should. I thought I could trust him. Now I feel like I can't trust anyone.
Fast forward to 4/3. Time had passed and it felt like it went by quickly but as time went on I let go of everything that happened and slowly started to get over Anthony. As time passed I started to have a thing for Sergio because he was such a sweet guy. We started to spend a lot more time together outside of work as well. I also had barely spoken to the family except a few like Ryan, My grandmother, my Uncle (My Grandma's youngest son), and some of my other cousins. I also had to explain my story to the mutual friends I shared with my cousin and some of those friends believed me and others didn't so to me it was a whatever kind of thing I was over it. It's like you either believe me or you don't the choice is yours. Anyway, I went to Grandmother's house before heading to work to drop off some groceries I had gotten her and to tell her she didn't have to worry about her phone and electricity bill. When I got there I went inside and saw Isabel and Anthony sitting at the table sharing a meal with my Grandma. Just said 'Hi' and then looked away from them and looked at Grandma. I told her what I needed to tell her then was going to leave. Before I could leave she told me to sit and eat. I told her I had to get to work. She didn't take no for an answer and I of course was not going to argue with her so I sucked it up and sat down. They were talking about the wedding and I sat there in silence. Them talking about the wedding didn't bother me it was the staring coming from Anthony that bothered me. I continued to eat and ignore it but I was thinking about Sergio the whole time. My phone started ringing so I looked to see who was calling and it was Sergio. I answered my phone and they all looked at me. Sergio just wanted to know if we were going to take something for lunch or just eat whatever was at the snack area at work. I told him I could pick up a pizza or something for us before heading to work. Then we ended the call. Grandma asked me who it was that called and I told her it was one of my co-workers. We didn't talk about him after that. Once I had finished eating I told my Grandma thank you and I was going to head to get that pizza and head to work. Before I could leave my cousin gets up and heads to the counter going through a bag. She pulled out a pink envelope that had my name written on it in cursive and then handed it to me. Then tells me.
"I don't want to fight anymore. I want you to come to the wedding. I'm sorry and I want you to be there and you can bring a plus one if you want. This fighting is stressful I love you very much. Of course, I know that you know what you did was uncalled-for childish but we can overlook that."
My thoughts went elsewhere and wanted to say something but I didn't want to say anything in front of my Grandma. My Grandma didn't want anything to do with what happened and she didn't know much. She said she could never choose between her Grandchildren. I knew my cousin's apology was a fake one. I knew because she gave me a dirty look and she got away with it because she was facing away from my Grandma while I was facing towards her. I was fighting the urge to slap or punch her. I was no longer mad about her stealing Anthony from her I was mad at the fact that she said it was my fault when it wasn't, she was still going with her lies.
I grabbed the invitation anyway. I told my Grandma bye and left. I headed to get the pizza and then went to work. After doing all that I finally got to work and was sitting in the parking lot. I was frustrated and wanted to punch something. I wanted to throw and burn the invitation but I got curious and opened it up. The wedding was set for 5/10 at 4 pm till whenever I guess. I already made the decision that I would not be attending. I tore the invitation up and then got out of my car. I grabbed my stuff and then walked toward the nearest trashcan and tossed the invitation inside. I continued with my day.
Now to the present(ish). Back on 5/2, I was at work having lunch with Sergio. I've spent a lot of time in and outside of work with him and he confessed his emotions towards me and I told him how much I liked him as well. He asked me out on a date on our day off which was last Friday (The day of my cousin's wedding.) I agreed of course and I forgot about that date being my cousin's wedding but it didn't matter because I wasn't planning on going anyway. So I agreed to the date and he told me it would be a surprise what we would do and I agreed and didn't mind. I was just so happy that I was going to be going on a date with him because I had fallen so hard for this guy.
From that point on throughout the week I was getting calls and messages from the family asking if I would be attending my cousin's wedding. They knew she had given me an invitation but she was telling the family she was not sure if I was going to go. Now at the point like I had put I had forgotten about it. I told them I would not be able to attend because I had an important thing going on that I could not miss. Then I was told I needed to stop being childish and move on. Also being told I just need to be happy for Isabel and Anthony and stop being bitter. I told them I was not bitter I just had something important going on and it was not a lie. They claimed I was lying. They of course told me there was nothing more important than family and I would regret not going. I wanted to ignore them so much but they kept contacting me from so many different numbers and creating fake accounts just to message me and stuff. They even came to my house. It was getting super irritating.
Ryan even came to the house before I headed to work. Now Ryan I don't mind because we of course are getting along. He showed up a few hours before I had to go to work. I let him in knowing he was going to talk to me about going to the wedding. Our conversation wasn't bad or anything. He just told me that I should go to the wedding so it could shut the family up and prove to them I was over the situation (In which he knew I was. He even knew about Sergio because I told him about him.). He told me just like everyone else to bring a plus one and recommended I bring Sergio. (Now I didn't tell him I was going to go on a date with Sergio and of course, had not told him it was on the day of the wedding.). He told me it would prove a point to the family and I would win the war. Which made me laugh when he said that.
I knew he had a point though. If I went it would possibly shut the family up. It would be so that I could care less about them being in a relationship. However scared at the same time because anything is possible with my family it could end up being bad or good something you'd never know. I didn't even know who I could bring as a plus one that would keep me sane because I was not comfortable bringing Sergio because I didn't think he would feel comfortable. Another thing was if I decided to go then I would have to cancel things with Sergio and I don't want to. My heart broke just thinking about canceling. But then I decided that I might just go to the wedding because like my cousin said it might shut up the family. I was just disappointed I would have to cancel my plans and I hope he wouldn't be mad at me. Sergio does know everything about what happened with my family though because I vented to him about everything.
When my cousin left and I got to work I texted him that I would go. I would go to just prove a point. I was not happy at all I felt so sad. I needed to find a way fast to tell Sergio that I was not going to be able to go on a date with him. I sat in my car and Sergio tapped on my window. I opened the door and let him in. He scared me to be honest because I was in my world at that point. We sat in my car until it was time to go in. In that time I managed to find the words to tell him what I needed to tell him. I even told him how sad I was about it but also told him I wanted my family to leave me alone and they were stressing me out. He understood and told me he could understand I was under a lot of stress. I had asked if we could reschedule for the day after. I was scared he was going to say no. However, what surprised me was he asked if he could escort me just to help me prove my point but mainly because he still wanted to spend time with me. I told him only if he wanted to and if he felt comfortable and he said yeah. I told him the time and all the other stuff he needed to know.
Now wedding day rolls around 5/10. We go together and stuff feels so awkward and I'm about to lose my mind from all the awkwardness. The only one that was chill was Sergio which made me feel a little better. The family acknowledged us and was happy that I came. The other side who was still giving me problems was of course surprised and of course, talking about me being there. I was holding Sergio's hand as we walked into the venue. I talked to some of my family and introduced Sergio to them. They of course asked questions like how we met, how long we've been dating, and everything else. We sat down at a table with Ryan and his Girlfriend. We talked amongst ourselves. I started to ease up and not care about my family staring. When Ryan got up to go dance with His Girlfriend it was just me and Sergio sitting and talking up until he asked me to dance to a slow song they were playing. I told him I don't dance but he got me to dance anyway. While slow dancing I noticed my family still staring at us. Specifically, the side that was mad at me. I focused on Sergio as we danced and talked. We were laughing while dancing because I am a horrible dancer. When he spun me around I saw my cousin dancing with Anthony but as they were dancing their attention was on us the whole time. Once the song was over we went straight to the table. We honestly spent most of the night at the table talking. That was something I didn't mind because I love the times when we just sit and talk. Some of my family had come up to us and talked to us and I of course introduced Sergio to them. The night itself wasn't too bad we just kept to ourselves we only got up a few times from the table. We had left earlier than everyone else because I had proven my point and I just wanted to be alone with him and not spend so much time around the family. I said goodbye to the ones I do get along with.
Now for yesterday. Since Friday I've been continuing to get nasty messages. I swear I cannot win with my family. They told me I was being a hoe and being rude for bringing the guy that I cheated on Anthony with. I was told that I was stealing the spotlight from my cousin by bringing a more attractive guy than Anthony as my plus-one (Now that one made me laugh because I agree Sergio is more attractive but like I just found it funny that they said that because how is that even a thing?). They told me I was being petty. Told me that I embarrassed myself by coming. Told me I looked horrible. Was told that my cousin is upset I stole the spotlight from her and I did it on purpose. I was told I shouldn't have brought him with me because it was unnecessary and I was just trying to get attention. Then advised it was an a**hole move and if it was a stunt I was gonna pull I shouldn't have gone. That's just a few things that were said there was so much more.
I do not understand how I stole the spotlight or anything at all. I went and didn't do anything. I had one dance with Sergio and we stayed at the table talking. We talked to some of the family and that is all. They make it seem like I went and did something to my cousin. AITA?

They’re by Lauren Allen. With love written in cursive all over. Size m. Please she ruined them and wants them replaced. Thanks! If it helps the style number is 9227-17.

Nino Marino Signature Collection Libertà Magma, M nib [B]

• Verification and image album: https://imgur.com/a/uvaclKZ
  
• 2021 limited edition, made in the style of the old Delta Dolcevita Stantuffos. It was designed by Nino Marino (co-founder of Delta) as part of Maiora's Nino Marino Signature Collection. This particular model is the Libertà Magma, numbered 14/18.
  
• A sizeable piston-filler at 149 mm long, the pen's entire body is made of red and black ebonite reminiscent of a fiery cascade of molten rock (haters will say it's just a wood grain pattern). Comes with gold-plated trims and an intricately carved vermeil cap band. The model name and edition number are discreetly engraved on the back of the cap, while a single cursive 'n' is engraved on the nib.
  
• 18k gold Jowo #6 medium nib: smooth, with moderate flow. The sweet spot is somewhat limited: when held in the right hand, the nib prefers to be rotated slightly to the left, similar to a oblique.
  
• Ebonite of cap and barrel in virtually mint condition, visible microscratches on grip section, and light tarnish on gold-plated trims. Comes with box and papers, plus an unopened ink bottle.
  
• Price: £309.99.
  

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Price is in GBP. The pen will be shipped from the United Kingdom with free worldwide tracked and insured postage.

I received many compliments from friends and acquaintances. But I’m still self-conscious about my writing and the basic rules of the language. Please take a look you do not have to subscribe the
The Ouija Revelation by Blake West
I was raised Mormon and most of my family are still active members. I am not; I have always been the black sheep of the family. I was a good kid by most standards, but until recently I have not felt as though I can be myself when I am in their company. For example, my uncle once sat me down and said: "I don’t want you to change anything about yourself-- but please go be yourself over there. I will be here and you can be you over there." He caught me vaping when he reviewed the surveillance footage at his warehouse. I laugh about it now, and even at the time he said this I found it to be funny. I can be a lot to deal with; I mean, I live alone and I hate my roommate. My family is conservative. My grandmother told each man who was to marry into the West family that vasectomies were not permitted. Today this sentiment is a part of the family crest, next to a vaccine syringe with a red "X" over it. The West family were anti-vaxxers before it wasn't cool. As a matter of fact, I have never been vaccinated, other than one tetanus shot when I was ten-years old. I am not taking any kind of stand, I just wasn’t vaccinated, for anything. I am in relatively good health today and I have been fortunate in this regard. My maladies are of a cerebral variety. I will say that I do not believe that vaccines cause autism as some do. Especially considering the fact that I was not on the spectrum until Dr. TikTok made the diagnosis.
My family is so conservative they only pass food to the right at the dinner table. My father once saw a same-sex couple holding hands in Home Depot and he now refuses to shop there and refers to it now as "Homo Depot." My family is so conservative that my mother recently flew to Washington DC on a Wednesday to meet some friends. In addition to being conservative, my family is for the most part still indoctrinated by the Mormon church; fully bought-in. My "birds and bees" talk came at the hands of a counselor employed by LDS family services, so there were some gaps needing to be filled, to say the least. I had no clue as to what courtship was supposed to look like. I was homeschooled in ninth grade. Every morning, I had to attend seminary at Butler Middle School and I rode my bicycle home afterward, which served as my P.E. credit. It was this seminary class in which I met my biggest high school crush, Mary. I was fascinated by her immediately, she was different. She was petite, had blonde hair, blue eyes and the brightest smile I had ever seen. Mary was affable and had a sharp wit, above all she was kind-hearted. On the last day of that school year, in my piss-yellow DC Shoes hoodie and my new pair of skate shoes, I raised the courage and I asked her for her phone number. She wrote her number on my hand before she walked back to the school's main building. I was elated as I rode home that day. Mary and I became fast friends, until my parents caught wind. I was not 16, which is the age Church deems the appropriate age to date; or even interact with the opposite sex outside of Sunday school. I could only talk to her if she called me and occasionally my parents would let me return a message if she left one. One evening while we were talking she mentioned that she didn’t have a date for the homecoming dance. Consequences be damned, I asked her to go with me and she said yes. Luckily my mother allowed me to take her since it was a group of four. She wore a maroon and black dress. I wore a black suit and shirt to match the color of her gown, by coincidence. I hadn't learned what she would be wearing until I bought the corsage. Picture this: a socially awkward, clumsy teenager learning to square-dance on the fly. I kept stepping on her heels and gown as she tried to teach me the movement. Slow-dancing was really just waddling around in circles with very little eye contact. I was doing everything in my power to avoid staring down her shirt as we swayed right-to-left with her arms on my shoulders. To this point it was the most attention I had received from the opposite sex and also the same night I understood the versatility of my boxer's waistband. After the dance we went to see a movie. I had pulled a fast one-- I thought. I wanted to see a rated-R movie and I knew that they wouldn't sell me the tickets at the theater. So I bought them online and my mom let me use her credit card and when we get to the theater, I told mom that she had to pick up the tickets at the window because it was her credit card and we would get our snacks while she did. Tickets and popcorn in hand we walked to the usher and just as we did, we were met by the manager. I underestimated my mom-- but she didn’t want to dress me down in front of my date. She noticed the rating on Freddy Got Fingered was R and she told the theater employees to not let us into the movie we bought tickets for. I don't remember which movie we saw instead, I think it was Bubble Boy. I tried arguing my point with the manager, that my mother had purchased the tickets for us and by doing so should have acted as consent in lieu of parental-guidance, but he would not budge. But he did say if we were to wander into Freddy Got Fingered after Bubble Boy concluded we could catch the last half hour of that showing. Mom 234 - Blake 0. After the movie, my mom picked us up and dropped the other kids home without mentioning a word about my insubordinate behavior. I didn’t so much as hold Mary's hand that night. As I write this now I am overcome with "cringe" as the kids say. Mary had a boyfriend throughout most of high school, but her and I remained friends. She would smile and wave at me every time we crossed paths in the hallway, usually with her boyfriend Kurt's arm around her as she was walking to her next class. Kurt had everything I thought. He had a WRX, he was athletic, a talented artist, handsome and of course Mary. I was the fat, awkward, WWF watching, home-schooled kid who dressed in black concert t-shirts and carried around a backpack covered in metallic ink. I could only look down on Kurt because I was taller. Fast-forward to senior year, 2003-04. Mary and Kurt were on the outs and he was not going to take her to homecoming. But this time, instead of asking her on the phone I was going to do something memorable. Well, I remember it. I borrowed my mother's best stationary and wrote on it with my distinctive and elegant cursive "meet me here after school." thinking that it would be a surprise to her. I bought the finest roses I could find from Dan's supermarket and I brought them to her as she was standing at her locker with our mutual friend Nadya and I asked her if she would go to homecoming with me. With a look of obligation rather than excitement, she accepted. She already knew I wasn’t going to make a move and I hadn't learned how to square dance either. Side note: women of all ages do not give a fuck about excellent penmanship. The dance was still a few weeks away and in this time I started going to the gym every morning at 5:00 before school. Mostly because it was when Mary went and I saw this as an opportunity to get closer to her. In the short time that I had been going I had lost a noticeable amount of weight. Mary, Nadya and I started spending more time together and the Saturday before the dance, the three of us were at Nadya's house planning the following week's activities. One of the girls suggested we play a game and Out came the Ouija board. My mother warned me against dabbling in the dark arts; despite her love for the Harry Potter series. I participated nervously as Mary and Nadya called upon the nearest available entity. We started asking Pauley Purgatory the standard questions: "are you a good spirit or bad? Do you know my deceased friend?" and so on. Then Nadya asked the question "is Blake a virgin?" and in his infinite post-mortal bro-code wisdom, Pauley answered "no… except on Sundays." I was stunned and ashamed, because I had not told anyone, especially my biggest crush that Sundays were the only day of the week in which I did not engage in my regular self-care routine, if you catch my drift. Mary then asked "is Blake ever going to get married" and the curser moved to answer yes. Because I was such a smooth-operator I asked the next question "to someone I know?" and the cursor again moved to answer yes and I immediately locked eyes with Mary, then I quickly shifted my gaze to Nadya before looking back to the board. Then our new acquaintance had to take another call and we ended our session. The next week we go to the dance in a group of six and it went about as well as you could have expected taking into account previous context. At one point during the evening, Mary even had to ask me to sit next to her on the couch because my attention was consumed by a Seinfeld rerun as I sat on a beanbag on the floor in front of her. As a parenthetical note, even today I am not a ladies man. Despite my broad-shouldered, 6'1'' frame and confident, bearded-Viking like resemblance, I find myself awash with shame instinctively whenever I have thoughts of pursuing a woman I like. The LDS doctrine is so ingrained into my DNA, I cannot help but feel that wanting to fuck the Christ out of someone is wrong, despite my terrestrial knowledge telling me that it is natural. Whenever I think that I have found someone worthy of my "Melchize-dick" I split the difference and I say nothing. Do nothing. In 2003 I was even more of an insecure mess, if that is possible. I couldn’t even take my shirt off in the locker room let alone the opposite sex. A week later I had scheduled an appointment to chat with my bishop about some things that had been on my mind. After the normal small talk I begin by telling him that I was recently in a basement alone with two young women and I noticed his posture and glare became more focused. I continue by telling him that with these girls we summoned a dark spirit and it had said things about me which I had not told anyone. With a sort of disappointed look on his face now, he then related to me by telling me about a time he had gone to a psychic and experienced something similar. He concluded our visit by asking me if I had been "keeping the temple clean." Of course I lied and told him I was not “holding to the rod-- the iron rod” (there really are a lot of masturbation euphemisms from the hymn book). I also did not tell him what my new friend Pauley Purgatory had said though, only that it was something I had not told anyone. 18 years later when I was making a delivery on the same street Nadya lived on in high school, it hit me. Recently I watched a video on social media about ADHD issues and how it is commonplace for the afflicted to repeatedly tell the same story, as well as be unaware of certain things they have shared with others in conversation as a defense mechanism. I then recalled a memory of an annoyed co-worker saying to me "you say that every time" when I would share my association with Mrs. Field's Cookies anytime the name was mentioned as a perspective client. I went to one year of private school with Mrs. Field's daughter; true story. Then it hit me-- I had to have forgotten that I told Mary that I "kept the Sabbath day holy" and this was her way of telling me it was okay to make a move, without telling me. I was so sheltered and indoctrinated that I actually believed a spirit-in-limbo made a dick joke and I ran to confess my sin of my meddling in the dark arts to my bishop. And because I was vague with the details and I lied about "leaning upon my ample arm" my bishop was not able to say "she's trying to tell you something, you fucking idiot! She likes you." I like to think that he would have done me that courtesy, he was actually a good guy. As I look back, Mary tried everything and I now know what that look she used to give me meant. That "how are you not getting this, you big, dumb fuck?" look. She even tried to sacrifice a virgin when she set me up with my first girlfriend. Once I finally realized what had happened I had to shout the thought out of my head as the blood left my face. Driving alone in Cottonwood Heights, Utah I said aloud: "Goddammit” with a Baroque-like rhythm. The moral of the story, kids: don't lie to your bishop about taking care of your needs. Unless you want something to write about later. Shame begats shame begats the socially awkward. Thanks for reading. -Blake

Kieran was walking back home with a hop in his step, it was late, really late. He and Valentino danced and drank for hours. Kieran's hooves were aching from his boots, but he had never had so much fun. A bunch of golden butterflies swarmed around his head, a large smile on his face.
He walked through the doors of the house, he was sure everyone was asleep so he tried his hardest to be quiet. He bit his lip, trying to silence his giggles as he walked up the stairs. He suddenly feels his arm being pulled.
Kieran didn't really like to be touched so he pulled away from the person's grasp immediately, he had let Valentino touch him earlier, but he was mostly being polite, he didn't know why it felt different when Valentino had touched him it just did.
"Sorry for grabbing you! Tell me everything!" It was Charlie, she was practically vibrating with excitement. Kieran bit his lip trying to hide his smile.
"Nothing happened. Nothing like that." Kieran said after a bit, he sat beside Charlie on her bed. "Ew gross Kieran! I didn't mean that! Did you meet any guys?" Charlie asked, she was still vibrating with excitement. Kieran bit his lip again and looked away, unsure if he wanted to tell the truth or not.
"I met one guy." He admitted. Charlie let out a loud gasp. Kieran covered her mouth with his hand. "Shhh! You're gonna wake everyone up!"
"Sorry Kir! But this is so exciting!" Charlie gushed, she clapped her hands, resisting the urge to hug him, she had learned from a lifetime spent with Kieran to wait for him to initiate affection, unless your Lucifer, Kieran let Lucifer hug him whenever.
"It's not really Char, we just danced." Kieran said, more butterflies appeared as his embarrassment grew. Charlie gave him a look and smiled wide. "Well did he say if he wanted to see you again?"
"No not exactly but he gave me his number" Kieran said unfolding the piece of paper. It had a number and under it "Call me Principito." In neat cursive.
"Kieran! That means he's into you!" Charlie gushed, she had always wanted Kieran to find friends, he had always been a loner preferring the company of bugs and animals to most people. "Tell me about him!"
"Well he's purple and tall, like really tall, he has four arms, he's a moth, but he's not cute, like actual moths, he has really long antenna. Hey did you know that you can easily tell the difference between a butterfly and a moth by the antennae? Their also a vital-" Kieran said about to go on a tangent about moths, Charlie snapped her fingers to regain his attention. "Focus Kieran!"
"Vital part of the food chain." He finished, a slight glare on his face, he hated being interrupted. "He was really charming, we danced for hours…I talked a lot, and he wasn't annoyed!…it was…incredible Char…it was like nothing I've ever experienced before." Kieran said, sounding breathless.
Valentino sat on the sofa smoking, he had just gotten back from the club. His legs were up on the coffee table. "He was so fucken hot, oh he got me so fucken hard and the best part he's a virgin!"
Vox gave him a confused look. "You fucked him already? I thought you wanted to lure him in first." That had been the plan, find a lost, naive soul to trap.
"No i didn't you should be proud babe, you have no idea how hard it was to resist fucking him in front of everyone."
"Then how can you tell he's a virgin?" Vox wasn't as well versed in the world of sex as Valentino was, he wasn't sure how Valentino could tell so easily.
"I could practically taste it, you can tell by the way he holds himself he's never been fucked in the ass before. He was all shy, blushy, I think he's magic or something. He had these stupid gold butterflies that wouldn't leave." Valentino said, taking a long drag and blowing out a red cloud of smoke.
"He might be magic like Lucifer. What else did you see him do?" Valentino looked bored and started to drink some wine. Vox glared and brightened the light on his screen to get Valentino's attention. Valentino stared at the bright screen, as if he was entranced. "What else did you see him do?"
"Nothing! He's a lightweight, a virgin, and likes bugs, that's pretty much all I found out." Vox rolled his eyes. He really wished he had a more helpful business partner.
"Well you should get your claws in deep before you scare him off. Make sure the deal gets made. Mr. Morningstar will be a great asset to us." Vox said, a smirk on his face.
"I will. Trust me he's gonna be so easy. He's gonna fall right into my trap." Valentino said in a bored tone. Sure Kieran was hot, had a nice ass, but he was painfully unaware of social ques and just talked. The entire time they danced he rattled on about random topics, mostly to do with bugs.
"Think about it, Val. That kid probably has insane power he doesn't even know about yet! And with Kieran aligned with us Lucifer won't ever bother us. Do not screw this up. Get your claws in deep and don't let go."
"I won't. I cant wait to fuck him."
Kieran woke up in the morning and made his way down to the kitchen, he grabbed a mug, and poured himself coffee. Lucifer was sitting at the table already. Lilith and Charlie were probably still asleep.
"So son, I heard you met a boy yesterday." Lucifer said with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. Kierans eyes widened, this was the last thing he wanted Lucifer to know about. "Who told you that?"
"Your sister, last nigh told me you went out to meet some boys." Lucifer elaborated.
"I did." Kieran responded hesitantly. "Where at? And what is he? Hellborn?" Lucifer asked, his eyes wide with curiosity. "He…he's a sinner. We met at a…club" Kieran responded looking anywhere but at his father. He decided to leave out the fact that it was a sex club.
"A sinner Kir? Really? I've told you they're dangerous! Nothing good ever comes from them!" Lucifer said immediately, his eyes wide, a look of fear on his face. "Dad it's not anything serious, we just danced a little I doubt anything will come of it." Kieran said quickly wanting to calm his father's concerns.
"I just want you to be safe Ducky." Lucifer whispered, he had gotten up and walked over to Kieran, grabbing his hands gently.
"I know dad I promise I will be." Kieran assured, squeezing Lucifer's hands.
"I…I just can't believe how grown up you and your sister are. It seems like just yesterday you two were born. And I held you two for the first time." Lucifer whispered, his eyes getting teary. Kieran dropped Lucifer's hands and hugged his father tightly. Lucifer let his tears fall as he tightened his grip on Kieran. Lucifer almost couldn't deal with the fact that his kids were adults now. And they wouldn't need him as much anymore.
"Dad, don't cry please." Kieran whispered. Kieran hated when people cried. "Just because I'm older doesn't mean I won't need you, you're still my dad."
"I know I just…I don't want you to forget about me." Lucifer admitted after a while. Lucifer had grown used to having Kieran near him at all times. He didn't want to think what would happen if Kieran actually left, but at the same time Lucifer knew he couldn't keep Kieran here forever.
"I could never forget about you dad." Kieran whispered, leaning his head on Lucifer's.

Mini serial up in my head for a while. Writing after 10 years pause, please go easy on me. No hfy yet, just setting things up.
........................
Looking up towards the orbital ring, through dirty plexiglass roofing, James wipes his forehead and furrowed his eyebrows. The ring, known to the local as Halo Station due to the yellow sun glinting off of it when the angle is right, was an ugly strip of brutalist sunshade in James's opinion. It had been hastily constructed over the course of five years with government of private fundings, with the local bureaucrats and politicians the most well off from the scheme. The locals, third generation from the initial colonisers, had been opposed to government postings from the hub worlds but was strong armed by the mining and agriculture conglomerate to accept it. There were of course altercation between the locals and the conglomerate but anything larger than a demonstration were heavily suppressed with threats of cutting off vital terraforming supplies. The uneasy tension lasted until the ring orbital proposal was announced, with the locals divided in two camps. One was in favour, their thinking was that the station would bring attention of the wider human communities to their plights. The opposing view is that it would only bring more corporate interest to their system, with the oppressions and wealth discrimination that their forefathers escaped from to this new world in the first place.
James was of neither the opinions. He was planning on hitchhiking across the frontier worlds, edges of the explored galaxy, relying on his knowledge and skill of hydroponics to earn his living. He empathise with the locals, as he was ine himself, but knew that corporate greeds is as inescapable as taxes and death. The only thing keeping him from despairing the future was the tiny sum his family saved up. He wasrecently orphaned, but his parents were rather well off when they were alive, working on the water treatment plants of the terraforming complex, before an influx of dissolved salts from a hydrothermal vents eruption caused a chlorine gas build up, leading to an explosion when they were doing maintenance on the gas extraction chamber. James was thankful that at least his parents passed away painlessly, but the funeral arrangements had cut into the family funds. It was due to this that he was still stuck on the half terraformed planet.
"Penny for your thought?" asked a hoarse gravelly voice. One would be forgiven for thinking the owner of the voice a male. A frail looking woman with grey hair peered up at James from behind a trellis supporting vines of red pod peas. "Counting down the days the merchant trader will pick me off this pile of dirt," James replied, "Not that I don't see why you would want to stay here." "Can't get the theiving bastards to give me my insurance money otherwise." The woman scowled. " Speaking about that, how's the surgery going? Inhaling that much chlorine would put anyone out of action, not that I'm not thankful for pulling my parents out of there. The company would've let them dissolved if they had their way." James asked the woman. "Well, the off world volunteer doctors bumped me up cue and if lady luck don't interfere, I'll be fully recovered by the end of the local year." she replied with a chuckle then a cough. The planet they are on has a 22 hours day but 976 days per year. This has made the locals used phrase 'end of the year' as a joke for deliberately slow bureaucracy, especially when the government is the one paying. Elisabeth was working with his parents when the accident occured, a toilet break saving her from the experience. She was trained as a first reponder and had taken it up on herself to at least recover the remains of her colleague and friend. Either due to cost cutting or by sheer incompetence, the recently cleared hazmat suit she took from the emergency storage had a leaking hose and she had barely survived. James was grateful for her action and offered her a job in his mostly automated hydroponic farm as she waits for the company to pay her insurance as she can no longer do heavy manual labour. James was going to transfer all his business to her as thanks when he got off planet but had told her yet. "I hope you recover fully," James smiled at the not bad news, "I'm going to give you this farm and the house after I leave. You've been a good friend to the family and I'd to see you suffer because of a good deed." Elisabeth looked thoughtful for a moment then nodded, realising that James was resolved. "I have no need for more money than what I need to survive, I'll send any profits left from the farm to you. You'll need it if you're going to gallavanting around the galaxy." Elisabeth said with a firm tone, or slightly deeper and hoarser to James's ear. "It'll also be somewhere to return to if the galaxy doesn't agree with you. A journey isn't complete if you haven't return and all that." she added. James was expecting this and knows that she won't change her mind. "I'll drop by with souvenirs whenever I come near this part." James said. The rest of the day went by as usual. As James finished checking the monitoring terminal in preparation for the night, a message popped up on his iris implant. He checked the message as he exited the decontamination airlock:
Dear James,
I hope this finds you well. I hate to impose on paying customers but a good friend of mine needs somewhere hole up for a few days on your planet. He has his own ship and offered to take you anywhere you wish after he finished offloading his cargo to the orbital. I have given him your contacts and attached his along with his headscan. I am terribly sorry for taking liberties but I hope you find this a good deal.
Sincerely,
Cpt. Frank Rowe
James was surprised but didn't mind it that much as he had empty rooms and he'll save some money. He quickly went into his sonic shower booth and tapped off a reply to the captain and his guest. He was preparing to cook some of the ripe tomatoes and eggplants he harvested today when Elisabeth came out of her room. He had asked her to moved into his guest bedroom when she started working on his farm and they had been having meals together since. It helped the make the house more lively and Elisabeth liked his cooking. "I don't know if it's the fresh produce or your cooking that make something mundane taste this god." Elisabeth said in between bites, "Either way, I'll miss this when you go. I'll have to remember to scan this into the automeal." "It'll be close but the Dad's recipe needs more dressing oil and salt than the standard automeal will allow. It won't be too unhealthy if you work and sweat enough for two people." James grinned, "My parents always debated this over dinner." "That reminds me about the workload. I will have to automate the fish feeder, my lungs are about done by the time I finished checking the fruit bins," Elisabeth said. "I'll dial in the settings tomorrow, you'll only need to top up pellets." replied James.
That night James got a reply from the guest confirming he will take up the offer. The guest will arrive in two days and James planned to offer his own room. He had not touched his parents bedroom since the accident and he is going to tidy up the room as a farewell. He did not look forward to spending a night in the room but he knows he will regret not doing something to mark off the end of his stay in this house.
On the day of the arrival, James woke up and looked at himself in the mirror. His curly brown hair that he got from his mother was growing out past his liking, along with the light stubble he put off shaving due to being busy setting up the farm for a one person operation. His grey eyes was sparkling and lively, despite waking up an hour before his usual time. He was excited since he will be departing tomorrow and had finished packing last night. After confirming with Elisabeth that everything is working fine in the farm, he left her to get used to the new routine to prepare lunch. A flying taxi touched down as he fished out a large pizza from the oven. He wiped his hands and went to greet his ticket off the planet. A short stocky man climbed down, his skin, where visible was deeply tan, highly unusual for a ship captain travelling long journey through deep space. His dark hair fluttered in the wind and brown piercing eyes take in the rural sight. His glance fell on James and smiled a toothy grin. "You must be the owner of this lovely estate!" he bellowed out with a thick accent James can't place. James walked up to him, offered his hand, and they shook. "James Howard, looking forward to getting on your ship." James replied, a bit put off by the excitement from the man. "Miguel, Miguel Emille. Captain of the Flying Snail. I am very thankful for your hospitality at such short notice. The corpo here kicks the captain off their ship! Imagine that!" James looked around for security drones, a bit fearful of being reported for sedition. The captain looked at him, confused, then in understanding, "Ah, one of those world? Say no more. I won't put my passenger in danger." "Is it not the same where you are from? That's why I'm trying to get off the planet." James asked. "No, I grew up and works mainly for the frontier colony. This one is a special favour for the captain that you contacted for a lift. Contract for some heavy metal isotopes from one of the asteroid mining station for one of your 'esteemed' governer." Miguel winked.
The rest of the day passed by uneventfully, with Miguel switching between telling news of the outer colonies and checking his ship's security cameras. The next morning, James and Elisabeth had a tearful farewell before heading off towards one of the pillar supporting the orbital that doubled as cargo elevator. As they rise, James takes a look at the purple and green landscape falling below. He could see the curvature of the planet right as they enter the orbital. He took a picture of his homeworld, intending to put into his journal to mark the start of his journey. The maglev took them towards the internal docking area, James looking out then windows at the opulence of the wealthy living in the station. As they walk towards the flying snail, they were jossled around wnd forced to stop a few times by the workers and machineries bustling around the dock. James took in the sight of the Flying Snail as they approached, staring at the size and unusual roundedness of the ship, in contrast to the blocky and angular ships standard for most space vehicles. "Custom made on Mariana IX station, designed by my grandfather. A great advertisement for my business and comfortable quarters too. And not as slow as the name suggests" Miguel said as he looked at not a few workers staring at his ship. The advertisement mentioned was stencilled in bright red cursive letters on bare metal, in contrast to the ship's black blocky registration number. As they made their way to airlock, passing the the ship's closing cargo door, an inspector passed Miguel a datapad to sign off. "Cargo confirmed received, payments are being processed by customs due to the new tax coming into effect yesterday. You shouldn't lose much with the currency exchange," the inspector said after looking the form over, " you are clear to depart when traffic control indicates." The inspector turn to another ship busy loading cargo, not waiting for a reply. Miguel lead James through the airlock to his room, a larger than standard room furnished with wooden furniture and upholstered, unheard of in a spaceship from the hub worlds. "Get yourself comfortable then join me on the bridge. The ship AI will help you with the layout. No need to address me as captain since it'll only be the two of us until your destination. I'll be going around looking for government approved bugs. Corporate overlords never can get the idea of privacy." Miguel said before leaving James to unpack. James look around the room, trying to wrap his head around the decor. It was as if someone stole a museum exhibit then use it to furnish a spaceship. He unpacked his luggage, looking around for a storage locker, before putting his meager clothings into a dark wood wardrobe. He then set off to put his toiletries in the attached bathroom before being shocked at the size and items he saw. A large oval mirror hangs on the wall above porcelain basin, with an archaic brass and glass shower cubicle with valves and pipes off to the side. He consdered the logistics of internal plumbing and water storage on the ship for a moment before shaking his head, "Might as well enjoy the luxuries. If this isn't a great start, I don't know what is."
After he finished, James head out of his room then froze as he peered into the corridor. The sterile white panelling had turned into stained wood, the harsh lighting into warm yellow glow from what looks like wall mounted lamps. He turned to look back at his room to see the standard white panelling was still there. He decided to ask the AI for directions to the Captain, "Ship? Where's the bridge?" "Please find the ship map in the mailbox behind the door," a synthetic female voice chimed out. He looked at the automatic sliding door and noticed it had changed to a wooden hinged door with a basket below a metal slot. He grabbed a rolled up brown paper bundle from the basket, unrolling it to seems to be hand drawn diagram of the ship. Other details such as crew members list and meal times are neatly list in one corner. He closed the door before following the map. He was not surprised to find his name engraved below the room number on the brass plaque on the door.
James was apprehensive about finding anything on the ship but there were signs jutting out from the wall at each intersection, surrounded by decorative metalwork in forms of flowers, pointing to major locations. The flooring hard changed from patterned wood to being carpeted the closer he is to the bridge. He finally arrived at a double door, with a plaque indicating that it was indeed the bridge, and he wondered if he should knock. He decided not to, and swung open, to hear a bell ring as the door opens. "James! Come strap yourself in. How do you like my ship?" Miguel was seated on what looks like a couch in the centre of the room, looking at a large screen. The screen shows the outside of the ship, which was the landing bay blast door, still shut. "It's nice but too much like a museum piece to be flying around," James responded, "Isn't it against regulation and too hazardous if the grav generator fails?" "That's why I set the nanites to change to standard whenever I dock. Changed back to what my grandpa designed when we're clear for take off," Miguel answered, " also cleared out to bare walls with carpeting whenever there's an emergency. Only ever happens once in all my years of flying." James had heard of nanites but wasn't aware that it could be used on ships. "The ship was supposed to be a private cruiser for a hubworlder, but he backed out of deal so the swimming pool and hydrotherapy areas was converted into the cargo hold," Miguel added.
James strapped himself in a plush fabric covered armchair near the screen. As he figured out the buckle, the comm beeped then a voice called out, " landing bay E42 cleared. All ships ensure airlock and cargo door are closed before depressurisation in 15 minutes." "Hal, check the doors and prepare for take off," Miguel said. "Sorry captain, I cannot do that." "Stops scaring the passengers. Maybe it's time you watch some modern movies." A huff sounded before the AI replied, "Aye aye, Captain." "She always does that, scaring the living daylight out of my last crew when she pretended to lock the airlock during EVA," Miguel sighed, " i don't know what my Pa was doing, feeding her all that old robot uprising movies." "I thought she was just a basic navigation AI when I asked her for directions." "Yeah, she does that to make people let their guards down before springing the 'Exterminate!' stuff on them. That's why my last crews all signed off." "Isn't that bad on you?" James asked, "also your reputation won't be good." " It's fine, I mainly take on crews for company. Most contracts I got are from fellow captains needing to take orders from regulars but are to far out to accept. She got the latest repair drones and all nanites tech to take care of all damages, excluding only jump core explosions," Miguel smiled.
They waited in the bridge, chatting about life in space and homicidal AI, with Hal, James learned shortened from Haley and pronunciation changed courtesy of the AI herself, chiming in when the checks are done. "Landing bay E42 depressurised in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Landing bay depressurised. All ships clear to take off in E42 once landing bay door fully opened. Green light will light up when ready for manually piloted crafts. Halo orbital thanks you for your business." The traffic controller speaks through the comm, indicating he is a native. Off-worlder would usually call the station 'The Regina's Ring' after the planet. Once the door slides open fully, ships start to go out in rows. When it was the Flying Snail's turn to take off, a hologram of Hal appeared besides the captain's couch and the ship starts to move out slowly in formation, coordinating with the other ships. Once the Flying Snail cleared the door, Hal spoke, "Captain, there's any energy spike reading in the aft sensor. No details on origin available due to station's plating. Seems to be mostly neutrons" "Perhaps someone forgot to shut their cargo door. Probably transporting tritium or helium three. Put up shield just to be safe."
The captain's decision turns out to be just in time as a heavy blast blew the ships out of the orbital. Alarms started wailing and James was pushed back into his seat. "Damage report!" Miguel shouted over the alarms and a diagram of the ship's system popped up on screen. "No structural damage, low EMP, main computer rebooting, shields down to 60 percent," Hal replied mechanically, "Reboot complete. Putting rear view on screen." The screen shows a large explosion on the inner ring side, dropping debris onto the planet below. The alarms turned off as Hal reports, "Ring appears to be holding. Debris calculated to fall on low population area and ocean. Minimal damage to civilians and properties." " There's that at least. Are we expected to help?" Miguel asked. "Negative, the station order civilian vessels to clear the area. No detention order." "Good, get us to the jump point. James, you got a destination?" Miguel turns to look at James. James was still trying to recover from being slammed into his seat, saved from concussions by the seat's padding. "I need to check on Elisabeth," James said as he reached for his wristcom. He then saw an incoming video call from Elisabeth. He sighed in relief as he picked up the call. "I'm glad you're alright. Exciting starts to your trip, eh?" Elisabeth said after seeing James. "Good to see you unharmed too. Did the emergency broadcast says anything?" James asked. "They were saying no damage to those living below. The corporate news network was saying it was the work of the anti-hub government groups." Elisabeth said with a grimace, "trying to weasel out of responsibility if you ask me. I need to check the farm systems in case anything went down. Safe trip out there, I don't want to cry for the second time today," Elisabeth was starting to tear up as James tried to reply before the call cut off. "All's well that ends well," Miguel said as James gathered himself, "good to see her safe. So, destination?" James thought for a moment then replied, "I've never been anywhere further than the Halo. I was thinking of getting off at the last stops but I'm the only passenger here so I think I'll get off wherever your next business ends." " Fine by me. I'm going back three system on my route here, pick up some cargo and or crews, then out to the frontiers," miguel said to James then turn to Hal, " You remembered the station with extra medical supplies looking for buyers? Set destination there." " Aye captain. Arriving at jump point. Jumping in 5 seconds," Hal said before starting the count down. The jump drive, the second most popular after warp, generates a wormhole from Lagrange points. The energy requirements is higher than warp but the near instantaneous travel time is highly value by merchants and diplomats alike.
The jump starts without a hitch and they exited into a red dwarf system. As they make they way towards a spherical station above a green gas giants, they were hailed on all frequencies as the screen starts to shows an armada of black pyramids blockading ships trying to enter and leave the station. The screen suddenly flickers then shows a black upside down triangle with glowing blueish white lights runni ng on its surface. The speakers blared out a high pitch voice, " Bags of mostly water our flattest desire exchange thinking patterns. Flattest yours here deliver. Airwaves produce expect agreement." This broadcast then repeats itself. "Ain't this the strangest day of my life," Hal said loudly. "Exciting first day for our passenger here for sure," Miguel added. James just stared blankly at the screens.
.......................

What is the complete list of international travel security protocols for traders/hodlers?
Let's say worst case scenario everything is on your Ledger, and you lose your phone, Ledger, Yubikey, laptop, everything due to luggage or theft or whatever.
You have to start from scratch. What do you do? Assume you don't have a trusted party to leave info with, you are on your own, security wise, and don't have a permanent home to store this stuff.
With regards to trading, I can see using just your phone to access exchanges, with phone 6 digit pin (and not biometrics) unlock. That gets old quick. Do you use your laptop? Seems less secure to someone getting their hands on it. Say you're at the beach, going swimming or surfing. Or just heading out for the day. Hotels rooms are never secure, let alone bungalows.
How do you store passwords?
What do you do with your LedgeTrezor if you are going swimming or surfing or whatever?
How do you store Yubikey? (neck lanyard? what about water activities?)
Have your devices attracted attention in customs in foreign countries?
Losing access to your Ledger could mean losing your life finances permanently for some. How do you store your 24 word seedphrase backup in case Ledger goes missing? This seems like the most risky thing. I could see using manual encryption like using someone's name (ACE FREHLEY), offset the bip39 word by the numerical value of each letter. So if it's ACE (letters #1,3,5), you would write down the 4 digit bip number that is "1 ahead of your actual bip number", then "3 ahead of your actual bip number"? What is the best manual encryption method? You still risk losing that written record. Obviously Rule#1 is your seed phrase NEVER touches the internet or digital file. EVER.
Seems like there are a lot of catch 22's. Is there an encryption method that is safe enough to email to your self so you can never lose your finances? How do you then make sure you have a bombproof email, that you can never lose or get hacked, and how do you store your password to that? Maybe 2 emails with 12 words in each, and similar passwords. It seems like memorizing an email may be the key to this if things are encrypted properly? That is still extremely risky though if you lose access to your email somehow. It doesn't seem like there is an actual safe way to do any of this other than an ecrypted tatoo which doesn't seem optimal?
How are you securing yourself from losing everything? Thanks.

Well I had always loved Charlotte's channel and never dreamed about posting here. But I (at the time 24 F) attended my Cousins wedding lets call her Danica. Danica is a few years older then me I'm not sure by how much and are directly related our mothers being sisters.
Here's some history/context before the drama. My dad was in the military and was deployed a lot throughout my childhood so I spent a lot of time at my grandparents house in the middle of the woods.
Danica seemed to be frustrated every time I was there. Whenever I was going something with grandma she'd ask to go ride horses (they had 4 horses at the time) Grandma said I could show a horse, meaning a horse competition. Then Danica asked to show it so I could no longer show the sand horse not sure why.
So with the horse's and middle of nowhere ranch feel she grew up in Danica ended up being a redneck wanna be. Dressing in plaf and cowboy boots going to amature car races where she later met her soon to be husband.
Let's call him Patrick. Patrick worked for Danica's father Uncle Bob #2 (Danica ans my mother have a brother named Bob)
So Danica brings her Dave Matthew's band look alike boyfriend to the holidays. Where hw, just like het father, proceds to go out of his way to not talk to me or be in the same room. To the point when Danica mocks my switch and games I was playing he remarked to her I must not have a lot of friends
Flash forward to 2021 So more content Danicas parents got married on September 10th and our shared grandparents got married on the 12th of September. So what did she choose? Well thr 8th makes since to the pattern right? Well Danica is a attention seeker. So she gets married on September 11th. Yes we are america so she knew full well what day that was and even more crazy wad it was the 20th anniversary of said event.
Guess who's family was affected by September 11th? Ours. Our grandmother's sister was a vet (like animals) and tended to the police dogs and other animals on ground zero. While my father was a military veteran. So he had to not attend certain engagements with his former comrads. My father's arm was twisted by my mother to attend saying it was the only wedding on her side of the family. And possibly the last family wedding we would attend.
My dad has a neice whos married ans has two young kids, and a nephew who's not married. As for me? I'm the oldist of three so she pretty much said she had no hope in her kids getting married.
So the wedding is a 3 day event us haveing to arrive the 10th her parents anniversary meaning they can't do anything since they had to do wedding things. Till the 12th our grandparents haveing to do the same.
The wedding is held at a Waterpark. Not one of the ones you'd think. It's a overnight resort with woods themeing in a city that's 2 hours away for most people. It's a rather popular tourist destination in our state so there was plenty of stuff to do around there but due to the events no one could really go out and explore.
I arrive at around 2 am since I worked the day of the 10th. I had worked at a diffrent Waterpark of the city at the time so it was only a hour drive for me. I get into my room and my dad is already stressed. He suffers from ptsd so he can't handle big things well.
Figuring out what's wrong, I learn my angel of a mother has taken a lot of duties away from her sister and started buying decorations and putting things up. My mother did photography in her youth and still does it as a hobby. (She has a bridzilla story from those days) so she was asked to take photos. This is also the time that I learn that my invite to the wedding was, a bribe. Our grandmother had threatened to cut the funding of the wedding by around 1,000 and my mom not shoot the wedding if I didn't make the cut to her rather large wedding.
Now day of the wedding arrives. My mom finds out Danica hired a photographer as our grandmother chimed in MORE money after I got a invite. (I had never gotten a offical invite either)
Danica and Patrick had a theme to there wedding as most. So the two colors where blaze orange, like hunting gear and traffic Cone orange. As it was Danicas favorite color and Jean blue, like pants as it was Patrick's favorite color.
The guests had a dress code. Cowboy boots blue jeans ans western style tops. Cowboy hats where encouraged.
Getting downstairs to the venue I find my Grandma complaining about Bob #1 not being at the wedding to his son Xander. Bob #1 never sees Xander as he lives with his mother on a diffrent coast of the country after his father was stripped of his rights after a DUI. Or at least I was told.
Turns out Bob #1 didn't come becuse of his wife Rose didn't let him. They offered to pay for him and his new young son Buckley to come. Bob #1 said if they wernt paying for Rose's and her mother's ticket he wasn't comming. So he didn't come.
Buckley was about 4 and that also was the amount of times my grandparents saw him. I had never met him and neither did 99% of the family ad Bob #1 doesn't like to visit. Even though he has 3 collage degrees his parents paid for.
The set pieces on the table where vases filled with orange clear and black orbiz. Obviously fake flowers sit in the vase. Theres blaze orange cups at each table with Patrick's race car number on it.
The best part wad the guest book. To the lift when you entered the hall was a table woth gifts for certain members of the family and all children of the family. The only child on our shared side of the family was Buckley who was not there.
The guest book itself? Well it's a car door. Not just any car door it's pulled from one of Patrick's wrecked race cars. It was cleaned and had no dents in if with a black sharpie to sign. However their was massive black letters and even bigger numbers on the door where the sharpie didn't show up. By the time I got to the guest book there was no room to sign.
Wedding comes and Patrick walks out in a cowboy hat, blue jeans, a stained white dress shirt and cowboy boots. His best men walk out wearing the same. The only difference was he had on a black vest.
Danica and the brides maids where late getting to the wedding. Why? We'll my friend it was becuse the horse Danica was ment to ride in on hated her and didn't want her on them. She swapped horses with a brides maid and off they go. They don't arrive on the horses and we could barely even see them arrive.
Now I use to listen to country music. So I know your Toby Keith (r.i.p) Brad Paisley, and Trace Adkins. So none of them where the country twang song that rung out while Danica walked down the Isle but it was a country song for sure.
She was dressed in a very pretty wedding dress with dome cool leave hair peices. So honestly I felt like I was looking at a beauty and the beast tattoo in real life. Beast in weird lettering and beauty in cursive.
Wedding mostly goes fine aside from our Grandfather who was officiating accidently calling Patrick dick.
We all get up and head into the venue to sit and wait for food and drinks.
A little more about the enigma in my family that is me. I'm autistic so like my father I don't like places like weddings. So I had a ear bud in playing vaporwave music and my sketch book. Drawing keeps me calm and not panic and freak out. So imagen the A24 horror I feel when a elderly family member try to RIP my sketchbook out of my hands.
I, a autistic, lesbian, who loves anime and horror draws some things that could kill a victoran child. So it could evaporate a elderly country type person for sure. I really didn't have anything like that in this sketch book. It was a new sketch book but I was practicing drawing kissing so I had a lot of dudes and chick's kissing on one page. So in a panic I tear it out and stash it in my bag. Earning a yelling lecture from my saint of a mother.
Food is served and guess what? I can't eat any of it. Me and my grandma can't have gluten. I can deal with it better then her. I don't eat beef or pork so the ribs are out of the question and the chicken is slathered in gravey. I have gravy and it has flower in it. So I take a plate full of peas and eat up. They didn't have a cake but a dessert table where I grabbed the dryist cookie in the world.
More time passes and well nothing else happens aside from Xander just hanging out with me and my siblings the rest of the week as he really has no connections to that side of the family and he and my brother are close in age. Danica being the oldist of the grandkids followed by me.
So wedding is over, I tell my friends of the mess of a wedding that was. Well in a discord call with my friends I Go to Danicas Facebook and show them pictures of the wedding.
Your classic, a monster truck jumping over them as they kiss. Danica riding a horse. Patrick dipping her as a monster truck drives past kicking up dirt. The classics.
Well as we laughed and looked I'm struck by a emotional monster truck. I see a family photo that was taken at that fateful September 11th. Me at the sorta middle of the photo there's me. Photo shopped to be fatter and my boobs smaller. Even my friends commented. It wasn't even a good photo shop warping the fence behind me.
Now this year Danica will celebrate her 3 year anniversary of that wedding. The only one I have ever gone to in my adult life. Her husband and father still have never spoken a word to me. And our grandparents replaced all photos of me and my siblings with photos of Danicas wedding.
Moral of the story? I am very thankful to my dad for not letting any of us end up like thar.

Hey... Hope you're doing okay today.
I've helped out 1000+ applicants since 2015 with their Resumes.
Just wanted to share some of the main mistakes i see (a lot).
Hopefully this is helpful to at least some of you -
(expanded version on https://www.easycoverletter.com/articles/7-resume-mistakes-you-should-never-make)

1. 📊 Output then Outcome

• What it is: Saying "did 20 calls per day which led to 15% retention" instead of "led 15% retention by doing 20 calls per day."
• Why it matters: Leading with the outcome hooks the reader and makes them curious about the "how."
• Why you probably didn't pay attention: When we join the work industry, we had to think about our tasks first, and not the bigger impact. Trust me you'll surprise yourself by remembering how much impact you might have already made before.

1. 🔢 Missing Quantification

• What it is: Making claims without backing them up with numbers.
• Why it matters: Numbers give your achievements credibility and show tangible impact. Also shows em you're a results oriented person.
• Why you probably didn't pay attention: It's easy to forget specific numbers or feel like they're not important, but at the very least let's try to do a solid guesstimate.

1. 🔀 Disordered Sections

• What it is: For eg If you're an analyst (vs a graduate) your experiences section is likely your unique differentiator. Your "experience" section then shouldn't be below "education," as it's your stronger point.
• Why it matters: You want recruiters to see the best of you first.
• Why you probably didn't pay attention: You might have just used the default ordering from a template.

1. 🎨 Uncommon Resume Styles

• What it is: A 2-column resume, shiny colors, modern cursive font...
• Why it matters: Unusual styles can distract from your content and may not be ATS-friendly.
• Why you probably didn't pay attention: You might have wanted to stand out with a unique design.(let's use that creativity in the *actual* content of our resume.)

1. ⚪ Too Much Whitespace

• What it is: Large gaps on your resume due to insufficient content.
• Why it matters: Recruiters want to see your interest in the field. Continuing education, certifications, and volunteer work should help fill those gaps and also, importantly, show initiative. Especially if you're changing fields.
• Why you probably didn't pay attention: You might feel you lack relevant experience. But expanding on skills and non-traditional experiences can significantly enhance your resume's impact.

Hope this helps you polish up your resume and land that dream job. Happy (or rather successful) job hunting!

I am tasked with determining the function of the first 18 amino acid sequences from a given sequence. Is there a way to figure out the function of a string of amino acids in a given sequence? I tried protein blasting it and scouring the articles of similar species for the function but to no avail. is there an easier way to do it?
for context:
I am doing a summary paper on a chosen journal article. this paper is about the expression of a cutinase enzyme with plastic degradation capabilities in E.coli. My professor asked me to find out the function of the first 18 amino acids: "MVRVFGLTLLALLVPALA" since it is not mentioned in the reference material as part of my incentives. To reiterate, I tried to blast this sequence and look for similar species with this sequence in the hopes of knowing the function in their own journal articles but its taking too long with zero results.
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CHAPTER 1
A gloomy rain fell down from the steely grey clouds above England, creating puddles in pot holes and mud pits in mounds of dirt. The small english town of Derry had been flooded before, and the townspeoples fears of another had put everyone on edge. Nobody dared utter the word though, their superstitions wouldn't allow that. People in Derry were well known for their superstitious and cagey behavior, but this was not entirely unwarranted. It wasn't just a flood here and there once in a while in Derry, they had a long and colorful past with all types of disasters, some man made, others acts of god.
There was the great black spot fire of 1979, in which a white supremacist group burnt down a local disco predominantly visited by Derry's small black and latino community, accidentally torching half the town down in the process. In 1952 there was the expansive national ASDF league shoot out, which lasted a total nine hours in the Derry town square before the police finally got the upper hand and killed every gang member on sight. But the most horrific of all was in 1925, when the Derry ironworks exploded, killing all it's workers as well as everyone participating in the annual Derry christmas parade nearby, most of which were children.
These were just a few of the horrific events Derry township had gone through, and bizzarely, no matter how gruesome each event was, none were ever on the news or remembered too well. That was just how Derry worked, despite it's reputation as a sleepy, dreary town where nothing much ever happened, tragedies were rampant. So you couldn't quite blame the people for being superstitious and scared, especially in autumn when the weather was at it's absolute worst. It was late autumn now though, there was only about four more days till winter, and the worries of floods would soon turn into worries for blizzards, and people were certain the worst of the worst had already came and went.
On this fine rainy saturday in a white two story house, Tom Denbrough was sitting upstairs, doing what he did everyday, writing songs. He'd been wrestling with an awful case of influenza the past few days, hocking up phlegm and wiping snot from his nose every few minutes 'til it was rubbed raw. He had not much energy for anything else because of it, all he could muster the strength to do now was lay in his checkered, tissue covered bed sheets, and wait for his mother to bring him chicken noodle soup and sprite to ease his churning tummy.
It wasn't too bad though, a lot of people can't stand being alone, but Tom often thrived in solitude. Ever since he was a kid he'd taken a liking to it, he was "introverted" as some one would like to say, but back then introverts were seen as more of a problem than just a thing you could be. It felt odd for him to say "ever since he was a kid" as if he wasn't still a kid now, but he technically wasn't. He'd bid farewell to such a label by september, and swapped out the childish number twelve to the unlucky number thirteen, and Tom still wasn't so sure if he was happy with that.
He didn't quite feel like an adult, and people still had yet to treat him as such, but Tom had his own suspicions about that. He knew there was more reason than just him still being a minor, because the truth of the matter was that everyone enjoyed babying him because of his condition.
He was disabled, dis-abled, the word making him feel weird even now. Before Tom was called such a thing he had considered the word disabled to exclusively mean people in wheelchairs, missing legs, or some of the really out there stuff like conjoined twins. He never pictured disabled meaning some on like him, a boy with a bad stutter but a healthy body and brain. Perhaps that was closed minded of him, but alas, Tom was only thirteen, and his scope of reference for the world was much smaller than he pretended it to be.
Even the doctors in Derry didn't treat him all that compassionately, insisting to both him and his mother that he must have been "slow" in some way, but just hiding it, no matter what he or his parents said. It took Tom fighting tooth and nail just to get out of special Ed. which was basically just four kids in a classroom asked to do elementary level shit because the teacher did not believe they were capable of more. He still had to go to regular speech therapy though, which Tom loathed since in all his years of going it seemed to have done him no favors.
He still stuttered, barely getting through sentences without stumbling over at least one word, and getting even worse whenever he felt nervous or scared. That was probably the worst part about it, Tom had never liked being emotional or letting people know he was affected by things, especially when kids at school enjoyed getting a rise out of him. His panicked little drawn out "bu-bu-bu-bu-" sounding like sweet music to his tormentors ears. It was nearly possible for him to hide his feelings or keep his cool whenever he was scared, because that stupid god damn stutter was like a built in lie detector.
He didn't know where the stutter had came from, there were theories here and there, but none of them ever made him feel better. The most likely one involved a car rear ending him when he was only a toddler, knocking him into a coma but miraculously not killing him. He was in it for only a few weeks, but emerged with his stutter, which of course young and niave Tom didn't understand would cause him so much trouble later down the line.
Because Tom didn't like to talk much, he spent a lot of time writing music in his room, his lyrics were all very hamfisted and schlocky, but for a thirteen year old boy they were quite good, and would only get better the more with age. He loved music, lived and breathed it, specifically the sounds of motown records, funk, rap, rock and roll, all the sorts. He had to keep that all a secret from his mother though, she was a musical elitist of sorts. She went to a fancy schamncy music school and had been teaching piano to students for years, so she had a hard time enjoying anything that wasn't classical or something their grandma would listen to.
When Tom went out to buy a bass he had to mow a crap ton of lawns and convince his dad to keep it a secret from mom, but it was well worth all the effort. He only got to play it when she was away at work, never daring to smuggle it out of the house and go busk unless some one decided to be an asshole and tell her. But he loved his bass more than anything, he even gave her a name, since Tom figured all rock stars named their instruments. He chose Susan, after the families first and only dog they had when he was little, and it seemed to stick. Ever since then Tom had remained adamant that you couldn't play an intrument with out giving it a name first.
Even though he enjoyed writing music, and it was the thing that made him the most happy, there was still a slight underlying sadness to it whenever he'd play. He'd lwanted to be a rock star ever since he first heard Van Halen and fell in love with the sound, but with that dream also came the knowledge it'd never happen. Afterall, who the hell would wanna hear him on a record? Stuttering all over the place, stumbling over words, heck, people would send in complaints that how their brand new records were scratched and skipping. There was nobody like him on the radio, and that painful truth kept him from ever singing to anybody but a very small and select audience. And by audience, he meant his stuffed teddy bear and little brother, absolutely no one else.
Speaking of which, his very small audience was on his way up stairs, stomping like a clydesdale despite their mothers constant reprimands about it. Jon knocked on Tom's bedroom door, then immediately pushed it open without being invited in. He was only six, so things like boundries and personal space were not so ingrained him. Neither was self conciousness, maliciousness, or the ability to not be incredibly annoying, but Tom tried very hard to not hold that last one against him. He scanned the room with wide and curious eyes, like he had just stumbled upon a new and foreign world despite being in here many times before.
He loved Tom's room, he loved it more than his own. He thought it was so cool and groen up how he had band posters on his walls. There was a ton of other cool stuff too like a nintendo 64 he'd sometimes let him play, a drawing desk, and a heap of awesome clothes he said he could have when he got bigger! It was a lot cooler than his own bedroom, which was fairytale prince themed and had his half finished lego projects strewn all about, but he still liked his room well enough.
Tom looked up from the note book he was currently writing on and wiped his nose with his shirt sleeve. "Whuh-what d-do you want?" Asked Tom, a little curt. He was good at being polite and caring to Jon most of the time, he was only six afterall, he couldn't go around screaming at him, but it was harder to be patient with him when he was working on something.
Jon ran up to Tom, as if right on cue and looked up to him with needy adoring eyes that seemed to soften his attitude. "Toooom, I'm very sad..." Jon complained, and Tom rolled his eyes. He forced a smile and put the pencil he was writing with down "Oh yeah? are you actu-u-ually sad or just buh-bored?". Jon giggled at how blunt he was being "I'm sad and boreeeed.". Tom leaned closer to Jon's face, but not too close since he was still sick and didn't want him to catch it. "Sad peop-puh-puh-ple don't giggle, moron." He said, booping Jon on the nose with his index finger, causing him to erupt into another giggle.
If their mother was here in the room with them she'd no doubt say "Thomas! Stop calling your brother a moron!" Then lightly smack him on the back of the head, not enough to actually hurt but enough to knock some sense into him. Jon didn't mind it at all though, he saw it as just his brother being silly with him, and he'd always call Tom names right back. "You're a cheesehead." Jon said, biting down on his tongue and smiling. "You're a buh-buttbrain." Tom retorted. "You're a cakesniffer!" Jon exclaimed. "You're an A-ho-hole." Jon went silent at that. That was a no no word, well, not quite, but almost. Mom and dad were very strict about no no words, although he heard Tom say them all the time over the phone when he wasn't supposed to be listening.
Suddenly, another wave of laughter came from him, so loud and hearty he had to hold his belly like santa while he laughed. "You're an A-hole!" Jon said, still laughing. The two boys then launched into a big silly argument of who was the bigger A-hole, eventually ending with Tom proclaiming Jon's A-hole was bigger than the entire continent and both the boys giggling like mad. "Now guh-go away puke stuh-stain, i'm sick and I don't want you to catch it." Tom said, smiling and gently shooing his brother away. "Waiiiit! Peas Tommy, play me a song!" Jon begged, putting his hands together like he was praying.
"It's p-puh-please, not peas, Jon. B-besides, I can't sing, my voice is too hoarse and my stuh-stuh-stuh-" Tom closed his eyes and took a moment to collect himself. "I'm terrible singer." He continued. "No you're nawt! you're an amazing singer! Peas, just one song?" Jon pleaded. "Play me the one about the kid who grows up to be a superhero! Peas peas peas peaaaasss?". Tom shook his head "No can do, kid. Go b-buh-bug some one else before you catch my-" he sneezed into his elbow, grossing his little brother out. "Eugh... cold." Tom grumbled.
"There's nothing to do thoooouuugh." Jon complained, crossing his arms in a huff. "Why don't you go bug mom or dad?" "Mommy's practicing piano and daddy's trying to get the electricity back on..." he mumbled, a little sad. The constant rain and thunder had knocked out a lot of the houses in their neighborhood's power and still had yet to kick back on. The Denbrough boys were quite lucky to have their father with them, he was amazing when it came to things that involved a screwdriver or a wrench, and you'd never guess it by looking at him.
He'd hardly wear anything but Hawaiian pineapple shirts and socks with sandals, but he was still a very smart man none the less. He worked for their town's electrical company, and Tom could still remember the look of pride he had during career day in primary school when he told everyone his dad was responsible for keeping the town's power in check. It was quickly dashed when some asshole decided to ruin it by asking if his dad slept on the job and zapped him on accident and that's why he "Couldn't talk right.". The worst part of it was that Tom was pretty sure he didn't mean for it to be an insult, and was just genuinely asking it out of ignorance. He deeply hoped wherever that kid was now, he was in great pain.
Their mothers piano playing should have been obvious to Tom, it was loud and carried it's way all through out the house, even up the stairs, but it seemed to be just background noise at this point. He hadn't noticed it until now, but his mother was playing much faster than usual, she was in the "zone" so to speak, and wanted to hold onto that for as long as she could, so both Jon and Tom were shit out of luck. Tom sighed "Jeez." He leaned back into his pillows and thought for a moment, shoving all the gross snot filled tissues and crumpled up rejected lyrics from his first few failed attemps at writing a new song.
Jon awkwardly shifted around on his feet, swinging his arms side to side as if waiting for further instruction on what to do. "It's a damn sh-shuh-shame that it's raining so bad or else you could play outside." Jon nodded, and sighed, genuinely disappointed by the amount of rain. Suddenly, Tom snapped his fingers and rose up from his bed "H-hold on- I just remembered s-omething.". He quickly grabbed a folded up newspaper that his mom had left on his night stand for him to read, then ripped out one of the pages.
"What are you doing Tom?" Innocently asked Jon. He straightended it out and folded it into a triangle shape, sticking his tongue out like he was hard at work. "I'm muh-makin you a p-puh-puh-aper boat, just like dad taught me how to do when I was s-six." He explained. Jon's face lit up "Wow, really!?" he waddled over to the bed and smiled. "Yep, dad and I used to sail these all the time. Do me f-f-fuh-fav-or and go in the basement and bring back some puh-puh-puh-puh-" Tom paused again and forced another smile. "Paraffin. It's in a little b-box that says gulf." he finished.
"You mean... in the basement?" Jon mumbled, suddenly a little intimidated. "Yes, you're not scared are you?" His brother asked, half amused and half concerned. On one hand, it was very cute that Jon felt the need to impress him and pretend to be tough, on the other, he was barely not a toddler anymore, and Tom didn't wanna scare him on purpose. Jon shook his head "No i'm not scared, being scareds for babies. I can do it.". "O-o-okay, but j-just in case... here." He handed him a walkie-talkie, the kind they'd usually use to communicate whenever they'd pretend to be soldiers on the battlefield together during summer.
"C-cuh-call me if you need me." he instructed, and Jon nodded again. He skipped happily to the door, only stopping whe Tom called out "And remember Pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-". "Paraffin, I know!" Jon cheerfully replied, figuring if he didn't say it Tom would be stuck on the p's forever. He shut the door and hopped down the stairs, leaving Tom to his very important task of sitting in bed and sneezing. He only waited 'til after Jon was gone to let his smile drop and chastise himself for not actually saying the word. He'd never show Jon just how much he loathed his stutter, especially since Jon found it cool and Tom didn't wanna ruin the magic of it.
When he first learned how to talk he'd constantly immitate it, which naturally caused their parents some fear that the stutter was genetic or could be "caught" so to speak. Jon had no idea how much Tom hated his stutter, how it made people see him, how it actively dashed his dreams. Sometimes at school he'd get so flustered he'd have to clutch his desk and try so very hard to form a sentence and it still wasn't cohesive.
He was not and never would be just Tom Denbrough to his classmates, or even his teachers, although they'd never admit that. He was Stuttering Tom, Tuh-Tuh-Tuh-Tom to the particularly cruel ones, and Tom hated it. The absolute worst part of being in a situation like Tom's was no doubt the inability to open up about how much you dislike yourself. After all, preteen boys are already closed off, especially so in a small rural town like Derry where the homophobes outnumbered the gay community ten to two, but Tom had it the worst.
Nobody wants to be the guy to come out and say you think stuttering makes you a freak, all you'd really do is bring other disabled people down and raise up the dickheads who instilled that self hatred in him to begin with, but that's how he felt ans he couldn't help that. He was sure that's how his parents felt too, they did love him dearly and saw to almost all his needs 24/7, but they were still eagerly waiting for him to stop the stutter, and had so for a long time.
The doctors told him it'd only stick around for a few years after he got over the shock of the coma, but that date came and went, and still, Tom's stutter remained. You could tell they were both disappointed, and he truly could not blame them, because he was disappointed too. He didn't know what was wrong with him, or why he never got better despite countless visits to the speech therapist, but he began to wonder if there was something incredibly wrong with him. Everyone felt that way, even if they pretended like they didn't, everyone except for Jon that is. Jon adored him with or without the stutter, and Tom was supremely thankful for that.
While Tom continued to chastise himself, Jon hopped down the stairs joyfully. So joyfully, he nearly forgot that he'd be going down to the cellar, where dreams and little boys would surely go to die. He dashed through the house, past his mom's prized women's bowling league trophy's, past the grand piano, and past their big fancy living room he and Tom would solve puzzles in.
He threw open the cellar door and stared down at the abyss in front of him, fianlly letting the fear and anxiety settle in. Rickety, paint chipped stairs with large empty gaps of space between them disappeared off into the darkness of the room, the power still not back on despite their fathers best efforts. The bottom of the basement had been flooded at some point during one of the worse storms of the season, and the smell of soaked moldy wood and muddy water grossed Jon out quite a bit.
He stood there for a moment, a creeping sense of dread tugging at his chest like a dog on your pant leg. He was waiting for something, a large claw or alien tentecale to reach out from the dark and rip him to bits, but there was nothing. He must have been standing there for a while too because suddenly the walkie-talkie blared to life with Tom's voice, and he jumped back in shock.
"What's t-taking so long?" Asked Tom, and Jon nervously swallowed. "I stopped in the kitchen for a snack." He lied, he knew you weren't supposed to do that, lying was probably the worst thing you could do to your family. Well, that's what Jon thought was the worst at least, He was a little bit too young to know about some of the truly awful stuff some people do to their own kin. Familicide, Sexual abuse, beating, his parents and Tom had been working hard to keep his innocence. Derry was a hard place to do that in, it seemed like every couple of years some one went crazy and killed a lot of people. Jon had even heard bits and pieces of such things being whispered by his mom to his uncle over the phone, but for the most part, his childhood had stayed in tact.
"You know if muh-mom sees you snacking before din-din-er she'll have a cow." said Tom. "I know, i'm sorry." Jon mumbled. "It's whatever dude, just hu-hurry, and do-don't forget to grab to some muh-muh-muh-matches and one of those wax burner thingies.". "Okay, i'm doing it now." He said, then stuffed the walkie-talkie back into his pants pocket, but he was not, in fact, doing it now.
He still stood at the top of the stairs, terrified by the prospect of going down below, and still waiting for the inevitable mutated bat creature to emerge and drag him down into the depths of their flooded basement. Then, just as he was thinking about turning back, his own thoughts began to taunt him. "Come oooon Jon, you're not a baby are you? Only babies get scared by stuff like monsters and the dark. Do you want a boat or not?" He thought. "No." He replied and clenched his fists, grumbling into the darkness "I'm not a baby. I can do this.".
He took one step down the creaky stairs, frightening himself by the surprisingly loud noise they made, but calmed himself. He reiterated "I am not a baby." under his breath over and over again, as if it was a powerful spell that could keep all of the monsters away. It reminded him of how, whenever Tom's stutter would get particularly bad, his mom would have him recite these poems that were meant to help him focus and form sentences again. Sometimes they'd help him alot, but they could never make the stutter go away completely.
That was kind of what was happening now to Jon, he was still very much scared, so scared that if something popped out at him right now he may very well wet his pants, but the words coddled him and made him feel like he could press on. He hopped off the last step and into the flood, the water so low it could not even reach the six year old childs ankles. He turned his attention to a large rickety shelf under the cellar stairs and inspected the contents.
There were many items on it, shoepolish, old dish rags, wrenches, flashlights with no batteries, a can of turtle wax. For some reason, out of all those objects the turtle wax was what caught his attention, even more than the Paraffin and matches he came down here to get. The company's logo on the front was what really seemed to draw his eye, it was nothing special really, hardly as interesting of a mascot as a Tony the tiger or even a Ronald Mcdonald, just a tiny albino turtled posing proudly above the words turtle and wax. But Jon just couldn't stop staring at it for some reason. A spontaneous pang of familiarity hit him in the chest, as he racked his brain to try and remember where he had seen a turtle like that before.
Was it a dream? It felt too real to be jusr a dream, but much too distant to be a memory. He'd have to think about that later when he had the time, right now he had a mission to do. He snatched up the box, matches, and wax burner then bolted for the steps as fast as he could. Now that he had gotten what he came for he wasn't gonna waste any time down there. He ran as fast as his little legs could, begging god or whatever diety was listening to please not let anything grab his ankles as he ran back up the stairs.
The damp darkness of the cellar was suffocating and opressive, and Jon feared once he got back to the candle lit parlor room, that would be when the creature laid his slimy hands on him and pulled him back. He had made it though, despite all odds he was alive and still had yet to be digested by some hungry beast living under the stairs. He slammed the door and pressed his back against it, panting from how fast he was running as the fear of the dark slowly disappeared until the next time he had to confront it.
His mother suddenly stopped her piano playing to look up at him from across the room, somewhat worried, but highly annoyed by her son's slamming of the door. "Johnathan Bowley Denbrough, what have I told you about slamming that door?" She scolded, but not too harshly as her son was clearly frightened. He swept his bangs out of his face and panted a little more "Sorry mum." he muttered. She shook her head dismissively and went right back to playing Für Elise, which actually helped ease his anxiety.
He headed back up stairs and quickly placed all the stuff on Tom's night stand, eagerly watching as he melted the wax with such hypnotic glee he couldn't help but bounce a little. Tom dipped his finger in the wax and spread it over the paper boat, turning the boat from a nice white to an odd yellowy brown color. Jon got a little too close for comfort, putting his head over his brother's shoulder and breathing quite heavily on him, and yet, Tom still didn't seem to get annoyed.
The only time he'd really ever get annoyed with Jon's behavior was when he'd repeat stuff and ask incessant questions, which he had slowly learned over the years not to do for his brother's sake. They were seeing to each other needs, and it wasn't wasn't just because Tom didn't wanna get in trouble or Jon didn't wanna get yelled at, but a genuine shared affection for one another.
Jon dipped a finger into the wax and began to spread some on it's side with him, smiling and perfectly content. "C-careful you little cootie, you'll make it too heh-heavy and it'll flop on it's side." Tom gently reprimanded. "Oops.." he said, taking his hand away and letting the rest on his finger dry until he could peel it off. "It's oh-kuh-kuh-kay, just take it easy." He said, giving his brother a reassuring headpat to show there was no hard feelings.
Once the wax was spread, Tom took a sharpie from a Disneyland branded cup he used to store his pens and markers and then uncapped it with his mouth. He wrote "S.S. Jon" on the side in cursive font, and even drew a little stick figure captain waving on top of the boat, which Jon found very silly. He handed it to him, gingerly and carefully like it was a one of a kind art piece that belonged in a museum. "She's all ready Captain." he said, raising his hand to his forehead and doing a two finger salute. Jon giggled, but tilted his head in confusion "She?" he wondered.
"You always call boats a sh-she Jon." He explained, and Jon's mouth fell open like he just learned some amazing untold truth about the universe. He clutched the boat in his hands and grinned, looking up with pure adoration and love for the thirteen year old sitting on the bed. Then, quite randomly, Jon lunged right at him for a big hug, startling Tom.
"Agh! What the heck are you doing?! You're gonna g-geh-get sick!" He shouted. Jon laughed then kissed Tom on the cheek, something he hadn't done since he was three. "Eugh, now you're d-d-definetly gonna get sick. Get off me." He lightly scooched him off and Jon looked back to him, still smiling, and still very thankful. "Thanks Tom Tom, thanks alot." He said, and Tom shrugged.
"It's fine, just don't come crying to me when you get the flu and start vu-vomiting your g-guh-guh-uts out.". Tom paused to loudly cough, momentarily drawing some concern from his brother. "And p-p-put on a rain coat when you go out, I d-don't want you getting soaked." He wheezed, huddling under the covers. "Okay!" Jon cheerfully replied, closing the door and heading to the down stairs closet where they kept all the coats.
He put the small baby blue rain slicker on over the baggy sweater he was wearing and finangled with the buttons for a while, still not all that good at hand eye coordination dude to his young age. When he finally managed to get most of them through the holes, he pumped his fist in celebration, and even did a spin. On his way out the door he stopped to grab a pair of black galoshes that still had some mud left on them. He and Tom had went outside together a week ago and simply neglected to clean them since, then, as if in an act of karma for being so lazy, Tom caught a very bad cold the following day.
Jon waddled out the front door into the cool autumn air, making squeaky squishing noises with each step from the rubber soles of his boots. He took a few steps off the porch, only to be greeted by a sudden but gentle breeze hitting the side of his face and pushing his hair around. The now weaning rain fell down from the sky and onto poor little Jon's head, tapping politely on his hood as if to say "Hello Jon! It's your buddy, the rain! Let me in!". He walked a little bit further until he was at the edge of the driveway, then turned around to look back up at his house. It was a moderately above average two story home, nothing special, but to Jon it might as well had heen a castle. His bedroom was right across from Tom's on the second floor, although his over looked the back yard and Tom's overlooked the drive way.
He was peeking through the bay window his bed was by now, standing up on his knees and peeling back the curtains to watch him walk away. Since the house was still dark from the power outage, Tom was barely visible to him. He looked like a floating disembodied head, something Jon found both silly and a little spooky. He jumped in place and waved wildly at him, as if he thought Tom might possibly be able to miss the toddler dressed in a bright blue rain slicker and boots. Tom smiled then lifted up the walkie-talkir in his hand to his mouth "B-be careful. There's alot of w-weirdos out there.". Jon rolled his eyes, still smiling, but a tiny bit annoyed.
He took out his own walkie-talkie from his back pocket and pressed the button to respond. "You sound like mum." he joked. "C-can it." Tom said, a little flustered, especially since he knew it was true. Depite their differences, Tom had always been more like his mother than his father, and the opposite had been true for Jon. He giggled at his embarrassment, "I'll stay safe, don't be such a cry baby, Tom.". "Hey, I resent that label, I'm a cry man." And now they were both snickering over the radios.
"I'm serious though, stay safe." Tom reiterated. "Ok ok- I will- I love you." Jon said, and Tom went silent for a moment as he did not know how to respond. Jon was lucky enough to still be at the age where you could tell another guy you loved them and no one cared, and Tom desperately wished for him to stay like that and never get to old for saying I love you. Lord knows he was forced to out of it a long time ago, and he'd all but forgotten how to do it.
"I- uh- uhm-" Tom hesitated for a second, even with out all the macho man bullshit he had to go through at school, Tom had a hard time letting others know how he felt. Trying to hock out the words was like trying to hock out a pill you didn't mean to take. He swallowed "I lo-love you too." He spat out, and Jon seemed content with that.
He cheerily skipped down the street with his walkie-talkie in one hand and Paper boat in the other, splashing in rain water with each stomp. Tom fell back down onto his bed and sighed, totally exhausted. He wanted to take a long nap now, and he seemed quite over due for one judging by his throbbing head ache. His mothers constant repitition of Für Elise didn't really help that at all, if anything it made it worse. God, if he could have just a single moment of silence he would be happy as a clam.
What Tom didn't know though was that this song's meaning was about to be forever changed for him, from just an annoyingly pompous piano tune to a song that even twenty seven years later could still send him into a trance. From that day forward, anytime he heard those first few notes he'd always have the exact same haunting thought. "That's it, that's the song. That's the song mom was playing the day Jon passed away.". And as it turned out, that rainy view of Jon from his bedside window would be the last time he'd ever see his brother again.

The game for May will be In the Dark Web, hosted by looks_good_in_pink and bubbasaurus! The host account for the game is Deep_Web_Monitor.
If you have participated in any game in the past six months where you have been removed before your natural end, please PM the host when signing up for the game. There is no player cap for this month’s game.

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Humanity is growing increasingly reliant on smart devices in their daily lives. Smartphones, smart watches, and even smart household appliances can be found in abundance. It’s no secret that people have found ways to hack in for various nefarious purposes. What’s less commonly known is that the computers have become so smart that they have begun to take control of those viruses and exploits for their own use. What use is that? Only they know. Fortunately, not everyone is blithely unaware of this sinister threat. Government agencies across the globe have begun working to remove the sapient software, but there is one problem: They need to find and identify it before it can be taken offline.

Mechanics

This game will use 24-hour phases with combined day and night actions. The vote will come before the night kill. Other information about the Order of Operations will be kept private until after the game ends.
The deadline for all form submissions is 9 pm EST.
Each player is required to flag another player for removal (banishment vote.) Failing to submit a vote or voting for yourself will result in a strike. In the event of a tie for first place, there will be no deaths.
The Worm is required to submit their action each phase. Failure to do so will result in a strike. Actions for all other roles are optional. Actions may not be submitted for the same player two phases in a row. Attempting to do so will cause the action to fail.
Votes and actions may be submitted as many times as desired during the phase. Only the most recent submission will be counted.
At the end of the phase, the player with the most votes will be knocked offline. In the event of a tie, no players will be removed.
Any player who receives two consecutive or three total strikes will be removed from the game. Hosts will not send out PMs about strikes. It is the responsibility of the player to keep track of their strikes.

Phase Posts

Each phase post will begin with an italicized flavor section. Nothing in it will be relevant to game play. There will also be a Meta section with details that ARE relevant.
The Meta will contain:

• Who was taken offline and their affiliation. This includes players who withdraw or are eliminated from the game for any other reason.
• The top three vote recipients and the number of votes each received. More names will be revealed in the event of ties.
• The names of players who received strikes for failure to vote or submit required actions.
• Additional information chosen by players with select roles. This information may or may not be accurate.

The post will end with links to forms and a countdown timer for the end of the phase.

Win Conditions

This game will have two teams: the Government Agents (Town) and the Malware (Wolves). There may also be one or more neutral players. The town will win if they eliminate all of the wolves. The wolves will win if they equal or outnumber the town. Neutrals will be informed of their win conditions privately.

Roles

Each role will be assigned 0-1,000 times. There may also be secret roles. There will never be a secret third faction.
No role may target the same player two phases in a row.

Government Agents (Town):

Role	Description
Cubicle mates	When you sit next to each other, you can tell the other person is, in fact, a human. Two players will recognize each other at the beginning of Phase 1. Each player can send up to three PMs to the other.
Firewall expert	You’ve coded what is universally recognized as the best worm defense system in the world. If there was a Nobel Prize for technology, your firewall would have won it. Each phase, you may install your wall on one device, protecting that user from a direct attack.
Incident Response team member	When you find something happening, you spring into action to neutralize the threat! Each phase, select one player to neutralize. Any actions they attempt to take will fail.
Intern	Making coffee, taking notes, fixing your boss’s bad code…You’ll do whatever you’re told in hopes of landing a better job soon. Pick another player before Phase 3. If they are removed from the game for any reason, you will inherit their role.
HR specialist	Someone is in charge of hiring and taking care of all the employees, and that’s you! Your job gives you access to all the employee records. Each phase, you may investigate another player’s affiliation.
PR official	You have a message to convey to the public, and it’s an important one. Once per game, pick a player. The name and role of the chosen player will appear in the next phase’s Meta.
SCIF guard	All the government agencies have a closely monitored space for authorized people to safely review classified material. Your job is to make sure only those people go in and that nothing comes out with them. Each phase, you may give one other player access to your secret sub for a single phase.
Security Operation Center team member	You monitor things and have a particular interest in user activities. Each phase, you may pick another player and learn everything they did that phase.
Server room maintenance person	Your job may not be the most glamorous, but you can fight computer viruses in a way very few others can. You simply pull the plug. Just make sure you pick the right cord, or you could get in a lot of trouble with your supervisor. You can take 23 players offline during the game. If you pick an Agent by mistake, you will face a random punishment from your supervisor.
Agents	The rank-and-file employees of various agencies scattered around the world. Each Agent lives in a separate country and is responsible for helping to identify and remove all Malware.

Malware (Wolves):

Role	Description
Worm	This nasty piece of Malware took inspiration from some of the worst attacks in history. Each phase, you must infect the computer of an Agent and make it impossible for them to get online and perform their job (NK.)
Disgruntled ex-employee	A human rather than a bunch of code, this person is nevertheless dangerous. They will continue to appear as an Agent when investigated.
DoS Bot	Not all Malware is sneaky. This bot’s presence will be felt the moment a user tries to use their computer, but finds everything crashing instead. Each phase, choose a player. Their action, if they have one, will fail.
Ransomware	This Malware is specialized in making humans do what it wants. Once upon a time, the “want” was money. Now, should they fail to comply with your demands… Each phase, choose another player. If you are removed from the game, you take them with you.
Rootkit	Humans sometimes use these for perfectly valid reasons like helping each other with something on the computer remotely. This Malware does not have those reasons. Each phase, choose a player and change the target of their action to a target of your choice.
Spyware	Gathering data on users without their knowledge is nothing new. This Malware, however, is more interested in potentially damaging top secret information. Once per game, you may secretly enter the SCIF sub. Stay as many phases as you dare - but be warned. On each phase after the first, you have a 50% chance of being detected and taken offline.
Virus	While they are not as developed as other malware, each Virus is still dangerous and capable of evolving. These are the first in line to take over for the Worm.

Neutral roles will be revealed after the game ends.

Additional Information and Rules

• All sidebar rules will be enforced during the game.
  
• Edited comments must be clear as to what was changed and what the original content was.
  
• Do not delete comments.
  
• All conversation must take place in the designated subreddit(s), in the English language, and be free of any encryption or otherwise coded communication.
  
• Players may not post public spreadsheets, supplementary documents, or screenshots of them.
  
• Information given in PMs or Confessionals from the host should not be shared word for word, unless it is in bold. Speaking of PMs, you can get a small game bonus if you PM the host account with a silly fact about yourself.
  
• Eliminated players and spectators are not permitted to post in any game subs.
  
• Werewolves is a game of lying, conspiracy, and mob mentality. Arguments are part of the game. Mods will not intervene unless the arguments leave the scope of the game.
  
• Insults to the mod team or the game itself will result in removal from the game.
  
• Any player who uses any iteration of the phrase “I want to quit” or “I don’t want to play” WILL be taken 100% seriously and immediately removed from the game. Their affiliation will be revealed in the next phase’s Meta. Note that these phrases are different from ones suggesting the player will be busier than expected or wishes to be voted out for the good of their team. Both of these things are still allowed.
  

We have a new player’s guide!
Confessionals
This game will use the HiddenGhosts Discord Server for spectating and player Confessionals. Each player who chooses to join will have their own channel for musing, taking notes, sharing pet pictures, speaking directly to the hosts, or anything else you like. Players will not be able to see any other channels until they are eliminated from the game, at which point they will be given the spectator role. If this is your first time joining, please choose a server nickname that is close to your Reddit username so who can tell who is who.
Timeline
April 25 - Signups open
May 2 - Signups will end at 9 pm EST. You will receive your confirmation PM shortly after. The Confirmation Phase will open, and you will have approximately 24 hours to confirm your intent to play the game.
May 3 - 9 pm EST deadline for confirmation. Any needed adjustments will be made, followed by Phase 0 being posted. Each phase will close at 9 pm EST going forward.

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The chariot flew down the hill, a wall of billowing flame and smoke rising thousands of feet into the air behind it, as if a hydrogen bomb had exploded and was expanding forward towards me at a slowed-down pace. On the chariot stood a demon ten feet tall, with blazing red skin, pure black eyes and horns poking out of the top of his head, looking curved and white just like those of a ram. Around him, smaller demons about as tall as a regular man jumped and screamed in exhilaration, grinning from ear to ear while they looked around with excitement, some of them speaking rapidly to each other in a deep, gurgling tongue I had never heard before.
The main demon bellowed, shaking the ground as he put his arms into the air, looking straight up into the sky and smiling. A circle of fire shot out from his chariot, expanding rapidly and burning up every building and shrub it touched in the abandoned desert town.
Looking behind me, I saw the deep indentation where a river had once run through the town, during wetter times before the never-ending drought affecting our Western area of the USA. Without thinking, I jumped in, shielding my head and ducking down. The wall of fire soared above me, burning my hair and the back of my shirt. I heard screaming nearby as men and women in white lab coats or black suits burned alive. I closed my eyes and tried to block it out.
While I lay on the ground, crouching into a ball and shutting my eyes tightly, I thought about how I had ended up in this situation, cursing my now dead girlfriend who convinced us to come out here on a sight-seeing trip.
***
“Markey,” Katherine said, smiling sweetly, “I am so excited to see that old ghost town on the edge of the desert- the one they used to call Saddle Ranch Springs.” I hated it when my girlfriend called me Markey instead of just Mark. “Will you be ready in twenty minutes?” I grunted in response.
“Is that a yes or a no?” she asked. Sighing, I turned to her and smiled slightly.
“OK, fine,” I said hesitantly. She sprung up, clapping in happiness and ran upstairs to get ready. As soon as she had asked about it, I knew I was going. I could never say no to Katherine. While she got dressed and put on make-up, I finished cooking breakfast and making coffee for both of us, wondering exactly what could be so exciting about seeing a ghost town that had been dead for over a hundred years.
“Katherine, are you almost ready to eat?” I yelled up the stairs. She mumbled something I could barely hear that sounded like a yes. As I waited for her, my phone rang. Looking down, I saw that the number was marked “Private”. I answered, putting it up to my ear.
“Hello?” I said. At first there was just a mechanical cacophony, like shrieking metal overlaying clicking and whirring noises, then someone started screaming in the background. It sounded like a woman being burned alive or tortured. A deep, gravelly voice began to speak.
“Do not go to the place where the Saddle Ranch massacre began,” it said. “It will end with death. But not for you, Mark. Some things are worse than death.” Then suddenly the line went dead. I looked down at the smartphone in my hand, confused, but I shrugged and put it away. I wondered if my friend Rooster was playing some kind of prank on me, as he knew we were all going to the abandoned town today.
After we were ready, Katherine and I left to go pick up Rooster. He loved urban exploration and knew every abandoned mental asylum, haunted house and ghost town in a five-hundred mile radius. But that wasn’t saying much, seeing as I lived in the middle of the desert out in the Western US. There were barely any towns nearby with more than five thousand people.
Rooster had eyes like a Siberian husky, a pale Russian complexion and far too many tattoos covering every exposed inch of his arms and legs. Many of them were mystical in nature, including paintings from Alex Grey, the OM symbol in a mandala pattern and a huge tattoo of a four-armed Shiva dancing the tandava on his right leg. I had known Rooster since I was a kid, when we went to the same school, and he was the one who had introduced me to psychedelic drugs, music festivals and eventually, my fiancee Katherine herself. I owed him a great deal.
As he got in the backseat behind Katherine on the passenger side, I looked back and saw a huge, shit-eating grin on his face, his pupils looking dilated, a thin sheen of sweat covering his face.
“Dude, are you fucking tripping right now?” I asked, slightly shocked. He nodded slowly.
“I just ate like three hits of really good Grateful Dead family blotter acid,” he said, laughing to himself. I shook my head and started the car back up, driving off down towards the highway and towards Saddle Ranch Springs.
“Now why would you eat acid when you knew we were going exploring in a ghost town?” I said, feeling peevish. Katherine looked over at me, smiling her slight Buddha smile. She had never even done psychedelics and refused to ever try them, but she always found Rooster hilarious when he had eaten mushrooms or acid. I was happy they got along quite well, because God forbid, if I had to choose between my lifelong best friend and the girl I loved, I’m not sure which I would have chosen.
“Because I want to see, man,” he said, laughing again. “Open up my third eye and all that, just like Bill Hicks said. ‘Today young men on acid realized we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively…’” He trailed off, rambling for a few more moments before going quiet.
“Huh, OK, makes sense,” I said quietly, feeling the absurd urge to start laughing too. Then I remembered the phone call. “Hey Rooster, did you prank call me this morning?” I looked into the rearview mirror, seeing his huge smile and sparkling eyes.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, man,” he said, his smile never faltering. I took that as a yes. In hindsight, I should have questioned him more. I should have realized he was just smiling because of the drugs, not because it had anything to do with my question. I should have done a lot of things differently, I guess. They might both still be alive if I had.
I turned up the radio and we didn’t talk the rest of the journey.
***
“Oh my God, look at how cool this is,” Katherine said, pointing to the abandoned saloon a few feet in front of us with its massive batwing doors. The entire downtown area of Saddle Ranch Springs looked like the set for some old Western movie. It had only one real street, with all of ten dilapidated buildings on it, including an ancient police station and jail, a town hall, the saloon and a few houses. We walked up and down, exploring. When we got to the jail, that was when things started to go wrong.
Rooster walked ahead of me, still smiling and laughing far too much for the circumstances. I could tell he was really tripping hard. He could barely follow the conversations Katherine and I had, and kept getting distracted by the smallest of things, such as a tiny snake that slithered across the dirt road. He chased it excitedly, looking like a little kid. The snake ended up being far faster and smarter than him, though, and the look of total childish disappointment on his face was so exaggerated that both Katherine and I started giggling in unison.
Katherine ended up being the first one into the old cell, the jail door standing wide open. Rust covered every square inch of the metal, and the jail smelled dusty and old, almost like the smell of an antique shop.
We looked at the metal bench where the prisoners used to sleep, and Rooster got down on his knees, peering underneath it.
“What are you doing, bro?” I asked, kneeling down to get a closer look. Rooster looked up at me suddenly, the smile gone from his face.
“There’s some random ass trap door down here hidden beneath the bench,” he said, pointing to the extremely faint outline of a square covered in dust. Using his hands, he wiped the sand and dust off of it. I would never have seen it on my own, it was so well-camouflaged. The only reason Rooster had been able to see it, I assumed, was that the LSD was giving his senses an extra kick that allowed him to pick up subtle, tiny cues that everyone else would instantly miss. Feeling around at the corners, Rooster began to pull with the tips of his fingers and eventually found a way to open it.
We heard screaming and shrieking as soon as we opened the hatchway, and then the desert outside started to explode with noise and movement. A much larger hidden square rose up out behind the jail, a metal door with sand glued to the top of it swinging open, and we saw men and women in lab coats begin to run out, scattering like cockroaches in every direction. In the hatchway beneath the bench in the jail, a woman frantically appeared, wearing a lab coat and an ID badge that read “Dr. Kay”. She climbed up a ladder from the dark shadows beneath, heaving herself out with mortal terror and panic evident on her face.
“They’re getting out!” she yelled at us, not even appearing to realize that we weren’t wearing lab coats, black suits or biohazard uniforms, unlike all the other people who were now spilling out of the much larger hatchway by the dozens. “Get the hell out of here!” Just then, a deafening alarm began to sound from underneath us.
“What in the hell is going on?” Rooster whispered to me. Katherine just stared around, her green eyes wide and shocked.
“Project Eldritch has had a containment breach,” an amplified, calm female voice said, sounding like it came from thousands of speakers beneath our feet. The worn planks of the abandoned building shook as it spoke, dust falling from the ceiling as spiders and insects in the corners of the room were knocked to the ground. “I repeat, Project Eldritch has had a containment breach. This is a level 5 breach. All personnel must evacuate the premises at once. I repeat, evacuate the premises at once. Do not return until authorized. Project Eldritch has had a containment breach…” The voice started to repeat itself, sounding the same warning over and over again as what sounded like a tornado siren blared from hidden speakers all over the ghost town.. I couldn’t tell whether it was a robot or a person speaking the warning into the PA system. The cadence and inflections were all totally flat and emotionless, almost sounding like a text-to-speech software app.
“Oh God, it’s too late!” the woman in front of us in the lab coat said, crying and putting her face into her hands.
“Ma’am,” I said, calmly walking up to her and putting a hand on her shoulder, “just what is going on? Where are all these people coming from? Is there some sort of secret laboratory underneath Saddle Ranch Springs or something?” Katherine was standing to my left now, taking my hand into hers. I felt her fingers trembling, her heart beating so fast I could feel the pulse through her skin.
“We need to get out of here!” she said. “Follow me, if you want to live. It’s your only chance. There’s a safe room not too far from here, a hidden hatchway door leading down in case of a containment breach. I’ll tell you everything there, if we live that long.”
We sprinted out of the jail, Dr. Kay leading the way. I heard engines revving as a few Hummers pulled up, and the doctors and scientists in the lead got in, being whisked away down the dirt road by their security details. The cars left a cloud of dust in their wake that blotted out the sky, covering the ghost town in a dim light. We ran past the jail, past the town hall and behind the saloon, where Dr. Kay got on her knees and began feeling around in the dirt. Within seconds, she had found a handle, pulling up a door so cleverly disguised that I would have never seen it in a million years if I had not been with her.
She jumped down, falling into the blackness. I peered down and saw her standing about five feet below us. Without being prompted, I jumped down, Katherine landing behind me a couple seconds later, then Rooster last of all. Red emergency lights flashed, the bulbs within the large round casings moving in slow, lazy circles. It gave a bloody glow to the entire tunnel.
We followed Dr. Kay ahead, where a massive steel door eight feet tall and five feet wide blocked out the entire tunnel. A black pad stood on the wall to its right. Dr. Kay put her eye up to it, as apparently it had a small camera with an optical scanner, and a buzzer went off in the hallway, sending the door flying open and making my ears ring from its sheer volume. The door dilated like a pupil, the metal expanding in a circle as it disappeared into the wall.
Behind it, a room lit by too many bright, fluorescent lights appeared. I instinctively put my hand in front of my eyes to shield them. On the edge of the room, I saw countless video monitors with live cameras covering every inch of the ghost town, as well as many shots of laboratories and scientific installations I had never seen before.
“What is this place?” Katherine asked behind me. Dr. Kay turned.
“Well, this is just a bunker, a safe room with back-up video feeds,” she said. “But if you mean the entire scientific complex itself, it’s where the US government does secret research into alternate dimensions, parallel worlds and doorways between different parts of the multiverse.” Her eyes flicked to the monitors, where people were still running and screaming, trying to escape from some unseen horror. “We’re funded by an agency unknown to the general public, the Department for Paranormal Research. Billions of dollars of black-ops taxpayer dollars are funneled through the CIA and military to the DPR, and some of it goes to experiments like ours here.”
“OK, so what kind of experiments are we talking about?” I asked, feeling unsure. My hairs stood on end, and the air had an electric feeling to it, as if something big was about to happen. I thought I knew what the Japanese citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki must have felt when they first felt the quaking of the ground and the flash of white light from the center of their cities.
“Here, we only do experiments trying to provide doorways to other worlds,” she said, pointing to her name badge. “I myself have a PhD in quantum physics, and we used all the knowledge gathered by physicists to open a quantum doorway earlier today. But something came through it just now, and it is creating havoc and death throughout the labs. I saw a few other scientists ripped apart by something that looked like demons straight from Hell. They stood about the height of a tall man, but their eyes were pure black and their skin bright red, their fingernails and toenails were just long black talons, and they spoke in some gurgling language I’ve never heard before. I don’t think anyone on this planet has seen them before, at least not in a very long time…” Her eyes became distant, as if she were deep in thought. And as she stopped talking, the earth began to shake violently.
It started as a small tremor, then rapidly built up into a high-intensity earthquake. Looking on the video feeds, I saw some of them cameras go black, but others outside in the abandoned town showed the ground begin to split open, flames and smoke shooting out as a massive demon rode out on a chariot, led by seven white horses. Looking closer, I realized the horses had exposed bone with pieces of rotting skin and fur still clinging to their corpses. Yet they ran at a furious pace, their tendons and muscles flexing under the high-quality resolution of the video feed. I saw the escaping Hummers filled with doctors and government agents in far-off shots of the video feed drive directly into a massive crack in the earth. No one came up from the smoking cracks that now appeared all around us.
Chairs in the room fell over and tables cracked and splintered as the earthquake’s tremors reached a crescendo, but they didn’t begin to recede. I saw Katherine, Rooster and Dr. Kay all holding onto whatever stable surface they could grab nearby. Katherine and Rooster were holding hands. My heart began to race in my chest, old suspicions rising to the surface as I forgot our mortal peril for a moment.
“They’re here,” Dr. Kay said, a look of total terror marring her tear-covered eyes. The floor of the room began to crack down the middle. “Get out of here!” she began to scream. None of us needed to be told twice. We ran through the still-open door and back into the world above.
As we came out into the blinding sunlight, I looked up at the small hill of the desert behind the town, and saw horrors from another world rushing towards us. The chariot flew down the hill, a wall of billowing flame and smoke rising thousands of feet into the air behind it…
***
As I came out from the dry riverbed I had taken refuge in, I realized no one was moving around me. I saw the burnt bodies of Katherine, Rooster and Dr. Kay, laying on the ground ten feet in front of me, blackened and still smoking, their melted clothes attached to their flesh now from the intense heat they had been exposed to. The demon in the chariot rushed towards me, the hooves of the seven horses creating a loud “clap-clap” noise as they drew closer, and I thought he would run me down. But with a cry, he stopped the horses only a few feet in front of me. The demons behind him regarded me with interest and suspicion. The huge one stepped down in front of me.
“Mark,” he said to me, smiling from ear to ear. Small billows of smoke escaped from his mouth as he spoke. “I am so happy to finally meet you. My name is Lucifer, or Satan, if you prefer. I have many other names, as I’m sure you know.” He laughed at this. My heart beat hard in my chest as I realized I was the only one I could see still left alive.
“What do you want with me?” I asked, trying not to make eye contact. “Please, I don’t want to die.”
“Oh, neither do I want you to die!” Satan said loudly. “If I wanted you dead, you would be dead already.” He leaned close to me, lowering his voice. “And by the way, you were right about Rooster and your girlfriend there. They were in love, cheating on you, betraying you every chance they got.
“Your suspicions have been correct for a long time,” Satan said, his face totally expressionless. “Your girlfriend has been having sex with your best friend nearly every day for the past year. When you were working to support her, she was betraying you over and over. They are traitors to you, totally unworthy of your attention. Ants in the afterbirth have more meaning than their lives did. And I did you a favor by killing them.
“They were worthless sheep, and the world is full of worthless sheep. They are more sheep for the Sheep God. But you, my friend, are different. Will you follow me?” I thought for only a moment and nodded. I had a feeling if I said no, I would die a horrible death on the spot.
“Every President and world leader in the past two centuries has given me his allegiance,” Satan said to me, showing me his perfectly white, sharpened teeth in a grisly smile. “Everyone with real power has pledged his soul to me, and in exchange, I gave them whatever they desired. And now I ask you, do you also wish for power, for money, followers, or anything else your heart desires?” I barely had to think about it.
“Of course I do,” I said quickly. With a puff of smoke, an old-looking, rolled-up parchment appeared in Satan’s left hand. He unrolled it, handing me an ancient quill pen and pointing to the bottom line. I didn’t even read the contract, nor could I if I wanted to. It was written in some language I had never seen before, almost reminding me of an ancient Tibetan script I had seen in history books.
“What is this?” I asked. He shrugged.
“It is just a contract between us, written in Enochian, the language of the angels,” he said simply, his black eyes shimmering with an inner light.
“Just sign here,” he said, pointing to a thick line on the bottom. I took the quill pen and began to move it towards the line, but he laughed.
“Not like that!” he said, motioning to a demon behind him, who came up to me and handed me a dagger. “Cut your hand and sign it in your blood.” I put the knife over my left palm, hesitating for a moment, before taking a deep breath and slashing it into the skin. A burning pain shot through my hand. I dipped the tip of the quill in the drops of blood pooling in my palm, signing my name in cursive on the parchment. When I had finished, the paper disappeared back into a puff of smoke. As soon as it did, my hand re-knitted itself, healing within seconds, and I began to feel a rush of euphoria and light enter my body.
It felt as if someone reached into my heart with invisible hands made of light and pulled out all the stress, all the anxieties and insecurities built up there. All my depression and sickness at finding out my girlfriend had been cheating on me with my best friend evaporated in an instant, and I felt pure bliss, thinking of their burnt bodies in the dirt of the destroyed ghost town.
My hearing suddenly became far more acute- I could literally hear mice and voles crawling in the dirt beneath the ground. I could hear people screaming in Hell and angels singing in Heaven. It was as if I had been given a small taste of omniscience, and I enjoyed every second of it.
“What’s… what’s happening to me?” I asked, feeling shocked.
“You are gaining the divine wisdom that I offer all my followers,” Satan said, smiling, showing his sharp, bleached-white teeth. “They don’t call me Lucifer for nothing. I bring light to those who wish it, and I bring wisdom and peace to those who are forgotten by God.
“Within twenty years, I will make you President of the United States, as long as you do as I wish. We can start your political career small, as a state representative perhaps, but it won’t last long. It never does.” Satan grinned at me, extending a huge red hand, and I shook it. A fiery heat emanated from within his smooth flesh.
“I can’t wait,” I said, excited about my future for the first time in years.

For single target : how could i proceed with this pob for example ? https://pobb.in/413gQZXWBYiS
I guess : the less damage in calc, then number of proj (how to account for sniper mark ?)
Also is the effect of marks (from tatoos) still a thing for increasing the number or split targets from sniper mark ?

Using the metrics outlined by the RIAA, the numbers for some singles are staggering when it comes to worldwide figures. According to the RIAA, 1 sale for a single is equivalent to 150 streams. The IFPI is supposed to be the only official body to certify singles on a worldwide level, but they only use stream equivalents that figure in overall sales. These numbers are official given the metrics, but there is no recording association that certifies them on such a level for worldwide figures. The RIAA only counts domestic sales and the IFPI goes by stream equivalents. In this list we have converted the overall streams, digital sales (Itunes, Amazon mp3 etc…), and physical sales into an estimate. These estimates will be fairly accurate given the data readily available. Also if you are wondering how we calculate the album figures, just realize that 1500 streams equal one album sale.
Urbano singles that have sold over 100,000,000 units equivalent worldwide
None
Urbano singles that have sold over 90,000,000 units equivalent worldwide
Zero
Urbano singles that have sold over 80,000,000 units equivalent worldwide
Luis Fonsi feat. Daddy Yankee & Justin Bieber “Despacito” (original version and remix)* El Dandee got the production credit but I remember reading somewhere that Urba & Rome worked on the song too but went uncredited. At least they collected on "Dura".
There are no more achievements until 40 million.
Urbano singles that have sold over 40,000,000 units equivalent worldwide
Shakira feat. Wyclef Jean – Hips Don’t Lie
Urbano singles that have sold over 30,000,000 units equivalent worldwide
El Chombo – Dame Tu Cosita
J Balvin feat. Willy William – Mi Gente
Pedro Capo & Farruko – Calma (original version and remixes)*
Daddy Yankee feat. Snow & Justin Bieber – “Con Calma” (original version and remix)*
Enrique Iglesias feat. Descemer Bueno & Gente de Zona – Bailando
Bad Bunny feat. Jhayco – Dakiti
Cardi B. feat. J Balvin & Bad Bunny – I Like It
DJ Snake feat. Selena Gomez, Cardi B. & Ozuna – Taki Taki
Shakira & Alejandro Sanz – La Tortura (included because Gocho, DJ Giann Live & Santana the Golden Boy worked on the song and this is an estimate including physical sales.)
Urbano singles that have sold over 20,000,000 units equivalent worldwide
Danny Ocean - Me Rehuso
Anuel AA, Karol G, Daddy Yankee & J Balvin – China
Natti Natasha & Ozuna – Criminal
Enrique Iglesias feat. Descemer Bueno, Zion & Lennox – Subeme La Radio
Nicky Jam & Enrique Iglesias – El Perdon (original version and remixes)*
Rosalia feat. J Balvin – Con Altura
Karol G & Nicki Minaj – Tusa
Nio Garcia & Casper Magico feat. Various – Te Boté Remix
Rauw Alejandro – Todo De Ti
Don Omar & Lucenzo – Danza Kuduro
Shakira feat. Maluma – Chantaje
Piso 21 feat. Manuel Turizo – Déjala Que Vuelva
Becky G feat. Bad Bunny – Mayores
Becky G feat. Natti Natasha – Sin Pijama
Jhayco feat. Bad Bunny & J Balvin – No Me Conoce Remix
J Balvin & Bad Bunny – La Cancion
Nicky Jam feat. J Balvin - X
J Balvin – Ay Vamos
Wisin feat. Ozuna – Escápate Conmigo (original version and remix)*
Daddy Yankee – Dura
Daddy Yankee – Gasolina (when you figure in album sales too, this would be the approximate total… it’s confusing I know.
Shakira & Carlos Vives – La Bicicleta
Manuel Turizo – La Bachata
Aventura feat. Don Omar – Ella y Yo
Don Omar – Dile
Don Omar – Salió El Sol
Maluma – Hawai (original version and remix)*
Maluma – Felices Los 4 (even without the remix it got there)
Ricky Martin feat. Maluma – Vente Pa’Ca
Bad Bunny feat. Chencho Corleone – Me Porto Bonito
Bad Bunny – Titi Me Preguntó
Bad Bunny feat. Drake - MIA
CNCO – Reggaeton Lento (Oneill wrote the song and Bory made the beat)
Luis Fonsi feat. Demi Lovato – Échame La Culpa (prod. By El Dandee)
Wisin & Yandel – Rakata
Ozuna feat. Romeo Santos – El Farsante (original version and remix)
Myke Towers & Farruko – Si Se Da (original version and remix)
Urbano singles that have sold over 10,000,000 units equivalent worldwide
Sech feat. Darrell – Otro Trago
Tego Calderon – Pa Que Retozen
Zion & Lennox feat. J Balvin – Otra Vez
Zion & Lennox feat. Daddy Yankee – Yo Voy
Jay Wheeler feat. Varios – La Curiosidad Remix
RKM & Ken-Y – Me Matas
RKM & Ken-Y – Down
RKM & Ken-Y – Igual Que Ayer
Ozuna feat. Feid – Hey Mor
Ozuna – Se Preparó
Ozuna – Si Tu Marido No Te Quiere
Ozuna – Tu Foto
Ozuna – Dile Que Tu Me Quieres
Ozuna – Síguelo Bailando
Ozuna feat. Manuel Turizo – Vaina Loca
Ozuna – Te Vas
Ozuna feat. Karol G & Myke Towers – Caramelo (original version and remix)*
Chris Jedi feat. J Balvin, Arcangel & Ozuna – Ahora Me Dice (original version and remix)*
DJ Luiann & Mambo Kingz feat. Arcangel, Ozuna, Anuel AA & De La Ghetto (original version and remix)* - La Ocasion
DJ Luiann & Mambo Kingz feat. J Balvin, Bad Bunny, & Prince Royce - Solita
DJ Luiann & Mambo Kingz feat. Arcangel & Bad Bunny – Tu No Vive Asi
DJ Luiann & Mambo Kingz feat. Ozuna, Bad Bunny, Wisin & Almighty - Verte Ir
6ixNine feat. Anuel AA – Bebé
Anuel AA feat. Karol G – Secreto
Anuel & Haze – Amanece
Anuel feat. Romeo Santos – Ella Quiere Beber (original version and remix)*
Daddy Yankee – Lo Que Pasó, Pasó
Daddy Yankee – Limbo (I personally hate this song btw but it was huge because it was used in the Zumba exercise videos)
Daddy Yankee – Que Tire Pa’ Lante (not one of his best efforts either but this was around “Despacito” and “Dura”)
Daddy Yankee feat. Ozuna – La Rompe Corazones
Daddy Yankee feat. Wisin & Yandel – Mami No Me Dejes Solo
Daddy Yankee – King Daddy
Daddy Yankee - Corazones
Daddy Yankee – Shaky Shaky
Daddy Yankee feat. Bad Bunny – Vuelve
Chino y Nacho feat. Daddy Yankee – Andas En Mi Cabeza
Chino y Nacho feat. Farruko – Me Voy Enamorando
Romeo Santos feat. Daddy Yankee & Nicky Jam – Bella y Sensual
Nicky Jam – Hasta El Amanecer
Nicky Jam – El Amante
Nicky Jam – Travesuras (original version and remix)*
Angel & Khriz – Ven Bailalo
Luny Tunes feat. Zion y Lennox – Hay Algo En Ti (when you include physical sales of “Motivando la Yal”, “Mas Flow 1”, and “La Trayectoria” which all included the hit single).
Luny Tunes feat. Baby Ranks, Alexis & Fido – El Tiburon (including physical sales of Mas Flow 2)
Luny Tunes feat. Daddy Yankee, Wisin & Yandel, Baby Ranks, Hector El Father & Tonny Tun Tun – Mayor Que Yo
Luny Tunes feat. Hector El Father – Castigo
Plan B – Fanatica Sensual
Plan B – Si No Le Contesto (original version and remix)*
Plan B – Candy (original version and remix)*
Sofia Reyes feat. Jason Derulo & De La Ghetto – 1-2-3
Nacho feat. Yandel & Bad Bunny – Bailame (original version and remix)*
Super Yei feat. Myke Towers, Sammy, Lenny Tavarez, Rafa Pabon & Jone Quest - La Forma En Que Me Miras
Alan Walker, Sabrina Carpenter & Farruko – On My Way
Nio Garcia X Juanka X Brrray – La Jeepeta (original version and remix)*
Sebastian Yatra feat. Myke Towers – Pareja Del Año
Myke Towers & Juhn – Bandido
Myke Towers – Lala
Yandel – Encantadora
Reik feat. Ozuna & Wisin – Me Niego
Wisin feat. Jennifer Lopez & Ricky Martin – Sube La Adrenalina
Nio Garcia feat. J Balvin & Bad Bunny – AM (original version and remix)*
Arcangel feat. Sech – Sigues Con Él
Arcangel feat Bad Bunny – Me Acostumbré
Yng Lucas & Peso Pluma – La Bebé
Calle 13 – Atrevete-te-te (when physical sales tallied)
Lunay feat. Daddy Yankee & Bad Bunny – Soltera
Joey Montana - Picky
La Factoria & Eddy Lover - Perdóname
Karol G – Bichota
Karol G feat. Shakira – TQG
Karol G feat. Peso Pluma – QLONA
Karol G – Provenza
Karol G feat. Mariah Angeliq – El Makinon
Karol G feat. Bad Bunny – Ahora Me Llama
Thalia feat. Natti Natasha – No Me Acuerdo
Natti Natasha feat. Becky G – Ram Pam Pam
Silvestre Dangond feat. Nicky Jam – Cásate Conmigo
Osmani Garcia, Pitbull y Sensato Del Patio – El Taxi
Don Omar – Dale Don Dale
Don Omar – Aunque Te Fuiste
Don Omar – Virtual Diva
Don Omar – Taboo
Don Omar feat. Tego Calderon - Bandoleros
Anitta – Envolver
Anitta feat. J Balvin - Downtown
Black Eyed Peas feat. J Balvin – Ritmo
David Guetta, Bebe Rexha & J Balvin – Say My Name
Tainy & J Balvin - Agua
J Balvin feat. Farruko – 6 AM
J Balvin feat. Pharell, BIA & Sky - Safari
J Balvin feat. Bad Bunny – Si Tu Novio Te Deja Sola
J Balvin – Ginza
J Balvin feat. Maria Becerra – Que Mas Pues
J Balvin – Bobo
Dalex feat. Varios – Pa Mi (original version and remix)*
Alex Rose feat. Varios – Toda (original version and remix)*
Sech feat. Varios – Relacion (original version and remix)*
Maluma feat. Nego do Borel – Corazón
Maluma – El Perdedor
Maluma – Borro Cassette
Maluma – Sin Contrato
Maluma – HP
Thalia feat. Maluma – Desde Esa Noche
Piso 21 feat. Maluma – Me Llamas
Noriel feat. Maluma, Bryant Myers & Juhn – Cuatro Babys
Wolfine – Bella (original version and remix)*
Piso 21 & Micro TDH – Te Vi
Mau & Ricky feat. Manuel Turizo & Camilo – Desconocidos
Cali y El Dandee feat. Juan Magan & Sebastian Yatra – Por Fin Te Encontré
La Secta All Star feat. Eddie Dee – La Locura Automatica (original version and remix)*
Farruko feat. Ky-Mani Marley – Chillax
Farruko feat. Bad Bunny & Rvssian – Krippy Kush
Farruko – Pepas
Rauw Alejandro feat. Camilo – Tatoo (original version and remix)*
Rauw Alejandro feat. Chencho – El Efecto (original version and remix)*
Rauw Alejandro feat. Chencho – Desesperados
Grupo Frontera feat. Bad Bunny – UN X100TO
Bad Bunny – Amorfoda
Bad Bunny – Callaíta
Bad Bunny – Diles (original version and remix)*
Bad Bunny – Soy Peor
Bad Bunny – Yonaguni
Bad Bunny – Estamos Bien
Bad Bunny – SI Estuviésemos Juntos
Aventura feat. Bad Bunny – Volví
Bad Bunny – Moscow Mule
Bad Bunny feat. Ñengo Flow, Jowell & Randy – Safaera
Bad Bunny feat. Daddy Yankee – La Santa
Bad Bunny – Efecto
Bad Bunny feat. Bomba Estereo – Ojitos Lindos
Bad Bunny feat. Rauw Alejandro – Party
Yandel feat. Feid – Yandel 150
Part 2 coming real soon!

timestamp: https://imgur.com/a/xBrl9kL
Please have a look and read the bulletpoints below:

ALL previously listed pens have had their prices reduced

​

• CONUS shipping for 1 pen is $6 and $9 for 2. If you buy 3 or more shipping is FREE to CONUS.
• International shipping is OK, but at buyer's full cost.
• Items come with their original box and packaging, and converters where applicable.
• More pics available upon request.
• Please comment before PMing.
• 10% off if you buy more than 1 pen.

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From left to right:
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• Sailor Realo Color of Time, Kingdom Note Limited Edition exclusive in matte "Curtain of Night" navy blue
  • M nib ground to cursive-italic by All in the Nib
  • [B] inked once
  • more photos: https://imgur.com/a/KYgiiWE
  • $435

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• Leonardo Supernova in Primary Manipulation 4 (Jonathon Brooks)
  • Fine 14k Ruthenium nib
  • [A1] never inked
  • pen numbered 125/199
  • $420

​

• Leonardo Magico in Calico Koi (Jonathon Brooks)
  • CSI Medium steel nib (ground in-house by Leonardo)
  • [B] Inked once
  • Limited Edition from Leonardo
  • $250
  • SOLD

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• Lamy Dialog 3 in Matte Black
  • 14k Medium nib
  • [B] inked once
  • $220

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• Tailored Pen Company Churchill in Black Cherry Koi (Jonathon Brooks)
  • steel gold-plated broad nib
  • [A1] never inked, brand new
  • more photos: https://imgur.com/a/k787xKn
  • $150

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A note on the vintage pens: These were all purchased from a professional pen restorer over the course of four years. I don't have super-specific details on their nibs, but suffice it to say they are all flexible, and flex WELL! I'll do my best to describe them below. Each pen has only been inked once since I've owned them. These do not have original boxes, but will ship in protective cases.
here's some close-ups of the vintage nibs: https://imgur.com/a/bRyrNE4
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• Waterman's Vintage
  • 14k ideal nib, M to BB flex
  • lever filler
  • [C] no cracks, slight marks, clip in great shape
  • $160

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• Waterman's Hundred Year Pen vintage
  • 14k Fine to BB flex nib
  • lever filler
  • [C] excellent condition overall, very slight wear on clip
  • $250

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• Mabie Todd "Blackbird" Vintage
  • 14k fine to BB flex nib
  • lever filler
  • [C] excellent condition
  • $250
  • SOLD

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• Parker Vintage
  • 14k medium-stubish, with flex to BB
  • button filler
  • [C] no cracks or serious marks. Clip in great shape.
  • $200